In front of the window of the three-dimensional residential apartment at No. 23 Xiangzhang Street, the original living hell, Selena sat on the bay window, playing with a bunch of trinkets like beads in her hands, and turned her head to look at the courtyard in the center of the building.
Maggie opposite her was not in a wheelchair, but was leaning against the bed. There were two boxes on the bedside table and three bags at her feet, all of which were filled with shiny gadgets.
Maggie held a thin nylon rope in her hand. She carefully threaded the small parts that had been selected and put them in the box onto the rope, and knitted patterns at intervals. As her fingers flew, a delicate piece with Gotham characters appeared.
The style bracelet is completed.
The reason why this bracelet has a Gotham style is because the decorations used on it are not ordinary delicate gems or round beads, but brown-red nuts, chain clasps, and bullets with the names of popular rappers printed on them.
The shell has a metal tag in the middle with a bat pattern printed on it.
The string Selena was knitting was similar, with more metal parts and resin-simulated hearts and brains, slightly gothic and dark-style accessories.
Bruce is very busy during this time, and Selena is not idle either. Since the last time she became popular in Hollywood, many directors have taken a fancy to her face and figure and want her to play some vase roles in movies.
Selena always wanted to be fresh in acting, and would rather not take on a script she didn't like. After a period of idleness, she returned to Gotham. At this time, her good friend Maggie found a new job, setting up a stall.
Maggie couldn't do heavy work because of her poor health, so she had been helping out at the church, helping the old priest count donations, write purchase orders, etc. Although this job was leisurely, it had almost no income, and Maggie had always wanted to save money to buy sperm from a sperm bank.
She wants to have a child of her own, so she has been looking for a higher-paying job.
At that time, Gotham's tourism industry was just emerging, and Maggie found that the style around the gangs was a bit too rough. Basically, whatever was produced in the factory, they put it up for sale, without even wearing badges or pins.
Not to mention some small accessories with high practical value.
Maggie keenly seized the business opportunity. She found a black mother she had met before who was in charge of food in a gang, and bought a small pack of mini badges through her. She also went to the second-hand market to buy ropes and second-hand accessories, and made them at home.
I bought a few bracelets and took them to sell near the beach.
Because she didn't set up a stall or take up any space, she just hung these items on a piece of cloth on her wheelchair and walked into the crowd to sell them, so the gang didn't bother to care about her.
Either out of sympathy, or because Gotham really lacked such trinkets, Maggie's business was quite good. The dozen or so bracelets she made were sold out in less than two hours, in exchange for a huge sum of nearly thirty dollars.
payment.
For a woman with poor health, this is indeed an extremely large amount of income, because there is almost no cost. Buying factory-produced accessories with Gotham elements from the gangsters cost Maggie more than half of her savings.
But it was only seven or eight dollars. The remaining ropes and accessories combined were less than three dollars but made twice the profit. This is quite astonishing.
That's not to say that there aren't more lucrative jobs in Gotham, but Maggie is in poor health and almost relies on a wheelchair when going out. She can only earn thirty cents a day as a helper at the church, which is enough to make ends meet, but it's not enough to save money.
She could only save a few dollars by living frugally, but it only took one day for her to make and sell, but it gave her an astonishing amount of savings compared to the people at the bottom of Gotham.
Before Selina came back, Maggie had been doing this job, but after Selina came back, she saw greater business opportunities in it. Although Catwoman had no interest in doing business, she could make it in Gotham.
It proves that she has a very bright mind.
She approached the gangsters who managed nearby streets and showed them the results of Maggie's handicrafts. At first, the gangsters were dismissive of it, so Selena set up a stall in front of the gangsters.
The gang couldn't let it be arrogant, but in the ten minutes it took them to gather their people and prepare to go out, the trinkets on Selena's stall were swept away by a group of spray-painting enthusiasts passing by.
They hung chains all over their bodies, put pendants with locks directly on their ears, and asked Selena to come back the next day to set up a stall because they thought it was really cool, so they wanted to give it to their friends.
Send it over.
The gang thought it was very profitable, so they cooperated with Selina to organize those people in the gang who had little fighting ability and were inconvenient to go out and socialize. They used the design drawings provided by Selina to convert the metal produced in the factory.
The parts are made into small accessories and set up a stall for takeout.
Due to their special living environment, the aesthetics of Gothamites are somewhat different from the mainstream aesthetics. The designs Selina gave them were just hanging some metal badges on ropes or making some exaggerated ornaments.
Into earrings and pendants.
But the whims of Gotham people have allowed them to take a big step forward in terms of unique style. People who have worked in the gang for a long time choose accessories to match according to their own understanding, so a lot of pure prison style appeared.
Bracelets, earrings and pendants.
Selena was helpless about this, but unexpectedly, outsiders were very interested in this style of accessories, especially those with industrial style made of bullet casings, bolts, metal bearings, etc.
