A young man wearing a collarless white shirt and a dark black woolen jacket appeared at the door of the furniture store. His face was white and beardless, his hair was messy, and his shoes were full of mud, as if he had just emerged from a sewer.
.
As soon as he saw him, the elderly Ronan became furious. He picked up a wooden stick and hit the young man on the arm: "You still know how to come back! You still know how to come back!"
"Father! Stop fighting! Stop fighting!"
The young man was beaten so hard that he ran away with his head in his arms, dodging one after another and begging for mercy.
"Who is he?" Levin asked.
"Raymond Wood, Mr. Ronan's only son."
Looking at the two figures chasing and escaping in the furniture store, Ma Wei narrowed his eyes and said: "On Kerr Street, Mr. Ronan has a very good reputation. He often makes small toys to give to the children around him. He also has a gentle personality.
Whenever a child comes to play with him, he will treat him with candies and soda. Unfortunately, his only son Raymond is an unlearned master who is unwilling to inherit the family's carpentry business and goes to fight with the gangsters on South Street.
Hang out."
"He's just hanging out with gangsters, so isn't he also a gangster?"
"In the past, Mr. Ronan asked me to persuade his son, hoping to make Raymond change his mind, calm down, learn a trade, marry a wife and have children." Ma Wei said: "But I refused."
"Refused?"
"Well, everyone has their own ambitions. No one knows what impact the current choice will have in the future. I don't like to interfere with the child's growth path. In the same way, Mr. Ronan's ideas may not be suitable for Raymond. Who said street gangsters
, a beggar can’t become a great person? That’s just prejudice.”
"But didn't you force Niya to memorize the multiplication tables?"
Ma Wei glanced at him and said quietly: "I don't like to interfere with children's growth, but that doesn't mean that I don't teach them even a little bit of survival knowledge. Even if you want to become a gangster on the street, you still need to be able to do arithmetic and literacy.
How can you survive in society if you can't even calculate your accounts clearly?"
"That's true. But Nia is so smart, she can definitely memorize the multiplication table as quickly as possible!"
When Yunia, who was holding the little bear's arm with one hand and holding on to her father's clothes with the other, heard these words, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch, and she remained silent very sensibly.
"Father, father, don't be so angry, I'm back, I'm really back!"
After a chase, Mr. Ronan couldn't run anymore. He was holding on to the table and panting. His face turned pale and he coughed violently.
Raymond quickly stepped forward, patted his back with his palms, smoothed his father's breath, and explained: "You said you are already old, why are you so excited?"
"You still have the nerve to say that?!"
Mr. Ronan's eyes widened, and he reached out to grab his son's wrist, clasping his knuckles as skinny as eagle talons with such force that Raymond grinned in pain.
"Not leaving?"
"I'm not leaving."
"real?"
"real."
"You kid didn't cause any trouble for me outside, did you?"
"No, you don't know what I did. How much trouble can I cause?"
"Okay, okay, it's okay if you don't leave, it's okay if you don't leave."
With a smile on his wrinkled face, Mr. Ronan put down the wooden stick and dragged Raymond towards the backyard: "Follow me to see your mother!"
"Hey, why are you so anxious? I didn't see any guests here!"
Raymond looked at Ma Wei and the others, and said in a low voice: "You are a shop owner, and you don't even say hello to the customers. Who will come to your shop to buy things in the future? In this way, I will entertain the priest and the others, and you can go and do your work."
"
Mr. Ronan, who was overwhelmed with joy, did not doubt his son's motives at all. He really wanted Raymond to come home.
After watching his father enter the backyard, Raymond turned around and said with a smile: "Father, are you here to check the damage to the house?"
"The person who came to the church to register yesterday was you, right?"
"Yes, my father is old and has bad eyesight. I have to do all the house inspections for him."
Ma Wei smiled and did not expose Raymond's lie.
"You said that the wall of the furniture store is damaged and may collapse at any time. Where is it?"
"plz follow me."
Raymond led Ma Wei and the others out of the furniture store and went around to a side alley. After walking a few meters away, they suddenly stopped and pointed at a black crack on the outer wall and said, "That's it."
The cracks spread crookedly and upward, and there was indeed damage, but...
Ma Wei touched the marks on it that were obviously made with a chisel. After looking at the wall that was obviously not responsible for bearing the load, he made a rough estimate in his mind.
He was sure that the situation reported by Raymond was inconsistent with the actual situation. Not only was it inconsistent, even the cracks in the wall were dug out by himself. The technique was rough and even a layman could see the flaws at a glance.
For such a small crack, he applied for 2 gold pounds of repair funds from the Truth Church. It can be said that the lion opened its mouth.
"How about it, Father, I didn't lie to you, did I?" Raymond was very proud of his masterpiece: "Although the gap is small, my father's shop is full of his handmade furniture, which is valuable. Once the roof collapses,
The loss of the goods alone will cost a lot of money. Taking into account the cost of reinforcement, 2 gold pounds is not much."
"Is two gold pounds enough?"
Raymond blinked and said with a smile: "If you want to give more, I don't have a problem with it. I think my father will be very happy too. Such a good reputation of the Truth Church must not be ruined because of such trivial matters.
."
"Levin, check to see if there are any other damages on this wall."
Ma Wei ignored Raymond and said softly: "Since Mr. Raymond made the matter so serious, there must be some basis for it. You must do your best and don't miss anything."
"clear."
Levin smiled strangely, took two steps forward, and patted the intact, solid wall covered with green moss: "This is damaged, and here. Here."
Raymond was confused by his actions. He himself knew best whether the wall was broken or not.
Also considered an expert in construction?
Is it worthy?
Just as Raymond was thinking wildly, a subtle cracking sound sounded in the dark alley.
Where Levin had photographed, the originally complete stone bricks suddenly burst apart, and with a creepy sound, a dark crack suddenly appeared. Wherever it passed, the walls were cracked, and the house was shaking, looking like it would collapse at any time.
Ding!
Several golden coins fell to the ground. Ma took Yunia with him and walked out of the alley with Levin. He said without looking back: "Take the maintenance money. Do you want to use it to drink and drink, or do you want to pay for it?"
It is your freedom to repair the walls, but please remember that your choice today may make you regret it for the rest of your life, or it may become a new beginning for you."