I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

After getting on the train, Ace put away the salute of the two, and handed Pei Xiang a newspaper to kill time, and then sat down opposite her.

Pei Xiang took the newspaper, flipped through it casually, and couldn't help but look up at Ace who was sitting opposite.

Ace was also reading the newspaper, and was very absorbed in it.Even when he noticed Pei Xiang's gaze, he still kept his eyes down and read intently.

The train started, Pei Xiang looked around and found that there were not many people in the carriage.She observed the strange passengers and the decoration in the carriage for a while, and then she took the initiative to speak in a quiet atmosphere:

"If you and I both go to New York, what about things at home? Does Mrs. Hummel rest assured that you will go away? Also, haven't you been discussing cooperation with Harrick, the owner of Johnson's billiard room recently? If we leave like this, will there be any problems on Harrick's side?"

Hearing this, Ace closed the newspaper, and finally looked up at his strange-looking companion. He seemed calm at this moment, but he was actually relieved.

—he could hardly keep silent.

Therefore, he didn't dislike Pei Xiang's questions, which were a bit too far-fetched to find something to say. Instead, he gave an explanation very actively and seriously:

"I've got things sorted out at home, Penko and Jims they'll take care of the day-to-day. My mom hasn't bothered about my safety since I was 12. As for Harrick, I guess you and my The idea is the same, if he backtracks, then we have more reason to shoot, anyway, his reputation in the billiard room is not very clean."

Pei Xiang shook his head lightly, and said cautiously:

"Don't be too proud, Ace, be careful not to suffer a big loss. Harrick has been in business for many years, and there are always cards that you can't expect."

"Then it's a loss, I don't really care about it." Ace's brows flashed a carelessness, and there was a slight disdain in his tone.

Pei Xiang raised her eyebrows, suspecting that her Cui Cui was going through the second stage of human youth.

The scenery outside the car window receded quickly, and Ace whispered again:

"Amy, for me, the most important thing is to walk with you. Besides, you have taught me for so long, don't you want to test the teaching results? Amy, I am applying for a practice test. This trip to New York ...you have to rate me."

"Score?"

"Well, let me investigate the Cruiser Club with you, and catch the person behind the scenes who ordered Fortes to steal the blueprint."

Pei Xiang tilted his head and thought about it, and felt that it would be good to give Cuicui another practical lesson, so he bent his lips and acquiesced to Ace's proposal.

——Actually, the cars are all up, and it’s not too late to act together afterwards.

——*——*——

Arriving in New York, Pei Xiang and Ace did not go directly to the Cruiser Club to investigate, but first found Fortes, who had been caught and released by them before.

"Mr. Hummel!"

Seeing Ace suddenly appear at the door of the house, the pupils of Fortes, who came back from the party, shrank suddenly.

He stared cautiously and defensively at the young man who gave him the nightmare, while watching the little man standing behind Ace out of the corner of his eye.

"You, you came to New York...haha, did you pass by here? What a coincidence..."

Ace paced close to Fortes with one hand in his pocket, and mercilessly pierced Fortes's luck:

"I'm not passing by, I'm here to visit you specially. Mr. Fortes, I think you haven't forgotten our agreement, have you?"

"Of course, hehe," Fortes felt that the deep eyes staring at him were extremely cold at this time, and he subconsciously chose to obey, "I have always been grateful to you and that lady for their tolerance and kindness to me. , How can you break the promise? Before, I have handed in the blueprint that you allowed me to take away, and did not reveal the specific real details."

"That's good," Ace nodded slightly, "In that case, won't Mr. Fortes invite us in as guests?"

Fortes agreed with a wry smile.

Before turning around to lead the way, he took another look at Pei Xiang standing behind Ace, and asked Chi Chi:

"Mr. Hummel, did the little gentleman behind you also enter the room to discuss in detail?"

Ace waved his hand indifferently, and said softly:

"My own person, there is no need to deliberately conceal him."

Hearing this, Fortes nodded, and said nothing more, but directly led Ace and Pei Xiang into his house.

After taking their seats, the three of them went directly to the topic without exchanging greetings.

