POW camp

At that time, Morton didn't know that Lindsay was a spy sent by Ole Country to lurk beside him; at that time, he didn't know that his code name was "Dead Leaf Butterfly".

At that time, Morton had just arrived in Fancheng.

In fact, he doesn't like this city at all, it's always gray and chaotic, it's rainy and rainy, and it's rare to have a few sunny days.The same is true for the high-class people here, even though the war has almost spread to their doorsteps, they are still drunk, extravagant and promiscuous.Only the common people really felt the threat of the flames of war. They hurried and panicked, their every move revealed a kind of fear and bewilderment of unknown fate, but they didn't know what to do.

Walking out of the security hall, this is what Morton saw, the dark sky, only a little sunshine in the stratus clouds in the southeast corner, the distant roof ridge hidden in the gray, and people coming and going. Sad pedestrians.

"What a ghost place." He breathed out a little bored, waiting for his subordinates to prepare the carriage for him.At this moment, he accidentally turned his head and saw Lindsay sitting on the opposite corner through the dark iron railings in the yard.

To be precise, the first thing he saw was not Lindsay, but sunflowers.The sunflowers look like they have just been cut, and they are still fresh and upright. The big flower discs are open undisguised, as if they are smiling at every passerby.Each orange petal stretches out contentedly, slightly slanting upward.

The sunflowers are not just a single plant, but a small piece of sunflowers, all with orange faces, standing out in the gray street scene.Then Morton saw Lindsay sitting behind the pile of oranges.

Lindsay is a quiet guy, always has been.He sat quietly on the corner of the street, quietly watching the flowers around him, quietly watching the noisy pedestrians, and smiling quietly.That smile is not light and cold, but kind and warm, like the sunflower beside him.

At that time, Morton didn't pay much attention to this man. He still had a lot of things to do, and he had just taken over a new job, so there were too many clues to sort out.Only occasionally, looking up inadvertently, I would catch a glimpse of that quiet figure.There is not only one kind of flower around the man, sometimes it is anthurium, sometimes it is a rose, sometimes it is an iris—it turns out that he is a flower seller—but more often it is a sunflower.

Gradually, Morton began to pay attention to him, and he would glance over there intentionally or unintentionally when he went out to get in the car or got out of the car and came back.The flow of traffic and people has become a negligible foil. In the gray with indistinguishable outlines, the touch of orange has become a lingering scenery in the eyes.

I had further contact with Lindsay on a rainy afternoon.Morton was about to leave for a meeting at Prince Haiya's mansion when the sharp siren pierced through the sky above Fancheng like a sharp sword.The deepest fears in people's hearts were suddenly raised, and people panicked and even cried.Everyone pushed and rushed to the nearest air-raid shelter, for fear of being one step slower than others.

In this group of people rushing around like headless chickens, only one person did not move, and that was Lindsay.He stood up and looked at the panic around him in a daze, as if he didn't understand what happened at all.The flower basket was kicked over, and the flowers were scattered all over the ground. Countless feet stepped on it and stepped back.Lindsay wanted to pick it up, but was pushed aside, and could only watch helplessly as the basket of flowers mixed with the mud.

Before Morton could react, he had already rushed to Lindsay himself, and pulled him over: "Didn't you hear? Alarm! You have to get into the air-raid shelter quickly, the enemy is about to attack!"

Lindsay looked dazed, as if he didn't understand what he was saying at all.He didn't bother to go into details at the critical moment. Morton pulled him and ran all the way to the air-raid shelter under the security hall, where many officers had already gathered. Seeing them coming, he quickly stood up and made way for him.

This was a false alarm. The enemy plane flew over quickly without dropping any bombs.Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and it was only then that Morton realized that the reason why Lindsay didn't run was because he couldn't hear, not only couldn't hear, but he couldn't speak.

Disabled Morton is no stranger, his fiancée is blind.Poor Ada, she made a baby kiss with Morton before she was born, and it was only after she was born that she discovered that the child had problems with both eyes.The two families spent a lot of manpower and material resources, but they only delayed the disaster until Ada was ten years old. After that, she couldn't see anything.

People who knew Morton later said that he was tough and resolute, even cold, but they didn't know that he was once soft.After Ida lost her eyesight, Morton was always by her side, patient, meticulous, tender and considerate, and did everything he could to make the fiancée happy. Although things backfired, Ida died when she was 16 years old.

These six years, and Ada's sudden death, left a deep scar on Morton's heart.Everywhere he goes, he always takes time to visit the local orphanage and donate some money, especially to those children with disabilities. He hopes that they will be happy and not be like Ada.

