I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

Pei Xiang walked around the meeting building and found that many people were talking about the loss of little Annie.

In this era, there are many cases of children being abducted and forcibly taken away. It is said that the children of the country gentry were taken away from the yard, but no news has been heard so far.

Everyone sympathized with what had happened to Jim's family, and worried that ten-year-old Anne would encounter terrible ordeals, but they didn't have much hope for the recovery of the child.

"Little Annie looks very cute..."

"Ten years old, it happens to be able to be sold in that kind of place, alas, I hope I can survive."

Pei Xiang lowered his eyes, and the desperate scene of the original being trapped in the Vera Garden reappeared in his memory, as well as the painful feeling that she was on the verge of starvation after waking up.

——Annie must be rescued. When encountering certain things, we must try our best to change them.

Not seeing Jim who was looking for his daughter outside, Pei Xiang and Mrs. Clara listened quietly to Jim's wife's cry.She learned more true and accurate details from the heartbroken mother, roughly restoring the cause and effect of last night.

Yesterday evening, Jim reported some things to Miss Garfield, including Pei Xiang's temporary return to the conference building to inquire about such trivial matters.After the report was over, Miss Garfield suddenly asked Jim, why hasn't Little Annie come to Pei Xiang to ask about the spelling of words in the past two days?

Jim then told Miss Garfield that his daughter Annie wanted to prepare a birthday present for her mother, and was doing odd jobs to earn money, hoping to save enough money to watch a musical.

After hearing Jim's words, Miss Garfield was very moved.She also praised Jim's serious and responsible work attitude, and said on the spot that she decided to help Anne realize her dream.

Therefore, Ms. Garfield donated generously and subsidized Jim's family of three to go to the theater to enjoy the most popular plays recently, and even took the initiative to help Jim arrange a replacement on duty at night, which can be said to be quite kind and thoughtful.

The Jim family went out happily with gratitude to Miss Garfield.

Everything in the evening was perfect, the wife's tired face reappeared the relaxed smile of her youth, and the daughter looked around like a curious bird, looking around with joy.

Until the end of the curtain...

After listening to Annie's mother's intermittent choking narration, Pei Xiang had a preliminary judgment in his mind.She guessed that the reason why Miss Garfield rewarded Jim suddenly was probably to distract the hard-working doorman from being on duty.

——From this point of view, she shouldn't have many bad intentions for the Jim family. As for the incident of Annie's disappearance that happened later, it was probably an accident.

In any case, the most important thing now is to find the whereabouts of little Annie.

Pei Xiang thought to himself, it would be difficult to get any really useful clues if he just asked around on the streets.For this kind of thing, one is to rely on strict investigation and interrogation by official personnel, and the other is to find a breakthrough in the local gray forces to see if they can find any clues.

—Official pressure to intensify the pursuit...and through Sir Robert Garfield's network.

Thinking of Sir Robert, one of the leaders of this academic exchange meeting, Pei Xiang couldn't help frowning.That man came from an old-fashioned aristocratic family, and his arrogance and indifference had been deeply rooted in his bones. He never really cared about those people and things that could not bring benefits.

If he was asked for help through Rexxar or other professor channels, he would definitely agree very tactfully, and then turned around and went to work without any effort.

Among all the people, the one who can really persuade Sir Robert is probably only Kathleen Garfield, his beloved daughter.

Pei Xiang knew that time was precious, so he acted immediately.While she was sending a letter to Rexxar, she made an appointment with Melanie to visit the injured Miss Garfield together.

——Let’s check out this young lady’s attitude first.

At this time, Miss Garfield's residence was very lively. When Pei Xiang and Melanie followed the maid into the room, they saw several tearful ladies and ladies sitting around Miss Garfield, explaining each sentence to each other. comfort her.

"You have good intentions, and Jim won't blame you."

"This is also a helpless thing..."

"There is no need to blame yourself, you are just too kind."

"No one would have thought that an accident would happen. This is the ordeal arranged by God for the child."

Obviously, Miss Garfield has also learned about Anne's disappearance.

After seeing Pei Xiang, the red-eyed lady became even more emotional.

"Miss Hoffman, did you come over from the building? Did they find Anne? Any clues? Oh, how are the Jims now? They must be very sad? If I could walk on the ground now, I will definitely help them inquire about Annie's whereabouts in person."

