when!
A bell rang from the direction of Saint-Denis Church Street. Every time the bell-ringer Mo Laimoch hit the big copper bell with his wooden stake, the deep sound was like a stone falling in the middle of the lake. Waves spread throughout the city.
Pedestrians walking on the street sometimes raised their heads in unison and stopped to listen to the dull bell... The bell reminded them of some sad things, and their faces became gloomy because of exhaustion. They remembered how they had The past that attracted me to the city, and why I was willing to breathe the extremely polluted air.
——Dang! Dang!
Then there were two more bells, and night had fallen.
A gorgeously decorated carriage made a sharp turn at the end of the square and broke into the sight of residents living in high-rise buildings at the end of the street. Then it drove unsteadily from the other end of the street to a row of retro garden houses facing the street. Is that a lady's car? No, the carriage driver was dressed in rags, which had nothing to do with the luxurious carriage. In fact, there were five grown men and a fat woman sitting in the carriage. The woman smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed to slits, and she was dancing and telling some interesting stories to her companions.
Suddenly, in front of a big French-style red door, the coachman tightened the reins. The two tall shire horses stopped being frightened, jerked their bits and straightened their front hooves.
"Mr. Faclon, I have told you several times, if you encounter a pit, just go forward without stopping." A voice came from the carriage.
"Gentlemen... your destination has arrived." The coachman seemed submissive.
"Then..." A head with a goatee poked out from between two brocade-trimmed curtains, "Here are your fifteen dollars, Mr. Faclon, please wait patiently for us outside. .”
Dutch jumped out of the carriage, and John jumped out after him. He saw a gentleman in a suit and tie standing in front of the red door walking towards them.
"In the name of this symbolic costume, if my guess is correct, you are the famous Dutch Vanderlinde."
"Oh, I guess you are the respected Mr. Howard who is active in various social places, right?" Dutch responded politely.
"You overestimate me, Mr. Van der Linde. Although I have traveled to several nearby states, my status is just a waiter. My duty is to greet every guest who comes to the event. I have no power. Attending a banquet, to use an inappropriate proverb – I am just a layman.”
"However, Mr. Lemieux asked you to serve him, which shows that you do have many extraordinary advantages."
"I cannot appreciate Mr. Mayor's praise, so I can only do as much good things for him as possible." Howard made a gesture to invite people in, "So, gentlemen, please come with me."
Howard brought the men from the Van der Linde gang to the hall. John saw many fine oriental porcelains placed on the elegant wooden shelves in the hall. Local and French-style oil paintings were hung on the marble tiled walls. Some The maid took care of the three or two potted plants with silver scissors...
Mr. Howard tilted his head and looked at Dutch and the others, and then raised his voice and said, "As you can see, Mr. Lemieux has a wide range of hobbies, especially in classical art. His research skills as a follower can be considered sophisticated. .”
Dutch snorted: "He and I have known each other for a long time. You know, he was very poor more than ten years ago. In the past few years, he has taken on some kind of job and ended up like this."
"As far as I know, Mr. Lemieux has been engaged in the wine trade for several years, earned a lot of dividends, and made a fortune quickly." Howard explained, "Today you are very likely to taste the wine brewed by the mayor himself."
Howard led them to the second floor, where a man of medium height with a gray beard stood on the terrace.
"Monsieur Lemieux!" Dutch shouted.
Lemieux turned around and raised his thin-rimmed glasses on his nose.
"Dutch van der Linde! You won't threaten me again this time, haha!"
"See, I told you that Mayor Lemieux and I are old acquaintances." Dutch opened his arms and faced everyone in a hug.
"Dutch, you old guy, hehe... But, he is my best partner, I have to admit this." Lemieux said.
Howard said with joy on his face: "Yes, yes."
"Even so, I have to say that you did come uninvited this time. I admit that my invitation is indeed a hot commodity, but you have disappeared for too long, and I have almost forgotten you." Lemieux said from He took out a half-finished cigar from his pocket and started smoking, "By the way, Dutch, one of your younger brothers, his name is... um... Arthur Morgan. I've always been very good at judging people. Mr. Morgan once worked for I dealt with Professor Siftakere, that ignorant bastard...where is he now?"
