Money First MoneyTalks

The mango smoothie, the air and liquid colliding in the straw boomed, and the loud noise disturbed Loki.The cold air was blowing above his head, making him feel as if half of his skull had disappeared.Loki threw the paper pattern in his hand on the table, and pressed the center of his eyebrows irritably.

"I think this one is very good." Sif picked up a small piece of paper and flipped it back and forth against the light, "Look, there is a beautiful pearl, and on it is written 'Loki and Saul Odinson invites you Witnessing the moment' was awesome!" The water from her finger made a dark streak on the paper.This made Loki even more headache.He reached out and pulled the poor little piece of paper out of Sif's hand.

"I came to you in the hope that your closed little brain would open up and give me some advice, Sif," Loki said as he rubbed his temples while neatly stacking the pile of papers, "not to sit here Swipe my card for dessert, drink coffee, and contaminate those samples with your wet hands—I'll have to return them later."

"Oh, sorry," Sif held up her hands innocently, "but as far as I know, that card is in Saul Odinson's name. Black, stunning. Mrs. Odinson."

"Damn it," Sif always pinpointed Loki's sore spot and attacked fiercely. He smashed the coffee cup on the marble table, and the waiter who was clearing the table glanced at the guest strangely, "Don't call me that. , Sif, we haven't got our marriage license yet... no, never call me that."

Sif shrugged, "You mean you still have a chance to repent? Runaway groom?"

"If he can't be honored to attend on the wedding day." Loki snorted coldly.

"So, what about Saul?" Sif's smoothie was drained, and she picked up the glass to try to suck up the last bit of residue in the crevice. "I haven't seen him since you got the permit."

"Who knows, the North Pole? South Africa?" Rocky rolled his eyes. His big Australian villa and convertible sports car have been ruined since Sol's company started investing in the production of the first movie. They parted in a hurry, and Sol followed the crew. Flying around the world, while he stayed in New York, working and getting dizzy with all kinds of wedding trivialities, "I wouldn't be surprised if he taught ET to sing 'Jingle Bells' in Andromeda."

"Oh--"

Sif's sympathetic exclamation was interrupted by the ringing of a bell.The screen of Loki's phone that had been dropped on the table lit up.It's an unknown number.Loki thought for a while, but still answered the phone.

"Hello, Cosmic Rubik's Cube."

"Excuse me?" It was a slightly old voice, but the other party seemed a little surprised.

"Hello," Loki repeated impatiently, "This is the Rubik's Cube Design Studio, do you need a designer?"

"Oh, no, no," the visitor said uncertainly, "I don't need a designer, I'm looking for Rocky, Rocky Laufeson...Is he this number?"

Rocky frowned, and continued to listen with another ear, "Yes, I am Rocky Lawfison, are you?"

"Thank God," the other party breathed a sigh of relief, "I finally found you, I'm Jerry..."

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Jerry," he paused, as if he was choking up, and seemed to be just an ordinary sentence, "I'm old Jerry, don't you remember? Old Jerry from Mr. Lauphy's house..."

"Little master—"

Rocky waited for his luggage at the conveyor belt.The flight of more than ten hours has made his hairstyle a little bad, his eyes are black, and his face is full of stubble. He is still ringing in his ears, as if ten thousand seagulls are singing opera in his ears, and his sleep time is interrupted by the high-pitched snores of the seats. The sound was messed up, and I managed to sleep for a while and missed the plane meal distribution.In the end, he could only ask the flight attendant for an ice cream an hour before the end of the flight.

But he didn't feel hungry at all, and he didn't feel tired at all. His soul seemed to have left his body, calmly floating in the sky, looking at his own body, and the hurried pedestrians around him.Small words poured into his body from all directions, knocked open his eardrum, filled his brain, and stimulated his nerves.Loki closed his eyes hard, at this moment, his black box turned out from the exit.

Rocky gets his luggage.He pulled up the towbar and walked towards the exit.He gets into a taxi, and the Indian driver shakes his hand overly enthusiastically.Loki turned his head out of the window. The sky in London was not yet dark, and the purple clouds hung on the black and steep treetops. The driver happily talked in his ear about the new policy issued by No. 10 Downing Street.Loki closed his eyes and was drowsy. When he woke up, the taxi just stopped, the inside of the car was pitch black, raindrops kept beating the roof and windows, and the heavy rain in London came again unexpectedly.The driver turned on the light, and the number on the meter was higher than normal.Rocky counted enough pounds out of his wallet while he endured the driver's muttering about not paying the porter.Rocky got up and got out of the car, took out the luggage from the trunk, turned around and pulled out another twenty pounds, and finally gagged the driver's mouth.

