Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen The Unable to Stay

Rome in early summer always gives people a feeling of hope.The warm sunshine is as sweet as honey water in a glass, as long as it touches it, it will make people feel comfortable physically and mentally.It seems that no matter how bad the bad mood is, it will evaporate without a trace under such bright sunshine. The Roman Zoo is located in the urban area. It has a history of more than 90 years and is the only zoo in Rome.Although the sparrows here are small and well-equipped, it is not a big place but it has quite a variety of animals, so it has always been a popular place in the hearts of children.

Margaret was in an extremely excited state from the moment she stepped into the zoo, completely throwing away the restraint of being the earl's daughter, and chatting non-stop along the way.When she saw the lion at such a close distance through the tempered glass wall, she even exclaimed and hid behind Alfonso in fright. "Lions won't run out, what are you afraid of." Liu Xia couldn't help but tease her. "Of course I know it won't come out, who said I'm scared..." Margaret insisted unconvinced, but her hand was still tightly holding on to Alfonso's clothes.

Alfonso smiled helplessly, and there was a seductive luster in those green eyes, which were more beautiful than the water of the Tiber River.As if to match today's outing, he wore a very casual Armani new suit, low-key blue-gray with sleek tailoring, naturally wandering between elegance and leisure.And the sunglasses of the same style added a bit of mysterious and fashionable atmosphere to him. When she arrived at the reptile house, Margaret became very interested in several chameleons among them, and then grabbed Alfonso's clothes and begged him to buy some for herself as pets. Liu Xia gave Alfonso a sympathetic look, it seems that his clothes have been ruined today.

Alfonso seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and he almost responded to Margaret's request. Even if she said now that she wanted to buy a lion to take home, he would probably nod in agreement. However, what surprised Liu Xia was that Margaret was afraid of many animals.In addition to those lions and tigers, all kinds of snakes in the museum made the rich lady hide behind Alfonso again.But she was afraid, so she couldn't help poking out half of her head out of curiosity to see clearly. "Mr. Alfonso, I think we should go to the herbivore area, so that Margaret doesn't have to hide." Liu Xia laughed narrowly.It seemed that the request I made was correct. Not only would it make Margaret so happy, but even she herself felt that her depressed mood was much better.

"Aren't you afraid of snakes?" Margaret didn't deny it this time, but just snorted softly. "Afraid? We have a dish over there, which is snake meat soup. It tastes super good..." Liu Xia intentionally made a memorable expression, "I love it the most..." Marguerite's eyelids twitched violently, and she shrank her head behind Alfonso.The object of her fear this time is obviously Liu Xia, "Dad, Dad, the teacher is so scary, she actually eats snakes!" Liu Xia took two steps in her direction, with an unusually evil smile on his face, "I've eaten even scarier things, I'll tell you if you want, for example..."

Margaret hurriedly covered her ears, "I won't listen, I won't listen!" Liu Xia burst out laughing, raised her head and bumped into Alfonso's eyes.The gentle water green spreads gently, as if it has been watching her for several long centuries. She was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously turned her gaze away. There seems to be a strange magic in his eyes, as if if he keeps staring like this, he will be drawn to a deeper and farther place by this magic, and he will never be able to find his way back. When it was almost noon, Margaret began to complain that she was hungry.Today she seems to be a pure eight-year-old, enjoying her privileges as a child.Because they will continue sightseeing in the afternoon, their Chinese food is simply settled in the restaurant in the zoo.Margherita's specialty is seafood pizza, while Liu Xia and Alfonso both ordered seafood spaghetti.

"Eh? So we all like seafood?" Margaret seemed to have discovered an interesting coincidence, and took the opportunity to sarcastize Liu Xia, "I thought the teacher only liked to eat strange things." Liu Xia rolled his eyes, "There are also many strange and delicious things in the sea. Shall I give you two examples? For example..." Margaret frowned immediately, "I don't want to listen, it must be something disgusting." "Ha, are you scared? You don't even dare to listen..." "Who's scared!" Alfonso watched the two of them bickering with a smile in his eyes, and suddenly a long-lost tranquility filled his heart.

