The scorching sun rises in the east and shines on the earth. Valentine, the center of civilization on the grassland, once again wakes up from his sleep.
Today is Brandy's third day in this town. Looking back on the past two days, Brandy found that his arrival indeed caused quite a splash in this town.
Not to mention that he brought with him the corpses of a bunch of extremely vicious wanted criminals when he arrived, and successfully gained a foothold in Valentine's security management system. In the past two days, he single-handedly cracked the case that had been plaguing Valentin. The Lundin police investigated the prostitute serial murder case, and then destroyed the secret hideout of the notorious O'Drisco gang in Valentine, making all the illegal transactions done by these outlaw gangsters public. This kind of efficiency in solving crimes, needless to say in that era, can be said to be rare in the world even now. If America didn't have that tradition, someone would have given Brandi a letter with something like "Crime Busters" written on it by now. A pennant or plaque with such words.
Despite this, Brandi still enjoys the respect and love from ordinary people. Ordinary people who know him will often say hello to him on the street. When he goes to shops and pubs to spend money, he will always enjoy friendly discounts from the boss. If it is not For small businesses over $1, the order will even be waived.
If there was anything about this kind of love that made him uncomfortable, it was probably the blazing gazes of those young girls and those crooked women in the tavern, which seemed to swallow him up in one gulp, and when paired with the spicy whiskey, it could even The whole Valentine was on fire, but they just looked at it and neither spoke nor made any move. Brandi couldn't say anything. After escaping, she could only lament the openness and hotness of American girls.
"Maybe this is the so-called high honor value," Brandy said when she was free, recalling her recent experience, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Although I didn't complete all the task indicators, at least I completed part of it perfectly."
Brandi has indeed been busy these two days, but even though he is very busy and has experienced a lot, he still has not forgotten the real purpose of his coming here. Naturally, he will not forget that he should go to the post office to communicate with the gang today. day.
The Valentine Post Office is actually also the Valentine Railway Station. In this era when steam trains have been basically popularized, the postal industry almost immediately incorporated this emerging means of transportation into its own system, and developed a unique pattern of postal and railway integration. This pattern will surely continue in the next few decades. It will continue forever.
Brandi pushed open the door of the post office, maybe because it was still early, and apart from the salesperson on duty, there were only one or two people waiting anxiously or drowsily in the post office.
Brandi walked to the staff's office window and tapped the front desk with her finger, bringing the salesperson's mind, which had flown thousands of miles away, back to reality.
The salesperson's uniform was a bit old, but it was washed clean, but his somewhat decadent mental state didn't seem to match his clean uniform.
When he saw Brandy, he immediately rubbed his eyes, steeled himself a little, showed a professional smile, and said, "Hello, sir, what business do you need to handle?"
"Please keep this letter, someone will pick it up on Friday." Brandy handed the letter to the slumped salesperson, looked at his red eyes, and asked with some worry, "Sir, are you okay? "
"Oh, I'm fine, sir. I just didn't sleep well last night. It's okay." The salesperson smiled awkwardly, took the letter, looked at the recipient's signature, and said, "Tacitus Kilgore, What a strange name."
"People in my hometown also say that about him." Brandy said casually.
The salesperson's body suddenly shook, as if he was about to fall to the ground. Brandy, with quick eyes and quick hands, immediately reached out through the window and gave him a hand.
The salesperson stabilized his body, rubbed his eyebrows, and said: "Oh, my God, I feel like I can't hold it any longer. Sir, I really don't want to trouble you, but..."
"Tell me, what do you need me to do?" Brandy asked.
"Please pour me a cup of coffee. Everything is on the workbench. Just open the door and come in and pour me a cup. Oh my God, I can't hold it anymore." The salesperson said painfully.
Brandy immediately walked into the salesperson's office window and found a pot of brewed coffee and a coffee cup on the workbench. The coffee should have been brewed in the morning, and the iron coffee pot could still feel the temperature. .
Not long after, a steaming cup of coffee was brought in front of the salesperson. The salesperson drank the coffee cleanly regardless of the temperature that was a bit scalding to the mouth. Brandy handed him another cigarette and lit it for him.
A wisp of smoke slowly floated up, then dissipated.
Under the dual stimulation of caffeine and nicotine, the salesman's mental state finally recovered. After adjusting his breathing for a while, he thanked Brandi: "Thank you, kind sir, I should have the energy to survive the early shift now." It’s been a while.”
"You don't need to thank me. It's appropriate to lend a helping hand in this situation." Brandi waved her hand to say that she didn't have to worry about it, and then asked curiously, "It's you, how did you end up like this?"
"It's hard to talk about it, sir," the salesperson took out another cup from under the workbench, poured Brandy a cup of coffee, and said, "I had some trouble with my wife last night. My wife was so tough that we had a fight all night long. , I didn’t sleep at all last night, that’s why I ended up like this.”
"Both husband and wife live together every day. Is there anything that cannot be resolved calmly?" Brandy found a chair and sat down.
"That's what I say, but I can't stand the pressure of reality." The salesperson looked depressed, but this time it was because of the pressure of life rather than mental fatigue. "You don't know, sir, in recent months, the salaries of us people have dropped sharply. Downgrade after downgrade, people like me can hardly support our family, and because many places have built new railways and towns, there is a shortage of manpower, so the superiors transferred a colleague from us. Originally, three of us were on duty. The work pressure is acceptable, but now it's a two-person shift. The other one doesn't know, at least I'm not used to it yet. I also heard recently that the people above thought that after inventing a horseless carriage, they wouldn't be able to do it again. There is no need for us anymore... You think, what did we do wrong? We just wanted to do our jobs well, but now we are discouraged..."
