There are always two or three kittens in Boss Dart's bar, but according to him, every time after dark the place is very lively and full of guests.

Regarding the high-rise building he mentioned, I couldn't think of anyone other than the two drunkards, but since I didn't stay till night, I'll believe what the boss said for the time being.

"Boss, are you really not planning to change your career?" I reminded him kindly.

"Marcus, can you say something auspicious? My business here is very good and there is no need to change my career."

"But Lin is mopping the floor for the tenth time today. Are you sure there are guests coming? The toilet is used more than the kitchen, right?"

I looked at Lin in the tavern. She was still busy working in the tavern with great enthusiasm, sprinkling water on the spotless floor, and preparing to mop it again.

"There are a lot of people here every night, I'm just making preparations."

"Yes, yes, yes, boss, everything you said is right." I looked back and asked, "Boss, why don't you let Lin come to my ranch to help for two days? You have nothing to do here anyway..."

Lin next to me heard what I said, quickly put down her tools and ran to the bar, looking at her dad with bright eyes.

"Hey, I told you that I have a lot of customers here! But..." Boss Dart couldn't stand Lin's plea, and finally relented, "When there are no customers, I can go to your place to help. The labor cost will be calculated."

"

"yeah!"

Lin and I gave each other a high-five.

This is what I agreed with Lin last time to come to my ranch as a guest when she had time, but since Boss Dart never gave her leave, it has been postponed until now.

Lin went upstairs contentedly, and Boss Dart and I were left staring at each other.

"Father-in-law, you said..."

"Don't call me father-in-law!"

Every time this title is mentioned, Boss Dart starts to sneer and glare, why should he care so much when it's obviously just a title.

What a cautious man.

"Okay, Boss Dart, let me ask you another piece of gossip. Do you have any news about Mrs. Lilia's illness?"

Boss Dart paused in wiping the quilt, then turned his gaze elsewhere and spoke slowly.

"Rod didn't abandon his family."

I actually saw a firmness in the eyes of my former boss Dart that was beyond rational judgment, like...unconditional trust?

"But why hasn't he come back?"

Boss Dart gave me a meaningful look: "It was the child Purbury who told you. That's because she has no memory of her father."

"No one who knew Rod could doubt his affection for his family."

"We have known each other since he and Lilia settled in the town. Lin's mother was still there at that time, and our two families moved around frequently. The most common thing I saw was Rod walking around the town with Lilia.

picture."

"But around the time Lilia was pregnant, she became visibly reclusive."

"Later, Rod told me that Lilia's health began to deteriorate, and any disease would cause her discomfort. Moreover, her energy was also very easily depleted, almost to the point of being weak."

"We went to the doctor in the town, but we didn't get a definite answer. Then they left the town for a while, and when they came back, they seemed to have made up their minds and stayed behind closed doors."

"It wasn't until after Lilith's two children were born that Rod embarked on a journey of seeking medical advice that lasted for more than ten years. I received letters from him regularly, with mailing addresses ranging from the southern islands to the northern ice fields.

"

"Looking at the areas where mailings are made, this man's schedule for more than ten years has been to start from one place and go to the next destination."

"I can still see the straightforward man from before, writing furiously in a hotel in a strange city, sharing the latest news and places he has visited, and planning his next destination."

I took a mouthful of rice, chewed it twice and then swallowed it.

Judging from Boss Dart's description, a man who has been struggling with his wife's illness for more than ten years does not look like a scumbag who abandoned his wife and son.

So the question arises, what disease did Mrs. Lilia have? Why did she frantically seek medical advice, but to no avail.

I can only compare such a desperate and long journey to those poor parents who were looking for their abducted children in my previous life. If it were not for the helplessness, it would never be like this self-exile.

"Then what is the cause of Mrs. Lilia's illness?"

Boss Dart spread his hands.

"There has never been an answer to this question. You can understand it as the ignorance of our small place, but we have never seen such a strange disease."

"Have you ever seen paper drawings?"

"Paper drawing?"

"It is a three-dimensional shape made of paper. The outer layer of paper is filled with patterns, but the inside is actually empty."

"Lilia is actually in this state. She looks just like a normal person on the outside, but she is so weak that she can only show her appearance."

"Spring manifests itself in lethargy. Every day I have to sleep for longer than I imagined. I have to rely on refreshing concoctions to suppress lethargy."

"In summer, she is extremely afraid of heat and sun exposure. Exposure to the sun for a while will cause her skin to burn and her body temperature to rise abnormally, forcing her to go out at night."

"In autumn, she is extremely sleepy, and her energy dissipates faster than ordinary people. She can often be seen in front of the window in a daze for more than an hour, and then she comes back to her senses like waking up from a dream and does what she was doing before she fell into a daze.

.”

"She will be very afraid of the cold in winter. During the days when there is heavy snowfall, she can only stay in a room with a full fireplace heater all day long. Once the cold wind blows, it will cause frostbite in the contact areas."

"This strange symptom no longer looks like a disease. Instead, it seems like it is unable to adapt to the environment of this world and is rejecting nature."

I also recalled what I had learned, and it seemed that even astronauts who had been frozen for long periods of time for interstellar travel would not have such a resistance to the environment.

"Doctor Dot comes from a big city, can't he see any disease?"

Boss Dart frowned and said.

"Dr. Dot is a responsible young man. When he first came to town, he made a detailed diagnosis and sent the case to his mentor. But in the end there was no conclusion."

"There are too many such problems, and we can't deal with them at all. For example, Sebala's stubbornness, Dick's desire to save face, Thomas's narcolepsy, Jeff's henpeckedness..."

Those are simply attacks on life!

"Boss...these you are talking about are not the same thing..."

"Oh, that's what I mean. Everyone has their own shortcomings, so why should we insist on perfection? If we don't compete so hard, Rhodes won't be misunderstood by the children."

"By the way, is there any cause for Mrs. Lilia's illness? There must be an initial symptom, right?"

Boss Dart paused for a moment, as if he was thinking hard and picking up useful fragments from the ocean of memories.

This competition lasted for a long time, and the efforts finally paid off.

"I remember it seemed that one day before she got sick, Lilia and Rhodes were chatting in the tavern. They suddenly said they didn't feel well, and then said they wanted to go back to sleep and rest. After that, things started to get weird."

"Not feeling well? Is it a symptom of illness?"

I asked curiously, but got an answer that made me tremble for a long time and almost couldn't help myself.

Boss Dart frowned and tried his best to describe the scene in his memory.

"Lilia was sitting here that day...yes, right in your position...suddenly said that she might be too tired and suddenly had auditory hallucinations. She heard a harsh singing voice lingering in her ears."

"She listened carefully and found that the singing was the clearest when facing the direction of Mads Mountain."
Chapter completed!