When the winter evening arrives on Long Island, the sunset is like honey and wine dripping from the sacred tree, slowly falling from the clear blue sky, until the forest is dyed, the shadows of the trees are green, and the crisp chirping of wild ducks as they return to their nests can be heard in the sky.

The anglers began to pack their things in an orderly manner, and then set out on the journey home in large bags.

Schiller first put a few fish alive and a bunch of squid into the tank, then put the killed and sliced fish and other ingredients in an incubator with ice packs, wrapped the fishing rod, folded the stool, and then he took two in one hand and walked forward.

Rogie, who was the last to come and carried the fewest things, couldn't help but turn her head to look at Schiller, and said with a smile: "In my mind, I never had the impression that you came home from work to buy vegetables and cook. ”

"I cook, but I don't usually buy groceries." Schiller lightly relaxed his shoulder, turned his head to look at Natasha and said, "After all, I was targeted by S.H.I.E.L.D. not long after I came to New York, and they volunteered to take care of all my food, clothing, housing and transportation resources. ”

"At that time, Nick was counting on you to eat grass and milk, but soon you gave him a slap in the face with your salary bills." Natasha also walked forward with a large bag and a small bag, and said with a smile.

As the sun sets on the ice, the mist that has been raised on the ice during the day due to the heat gradually disappears, making the ice appear to shine brightly.

Outside the battlefield full of dangers, without the rush of mundane things and the slaughter of the enemy, the elongated shadows of several people in the evening sunset are like carving knives for the souls of the worldly fireworks, removing the boredom and sorrow accumulated over the years.

They returned to the door of the lakeside hut, where Nick and Steve, who were closest to the hut, had already begun to erect the canopy, while Charles and Eric searched for something among the trees.

"Let's hope the ladies don't slow you down, Schiller, Professor Charles said he saw mallards among the bushes, and if we're lucky, we might be able to eat duck eggs."

"You're underestimating how nimble they are." Schiller put down the things in his hand one by one, turned his head to look at Gwen Spider-Man, who threw the things on the rocky beach in front of the door, shook his head and said, "It's just a little impatient, maybe hungry." ”

"Then we should take on the responsibilities of a gentleman." Steve helped Nick fix the stake, smashed it into the ground with another piece of wood a few times, and said, "Doctor, can you please check the menu?" That way, even if we're working on multiple projects at the same time, we won't find ourselves busy and out of food. ”

"Of course, I'll help you get Gwen here, she's looking forward to doing some hard work so she can avoid the questioning of Professor Charles, who has been busy getting all of Spider-Man to his academy lately."

Schiller went back to the house and changed into wading boots, walked to the reeds, called Gwen Spider-Man, who was taking pictures there, and then went to the bushes behind him to find Charles and his party.

Schiller looked left and right and didn't see Ivan, so he asked Charles, "What about your other teammate?" ”

"He's preparing a charcoal fire." Charles shook his head from side to side, searched the bushes for footprints, and said, "Charcoal for a barbecue is much more difficult to serve than a fire, and it has to burn just enough to put it in the barbecue, otherwise it may cause a flame and burn everything." ”

"Did I mention that I had an induction cooker, maybe it could be used to heat vegetables or pancakes, but there was no outside wires in the house, could any of you help with that?" Schiller asked as he took off his gloves.

"I'll go back with you, it's impractical to find a mallard duck here." Eric turned and walked towards the hut, but Charles was still in high spirits, and he waved at the two of them and said, "Go back first, I bet I can find their nest when I see the footprints of those little ones here, and then we can eat a steaming omelette." ”

On the way back to Schiller, Eric complained: "He was always like this, naïve like a child, with unrealistic fantasies, and always thinking himself amused. ”

"Maybe it's really interesting for him."

Eric glanced at Schiller in some surprise, Schiller seemed to understand what they were saying, stepped on the grass with one foot deep and one foot shallow, lowered his head and said, "Why, I didn't show a professional smile, and then explain to you in detail why Charles is so interesting from a psychological point of view that you don't feel comfortable?" ”

"I thought you were a doctor twenty-four hours a day."

"Maybe it used to be." Schiller's answer was equally brief and didn't explain anything, and Eric duly said: "That's good, Charles always goes out of his way to explain everything to everyone, which is also a big manifestation of his fantasy symptoms, and he probably really believes that there are no complete fools in this world." ”

They walked to the back of the house, Eric stroked the rose on the outside of the hut with his gloved hand, looked up at the roof again, looked up and said, "This is a typical fisherman's hut, but the owner of this house doesn't use a generator, he probably connected the wiring to the power grid of the street lamp next to it." ”

"You mean he's stealing electricity?"

