Chapter 4 third chapter

Back home in Amsterdam, my father was particularly quiet and always busy.I waited anxiously for the opportunity to ask him again about Professor Rossi.But he always seems to avoid me, except sometimes I sit next to him, waiting for a gap to ask questions.At this time, he would reach out and stroke my hair absent-mindedly but slightly sadly.At this time, I really can't bear to ask Professor Rossi's story again. When my father went to the south again, he took me with him.He just needs to go there for a meeting, and it's not very formal, so it's not worth the trip.But he said he wanted to take me to see the scenery there.

In the bus, I was engrossed in looking out the window. Ragusa's main avenues were paved with marble, polished by so many shoe soles over the centuries, and reflected by the lights of the surrounding shops and palaces.So much so that it looks like the surface of a Grand Canal. We slumped at a coffee table at the seaside end of the city, which used to be the center of the city. "The South is comfortable," said my father approvingly, picking up a bottle of whiskey and a plate of grilled sardines. "When did you come here before?" It was only then that I began to believe that my father had a life before me, his life before I was born.

"I've been here several times, maybe four or five times. The first time was many years ago, when I was a student. My tutor suggested that I come to Ragusa from Italy just to see the wonders here. I Studying—I told you I was studying Italian one summer in Florence." "You mean Professor Rossi." "Yes." My father gave me a sharp look, and then went to his whiskey. "I should tell you more about him." "I want to hear it," I replied cautiously. Father sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you more about Rossi tomorrow, during the day, I won't be too tired then, and we can have some time to see the city wall."

He gestured to the gray and bright city walls above the hotel with his wine glass, "It's better to tell stories during the day, especially those kind of stories."