Tianjin people will never lose SAN

Chapter 129 Baldwin Family

"Ricky...Ricky Baldwin."

In a room of a monastery, an old man lying on a sickbed tapped the name on the book with his dry fingers.

The book was the genealogy of the Baldwin family. When his finger rested on Ricky Baldwin, a hint of sarcasm appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The person he was mocking was not someone else, but his four children who were standing outside the bed.

The oldest of them was over fifty years old, and no matter how they trimmed their hairstyle, they could not hide the white hair on their temples. Some of them were only in their early thirties and had just married and moved to the nearby Middel County a few years ago. But at this moment, no matter what they had to do or what work they were doing, they returned to the monastery on time and to their own bedsides.

All he did was to inherit his legacy, this old house, and the secrets buried beneath it.

"Father, please hold on for a few more days. The Continental Exposition will open in two months. Who knows, some remarkable inventions might come out then. Then you might be able to deliver the items back in person and fulfill your lifelong wish." The second son couldn't help but say.

"Maybe I can't wait. Maybe I can't wait."

The old man stared blankly at the ceiling. A new crack had appeared on the windowsill at some point, and a dark brown gecko was quietly approaching its prey.

The gecko rolled its eyes and suddenly stuck out its tongue, which immediately wrapped around the spider by the window. The spider was unable to move and was wrapped by its flesh-colored tongue, and was swallowed into its stomach in one gulp.

After enjoying the delicious food, the gecko turned back and looked at the old man with its unique reptile eyes covered with transparent membranes. The old man could see the smile in its eyes. It and its owner couldn't wait any longer. Eating insects alone would not satisfy them.

"Father, according to the inheritance law of Mosesad, all of this should belong to me. My lawyer will come from New Nurent in two days, and I may need you to sign some documents then."

The plump eldest son glared at his younger brother in dissatisfaction and said in a muffled voice that his business had been going downhill recently and he was about to run out of money to pay the workers. This hermitage and the treasures that had been treasured by the family for generations might be able to help him get back on track, and he could not give them up.

"Huh, you're thinking about inheritance law now, brother. Do you remember what you said when you left home 20 years ago? You stood in this bedroom at the time and said arrogantly that you would never return to this perverted and twisted family even if you died, and asked us crazy people to stay away from you in the future. I don't remember it wrongly."

The third daughter sneered and lit the cigarette in her hand. She had a habit of holding her agate cigarette holder when smoking. She didn't like this family either, but she disliked her brother even more.

"Even if I don't inherit, it won't be your turn. You bring shame to the entire family."

The eldest son looked at his sister viciously. His sister had been idle and vain since she was young, and had maintained unclear relationships with many playboys in the county. She didn't get married until seven years ago, and her husband, haha, the eldest son almost laughed out loud, that guy was not interested in women, he liked men.

This marriage became a laughing stock in the entire county. Everyone knew what their union meant and it was just a perfunctory act for each other.

"You are still as impatient as when you were a kid. I remember when you were seventeen, you were beaten up for pursuing a girl and you cried when you got home."

The third daughter doesn't care about inheriting the monastery and the family secrets, but she also doesn't want anyone else to get them. She hates everyone in this family, including her own father. She thinks it would be best if this bullshit prophecy of the gods was destroyed.

"Stop arguing, the doctor said father needs quiet." The fourth daughter then spoke up to dissuade them.

"Hey, you don't have to pretend to be a good person, my dear sister. You also hope that he will die soon, right?"

The third daughter blew a puff of smoke into the fourth daughter's face and continued to mock:
“After all, the person you love is not your husband, but the old Huwen tutor hired by your family when you were sixteen, but your father tried every means to stop you.

You have been waiting for that teacher to come back and not getting married just to be angry with him. I guess your current husband must not know about this past, haha."

The fourth daughter did not reply, but lowered her head and glanced coldly at her sister and the father on the bed.

