Chapter 241: Had to Come Take a Look
Chapter 241: Had to Come Take a Look
Very soon, Elizabeth came out of her room wearing a bright pink lapel trench coat, holding a folding umbrella in her hand.
“Eric, let’s go.”
Eric shook his head.
“That outfit won’t do. I remember you have a dark blue wool trench coat, right? Go change into that one.”
Elizabeth looked at Eric strangely and protested, “It’s not that cold today. That one’s a bit too thick.”
“Then don’t come with me.”
Eric shook his head and lifted his foot to leave. Elizabeth quickly grabbed him.
“Alright, alright, I’ll go change.”
Because he was unfamiliar with the roads, Eric drove a rented car while checking the map, stumbling along the way. It took them an hour and a half before they finally arrived at their destination.
Elizabeth looked outside the car, then leaned over to compare it with the map. Unable to identify the place at first glance, she asked, “Eric, this is Volunteer Park. What are we doing here?”
Eric shook his head.
“Look more carefully. The park is to the south.”
The woman looked outside more carefully a few times, then immediately widened her eyes and shrank back.
“This is a cemetery. Ugh, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have come with you.”
“Then you can wait here.”
Eric did not force her and simply said so before pushing open the door and getting out of the car.
Elizabeth stared at Eric’s back with a strange expression. After hesitating for a while, she still got out and followed him.
Eric bought a bouquet from the flower shop beside the cemetery, then asked the owner a few questions. Clearly, this was not the first time the owner had heard such inquiries. He directly took out a small map of the cemetery and enthusiastically pointed out the directions to Eric.
From their conversation, Elizabeth also caught words like Bruce Lee and the like. Following Eric into the cemetery, they walked for quite some time before she suddenly said, “Oh, I remember now. That… that Bruce Lee.”
Walking ahead, Eric turned back and glared at the woman.
“Keep your voice down. Don’t forget what kind of place this is.”
The woman immediately covered her mouth, looked around, stuck out her tongue, and hurried after him.
After entering from the main gate and turning west through several bends, Eric quickly saw a dark red gravestone. After confirming it matched what the shop owner had described, he walked over.
Elizabeth followed him over and, seeing the photo on the gravestone, tugged on Eric.
“What are we doing here?”
“Just looking.”
Eric answered softly. He stepped forward two paces and crouched beside the black stone sculpture shaped like an open book, placing the bouquet beside the grave.
Elizabeth quietly crouched beside him. Looking at Eric’s focused profile, she could clearly sense some indescribable emotion radiating from him. It was neither sadness nor quite remembrance. Occasionally, a faint smile would even appear at the corner of his lips, as though he had recalled something interesting.
Eric did not hide his emotions, but neither did he explain anything to the woman.
Since he had come to Seattle, he had to come take a look.
He could not really be considered a diehard fan of Bruce Lee, but the feelings he held toward Bruce Lee’s films were perhaps purer than those of many people who called themselves diehard fans.
Not to mention this life — even in his previous life, Bruce Lee had already passed away before Eric was born.
When Eric watched Bruce Lee films in his previous life, he had still been a clueless little kid.
That had been sometime in the mid-1980s. One of his childhood friends had a father who made money doing business and bought a VCR for the family. So every day after school, a group of little kids would crowd into that friend’s house to watch videotapes.
It was also during that time that Eric first watched Fist of Fury starring Bruce Lee. Among the limited number of videotapes they had, it was the favorite movie of the entire group, and naturally the one they watched the most.
Every time after finishing the movie, the group of children would run through the streets and alleys howling and imitating the moves from the film. They made simple nunchaku out of sticks and rope, and often played the role-playing games children of that era loved, endlessly arguing over who got to play Chen Zhen.
Later, as he grew older, he gained access to more and more information, and watching movies became easier and easier.
But he never again found that same pure sense of happiness from childhood.
Even after so many years had passed, and even after accidentally transmigrating and being reborn, Eric could still clearly remember every detail of Fist of Fury. They were memories filled with emotion, memories that could still bring a smile to his face, rather than the cold, hard-drive-like memories brought by transmigration.
After crouching before the gravestone for a while, Eric stood up, stepped back twice, and bowed slightly toward the grave.
Seeing that Elizabeth, though reluctant, still copied his actions, Eric finally smiled lightly.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Mhm.”
Elizabeth nodded. Though she still occasionally glanced at Eric with puzzled eyes, she followed him back onto the cement path.
The woman puffed out her cheeks, took a deep breath, then stepped forward and wrapped her arm around Eric’s.
Under Eric’s questioning gaze, she softly said, “You walk too fast. I can’t keep up.”
When saying this, her tone seemed to carry some additional meaning.
“Oh, then I’ll walk slower.”
The emotions in Eric’s mind had not yet fully faded away, so he failed to notice the deeper implication in her words. He simply nodded and allowed the woman to cling to him.
Even after they left the cemetery and got back into the car, Elizabeth never managed to gather the courage to voice her doubts.
Naturally, Eric had no intention of explaining things to her on his own.
“Hungry? I’ll take you to eat something.”
Looking at the drizzle beginning outside the car window, Eric asked Elizabeth in the passenger seat.
The woman finally rolled her eyes.
“I haven’t eaten a full meal once these past few days.”
“Then I’ll treat you to a big meal as compensation.”
Eric smiled as he started the car.
“Where do you want to go after lunch?”
Elizabeth thought for a moment, then shook her head.
Eric tentatively suggested, “How about the University of Washington? I think it’s not too far from here.”
“The University of Washington is better in spring. You can see the cherry blossoms then. There’s nothing much to look at right now.”
Subconsciously, Eric thought of Wuhan University. He had not expected there to also be a university famous for cherry blossoms across the distant ocean.
“Then how about the Space Needle?” Eric asked again.
Although Seattle frequently appeared in many films, Eric truly did not know what tourist attractions the city actually had. Aside from Bruce Lee’s resting place, the only thing he knew about was the Space Needle.
“No. My home is in Manhattan. I’m already sick of climbing the Empire State Building.”
At last, Eric shrugged helplessly.
“Alright then. After lunch, we’ll head back. I just happen to have a few things I need to take care of.”