"It's possible, but I don't think it's stealing, he still has to pay a lot of property taxes for this house, but he doesn't enjoy any municipal benefits, which he deserves."

To Eric's surprise, Schiller still didn't say anything, he just nodded and asked, "Is there a way to connect a line so that we can use the kitchen utensils normally outside the house?" ”

Eric also took off his gloves, he looked left and right, and said, "There's an underground warehouse here, let's go see if there's any usable cables there, I think there are." ”

Schiller knew why he was speculating, because if the owner of the house was stealing electricity from the cables, he would not have prepared just enough wires, and if there was any leftovers left, it would have been in storage.

Eric opened the cellar door and kicked open with his boot the door that was already somewhat glued together from the rust, Schiller tugged on the heavy cellar door, and Eric climbed up the ladder to enter.

After a while, a coil of cable was thrown up, and then Eric climbed up again, and he began to look around the house for a place to connect, and soon he and Schiller found the electrical box on the side of the house that the owner of the house had used to modify the wiring, and buried it under the wall on the east side of the house.

Eric connected the wires with astonishing skill, and Schiller stood by and said, "I didn't expect you to be so skilled as an electrician." ”

"Do you think I'm one of those little kids who can't even eat without their mutant abilities?" Eric snorted coldly, and said as he busied himself with his work, "I have done everything on the way to be hunted, electrician, bricklayer, porter, milkman, apprentice tooth extraction, repairing ship engines, and even being a church choir teacher. ”

"Can you sing?"

"Yes, but not much, a Spaniard taught me basic arias, and then I went into exile in Italy, and a lady who loved opera introduced me to a teacher."

Eric's narration is always flat and straightforward, without any modifiers, and even when it appears in the police transcripts, it seems a little shriveled, but because of the richness of its content, it is always reminiscent of those slightly gray years.

By the time the circuit had been fully set up and it was already dark, Eric who had returned to the camp looked in shock at the duck eggs in Charles's hand, who was like a child with a new toy, showing off his harvest to his old friend.

"I just looked at it with a flashlight, and there are two eggs in it that have been fertilized, so we don't eat these two, but take them back and hatch them, and I already need a few small animals to teach life lessons to the children of Xavier School for the Gifted."

Eric seemed to suddenly get angry, and he pulled his gloves off with some force, and said, "Yes, show them how loving you are, take the little animals away from their mothers, and then put them in cages to educate them." ”

"Hey, how can you talk to Dean Charles like that?" Gwen Spider-Man who came over stared at Eric's departing back, looking quite indignant, but Charles smiled at her and said, "Don't be angry, Gwen, are you going to eat?" ”

"No, Nick asked me to come over and ask Dean Schiller if he had decided on the menu, he disappeared and didn't bring back news for a long time, and we were all a little worried about him."

"I'm doing this, miss, but you have to tell me what you want to eat and what you can offer, or you'll fly into the reeds and no one will find you."

Gwen Spider-Man rolled his eyes and thought for a moment, and said, "I don't have anything special to eat, and a bunch of snacks I bought back are enough to fill my stomach...... Well, don't look at me like that, I know I should eat less junk food, so, fried fish? ”

Charles shook his head, obviously thinking that this was not much health, but Schiller nodded, he patted Gwen on the back to make her turn around, and said to her, "Go and see if the charcoal is burned, go ahead." ”

Gwen Spider-Man was kicked out of Schiller's conversation with Charles for some unknown reason, and she shook her head, but she didn't take it to heart.

But Gwen thinks she understands what Schiller means when Gwen Spider-Man walks around the house, while Ivan and Natasha, two Russians, are fiddling with the charcoal fire for the barbecue.

Gwen Spider-Man glanced left and right and saw that there was no one else around, so she rushed to the place where the two were working in three steps and two steps, stopped with a sudden brake, covered her mouth with her hand and coughed softly twice, and said to Ivan, "Uh, Nick, they're looking for you." ”

Ivan looked up into the distance with some confusion, but Gwen Spider-Man had already squeezed into the middle of the two, and pushed Ivan out, and then said, "Hurry up, just leave it to me here." ”

Ivan glanced down at the charcoal fire, which was almost ready, stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and walked off into the distance.

"What's wrong with you? Gwen? Natasha, who was squatting on the ground and turning charcoal, looked up at Gwen Spider-Man in surprise and asked.

"It's nothing, I just got in from Dr. Schiller, and he told me to make sure the charcoal fire was ready on time." Gwen Spider-Man winked at Natasha.

Natasha's heart suddenly alarmed, she stared at Gwen's face repeatedly, as if to make sure that the clear stupidity was not tainted, and Gwen Spider-Man observed the female agent's slightly nervous expression, and said to herself, "Sure enough".

(End of chapter)