Smoke rose from the chimneys of some houses on both sides of the street.
Lu Li walked out of Mrs. Phillin's bakery holding the steaming brown paper bags, and distributed them to the children surrounding him like he had done several times before.
It wasn't a group of children, some Lu Li had seen them before, some he hadn't, but they were all polite and enthusiastic.
In any case, they have not been stained with too much of the gray colors of this world.
Lu Li held another bag of brown paper in his arms, which contained five pounds of oranges. This world is no longer able to obtain the energy it needs from daily food as before. The food of most residents is mainly black bread, and a small amount of fish and meat.
Lu Li must take vitamin supplements regularly to avoid malnutrition.
After passing out the bread, he took out two oranges and distributed them to the cheering children. Lu Li returned to the detective agency amid the kind eyes and greetings of the residents.
…
Crunch——
Dust floated in the deserted detective agency and became clear in front of the pale window.
Quietness flowed in the detective agency, until at a certain moment, the opening door disturbed everything.
The dust beside the door scattered, and the existence named Anjing got into the corner and disappeared.
The key chain crossed the parabola and landed on the sofa with a soft clatter.
Lu Li looked around the detective agency, which he was gradually becoming familiar with. The portraits on the bookshelf were all normal, and the sculptures by the door were not moving around.
Putting the two bags of brown paper on the desk, Lu Li turned and walked towards the kitchen.
One of the bags of kraft paper was piled up, the mouth of the bag was lowered, an orange as big as a fist rolled out of the bag, fell to the floor with a muffled sound, and rolled several times.
Lu Li looked back, ignored it, and walked into the kitchen to wash his hands.
Not long after, Lu Li walked out of the kitchen. Without wiping his wet hands, he walked to the desk, bent down, picked up the orange, and put it back into the brown paper bag.
The other brown paper bag containing bread was a little damp, and the wrinkled brown paper blocked the mouth of the bag, preventing the heat from escaping.
He opened the bag nonchalantly, wiped his hands on the brown paper bag, then took out the soft white bread with the aroma of wheat, and took a bite.
He took the kettle with his other hand. The light touch made Lu Li frown slightly and poured the remaining water into the cup.
We are almost running out of water. We will have to go to the waterhouse to fetch water soon. A pot of water costs one shilling.
Lu Li chewed the bread silently, taking a sip of water to moisten his mouth when his mouth was dry. He ate calmly, neither opening his mouth to chew nor making any noise, almost blending in with the deserted and quiet detective agency.
The soft bread, which only weighs one pound, is very large, much larger than the bran bread called brown bread. It is about the size of two palms. However, if you squeeze it tightly together, there may be less than a fist left.
size dough.
I finished the white bread in less than three minutes, mixed it with the last glass of water and swallowed it.
Lu Li stood up neatly, rolled up the paper bag into a ball, and walked out of the detective agency carrying the water bottle.
The detective agency is not a single house, but one of the rooms in a row of long houses - the largest one.
Most of the people living in the longhouse were fishermen and sailors, but the dim corridor did not have much fishy smell. There were some residents in the water-drawing room. When they saw Lu Li, they politely made way to let him come first. Lu Li nodded in thanks.
"Do you still want boiled water, Mr. Lu Li?" The water room manager smiled politely and took the kettle from Lu Li.
"Um."
The manager turned on the faucet, and the scalding water fell into the kettle.
After a while the kettle was filled, Lu Li took it and handed it to the caretaker for 1 shilling.
After coming out of the somewhat crowded water room, not far away, there was a quarrel in the corridor behind me.
"I want a pot of boiling water too! It must be good for the great detective to drink boiling water all day long!"
"I want it too, give me a bucket!"
"Go away sailor, why do you want so much!"
"Can't you take a shower?"
Bang.
Closing the door, the quarrel in the corridor was blocked out.
Putting the kettle on the desk and pouring a glass of water, Lu Li took off his black windbreaker, weighed the clothes hanger and the sculpture for a moment, and chose the former.
After all, putting clothes on and taking off clothes on a sculpture is very troublesome, and it is far less troublesome than leaving it on a hanger.
People were coming and going on the street outside the window. Occasionally, passers-by took a curious look, but their sight was blocked by the gauze behind the window.
Lu Li sat in the seat, moved away the steaming quilt, and picked up the phone to call Oliver.
After waiting for a while, the call was answered, but it was not Mrs. Slavic who answered the phone, but Oliver.
"Hey boss, is the gallery done?"
Lu Li didn't ask why he answered the phone and said calmly: "Hmm. Is there a bookstore in Belfast?"
Oliver was stunned for a moment before he realized that the "hmm" had already answered him. He coughed lightly and said, "Of course, boss, what do you want to buy?"
"Books related to general history or human geography. When you come over, I will give you the book money and the share entrusted to you this time, a total of 30 shillings."
"Thank you, boss, you are so awesome!"
Oliver said excitedly, 30 shillings is not low. The average daily expenses of a family of three is only 7 or 8 shillings.
After hanging up the phone, with Oliver's smile still hanging on his face, a heavy breathing sound suddenly came from behind him.
As if struck by lightning, Oliver stiffly raised his head and turned around, smiling: "Mrs. Slavic..."
"Um?"
A thunderous rising tone sounded, and Oliver trembled all over: "I... I mean Mrs. Lu Li, are you... ready for your love letter?"
"In my room, pick it up at my door later."
"Okay, okay..." Oliver lowered his head respectfully.
This weakness did not make Mrs. Slavic relax. She still stood in front of Oliver, her eyes scrutinizing, and her tone of questioning: "How can I be sure that you will not peek at my letter?"
"Don't worry! I definitely won't!" Oliver suddenly raised his head and assured loudly: "Of course only my boss can bear your passionate love. How can ordinary people like us covet it!"
…
On the other side, Lu Li put back the microphone and closed his eyes to wait for Oliver's arrival.
But until the sky gradually darkened and night was about to fall, the pedestrians on the street outside the window were walking in a hurry, and the shops were closed, Lu Li did not wait for Oliver to come.
Lu Li woke up from a light sleep and opened his eyes, looking at the dark detective agency. He finally remembered something, picked up a box of matches, struck them, and lit the oil lamp on the desk.
call--
Lu Li extinguished the match and threw it into the trash can. Lu Li covered the glass cover of the oil lamp.
The noise outside the window gradually became calmer, and occasionally pedestrians who had not yet returned home were passing by with lights in their hands in the dusk.
At this moment, a cold feeling came from behind and spread throughout the body. A figure in a translucent white dress floated out of the portrait on the bookshelf.
Anna looked left and right, then lowered her head and looked at Lu Li.
"Huh, even if you say no, your body is still very honest."
