In the dimly lit hut, the orange glow of several kerosene lamps illuminates the room. The middle-aged man stood in front of the window, and the afterglow of the setting sun reflected his slightly vicissitudes of life in red.

The playful girl standing behind her had some beautiful short hair, and some of her baby's fat faces revealed a little dissatisfaction, and her expression was as proud as a princess.

"Why did you ask me to come to this place? It was tattered and rotten, and it smelled of kerosene. The girl looked around with a frown, her eyes full of disdain.

"This is the house where an excellent admiral lived, and it will be a place to be admired by the world in the future." The middle-aged man gave a positive appreciation.

"This place will be admired?" The girl shook her head, with a "you liar" expression.

"When you become a hero, no matter how humble your starting point is, you will still be respected and admired." The middle-aged man said firmly.

He turned slowly and looked down at the girl with a solemn look in his eyes. He asked softly, "Do you know why I refused your request at the time?" ”

"Who knows." The girl replied absentmindedly, but the hand that stirred the corners of her clothes betrayed her restless heart.

"Like I said at the time, I'm not worthy of you." The middle-aged man said seriously, "I didn't lie to you, you are like a bright pearl, you should find someone who really knows the goods to protect you well, but I am not that person." ”

"Hmph, who knows if you're perfunctory to me." The girl tilted her head with a look of disdain for you.

"It's not perfunctory." The middle-aged man was a little helpless, "Now that the admiral worthy of you has appeared, as long as you want, you can go to him." ”

"Is that the owner of this house you are talking about?"

"Indeed." The middle-aged man nodded, "He's a good-looking boy, and he's very good at cooking, I don't think you'll regret it when you see him." ”

"How can you not regret it, even the place where you live is so tattered, who knows if you will not even be able to eat enough if you sign a contract with him." The girl retorted loudly, like a disobedient child, disgusted by the harsh environment.

The middle-aged man didn't speak, just stared at the grumpy princess quietly, and said in a deep voice, "Sometimes the external material conditions don't determine everything, only the inner happiness is the only criterion for choice." If I didn't have any resources at that time, and I couldn't even solve the problem of food and clothing, would you still choose me? ”

"I don't know, I think," the girl lowered her head, a little afraid to look at the middle-aged man, she clenched the corners of her clothes, struggling inwardly, and finally gave an ambiguous answer. "Maybe."

"That's right, in fact, what you care about is not the superior external conditions, the rich material life, just hope to find a commander who satisfies you, whether he is poor or rich, as long as you like it." The middle-aged man raised his hand and pressed it heavily on the girl's thin shoulder, as if handing over the great responsibility to her. "Believe me, he will be a good admiral, and although there is almost nothing left now, I am sure that in the near future you will be proud of him. And time is short, I can't say more, the situation is very unoptimistic, I may lose contact with you at any time, this may be the last time we meet, you listen carefully to me. The middle-aged man half-squatted down with a serious expression, "Wait a minute, you go to the dock, there is a boat at the end, ferry No. 103, you tell the captain that I am going to a place with light, this is the code word I agreed with him, he will take you to where you should go." Once there, you'll see a corpse. ”

"Corpses? Is he dead? The girl was a little stunned.

"Yes, if the intelligence is not wrong, he should have been killed by the deep sea." The middle-aged man nodded, "That's exactly what I'm going to ask you for." ”

"You want me to save a corpse for the only time?"

"yes, that's what I mean."

"Why! I don't even know who he is, what his name is, or how he is, so just let me sign a contract with a corpse and become his ship's mother with your words? Why! The girl was a little angry, and she said two words in a row to vent the anger in her heart. She is not a Commander, that's a fact. But there was no shortage of admirals, as long as she wanted to, she spoke, and countless excellent admirals lined up to beg her to sign a contract, from this end to the Pacific Ocean. And now I was asked to sign a lifelong agreement with a corpse I didn't know and was destitute, why, just because you were the admiral who once made my heart move?