If it was an ordinary person, they might treat Lindsay differently because of this connection.It's a pity that Morton is not an ordinary person. As soon as he learned of Lindsay's flaws, his vigilance immediately surged.He ordered Lindsay to be sent back, and the matter was over.

What a coincidence.What a coincidence, Morton thought in his office.Such a sensitive identity, such a tense situation.Just arrived in Fancheng, just happened to appear in front of the door of his office building, and happened to be a disabled person.Morton calmed down and regained his sanity.

In the evening of the next day, Morton finished work and was going home in a carriage. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Lindsay standing outside the courtyard with a basket.He seemed to have been waiting for a long time, his clothes were thin, and the tip of his nose was red from the cold in the cold air.

Morton ignored it, got into the carriage straight away, and walked out through the courtyard gate.Unexpectedly, Lin Sai ran over. He stopped the carriage, stretched his arms, raised the basket very high, and moved it to the carriage window.Open the cloth covering the basket to reveal the shortbread baked inside.Lindsay's eyes were shining, with some anticipation and embarrassment, but more gratitude. He opened his mouth and slowly made a two-word mouth shape. Morton could understand, it was: "Thank you."

Morton's face was cold and he didn't even glance at the basket. He completely ignored Lindsay, and only turned his head to the guard and said, "Go back to the house."

Lindsay's smile froze on his face, and he quickly backed away in shame and embarrassment, making way for him.The carriage left quickly, and when Morton turned around, Lindsay was still standing there, watching from afar.Without the backdrop of the bunch of sunflowers, he is just an ordinary person, hidden in a cold gray mist.

Morton thought that Lindsay would never appear again. After all, under normal circumstances, if the other party really approached him with ulterior motives, his refusal would definitely cause the other party to have exposed doubts and then retreat.

Unexpectedly, Lindsay was still selling flowers on the opposite street corner, but no longer in the direction of the security hall.When Morton's carriage passed by, he deliberately didn't turn his face away or lower his head to fiddle with things, but he refused to take a look at the carriage.Morton was amused by this senseless dodge, so childish as to be almost childish.But he didn't continue to explore Lindsay, and he didn't even pay attention to it.

As time goes by, the more Morton understands the inner workings of various systems in Fancheng, the more resentful and worried he becomes for Puman's corrupt rule.From top to bottom, he was either greedy for life and afraid of death or drunk for life and dreaming of death. He had a deeply emotional premonition that he was afraid that this huge empire full of devastation and scars would not last long.

The weather is getting colder, not only rain, but fine snowflakes, and the streets are deserted.Therefore, Morton can see Lindsay standing alone on the street corner without paying attention.He was still wearing the same clothes, huddling himself as much as possible, without the sunflowers, a few bunches of dry plants were piled up in the basket, and it was impossible to tell what kind of flowers they were.No one even stepped forward to ask, Lindsay just sat there, motionless, and Morton even wondered if he was frozen?Morton wanted to go and have a look, but hesitated for a while, so he got into the carriage and said, "Let's go."

After that day, Lindsay was not seen again for five or six days.Sometimes when Morton finished his work and went to the window, he always felt that there was something missing and bare on the corner of the street.Can't help thinking, why didn't you come?Can't sell the flowers?Still, cold sick...but it's just a thought.

A few days later, Morton returned to the mansion in a carriage at night, and just crossed a street when he heard loud, laughing and cursing outside.He raised the cotton curtain and saw a group of soldiers driving away a group of ragged poor people with whips.He frowned and asked the guard: "What is this for?"

"Sir, this is your order to drive the beggars and idlers out of the city, so as not to mix in the enemy's spies and suspicious elements."

Morton nodded, noncommittal.The situation is already very tense, soldiers are pressing down on the border, and war is about to break out. According to the rules, first come first.But he noticed that these soldiers were not honest. They robbed those people of their meager belongings, or brutally beat them with leather whips, just as a way to vent, or dragged out the young men and women, ignoring them Crying and struggling, dragged into the dark alley.

Under the extremely dark and corrupt rule, there is no difference between officers and soldiers and robbers.

At this time, he saw Lindsay.Compared with the group of beggars, Lindsay was cleanly dressed, but shivered a little from the cold, and hugged the basket in her arms tightly, like holding a life-saving straw.A soldier yanked at his hair and yelled, "Hey, that's good." Lindsay held up his hands in horror and refused.

Someone laughed: "Come on, he's a mute, and he can't bark."

"He will, but it's a bit ugly, haha, I've tried it." Someone said.

"Fuck you idiot, even the dumb ones."

