The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Leo drove Solberto to the outskirts of the village to catch a bus back to Palermo.

The two met Enzo at the village entrance.

"I thought I was the only one coming to see you off," the big guy said with a smile.

Solberto told Leo to go back first, saying he had something to say to Enzo.

Leo said goodbye to Solberto, told him to take care of himself and his health, and then obediently left.

Enzo walked up to Solbert and walked alongside him, then pointed behind him with his thumb:

"I thought you were going to teach Salvatore a lesson this morning before going back."

Solberto said with a smile:

"There are plenty of people willing to help Leo, why would it be my turn?"

Enzo laughed twice:

"It seems a lot happened last night. You've finally learned to 'let go'."

Solberto chuckled twice and pleaded:

"Please take care of Leo while I'm gone... Thank you."

Enzo is Malzamemi's toughest punch; if he's willing to look after him, Leo will have far fewer problems.

Enzo patted his bald head and said:

"Honestly, it might not even be my turn to do this."

"What do you mean?" Solberto had deliberately sent Leo away just to talk about this.

You're telling me now that you can't do it?

Enzo recalled certain scenes, his expression contorted with rage:

"When people think of 'ruthless,' I might not be the first person that comes to mind anymore."

......

Rosalia's rope cutter is gone.

Without a good knife, the risks of going to sea will increase rapidly.

On the day after the incident, she ordered a new knife from a merchant, specifying that it should be "easy to handle" and "sharp".

Rosalia, who was already a "celebrity" in Marzamemi recently, immediately made headlines in the village after this incident.

Some action movie enthusiasts have spread rumors that Rosalia feels one knife isn't enough and will need to carry two knives with her at all times.

Some busybodies even claimed that they saw a flash of cold light and clanging sounds coming from Rosalia's window when they passed by her house at night, and that she must be practicing her sword inside.

Even more troublemakers patted their chests and guaranteed that Rosalia had been a butcher in her village before marrying Simon, and that she worked in the tuna processing plant doing the dissection process, and that she was best at killing with a single blow.

"Have you heard? This morning Rosalia was talking to a merchant at the fish market about prices, and the merchant was so scared that he offered to raise the price by 1000 lira per kilogram and even asked her if she was satisfied."

"Huh? Will no one dare to trade with her after that?"

"How could that be! Who would dare bully the infamous 'Last Widow' Marzamemi? They'd probably want to eat her twin blades!"

"Stop talking! Two years ago, I accidentally stole two jars from their doorstep. No, I have to return them, otherwise my heart will keep pounding!"

"Hurry up and line up. Salvatore and his two brothers went to Rosalia's house early this morning to apologize, but we don't know why."

From that day on...

The title "The Deadly Widow" officially surpassed "Marzamemi's Hardest Fist" to become a synonym for brutality.

.......

Leo returned from the village entrance, first going to the fish market to explain to Aesop that Solberto had returned and hadn't gone crabbing that night, and then going to the general store.

We've gone through too much bread these past few days, so we need to restock.

He overheard the villagers whispering about the "Dead Widow" in the grocery store.

But he simply couldn't reconcile the fearsome "Dead Widow" with that pale, thin woman.

I just found it quite ridiculous.

"Didn't you just come here the day before yesterday? Why are you here again today?"

Nicholas knew his major clients' purchasing frequency like the back of his hand, and it wasn't his restocking time yet.

Leo puts bread in a bag:

"Uncle Sorbet came back yesterday, and I made him some food. We finished the bread I bought last time."

Seeing that Leo had bought another cheap item like bread, Nicholas said indifferently:

"Solberto came all this way back, so you're treating him to bread?"

Leo hurriedly explained:

"No, there are tomatoes too. I cooked them very well. Uncle Sorberto ate a lot of them; he was still eating them this morning."

"Impossible, impossible!" Nicholas shook his head vigorously. "Solberto's most hated food is tomatoes, isn't it, honey? I remember you two were neighbors when you were little?"