Fortes briefly talked about the follow-up to his last mission:

"According to your and Miss Meredith's instructions, I only handed in part of the blueprints, and sent a message to the other party saying that the rest of the blueprints are hidden too secretly, and I need more time to plan the plan. The other party didn't What a reaction, but these days I have been frequently urged to steal the remaining blueprints. And, um, just last Sunday, there was a message saying that if I can hand over the remaining blueprints within ten days, give Triple my pay."

Pei Xiang raised his eyebrows high, and laughed loudly with a clear voice that only belonged to young people:

"Those idiots can't research anything good after giving them half of the real blueprints, tsk tsk, it's too shameful! I don't know how to reflect and concentrate on research, but are eager to steal the remaining blueprints. Alas, what a bunch of habitual A villain who takes shortcuts, he is not afraid that if he takes too many shortcuts, one day he will break his leg in a snap."

Ace glanced gently at Pei Xiang, who was playing the boy, with a pampering smile similar to that of his elder brother, and he said slowly:

"You are still young, don't know the greed and shamelessness of human nature, don't expect these scumbags who use dirty methods to know shame, repent and work hard. They can only use various conspiracies and tricks, and only opportunistic. Your sister Amy asked Mr. Fortes Only submitting half of the blueprints is to estimate the psychology and ability of some people, and quietly wait for the fish to fall into the trap."

Hearing this, the bright-eyed boy sincerely praised:

"Sure enough, Sister Amy is always so wise and powerful. She can predict everything in advance. I admire her the most. Hey, I was worried that those idiots would take the opportunity to research our new technology after they got half of the blueprints. "

Fortes on the side laughed and said:

"If the technology in Miss Meredith's hands is so easy to crack, why would someone pay a lot of money to hire me to do it?"

Pei Xiang immediately gave Fortes a sneer. Anyway, in the eyes of the young man, this person is not a good person.

Ace told Fortes softly: "Since the other party is eager to ask for the second half of the drawing, then give them the rest. Mr. Fortes, please contact the other party as soon as possible, and make an appointment for the delivery time and place. "

Fortes had hoped that this unlucky deal would end as soon as possible, but at this time he hesitated:

"Mr. Hummel, um, I would like to take the liberty to ask, according to your plan with Miss Meredith... What will happen next? Will you really openly hostile to a certain officer with bad conduct? Then, then Let the other party speculate that I am doing it secretly."

Ace said in a deep voice: "No, you don't know anything at all, and there is no suspicion of leaking secrets at all. Of course, if the other party acts domineeringly and suspects you or blames you without evidence, won't you retaliate? ? Will you stay where you are and be beaten and scolded obediently?"

"Of course I have some cards to protect myself," Fortes waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's just that if I do that, my loss will not be small."

This remark made Pei Xiang, who was diagonally opposite, sneer. She squinted at the distressed Fortes, and said bluntly:

"Do you think you are our equal partner? All interests must be considered. God, don't dream. Think about why you agreed to cooperate, isn't it because you can't resist? So, where are so many Nonsense, hurry up, do as Ace said, contact your employer, and make an appointment for the time and place of delivery."

Cooperating with Pei Xiang's urging, Ace held a small and sharp dagger in his hand at some point.When he turned his wrist, the cold light flashed away, directly hurting Fortes' eyes, causing him to shiver slightly.

Fortes couldn't help recalling all the tortures he suffered that night, remembering the double pain and suffering from both physical and psychological.

"Cough, I was wrong." Fortes nervously stared at Ace's every move, and quickly gave in. "I've already been let off by you once, so I shouldn't be more greedy. Mr. Hummel, I will Just try to contact him."

"Well," Ace responded lightly, and continued to remind him, "As long as you don't want to be unable to mix in your own circle in the future, just work obediently. Otherwise, I will leave you completely helpless. "

Thinking of all the secret news and industry insider that he confessed in pain that night, Fortes couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.He clearly realized that he had only one way to go now.

After completely admitting his defeat, Fortes was very efficient.On the third day after Pei Xiang and Ace visited, he brought a new news.

