I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

Two years passed by, and the spring of 1859 arrived in a blink of an eye.

A brand new buggy was parked at the gate of the house at 52 Rotter Street, Fort William.

Before the courteous footman stepped forward to open the door, the female passenger in the car pushed the door and jumped out of the carriage.Her movements are light, nimble and elegant, and the skirt draws a graceful arc, but it does not conform to the behavior norms of contemporary dignified ladies.

The man who got off the car one step behind laughed lowly:

"Lucy, Lucy, you can't do this. You have to be more reserved and dignified, and wait for the servants to come up to serve. Listen, you have to be delicate and graceful, and let the gentlemen feel caring and pity, instead of rushing yourself. Get everything done with ease, as nimbly and swiftly as a deer in the jungle."

While appreciating the neatly trimmed bushes and the dark and shiny carved wrought iron fence in front of the new house, Pei Xiang responded to Captain Butler's ridicule:

"Rett, I know those rules. However, I don't want to restrain myself to cater to other people's aesthetics when it is not necessary. I work hard to make money to make myself more comfortable and comfortable, not to squeeze into the ranks of ladies and let a group of Strangers restrain and discipline."

"With all due respect, if you don't pretend to be a qualified lady, you are destined to fail to marry into a high-class family. English gentlemen are very arrogant and picky in their bones, beautiful and proud Miss Hoffman."

"Then don't marry those arrogant and picky gentlemen." Pei Xiang finally finished admiring all kinds of exquisite decorations in front of the new house, turned around and looked at Captain Butler, who was also not of the same class, with a smile. Beautiful, neither stupid nor stupid, why bother to find those men who need me to make compromises."

"Oh, then what kind of husband are you going to find for yourself?" Rhett raised his eyebrows and smiled, rather cynically.

"Do you have to find a legal husband? Let him own my property and personal freedom confidently?" Pei Xiang blinked meaningfully, "Captain Butler, do you have to marry a legitimate wife? No wife, Are you going to be lonely and single all your life?"

"Of course not." Rhett touched his well-trimmed mustache, a little surprised by Pei Xiang's hint, "Lucy, Edward will be offended by your boldness."

"Edward valued my happiness more."

"Well, maybe you're right. Still, are you sure that's your 'happy fun' and not rich Lady Lucy having fun?"

"My friend, what you said is really rude!" Pei Xiang stared at the ungentlemanly man pretending to be angry, and criticized him seriously, "You are slandering a lady."

"Lady?"

Rhett snorted, he opened the door for Pei Xiang ahead of the footman, bent over exaggeratedly, and "respectfully invited" the lady to enter, his black eyes were full of ridicule.

Pei Xiang cast a sidelong glance at the playboy who was smiling blushingly, and raised his delicate chin and hummed softly.

Immediately afterwards, under the gaze of Captain Butler, she slightly adjusted her walking posture and the expression on her face.Almost in the blink of an eye, the temperament around her changed, as if the loose and casual wild girl just now was a hallucination, and the gentle and graceful woman in front of her was the real Miss Lucy Hoffman.

"Whoa!" Captain Butler whistled in a very rude manner. "Nice job, Lucy, you are a wonderful girl. Of course, I am even more curious about your secret teacher."

"Then keep curious, Captain Butler. You have offended me, and I will never introduce G to you."

Pei Xiang took Rhett Butler's arm and walked into the room side by side with him.

In the bright and spacious living room with rich colors, Edward Hoffman was instructing the servants to adjust the position of the picture frame above the fireplace. When he saw Pei Xiang and Butler walking in together, he said with a smile:

"I thought you'd be late, Rhett. Lucy, how's it going at Briar House? No big deal?"

"It's okay," Pei Xiang sat down on the sofa, and said softly, "A customer found that he lost his wallet and pocket watch when he returned home, thinking it was left in the store. He went back to the 'House of Thorns' to look for it but found nothing. When he found it, he suspected that the clerk White had hidden his things, so there was a dispute."

"Oh, that's a little bad, but I'm sure our little White, he's an honest young man, and won't keep a visitor's stuff private."

Edward frowned at Pei Xiang's words. He stopped worrying about the hanging position and angle of the picture frame, turned around and walked to sit next to Pei Xiang and Butler.

