greenery

The hands of the wall clock were stuck at [-]:[-] in the morning. Justin picked up the medicine bottle placed on the bedside table, vaguely recalling the anxiety and heat last night, pacing and smoking in the house with his upper body, looking at the sleeping streets outside, and then Thinking of Wolfgang, the inexplicable sadness haunted his body, the night became deep and distant, and he couldn't bear it and took sleeping pills.

Justin put the tea-colored medicine bottle in the first drawer, just when the phone rang downstairs, the housekeeper picked it up, and whispered back that Mr. Moore was still sleeping, please call later, Justin cleared his mind, Walk out of the bedroom, lean on the banister of the stairs, and say, "Don't hang up."

Walking down the steps quickly, Justin asked, "Who is it?"

"Mrs. Fred, the voice sounds a little anxious."

Take the microphone.

"Justin, something has happened, Franz has been arrested!"

In exchange for visiting the prison, Mrs. Fred originally planned to arrange a meeting between Franz and Mike in the near future. After the matter was confirmed, Franz could not be contacted for a while. After further inquiry, Franz was taken away by the Gestapo on suspicion of corruption and malfeasance. , is currently in custody at the police station for review.

The matter was revealed to a political prisoner who had been "disposed" in a concentration camp but appeared in a train dining room in a foreign country to drink coffee. An astonishing amount of gold was unearthed from the lower layer of the sauerkraut vat. These gold nuggets of unknown origin happened to be evidence of bribery. Franz would face dismissal, expulsion from the party, and several years in prison.

Mrs. Fred stroked the flint and lit the cigarette. She looked very depressed and said, "I really didn't expect that things would turn out like this."

"Frantz has accepted bribes many times. The incident happened suddenly, but it is also reasonable."

"But you put a lot into it."

"No way, Franz is useless to us."

Then, the two fell into a brief silence. Justin stared at the dark red tea on the dining table. In the calm cup, a slightly indifferent and tired face was reflected.

Justin fumbled in his pocket and took out the cigarette case. Mrs. Fred leaned forward slightly to light him.

"Thank you."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Justin felt a moment of relief amidst the lingering smoke.

"What's next?"

Justin shook his head, he dusted off the cigarette ash, and said, "It's not necessarily bad news."

"Ok?"

"Continuing to spend money on Franz, there is no guarantee that he will let him go in the end, right? Anyway, thank you, Mrs. Fred, I feel very sorry for involving you in this matter."

"Don't say that, Justin." Mrs. Fred squeezed his hand. "For me, Wolfgang is equally important, let's think of other ways, shall we?"

The dark black car drove up a gentle slope, bypassed a winding and quiet path, and stopped in the shade of lush trees.

Sitting in the back seat, Justin looked over the mottled tree shadows and looked at Wolfgang's mansion. It was still standing peacefully under the bright sunshine, but the doors and windows were closed, making it look lifeless.At that time, it would open the window on a sunny day, the milky white gauze curtain would flutter, and it would poke its head out from time to time.

Justin recalled the scene when he visited Wolfgang's mansion in the past.

That day, the car also drove on such a tree-lined road, a little earlier than the scheduled time. Justin waited in front of the door, carefully checking his watch.And so Wolfgang appeared on the second-floor terrace, white shirt half open, cigarette in hand, overlooking Justin, who waved enthusiastically and called, "Hi, good morning, buddy!"

The sun shines on him so white.

While buttoning his clothes, he went down the spiral staircase "thump, thump, thump", opened the door, and gave Justin a full hug.

"Sorry, I haven't had time to change my clothes yet." Wolfgang spread his hands. He was dressed in lazy house clothes, and his short blond hair, which had not been brushed, was scattered and messy.

"No...it's okay, I'm the one who should apologize, I'm here early."

Justin was still in a daze, but Wolfgang's enthusiastic greeting was unexpected. At that moment, he smelled the fragrance of shaving gel water around Wolfgang's body.

"Take this as your own home." Wolfgang patted his arm.

Wolfgang changed into casual clothes and led Justin to have a general tour of the mansion. On the white wall in front of the fireplace in the living room, there are nearly a hundred photos placed or hung. At first glance, they are particularly spectacular.

In a black and white family photo, a slender young boy is holding a majestic shepherd dog in his arms, squatting halfway beside his grandmother's lap, with a clean and bright smile.

Looking at the past, there are colors in the frame. In the photo, the grown-up Wolfgang has one hand on his hips, and the other hand covers his eyebrows, looking into the distance. Beyond his sight, there are a few sporadic giant birds——African ostriches , They bury their heads in the low and shallow grass for food like no one else.

"It seems that you have been to a lot of places."

Justin reclined on the sofa, his eyes lingering on the wall of photos.

Wolfgang took out the collection in the window, an exquisite dual-lens aluminum alloy camera, a new product of Leitz.Its small body size was so popular when it was launched that it quickly sold out.

Although it has been in the bag for a while, Wolfgang still loves it. He opened the cover and played with the lens.

"Do you like taking pictures?"

Justin looked at the window behind Wolfgang, and there was even an old antique "cassette camera" inside.

Wolfgang nodded, raised the camera, turned the focus, and aimed at Justin.

It's a pity that the light was too dim, and soon, Wolfgang let it go again.

"I grew up thinking that a camera was amazing, it seemed to keep time. Poppy, No, that beautiful collie who was part of the family before I was born. Look at him, how cute I stare at this photo from time to time, and I can see how it wagged its tail and circled around me when it was alive, its panting, the smell of its hair...all come alive."

Still immersed in the narrative, Wolfgang raised the camera and suggested, "Shall we take some pictures?"

"Is it here?"

"The light in the house may not be very good, shall we go to the terrace?"

"Okay, no problem, I'm honored."

After that week, Justin received a parchment letter, and what came out was several group photos wrapped in paper film. Wolfgang wrote a beautiful fancy pen on the back of the photo. Words, I send this to commemorate the friendship between each other, between the words, there is a faint smell of elegant men's perfume.

Thinking about it, Justin took out the photo from his arms.

The sun was shining on the smiling faces of the two of them, and Wolfgang put his arm around his shoulders, and he was unprepared.

Afterwards, they had a few more group photos. I don’t know whether it was intentional or not. Wolfgang always showed intimacy with him at the moment the shutter was pressed. At that time, Justin blamed Wolfgang for being generous. Easy-going personality, now that I think about it, I realize that there is another meaning hidden in it.

At that time, he loved him.

Can cameras really keep time?

Why did he feel so sad?

Through the rearview mirror, the driver saw Master Moore rolled down the window. He rested on the edge of the opened window with one elbow, wiped the corners of his eyes, and wept silently.Then, as if feeling oppressed and unbearable, he pushed open the door and walked out of the car.

Facing each other with their backs, calming down a little, Justin said to the driver, "Go back first, I want to go shopping alone."

"Where can I meet you?"

"No need, I'll walk back by myself." Justin waved his hand.