"The Widow" Bertha

after a few weeks.

The carriage from Nan'an Street slowly drove into the Whitechapel area, skipped the stinking sewage pool and several shantytowns, and finally stopped in front of a rather narrow alley.After stabilizing the car completely, the coachman opened the window behind him: "It can only be delivered here, ma'am, the carriage can't get in."

"sorry to bother you."

The woman sitting in the carriage opened the door and got out of the carriage. She didn't care about the dirty water on the ground and stepped on it.

She was wearing a dark blue dress, made of extremely ordinary materials, and she seemed to have a little wealth, but it was far from exceeding the acceptance level of the Whitechapel residents.But even so, the lady still attracted the attention of poor people who came and went - she was simply too beautiful.

The lady is tall, thin and straight, with deep and gorgeous facial features engraved with the barbaric beauty from overseas, but those dark golden eyes are extremely calm, highlighting the self-cultivation and composure after civilization.Just by looking at her appearance, she knew that this lady was not easy to provoke, not to mention that her destination was the newly opened Thames Office.

——Bertha never minded other people's scrutiny and observation, but for now, people saw her appearance more than recognized her identity.

The people around don't know her yet, it doesn't matter, they will always know her.

For the newly opened Thames & Co. belonged entirely to Bertha.

A few weeks ago, the name hanging on the door of the office was "Jesse Pine", but with the leader of the Jesse gang hanged on the gallows, the property lost its ownership.The government came forward to set an extremely low price for the firm, with the aim of selling it as soon as possible and giving non-gang investors a chance.

However, the gentlemen of the upper class do not understand the operating rules of the lower society: Old Jesse died in a gang fight. If there is no nod from the winner, which "investor" would dare to move the street gang's territory?

Bertha ultimately bought the property out of her own pocket.

Overnight, everyone on the road knew the fact that the sky in Whitechapel had changed. It was Mrs. Thames' boys who joined the Irish and the Gypsies to lay down the territory that belonged to the Jesse gang, so that it was only for the dead brother. Eight-year-old Connor Thames had his revenge.

As the leader of the gang, Bertha walked into the office with her skirt on her hem. Like every day in the past few weeks, she received a high degree of respect and welcome.

"The lady is here!"

Former Jesse Gang member Ned Morrison hastily put down the ledger in his hands.

In the past, he worked part-time as an accountant for Jesse, and because old Jesse's accounting was a mess, he was able to secure the second-in-command position.Mrs. Thames' right-hand man is now out of his turn, but this does not prevent Ned Morrison from currying favor with his new boss.

As soon as Ned finished speaking, all the young people in the office stood up in unison. All the people working here were wearing red scarves. Some of them took off their red gloves, but some of them also wore them.

Red scarves and red gloves have become the iconic dresses of Mrs. Thames' boys.

They each called "Madame" respectfully to Bertha.

Facing this scene, Bertha curled up her mouth.

"What are you doing?" she laughed. "Don't let me keep up everyone's work. Come here, Ned."

"Yes Yes."

Of course Ned understood why Bertha was looking for him, and he immediately came over with the account book: "I have already counted all the properties of the Jessie Gang before, ma'am, the debts, securities and deposits are balanced, and we now have two Thousands of pounds in cash."

Two thousand pounds!

This is not a small amount. Although it suddenly sounds like it is not as much as the money that Rochester returned to Bertha not long ago, it is just the Jesse gang—now it is Thames’ cash, which belongs to the part that can be used at any time .

And there are more potential assets that cannot be taken out at any time: the debts released, the territory belonging to the Jesse Gang, and the transactions with other forces, etc., all add up, excluding the principal and the "little brothers" "Salary", the net profit you get, at least the same amount as the cash in the account every year.

These belonged to old Jessie, and now they belonged to Bertha.

"Of course, ma'am," Ned added, "these are all legal gains... at least they are also gray gains. The worst ones are basically not on the table, but they are far from illegal. If you do something illegal— —”

"That's it."

Bertha said indifferently: "It is the ability to find a way to make those who are not on the stage finally become able to be on the stage. People can live longer and go back. Don't forget how old Jesse died."

Ned Morrison nodded immediately: "Yes, what Madam said is true."

Bertha glanced at him lightly, knowing that Ned was flustered by this, but she didn't say anything.

She kept the Jesse gang because everyone was there to earn a living. Those who worked for old Jesse might not be loyal to him, and as long as Bertha gave enough money, they would also work hard for themselves. .

But the rules established are the rules, being a gang is a gang, and things like the Jesse Gang who took huge profits to entrap innocent people must never be done again.

If not, today Mrs. Thames can use the banner of revenge for her brother to kill the black-hearted old Jesse, and tomorrow there will be the same Mrs. Thames targeting Thames.

"Let's do this first," Bertha said coldly, "You still have to work hard on the things that should be in your charge, Ned. The two of you should hand over the things that should be handed over to Thomas. By the way, what about others? ?”

"Going to inspect the site, I'll be right back."

Ned understood that this was what Bertha didn't want to say, and he immediately put away the account book: "Madam, why don't you wait on the second floor first? Thomas has already moved all the belongings here, and it's quiet up there."

"it is good."

Bertha did not shirk, nodded and walked up to the second floor of the office.