Pei Xiang nodded slightly, and said unhurriedly:

"I also believe in White. It turns out that it has nothing to do with White, and it has nothing to do with the 'House of Thorns'. After the customer left shopping, he bumped into a man in a hurry in front of the store. The wallet and That's when the pocket watch was stolen."

Hearing this, Butler let out a light snort.

He met Pei Xiang on the way before, so he didn't know about it. At this time, he was listening to the conversation between the Hoffman brothers and sisters, and couldn't help asking curiously:

"Did the guy who hit someone steal it? But how did you find out and confirm it, or is it just a guess?"

Pei Xiang smiled warmly: "I have to thank Professor Rexxar for this matter, thanks to him coming forward in time to prove it."

"Professor Rexxar?"

"Yes, according to him, he happened to be standing behind the customer waiting for the checkout. He witnessed the customer take out his pocket watch, check the time, and then put the watch and wallet into his coat pocket. Immediately afterwards, the man Just took the packed books and left directly, and didn’t stay in the store during the period.”

Hearing this, Edward breathed a sigh of relief:

"Thank God, with the testimony of Professor Rexxar, it is enough to remove the suspicion of White and the House of Thorns. Otherwise... it will not only be a compensation issue, but also affect the reputation of the store. That is the real truth. loss."

Butler raised his eyebrows slightly, and sighed with a smile: "Mr. Rexxar's memory is really good, such a small daily detail can be remembered in his mind."

Pei Xiang thought to himself, that person not only has a good memory, but also has extraordinary observation and vigilance.Even... He looks gentle and bookish, but he has never neglected to exercise, maybe, he still has very good skills.

"Mr. Rexxar said that the reason why he recorded this small detail was because he accidentally caught a glimpse of the patterns on the pocket watch. He felt that the patterns were very delicate and smooth, and the patterns formed seemed to have a certain meaning and a certain meaning. The collection value, so he subconsciously remembered it in his mind.

"In addition, the customer who lost something agrees with Mr. Rexxar's evaluation. He said that the lost pocket watch has some origins and has been passed down for three generations. In addition, Mr. Rexxar accurately drew the part on the pocket watch The pattern further proves that what was said before is true."

"As expected of Mr. Rexxar." Edward laughed with gratitude and admiration in his eyes.

Pei Xiang continued: "After proving that the gentleman had indeed taken the pocket watch and wallet away from the 'House of Thorns', we helped him recall his subsequent itinerary and places he stayed. Check it out and rule out After considering all kinds of impossibilities, the final conclusion is that the guy who 'accidentally' bumped into someone in front of the store is a thief, and he stole the property of the unlucky gentleman."

"Hey, these thieves are really hard to guard against."

Edward shook his head, knowing that it was almost impossible for the gentleman to get back what was lost.

"It's a pity for that commemorative pocket watch."

Edward touched the pocket watch passed down by his father on his body, unwilling to continue talking about this topic, he turned sideways to ask his former employer, current partner and friend Captain Butler:

"Rett, I still want to ask you. I thought you would arrive later. That old fox Johnson is not easy to dismiss. Why did you end the negotiation so early? Did something go wrong?"

Butler twitched the corner of his mouth mockingly:

"Johnson is indeed an old fox. I didn't see him at all today. I just drank a cup of coffee in his luxurious office, then got up and left."

Edward was taken aback for a moment, he pondered and asked:

"Before... Johnson's attitude has been relaxed a lot, and he is willing to sign a long-term contract with us, but now he suddenly avoids it... Could it be that he has found a better and cheaper cotton supplier?"

"Tsk, he did find it."

Captain Butler bowed his head and took a sip of tea before lazily saying:

"Edward, thank your partner for having a fairly handsome face. Huh, Johnson is an old fox, but his new love, Alisa, is definitely a sweet girl. A few small gifts and some sweet words, she will give you everything That said. Here, I got a list of Johnson's guests from Alyssa, and who do you think are the big names?"

"Could it be Thomas Smith from New Orleans? No, he won't pay much less than us, and the rest of you...Rett, you're having trouble with me. I always thought our cotton prices were the fairest." .”

Butler was not in a hurry to give an answer, he turned his head and asked Pei Xiang:

"Lucy, can you guess?"

