Manhattan Reborn 1978

a new day.

Europe.

London, England.

In the morning, almost ten o'clock.

The Langham Hotel.

Elena Mesa, wearing a thickened and lengthened dark purple coat, came out of the elevator and walked to the rest area in the lobby on the first floor.

At a small table in the lounge area.

The gardener sent to New York by Otis Parker put down the newspaper in his hand, looked at Elena who was standing in front of him with a smile, and asked.

"Are we going now?"

"..."

"Okay~" The gardener folded the newspaper in his hand, stood up and made a gesture of invitation to Elena.

. . .

Western suburbs of London, Heathrow Airport.

The gardener and Elena Mesa were waiting quietly at an independent exit of Terminal 1.

Not long~

David and his friends, who flew from New York, followed a beautiful woman dressed as a flight attendant and slowly walked out of an aisle talking and laughing.

When the gardener saw David and others, he consciously walked a distance to the side.

Elena Mesa is like a purple iris, lonely, delicate, elegant and mysterious. .

Therefore, when David, Lilith, Cui Yingying, Xina, Maggie, and Tilda Swinton saw Elena for the first time, they couldn't help but be fascinated by the charm radiating from her body. I admired in my heart.

Lilith, who was holding David's arm, exerted a slight force on her hand, causing the two of them to slow down a little, and asked in a low voice.

"Otherwise... let's take the first step?!"

"Tsk~ Stop making trouble!"

"Her matter... is not that simple!"

"Oh~" Lilith deliberately made a long sound, smiled and stopped talking~

David tilted his head and rolled his eyes at her "naughty", turned around and signaled to the people behind him, walked up to Elena with big steps, and said warmly.

"Did you wait a long time?"

"Ok!"

"I contacted Deborah~ Her housekeeper should be waiting outside..."

"Let's talk on the way?"

"..Um!"

David looked into Elena's eyes, smiled meaningfully, turned to look at Mr. Gardener, and waved.

"Hi ~ we meet again!"

The gardener glanced at Lilith and the others who were gradually moving away, walked quickly to David, nodded slightly and smiled: "Merry Christmas, Mr. Coleman!"

"You too!"

"However, you should call me David~it sounds more comfortable."

"...Okay, David!"

"Hahaha~"

"Can you do me a little favor?"

"Of course!"

David smiled and raised his eyebrows, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said to the gardener: "Cohen and Rambo from DA Security Company are coming from London to meet me."

"But I forgot the pseudonym they used, what is it..."

"this is very simple!"

"Is there any more?" the gardener replied with a very relaxed smile.

"Yeah...yes!"

"I would like to ask you to help me find an old movie from more than ten years ago. Let's rewatch it tonight at the Duchess of Devonshire's house~"

"It's called "Escape from the Tiger's Mouth"!"

Gardener, obviously I have also watched this French comedy movie full of satire~

He suppressed his laughter and nodded: "No problem!"

"It will be delivered to Asthall Manor... before dinner."

"Ok!"

"Then let's see you tonight?!"

"Okay, David!"

. . .

Mr. Gardener stood there, watching Elena follow David and slowly walk away~

The corner of his mouth couldn't help but smile. .

The gardener, who is in his early 50s, is not much different in age from Deborah, who was born in 1920.

Deborah Mitford Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, was the youngest of the six Mitford sisters.

Deborah, who was once described as silly and naive by her sister, has never expressed her political leanings or made political remarks in public~

That's why she had a very different life path from her sisters. She chose to be content with running Chatsworth Manor, the ancestral property of the Duke of Devonshire, and endured all kinds of setbacks and difficulties in the past decades with great strength. .

In the end, it gained people’s attention. .A very rich and happy life~

Today, the legendary story of the six Mitford sisters continues!

As the Duchess of Devonshire, Deborah is undoubtedly the strongest, most contented, happiest and most admirable of the six sisters!

. . .

(ps: Here are some passages from the article "Six Mitford Sisters: Beautiful Because of Independence" by the author Zhang Hui, published on October 2014, 10, version a8 of Youth Reference.)

