The weather outside was gloomy, with snowflakes falling, but Corey's heart was burning.
Braving the cold wind, he rode his bicycle and arrived in front of a nine-story building in the center of Stockholm.
Looking up at the building, Corey's eyes flashed with greed.
The greed flashed by and was replaced by humility. Corey straightened his clothes, straightened his feet, shook off the dust on his shoes, walked to the glass window again, and looked at the figure reflected in the glass and the water turned from snowflakes.
Take care of your hair neatly.
Although the coarse cloth waiter's clothes he was wearing could not compare with the furs worn by the gentlemen coming and going in the building, Corey still cheered himself up and exuded a confident temperament.
He walked quickly to the entrance of the building, then slowly slowed down. Without any intention, a middle-aged man in red uniform and a felt hat walked out of the building and stopped him.
"Sir, this is the Oslo Building. Do you have an appointment?"
The undisguised contempt in the middle-aged man's eyes and the disdain on his lips made Corey angry.
He has already begun to fantasize about kicking the middle-aged man to the ground. Even if the middle-aged man licks the soles of his shoes, he will not spare the middle-aged man.
"Hello, yes, please tell Mr. Fred on the fifth floor that a man named Corey has information that interests him." Corey said respectfully.
"Please wait."
The middle-aged man took a deep look at Corey, and after using his many years of experience to confirm that this shabby young man was not joking, he walked into the building and dialed the internal phone.
While I was on the phone, I would raise my head and stare at Corey from time to time, as if I thought Corey would sneak in if I didn't see him.
Corey glared back at him disdainfully, pretending to be relaxed and relaxed with his hands behind his back.
"Dear sir, Mr. Fred is waiting for you in the office. Please come with me."
"snort...."
Corey raised his chin and motioned for Mr. Fred to lead the way.
When he arrived on the fifth floor, Corey, who walked to the office door, did not forget to nod his thanks to the middle-aged man with a straight face like a true gentleman.
When the middle-aged man walked into the elevator, Corey couldn't hold back his tense face anymore. He grinned and unbuttoned his collar. After feeling a slight chill, he quickly tied it again and finally cleared his throat.
, making sure it was in perfect condition, then gently knocked on the door twice.
There was a vague sound from inside the door. Corey opened the door gently and saw Oslo sitting at the table. A flattering smile instantly appeared on his face.
"Mr. Oslo, it is my honor to see you again."
Recalling the last meeting with Mr. Oslo, Corey still felt a little weird.
Just three days ago, Corey finished his day's work and was about to leave the hotel when he was stopped by a young man.
Corey recognized the young man at a glance as Fred, the youngest son of the Therese family. He had two friends who worked in a company owned by Fred. Of course, those two friends had never been able to follow him.
There was no chance of meeting Fred, let alone a face-to-face conversation.
Corey was not dazzled by the sudden luck and had what he considered to be an in-depth conversation with Fred.
The content of the conversation was very simple. Fred needed him to monitor the guests from the East in the hotel. If the information was useful, he would be paid.
Cory had even fewer lines. He only said one sentence: "Follow your orders, sir."
....
Fred put down "The Sun", raised his head and looked at Corey calmly: "I heard you have news to bring me?"
Corey nodded quickly: "Yes, dear sir, those mysterious Easterners are brewing herbal medicine."
"Herbs..." Fred frowned, then picked up the newspaper and took a look at it. The newspaper published a tidbit of news: "Explosion: Nobel Prize Winner, Mysterious Oriental Meets Stockholm Princess"
Fred had never believed in such tidbits. After all, he had had secret meetings with more than a dozen aristocratic ladies in newspapers over the years, and several of them were members of foreign royal families.
It's just...Li Donglai is a doctor, and Old Fred...
Looking at the dark clouds in the sky through the glass window, Fred's face gradually became serious.
"Herbal medicine...maybe it's something to fool people...but..."
Corey could only hear vague words. He rubbed his ears and asked cautiously: 'Sir, what did you say?'
"Ouch..."
Fred turned his head and looked at Corey: "You did a good job. This news is worth 10 crowns. You can go to the housekeeper to get the money later."
"Yes Yes...."
