Since Delk Stelloff agreed to me that he would come to me the next night and take me to find the cafe that Strickland visits every day, so during the day I waited at my residence without going out. At night, we quickly found the place. It was really interesting. I found that I had been to this cafe, the one where Strickland and I drank absinthe five years ago. Unexpectedly, after so many years, he still likes to come here to relax at night. It can be seen that he is a guy with a difficult nature to move, which is the embodiment of his personality.

"He's there." Stelloff pointed in a direction and said to me.

It was October, but it wasn't too cold at night, and the coffee table was still on the sidewalk, sitting full. But I looked around and didn't notice Strickland.

"Looking at the corner over there, he was sitting there, playing chess."

I saw a man wearing a big felt hat almost lying on the chessboard, his red beard was very eye-catching. We walked over quickly and stopped in front of him.

"Strickland."

He raised his head when he heard the sound.

"Hi, Fatty. Are you in trouble?"

"My old friend wants to meet you."

Strickland glanced at me, and said nothing, probably because he didn't recognize me. His eyes returned to the board.

"Please sit down and don't make a sound." He finally said.

He took a step, looked at the board in front of him very attentively, and left us aside. Stelloff looked at me, his eyes full of anxiety, but I felt nothing bad. I ordered a drink and waited for Strickland to finish the game. This was an excellent opportunity to observe him carefully, and I was very happy. After observing for a while, I found that fortunately I was not here alone, otherwise I would not think that the person in front of me was Strickland. First of all, his beard was too long, covering most of his face. His hair was also very long, but this was nothing, and the most obvious change was his figure. He used to be

He is tall, but now he is extremely thin, which makes his big nose and cheekbones more obvious. His eyes also look bigger, and there are two deep pits under his temple. In short, he is too thin now. His clothes have not changed much, but they are still the same as they were five years ago, but they are already worn out. This set of clothes was at least fitting when he wore them five years ago, but now they look much wider. People who don’t know may think it is someone else’s old clothes when they see them. His hands are not clean and their nails are very long. Fortunately, his hands are very perfect, with clear joints, wide and powerful, but his hands didn’t seem like this before? I don’t remember them a lot.

His posture of concentrating on playing chess gave me an illusion - his body seemed to contain an extraordinary power. I don't know where this illusion came from, probably related to his thinness. When he finished a move, he would lean back and stare at his opponent's every move. His eyes showed an absent-minded emotion. His opponent was a fat Frenchman with a long beard. The Frenchman observed the chess game, suddenly started to curse a few words, then put the chess piece away, and threw it into the chess box. He cursed for a long time, and used very rude words. He called the waiter until he was satisfied with the scolding, paid the bill, and left. Stellov moved the chair and sat closer.

"I think we can start communicating now," he said.

Strickland looked at him, a hint of ridicule flashing in his eyes. I guess he was thinking about how to mock him, but he hadn't thought about it yet, so he didn't say anything for now.

"My old friend, he wants to come and see you." Stelloff repeated with a good temper.

Strickland looked at me silently, and during this period I was silent. It took him a minute before he spoke.

"I've never seen him," he said.

I don't know why he said this, because from his eyes, I'm sure he knew me. If it were me five years ago, I would definitely feel embarrassed, but now I won't.

"I met your wife not long ago," I said, "You must not mind if I talk to you about her recent situation, right?"

He smiled, his eyes shining.

"I haven't forgotten that we both had a great night together," he said. "How many years ago?"

"It's been five years."

He ordered another glass of vermouth. Stellov explained the consequences, including his reunion with me, and the fact that we decided to come to Strickland. During Stellov's speech, Stellov almost kept pondering, except for the few times he looked up and looked at me, so I was not sure how much he listened carefully. Thanks to Stellov being a chatterbox, otherwise we would probably be in a bad mood when we sat down. After half an hour, Stellov finally finished speaking. He looked down at the table below and told us that he had to go home. He asked me if I wanted to leave with him. I calculated that there were only two of us five years ago. If I stayed here for a while, I might know more about Strickland, so I told Stellov that he would leave alone and I would leave later.

So there were only two of us left, and I said:

"Delke Stelloff said to me, you are a great painter."

"He can say whatever he wants, I don't care!"

"I want to see your painting, do you agree?"

"Why would I promise to show you?"

"Maybe I want to buy one or two."

"Maybe I don't want to sell it yet."

"You should be doing pretty well, right?" I said with a smile. He let out an exaggerated laugh.

“Do I look like I’m doing well?”

"You are like the kind of person who can't eat enough every day."

"Indeed, I just can't eat enough."

"Then let's go eat something."

"You want to treat me to a meal? Why?"

"It's not because of kindness," my tone suddenly became cold. "Whether your stomach is hungry or not has nothing to do with me."

His eyes shone again.

"Okay, let's go," he stood up immediately, "I'm happy to have a good meal."
Chapter completed!