aristocratic engagement

The taverns in the factory area always had no business during the day, and the workers after their night shifts lay or sat in twos and threes, puffing and drinking low-quality alcohol.

As soon as Mr. Bergram entered the tavern, he was choked by the smell of smoke and sneezed. He frowned and squinted his eyes and walked towards the house—if he hadn't stood at the door and proofread the sect and letter three times, "Mr. Richter" clearly designated this place to meet, and he must have wondered if he had gone to the wrong place.

He's not talking about a few quid.

Mr. Bergram turned around to avoid a drunk worker who was bumping straight at him, and walked towards the innermost bar among the rickety wine tables.The room is not bright, only two small tables by the window are bathed in sunlight.

There was only an eight or nine-year-old boy standing in front of the bar, wiping wine glasses.

Mr. Bergram looked around for a few times, but he didn't see anyone who seemed to be the owner of the shop, so he said to the only boy in front of him who seemed to be in charge of the place: "I made an appointment to meet here."

The boy didn't stop what he was doing, and tilted his head, as if asking him to prove it again.

Upon seeing this, Mr. Bergram took out a note from his sleeve and handed it over.

The boy didn't take it, but squinted his eyes and looked at him, then dropped the towel in his hand, walked around from behind the bar, and walked into the house.Mr. Bergram didn't know why, so he stood there without moving.

The boy stopped in his tracks and gave him a sidelong glance, impatiently and disdainfully.

After Bergram was glanced at by a boy like this, he came back to his senses and followed him embarrassingly.How did he know that the boy wanted him to follow him to the back room?He thought that Mr. Richter would have a good place in the sun by the window in the hall!

The back room was exactly as he had imagined, without sunlight, revealing the usual gray and gloomy atmosphere of the factory area everywhere.It appears to be just a small warehouse for the bar, with sacks of flour and barrels of wine stacked on the shelves.The air smells of wine and malt.In the innermost part was an abandoned single bed. Dirty sacks were piled up on half of the bed, and a person wearing a black cloak sat on the other half.

"Little Guli, thank you." A young boy's voice came from under the cloak.

Mr. Bergram shuddered, running through his mind all kinds of horrible gothic stories, all of which had in common that the protagonist was Castle Black and the strange boy in the orphanage.

Little Guli still didn't speak, he brought a bench from the corner and placed it in front of the cloaked man.Then he dragged Mr. Burgram and made him sit on the stool.Mr. Bergram was dragged into a daze, and when he came to his senses, Little Coulee had already left.And he was sitting in front of the cloaked boy, behaved like a student.

"...Who are you from Mr. Richter?" Mr. Bergram swallowed and asked carefully.

A grunt of laughter escaped from the cloaked man's throat: "I am Richter."

"Please don't make such jokes, children. What I want to talk about is a big business, not your business game." Mr. Bergram's tone was tinged with anger. Are you playing tricks on me? My time is precious! If you just want to make fun of me, you don't have to! I can do more with this time—”

"Should I continue to go to the bank and beg Mr. Smith to give you a loan? Or go to the major shipyards to show off and try my luck?" Mr. Richter's voice rose, with some malicious intentions.

Mr. Bergram was speechless. After a while, he murmured: "...It's better than being teased here."

"Mr. Bergram, it's not a coincidence to be teased by them. You might as well place your hopes on me."

Mr. Richter reached out his hand from the cloak, took out a dozen thick materials and stretched it out to Mr. Bergram's eyes.Mr. Bergram was attracted by the ruby ​​ring on his finger. Even in such a gloomy environment, the ruby ​​radiated a faint red light, and the pure gold base seemed inferior against it. .

—This is by no means an expensive item that ordinary gentlemen can afford to wear.Even though Mr. Bergram didn't know the goods, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

Soon, his eyes moved to the thick material—isn't this what he once handed over to the bank! ?

Mr. Bergram waited in shock for the black cloak, hoping to see the face of the person inside and his identity from the cloak.

How could this person get his information from the bank?Is he a friend of Mr. Smith?Who is he?

"I have read your materials. You have introduced your improvement ideas and achievements in detail. Since I have asked you to meet today, it means that I have great trust in your technology. Yes, I don't want to make false claims with you. I Willing to invest in your studio."

"There are quite a few people who want to invest in me." Mr. Bergram calmed down slowly, "Now that you understand my achievements, you must know that I am not lacking in improved technical capabilities. As long as I want to sell This patent can be done at any time, and those shipyards are all lining up to win the technology for improving sailboats."

"But you don't want to sell, that's the problem, isn't it?" Mr. Richter pointed to the heart.

Mr. Bergram opened his mouth and was speechless.

That's right, he was unwilling to sell the technology, so he worked hard to attract investment.According to the usual practice in this industry, large shipyards maintain their own studios and completely control the technology in their own hands—but what about those engineers and technicians?They received the most basic wages, and even if their research results brought the shipyard an income of one hundred thousand million pounds, the shipyard would only give them an extra bonus at most.

He was also simply satisfied with such a simple and simple life, satisfied with the application of his technology on board.Just watching the ship set sail in the port, Mr. Bergram's heart was filled with happiness.

The change of things was not because he suddenly became greedy, but because...he saw a lot of ugliness.

His teacher worked hard at the Grieve Shipyard, and with only the most basic salary, he lived a poor and comfortable life.The profits from his research doubled the size of Grieve's shipyard.

Until one day, the illness found him.

Bergram donated all his savings to the teacher and took him to find the best doctor.When the doctor told them helplessly that the disease could only be sustained and dragged on slowly and could not be cured, the last penny of the master and apprentice had been spent.