It's really stingy, it's only 10 crowns, but it's a good start.
Corey backed out of the room, cursing.
.....
In the hotel, the residents who took the decoction quickly improved.
"Ouch, this time it's going to cost me my life." The pale Yan Bugui looked at the exquisite dishes on the table, looking a little hesitant.
A resident smiled and said: "Lao Yan, your stomach just feels better, so you better not eat greasy food."
Yan Bugui stretched out his hand to tear off a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth: "What do you know? I am doing this to collect debt!"
"Debt collection?" The resident was surprised.
Yan Bugui said while chewing chicken legs: "When the Eight Kingdoms entered the capital, they robbed us of so many good things. They even burned the gardens outside the city. I am eating their chicken legs now to collect debts."
"Eight countries...it seems there is no Sweden, right?" The resident obviously had learned about it, and he thought about it for a long time and said.
Yan Bugui frowned. He was a Chinese teacher and knew little about history. He was not sure whether there was Sweden or not.
However, there were people nearby who were familiar with history books. Yan Bugui remembered that Li Donglai seemed to have many history books at home.
"Hey, sir, is Sweden one of the eight countries?"
Li Donglai put down his tea cup and nodded: "The eight countries are Britain, Russia, Japan, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria. It seems that Sweden has nothing to do with it. However, when the compensation treaty was finally signed, Norway, Sweden,
Portugal has grown from 14 countries at the beginning to 17 countries in the end. Well, from this perspective, Sweden can also be regarded as one of the eight countries.
Also, the total compensation amount amounted to 452 million taels of silver. At that time, the average annual income of the people was 6 taels of silver."
"Look, this gentleman is still very knowledgeable!"
When Yan Bugui heard this, he immediately became energetic. He picked up the chicken legs and started to gnaw them. While gnawing, he said:
"Maybe the things they took away back then belonged to my ancestors."
"If I eat more, I can recover more debt!"
"It's worthy of our ancestors."
"Glorious!"
Li Donglai: "......"
Good guy, in order to take advantage, Yan Bugui moved all his ancestors out. This kind of spirit is really admirable.
The residents of the courtyard were also suppressed by Yan Bugui.
Several people couldn't help but sigh: "In order to avenge his ancestors, Lao Yan dared to disregard his own safety. He is really worthy of our admiration."
Comrade Zhou couldn't help but cover his forehead. If this spread, it would definitely cause another minor disturbance.
After dinner.
Li Donglai told the residents to drink more boiled water and prepared to go back and continue writing his speech.
As soon as he walked out of the corridor, he was stopped by an old man in a suit and a top hat.
"Dear Mr. Li Donglai, I am the housekeeper of the Therese family. In order to thank you for your life-saving grace, our lady would like to invite you to be our guest tomorrow."
"Being a guest?" Li Donglai was stunned for a moment.
The old housekeeper explained: "My master is Miss Therese."
A beautiful figure appeared in front of Li Donglai's eyes.
Since the police station left, Miss Therese has called the hotel several times to express her gratitude in person.
However, out of some considerations, Comrade Zhou suggested that Li Donglai refuse.
Li Donglai sincerely accepted the suggestion.
After several rejections, Miss Therese seemed to have lost interest and never called again.
Why are you suddenly invited to visit me today?
Li Dong came to look at Comrade Zhou, who was sitting next to him with his ears pricked up.
"Mr. Butler, Comrade Li Donglai still needs to continue writing..."
Before Comrade Zhou finished speaking, the phone next to him rang.
"Please wait."
Comrade Zhou picked up the phone, straightened his body involuntarily, and his face became serious.
Li Donglai sat there, unable to hear the voice on the phone.
However, judging from the way Comrade Zhou kept nodding in agreement, the person on the other end of the phone should be of a high level.
"I understand, don't worry, I will convey your suggestions to Comrade Li Donglai."
Comrade Zhou put down the phone, walked to Li Donglai, and whispered: "The above message is that you might as well have more contact with the people of the Therese family. Of course, you must exercise caution."
Comrade Zhou is also full of worries now and feels that this job is really not easy.
Just yesterday, the British newspaper "The Sun" suddenly published the news that Li Donglai had an affair with Miss Therese.
