The Lost Mermaid [Zhongyingmei]

Doris was startled, but when she looked again, she saw nothing.Outside the window, only a black hyena was lying on the ground watching her, the leash was tied to the lamppost of the street lamp.

"What are you looking at?" 1900 noticed that she was looking out the window, as if she was looking for something, and he also turned sideways, but found nothing.

"It's nothing, I was wrong." Doris shook her head.

At this moment, Jeff took the tray and delivered the lunch.

"The ham sandwiches and black tea you order every day, take your time." He placed two dinner plates lightly in front of the guests, and took the teapot and milk jug off the tray.

Doris pursed her lips. She doesn't like bread, but this tavern is obviously not a restaurant, so there is nothing to be picky about.

1900 munched on a sandwich, quickly settled for lunch, pushed the cutlery aside, spread out the music score, and wrote and drew in the midday sun.Doris ate the sandwich layer by layer, her eyes scanning the entire tavern curiously.

At lunch time, tired workers walked in, shoulders crossed, talking and laughing.

Their clothes were sturdy but not clean, covered with greasy motor oil and dust.The workers gathered at the round table by the fireplace, huddling together and warming themselves by the fire. Jeff greeted them skillfully and brought out sandwiches—there was only a thin slice of ham and a few vegetable leaves in them.

Doris looked down at the sandwich in her hand. There were not only thick slices of meat, but also a yellowed fried egg.Looking up again, I saw Jeff blinking at her while wiping the cup.

The workers finished their lunch and lay on the backs smoking and talking. For a while, the tavern was filled with a strong smell of tobacco. Doris frowned and opened the window.

"They are workers in the steel factory." 1900 raised his head, glanced at the workers, and explained, "The steel for the Titanic was produced in that factory."

As he spoke, loud curses from the workers came from the fireplace.

"Damn vampires! We're tired enough now, and when we have to process next week, sooner or later we'll all die on the machine!" The young man was furious, spit flying all over the place.

The middle-aged worker squatted by the fireplace, stretched out his hand to warm the fire, and said: "Ha! Didn't you hear that Henry in the next workshop fell into the furnace while he was working, and died on the spot, with no bones left! Poor his wife was just pregnant, The old mother also cried and went blind."

"What a pitiful person! Oh, we can't support our families, and the capitalists eat fish and meat every day!"

"Don't complain, is it useful to complain?"

"It's better to worry about the next week's working hours. The foreman said that those who don't want to extend the hours will leave! And we don't increase wages, but we have to do more work!" The young man complained, "There are such things in the world. ?”

"Hehe, I heard that the Titanic will set sail in April, and the demand for steel will definitely soar by then. I can clearly see the plans of the capitalists. If I say it, we should collectively protest and see how he will hand over the ship when the time comes." What should I do if I don't get an order!" The middle-aged old man said, flicking the inferior cigarette in his hand, showing his yellow teeth.

"I don't agree! That Hockley is a black-hearted American businessman. At that time, he will increase his hourly salary to recruit new people. What should we do? I still have a family to support!" His partner objected, "We can't beat him .”

"Tsk tsk, vampire!" "Sooner or later, you will be punished!"

Doris widened her eyes when she heard the familiar name.

Is Hockley such a person?

Doris looked at the workers arguing, their faces were red and their faces were red, all of them were extremely anxious and their brows were furrowed.Their clothes were thin and dirty, their skin was dark and dusty, their bare arms were muscular, but their cheeks were sunken.

She looked at her plump hands, which were flawless and white, with light pink nails and even small dimples at the knuckles.

The sandwich she disliked, the bread was picked out and thrown on the plate, with a lot of mayonnaise on it.

The worker squeezed the dry and hard bun with his black hands and scraped it from the dishes, not wanting to part with every drop of sauce.

Doris developed a sense of guilt, even though the workers' plight had nothing to do with her.As she listened to them cursing all kinds of evil deeds of the capitalists, Hockley's face could not help appearing in her mind.

He has a clean face, although he is not completely handsome, but the nobility and arrogance brought by his birth are deeply embedded in his eyebrows and eyes.Always dressed in a neat black suit, he has a bad temper but is rarely actually rude.

Did he really 'drink the blood of the poor', as the workers said?

But he is a capitalist after all!

Doris has mixed feelings.Maybe Hockley should be hated with the workers, but he...

Just as he was thinking, the door of the tavern was opened, and a man with a broken leg walked in step by step, holding a cane.Jeff greeted eagerly from behind the bar and poured him a glass of wine.

Doris looked at his empty trouser legs and frowned.The man noticed Doris' gaze, turned his head, and was taken aback when he saw Doris' wheelchair, smiling and showing a row of big teeth.Then, he picked up the wine glass and drank it down in one gulp. The alcohol made his expression hideous for a moment.

