By the afternoon, the first draft of the second short story was completed.
Lin, whose eyes were sore and her fingers were stiff, continued to catch up on her sleep all afternoon as usual. It wasn't until the evening that Matt came back from a long day's work and got up.
"Brother, are you okay at home during the day?" Matt's first words when he came back were still concerned about Lynn's safety.
"It's okay, nothing happened." Lynn focused on Matt's corruption value.
Improved again.
The day before yesterday [-40], the day before yesterday [-30], yesterday [-25], today [-15].
What happened to Matt, and why is the depravity value increasing every day?
Linn felt that it was urgent to resolve this matter, and Matt would be finished if he delayed it any longer.
"Have you eaten, brother?" Matt took off his coat and hung it behind the door.
"Not yet, I just woke up." Linn looked at Matt's tired back and shook his head.
"Just wait, I'll get some bread. It's mainly because it's too late today and most of the shops are closed, otherwise it would be convenient for me to just buy some hot rice." As soon as Matt came back, he was busy with dinner again.
Lin En wanted to open her mouth to ask several times, but she still swallowed it.
If Matt doesn't say it, he must have his own reasons.
What he can do now is to quietly understand the situation, then find a way to help solve it quietly, and finally pretend that nothing happened.
"Eat it." Matt placed the prepared bread on the dinner plate on the desk.
"Okay, you can eat too." Linn gave some of his own to Matt.
"No, no, no need to eat so much at night." Matt declined several times and put half a piece of bread back on Lynn's plate. "Brother, how is the novel going? When do you plan to submit it?"
Lin En took a bite of the black bread which had a very bad taste and was difficult to swallow: "I will almost finalize the final draft of the second story tomorrow, and then I will study the submission."
"Do you want me to ask the newspaper? Or can we send the article directly?" Matt was obviously hungry and wolfed down the food.
"Well, there's no rush." Linn still insisted on giving half a piece of bread to Matt.
Matt didn't take it back this time, but was a little worried about Lynn's novel career: "What if, I mean what if, brother, even if the newspaper doesn't pass it, don't be discouraged. The story is already very good, I
I enjoy watching it. This shows that you are very talented. As long as you practice more and shoot a few more times, you will definitely succeed."
In Lynn's previous memory, Matt was actually a pretty carefree person.
Ever since his predecessor had an accident and Matt took on the burden of the family, he has not only become more hard-working, he has also become more considerate towards his predecessor.
He will be careful at all times to avoid any words or actions that may irritate his disabled brother. He will also give a tactful shot like today to avoid the frustration caused by his brother's failure to submit an article.
It's really nice to have a younger brother.
Lin En even had the idea of protecting Matt. Even though he knew that "Sherlock Holmes" would definitely sweep the market, he still followed him and said: "It doesn't matter. If it doesn't work, I will switch to another newspaper. If it doesn't work, I will start again."
Write until they are satisfied.”
"Brother, you will definitely succeed, I believe in you." Matt smiled brightly.
"Okay, eat quickly." Lynn patted Matt on the shoulder.
"Um!"
After eating and washing up, Matt fell asleep.
The vast majority of people at the bottom are like this. They are only occupied by three things twenty-four hours a day.
Work, eat, sleep.
There is no so-called life, all we can do is live.
Matt may be better than others.
He was driven and had goals, and wanted to save a lot of money to go to the best hospital to cure Lynn's leg.
Although it was an extremely far-fetched thing that might not be possible for a person like him in his lifetime, he did not waver and give up.
Linn was very moved.
Although he knew that Matt was good to his brother, the original owner of this body.
But now that he has become the owner of this body, what difference does it make?
He will do a good job to Lynn and treat Matt like his own brother.
"Wow."
Lin struck a match, lit the candle, and polished the second story.
——
December 26, Friday, afternoon
After spending another night, Linn finished polishing the second story.
He put the manuscript papers for the first and second stories into the folder and waited patiently for Arthur to come to his door.
