[Phantom of the Opera] Devil's Beauty

In 1894, HMS Queen of England.

Fitch had been paying attention to the first-class couple for a long time—no, maybe they weren't a couple at all.

The first-class fare was outrageously expensive. Even though Fitch, as an assistant manager of a bank, had an annual salary of [-] pounds, he still didn't dare to spend freely on this ship.The "husband" in the couple was extravagant and kept bringing expensive fruits and desserts to the "wife".

Fitch reasonably suspected that the "wife" had been coerced.After all, the difference in appearance between the two is too great. Although the "husband" is tall and slender, with a stern temperament, his face is as horrible and ugly as burnt; As light as the sun.For half a month on the boat, almost all the single men were talking about her in low voices, and they couldn't hold back their souls for her.

Some people say that she is a Frenchman who was kidnapped to England; some people say that she is a courtesan, and she is with that man for money;People are only willing to believe rumors that are beneficial to them, so the last statement has won the approval of most people.

One day, the sky was clear and there were people coming and going on the open deck.Fitch didn't want to be crowded with those inferior people, so he came to the coffee shop, ordered a cup of black tea, and quietly read outdated financial newspapers.

At this time, there was a noise outside, and it turned out that the couple had come over.

The man was wearing a knee-length coat, a slim white shirt, a gray vest and a dark blue tie, and two diamond cufflinks.He wrapped his arms around the woman's waist, protecting her in his arms, with a rare tenderness on his indifferent and ugly face, and asked her softly what she wanted to drink.

However, Fitch remembered the last time he was walking on the deck and saw this man face a group of ladies with no poise, and said coldly: "Get out of the way."

Fitch considers himself a standard British gentleman, and the most important thing about being a gentleman is to stick to the principle of ladies first.He took a sip of black tea, folded up the newspaper, and was about to leave when he saw his nephew Mitchell walking over: "Hi, I'm Mitchell Hunter, just call me Mitchell. Excuse me, I Can I sit here?"

The man looked at Mitchell coldly, obviously disapproving of him sitting here.Mitchell didn't seem to see it, sat down with a smile, snapped his fingers, and called the waiter: "A cup of black coffee, thank you."

The waiter nodded and left.Mitchell smiled at the woman: "What should I call you?" Before the woman could speak, he joked humorously, "Why don't I call you Miss Angel, that's what everyone on the ship calls you?" You. But seriously, those angels in church aren't as pretty as you."

"Thank you." The woman smiled slightly, "I'm Bai Lanzhi, and he's Eric. Just call him by his real name."

Soon, the waiter brought black coffee.Mitchell took a sip and immediately shook his head exaggeratedly: "No, no, this taste is completely wrong! To tell you the truth, I drank authentic black coffee in Italy, without sugar, and it tasted completely different from this. That coffee can It tastes like malt, sweet like caramel, isn't it amazing? Unlike this, it's too bitter, too bitter, I can't drink it. Alas, we spent so much money on the boat ticket, They still use such poor quality coffee beans."

Bai Lanzhi smiled and said nothing.Eric said in a calm voice: "I think you drink lightly roasted coffee beans in Italy. Lightly roasted coffee beans will have a malty aroma and caramel flavor. The taste of coffee is different, which can only explain their The degree of roasting is different, and the cup in your hand is obviously a deep roast." After a pause, he added coldly, "Also, please stop showing off in front of other people's wives, sir."

Mitchell blushed, and was about to open his mouth to refute. When he heard the last sentence, he suddenly opened his eyes wide: "What? You said...she is your wife? How is this possible? How can you be husband and wife?"

There was a silence in the hall, and many people looked sideways. Obviously, there were more than one person who had the same idea as Mitchell.

The soft smile on Bai Lanzhi's face, who had always maintained a slight smile, disappeared.

"Mr. Hunter," she said, "we are indeed husband and wife."

Mitchell's expression was in a daze, as embarrassing as if he had been slapped several times in public, mixed with the sadness and shock of a broken love.He stood up and walked outside with a confused expression.Fitch couldn't bear to see his nephew frustrated, so he stopped him and told him in a low voice that the man and woman could not be husband and wife.

Mitchell's face softened a little: "Then why...she insists on saying that man is her husband?"

Fitch shook the newspaper: "She is so beautiful, if she doesn't have a husband, she will cause a lot of trouble on the boat, understand?"

"I see..." Mitchell felt a little guilty, "I didn't think carefully."