While observing Miss Garfield's subtle expression, Pei Xiang sighed and replied:

"They are still looking and asking around. Unfortunately, neither the theater nor some of the audience at the time noticed how Anne disappeared. Occasionally, someone provided some plausible clues, but after searching, they found It's fake."

Hearing Pei Xiang's answer, Ms. Garfield showed an obviously disappointed expression, while the ladies and ladies around her were full of righteous indignation and cursed the abhorrentness of the traffickers.

"Miss Hoffman," said Miss Garfield weakly after a moment of sad lamentation, "I am very grateful to you and Miss Hamilton for coming to visit me, especially at this difficult and sad time. I will recover as soon as possible." , and then do what we can to help everyone.”

Before Pei Xiang could answer, the girl sitting on Miss Garfield's right persuaded:

"Katherine, we are all very sad that such an unfortunate incident happened. However, it is the crime of human traffickers and has nothing to do with you at all. Don't be so sad and blame yourself. In my opinion, no one I will use this incident to accuse you. You have always been so kind and gentle, and you always don't want to see others suffer. "

Seeing that Miss Garfield was going to continue to express her sadness along these words, Pei Xiang immediately interrupted her, and put forward a more specific suggestion in a gentle tone:

"Actually, if Miss Garfield is willing to tell Sir Robert Garfield about Anne, and then ask him to contact an old friend in the government to put pressure on the police station in Saratoga, it would be a way to help others. At least it can make the local police officers take Annie's disappearance more seriously. In this way, maybe they can get some useful clues, and at the same time, it can also alleviate Miss Garfield's inner suffering."

These words made Kathleen Garfield pause slightly in wiping her tears. Of course, she hoped that Anne would be safe and well, after all, there was no grievance or enmity between us.

But... If you have to pay more for it, such as the relationship between the Garfield family, then it is unnecessary.

"Miss Hoffman was joking, Sergeant Oliver and the others are very responsible people. The sheriffs are dedicated to protecting our safety. They always rush to the forefront when encountering bad guys. They are the most loyal and reliable knights.

"Why didn't they seriously look for Anne? Even if they couldn't find it, it's because the traffickers were too cunning. It's not that the police chiefs didn't try their best. Miss Hoffman, I understand your eagerness at this time, because I am also anxious , but we absolutely should not blame the officers for that."

Pei Xiang raised his eyebrows, thinking of Sergeant Oliver's lazy and greedy demeanor, and admired Miss Garfield's thick skin when she opened her eyes and told nonsense, she said in a rambling voice:

"Perhaps, um, Miss Garfield has a point. I'm thinking too much. I shouldn't have mistrusted the speed of the police. Well, you know, I'm always short-tempered sometimes. Like yesterday evening, It suddenly occurred to me that some data was mixed up, so I hurried back to the small conference building to look for information, in fact, I can wait until the next morning."

Miss Garfield withdrew her slightly reproachful expression, she nodded magnanimously, and wanted to give some pointers.

But Pei Xiang didn't intend to give Miss Garfield another chance to speak, she continued without pausing:

"However, sometimes I really can't blame me for thinking too much, because some people just procrastinate when doing things, such as the door lock of the library on the third floor of the small building."

"What's wrong with the lock on the library door?" Miss Garfield stared closely at Pei Xiang and asked, regardless of maintaining a sad expression.

Pei Xiang took a sip of tea, and said in an understatement:

"It's nothing serious, except that the door lock has been broken for a few days. After closing the door from the inside, it occasionally fails to open, so I can only ask someone outside for help. After I found out about this situation, I immediately contacted the management staff. I explained the situation, but it is a pity that it has not been repaired until now.”

"Really, I didn't even know that the door lock of the library on the third floor was broken, so I'm not as fond of reading as Miss Hoffman."

Pei Xiang smiled perfunctorily, looked directly at Miss Garfield who was pretending to be calm, and sighed pointedly:

"You see, this is an example of procrastination. Probably because I don't care about money or work, so I don't speak strong enough. Well, it's just some small problems in the door lock anyway, and it's impossible to really put anyone Unlucky gentlemen and ladies locked up all night, aren't they?"

This remark aroused Garfield's surprise and suspicion. If she hadn't been covering most of her face with her handkerchief, she would definitely be seen as wrong.