"Liu Xia, is your home in a city by the sea?" He asked guessing. Liu Xia nodded, "Yes, we live in a coastal city, so seafood must be indispensable on the table every day. My favorite food is Pipi shrimp. Well, I don't know the Italian, but the English name is It should be called mantis shrimp. Wrap it in salt and pepper and fry it in oil, um...the delicious one will go to heaven!" Alfonso was amused by her description, "? Oh, this seems to be called a mantis shrimp. I've seen it before. Is it as delicious as you said?" "Mantis shrimp?" Margaret's small face immediately wrinkled, "When you hear the name, you know it's disgusting...a shrimp like a mantis...so disgusting." She shook her head contemptuously, picked up her The pizza took a big bite.

Liu Xia didn't bother to explain to her, she lowered her head and took a bite of spaghetti.Although this restaurant looks inconspicuous, the pasta that can be made is extremely delicious, and there is a strong cheese aroma in the mouth.She turned her head to look at Alfonso, and saw that he was gracefully rolling up noodles with a fork and delivering them to his mouth, his chin was slightly raised, forming a perfect arc.Liu Xia couldn't help sighing a little in his heart, the earl is worthy of being a nobleman, even the action of eating spaghetti is so impeccable. "Dad, shall we take that sightseeing train later?" Margaret was thinking about what to do next while eating.

"Wait a minute, Margaret, what...is it on here?" Liu Xia picked up a tissue to help her wipe a little sauce from her lips, and did not forget to tease her, "I'm really careless, I'm still a child .” Margaret stuck out her tongue unconvinced, but obediently accepted Liu Xia's help. "Liu Xia, you are the same too." A smile floated in Alfonso's eyes. "Ah? Really?" She was a little embarrassed and wanted to take another tissue, but suddenly she heard him say again in a low voice, "Don't move." Before Liu Xia could react, he had already picked up the tissue to wipe it off for her. Went for the cheek sauce.