What the frivolous and disgusting woman said was right. It was all true. This family seemed to be cursed. Everyone hated each other. It was more like enemies from previous lives bound together by fate than relatives connected by blood.

"Father, what is hidden in the monastery? It's time for us to know those secrets."

The second son is a person that no one in the house can see through. He has liked to lock himself in the study since he was a child, does not participate in cricket matches, and has no interest in hooking up with female companions to join high-class dances. At first, the third daughter thought that he simply did not like women.

But later she found out that he didn't dislike women, he just disliked people. She didn't know what he read in the study. The third daughter found that her brother often stared at the geckos in the hermitage, as if he could learn some incredible secrets from them. At this time, the old man on the sickbed did not answer his second son's words.

He just stared blankly at the ceiling. More and more geckos gathered together and climbed all over the wall. Finally, there were too many to squeeze apart, so they piled on top of each other and slapped their slimy webbed hands with suction cups on their skin, making a sticky "smacking" sound.

The four children followed the old man's gaze and looked up at the ceiling. It was empty except for the old, yellowed, and cracked wall.

"Call Ricky Baldwin back. He is also a member of the family and is qualified to compete for the inheritance."

The old man slowly turned his head to look at his children. His third son died in a car accident a few years ago, and he had not been in contact with his family for a long time before his death. But he remembered that he should have another son, a quiet boy named Ricky.

"Father, my lawyer told me that according to the inheritance law of our county, if you want to give him the inheritance rights without us, you must guarantee that he..."

The old man stopped talking and just waved his dry hands to send his children away.

He didn't care who inherited the family secret, which was both a fortune and a curse. He only believed in the prophecies of the gods.

……

In the Special Incident Investigation Department, in the switchboard room, Chief Norman was enjoying his coffee while watching Oliver yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"You guys had a great time last night. You are young people after all, so you have a lot of energy."

Commander Norman looked at the newspaper with a smile. Today's headline news was: A slave trading ship bound for the Netherlands wrecked at sea, and hundreds of people on board were killed.

"I shouldn't have joined them in this mischief." Oliver rubbed her head. She was suffering from a headache caused by the alcohol.

"By the way, Chief, I received a call this morning from the Baldwin family."

"Oh?"

General Norman raised his eyebrows. Didn’t Liu Yonglu “die unexpectedly” a few days ago?

Director Norman arranged for Oliver to contact his other relatives. Everyone knew that Ricky's parents had passed away, but unexpectedly they could not get in touch with the Baldwin family. Why did they suddenly call now?

"When I called Baldwin Abbey a few days ago, a servant answered the phone. She was vague and confused, and I couldn't get any information from her.

But this morning they called me back and asked me to tell Ricky to come back to the monastery when he has time, as there is an inheritance matter that needs his involvement.

"Okay...well, later, find me the Baldwin family files, and also give me the communication records of these two times."

Now the most urgent task for Richie is to wait until the Blue Rose Project is settled, and any other tasks or personal matters can be put on hold.

"Okay, by the way, Chief Norman, is it okay for me to arrange Ricky's mental evaluation for tomorrow?"

"Not so good... Let's postpone it for another two days. He just came back and it would be better to rest well before going for the appraisal if he encountered such an accident.

After you finish these two tasks, go home and rest. There shouldn't be any problems today. I'll find someone to replace you."

Chief Norman tapped Liu Yonglu's file on the table and frowned. What he feared most now was that Ricky would not be able to pass the mental evaluation.

Time flies so fast, it’s almost Thursday.

I have been so dizzy from writing books recently that if my friend hadn’t reminded me, I wouldn’t have known that TI had started. I probably won’t have time to watch it this year. Come on, cndota!
Hehe, I have foreshadowed the Riddler again in this chapter, but as I said, my role as Riddler is not in vain, it will be beneficial to the subsequent plot. I haven’t written the draft yet this time, but I have an outline, which guarantees that all the foreshadowing will be recovered.

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(End of this chapter)