Chapter 22 The New Year and the Chief of the Secret Police
The first day of 1831, the Year of the Rat.
On this day, Sean tried his best to give the victims a relatively prosperous New Year. For this purpose, he paid an extra 5,000 gold louis. In this year of relative scarcity of supplies, 5,000 gold louis could not buy many things.
No matter how difficult life is, the victims try their best to wear the most decent clothes. Both men and women wear a local flower on their collar, which is indispensable even in this season, and participate in the event organized by Mayor Pierre.
Luncheon.
After the blessings of several village priests, the banquet began.
At this banquet, each adult male will receive an extra glass of beer, which allows them to deceive themselves into thinking that this is the New Year and looks no different from previous years.
In fact, the toasted bread or fried rice they ate was no less mixed with bran crumbs or other things that even the cook could not recognize than what they had eaten before.
Sean invited 31 orphans to his rose garden, including Rose Cody.
These orphans range from five to 11 years old, 18 girls and 13 boys.
Sean simply thought of the scene where several children were almost cooked by the refugees. He couldn't bear this kind of cruel tragedy, so he paid for the expenses of raising them within his own ability, and even paid for each child in the house.
Every new year comes with a new set of clothes.
The job of taking care of these orphans actually fell to Rose Cody. This young girl was kind and patient, and quickly won the trust of the orphans, which made Emma full of praise.
Because there were too many people, the banquet was arranged under the big banyan tree in the garden, with more than a dozen tables put together and covered with a beautiful blue tablecloth.
When Sean sat down, Butler Cleveland, Security Director Nelson, Acting Treasurer Paul Fitch, Clerk Tommy Wesley and others also sat next to Sean. Even Jason, Rabo and others also had a
Sitting, Emma, Rose and others led the orphans to prepare tableware, serve food and pour drinks.
It was almost time to meet, Sean said:
"Emma, Rose, stop the children and sit down!"
Sean didn't care about the so-called aristocratic etiquette, and even Cleveland was too lazy to persuade him now.
The orphans sat down solemnly. They sat upright and placed their hands on their knees, lest they cause any dissatisfaction to their masters.
Among the orphans, Sean paid close attention to Irena Fern, who was regarded as a bloodthirsty by the victims. She had not yet recovered from the fright. She was like a little white rabbit escaping in a hurry when being chased by hounds. She lowered her head.
head, sitting next to Rose.
The men had wine in front of them, and the orphans had a large glass of freshly squeezed juice in front of them.
Sean raised his glass and said: "Today is the first day of the new year, let's worship God first! Of course, there is also the Statue of Liberty!"
Everyone raised their glasses: "To God! To the goddess!"
After everyone took a sip of wine or juice, Cleveland raised his glass and said: "Second glass, to the Viscount!"
"Here's to the Viscount!" Everyone raised their glasses together.
Sean smiled.
Cleveland looked back on the past as if in a dream. Although there were tens of thousands of disaster victims outside the Rose Garden and they were spending money every day, the prosperity of the Connery family was just around the corner.
Thinking of the old Viscount who spent his life wandering and finally died of poverty and illness, Cleveland couldn't help but shed tears, as if it was yesterday.
"Butler, are you getting sand in your eyes?" Jason's sudden words made everyone want to pull him aside and give him a good beating.
"Haha." Sean didn't take it seriously, "Don't wait any longer, let's eat!"
He picked up a roast goose leg first and started to chew it, showing no aristocratic demeanor or self-cultivation.
Today's banquet is very sumptuous. You can't see it in the town of Vichy, the provincial capital of Poitou, or even in the Holy City. It's not that the ingredients are too rare, but that there are too many cooking tricks. They are all "thinking" by Sean when he has nothing to do.
from.
Not to mention that the orphans had never seen this before, even Paul Fitch and Tommy Wesley, who had just arrived, were secretly smacking their lips. They were dazzled by the food alone. They were considered people who had seen the world, and they had already seen the world.
I swallowed secretly.
But Cleveland, Emma, Nelson and others were not surprised. This was one of the few hobbies of the Viscount. For example, the Viscount liked to eat with two silver things called "chopsticks".
"Actually, when there are a lot of people, you have to fight to eat to enjoy it!" Sean joked, "Children, and my older friends, don't be so polite, just rush to eat!"
Sean gave the order, and the orphans immediately started moving. Seeing their mouths full of food and their faces dripping with oil, Sean suddenly felt sad.
He misses home!
But you can never go back!
Why he invited the orphans to celebrate the New Year together was because he felt too lonely deep down.
The feast reached its climax in an event called "Red Packet Distribution". Each orphan received a small paper packet made of red paper with a few shillings in it.
The red envelopes given by Cleveland and others contained a check of varying amounts, with the amount reflecting the distance between them.
"Giving out red envelopes should become a New Year repertoire for the Connery family."
Sean is very satisfied with the results.
"Thank you for your generosity!"
Tommy Wesley held the red envelope and was very moved. He became the Viscount's secretary. In fact, he was only ordered to complete the first draft of a novel and was not responsible for anything else.
As a third-rate writer over 30 years old, he makes a living from his pen. Although he has spent a lot of money on women, he has never had so much money in his hands at once.