The middle-aged man was stunned, he didn't expect the girl to be so angry, like a fried-haired lioness. But think about it, I refused her request at the beginning, and I have almost ignored her for so many years, and now when I need her, I come to ask her to sign a contract with the dead Jiqi according to her own arrangement, and such a request will make everyone angry. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "I know it's unfair and unreasonable to you." He sniffled and said in a heavy tone, "I knew it was my fault for rejecting you at the time, but it was really that I was not worthy of you, my potential was limited, and I was in a very dangerous situation at that time, they wanted me to die, and they thought of many ways." Even though I'm alive now, it's no different from being dead, and my name is still engraved on the Academy's monument, and I can't even go to see my wedding ship, the Enterprise. ”

Speaking of this, the middle-aged man touched the tears oozing from the corners of his eyes, and continued, "And he is an even better admiral than me, with unlimited potential, and can destroy the deep sea and lead humanity to victory." But such a person will not let go of the deep sea, and because of this, the deep sea almost went out to clean his town guard mansion thoroughly. ”

"So he's dead?" The girl asked.

"Yes, he died in battle." The middle-aged man nodded, "However, he didn't choose to run away like me, but took up arms to fight, which is what I admire about him." ”

He pulled out a golden card from his suit pocket, engraved with a mysterious pattern, and solemnly handed it to the girl, "This is what I have left over for so many years, and now I am useless." If you don't want to sign a contract with him, take this card with you where you want to go, and the money in it will be enough to live for decades. I don't want to force anyone to do something they don't want to do, even if that thing can save the world. ”

"So, please tell me your choice, whatever it is, I will respect it." The middle-aged man waited for the girl's answer, like an audience waiting for the ending, anxious. Of course, he hopes that the girl can follow his advice and sign a contract with Jiqi, so that he still has one last hope, if he doesn't want to, he can only silently accept the end of failure, no one can force a free person to do what he doesn't want to do, and the same is true for the ship's mother.

"I, I'll go check it out." The girl whispered, "Let's talk about it first, just to see, if it doesn't meet my requirements, I'll turn around and leave immediately." ”

The middle-aged man smiled happily, like a child getting candy. He nodded heavily, "Well, he must be the best admiral in the world, trust me." ”

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The light oozing from the jungle illuminated the boy's cold body, his eyes were closed on his blood-colored face, and the slightly raised corners of his mouth seemed to be his last smile. The white admiral uniform on the young man's body was stained red with bright red blood, and hideous wounds were all over his body, some of which were deep in the bones.

Wales walked heavily towards the soaked land, staring blankly at the Admiral's cold corpse, and she could even imagine how the Admiral had been slain by the cruel depths of the sea, and how he had stubbornly picked up the weapon she had given him and fought the enemy until he died.

She crouched down and embraced Jiqi's thin, cold body in her arms, as heavy as if she were holding the whole world. The tears in his eyes were like sudden rain, dripping down without stopping.

She regretted her choice to stop the Admiral when he left, and not let him face it alone. If that were the case, he wouldn't be like this and could only cry helplessly holding the corpse, at least he could fight with the stupid admiral and face everything together, even if the end was destruction, it would be good. At least, to be able to lie down next to the Admiral, as usual to sleep, looking at his long eyelashes, with a smiling face, holding him into a deep sleep.

Even if it is death, I will not regret it, and I will accept it happily. However, there is no if, no even, no even. What has happened has already happened, no one can predict the future, nor can it change the established facts, the past has become history, no one can change history, and neither can they themselves, they can only watch everything happen, there is no other way.

She has never been so depressed as she is now, even when she was sunk by countless carrier-based aircraft, she did not regret it at all, she just felt that her mission had been completed and she could go to another world with peace of mind. However, now the remorse in my heart is like a stormy wave, drowning this poor girl who has lost everything and slapping it to the bottom of the sea.

Wales sniffled, gently lifted Jiqi's head, leaned against her face, did not mind the dirt and fallen leaves on his face, as if whispering, she whispered in Jiqi's ear, "Didn't you say that you would be my royal chef, cook for me every day, and make me happy?" But what are you now? Breach of agreement? Clearly said yes, why not make it happen. ”

In the face of the girl's questioning, Jiqi couldn't give any answer, he didn't want to leave her, he also tried his best to fight, and he fought hard. Yet, like all tragedies in the world, God shook his head and gave a negative answer to those who prayed. He lost, lost so completely that he couldn't even settle down in the ground, he could only lie on the cold ground, let the wind and rain blow, and slowly decay into a dry bone, and then no one remembered his existence, except for the beautiful figure in his heart.

However, this did not seem to be the end, and Wales had unfounded belief that in the near future he would appear to him again, with a familiar smile, as he had seen at the first meeting. Hold yourself, just like you hold him now, and whisper to her, I'm back, and I'm never going to leave.

She looked at the golden sea in the distance, hugged Jiqi tightly, and silently waited for that moment to come, or forever