It will be sold out almost as soon as it is put out.
There was no other way, Selina could only adjust the design drawings, and the gangsters saw that this style was profitable, so they asked the factory to produce more similar-style parts. Before long, almost all the accessories on the Gotham stalls were
It became this style.
This has very well solved the employment problem for most of the old, weak, sick and disabled people in Gotham. As long as they can still move their hands, they can just sit there and weave. It also allows many children who have been admitted to the school to have extracurricular activities. They are often a
The children in the class divide the work and cooperate. Some are responsible for purchasing, some are responsible for manufacturing, some are responsible for occupying positions, and some are responsible for selling.
Suddenly, there was a new type of vendor in Gotham, that is, children covered with necklaces, bracelets, pendants, and earrings, walking around the streets selling small accessories they made to tourists.
Maggie also wanted to get involved, but she found that she really had no business acumen. She was not as aggressive as Selena. She was a bit out of breath even if she spoke more than two sentences. It was just good luck that she was alive today.
, can’t do the work of negotiating with gangsters or seizing stalls at all.
So Selena reached a deal with the gangster she initially cooperated with, and they obtained the right to use a stall three days a week. Maggie took five or six children upstairs and downstairs to make products, and when the time came, they would go to the stall to sell them.
.
Although the product is somewhat saturated, and their manufacturing speed is not as fast as that of gangsters with sufficient labor force, they can still earn dozens of dollars a week, and Maggie will almost have enough money.
The stalls will be set up again tomorrow, but three of the children in the small team led by Maggie have suffered from heat stroke and are unable to work at all. Now they can't even get enough products for one table. Too sparse stall layout will be a huge problem.
It reduces the desire of passers-by to buy, so Selena comes over to help Maggie catch up on her work.
While Maggie was knitting the bracelet in her hand, she looked up at Selena and asked, "Have you read the latest newspaper?"
Selena nodded and said, "Of course, the recent headlines are so lively."
Maggie smiled bitterly and sighed and said: "You are too optimistic. Do you know that those reporters are looking for you everywhere, trying to get evidence of Bruce Wayne's mental abuse from your mouth."
Selina curled her lips and said, "I'm only sure of one thing. If Bruce really wants to sleep with that woman named Talia, he doesn't need to take drugs at all. He doesn't even need to be rich. That face is the best."
arms."
"And I'm even more convinced that if he really gave Talia the drug, there's no way Talia could have tested positive for drug residue in any hospital in Gotham, or any hospital in the world."
Maggie covered her face with her hands and said, "I simply don't know how you two get along on a daily basis. I'm very sure that you two go to a mental hospital together and don't even need an extra nurse."
"That's all." Selena waved her hand and said.
"But I'm still a little worried, Selina. Of course, I'm not saying that he really mind-controls you or anything like that. You will scratch his face all over." Maggie shrugged and said, "But you told me several times
I complain about the restrictions of the upper class. If you two really get married, there will be more troubles. Can you adapt to it?"
"Forget it, I get a headache just thinking about it." Selena dropped the things in her hands, covered her head, walked to Maggie and sat down, then lay back, looked at the ceiling and said, "Honestly, before we
We have discussed getting married, and just thinking about the process makes me exhausted."
"You know what? He's probably going to invite the whole world over to watch the ceremony, and then show them that I'm going to put on a wedding dress that may have been prepared by Jesus for his mother to get married, and the 26 heads of the Queen of England.
A necklace made of gems cut off from the crown on one's head, a carpet made from seventy-two of the most poisonous poisonous mushrooms in mankind, but completely non-toxic and capable of transforming into different forms.
I know how many colors of lipstick look like kissing his lips."
Maggie laughed softly and said, "Don't you think he values you?"
"Oh, 'pay attention', that's the word." Selena stretched out two fingers on each hand and said, "Just to tell everyone, even if I marry a girl from a slum, I
Or dress her up like Queen Mary, like a 'you'll never see a bit of earthiness in her' contest."
"Selena, don't say that." Maggie reached out and touched Selena's head and said, "This is not an auspicious metaphor."
"But just by looking at the Italian designer's eyes, I knew he was going to strangle my neck with a collar weighing about ten kilograms."
"I don't know why this is happening." Selena sighed and said, "I always feel that he seems to have misunderstood something. Maybe I should find a time to talk to him."
"It's always good to talk." Maggie encouraged: "Maybe you can tell him that this makes you uncomfortable."
"Then he would look very sad, as if it was entirely my fault that I didn't play those little games with him about 'how many things can be hung on a doll?' and that I failed him, so he
He plans to die right now, do you know how lethal this expression combined with his face and eyes can be?"
"Wait." Maggie suddenly looked at Selena warily and said, "I take back what I said before. Are you sure you are not being mentally manipulated by him?"
"Hell, of course I do - just like you'd be mentally manipulated by every miserable wet puppy you see in a cardboard box on a street corner on a rainy night."