Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen A Night Alone with the Earl

This voice undoubtedly surprised Liu Xia.She turned around like an electric shock, and looked at the man who appeared behind her in astonishment. He didn't wear his usual favorite Armani brand today, but put on a turquoise coat from Versace, another Italian brand.This is a very picky color, but it has a fatal attraction when worn on his body.The copper button on the left shoulder is engraved with Versace's logo ------ Medusa, the Gorgon in Greek mythology.The beauty of Medusa is bewildering, anyone who sees her eyes will instantly turn into stone, and the earl himself also possesses the deterrent power of this beauty, whether it is appearance or temperament, they are impeccable and extremely perfect .

"Ah... Mr. Alfonso? Why are you here?" Liu Xia held back such a sentence after a long time. Alfonso didn't answer her question, but just looked at her with a faint look. His water-green eyes were like the surface of a tranquil lake, clearly reflecting her shadow, with a barely visible smile on her face. The surface of the lake was slowly rippling, and her reflection seemed to shake slightly with this smile. "You came here to paint after you asked for leave?" Before she could answer, Alfonso walked to the front of the canvas, narrowed his eyes slightly, and carefully examined the work.

Liu Xia at the side became a little nervous, because she knew very well that Alfonso's vision was definitely not worse than those experts.If he felt bad, it would undoubtedly be a serious blow to her. Alfonso seemed to have discovered something in the painting, and the expression on his face became a little strange. The two handsome eyebrows were slightly twisted, showing a bit of sharpness, but soon there was a look of appreciation on his face The fundus is fleeting. "Are you going to take this work to the Margherita competition?" he asked in a low voice. "Yes." Liu Xia replied without confidence.To be honest, if she judged only from the other person's expression, she really couldn't see any clues.

"Is this painting named?" He also did not comment on the quality of the work. Liu Xia nodded, "Well, I plan to call..." "Is it ----- childhood?" He suddenly interrupted her. Liu Xia stared at him with wide eyes in surprise, is this a coincidence?What she wanted to say was ----- the name. From a purely compositional point of view, it might be more appropriate to call this painting Early Spring in the Forest of Positano.Because the whole scene is a picture in the forest, every stroke captures the spring atmosphere in the forest, and the two children are just a small embellishment.

But what surprised Liu Xia was that Alfonso saw through what she really wanted to express at a glance. "Mr. Alfonso, how did you know I was going to use this name?" She couldn't help asking curiously. Alfonso smiled, "From the lines and colors, I can feel that every stroke of yours is filled with very pure emotion, which seems more like a memory of the past." There seemed to be something strange in Liu Xia's eyes when he looked at him, it was a kind of joy of being recognized for his efforts, and also a kind of appreciation for his unique eyes. "Thank you." She pursed her lips and smiled.

"Thank me for what?" He looked sideways at her. "Thank you for understanding my paintings." A trace of loneliness flashed across her eyes.I've heard that when people are happiest or saddest, they are most creative and most inspired.So she obviously belongs to the latter, right? Alfonso keenly captured her expression, and unconsciously narrowed his eyes slightly, "But to participate in the Margherita competition, there are still many details to be revised in this painting." Liu Xia was taken aback for a moment, then raised his head in surprise, "Mr. Alfonso, you mean this painting..."

Alfonso looked at her meaningfully again, "Of course I will never show favoritism in the final grading." "Well, I will definitely speak with my own strength." Liu Xia nodded emphatically, and couldn't help but jump for joy.Although Alfonso didn't say it clearly, the meaning he wanted to express was already very clear. ------This painting is fully capable to stand out in the school's competition and participate in the final Margherita competition. When Liu Xia was about to say something more, he suddenly felt something chilly on his face.She touched her face, then looked up at the sky, only to realize that a large cloud had accumulated in the sky, slowly moving towards the top of her head, so dark that it seemed that the entire sky was about to be suppressed.

"It seems that there will be heavy rain soon." Alfonso didn't seem to be surprised. "It turns out that the Meteorological Bureau will occasionally be accurate." "Did the weather predict that it will rain today?" Liu Xia regretted a little in her heart, the weather is so good these few days, she didn't think about rain at all.But right now, what worries her more is her own painting. "Let's find a place to take shelter quickly. Otherwise, it will be bad if it rains heavily." She hurriedly put away her painting and carefully put it in the oil painting tube.

