Shadow of great britain

Arthur and others in regular clothes stood at the entrance of St. Giles Parish.

Closing your eyes, you can feel the hustle and bustle of the world here, the noisy cries, and the chatter of people coming and going, as if this place is the same as other magnificent squares and streets in London's West End.

In fact, this place does have its own glorious past.

In the 16th century, St. Giles Parish was just a suburban village outside London, with only a few groups of villages and dozens of villagers who had lived here for generations.

But a bill in 1541 changed the fate of this area. Because of the increasingly crowded living conditions in London, Parliament planned to extend the city to the edge. An avenue was paved from Holborn Bar to St. Giles Church. out.

Due to the construction of this road, many upper-class people living in London began to come here frequently during their breaks. They liked to hunt hares and foxes in the Malleben Black Forest near the parish of St. Giles.

With the arrival of these upper-class people, St. Giles Parish began to gradually become prosperous, and the number of residents began to increase.

During the reign of Charles II, an upper-class residential area called Seventh Street Dial was gradually established in the parish of St. Giles.

The number of houses here has also rapidly increased from dozens to the goal of 2,000.

On the London map of 1720, it is difficult to find the open space in the parish of St. Giles.

However, such a luxurious upper-class community quickly transformed into a gathering place for the poor and a hiding place for crime after entering the 18th century.

The most important reason is the large-scale development of the remaining parishes in the West End of London.

During this wave of development, St. Giles Parish has been unable to start construction and renewal due to the confusion over land ownership.

A large number of houses have become dilapidated and dilapidated due to lack of maintenance and upkeep.

The rich fled here one after another. The differentiation between the rich and the poor gave some people stronger purchasing power. They began to favor aristocratic real estate such as manors built in the suburbs, abandoning the once favored St. Giles Parish.

After the rich fled here, the poor and destitute discovered the value of St. Giles Parish.

First of all, it is conveniently located within easy reach of Covent Garden Market, Soho business district, Westminster Abbey and Thames Pier.

These places provide a large number of job opportunities and can support a large number of service industry groups engaged in manual labor.

They began to occupy the empty houses left behind by the rich. Their origins were diverse, including Irish, English, Scottish, and even French. Although their cultures were different, these people also had one thing in common.

That is, they are all foreigners who cannot survive in their hometown and have to come to London to make a living.

And landlords in St. Giles Parish see unique value in these people.

Therefore, since the poor began to flock here, the size of the city of St. Giles Parish has not only not shrunk, but has even expanded more rapidly than when the wealthy people lived.

Houses are being built at a rate of more than a year, and the originally spacious avenues are being crowded out by extending shacks, and various uninhabitable rooms have been expanded on the basis of the original houses.

The reputation that St. Giles had accumulated over two hundred years was completely destroyed in just a few decades.

According to statistics from the non-governmental organization 'Suppression of Beggars' Life, more than a quarter of London's beggars now come from this parish.

However, it was in this place that little Adam spent nine of his nine years of life.

Arthur looked at little Adam, who was holding hands with Tom, and said, "Adam, I'm sorry to have you back here again."

Little Adam today is no longer what he looked like in court.

His yellowish hair that could originally cover his eyes was cut very short, and he was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with a white frilly shawl sewn on his shoulders for decoration.

Although judging from the texture of the clothes, it is not an expensive material, but from the stitches on the shawl, it can still be seen that Mrs. Tom has made it very carefully.

Adam looked up at Arthur and blinked.

"Mr. Hastings, you don't need to apologize. In fact, I have always wanted to come back. I still have some things left here. Maybe I won't use them now, but I can give them to others."

When Tony heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "Adam, are you sure the things are still there? Didn't your bastard mother take all the valuable things in the house..."

Unexpectedly, before Tony could finish his words, Tom glared and punched him in the stomach hard.

Tony was in pain for a moment and couldn't help but cursed: "Fuck! Tom, what are you doing?"

Tom ignored Tony, but knelt down and said to Adam: "Adam, don't listen to his nonsense. Your mother just went to visit relatives, and you will live in my house during this time. Of course, even if your mother comes back, You can also live in my house, wherever you want.”

Adam pursed his lips when he heard this, but said nothing, just walked up to Tom.

Tom asked gently: "Adam, what's wrong with you?"

Adam stared at his face for a long time, then suddenly stretched out his arms and hugged Tom.

"dad."

Tom was stunned for a moment, but in an instant, his eyes were wet with tears.

He hugged Adam and the father and son burst into tears.

"Adam! My good son."

When Tony saw this scene, he first smiled, and then shrugged helplessly at Arthur.

Arthur glanced at the father and son, took out the pipe from the iron box in his arms, put it in his mouth and lit it.

Since he was not wearing a police uniform today, it was rare for him to smoke in a public place.

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette and said: "Tom, Adam's adoption documents haven't been completed yet. Just change his name. Let the past matter be in the past. The past is not important, what is important is the present and the future." future."

Tom wanted to answer, but he was crying so much that he couldn't even say a complete sentence, so he just couldn't stop nodding.

Seeing his appearance, Tony felt extremely angry: "I can't even say a word! Tom, can you wipe away your tears? We still have to work!"

Arthur saw that Tom had no hope, so he could only turn the topic to his son.

"Adam, I remember when I was chatting with you, you told me that there is an old man in this area who specializes in fostering street children? You also told me that you also learned your pickpocketing skills from him. Can you take us to meet him? ?"

Adam was held in Tom's arms. He wiped his red eyes, and then said intermittently: "Are you talking about Mr. Fei Fegin? Do you want to arrest him?"

"Fagin?"

Arthur frowned and thought for a while. He always felt that this name was a bit familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.

While he was thinking, he suddenly heard someone in front of him saying hello: "Arthur!"

Arthur looked up and saw that it was Dickens wearing the hat he had given him and carrying a small cloth bag across his body.

Arthur's pupils shrank, and he turned his head to Tom beside him.

"Have you decided on a name for Adam?"

Tom sniffed and said with red eyes: "Just, just call him Oliver."