"The other party notified me that the transaction will be at the back door of the Cruiser Club at 07:30 tomorrow morning. They asked me to put the sealed remaining drawings on the steps of the back door, and then leave immediately, and I am not allowed to stay nearby to check."

"The club at 07:30 in the morning... There were no customers at that time, and it was not the opening time. Wasn't it taken into the club?" Pei Xiang whispered, a little confused.

Fortes quickly explained: "Based on my previous experience, the documents placed on the steps will be taken away by the people in the club."

"That is to say, the traded items really entered the club, instead of being taken away after staying on the steps of the back door for a while."

"Yes, I can guarantee that." Fortes nodded affirmatively.

The teenager Pei Xiang looked at Fortes in surprise, and asked curiously:

"Don't you have to leave after putting away your stuff? How can you be sure that the traded item has entered the club?"

As he was speaking, the boy suddenly widened his eyes and let out an "ah". Afterwards, he analyzed without Fortes' explanation:

"I see, you are not an honest person. You didn't do things according to the requirements of your employer before. You peeked, didn't you? You went back and peeked, oops, let me catch it. Come on, Say it!"

Fortes was suddenly grabbed by the arm of the extremely powerful young man and forced to ask. While suffering from pain, he couldn't help asking in a panic: "Say, what are you talking about?"

"Since you know that the traded item was taken into the club, you must have seen who took it? Tell me quickly, and we will go directly to that person to ask the truth."

Fortes frowned in pain and gasped, and quickly explained:

"I, I have never been able to see the person who fetched things clearly. The terrain there is quite special, and the only place I can find to hide and peek is not at a good angle. If I hide there and look around, the line of sight will be blocked by more than half.

"So, I can only see someone taking the trade items and returning to the club door, but I can't see the appearance of that person. His upper body is blocked by the window flower stand protruding from the neighbor's house."

"So it is."

After hearing Fortes' explanation, the teenager sighed in disappointment and let go of his hand at the same time.

Fortes hurriedly took a few steps back to stay away from the vigorous boy, feeling a little afraid of this kind of young man who was edgy and easily excitable.

He originally wanted to reveal these details to Ace in a half-covered manner, take Nacho, and stretch it, in exchange for some initiative, but he didn't expect it to be destroyed by the boy's pliers-like hands.

Here, Pei Xiang said to Ace:

"Ace, let's go around the club tonight."

Ace had no objection.

The two spoke a few more words with Fortes, and when they found that they could not ask any more specific information, they left together.

On the way, Ace asked, "Did you just purposely clamp Fortes' arm with a heavy hand?"

"Well, that guy is really dishonest. You see, some important news hasn't been revealed until now."

"I'll come next time, his coat is not clean."

"Ok."

Don't mention that Fortes' arm hurt for several days after returning home, just talk about Pei Xiang and Ace.

After the two of them explored the terrain, they found that, as Fortes had described, there was only one place where they could hide and observe near the street facing the back door of the club.And the location of the observation site is indeed not very good.

"I estimate that this observation and hiding place is also a loophole deliberately left by the people behind the scenes."

Pei Xiang stared coldly at the protruding flower platform that "just happened" to block the observation line of sight, and said softly:

"Look at the flower stands along the window. Judging from the color of the brick surface and the moss marks on the nearby walls, the flower stands along the window must have been newly added in the past two or three years, rather than existing in the old house."

Ace followed Pei Xiang's instructions to observe the details, and pondered:

"Actually, if we start with the construction of flower beds along the window, we should be able to find important clues."

Pei Xiang agreed: "Indeed, but it will be more troublesome. Let's start with the club first. If the club is difficult to overcome, then change the direction of investigation."

"How are you going to investigate the Cruiser Club, Amy?"

"Well, look at this person's profile. James Albert, major rank, member of the Cruiser Club. He is handsome, generous, likes to show off, and occasionally does some slightly outrageous things to make his new lover happy. , is a well-known social figure."

"so?"

"Ace, didn't you ask to take the test? Come on, this Albert is the test item I assigned to you."