Shadow of great britain

Dickens was also startled when he saw Arthur's emotional outburst.

But this was not Arthur's sudden whim. It had been nearly five years since he came to this world.

In the past five years, he walked through the country roads of Yorkshire, went to the atheist college on Gower Street in London, walked through the noisy Theater Royal, and went deep into the darkest corners of London's East End.

In York, he saw the luxurious manors of the nobles, and looked at the magnificent York Minster, built in 627 AD, from a distance.

But he also saw the scene of farmers working in the muddy wheat fields during the rainy season, wearing shoes and socks with exposed toes, braving the heavy rain to harvest grain, just to hold on to the last meager income.

The textile loom in the family workshop is running and making a squeaking sound. However, no matter how ingenious a woman is, she can only make half a meter of cloth in a day.

In the spinning mill built by the river, the hard work of the women can be wiped out in just a moment.

In London, he saw London docks during peak shipping seasons in April and September.

There are dockworkers carrying big bags everywhere. They carry bags containing hundreds of kilograms of tea and spices, and move the goods down the shipboard with heavy steps. From a distance, it looks like they are in groups. Team of ants.

I have also seen the desolation of winter ports. Thousands of laborers gathered in front of a few cargo ships. They fought and beat each other to death, but their purpose was just to wait for a job opportunity with a daily salary of two shillings.

He doesn't want to see these things, but as long as he still lives in this world, some things cannot be escaped.

Whigs?

Tories?

In Arthur's opinion, it was just a name used as a proxy.

What's the difference between them?

sorry.

He really couldn't tell.

There are many house rules at Scotland Yard.

But there is only one thing that Arthur sticks to out of sincerity.

Scotland Yard police officers were expected to remain politically neutral at all times, favoring neither Whigs nor Tories.

He had no doubts about this.

He smoked in silence, and his mood, which he had managed to sort out over the past two days, fell into a dead silence again.

Seeing his appearance, Dickens couldn't help but put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Arthur, are you interested in hearing my story?"

Arthur glanced at him and dropped the ashes from his pipe on the ground.

"I've read your articles many times, but this is the first time I've heard your story."

Dickens smiled and said: "You may not believe it, but my family was actually quite well off when I was a child. Although it is not rich, it can be said to be well-to-do. My father is an employee of the Munitions Office of the Admiralty, and my mother also comes from a middle-class family. .

Although my father later went bankrupt due to debt, our family's conditions quickly declined.

But as the second child of eight children, I was relatively lucky to have gone to school in my early years and received a certain level of education.

I remember when I was about twelve years old, my father was imprisoned in debtors' prison because he had no money to repay his debts.

From prison, he wrote letters to his family asking for money, but the family had no money left, so not long after, my mother and several of our brothers and sisters were also imprisoned.

But I was lucky. At that time, I was working as a child laborer in a shoe polish workshop, so my creditor allowed me to continue working there to repay my family's debts, and did not let the judge lock me up.

After a few months, my father borrowed money from relatives and my family was finally released from prison.

After that, I worked to pay off my debts while studying in middle school.

When I was 14 years old, because I had a good memory and good handwriting, I got an opportunity. I joined the British News Agency and was sent to Parliament as an interviewer.

I thought life would get better like this, but not long after, our family was evicted by the landlord because of non-payment of rent, and I dropped out of school.

After that, I did a lot of work, including selling newspapers, doing odd jobs for others, and doing street work.

Through unremitting efforts, I got the opportunity to work as an apprentice in a law firm.

I learned some basic legal knowledge there and learned shorthand. With these skills, I got myself a job as a court clerk and continued my job as a tabloid interviewer. part time.

Then, I met you, Arthur.

I don’t know how there can be someone as handsome as you in this world?

Your speech that day really touched me. You said a lot of what I wanted to say, and you did everything I wanted to do.

All this time, I have been silently enduring this world and my fate. I feel that this may be the suffering I am destined to suffer.

I thought it was just me until I discovered that many of the gentlemen and ladies on the jury felt the same way.

Everyone is dissatisfied with the world and those bullshit legal provisions, but only you dare to stand up in court and present all this in front of everyone.

I say these things not because I want to praise you as the new police inspector, nor because I want to gain anything from complimenting you.

Arthur, you are a good man, you really are a good man.

You obviously, you obviously didn’t have to do those things, but you just did them.

I am telling you all this just to tell you that the things you have done are not in vain.

Arthur, there are many things that you can't stand, and everyone can't stand, but that's not your fault, this is the way the world is.

Maybe you haven’t changed much, but you at least tried.

So, don't feel bad and don't blame yourself.

At least you changed the fate of some people, including little Adam and me.

To be honest, I still think that you are sent by God to take care of me. You let my article be published in the Times, you made me... you made me make a lot of money...

You, you allowed me to pay off my family’s debts and still have some money left over for my younger brothers and sisters to study.

I'm so grateful to you, I really, really appreciate you. "

When Dickens said this, his words were already choked up, and the tears in the corners of his eyes flowed down his cheeks like a stream.

He raised his hand to wipe away his tears and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, I obviously wanted to comfort you, but in the end I made myself cry.

I just wanted to learn to do what you did, that's why I came to this place, but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be able to keep my own interview manuscript.

Arthur, I'm such a useless reporter, I may never be as good as you. "

Arthur looked at Dickens' tearful smile and shook his head slightly.

After all, the man standing in front of him was just an eighteen-year-old young man. He did not have the profound thoughts that he would have decades later, nor did he have the insight to see through everything. All he had was a A hot beating heart.

but……

For one person, this is probably enough.

After all, the guy who made such critical comments about Dickens was only a young boy who was just twenty years old.

He took off his yarmulke and placed it on Dickens's head, covering his tearful eyes.

"Although Elder is an unremarkable person, he is really right about one thing. You are still far from being a great writer."

Dickens's eyes were covered and his expression could not be seen clearly, but through the corners of his mouth, his gentle smile could be seen.

"Arthur, a person like me may never be a great writer in his lifetime."

"No." Arthur denied: "It is people like you who are most likely to become great writers. Let me give you a message before I leave."

"What words?"

Arthur patted his shoulder lightly: "No matter what others say or do, I must be a good person. Just like a piece of emerald, or gold, or purple robe, it is not because of how noble they are, but because of how noble they are. I want to maintain my natural brilliance.”

After saying this, Arthur stood up and left the scene with a calm pace.

Dickens stood up quickly and asked in a loud voice: "Did you say this?"

Arthur turned his back to Dickens and did not stop. He put one hand in his pocket and raised the other hand in a wave.

"I can't say anything of such quality. Read more of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, kid!"

Dickens thought thoughtfully, and after a while, he remembered the hat that Arthur put on his head.

"Arthur, your hat!"

Arthur finally stopped. He struggled for a while, then gritted his teeth and replied.

"No, it's just a two-shilling hat, just for you!"

When Agares saw this, the red devil snickered and said, "Just to look cool, aren't you tired?"

Arthur glanced at him: "I'm not trying to be cool, I'm dedicating it to the new century."