Port of Liverpool, the heart of the city's economic prosperity.

Containers loaded with goods from all over the world are stacked neatly under the roaring container cranes, and the noisy wind and rain on the seaside tonight cannot stop the roar of machinery.

Under the huge searchlight, in addition to the non-stop comings and goings, there are also crew members who gather in twos and threes, while hiding from the rain and smoking, chatting and farting, people of different colors from all over the world, communicating in English or skillful or lame, making it as lively as a midnight bar, making it a little difficult to tell whether it is day or night in Liverpool.

In the most familiar whistle of the Port of Liverpool, a cargo ship that has just entered the port, with the bright red "Diagio" printed on its hull, is parked at the gate to handle the handover procedures.

"My dear Gusta, some days are gone. A strong man with a big beard greeted him very familiarly, wearing a frock coat with many large pockets, drenched most of the time, and did not care, holding a can of beer in his hand and pouring it vigorously.

"Captain Allen, long time no see. Gusta, who was wearing a crisp customs uniform and had gray hair, held an umbrella, glanced at the beer in Alan's hand, and smiled: "Is it still the same?"

"Hiccup~Ah, thank God for creating the water of life. ”

Captain Alan gave a long hiccup, extremely satisfied.

Alan then said slightly apologetically, "I'm sorry, my dear Gusta, this damn thing is really fascinating. Then he shrugged his shoulders, "yes, old age, Guinness Stout, the best stout in the world, the pride of our Ireland, and I only like to give Guinness to it." ”

Alan pulled out a can of Guinness with a classic print from the bottom right pocket of his jacket and said, "Would you like a can?"

Gusta smiled: "Thank you, it's not as good as you young people, to be honest, I'm sleepy to death right now, I just want to stay in the warm bed on a rainy night, Fanny will have to complain to me again tomorrow, her freshly ironed clothes are wet from this damn weather." I'm afraid tonight's work will end early. Then Gusta stretched and yawned hard.

After sobering up a little, Gusta reminisced: "When I was younger, I drank Guinness like water, and now I just want to retire smoothly in a few years." ”

"Okay. ”

Alan put the beer back in his pocket and suddenly remembered something, "Ah, yes, you can try this." ”

Unzipped his coat and took out a package of plastic packaging from it, Alan stepped forward and said mysteriously: "Try this, fortunately I deliberately put it in it and didn't get wet, the betel nut from China is very refreshing, and it can help you defeat the goddess of the night." ”

"Isn't this thing said to be carcinogenic? And it doesn't seem to be very tooth-friendly, and there are a lot of shocking photos on the Internet. ”

Alan took out a box of cigarettes and said, "Get one?"

Gusta took the flue and said, "Thank you." ”

Alan took out Zippo's windproof beater, which is the standard for facing strong winds on the sea, and it was also printed with the print of Marvel's Aquaman standing on the waves with a trident, presumably hoping to pray for the protection of the sea god, although he is a comic book character, Jason Momoa played him as the most popular sea god in the world.

He lit a cigarette with a lighter, put the cigarette case in his hand, pointed to the black rotten lung on it, and said to Gusta: "You see, smoking is also very harmful to the lungs. ”

Gusta laughed and said, "Okay Alan, I can't talk about you, come on, let me try something that these young people like, and hope it won't make me chew the tender steak in the future." ”

Alan complimented, "Your teeth are as sharp as a lawnmower." ”

As a port worker, Gusta has naturally heard the name of betel nut, this thing is indeed very popular in some places in China and Southeast Asia, because it is not very friendly to teeth, I really haven't tried it, Gusta curiously took the fancy plastic packaging, tore it and took out one and put it in the palm of his hand, shriveled like a cut peach pit, and there was a red thing in the middle, curious: "What is this?"

Alan smiled: "Goji berries, a very famous tonic in China, many Chinese young people have recently become popular to brew some in beer. ”

"Generally, raisins and the like will be put in the middle of betel nuts, and this company is ingenious and puts red wolfberries from Ningxia, China, so this is a healthy betel nut in betel nuts, and it is a good product. ”

Goji old Gusta has tried it, and the captain who transported this thing before also sent a few boxes to himself, and he once drank it according to the introduction on the Internet, but after soaking in water, he felt that the taste was very ordinary, and there was no fragrant coffee and afternoon tea from the British Empire, but I didn't expect these two things to match.

Allen explained: "Nowadays, young people in China are very popular for health preservation, such as wolfberry betel nut and jumping knee pads, and I heard that they sell very well among young people. ”

Old Gusta sighed: "Today's young people are more concerned about taking care of their bodies than we old people, where is like when we were young, we have been fighting against the wind and waves on the sea, and there is nothing more conducive to the health of the body than the waves of the sea." ”

"Hope to surprise old Gusta. After complaining about the young man who was too delicate at the moment, Gusta threw the betel nut into his mouth and chewed it vigorously.