"So what, he's not dumb down there."

The soldiers laughed wantonly, elated at being able to show their superiority in public.The previous man shouted loudly: "George, are you done? Come out and take over." He said and pulled Lindsay hard.

Lindsay resisted desperately, and his clothes were torn, prompting a frivolous whistle from the soldiers.He bit one soldier's arm like a cornered rabbit, only to be knocked to the ground by another savage punch.

Morton finally couldn't stand it anymore. The soldier's unscrupulous behavior and the obscene meaning in his words made him angry. He didn't know why he was so angry.He pushed open the carriage door with a "bang", jumped down, stepped forward and pulled the soldier who had punched Lindsay, and slapped him.

The soldiers became quiet all of a sudden, and they didn't dare to take any action. Morton was famous for being harsh and ruthless, and no one wanted to become a living target for him to vent his anger.

Morton carried Lindsay into the car. Even in this chaotic situation, he still remembered his identity, and instead of returning directly to his home, he went to another house on the outskirts of the city.

The long-term cold and hunger made Lindsay's body a little weak. The punch was firm, and he felt a little dizzy before his eyes. After a long time, he found himself sitting in Morton's arms.Panicked and struggling to sit aside, he made himself into a small ball and took up the smallest space possible.

Neither of them spoke, Morton frowned and thought about how to deal with this talent.It's a pity that before he could express anything, Lindsay rushed out as soon as the carriage stopped.He lowered his head, stretched out his hand and gestured twice, but Morton didn't understand, but the man turned and left.

Morton got out of the car and chased him, calling him: "What are you doing?!" Lindsay walked forward regardless, and Morton was so angry that he stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder, but seeing Lindsay dodge suddenly, he was frightened. Suddenly his face changed, and then he remembered that the other party was deaf and couldn't hear himself at all.

Morton was a little irritable, and stretched out his hand: "What are you going to do?"

Lindsay didn't understand the meaning of his gesture, but he guessed it. He pointed to the outside, and then lowered his head without looking at Morton.The two couldn't communicate, so Morton simply dragged Lindsay into the house.He took out a pen and paper and wrote, "Stay here."

Lindsay's eyes lit up suddenly, as if seeing a glimmer of hope, but soon dimmed again.He bit his lip, took the pen, and wrote: "No, it's too much trouble for you."

This kid must still remember his refusal at the beginning, Morton thought angrily, he grabbed the pen and wrote almost forcefully: "I said you stay here."

Lindsay didn't move, then smiled slowly.He looks good when he smiles, like sunshine suddenly shining in, with an angelic purity.He raised his head, looked at Morton, and said with his lips: "Thank you." Morton suddenly felt peaceful and appropriate, as if something he wanted to do a long time ago has finally been done, and he no longer has to worry about it.

After Lindsay settled down, Morton immediately returned to the mansion and reported the matter to "Master" immediately.

"Obviously, this is taking full advantage of your weakness." The master looked serious, "It's too coincidental, Lindsay must be a spy."

"But no one here knows about Ida."

"But you go to orphanages and sponsor disabled children, it's impossible not to be noticed."

"I turned him down once, but he didn't leave, which is not the case with spies in general."

The master was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Send someone to watch him, and I will investigate his details."

Then came a long, almost lengthy period of investigation and experimentation.Lindsay was really an orphan. In the orphanage where he lived, there were very complete files and various photos.But at that time, Lindsay was a very normal child, neither deaf nor dumb. At the age of 12, Lindsay was adopted by a nobleman of the Puman Empire, but he was suspected of child abuse.Four years later, the nobleman was killed by his wife and daughter.It was a scandal so sensational in the Empire that the newspapers covered it at length, and Lindsay was a witness at the time.The police found him in the basement, naked and bruised. At that time, he had already shown aphasia and deafness, not physically but psychologically.The orphanage treated her for a long time, and when she got a little better, she was taken away by the nobleman's younger brother.There is no specific record of what happened later, and it can be said to be a large blank.

"This is not normal." Master threw the materials on the table, "No one knows what he went through in those years, and it is very likely that he was bought by the enemy."

"However, it can also be explained that it is normal. If it is really a spy, the resume must be perfect. It is impossible for there to be such a big gap, which arouses suspicion."

The master stared at Morton for a long time with deep, almost sharp eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Do you want to keep him?"

Morton took a deep breath and said, "If you can."

The master was silent for a moment: "You can lock him up like a pet, without contact with the outside world, so you don't need to question his identity."

"Absolutely not." Morton flatly refused.

"Morton, you seem to care too much about him." The master said worriedly.