His expression looked so natural and casual, as if he was doing an ordinary action.But for Liu Xia, this action seems a bit too intimate.When his fingertips accidentally slid across her cheek, she flinched back like a reflex. Margaret had a panoramic view of all this, and a subtle look flashed in her eyes. Not long after, a girl in a cartoon rabbit costume bounced up to them, took out a toy apple from her carry-on basket, handed it to Margaret, and said to her with a smile, "My little friend!" , we will have a very fun event on the grass over there, and if you invite your parents to participate, there will be surprise prizes!" She then turned to Liuxia and Alfonso, " Your daughter is so cute, hurry up and join us for an interesting animal festival!" As soon as the girl finished speaking, Liu Xia's face flushed red.She hurriedly waved her hands and stammered, "No...it's not..." "Mom and Dad, don't refuse, let's go to participate." Margaret regained her black-bellied nature at this time, and deliberately emphasized the word "mother", which sounded more like a joke. Liu Xia was at a loss for words for a while, so she had to cast her eyes on Alfonso for help.Unexpectedly, Alfonso just smiled, "Okay, we'll check it out later." "Great! Then I'll wait for your family!" The bunny girl jumped to another table after she finished speaking and continued to sell. Liu Xia felt that neither sitting nor standing was right. In order to get rid of this awkward atmosphere, she quickly lowered her head and ate the leftover spaghetti. "Don't pay too much attention to what these children say." Alfonso seemed to sense her embarrassment, and added calmly.In this way, his generosity seemed to be too stingy for her, so Liu Xia had no choice but to pretend not to care, "I know, anyway, it's okay to go and have a look." After lunch, Margaret couldn't wait to take them to the grass over there.It turned out that this was a social activity organized by the staff of the zoo. It was to let the children pretend to be various animals and play with each other. In this way, the children could better understand the habits of the animals and get closer to the animals. Instigated by Liu Xia, Margaret changed into a tiger costume, and soon got into trouble with other children.Liu Xia was secretly amused, if Margaret knew what the tigress meant, she would definitely turn her nose in anger.Well, take it as a little revenge for yourself.With a little thought of her own, she walked to the corner of the lawn and sat down. The warm sunshine, the fresh smell of green grass, the happy and noisy voices of the children, all these beautiful things intertwined, seemed to make her temporarily forget all the unhappiness, and ----- that person. She didn't dare to think about it, and she didn't want to think about it, because once she touched the scar in her heart, she would only feel pain. "Liu Xia, why don't you come over?" Alfonso's voice suddenly came from above her head.She raised her head, and it was that familiar face that appeared in her sight.Although the backlight blurred his facial features and erased some colors, it also added a touch of warmth. "Can't you see it here?" Liu Xia blocked the sun with his hand.There are all parent-child families over there, and she doesn't seem to be very suitable there. Alfonso also sat down beside her, and said in a low voice as if sighing, "I've never seen Margaret so happy... Maybe I'm really too strict at ordinary times." "Like Princess Rapunzel in the Grimm's fairy tale?" Liu Xia smiled and looked sideways at him, "But even a princess locked in a high tower will use her hair to attract the prince." Alfonso's mouth curled into a slight smile, "Are you saying I'm like that scary witch?" Liu Xia also found that her analogy was a bit inappropriate, so she laughed a few times, turned her gaze, and inadvertently landed on the other party's hair.At this time, Alfonso happened to be looking down at the information in his mobile phone, which undoubtedly made Liu Xia notice something that he hadn't noticed before. Under the sunlight, his pure black hair shone like satin, while his newly grown hair was a very beautiful light chestnut color. She couldn't help but wonder, could it be that Mr. Alfonso's hair was dyed black?She thought about it, but still didn't ask the question out. The warm sunshine in the afternoon lazily sprinkled on the body, making people sleepy unconsciously.Liu Xia yawned lightly, leaned against the tree behind him and began to close his eyes to meditate. Anyway, Margaret still has to play for a while, so it shouldn't matter if she takes a break, right? Alfonso looked at Marguerite who was crawling around among the children, with a faint smile on his lips.Suddenly, he felt something pressing on his shoulder, looked sideways, and couldn't help smiling again.It turned out that Liu Xia was already dozing off, and her head was still tilting unconsciously, turning to the right for a while, and then to the left for a while... When she turned over again, he simply pressed her head lightly on his shoulder, and the other party seemed to have finally found a more comfortable position, obediently maintaining this position without moving. The sun, the grass, and the soft breath of the girl beside him... At this moment, he felt a strange relief, as if he had let go of some heavy pressure in his heart, and his whole body became more relaxed. So, he also closed his eyes, and suddenly felt that such a time was really good. No matter what happened in the future, he thought he would remember this sunny afternoon. There was her, and there was Margaret. That's fine. The two sat quietly on the grass like this, until Liu Xia's cell phone ringing suddenly broke the tranquility.She woke up suddenly and pressed the answer button in a hurry. When she heard the voice from the other end of the phone, her face changed obviously, and her fingers holding the phone trembled slightly. "I see. Don't worry, I will return it to him." She answered coldly and immediately closed the line. Putting the phone back in her bag, she looked up at the clear sky. The sun was so bright and warm just now, but now it made her feel a chill. It is night and there is no moon. When Liu Xia stood at the door of Toto's apartment again, she felt mixed feelings in her heart.She thought she would never come again, but