He stood in front of this building, the dogwood in the courtyard was dying, the stone path was covered with weeds, and the creeping tiger almost covered most of the wall.The white brick walls, red roofs, handmade swings and sunshine with the fragrance of green grass in memory no longer exist.Through the rain curtain, Loki seemed to see that night more than ten years ago again, Lau Fei stood in the porch in his nightgown, watching him leave calmly.Everything changed, and it seemed like nothing had changed.

Loki collected himself and found that there was indeed a person standing there.It's Jerry the butler.

Loki never imagined that he would cross paths with anyone related to Laufey again, let alone in such an unexpected way.Old Jerry was older than he remembered, with a stooped and thin body. The POLO shirt hung empty on his body, but his belly was bulging, and the belt divided it into two halves.The old butler held a lantern in his rough bark-like hand, and the warm yellow light illuminated a small area under his feet.

"Come in," said old Jerry, with the same warmth as he had been years ago. "It's raining, young master."

"Call me Loki," he walked quickly down the porch, and Old Jerry opened the door for him. The entire hall and living room were dark, and the artworks silently looked at the stranger.

"Where's Laufey?"

"In his bedroom," old Jerry answered hoarsely.

Loki opened the door to the master bedroom and looked inside.The lights in the room were not turned on, and the light was dim. Lau Fei was lying on the bed, surrounded by a bunch of sharp-edged machines, his body undulating slightly, and there was a light layer of fog in the respirator.

"The family doctor is always ready." Old Jerry whispered beside him, "but the master rarely wakes up."

"When?" Loki asked.

"Just a few days."

They were silent as the rain still lashed across London, a dog barked a few blocks away, and the pendulum of the living room clock swung heavily.

Loki closed Laufey's door again.

"I've tidied up your room, go up and take a shower, the rain is really heavy, did God break his water tank..." old Jerry babbled and led Loki to the second floor, Passing by a portrait, the ancestors looked at them with compassion.

Loki opened his door, and everything was as he remembered.Dark green wallpaper, blackout curtains, spacious and soft beds, his piano is still in place, with a model dinosaur on top.The standing bookcase opposite the piano is full of books he has finished or has not finished. A set of "The Count of Monte Cristo" has not even had time to unpack.

He happily took a hot bath, changed into pajamas, and got under the covers.He hadn't slept in such a soft bed for a long time, which made him not used to it.Loki turned on the bedside lamp, found an old book from the bookcase, and planned to flip through it to pass the time.The content of the book is not interesting, maybe a teenager Rocky will be fascinated by it, but it is too naive at his current age.He just flipped through it, trying to find interesting passages.Suddenly, a piece of paper fell from the gap between the pages of the book.Loki picked up the paper, and it was obvious that it had been hastily torn from a coil book, with rough edges, yellowed paper, and a few unremarkable tea stains in the corners.He immediately recognized the handwriting on it as his own. Although it was a bit different from the present, it was too restrained and blunt, but Loki recognized that it was from his own handwriting.It reads like this:

1. Making insect specimens (crossed out)

2. Bring an eraser for Chris (crossed out)

3. Play rehearsal (crossed out)

4. Backstreet Boys released a new album (crossed out)

5. Decide on a birthday present

Loki remembered, it was a note he had made towards the end of seventh grade.The first four items have obviously been completed, but only the fifth item, he has no chance to realize it.Laufey's promised birthday present never comes.

He put the paper back in the book, put it beside the pillow, and turned off the bedside lamp.He wrapped himself up tightly, the London summer was cold and dreary, the rain was still raging outside the window, and the vegetation scraped against the glass, making annoying noises.But he soon lost his hearing.Loki fell into a deep dream, dreaming of pink dogwoods, white marble, green grass, the smell of lemon, honey and black tea in the air, and he found himself swinging to the top of the swing, transparent soap bubbles Reflecting the goose-yellow sunlight into colorful spots, it drifted slowly in front of him, everything seemed to press the pause button, then he began to descend, time gradually returned to its original flow speed, and the huge suction dragged him to the ground——

Loki woke up.

The interior is pitch black, but from the blackout curtains