Pei Xiang's eyes moved slightly, and he said softly: "I have some ideas, I don't know if they are right."

"Tell me, dear Lucy, I always thought you were smarter and more alert than Edward. If you hadn't been restrained by being a woman, you might have left me to work alone, and it would definitely break my heart."

"Hey, Rhett, don't be glib with Lucy." Edward muttered and protested.

Pei Xiang thought for a while, resting his chin, and analyzed slowly:

"Better and cheaper suppliers of cotton... I can't think of any other possibility than slave owners with big plantations who would come and do business in person. Given America's internal conflicts, I think...some would represent America Important figures from the League of Southern States are coming to England."

Butler sat up straight all of a sudden, looked at Pei Xiang very brightly, and praised in his tone:

"Let me just say, you deserve every compliment I have, Miss Lucy."

Pei Xiang didn't feel happy because of the praise, but a solemn look crossed her brows:

"So, the owner of the big southern plantation really came here in person?"

"Yes, Alisa told me quietly that Mr. Johnson met a gentleman with a strange accent the night before. He said that his surname was Jones. Coupled with some characteristics of the other party's appearance described by Alisa, I think that It was the Mr Jones I knew, a wealthy planter with more than 200 slaves."

"You know Mr. Jones?"

"No. But when I was studying at West Point Military Academy, I had some friendship with the children of the Jones family. I once saw Mr. Jones from a distance, but I didn't go up to say hello."

"Rett, after you inquired about this news, did you not tell anyone else? Also, will Alisa reveal to others that you asked about the guest list?"

Butler looked puzzled.

Pei Xiang expressed his worries: "I have some doubts, well, those large import and export businesses may be incidental. The purpose of those people coming to England may not be just business. Rhett, you often go to and from the southern states, I Let me ask you, have they been preparing for battle?"

——To prepare for war, you need to purchase ammunition and weapons.

——To prepare for war, you may have to make an agreement with foreign forces.

——Preparing for battle, if one side makes a move, the other side will not try to stop it.

There was no need for Pei Xiang to continue to explain, Rhett Butler already understood what she had to say, he couldn't sit still, so he got up and paced back and forth in the living room of Hoffman's house.

"Prepare for the war... Lucy, do you think they are not just here to discuss ordinary trade with the British? Jones... The Jones family is really keen on politics, and they have always been the hardliners in the main battle."

Pei Xiang shook his head and said in a low voice:

"I just suspect that there is no real evidence. However, no matter what purpose those people have, Captain Butler, we are just businessmen, and we should stay away from the political vortex that may cause trouble, right?

"Since Mr. Johnson can get on the line with those people, no matter what the inside information is, at least in the cotton business on the bright side, he really doesn't need to negotiate with us anymore. We are middlemen. No matter how we lower the cost, it is definitely not as good as the source. Suppliers are cheap.

"So, whether it's for prudence or not, we'd better switch to another partner. Even if the other party can't eat all of our goods, it's safer than being forced to be involved in the struggle at some point."

Edward also understood Pei Xiang's worries at this time. He frowned and carefully recalled all the gossip he had heard recently, and gradually realized something.

So, in the following time, the three of them moved from the living room to the study, and re-studied the business matters...

That night, Rhett Butler had a rich dinner at Hoffman's house. After getting drunk, he and Pei Xiang danced two dances in the living room, and looked at Pei Xiang and Pei Xiang with a smile. Brother and sister Edward danced.

Later, he fell asleep in the guest room, the first guest in the Hoffmans' new home.

The next day, Pei Xiang got up early and went to the "House of Thorns". In order to thank Mr. George Rexar who helped testify yesterday, she decided to give him a painting of G.

——The kind of paintings that are reluctant to sell after they are finished.

"Don't draw? You don't like this thank you gift?"

"No, I like it very much, but I don't want to treat Miss Hoffman's gratitude so lightly. I am willing to buy this painting, and then, please Miss Hoffman to keep this gratitude."

"Well, since I want to thank you, I must do it according to your heart."

Pei Xiang didn't insist anymore, she noticed that Rexxar seemed a little tired, so she thoughtfully stopped talking.

Rexxar drank hot tea slowly, enjoying the rare moment of leisure and peace in the day, temporarily ignoring the fact that Jones appeared in Liverpool.