"Hi! Gref, you look good!" the older worker greeted him loudly.

"Tsk tsk! Neither good nor bad!"

"You kid, I've watched you grow up, but you still want to hide your expression from me? What? Good news?"

Gref made a grimace, shook his empty leg, and announced: "Today, that vampire Hockley took some wrong medicine and came to visit me in the shed! And that Harry with the broken arm, he and I have received a sum of compensation!"

"Hell, the sun is out in the west today?"

"I think he's trying to build momentum for the Titanic. Hmph, how much is it for us? A third-class ticket on the Titanic is worth more than my leg!"

Doris was fascinated listening to their words. She had never heard of these behind-the-scenes stories. She only knew that tickets for the Titanic were hard to come by, but both she and her brother were invited by the White Star Company to participate in the maiden voyage. It doesn't feel so rare either.

Unexpectedly, behind such a ship, there are so many bloody stories.

A chill came over me, and the familiar feeling of being watched appeared again!

Doris wrapped the blanket around her knees and looked around.

The door of the tavern was opened again, a man in a black coat walked towards Doris's table, the cold wind of early spring swept in, the workers by the fireplace cursed in a low voice, wrapped their clothes tightly, Called a few more glasses of bad wine.

Doris didn't know why, so she poked her brother's arm. 1900 raised his head in a daze, and immediately stood up when he saw the person coming, and greeted him with a big smile and a hug.

"Mike! My friend, I thought you weren't coming today!"

"Hey! My female student asked for leave today, and I can finally catch my breath!" Mike dragged a stool from the table behind him and sat down casually, "Is this your sister?"

"Yes, Doris, this is my friend Mike, a wonderful violinist." 1900 introduced to her, "I mentioned him to you, do you remember?"

Doris nodded with an unnatural expression. She always felt that Mike's eyes were too...familiar. The obsession and interest in his eyes were exactly the same as Hockley's.

Mike seemed very interested in Doris and kept teasing her.I have to say, he is very humorous!Doris's hoarse voice didn't make him show a weird expression, the smile on his face was natural and gentle, and Doris quickly let go of her guard.

"I found a job on the Titanic!" Mike took the glass and took a sip, "I heard that the White Star Company is recruiting crew members, and even the band in the first-class restaurant is short of people, so I tried it Give it a try!"

"Of course, it must be fine with your level!" 1900 ordered another sandwich for him.

"It goes without saying! The musicians who interviewed were all pretty good! We left our contact information and we can chat together next time. Aren't you planning to form a band?" Mike blinked.

1900 hugged him again in surprise: "I didn't expect you to remember! Thank you so much, I am worried that I can't find a suitable musician!"

"I have full confidence in the band on the Titanic, but those sailors and crew... tsk tsk, the White Star Company is too careless! Can you believe it? Those people just came here for a high salary, and they don't even have any experience as sailors! "

"What? That's not okay, it's too dangerous, in case..."

"That's right, but the old man in charge of recruiting said that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Titanic. She is extremely safe and will never die in the waves."

Doris was so angry that she couldn't help but say, "Stupid humans! They don't know anything about the ocean!"

1900 patted her hand, and comforted her: "It's okay, I've lived on the ship for most of my life, and I encountered very few accidents, let alone such a giant as the Titanic." Even so, his brows were also frowned. stand up.

Mike saw Doris blushing with anger, and thought she was extremely cute. Such a girl would actually worry about ships and machinery.

"Don't think about it! Come on, Danny, let's improvise, and don't let Doris just listen to our big talk!"

Jeff behind the bar tacitly moved a simple piano from the back of the house. 1900 lifted up his clothes and sat casually in a fixed position in the bar, stroking the black and white keys with both hands, just like a chic pianist .Even the dilapidated tavern is comparable to a large concert hall at this time.

Mike took out an expensive violin from the violin case that he carried with him. While tucking the violin in his elbow, he tidied up his sleeves and walked over to 1900 in strides.

Doris smiled at them from afar and raised her glass.

The two musicians looked at each other, and the smooth and cheerful impromptu music flowed out instantly. The guests were quiet for a moment, and then they couldn't help but jumped up with the rhythm and rhythm of the music.Even Gref, who has a broken leg, is holding a cane and beating the rhythm on the ground.

The cheers, singing and music in the tavern rushed to the street through the glass windows and cracks in the door.

Doris saw that there were more and more people in the room, and even squeezed herself. The crowd was getting denser, the cheers covered the music in the field, and the crazy dancing people blocked her view of her brother.Doris's heart was beating extremely fast, and she panickedly controlled the wheelchair to slide to the side.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, a blunt object hit the back of her head.

The last sight in front of me was not a group of drunken drinkers dancing with demons, but darkness.

Doris lost consciousness.