"God, if it is really going to be locked up for one night, wouldn't it be..." A lady thought about it for a while according to Pei Xiang's description, and said quickly, "Wouldn't it be necessary to get married? Oh, bless that The gentleman is an unmarried gentleman with good conditions, if not, the lady is too miserable, and she will have to decide her life hastily because of a door lock."

The lady next to the lady chimed in;

"Aunt Yulia, why are you really worried? This is just a hypothesis of Miss Hoffman. Oh, that is false, how could such a thing happen, how many coincidences must happen? Besides, even if it is true Lock people together, don't they know how to call out? The servants in charge of night watch will always hear the noise?"

Pei Xiang smiled slightly and said meaningfully:

"Of course it can be rescued by calling someone. Well, as long as the master doesn't employ a guy who likes to get drunk. Don't you, Miss Garfield?"

This soft call made Garfield shiver inexplicably.

She stared at Pei Xiang's blue eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, and there was a firm voice in her heart telling herself that this upstart woman with a rough background already knew about her plan with Haydn, and she was warning and threatening herself!

—But what's the use of knowing?After telling it, who can believe it?

Miss Garfield confronted Pei Xiang silently with a stiff expression, and was not ready to accept Pei Xiang's threatening hints easily.

Pei Xiang smiled inwardly, but showed sincere concern on her face. She looked down at Miss Garfield's knee, and said:

"Okay, let's not mention those trivial matters, I'm here to visit your injury today. Miss Garfield, is your knee still hurting? I've heard a saying... Sometimes when you wake up, the injury will heal automatically , obviously the pain was terrible before, but the next day it was as if he was not injured, and he didn't need to take medicine anymore. Are you such a lucky person?"

Melanie, who came with Pei Xiang, gently pushed her good friend, and reproached her intimately:

"Lucy, Miss Garfield's leg is sprained, and she needs to rest for a few days, and she has to take her medicine on time. You can't believe the lie that you will recover miraculously the next day just because you hate taking bitter medicine. Unless it's pretending to be sick , otherwise how could it get better so quickly?"

Pei Xiang pretended to be stunned and said:

"Well, Miss Garfield passed out from the pain yesterday, of course she wasn't pretending to be injured. Oh, poor Miss Garfield, you must recover as soon as possible. By the way, the doctor who was temporarily invited yesterday didn't have a good reputation. , Miss Garfield, may I have someone bring Dr. Johnson here for you?"

Kathleen Garfield, who was watched with concern, wanted to gag Pei Xiang's mouth at this moment.

This time she was really caught in a weak spot.Because as Pei Xiang said, when she woke up this morning, she found that her leg didn't hurt anymore, as if she had never been hurt before.

It was a strange thing, but Garfield took it well, and honestly, she didn't think it was normal to be in pain like yesterday, because she was faking it in the first place.

After discovering that he had recovered from an inexplicable recovery, Garfield heard about Annie's disappearance before he could be happy.So, she felt guilty again.

Miss Garfield felt that she must not be alive and kicking to announce her recovery at this time.She must continue to pretend to be hurt and make herself as pitiful as possible, so as to gain everyone's sympathy and understanding.

——It must not be discovered that I suddenly healed, especially when I passed out from pain before.

——In that case, this matter would be too strange, especially after Annie disappeared, it would easily arouse some people's interest in probing, and even cause unnecessary associations.

——It's just...why does my knee suddenly hurt so badly?Last night, I thought I was self-defeating and accidentally got hurt, but today I recovered, so...

Miss Garfield suddenly raised her eyes and glared at Pei Xiang angrily.She thought, she had already found the answer, the culprit that caused her severe knee pain yesterday was this femme fatale hypocritical woman she had always looked down upon!

"you!"

Kathleen Garfield took a deep breath, feeling unwilling and at the same time afraid of Pei Xiang's mysterious and unpredictable methods.

——How did she do it?Will she use such indecent means to assassinate me?

Pei Xiang curled the corners of his mouth, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Avoiding the eyes of everyone, Pei Xiang's cold eyes fell on Miss Garfield's skirt, as if to tell her that once the truth that she was not injured was revealed, plus the door to the library on the third floor was locked, Jim was dismissed, and She kept begging Pei Xiang to stay and look up the information yesterday... The combination of many details, even if there is no direct evidence, can already prove that Kathleen Garfield has bad intentions.

At this point, the outcome of the veiled confrontation between the two young ladies has been decided.