The great thing about buying the property is that the Thames kids don't have to squeeze Thomas's wretched flat anymore.

The second floor of the office is very spacious. It used to be the residence of Old Jesse. It was too extravagant for him to live on the whole floor alone. The old guy had several lovers here.Now cleaned and cleaned, it became the residence of the Thames children.

As soon as Bertha went upstairs, Anna, who was only ten years old, hugged her younger brother Alex, who was only three years old, and greeted her: "Ma'am!"

Compared with before, the young girl looked much better and her face was much ruddy.Facing her eyes full of longing and respect, the smile on Bertha's face was somewhat real.

She bent down, touched Alex's face, and then said to Anna: "Hello, Anna."

"Sit down, madam," Anna greeted, "Thomas said he would be back in a while, I'll make tea first."

"Just go and do your homework and leave me alone."

"How can I do that?" the little girl rummaged through the box and finally found the tea, and said with a smile, "I'll do my homework after making the tea."

Even Bertha, who doesn't like tea very much, is willing to be poured a few cups of black tea.

She waited a long time before Thomas returned, smelling of rouge perfume.

Thomas Thames, who was already dressed in a coquettish posture, sprinted upstairs with such a strong smell of makeup, he looked more like a prodigal son of a celebrity.It's just that this prodigal son looked embarrassed and embarrassed. When he saw Bertha sitting on the sofa, he even blushed: "That, madam! Wait for me to change my clothes."

Bertha: "..."

Holding a teacup, she watched Thomas walk into the bedroom in a hurry, and changed his clothes in a hurry and came out after a while.

Thomas, who was only wearing a shirt and suspenders, looked much more stable than when he was wearing red scarf gloves and a beige coat, but the thick smell of powder almost seeped into the nails of the young man, and he walked towards Bertha. Sitting down, almost choked Bertha.

"Ned said you went to inspect the site," Bertha said, unable to bear to look directly, "where have you been?"

"Uh—" Thomas was speechless for a moment.

But Bertha immediately understood, she raised her eyebrows: "Red light district?"

Thomas touched his nose in embarrassment: "...well, yes."

No wonder.

It is said that when there are any major events on weekdays, Old Jesse usually takes the initiative in person.But now it is impossible for Bertha to show her face in front of various shops and forces, and it is naturally Thomas Thames who shows up.

As for prostitutes, how can Jesse Pine, a greasy middle-aged man in his 50s and [-]s who has had several lovers, compare with the handsome and young "little fresh meat" Thomas Thames.It is estimated that Thomas has received a lot of flirting on the surface and flirting in private after such a journey.

"It's a lot of good luck, isn't it?" Bertha laughed.

"lady!"

Thomas must have been ridiculed by the boys downstairs. At this time, Bertha also teased herself, and she couldn't laugh or cry: "Even you run on me, I will lose my sense of smell all morning!"

Didn't he, Bertha felt like her nose was going to lose its use just by sitting here.

She had no choice but to put the teacup under her nose—the smell of tea is better than the smell of these low-quality cosmetics, and then Bertha stared at the teacup and said as if chatting casually: "You are still unmarried, how happy you are in private, I don't care .But better marry a decent girl."

Thomas was taken aback, never expecting that Bertha would get involved in this aspect.

but……

Instead, he read another layer of information.The young man's embarrassment subsided a bit: "It sounds... Ma'am, you don't dislike them very much."

"they?"

"The whores."

Bertha paused with the hand holding the teacup, and then laughed out of nowhere.

She understood what Thomas meant: Even if Bertha had a layer of status as "Holmes' lover", even if she was a bachelor's lover, her status in the upper class was not low, and she still belonged to the category of decent people.

And respectable people always look down on those who sell flesh and blood.The reason why Thomas hesitated was not out of shyness, but because he was afraid of "dirty" Bertha's ears.

"What is there to hate?"

Bertha said indifferently about this: "But any parents with a conscience and humanity will not let their daughter do such a thing unless they are desperate. Buying flesh and blood is more abominable than selling flesh and blood. People go to buy, where did this industry come from?"

As a time traveler, Bertha naturally hated such things.But prostitution is an industry that runs through the history of human civilization. It has a long history and is difficult to eradicate. Even if it is listed as an illegal and criminal act, it is not uncommon.

In the 21st century, the custom industry will still be a topic of great interest all over the world.

Now that Bertha had a solid turf, she could indeed forbid trading flesh and blood on Lady Thames's land, but so what?Does this make prostitutes good?At best, it's just another place to pick up customers, and even because of being driven out, many women who make a living on this will lose their livelihoods.

"Send someone to go again when you have time," said Bertha only, "and knock the madam, and keep out of my sight."

The "don'ts" are, of course, the illegitimate tricks outside of business—hopefully that makes things easier for the girls.

Thomas nodded: "I see, ma'am."

Bertha: "You have worked hard these few days."

Thomas smiled when he heard the words: "Now our brothers and sisters live in a spacious room, where is there any place to shout hard? But..."

"but?"

"The bar at No. 23 Nan'an Street has basically been repaired. Ma'am, do you have a candidate for a manager in your mind?"

"Yes, there is."

Bertha just put down her teacup, leaned on the sofa and said lazily, "But let Ned bring over the ledger first, I have to see how much Dr. Butz owes to the Jesse Gang."