Alan also took one, accompanied old Gusta to blow the cool sea breeze of the Irish Sea, smoked a cigarette, and chewed together.

Old Gusta squinted his eyes, carefully experiencing the changes in the betel nut in his mouth, chewing it was a little hard, the taste was sweet, as if he was chewing the wood fiber soaked in syrup, and the juice was also a little choking, well... It seems like choking is a bit too much.

As Gusta swallowed some of the sweet juice, he was suddenly stunned, his originally gentle breathing suddenly became rapid, and Gusta felt that his chest was suddenly blocked, as if he had just swallowed a large ball of cotton.

"Hiss~"

Gusta, who had never felt this way before, suddenly widened his eyes and frantically hammered his chest and shouted "help!"

Alan was so frightened that he almost swallowed the betel nut, and hurriedly coughed a few times, stepped forward to help old Gusta, patted Gusta's back and said depressedly: "Almighty God, Gusta, don't scare me." ”

Old Gusta gasped and said, "I feel out of breath, is it asthma, but I don't have this problem." ”

"No, no, no, this is normal, you can kill a bull if you are in good health!"

Alan saw that old Gusta slowly calmed down, and hurriedly explained: "The first time I eat betel nut, I will have this reaction, I'm very sorry, I forgot to tell you, it's fine after getting used to it, and you will have one when you are sleepy at night, and you can't keep it for a week, which is more effective than those little rabbit cubs taking drugs." ”

Old Gusta waved his hand, signaling that the colleague who was preparing to come over in the distance was fine, "Come on, my old friend, this must be the first betel nut in my life, and the last." ”

"I'm sorry for the accident, and when this shipment is finished, I'll invite you to a drink at the best pub in Liverpool. ”

Gusta, who was still a little tight, wiped his forehead, sweat in one hand, and let out a long breath: "Then I'm not welcome." ”

The aluminum empty beer can was pinched into a twist, and Allen's mood was obviously not as relaxed as it seemed on the surface, "Your unkindness is God's greatest generosity." ”

Alan saw that Gusta agreed, and his mood was also a lot easier, he wanted to sell it to his old friend, but it turned out that this old bone looked like he was going to kick his legs, in case there was really a three long and two short, his career would probably be as good as the dark beer in his hand.

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded next to him, "Is your body okay?"

Alan and Gusta were startled, and turned their heads to see three people who suddenly appeared next to them at some point.

All three of them were dressed in white robes, the first of whom was embroidered with silver silk threads, and the latter was holding an umbrella for him.

The man said, "Hello, I'm from Liverpool Cathedral and I heard a cry for help, so I'm here to see if there's anything I need help with." ”

The sound was warm, not loud but clear, as if it had not been disturbed by the noise of the port at all.

Old Gusta saw that Alan was subconsciously about to start digging out beer for his new friend, so he grabbed it, stuffed the half-canned beer into it again, and laughed heartily: "Thank you for your kindness, dear friend, I'm completely fine, do you have anything to do with the port? Maybe I can help." ”

"Have you seen a Chinese with a wound in the abdomen who should be carrying a black box?" ”

Gusta thought for a moment and replied: "There are no cargo ships from China tonight, and no Chinese have been seen on other cargo ships for the time being." ”

"If you see him, you can pretend you can't see it and call the police, the Chinese is dangerous and is now wanted." ”

Old Gusta nodded and said, "Okay, I'll definitely pay attention." ”

"May the Lord bless both. ”

The man drew a cross on his body with his right hand and left with two of his attendants.

Alan complained, "Hell, when did these three church people come over, old Gusta, are there a shortage of vigilantes in Liverpool now that they need someone from the church to help?"

"Alan, give me the beer. ”

"Oh, dear Gusta, that's right, no night is complete without stout. ”

Old Gusta didn't answer Alan's question, took a big sip of the beer that was going to quit the night, and his palms were covered with sweat as he clutched the handle of the umbrella.

As a veteran who has worked in the port for many years, he often has to face various problems such as smugglers, smugglers, etc., and a pair of sharp eyes are essential.

However, just now, because he ate betel nut for the first time, his body reacted a little too much, and he didn't see how the three people walked over, but when they left, Gusta saw very clearly, the not too big umbrella was not enough to completely cover the bodies of the three people, and the increased rain next to the port because of the sea breeze would not make it possible for the people hiding under the umbrella to be spared, but on the white robes of the three people, Old Gusta was sure that he could see very clearly, there was not even a drop of rain!