The couple who were mortal enemies yesterday are now as good as new. Nicholas's wife, Veronica, even offered to help her husband clean up the merchandise.

"Salberto's mother wasn't a very good cook; she only used tomato sauce in her cooking all year round, so Salberto didn't like tomatoes when he grew up."

Nicolas clapped his hands at Leo:

"See, I wasn't wrong!"

......

Having not slept all night, Leo was wide awake.

After buying the bread, he went to the shore where the big orange cat often stayed, and held the kitten while watching the slowly rising red sun.

At this time yesterday, he was dreaming.

The dream was so beautiful that when he woke up, he wanted time to stop so he could keep dreaming forever.

At this time of day, he is still very happy.

But he didn't want time to stop; he just hoped it would pass quickly.

Because in Sicily, there was someone who was very, very, very kind to him.

That person will be returning to Malmamemi in a little over two months.

......

Solberto's overnight tutoring solved the only remaining "difficulty" for Leo in diving fishing.

With this practical knowledge, Leo could proceed with confidence and boldness. The outcome was uncertain, but the safety was definitely sufficient.

Andrei's students are all over Sicily, and he found cheap and suitable equipment in just two days.

On the afternoon of the third day, around 2 p.m., Leo arrived at Andrei's house and took away what he had been longing for.

Andrei wanted to stay at his home to listen to him tell history, but Leo refused; he just wanted to get in the water and try it out as soon as possible.

Seeing Leo's eager expression, Andrei kindly advised him against it:

"I know you must be very enthusiastic right now, but little fox, don't set your expectations too high. Sea urchins hide during the day and are hard to find. Many fishermen can't find them. Remember to act within your capabilities."

Leo nodded, picked up his equipment, and left, telling Andrei to wait for his good news before he left.

......

Leo left, and Andrei went to the ice cream shop.

Andrei has been glued to the coffee shop lately, and he's been getting really close to Leo.

When the rare guest arrived at the ice cream shop, the other retired old men teased him:

Where is your little fox?

Andrea ordered a Sicilian summer limited edition lemon ice cream.

This ice cream requires a base of fresh lemons, and the quantity is limited each day; once it's sold out, it's gone.

He took off his reading glasses and wiped them clean.

"They've gone out."

"Where did they go?" the old men asked.

Andrei replied with little interest:

"Going to the shallows to look for sea urchins."

The old men's ambiguous laughter rose from all around, and they started chatting amongst themselves.

"Another unrealistic outsider has arrived."

"Young people these days have unrealistic ambitions; they always think there's nothing they can't do."

"Perhaps catching crabs gave him confidence, making him think that sea urchins are like crabs, and he can easily fill a whole basin with them."

"I can't even find sea urchins in the ocean; they hide in the rocks and you can't see them at all."

"Stop bragging! You can actually dive that deep? You surfaced before you even saw any rocks."

Old Nino scooped up a spoonful of ice cream, but it was too hot and the ice cream melted quickly, spilling all over him as he shivered.

But he smiled broadly and said to Andrei:

"You called Leo a little fox, and said he's someone who solves problems with his brain. I'd like to see how his brain manages to bring back sea urchins."

Andrei, not wanting to hear them speak ill of Leo, ended the conversation:

"Speaking of sea urchins, that's a fascinating topic! Do you know what the oldest species of sea urchin in the Mediterranean is?"

Suddenly, he stopped, smacked his lips twice on the ice cream, and then shouted into the ice cream shop:

"The lemon ice cream tastes pretty good today. Save me one, don't sell it all."

"Don't you have a copy?" old Nino asked him.

Andrei chuckled:

"For the little fox."

Andrei also believed that his little fox was destined to return empty-handed today—there was absolutely no chance that Leo would find the sea urchin.

He'll be slinking back in a bit...

Let's treat him to an ice cream to calm him down.