(In turbulent times, everyone has their own pursuits~ Even the six Mitford sisters, who are brothers and sisters, cannot avoid fierce ideological conflicts in their beliefs~)

(A poet who admired Pamela, the second sister of the Mitford sisters, John Bechman once lamented: Mitford girls! I love them deeply because of their sins...)

(American writer Hadley Freeman commented: The Mitford sisters not only represent glory and tragedy ~ they also told me that women can break through family and social norms and design their own lives! No matter, good or bad !)

(In addition, Freeman also emphasized that their charm comes from their differences ~ For many women who admire them, the Mitford sisters represent courage and freedom!)

(There is a lot of information about the six Mitford sisters on the Internet. If you are interested, you can find it by yourself~)

(However, after reading some of their stories, I feel... if someone puts the legendary story of the six sisters on the screen, it will definitely be a historical + war + literary blockbuster with high box office!)

(Because no matter in any era, people will have a strong curiosity about the lives of nobles ~ and for nobles... happiness is a luxury!)

----

Back to the text!

Western suburbs of London.

After David met and discussed with Deborah's housekeeper, they decided to let Zina be the driver of their car. .

Therefore, in the car driven by Zina, only David and Elena were sitting in the back seat~

On the way to Astor Hall Manor.

David tilted his head and looked out the window for a while, then said to Elena who remained silent: "Are you still thinking about revenge now?"

"..."

"Even if you know it clearly, hatred will completely destroy everything about you!"

"You... still choose to persist?"

"..."

"Okay~"

"Although I know very well that it is a very stupid thing to persuade people to let go of their grudges or... hatred!"

"But since you chose to come to see me... let me tell you a story first~"

"The protagonist of this story is me!"

"You know, I'm an only child."

"Ever since I was little, my parents have loved me very much~"

"So, I had a very happy, carefree, mischievous childhood..."

"Compared with my childhood playmates, there was a time when I thought I was the happiest child in the world~"

"And all this has changed since I went to school!"

"When I was in first grade, I was disliked by my teachers and classmates because I was naughty many times."

"One of my classmates has a cousin who is in the senior grade. When he learned that I had a lot of pocket money from my family in my pocket, he often brought several older children with him to mock, insult, and extort me after school. . . ”

"And I don't know how to resist or how to solve this dilemma and problem~"

"I can only choose to endure it for the time being and wait until I think of a better solution."

"But stealing money from me gives the senior kids a taste of the sweetness."

"So, their behavior towards me...is getting more and more excessive~"

"Finally one day, when I was blocked by them on my way home, I couldn't bear it anymore and decided to resist, but I was beaten severely..."

"After that, I didn't dare to tell my parents completely about it, nor did I dare to tell anyone."

"I just felt a strong anger and resentment in my heart~"

"I hate myself for being cowardly, I hate that I can't teach them a lesson, I hate that I can't let go of the last thing in my heart... I have to tell my family about this because of my self-respect~"

"So, this poison called resentment gradually eroded my childhood~"

"I began to resent the classmates around me and the classmates he played with every day..."

"I have become more and more introverted. I no longer have a happy smile on my face every day, and I am no longer as naughty as before."

"I am becoming more and more silent, more and more withdrawn, and more and more...dumb!"

"Many nights, I imagined more than 100 ways and scenes of killing them in my dreams~"

"But when I woke up, the bloody scenes in my dream made me timid again..."

After David said this, he adjusted his sitting posture, unbuttoned his coat and coat, leaned back in the chair, stared at the scenery outside the window, and whispered.

"Resentment... is really addictive!"

"When it gradually spread in my heart... the pain it brought, and the pleasure it brought me in the fantasy of revenge, made me unable to stop for a long time~"

"Thinking about it now, I was suffering from some kind of... mental illness without knowing it~"

"However, what changed me later... was not time, but when I was about to be completely occupied by the poison of resentment, the two friends around me made me understand how precious and touching friendship is!"

