A sudden loud noise jerked Albert and Josephine out of their sleep.
Albert frowned, got up and checked the clock on his nightstand. It was still too early.
He told his wife before getting out of bed, "Don’t worry, I'll go check."
Josephine rolled over, eyes closed, obviously not planning to rise.
As time went on, the commotion downstairs grew louder.
Now curious, Josephine sat up and said, "I’ll go see what's going on downstairs."
They both walked out and saw Rosalind coming out of the guest room in her coat.
"Rosa." Josephine greeted, walking over to link arms with Rosalind.
By this time, Albert was already standing by the railing, frowning down at the scene below.
Rosalind and Josephine also went over to look.
In the downstairs hall, Egbert and Eileen were at each other's throats.
All of a sudden, another loud bang. The nunchaku missed its target but hit the balcony door frame, causing quite the noise.
Egbert grabbed Eileen's quick wrist, saying, "I swear it wasn't me."
Eileen shoved him away, aiming a kick at his leg. As Egbert dodged, she snapped, "If you didn't say it, then who did! Isabel is so young, so she can't possibly understand all this. And you're running away! Stay right there!"
Egbert stood on the other side of the couch, helplessly calling to Isabel in the dining area, "Isabel, say something."
Sitting high in her dining chair, Isabel was enjoying her food.
She looked up and said in a fake voice, "Auntie Eileen, Mr. Reed, stop fighting, don’t fight over me."
Egbert was speechless.
Eileen lunged at him, hand on the couch back, nunchaku thrusting at Egbert's belly!
But he dodged again…
After watching for a while, Rosalind rubbed her eyes, dazzled by the action.
Josephine scratched her face saying, "I thought something serious happened, it turned out just Eileen fighting with Egbert. Nothing to worry about, Rosa. Want to go back to sleep? It’s still early."
Rosalind nodded, "I'll go get some more sleep."
After Rosalind went back to her room, Josephine suggested to her husband, "Let's go back to sleep, too. You rarely get up late."
Albert said nothing. He just stood there, hands behind his back, still watching the scene below.
Josephine tugged at his arm, "Come on."
Albert shook his head solemnly, "You go first. I'll watch a bit more. The nunchaku is too short. I should give her a longer one."
Josephine slapped his arm, "Don't you dare give her any more of those things. She's a girl, do you really want her to keep learning how to use these things? Look how tired she's getting beating him up!"
Albert ignored her, pointing down and analyzing, "See. She could totally hit Egbert's shoulder, but the weapon is too short. It's limiting her."
Josephine retorted, "I'm not interested."
She went back to their room to catch up on sleep.
After a while, Josephine felt her husband come back to bed and asked, "Are they done fighting?"
Albert replied, "No, they took it outside. I can't see anymore."
Josephine indifferently said, "Then go back to sleep."
The couple drifted off to sleep again.
When they woke up two hours later, the living room was quiet. Isabel sat on the couch watching cartoons, while Eileen was making soup in the kitchen.
Egbert was alone in the dining room with a first aid kit, struggling to apply medicine to his arm.
Josephine added, "The maids can do that. You should take care of your hands. Don't always do these things, you need to take care of yourself."
Eileen was a bit embarrassed by the enthusiasm of the two elders. She scratched her head and said, "I just thought it'd be nice to make some soup, not sure if you guys would even like it. Give it a try and see if it's any good."
"It's gotta be delicious!"
"With that aroma, there's no way it's not tasty."
"Let me try. Oh wow, this is amazing! I've never tasted soup this good!"
"Eileen, come sit down and eat. Have you eaten yet? Here, have some too. Eat up, have some meat, you're too skinny!"
Egbert was sitting off to the side, thoroughly enjoying this peaceful moment.
After breakfast was over, Rosalind dragged Eileen off to the living room for a chat.
Then, Rosalind's phone rang.
She picked it up and saw that it was a call from Derek.
Rosalind hung up the phone, then turned to Eileen and said, "The truth is, I'm not really happy. I was out all day yesterday, and there was not a single call from home - they don't really care about me."
Eileen looked at Rosalind seriously, her eyebrows knitted together as she asked, "Is your current husband not treating you well?"
Rosalind just gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
Then, Rosalind's phone rang again, and she had no choice but to check it again.
Seeing that it was another call from Derek, she just blocked his number.
Then she said to Eileen, "Honestly, men are just no good. Eileen, you've got to avoid ending up like me. I regret getting married too early. I hope you can hold off on getting married, hold off on dating. I think women are most beautiful at forty, so you should start dating at thirty-nine. What do you think?"
Eileen looked at Rosalind a bit surprised.
Back in the dining room, Egbert who was wiping the table suddenly looked up and glanced over.
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