"There's my summer house nearby, if you don't mind, maybe we can go first..." Alfonso put away the latter words, obviously asking for her opinion. Liu Xia hesitated for a moment, although Mr. Alfonso should be trusted, but is it not appropriate to go to his villa so recklessly? Alfonso noticed her hesitation, and smiled lightly, "It's okay if you find it inconvenient. But I won't let a girl stay here alone." Liu Xia looked up again at the increasingly gloomy sky, her mind was also racing rapidly.What time is it, and she is still so hypocritical, it may not be that Mr. Alfonso will accompany her here in the rain.Since the other party has good intentions, then just accept it generously.

If you continue to tweak it, it will appear that you are too petty. So she nodded, "Then I'm bothering you, Mr. Alfonso. Let's get out of here before the rain falls." Alfonso's summer house is not far from the mountainside.Liu Xia had seen this villa when she came up just now, but she had no idea that it belonged to Alfonso, and there were quite a few new summer villas built here in recent years, so she didn't care about it at the time. As soon as they stepped into the gate of that villa, there was a torrential downpour, accompanied by bursts of thunder. The dense raindrops seemed to be filled with anger that could not be vented, hitting the ground, branches, and windows viciously. ...and everywhere within reach.There seemed to be only the sound of clattering between the heaven and the earth.