Bergram regarded the teacher as his father, and he begged Mr. Grieve to borrow some life-saving money for the sake of his past.On that rainy night, all he brought back was a letter of dismissal.

The last time he saw Griff's back was at the door of a "club", and the "nightingales" crowded around him, staggering.

That night, the teacher closed the doors and windows tightly, and ended his life in the charcoal fire.

Bergram swore at his teacher's grave that he would never serve any shipyard again, nor would he generously give what was his own to those vampires, no matter how difficult it was.

"Mr. Bergram, Mr. Bergram?" Mr. Richter's voice was like a cry from afar, waking him up from his dark memories.

Mr. Richter got up, put the pile of materials where he was sitting before, and walked slowly to the palm-sized air vent, which is also the only bright place in the room.

"I have no intention of starting a shipyard, nor do I have the idea of ​​buying out patents."

"I plan to start a steam engine research and development and production company and invest in your studio instead of buying your technology."

"Your studio will be affiliated with my company, and I will subsidize your continued research, purchase of materials, and contacts... and correspondingly, we will share the net income of the studio [-]-[-]. Mr. Smith will be between you and me." guarantor."

Mr. Bergram stood up excitedly, and the wooden stool tripped over with a "bang".

Mr. Richter turned around, and Bergram couldn't see his face, but he felt that this man was no longer so creepy and scary. On the contrary, under the beam of light above his head, the man in black robes seemed to be a man in a cloth all over his body. An angel full of holy light, in the darkness, he is the only symbol of hope.

Mr Bergram did not speak for a long time.

Mr. Richter chuckled, and when he gradually calmed down and stopped panting, he added: "I am not a charity lover, Mr. Bergram, and I have my own requirements."

"You say!"

"When it comes to licensing and running the studio, I wish I had the say."

"You mean..." Mr. Bergram suddenly turned cold. Could it be that he was being bypassed?Mr. Richter just wanted to snatch his achievements?

Mr. Richter walked quickly to the dilapidated little bed, picked up the pile of materials, rummaged through them, and pointed out unceremoniously: "I don't know the account of the incoming and outgoing, and I waste materials as I like, which can obviously be sold. Gizmos are backlogged in warehouses...Mr. Bergram, it is a miracle that your studio has survived until now."

The fault Mr. Richter pointed out made Bergram's cold face suddenly flush.

"Professional things are left to professional people. I believe in your ability, and you should also believe in my standard."

The smug Mr. Bergram left with his materials, and Du Li flashed out from behind a cabinet. As she walked towards Anne, she put away the gun she had been carrying for a long time.

Annie coughed several times, and kept her voice low when she spoke, which made her throat extremely tired.

"Should I ask Xiao Guli to bring some water?" Du Li asked with concern.

Annie waved her hand immediately. There is no habit of drinking boiled water here. Given the quality of the water in the factory area, she probably only took a sip, and her delicate stomach will soon be affected.

There was a knock on the door, and Xiao Guli waved at them.

"They're back?"

They mean the tavern proprietor and proprietress.

Little Guli nodded.

Annie immediately closed her hood, Du Li opened the secret door beside the small bed, and the three of them bowed their waists and left the place.

This tavern is the negotiating point recommended by Xiao Guli.Little Gu Li was deprived of the right to speak by God when he was born, and was abandoned by his biological parents at the door of the tavern before he could remember.The boss and his wife were unable to adopt him, but they would give him some leftover bread and water from time to time.

When he learned that Mr. Richter needed a place that would not be disturbed but also in the factory area, he decisively recommended this tavern for which he was responsible for the night watch.Before the boss came to take over, little Coulee was in charge here.

Annie "talked" to him while walking towards the river.

Annie found that little Guli was born like a wolf, with outstanding vigilance and observation skills.Little Guli gesticulated and talked, and Annie nodded, kept silent, and asked something... These two people actually "talked" together, and they could understand each other like chicken and duck.

"You mean, the Phoenix Textile Factory was once robbed!?" Annie was so shocked by the news that she almost forgot to pretend her voice. She squeezed her throat and continued to ask, "The time you mentioned... I have an impression, Brown Sir said there was a fire that night, and it wasn't some kind of theft?"

Little Coulee anxiously gestured again.

"...That is to say, you are actually not sure? Are you sure you saw someone sneaking out of the fence of the textile factory with a tin box in his arms after the fire was extinguished? And Mr. Brown was standing at the window watching but didn't stop him?"

Little Guli nodded vigorously.

Annie let out a long breath.

Now, the events are connected in series like scattered beads.On the day of meeting Mr. Brown, Du Li clearly saw the store manager, Mr. Klub, and Mr. Brown having a dispute over "drawings" and "machines", and almost fought.Based on Brown's one-sided words at the time, it was easy to think that it was Brown who caught Klub's handle and turned the two against each other.

But what if the truth is just the opposite?

She wanted to continue to ask something, but Du Li suddenly pulled her sleeves.

Annie stopped, looked around, and found that they had unknowingly come to the river.In the wide waters in the distance, there are still several canvas ships docked, and the workers are hanging in the air like spiders.

"Look! Is that Mr. Ellen Edgerton?"

Du Li pointed far ahead, and a thin figure walked out of a shipyard building surrounded by people.

The author has something to say: In fact, Allen can be regarded as the second male, and he has a lot of roles.

There are a lot of roles in the career line. I really want to write the story of Annie growing up, but I am still laying out the line... I hope you can always accompany me QAQ