Hearing this, Dutch lowered his head and looked at his toes, then kicked the floor paved with high-end tiles with the toes of his leather boots, and said indifferently: "He passed away."
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, he's a good man." Lemieux said sadly.
"Some people want him to die, but the world will not allow him to live." Dutch's lips moved.
Lemieux nodded thoughtfully: "We have prayed as we should, and leave the rest to the merciful God. There are many things worthy of our hope, aren't there? For example, this thriving market system , and fine wines from all over the world... Speaking of which, I have to invite you to taste my distilled wine."
Dutch nodded in agreement, and Howard's words came true.
Dutch stopped everyone who was about to leave: "Wine tasting is not an important thing, right, noble mayor? But I have some personal matters that I want to talk to you about in private."
"Okay." Lemieux spread his hands, "You are always so mysterious."
After Dutch and Lemieux left, John and the others waited there for more than ten minutes. Finally, they saw the two of them walking over with smiles on their faces, as if nothing had happened, just like asking after old friends getting together.
Mayor Lemieux invited people to a pergola, and with a smile, he opened the oilcloth on the ground, revealing the iron-wrapped wooden barrels piled in a groove similar to a cellar, and filled it for everyone personally. One cup, and then he drank half the cup by himself, raising his hand to ask John and the others to enjoy it.
Dutch took a sip and sighed, "I dare say this is the best wine I've ever had."
Lemieux nodded with satisfaction: "Look, I'm not bragging. I'm quite proud of my winemaking skills. I think you can say that."
Dutch shook his head for a while, then said with a devilish smile: "I also want to believe that Mr. Lemieux must be a good teacher and have learned techniques that ordinary winemakers cannot."
"To tell you the truth, this is a high-precision, high-quality wine made from the finest rice grains and fruits. I have many winemakers, but none of them will reveal the recipe to anyone..." Lemieux finished. After taking a sip, his cheeks turned slightly red after a while, and Dutch couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth when he saw the change in Lemieux's expression.
"Mr. Lemieux, how much wine do you have like this? Can I make a humble begging from you? If not, I may come and get it myself while you are drunk." This trick is very clever. The way to test whether a person is drunk is to make dangerous-looking jokes with him.
"Haha, it is well known that you, Dutch van der Linde, are an alcoholic. You don't want to steal my yeast and instruments and then live in this nectar for the rest of your life."
"If this is possible, I will never forget Mr. Mayor's kindness." Dutch said with a smile.
"Then you're a thief - an old drunkard who's good at stealing. But I won't tell you where I bought the instrument, you hear that Dutch? You also robbed me... Do you remember? Don't Look, it’s the wine tasting festival now, but we are just friends. If you have ideas beyond this level, I won’t let you succeed, so give up the idea of skipping my step to buy private wine as soon as possible.” Le Mie's face was already red, like a ripe apple in early summer.
"Mr. Lemieux, you are drunk."
Dutch responded calmly and conducted another test without any panic, but looking at Lemieux's reaction, this was unnecessary.
"I'm the mayor, the organizer of the entire wine tasting festival, and I'm probably the best drinker here... Anyway, I'm not drunk, so you can't lie to me."
Dutch glanced at Lemieux and launched the last wave of offensive: "I don't believe it. You once held a dance. I remember that you held the cup just to save your face, but you couldn't take a sip."
"Oh...my God! That's the past. I've changed a lot now...you still don't believe it? You can ask Stritch Manstar, you ask him...who played that ecstasy with him Stupid game, and then get his proud bootlegging bag?"
Lemieux seemed to be about to explode, his posture was uncontrollable, and he completely lost the composure he had when they first met.
Seeing this, Dutch took away Lemieux's wine glass: "Of course it's you, sir, but you are really drunk. Come on! Mr. Howard, help the mayor go back to rest."
After Mr. Howard helped Mr. Lemieux walk away, Dutch turned his head while repeating the name Stritch Manstar.
"We have obtained enough information, gentlemen." Dutch picked up Lemieux's goblet and took a sip with his shapely lips under his beard...
