Anna, who was sitting next to him, tugged at Charles's clothes. "Gao Zhiming, why did the tattoo on your neck disappear?"
Charles put down the bowl in his hand, tore open his clothes, and found that the dead spider-like tattoo inside had really disappeared.
"Jia Jia, didn't you make this?"
"How could I have done that? Don't talk nonsense. I would never do such a thing."
While they were talking, the food was ready and the family happily began to eat.
Charles put all kinds of delicacies into his mouth with chopsticks and chewed them hard. He had never thought that simple meals could be so delicious.
"If only my crew were here too." This thought flashed through Charles' mind.
"Ding Dong" the doorbell rang. Charles walked over and opened the door. All the crew members of the Narwhal were outside, and the bright sunshine was shining on their equally bright smiling faces.
"Dipper, Bandage, James, you... why are you here?"
"Captain! We came up to see you." Dipper gave Charles a hug excitedly.
"Mr. Charles, you've been gone for so long, we missed you so much. Is this your home? Your home is so beautiful!" Excited Lily quickly climbed up along his trouser legs.
There were so many people that the small table obviously couldn't accommodate them all. Fortunately, there was a large round table at home. After the round table was put there, a large group of people were able to sit there.
There was constant laughter at the table, and everyone kept congratulating Charles for escaping from the Earthsea. Everyone at the table was smiling. His family, companions, and women were all around him at this moment. Charles had never felt so happy.
"Crack" one of the legs of the stool under Charles suddenly broke, Charles fell to the ground, and the sound disappeared instantly.
Charles looked at everyone's gazes. He waved his hands repeatedly, supported himself on the ground with one hand, and stood up.
"It's okay, it's okay. The quality of this stool is a bit poor. Let's continue eating. Suling, bring a bottle of Coke over here."
The reunion dinner continued. Lily jumped to Charles' table and looked up and said, "Mr. Charles, after dinner, can you take me out to play? I want to watch a movie, and I also want a cell phone."
Charles, smiling, held her in his hands and stroked her little head. "No problem, I'll take you to have fun. Not only one cell phone, but as many as you want, I'll give them to you!"
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At the very edge of the Hefang Port area, at the door of a dilapidated house less than one meter high, a haggard woman with a wrinkled face who looked to be in her forties was leaning against the door sill, looking towards the port with a worried look on her face.
In the room behind her, there was a brother and sister about thirteen or fourteen years old. They were skillfully weaving a fishing net. Their hands were cut several times by the rough fishing net, but their speed was not slow at all.
"Mom, it looks like my brother won't be back today." The slightly more mature sister put down the work in her hands and said to the old woman.
"Ah..." The worry on the woman's face deepened. She turned around and joined her children in the work.
"Mom, what should we do with the shark meat? It's already the third day. It will definitely stink overnight." asked the slightly immature brother.
The woman hesitated for a few seconds and then walked towards the table.
"I'll send it to those crazy people over there. After all, it's food. It would be a shame to just throw it away."
The old woman picked up a plate of fish with a few green-headed flies on it from the table, bent over and walked out the door.
There were a few lunatics squatting in the corner, speaking crazy words that were difficult for others to understand, and no one on the road paid any attention to them.
When the woman poured the fish meat from the basin onto the ground, the lunatics swarmed over, scrambling for it with their dirty hands.
The woman still had a piece in her hand. She looked around and found another madman curled up in the darkest and filthy corner.
She walked over and handed over the fish in her hand. "Eat it. If you don't grab it every time, I don't know how long you can live."
The ragged, dishevelled, filthy madman stretched out his only remaining right hand to take the fish. "Elizabeth, thank you."
Watching the madman in front of her swallowing the fish whole, the woman sighed, "Ah, I don't know what you are talking about. We are all miserable people. Live one day at a time. Living is better than dying."
As the woman was speaking, she seemed to have discovered something. She pulled open the collar of the madman in front of her and saw the black tattoo on his neck that was mixed with mud and dirt.
There was a creature somewhere between a spider and an octopus, some of its tentacles spread out and had already spread to the madman's face, squirming as he chewed. "What is this?"
Suddenly the madman stopped chewing and said slowly to the woman, "Jia Jia, didn't you make this?"
The woman shook her head and stood up. "Stop talking nonsense. Eat more, or else it will be snatched away by other crazy people."
"Dipper, Bandage, James, you... why are you here?" The madman stood up with a surprised look on his face.
The woman looked at him with a complicated expression. "Some people say that you crazy people see things that others can't see. Can you see the ghost of my husband Kevin?"
"Come on, come on. There's not enough space for so many people to sit. The big round table is in that room. Let's move the table over there."
"If you see Kevin, please ask him for me why he had to go to the sea, why he had to leave us behind, and why there has been no news from him in all these years. Doesn't he know how difficult it is for me to raise three children alone?" As she spoke, the woman's eyes became moist.
At this moment, a young man in his early twenties suddenly rushed out from the side. He kicked the madman and sent him flying, shouting angrily, "You are so tired of living! How dare you bully my mother!!"
The madman propped himself up on the ground with one hand and stood up. "It's okay, it's okay. The quality of this stool is a bit poor. Let's continue eating. Suling, bring a bottle of Coke."
"West, what are you doing!" The woman hurriedly grabbed the madman's eldest son who was about to rush over and step on him.
West looked at his mother nervously, "Did that lunatic do anything to you just now?"
"What are you talking about? I just gave these crazy people some fish that was about to go bad."
After West glanced at the one-armed madman who was still devouring the fish, he pulled his mother towards the dilapidated house. "Mom, let's go home first. I have something to give you."
As they left, the madman was still there shouting, "Lily, be careful, watch out for cars."
Volume 1 (End)
(End of this chapter)