"Hey, this argument has been around since the invention of the wheel. Eventually all positions that require human labor will be replaced. What's the result? In the end, living people like us will have to do what they think can be done by machines. This is just a poor excuse for the capitalists to exploit working people like you and me. You don’t have to worry too much. At least I think your job will be stable." Brandi was half-blind. He comforted half sincerely.
The salesperson glanced at Brandi and said, "Your argument is very similar to that of one of my colleagues. He is as dissatisfied with this situation as I am, and is even more dissatisfied than me."
"I think he's not the only one who thinks so." Brandy guessed.
"You are absolutely right, sir," the salesperson nodded, his tired and depressed tone now a little more encouraging, "My colleague set up an organization within us, and it was filled with colleagues who were dissatisfied with the status quo. I am also one of them. Although we work in different places, we have become brothers and comrades-in-arms for the same goal."
"I didn't expect that in this era, American workers would have woken up?" Brandi thought to herself and asked, "Then what are you doing?"
"This..." The salesperson looked around and saw that no one was paying attention here, then he motioned Brandi to come closer and whispered: "We know that there are many people who want to know some information about the valuable stage carriage, and we Relevant information can be provided to these people, and each target will receive an intelligence fee of five US dollars. If they succeed, we only need to take 10% of their income as a reward for providing intelligence. Even if they fail, it will only cost US$5. It’s worth half a week’s salary for us. As long as this business is done beautifully and secretly, you will definitely make a profit without losing money.”
"Uh..." Brandy was speechless, and then asked, "What's the name of your colleague?"
"Alden," said the salesman, "he is working at the railway station in Lodz. Besides that, there is one of us on the railway platform in every city."
"Haha, it's this old boy indeed. It seems I've thought too much." Brandy sneered in her heart. He thought he had found people who were truly determined to resist oppression in the United States during this period, but in the end, he only found these "disheartened people" who struggled to survive under oppression and had no choice but to engage in illegal activities.
"Sir, you won't tell anyone, will you?" The salesperson realized at this moment that he had accidentally revealed a terrible secret, and he was a little nervous for a moment.
"How could that be possible," Brandi laughed, "Although to be honest, I don't really agree with your resistance method, but judging from the current situation, this method is quite appropriate."
"Oh, you must be a revolutionary, please allow me to pay tribute to you." The salesperson stood up and wanted to bow.
Brandi hurriedly supported him and said: "It's ridiculous, I'm not a revolutionary, but speaking of it, I am more interested in your business."
"Are you interested in our business?" The salesperson looked at Brandi with some doubts. "You should be a decent gentleman, so why are you interested in this kind of business?"
Today Brandi is wearing a new black suit, paired with a red tie and a brand new black gambler's hat. Although he is very unconventional and does not wear a matching suit vest, he has a tall figure and a handsome face. and the well-cut pale blond hair all reflect a noble temperament, which has nothing to do with desperadoes.
"That's not the point," Brandi smiled. "The point is that I'm negotiating a business with you now, Mr. Salesman, and I believe that you need such an income to improve your life now, don't you?"
Although the salesman didn't want to be passive in this kind of transaction, he knew that the young gentleman in front of him was right. Although his wife was a very domineering woman, he still loved her. Although the quarrel last night had tormented him both physically and mentally. He was tired, but he knew that it was just his wife who was worried about her future life. Moreover, as the town and surrounding areas became more and more civilized, their secret little business was becoming more and more difficult to do. Like him, it was already It has not been open for more than a month, and if they take over this business now, at least this week their family's life will be improved a lot, and more importantly, it will make his wife happier.
To sum up, the current business is actually unequal, because the other party doesn't care whether he does it or not, but he needs this business very much.
The salesperson felt a little annoyed that he was passive in this kind of transaction, but he had no choice. He stood up and motioned the enthusiastic young gentleman to wait at the window. He looked at the clock to confirm the time, took out a notebook from under the workbench, flipped through a few pages, and selected a target.
He casually took a piece of white paper, copied down the relevant information, and was about to hand it to Brandy when he suddenly realized something and flinched a little with his outstretched hand.
"What's wrong?" Brandy looked at the salesperson's actions with some confusion, "You regretted it?"
"Yes, sir," the salesperson hesitated, "There is only one more suitable goal today, but... this goal is really difficult, I'm afraid..."
"You don't have to worry about that," Brandi smiled slightly, "To put it mildly, even if something goes wrong with me, you will be safe, right?"
"No, no, no," the salesperson hesitated even more, "You are a kind gentleman, I can't ruin your life."
Brandy reached out and grabbed the piece of paper with the information written on it, then took out a five-dollar bill from his pocket and stuffed it into the salesperson's hand, saying, "I'm leaving the purchase now, don't go back on it. "
"Sir, you..."
"Okay, no need to talk nonsense, just wait for the good news." After Brandy finished speaking, she walked out of the post office.
"Thank you, sir!" the salesman said loudly, "Sir, my name is Ben Rosen. You can just call me Ben. Can you leave your name?"
Brandy turned back slightly, and was about to tell her real name when she paused and suddenly had an excellent idea in her mind, and an inexplicable smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Are you asking for my name?" Brandy said, "They all call me Billy the Kid. Just call me Billy."
As the sun got higher, a huge black horse carried the tall young man out of the town and headed towards the vast grassland area in the heart of the earth.