"You, you reminded me," Garfield tried his best to suppress his fear and anger, and tried not to make other people in the room suspicious, "I really should find someone to urge Sergeant Oliver and the others to make everyone look for Anne seriously, not to be perfunctory, and more Don't procrastinate. Miss Hoffman, don't worry, I will go to my father's study to ask him for help, and he will definitely not refuse my request."

Pei Xiang leaned over to Miss Garfield, and whispered like a best friend:

"Remember, don't tell them to be perfunctory. It's like losing a child in your own family. You must search for it with all your strength. I believe that you can definitely make Sir Robert pay more attention to this matter. Of course, I will keep watching Yours, smart lady. If... oh, I think, Professor Rexxar would not like to know that the daughter of a friend's family is a corrupt person."

Miss Garfield's pupils constricted, and Pei Xiang stepped on her weakness again.

The young lady gritted her teeth with hatred, but Pei Xiang himself was actually not too satisfied.She originally planned to make another plan, and then reveal the true colors of Garfield and Haydn in front of everyone.But now, in exchange for the Garfield family's all-out efforts to find Anne's help, she revealed the cards in her hand ahead of time, which is really a bit light.

—Forget it, it’s important to find the child first.Let's do the calculations for the rest of the account slowly, anyway, one of them is indispensable.

At this time, the other ladies in the room, after hearing Miss Garfield's decision, praised the young lady of the jazz family again.

A sentence of kind words gradually dispelled Garfield's dissatisfaction, making her feel that she hadn't completely lost to Pei Xiang. At least, she had earned a good reputation for being kind and helpful.

Pei Xiang smiled slightly, feeling sincerely:

"It turns out that everyone wanted to do something to help Anne, but unfortunately I don't have Miss Garfield's family background, so I couldn't think of how else to help that child."

"Yeah, we also want to do our part."

"Unfortunately, my family..."

"If only I had been there at the time, I would definitely have spotted the ugly faces of those villains."

"Yes, yes."

Melanie, who heard everyone's regretful speeches and didn't know that a secret contest had already taken place beside her, was deeply moved. She felt that she should also do her part, so she said softly:

"I want to publish a reward and a missing person notice in the newspaper. If anyone can provide useful clues to find Annie, they will be rewarded in money."

Pei Xiang smiled suddenly, thinking that Melanie is indeed my good friend.She immediately agreed and expressed her willingness to contribute a month's pocket money.

Then, Pei Xiang smiled and looked at Miss Garfield, who had a bad complexion, and silently urged her.At the same time, I thought to myself, when I and Melanie first entered the room, didn't this girl blame herself for caring about Annie?It also received warm and kind praise.That being the case, when it's time to pay, you should be more active.

Therefore, Melanie, who originally wanted to pay for the missing persons notice, successfully "organized" a small fundraising event.

After leaving the Garfield family's holiday villa, Pei Xiang sent Melanie back to her residence, and told her not to go out alone these few days.Now that the crime of stealing children has already occurred, who can guarantee that this group of people will not stare at the weak young girl?

She was so worried about Melanie, and of course Melanie couldn't trust her either.This Georgia Southern lady is usually soft, but sometimes she can be extraordinarily tough and tough.

Pei Xiang couldn't help thinking, if Melanie was really with Edward, wouldn't she need another curse in her future life?

——Sure enough, I should let Melanie know about my skills as soon as possible.Perhaps, I can practice with Edward once, so that she can clearly understand who is responsible for the force in this family.

Fortunately, Professor Rexxar who appeared in time temporarily rescued Pei Xiang, and with him accompanying Pei Xiang, Melanie no longer worried too much about the safety of her good friend.

Pei Xiang, who escaped Melanie's sight smoothly, rolled his eyes silently in his heart, and muttered, George Rexha is a fancy embroidered pillow now, if she was really attacked, she must have brought this man to the venue flying.

Rexxar seemed to have the ability to read minds, and flicked Pei Xiang's forehead gently.

"Let's go, I already know about Anne, I'll take you to meet someone, maybe she can help us find some key clues."

"Who? Do you need me to disguise?"

"Well, I have some easy-to-use tools stored in another house, you must use them."

Pei Xiang nodded, and asked again:

"What does the person who can provide clues do? Is it your subordinate? Or is it related to human traffickers?"

"She's not my subordinate, she's just related to intelligence business. I went to her this time because she hates robbery and trafficking very much, and she will take the initiative to help us find Anne."