"Perry Dinklage and his brother Peter Dinklage often performed musical puppet shows for me in the basement of their warehouse~"

"Perry's mother is a music teacher. Perry, who has been introverted since he was a child and has almost no friends, is a very talented violinist~"

"His younger brother, Peter Dinklage, was born with dwarfism..."

"Peter's height is only 1 meters."

"His childhood was darker, more ridiculed, and more despised than mine..."

"But he didn't close his heart like me and let himself be immersed in the ocean of resentment in his heart, unable to extricate himself~"

"So, he and Perry became my only two friends in high school..."

"After receiving a lot of friendship, care and encouragement from them, I slowly began to reflect on myself~"

"It was at that stage that I found... the best way to explore my inner world."

"read!"

"Reading helped me understand a lot of negative emotions or thoughts...why they occur!"

"While they make me suffer, they also bring about such changes in me!"

"As I once saw, someone asked God: God, why don't you make the bad guys black and the good guys white so we can tell them apart at a glance?"

"God said: Because I don't want the world to be filled with... zebras!"

"Hehe~"

David laughed to himself, rubbed his hungry stomach with his hands, and continued.

"Later~I found out!"

"Because my distrust and resentment towards the people around me actually makes me feel particularly grateful when they do something kind!"

"Then, following this line of thinking, I figured it out... It was precisely because of my pessimism about the unfairness of the world that I slowly became optimistic~"

With a smile on his lips, David tilted his head to look at Elena: "So, I started to focus on...seeing the good side around me, and gradually found that the world has become sunny~"

"This kind of truth sounds fake, but it really changed me!"

"So I finally understood that the senior student who was full of malice towards the people around him was because deep down he was unwilling to admit that his inferiority and greed were at work. That's why he looked for it in me, who was weak and rich. Return strength and satisfy desires~"

"I was a victim of his bullying!"

"He is also a victim of his own psychology~"

"After I figured this out, I let go of my heart and tried to return to the original point of happiness in my childhood. I looked at the people and the world around me with kindness + gratitude + honesty~"

"Gradually, I began to understand that humans are very complex emotional animals~"

"If I look at a person's past and present from a perspective with strong personal subjectivity..."

"When I make judgments about everyone, I cannot use good and bad, black and white, right and wrong, right and wrong, etc. to give a one-sided and hasty conclusion~"

"Because people are changing every moment!"

"Some people, like me, have figured out the knots in their hearts and let go of their resentment. At the same time, they also let the hated people gain relief~"

"Some people still lock themselves in a cage and want to break free, but..."

David suddenly stopped. .

He turned to look at Elena's side face, reached out and gently stroked the broken hair around her ears, and asked.

"I once asked you...why are you willing to stay with me!?"

"Now, I want to ask you... is this the last time we see each other?"

"..." Elena slowly turned her head, looked into David's extremely sincere eyes, and did not answer.

The smile on David's lips had long since disappeared.

He took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and asked again.

"Human suffering comes from two poisonous arrows!"

"One was shot by others, and the other was pierced into my heart by myself..."

"Therefore, many people make wrong decisions when faced with choices!"

"It's never too late to let go and change!"

"What about you?"

"Elena Mesa!"

"The most beautiful woman I have ever seen!"

"How would you choose?!"

In Elena's eyes, the water shimmered~

She bit her bright red lips hard, suddenly her whole body relaxed, and she fell limply into David's arms.

David sighed silently, gently touched Elena's shoulder, turned his eyes to the window again, and whispered.

“The south wind blows the wild flowers into bloom, and the butterflies naturally come~”

"The north wind has blown the branches, and the temples have turned gray."

"Time cannot take away hatred, heal pain, and relieve struggle~"

"When the bird leaves the cage, the bird is free. Only in the cage can it be free!"

. . .

Sitting in the driver's seat, Zina, who had been "eating melon" silently, glanced in the rearview mirror a few times, and a complicated smile of weird + surprise + doubt + self-deprecation appeared on the corner of her mouth.