Finally, around four o'clock in the afternoon, Arthur knocked on the door.
"How's it going? Is there any result?" Linn invited Arthur to come in and sit down.
"Huh..." Arthur walked a long way, drank some water, and then nodded.
"What happened to him?"
Arthur did not answer, but asked a question: "Has your brother not come back with money for a long time?"
What does this mean?
Linn didn't understand.
"Has your brother not been paid for a long time?" Arthur asked again.
"I am disabled and can only stay at home, so he is in charge of the money. I don't know." Lynn was completely unaware of Matt's salary.
"The boss over there who hired them to clean the chimney probably hasn't paid them wages for three or four months. I asked other cleaners and he said that Matt was organizing and uniting other workers to collect debts, but it wasn't going well.
, I found the boss's mansion several times, but was beaten back. The other party also threatened them to continue working. If they don't work, they will lose all their previous wages." Arthur said.
It turns out that the unscrupulous boss owed me wages.
Matt led others to collect debts and was suppressed.
This matter must have been brought to the Public Security Bureau for justice, but the result is self-evident.
The reason for the increasing depravity value has emerged.
Lynn can understand.
Faced with such a thing, I have done nothing wrong, but I am still being bullied. It would be strange if my corruption value does not increase.
"There are so many cleaners? The combined wages of these people for three to four months are not much, right? Why doesn't the boss pay them?"
"Oh, what's so strange about this? Isn't it because your brother's gang is powerless and wants to take advantage? That's what those powerful gangs do. Don't think that they spend lavishly just because they have money. These guys are stingy towards the common people.
Awesome." Arthur snorted coldly.
"Money is used everywhere in winter, not to mention that the remuneration is pitifully low. If he delays paying wages for three or four months, he is putting some people to death." Lin frowned, "You know the details of this boss
What?"
"I don't know the specifics, but in short, this boss is involved in quite a lot of business. In addition to contracting chimney cleaning, garbage cleaning, sewer maintenance, etc. in wealthy areas, he is also involved. It can be said that he specializes in hiring low-level civilians to solve some problems in wealthy areas.
An inconspicuous, but very important little trouble." Arthur said.
From the perspective of wealthy areas, the business is not glamorous.
For the rich and powerful, it is even embarrassing to take on these contracts.
The employees are all civilians, so they are easy to control, and even if they withhold wages in arrears, they won't be afraid of causing any trouble.
Lin En felt that this boss was not easy to deal with, but he was definitely not a big shot with great hands and eyes.
"I think it's better to forget about it. Just treat it as a loss. You've worked for three or four months in vain. There's no need to fight to the death with the other party. They're already convinced that your brothers have no background and can't make trouble. That's why they're like this
Deceive them to continue working as free labor." Arthur advised, "And I saw that many cleaners have given up. Your brother can't even organize many people to protest and collect debts. The fewer people there are, the easier it is to be
Targeting it will only become more difficult in the future."
Lynn thought so too.
There are a lot of troubles now, and it is not a wise move to provoke the boss in the wealthy area.
But he knew exactly what Matt was thinking.
Matt lived frugally for several years just to save money to take him to have his leg treated.
Three or four months' remuneration adds up to just over a thousand copper coins.
In the eyes of the rich and powerful, this little money may not be as expensive as a bottle of wine at home, but this is Matt's hope.
Every more money, the more chance Lynn's leg will be healed.
He bravely fought with his boss for so long, desperately trying to get back his unpaid wages. It can be said that it was just for Lin En.
Lin En now said it was easy to give up, and it was easy to show that his leg had improved, but he didn't want to just do that.
"I really can't help you with this matter. After all, he is a big boss in a wealthy area. Even though I am a sheriff, if someone spends some money to bribe the director of the Public Security Bureau, I can't live without it." Arthur
Seeing Lin En's silence, I guessed that he still wanted to do something.
"You don't have to worry about this matter. I will find a way to solve it." Lin En's eyes were cold.