Charles stared at the diary on the table in front of him with a frown. He had been sitting here for half an hour now.
"Coo-coo~Coo-coo~Coo-coo~" The mechanical gear bird that suddenly emerged from the pendulum clock interrupted Charles' thoughts.
He gritted his teeth, quickly opened the diary, and found the sparkling self-portrait that Anna had left behind.
"Twinkle, twinkle?" He tapped his fingers on the painting.
The wriggling deformed tentacles emerged from inside, followed by liquid green eyes with full pupils. When these things quickly gathered together, a little girl about one meter tall stood in front of Charles.
"Shanshan, what is mommy doing over there now?" Charles half squatted down, touched her head with his hand and asked softly.
"She's eating. She looks very hungry. She eats a lot very hard." Shanshan answered truthfully.
"Oh..." Charles nodded in understanding.
After thinking for a moment, he said to Shanshan again: "Go back and tell her that Dad wants to sit down and have a good talk with her, and ask her to come over."
After blinking, Shanshan disappeared in front of Charles in an instant.
A few seconds later, she appeared in front of Charles again, "Mom said she doesn't want to come."
Charles sighed and said again: "Then tell her that Dad apologizes, Dad knows he was wrong, and I shouldn't have quarreled with her. Let's deal with this matter properly."
Twinkle disappeared again, but this time she came back faster. "Mom doesn't want to talk to you now."
Charles sighed slightly. He knew that Anna was really angry. This was the first time they had a conflict.
Anna has been silently giving to him. Perhaps she has always had resentment in her heart but has never released it before.
Charles sat on the stool with a melancholy look on his face, thinking about what happened before. Anna's previous words kept echoing in his mind, and his expression showed a hint of annoyance.
To be honest, he could agree to Anna's request for anything else, but he couldn't agree to this one thing.
This was not only the sunk cost of thirteen years, nor was it just the Pope's somewhat illusory promise to resurrect Lily. More importantly, he had already signed a contract with the Pope.
The contract that was supposed to bind the Pope was also a shackle on him. If he stopped now, he would die immediately under the effect of the marker relic.
Charles wanted to explain this matter to Anna, but now it seems that the other party doesn't want to pay attention to him.
Just when Charles' mind was full of these things, he saw that Shanshan had not left yet, standing in front of him, looking at him with big eyes.
Recalling the words in the cell phone recording, Charles squatted beside her, looked at the pair and said softly, "Shanshan, I'm sorry, but I'm almost done. As long as it's done, no matter what the result is, I won't bother anymore and will stay down there with you."
Shanshan looked a little hesitant, but she finally stretched out her hands and threw herself into Charles' arms. "Can Daddy not go to the sea? Nini's daddy went to the sea and never came back."
In an instant, Charles' heart seemed to be hit by something, and he couldn't tell why. Although he had many excuses in his mind, he didn't know how to open his mouth when facing Shanshan.
Charles put his hands through Shanshan's armpits, held her in mid-air, and looked at her carefully. There was a hint of nervousness in the child's eyes.
Charles remembered that his father did the same thing when he was a child, but compared to his father, he has never really accompanied Winnie since she was born.
"Maybe I'm really not a good husband or a good father." Charles said self-deprecatingly.
"Well, Nini also said that you are not a good father." Shanshan nodded approvingly.
"Yeah!!" When she heard the word "play", Shanshan's eyes suddenly lit up.
Charles clasped his daughter with both hands, put her around his neck, and strode outside.
In order to prevent others from recognizing him, Charles changed into an ordinary formal suit.
He walked slowly on the streets of Hope Island with Shan, no different from other fathers and daughters shopping.
"Here, this is sweet wine made from bananas. It's called wine, but it's actually a beverage, suitable for you kids." Charles held the cup in his hand above his head.
Shanshan took it and licked it continuously with her little tongue.
Charles has never raised a child and has no experience in this area, but fortunately he can learn because his father is a role model.
"Is it delicious?" Charles asked with a smile.
"I don't know. I can't taste it." Shanshan answered truthfully.
Charles looked up in surprise. "What? Can't drink it?"
"Well, I can't taste anything they eat."
Hearing this, Charles put down the crab leg in his hand. This was something he had not considered. "Can't you taste anything you eat?"
Shanshan tilted her head, "No, I can taste the bitterness in what mom eats. I don't like that."
"Oh... I see." Charles stood in the middle of the road and thought for a while, then walked towards a street on the right side with Shan Shan. "In that case, I'll take you to do something else."
Relying on his memory, he came to a small shop, which was a small puppet theater. Controlled by a few thin strings, palm-sized puppets dressed in different costumes were performing a drama vividly.
He had been here before when he was shopping with Lily. Kids would probably like this kind of thing.
On the table-sized stage, a story seems to be being performed about a group of pirates searching for treasure.
The puppet performance was wonderful. They picked up things with their fingers and grabbed and put down props very quickly, just like real people.
The children gathered in a circle around the stage and watched attentively.
Seeing that Shanshan's gaze was successfully attracted, Charles breathed a sigh of relief and decided to just get used to it.
The middle-aged man holding his son laughed and said, "Hey, man? Why haven't I seen you here before? Have you and your daughter just arrived at Hope Island?"
Charles had no intention of talking to others and just said a few perfunctory words, but he didn't expect that the other party was so kind-hearted.
"Adventures like this are for boys. You can bring your daughter here tomorrow morning. They will perform the story of Princess Sissi, which girls love to watch."
At this moment, Shanshan suddenly pointed to the small stage and said, "Dad, I want the little man who can move."
(End of this chapter)