"Tommy, I hope to see the final draft of your masterpiece at the end of this month." Sean said.
"Sir, please rest assured, I will definitely complete it." Tommy Wesley replied, "In addition, this should be your work. You provided a genius story, I just wrote it out."
Sean shook his head: "No, no, it's like writing an academic paper. You will be the first author, and I will only be the second author. This is so that it can be published better. I hope you can understand. If there are any
You will get half of the copyright income."
"My lord, you are the most generous nobleman I have ever met!" Tommy Wesley complimented heartily, "I predict this novel will be a sensation."
Rose Cody asked curiously: "Mr. Wesley, what kind of novel is this? Can I have a sneak peek?"
"Beautiful Miss Cody, I bet that everyone in Europe will be crazy about this. But I'm sorry, I have to devote myself to revising and polishing it. Before it is sent to the Holy City, no one except the Viscount
, no one can see it at first glance." Tommy Wesley said with a smile, this is the pride of a cultural person.
"Well, I wish you success!" Rose glanced at him with beautiful eyes, but she was actually observing Sean.
"Rose, I have a task for you to do." Sean said at this time.
"Please give me your instructions, my lord." Rose knelt down and said.
"The youngest of these children is five years old. I heard that you can read, so I hope you can teach the children to read. I don't want them to just become farmers or fruit growers in the future." Sean said.
"Actually, my lord, I have already begun to teach them how to read. I think that in the summer, there will be at least five older children who can read newspapers because they already have some basic knowledge."
"Oh!" Sean was quite surprised. He glanced at his butler and when Cleveland nodded, he said happily, "You did a good job. If you need anything, just ask the butler directly."
"Yes, sir!"
Half a month later, a man named Thomas Daley came to the rose garden.
This is none other than the chief of the Poitou secret police.
Daly is not tall and has not striking appearance. He is definitely the most inconspicuous person in the crowd. But this man is the most talked about person in the upper class society of Poitou and even the province of Genoa these days.
Of course, he has to come after Sean.
When the Poitou people first mentioned Sean, they said he was a lucky man. The title of viscount fell on his head. There was a lot of jealousy in this, so Sean's various "discourteous and uncultured" behaviors became people's fault.
Later discussions.
Later, the gentlemen in the city were waiting to see Sean's joke - this silly country gentleman had to feed so many disaster victims on his own.
As for now, the gentlemen are keen to discuss how much money Viscount Connery has.
Director Daley is now very famous, and the Genoese people are even jealous of him. If it weren't for the earthquake and tsunami, I don't know how many people would have been invited to eat in prison by him.
If possible, no one wants to meet him, and it is best never to meet him.
Because of this, Director Daley himself is very low-key in front of the public, and the same is true in front of Sean.
Sean accompanied him to visit the place where the victims were resettled. The director claimed to be inspecting on behalf of the Governor and brought a batch of food. Although the quantity was pitiful, the mosquitoes were still meat, so Sean could not turn them away.
.
"Everyone says that the victims under the rule of Viscount Rocky Mountain are prosperous and the public security is stable. Today I saw that the reputation is well-deserved. This is all the credit of your Excellency." Dai Li said with a smile.
Faced with Daley's compliment, Sean smiled and said: "The people's requirements are not high, as long as they can have a bite to eat. What I have to do more is not to let them do nothing."
Sean's understatement made Daley slightly stunned. This truth is actually very simple, but very few people are willing to do it.
"Is there a school ahead?" Dailey heard a recitation coming from the front.
Beyond a few rows of wooden houses, on a grassy field, a group of children were following Rose Cody in reading.
It's sunny and sunny today, spring has come early in Genoa, the wind is warm and warm, and the most beautiful season of the year is about to come.
Rose's pretty figure is a feast for the eyes.
She was not wearing a hat today, and her soft chestnut curly hair was simply tied behind her head with hairpins. The slightly conservative dress could not hide her white swan-like neck. In addition, her delicate face and lively
His smart eyes are as beautiful as hibiscus emerging from the water.
Her clothes and simple and straightforward appearance always caught Sean's attention, because she looked like someone from a different world than the people of the time. According to Sean's point of view, she was at least a hundred years ahead of her time.
He bet Rose didn't wear one of those corsets that accentuated her tiny waist.
As Sean knows, foot binding is a morbid pursuit of female beauty in this world. The use of this kind of binding since girlhood may seriously deform the bones that have not yet grown up, and even cause terrible damage to the internal organs.
Displacement.
Although there are always people who like to point fingers at her, she is obviously a determined girl and still goes her own way.
Daley glanced at the girl sitting closest to Rose.
Eight-year-old Irena Fern seemed to have returned to her innocent state. She read the words intently along with Rose, unaware of the changes behind her.
Sean didn't know the real purpose of Daley's visit, but at least it wasn't to personally deliver the poor food to the province.
Since he didn't say anything, Sean certainly wouldn't ask.
To Sean's surprise, Daley didn't mention anything about Irena Fern being treated as a bloodthirsty. He turned around and followed Sean back to the rose garden.
Back under the big banyan tree, Daley's expression became serious.
"Lord Viscount, the situation is very bad now!"
(ps: Haha, readers should not argue with Lao Xiao about why 1831 is the Year of the Rat)