Emma's phone call today forced her to stand here again... In fact, she may not come. But... there always seemed to be a voice in her heart saying to her: Go there...go to him... --- Hovering in my mind like a spell. Liu Xia stood quietly at the door for a few minutes, and after calming down her chaotic mood, she slowly stretched out her hand and pressed the doorbell. After about four or five minutes, the door was opened.What appeared behind the door was a face she was all too familiar with. She hadn't seen Toto for several days since she said goodbye last time.His face was more haggard than before, the sides of his cheeks were so thin that they were almost sunken, and those blue eyes seemed no longer as clear and bright as before. The moment he saw her, the other party couldn't believe his eyes, and he waited for a few seconds before realizing, "Liu Xia, you... are here?" His voice sounded a little hoarse, but at the same time, he had an unconcealable surprise, "I knew you just needed time to calm down. Last time you were really angry, right?" Liu Xia's heart throbbed slightly, and there was a feeling of distress or sadness in his chest.At that moment, she really wanted to get back together, and really wanted to tell him loudly, yes, what she said last time was all angry words... because, she wanted so much to watch him finish His dream, want to share his sorrow and joy, want to feel his emotions... I really want to think about it... no matter how many times I can count, there are so many things I really want to think about. Maybe my subconscious mind also thought this way, so I came to return the key in person. I want to see him... I really want to see him... But ------- this strong thought was instantly wiped out when she caught a glimpse of the baby supplies in the hallway. "I came here today just to pay you back." She replied bluntly, and took out a shiny key from her arms. Toto's face turned pale all of a sudden, "Liu Xia, you came here just to give me this back?" "Yes." She turned her face to avoid his gaze, "Since we have already broken up, there is no point in keeping this." She said and handed the key to him.Since Emma brought it up on the phone, why should she take the key by force. I can't keep this person anymore, so what's the use of keeping the key. The two were deadlocked like this.Toto just stared at her in disbelief, and refused to reach out to pick her up anyway.Liu Xia had no choice but to pass the key forward, and said coldly, "If you don't pick it up again, I will leave it here." "Liu Xia, do you really want to break up with me?" His eyes were filled with terrible red as if filled with blood, "Then tell me, is it my relationship or your own relationship? Are you really Is it because Emma broke up with me, or because of ----- that man?" "It's meaningless to say these things now. Toto, I won't change what I've decided." Liu Xia suppressed the pain in his chest, and forced the key into his hand.The moment the key touched his finger, his hand obviously shrank back, as if he was unwilling to accept all this. The key fell to the ground with a bang, which sounded especially harsh in the silent corridor. Liu Xia couldn't ignore his eyes at this moment, what was shining in those gentle blue eyes was no longer the innocence she was familiar with. She hesitated for a moment, then bent down to pick up the key, and handed it to him again. This time, he finally reached out his hand, but instead of taking the key, he took advantage of the situation and firmly held her hand.Liu Xia was slightly taken aback, and wanted to withdraw her hand, but her fingers were tightly clenched, and the key held by her right hand was pinched deeply into the palm of her hand, bringing a blunt tingling pain. "Liu Xia, don't leave me!" His emotions seemed to be a little out of control, with a sad look in his eyes, "Are you really willing? Are you willing to abandon those memories that only belong to us? Estate, my Estate, you Do you really have the heart to leave me?" Estate, upon hearing this name, Liu Xia's face immediately softened, as if the door of memory in her heart had been opened again, the sunshine in the Positano forest was so bright and warm. That is the sunshine that only belongs to him and her. Ding dong-------The elevator door suddenly opened at this moment. The young woman who came out of the elevator once again shattered Liu Xia's last remaining illusion. Emma... Sure enough... Sure enough... She's still here!Liu Xia's mind was in chaos, and he felt that the blood in his whole body was flowing backwards.She can't stay here any longer!I want to leave here, I want to leave these two people quickly! "Emma, ​​why are you here?" Toto seemed a little surprised, but at this moment he didn't care about this woman at all, and he held Liu Xia's hand tightly and said in a deep voice, "Estate, can you listen to my explanation? It's not what you think." "Enough! Toto. I will cherish those memories forever. However, the memories between me and you will end here." Liu Xia put on a cold face, and forcefully pulled his fingers away one by one. .Her movements were not large, but she carried incomparable determination.Every time she opened a finger, her heartache deepened. Toto looked at her with a pale face, squeezed her hand tightly with all his strength, and made the last effort unwillingly until ----- his fingers were all pulled away. The moment her hand slipped from his fingertips, his heart suddenly melted into desolation.He wanted to hold on to something, but there was nothing in his hand. why?The more you want to grasp something, the more you can't grasp it.The more you want to stay, the more you can't stay, the more you don't want to lose the emotion, the easier it is to lose. When he tried his best to catch her, he found that everything was in vain. Seeing her rushing into the elevator without looking back, pressing the door close button continuously, as if desperately trying to escape from something annoying... There seemed to be a faint fire flickering in his eyes, bit by bit Dimmed, and finally extinguished into black ashes. As the elevator doors slowly closed, that petite figure also disappeared in front of his eyes.At this moment, for the first time, he truly felt that something precious was being lost in his heart. This time, he knew that he really lost her.