She sighed in her heart: The appearance of a young man like David is simply a "misfortune" for women!

Time~

What a bastard it is!

If only David could have been born ten years earlier. .

hehe~

----

new York.

early morning.

In Lower Manhattan, in an old-fashioned four-story apartment on East 16th Street.

Billy, who was nearly seventy years old, held his stomach and walked to the living room to turn on the TV, which showed CBS News Channel~

Then, he turned the TV to the highest volume and "ran" into the bathroom with a little haste. .

7 points.

Billy showed up at the breakfast shop on the corner very punctually.

In the breakfast shop.

His old friend Tad waved to the waiter and said with a smile: "Hi Billy!"

"Happy birthday!"

"Um..Wow~"

"Is today the 23rd?"

Billy slowly sat down opposite his old friend and murmured with a blank look on his face: "Yes~ today... is my birthday!"

"That's right! Did you forget your birthday?"

"..." Billy pursed his lips silently and nodded.

Tad shrugged without any surprise, pointed at his old friend Billy with a spoon, and said with a smile: "You are pretty good..."

"That guy Simon forgot to turn off the faucet before going out, and he almost flushed the whole building into the Hudson River."

"Oh?"

"That old guy...isn't he dead yet?"

"As far as I know, no~"

Billy smiled and shook his head, raised his hands to his old friend, and joked: "If I become like him... please shoot me!"

"Hahahaha~"

"You want to die? It's not that easy!"

"...Yes, yes~"

"How can it be so easy~"

Seeing that his old friend Billy suddenly started to feel depressed again, Tad asked curiously.

"what happened to you?"

Billy remained silent, took out a folded envelope from his pocket and placed it in front of Tad.

"Is this... registered mail?"

"Who gave it to you?"

"You'll know by yourself~"

Tad chewed the last bit of food in his mouth, opened the letter, and asked in surprise when he was halfway through reading.

"This is.."

"Ok!"

"The factory where we have worked for more than [-] years is about to enter the stage of bankruptcy and liquidation~"

“What about our pension?”

"...It's all gone!"

"What the hell..." Tad was halfway through a curse word when another thing suddenly flashed through his mind and he asked his old friend Billy.

"Have you... gone to the hospital for a check-up?"

"went."

"What did the doctor say?"

Billy tilted his head and looked at the middle-aged "bad girl" waiter who brought him breakfast, nodded with a smile, and said nonchalantly.

"One or two years at most."

"what?"

Tad, silent~

He stared straight at his old friend Billy and finished his breakfast bit by bit, then finally calmed down and sighed with frustration.

"It seems that I have to prepare a eulogy for you again..."

"Hahaha~"

Billy joked very frankly: "Are you going to say: I am a good person, my friends all like me... and such nonsense?"

"Um...what if?"

"Haha~ Do you believe this kind of nonsense?"

"...Haha~" Tad was amused by him~

He smacked his lips and shook his head: "Then what do you want to hear? Praise people, you are a... damn heartthrob?"

"Hahaha~"

Billy gave a thumbs up and said with an exaggerated smile: "That's right!"

"That's what you said!"

"Don't lie to me with the nonsense you have said dozens of times!"

"Otherwise, when I go to see God... I will definitely say a few more bad words for you!"

Tad tilted his neck and raised two middle fingers to his old friend Billy with a look of contempt.

"Hahaha~" The two old friends burst out laughing~

. . .

"A pleasant breakfast," ended.

Tad stood on the side of the street, watching Billy's back staggering away, his eyes full of sadness. .

In life, there will always be lucky or unfortunate things happening.

He's dead, it's over once and for all~

Old friend, there are not many left!

How many more times do I have to say that damn eulogy before it's my turn?

Tad doesn’t know and doesn’t want to know~

Tad, who had long given up thinking and struggling, this time looked at the disappearing figure of his old friend Billy, but a fire ignited in his heart~

Billy should not have died quietly with regrets!