And in the news, it was specifically pointed out that the two had a tryst.
In Comrade Zhou's opinion, this is simply nonsense.
After coming to Sweden and encountering the Midnight Butcher, for safety reasons, Li Donglai never left his sight.
Even when he visited the Royal Academy of Sciences, he was able to follow him because he held a special pass.
Li Donglai had no chance to go out alone.
However, this kind of thing can be big or small.
It can be sexy news, or it can be a major event that affects your image.
Comrade Zhou immediately reported the matter as an emergency and requested a press conference to clarify the facts.
To his surprise, the superiors did not pay much attention to it and asked him not to release any news to the outside world and not to take any action until the incident developed further.
Comrade Zhou didn't understand at first.
In his view, if someone throws dirty water at you, you should clean yourself up immediately and find out the person who threw dirty water, instead of pretending that nothing happened.
However, as a person in a special position, he knows one principle very well, that is, do not question the decision made by the superiors.
Only a few days later, Comrade Zhou understood the foresight above.
Since Li Donglai did not come forward to respond, the scandalous news gradually became quiet.
The reporters gathered around the hotel entrance also disappeared.
but.
Now Li Donglai actually needs to accept Miss Therese's invitation.
If the news spreads, it will definitely cause another storm.
It would be great if this news could be blocked.
After thinking about this, Comrade Zhou looked at the old housekeeper and said, "Mr. Housekeeper, you should also be aware of the news a while ago."
"Are you talking about "The Sun"? Of course it is clear that it was me who protested to the editorial board of "The Sun" on behalf of my young lady." The old housekeeper nodded and continued: "You should be concerned about whether it can be kept confidential.
If you have concerns, I understand your situation, but please rest assured that our lady has made sufficient preparations. In fact, I might as well tell you something here. The owner of this hotel is an old friend of our lady. He has already followed the lady's instructions.
A ban has been issued intentionally. Any waiter who dares to leak the news about Dr. Li's visit to the manor will be held accountable and punished accordingly."
The old housekeeper used the word punishment very seriously, which attracted Li Donglai's attention.
In this era, there is no right to privacy. In order to get news clues, paparazzi dare to lie outside the glass window and peek into the house.
The key is that this kind of peeping does not violate the law, and those who are peeped can only send someone to drive them away.
The punishment that the old housekeeper called was probably not punishment in the legal sense.
Comrade Zhou had already decided to agree, but now after listening to the old housekeeper's words, he was completely relieved.
"Okay, let's go to the manor on time tomorrow."
"There is no 'us', I'm sorry, the only person invited by the lady is Dr. Li." The old housekeeper said with a troubled face: "It involves some secret things, please understand."
I just felt that if Li Donglai went alone, there would be no way to take care of him if something happened.
After seeing off the old housekeeper, Comrade Zhou invited Li Donglai to the room.
"Dr. Li Donglai and Miss Therese have a huge reputation in Stockholm and even in Sweden. If we can have a good relationship with her, we will be able to get closer to Europe."
"When you go to the manor this time, you must be careful."
Comrade Zhou's words did not surprise Li Donglai.
In this era, although domestic factories have taken a different route from those in the West.
but.
According to the wisdom of the Chinese people, they will never put their eggs in the same basket or pin their future development on a certain force.
The best thing to do is to win over everyone you can to win over, so as to find your own path.
From this perspective, the importance of Miss Therese is self-evident.
But unlike Comrade Zhou, who was worried about his safety, Li Donglai was more concerned about why Miss Therese invited her to go.
Miss Therese is different from ordinary girls. She represents a huge force. Her every move is affected by various factors, and she will never act arbitrarily for personal preferences.
There are many foolish ladies among European aristocrats, but Miss Therese, who controls some of Therese's businesses, is definitely not one of them.
The above may have received the news, otherwise they would not have suddenly agreed to Li Donglai's invitation after rejecting Miss Therese several times.
It's just that the higher-ups may have had concerns and left the final choice to Li Donglai.
What is the reason that prevents the higher-ups from telling Li Donglai directly?
With this idea in mind, after discussing some coping strategies with Comrade Zhou, Li Donglai returned to his room.
