Chapter 14: The Square in Front of the Grand Cross District Station (please read)
The moment he opened his eyes, Lin Qi was in a trance.
It was already bright outside the window, and the street was noisy with people and horses neighing. .
He squeezed his arms and kicked his legs to confirm that he was not dreaming.
I have really traveled through time and am in a mysterious world similar to the Victorian era.
Looking at his pocket watch, it was already twelve o'clock, and I slept until noon.
It seems that the enthusiasm for using the fiery lady in the end still brought a huge burden to the body.
Get up, you have to hurry up, you have an appointment with Officer Natalie, and you have to look for a house later.
After washing up quickly, I rummaged through the cupboard and found a piece of dry bread. Although it was hard enough to be used as a weapon, it was at least five pennies a pound of white bread, not three pennies a pound, but at least half of it. Brown bread with unknown ingredients.
You shouldn't die if you eat it.
I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, soaked in water and stuffed the unpalatable dry bread into my stomach.
Except for the teeth, there is no feeling of eating.
Forget it, in difficult times, just experience the life of a medieval aristocrat.
We must live a normal life as soon as possible.
Lynch put on the only formal clothes in front of the mirror and picked up the cheap old cane. Very good, travel companion, let's go and continue to take you to experience this new world.
[Okay, Awakener. 】
The gentle voice was as usual, and fell into silence after it sounded. However, Lin Qi felt that he was a hundred times more energetic in an instant, pulled up his chair and strode out of the apartment.
Almost bumped into the person standing at the door.
Who.
It was a thin, dry, middle-aged man wearing a formal suit and a mustache. Lynch looked a little familiar, but after comparing it with his memory, his expression became quite strange.
Mr. Wilson Natch, another identity, landlord.
Lynch immediately looked at the window behind him.
The height of the second floor, if you jump out of the window and escape, you will probably break your legs.
"Lynch Leviev, what's the matter with you? I heard that you brought the police to the door. There is also this door. Do you want to demolish the house? It will be repaired soon."
"It's okay, it's just good citizens assisting the Department of Order's investigation. The problem has been solved." Lin Qi nodded with a smile and asked anxiously, "Mr. Wilson, why are you here today..."
" Are you still waiting for me to collect the rent?" Wilson said in a high tone.
"Today? Not tomorrow?" Lynch looked at the window again.
"Huh, it's so shabby every month. How can I starve you to death if I pay you one day early? I have to put it off until the last day. No wonder no one comes to your shabby office. Let me tell you, you can't do it even if you are one penny short tomorrow. Otherwise, don’t blame me for throwing all your luggage out when the time comes.”
The meanness came out of the rat-bearded man’s mouth, making Lynch tremble at the corner of his mouth, and the blood vessels in his forehead jumped, and he wanted to. The opponent kicked him out.
Forget it, I have made up my mind to move anyway.
"By the way, I came today with a letter from you. I don't know who stuffed it into my mailbox last night."
An ordinary envelope with Lynch's name written on it and even a stamp. No, I obviously put it in the mailbox myself rather than mailing it.
It can’t be that the previous client sent me the reward.
Ignoring his anger, Lynch took the envelope, waved his fist at Wilson's leaving back, and quickly opened the envelope.
No money.
Lin Qi sighed painfully, took out the letter paper inside, read it again, and his face became gloomy.
Mr. Lynch Levy:
Thank you for your wonderful performance last night.
As a bonus, enjoy the last month of your life.
One month from now, I look forward to seeing you again in the Hall of the Flashers.
There is no signature, just a weird smile.
Lin Qi frowned and looked at the letter paper against the light. After all, he was not really a professional detective. There was no clue on the letter paper.
He pursed his lips, folded the letter, and put it into his pocket. His good mood just now was cast into a haze.
Provocative?
Did he have nothing to do?
If it's not idle, it means there must be a purpose for doing such stupid things, but I don't know it yet.
It doesn’t matter, there is still a month left, I can think about it slowly.
Lin Qi smiled coldly, put the envelope away, took a deep breath, regained interest and left the apartment.
This place is not close to the Ale Street on the address. It takes at least an hour to walk there, and it takes a lot of physical energy. After much hesitation, Lynch still reluctantly made a decision.
Just walk.
After all, even the cheapest public carriage, which can carry twenty passengers, costs three pennies for a five-kilometer journey. As for the other two types of rental carriages, they are even more expensive.
A closed-car taxi carries four passengers. The starting price for three kilometers is twelve pence, which is one shilling, and two pence per kilometer thereafter. The starting price for an open-top taxi carrying two passengers is only eight pence, one penny per kilometer.
I can’t even bear to part with a public carriage, let alone a rental carriage.
Lynch gritted his teeth and left, just like taking his travel companions to visit the Rhine City.
In fact, this is the first time that Lynch has used a daytime perspective to appreciate this novel world.
Breathing the air mixed with the faint smell of coal smoke and walking among the gentlemen and ladies in formal attire, Lynch felt that he was gradually integrating into this strange new world.
This place is at most the level of the 18th century, when steam engines had just entered people's lives.
Farmland is getting less and less, and there are more and more factories emitting black smoke. Horse-drawn carriages loaded with coal and whale oil often pass by on the streets, and steam trains loaded with goods continue to pass through the city.