Fitch said flatly: "If you like her, it's never too late to get off the boat and pursue her. Anyway, we will arrive in London soon. You have to remember one sentence, women in this world are all about profit. The more snobbish the beautiful women are, the more they will try their best to mark a good price for themselves. The story of Beauty and the Beast only exists in fairy tale books."

-

The ship was docked in east London, and the pier was crowded with cabs and cabs.As far as the eye can see, there are all piled top hats and waving handkerchiefs.

Passengers in the first class have a dedicated disembarkation channel, and the steamship company also rented private carriages for them, which made the passengers in the second class jealous. You must know that carriages are not cheap at this time, and they cost two shillings an hour. They will even ask for half a pound.

Blanche and Eric walk onto dry land.To Mitchell's great disappointment, they did not separate immediately after getting off the boat, and they still looked intimate.Fei Qi was not surprised: "There are so many people at the dock, how could they separate now? Don't worry, they are definitely not a real couple."

After the words fell, a light chirp sounded.

The two turned their heads and saw a man with a slender face and gray eyes. He was wearing a heavy brown coat and a deerstalker hat. He was holding a black pipe in his hand. He said in a mocking tone: "I don't know why you guys Turn a blind eye to their wedding rings, and the number of suitcases. If you are pretending to be a couple, how could there be only one suitcase. Such an obvious fact, but you have been thinking hard all the way."

The man's tone reminded Mitchell of being slapped in the face by Eric, and said with an ugly face: "Sir, we don't seem to have invited you to join the conversation, right?"

"Of course not," the man glanced at them, "I don't want to talk to a group of lustful people." After finishing speaking, he turned and walked into the crowd.Mitchell was so angry that he was about to catch up and question him when Fitch grabbed his arm.

"If I'm not mistaken...the person just now should be Sherlock Holmes."

Hearing this name, Mitchell's arrogance dissipated immediately, and his back bent.

Sherlock is the most famous private detective in Britain. Even he said that the man and woman are husband and wife, which means that they are really husband and wife.

But, in this world, why are there couples with such a big gap?

-

Bai Lanzhi rummaged through newspapers and maps in the bookstore for a long time, and finally found a hotel with a good location.When the boss saw her coming in, his eyes lit up immediately, and he was about to go up to greet her courteously, but the next second he saw Eric behind her, and immediately stopped cautiously in place.

Bai Lanzhi is already used to this kind of reaction. From the beginning of distress, she can now deal with it without changing her face: "He is my husband... Don't worry, he has no infectious diseases. I can testify that he was born with this appearance." As she spoke, she tiptoed and kissed Eric's lips. At this time, the boss's expression changed from cautious to envious, "We are traveling to London. Are there any vacant suites?"

The boss first apologized for his rudeness, then sighed and said: "Yes, of course, there is a shortage of everything, but there is no shortage of vacancies. As you can see, there are almost no people staying in the hotel now. It is not peaceful here recently. There are few people. At six o’clock, the locals are afraid to go out, and only foreigners are left on the street to do business with us. But in another hour, we will have to close.”

"A lot of people died?" Eric asked in a low voice.

The boss didn't expect him to speak, his voice was quite low and pleasant, and his impression of him improved a lot: "Yes, they are all young and beautiful girls, and I don't know more details. Anyway, anyway, at night Don't go out."

-

Take the elevator and walk into the suite, the first thing that catches your eyes is the huge crystal chandelier, the tapestries and carpets are light gold, there are floor lamps, basswood desks and bookshelves occupying the entire wall in the corner, the bedroom is the innermost, The layout is similar to the living room.Bai Lanzhi looked through the bookshelves curiously, and found some old books and old newspapers that were outdated for a long time.

Eric stood motionless in the doorway, arms folded, seemingly unhappy.She put down her book, walked over, held his big hand, and asked softly, "What are you thinking?"

He narrowed his eyes and replied flatly, "I don't like this place."

She liked it very much when he spoke in this tone, like a child who was not satisfied, and asked patiently: "Who messed with you? Isn't the boss very enthusiastic?"

He carried the suitcase, walked into the bedroom, and snorted coldly without looking back: "These people don't think you are my wife."

Bai Lanzhi couldn't help laughing out loud: "Is it because you don't know me?"

He put the suitcase in the cabinet, and when he heard this, his expression softened slightly, and he was about to answer while taking off his tie, when a very shrill female cry came from outside.

The two looked at each other.

The hour hand of the clock in the room was pointing to the Roman numeral "seven". It was already evening, and there were very few pedestrians on the street. At this time, there were women's cries, which was obviously not a good thing.