"It seems that we are lucky." Alfonso gently put her painting tools aside, then pointed to the cabinet on the right, "There are slippers there, you can change them yourself." Liu Xia thanked her, and quickly surveyed the surrounding environment.The decoration style here is obviously completely different from that of Roman castles, revealing a fresh, natural and lively style.But if you look carefully, you can find that the furnishings here are not ordinary things.All the furniture is from the local Italian brand BOFFI. It is said that a chair is worth tens of thousands of euros.Those seemingly simple chandeliers are all from the Italian Flos brand, and even the kitchen utensils in the kitchen are the Earl's favorite Armani series. This is indeed in line with Alfonso's character, exuding nobility in a low-key manner. "I don't come here very often, but sometimes my friends come to stay for a few days." He said as he made coffee in the kitchen. "It's very nice here, it must be very pleasant to go on vacation in summer." Liu Xia admired sincerely. "Then next time I bring Margaret, Liu Xia, you can also come with me." He seemed to say something casually.Liu Xia faltered over with a vague smile, and looked at the wall clock on the wall, the hour hand had already pointed to six o'clock.And at this moment, a strong aroma of coffee gradually filled the air... "Have a cup of coffee to refresh yourself first." He came out of the kitchen with two exquisite cups. Liu Xia took the cup, tasted it, and said in surprise, "Mr. Alfonso, I didn't expect you to be very good at making coffee." Alfonso smiled, and accepted her praise frankly, "Apart from this, my cooking skills are not bad. I just have a chance to let you try it today. By the way, are you hungry?" It's good that he didn't mention it, it was only now that Liuxia remembered that she had been completely devoted to creation all day today, and even forgot to eat lunch, and now she really felt very hungry.Although she didn't answer, Alfonso clearly already knew the answer.He opened the refrigerator door and glanced inside, with a regretful expression on his face, "Well...it seems that I may not be able to entertain you today. There are too few ingredients here." Liu Xia put down the coffee, walked to the refrigerator and looked in, only to see some eggs and onions inside. "It can't be helped. After all, your friends only come to stay for a few days sometimes, and it's good to have these left." She thought for a while, then raised her head and asked, "Do you have spaghetti here?" Seeing that the other party nodded, she rolled her eyes again, "That's fine. If you don't mind, I'll make fried noodles with spaghetti. Well, just take it as a thank you for letting me shelter from the rain here. " Alfonso looked at her with interest, and said bluntly, "Okay." Liu Xia immediately got busy. She first took out the eggs and onions from the refrigerator, and cooked spaghetti in a pot.When she first came to Italy, because she couldn't buy noodles, she used this spaghetti instead.Unexpectedly, after trying it out, she found it to be pretty good, and it tasted quite chewy. In addition, the price of spaghetti was cheaper than the noodles in the store, so she simply kept using substitutes. She is very familiar with this fried noodles, so after a while, she served the delicious finished product on the table. Even though it was done in a hurry, this copycat chow mein looked pretty good too.The silky spaghetti is served with golden eggs and purple onions. The color is not too monotonous, and the aroma of the eggs is even more mouth-watering. Under the dim light, Alfonso's face showed a strange tenderness.His smile is always so elegant, with a kind of calmness that sees the world, but now he is slightly moved when facing this food. "There are too few ingredients, so I can only make a little casually. It doesn't matter if it doesn't taste good." Liu Xia handed him a fork. Alfonso took a sip unhurriedly, and bent the corner of his mouth, "It's delicious." Liu Xia was obviously relieved, "That's great. I'm afraid you won't be used to it." She also lowered her head and tasted her handicrafts. Maybe it was because she hadn't eaten all day. better than ever. Alfonso took two more sips, got up and brought over the red wine that had just been ventilated, poured some into her glass, and asked casually, "Have you... made it for Toto before?" Hearing this name unexpectedly, Liu Xia's hand holding the cup shook violently, a few drops of bright red liquid splashed out immediately, spreading quickly on the white tablecloth... "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. You've broken up with him, haven't you." He pulled out a napkin and handed it to her. "It's okay, we really... broke up." She squeezed these words out of her mouth, then lowered her head and ate noodles in a muffled voice, so she didn't see the glimmer of light in the other party's eyes. The rain outside the window seemed to be getting heavier and heavier. The rain dripped down the drain pipe on the roof and splashed countless splashes on the ground.The grass leaves that were soaked in rainwater were so clear and green that they were almost transparent, as if they were weeping silently.At some point in the room, soft background music sounded, which was an English song she was very familiar with. . If you wander off too far My love will get you home If you follow the wrong star My love will get you home If you ever find yourself Lost and all alone Get back on your feet and think of me My love will get you home... If you are wandering in the distance my love will take you home if you follow the wrong stars my love will take you home if you ever find yourself lost always feel lonely turn around, i'm in your heart My love will take you home... She raised her head in surprise, "So you also like Christine Glass's songs? I have liked her songs since a long time ago." Alfonso smiled slightly, "I have liked her songs for a long time. Her black metallic and I can almost see you are very good, but my favorite is this song My love will get you home." "Well, me too. My love will bring you home. The title of this song sounds very romantic. There was a time when I listened to this song over and over every day." Liu Xia was originally interested in this topic, and at the same time I wanted to divert my attention, so I talked more about this topic.In her impression, she thought that Alfonso would not like this kind of popular music, but it seemed that he was not as conservative as she thought. While chatting, she suddenly remembered something, "I don't know when the rain will stop. The ticket I bought back is at 10 pm, and I will leave after dinner." "Huh?" Alfonso raised his eyebrows, "Don't you know? Starting this afternoon, workers in the Italian transportation industry have gone on strike under the organization of the trade union. It is said that nearly a hundred thousand people participated in the strike this time. Maybe It will take a few days to get back to normal." "What!" Liu Xia was taken aback, "How could this happen? There was no sign at all. I was fine when I came in the morning." "It's not that those trade unions want to put pressure on the government to increase the budget of the transportation department. This is not a rare thing in Italy." Alfonso took a sip of red wine, as if he was used to such things. "But how should I go back?" Liu Xia began to worry, and depressedly put the fork in her hand aside. Alfonso stared at her quietly, his eyes were like the waves of the sea at sunrise in the early morning, reflecting a little bit of light. "I'm afraid I won't be able to go back tonight. If you don't mind, you can spend the night here. I'll take you back when the rain stops tomorrow." Liu Xia was stunned for a moment, several thoughts flashed through his head.If it's acceptable to just come to shelter from the rain, wouldn't it be too inappropriate to stay in a single man's house for one night?Although I lived in the Earl's house before, there were still many people at that time, unlike the house where there are only her and him now. But if she doesn't stay here, she won't be able to go back tonight at all.Go out and find a hotel?Not to mention that it is the tourist season, there is no spare room if there is no reservation, and the rain is so heavy that it may be difficult to drive a car. Isn't this going to trouble Alfonso again? "If you don't think you can trust me, I can also drive you back to Rome overnight." His expression was still calm, without any emotion. "That's not what I meant..." She quickly shook her head, "Don't get me wrong, I just..." "Since that's not what you mean, then stay here." He interrupted her, but his plain tone had an irresistible force. "I... then I'll trouble you again." He said so directly, but Liu Xia was embarrassed to refuse again. "Don't worry, I won't eat you." His eyes sparkled, and the corners of his lips curled into an unknown arc.