As the second largest city in the Rand Kingdom, the Rhine City with a population of one million covers nearly a thousand square kilometers including the suburbs. According to the custom left over from the lords' era three hundred years ago, the city is divided into twelve districts. .
The river valley area where Lynch Apartment is located is a relatively developed commercial area, and various shops can be seen everywhere, reflecting the freedom and unrestrainedness of this era.
As his pace became faster and faster, the noise and bustle of the business district gradually faded away. Lynch passed through the Crown District in the center of the city and entered the Grand Cross District where railroad tracks can be seen everywhere.
The train station is built in this area, and trains from all directions will meet here, making the Grand Cross area particularly lively.
Wiping the sweat mixed with smoke and dust on his forehead, Lynch stopped in a large square not far from the train station.
Foot pain.
With a whistle, the steam locomotive dragging black smoke and white mist rushed out of the station like a ferocious steel monster, roaring into the distance.
Strong laborers carried boxes of goods through the crowd, passengers on their way dragged their suitcases through the streets, vendors pushing carts shouted from time to time, and thin newsboys ran along the streets waving rolls of newspapers.
“Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, last night the police raided the lair of a group of cultists, and nine cultists died on the spot.”
“Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, the Best Mountain Tunnel is about to start construction , the mountain people secretly planned a march to prevent the construction of the tunnel. ”
"Extra, extra, the kingdom has introduced the first aerostat. Princess Sophia of the Rose family will use the aerostat to visit various cities..."
Lin Qi was a little stunned for a moment. The extraordinary power of the new world may be quite far away. But the breath of life has quietly come around.
Especially that sneaky lady dressed as a man on the street.
On a sunny afternoon, hold a cup of warm coffee, wait in a long line to buy a few fragrant honey biscuits, squeeze through the passing crowds, peek around secretly on the way, quickly take a bite of the biscuit while no one is paying attention, and then take another sip. Hot coffee, this kind of life is simply...
"It turns out that Officer Natalie is lazy and goes out to buy snacks when she is working." Lynch caught up with him in a few steps.
Wow, a paper package of biscuits fell from my hand. Fortunately, Lin Qi was quick and caught it in time. The sweet smell of honey whetted my appetite. No wonder this woman had to queue up to buy it when she was fishing at work. eat.
When Lynch raised his head and was about to hand over the paper bag, he found that the lady in front of him was blushing, her head was like a steam locomotive, almost emitting white smoke, and she explained helplessly: "I, I, I, I, I don't. "
"Huh?"
"That's right, I have a friend who brought it for him, no, it's not for me."
"Oh, I understand, I understand, I have a friend, understand, I also have... Wow."
The red-faced police officer stopped Lynch's teasing in the most effective way, stepping on her At his feet, he grabbed the biscuits and stuffed them into his windbreaker pocket. He coughed dryly and tried to cool down his cheeks. He pretended to be serious and said: "You came earlier than I thought. I thought you would wait until night to make a decision." "
"I wanted to ask you to help me sell the ring and move to a cheaper house, but before I left, the landlord sent me a letter, which I intentionally sent to his mailbox to avoid being tracked. "For the sake of life safety." Thinking about it, Lynch tried hard to put the image of the little mouse stealing cookies out of his mind, "It seems like a provocative letter written by Randall's owner."
"Huh? You want to move?" Officer Natalie nodded, "Forget it, come with me first, and we'll talk after we go in. The club is just across the street."
In an inconspicuous corner opposite the square, There is a three-story building.
A very ordinary Victorian-style building with intricate pipes climbing up the outer wall. At first glance, this is an old building from fifty years ago. At that time, it had not yet entered the age of gas lights and steam power, so it was like this. Exposed pipes patched later.
There is an ugly scarecrow sign hanging at the door of the building. The door is closed, but mysterious people wearing windbreakers and top hats with collars turned up to hide their faces often come in and out.
Entering the door is a corridor extending to the left and right, and in front is an open hall.
The hall is decorated as a bar, which is quite spacious, with at least thirty or forty sets of tables and chairs scattered around, and a circular bar in the middle.
Although it is still afternoon, there are already forty or fifty customers sitting in the bar, most of them are gentlemen in formal attire. After all, the world has not yet developed to the era where women fill the bar.
However, what surprised Lynch was that the atmosphere among these gentlemen was quite intense at this time. Most of them gathered at the bar, excited and shouting loudly, with a tense attitude, as if they might explode at any time. Like a bloody battle.
Lynch looked at Officer Natalie beside him, but the police officer looked calm and composed, leading Lynch towards the bar.
The bar layout is very eighteenth century style. The difference is that there is a hemispherical glass cover in the middle of the bar. It is brightly lit and can be seen clearly. It is a rockery-like arrangement.
There is also a large blackboard hanging above the head, with detailed tables drawn on it and various numbers written on it. It looks quite professional, making Lynch think that he has entered the most primitive stock exchange.
Looking closer, the people at the bar were not arguing. They were waving bills one by one and handing them to the bar desperately. The two bartenders at the bar were dressed as beauties in men's clothing. , one took the banknote skillfully, and the other wrote a series of numbers on the blackboard more skillfully.
Really an early stock exchange? But it doesn’t quite look like it.
Lin Qi was just thinking about it when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something seemed to move in the glass cover.
What?
Pursuing reading is so important, thank you so much for pursuing reading
(End of this chapter)