Maugham was content with his current life, calm and peaceful.

Every morning, walking into his watch shop and listening to the ticking sound coming from the walls, Maugham felt full of energy and energy.

There are not many customers who come to the door every day, and sometimes there is no one in the whole day, but Maugham is not disappointed with this state of being crowded, but is happy to relax.

In his spare time, Maugham would always take out a watch and scrub it finely, sometimes opening the lid to admire its internal mechanism.

In Maugham's eyes, every part of the structure of the watch, every gear part is full of beauty. In such a small space, there are no circuit plates, no coding programs, everything only relies on gears and clocksprings to operate precisely, and every minute and every second counts the time, this kind of "strict self-discipline" is what Maugham yearns for.

At noon, Maugham sat in the dining room and savored the red wine in his glass, feeling that time was slowly passing as the wine rolled.

This is Maugham's life, and this is the life Maugham loves.

While Maugham was enjoying his comfortable afternoon, suddenly the PMT prompted a red warning reminder. Maugham, who had a leisurely face just now, showed a look of cold nervousness in his eyes.

Maugham quietly canceled the message reminder, and the wine glass in his hand continued to shake gently, with a breezy look on his face, but his heart was already fluctuating.

The red wine in the glass was still not drunk, and after Maugham looked around, his fingers quickly operated on the PMT, and logged into a program.

Then a very short line of text bounced out.

"War is about to start, so be cautious. ”

Maugham's pupils constricted suddenly.

After a long time, Maugham came to his senses, put away the PMT, and summoned the waitress to prepare to settle the bill and leave.

Today's waitress seems to be a newcomer, and Maugham didn't have much of an impression of her before.

"Isn't today's dish palatable?" the waitress looked at the steak and half a bottle of red wine that were still left.

"No, it tastes great as always, but I'm sick today and my appetite isn't very good, I'm sorry. ”

The waitress smiled sweetly and said, "I wish you a speedy recovery." ”

"Thank you. I have to admit that the waitress's smile is very charming, and Maugham asked himself if he was ten years younger, he would be fascinated by this smile.

Although the smile in front of her is beautiful, it is still difficult to alleviate the heaviness in her heart.

Maugham left the dining room quickly, not noticing that the waitress was there, smiling at her departing figure.

…

Maugham rushed back to his watch shop and sat down in a chair, then poured a cup of herbal tea down in one gulp.

Herbal tea scurried in his throat like a cold viper, and Maugham, who was usually the most maintenance-minded, had never been so careless, and now he needed such a stimulus to keep himself calm.

"Is there going to be a war?" Maugham muttered, and for some reason when the word war was mentioned, Maugham did not have any scenes of battle in front of his eyes, not even in the movies he had seen.

What does it look like to have a war between blasphemers?

Maugham couldn't help but ponder.

After a long time, Maugham sighed lightly, as if he was half relieved.

Yes, there are no colorful colors in war, and the only color to say is red.

After a moment's hesitation, Maugham picked up a telephone next to him, which maintained a unique nineteenth-century European style, with a circular dial full of a mysterious sense of antiquity.

Maugham dialed a MEID number, then held the phone to his ear, and a beep rang from the phone.

After a long wait, there was still no sound on the other end of the telephone, but Maugham still waited quietly.

It took a few more minutes for the call to be answered, but there was still silence.

"Hey, is this Mr. Glass? This is Maugham's Watch Company, the watch you sent earlier has been repaired, please come and pick it up at your convenience." ”

"Hmm. A moment later, there was a yes on the other end of the phone, and then it was cut off.

Maugham kept his stiff movements for a long time, and only after a long sigh of relief did Maugham put the telephone down.

For the rest of the day, Maugham was in a state of restlessness, and his former graceful demeanor was completely gone.

As the minutes ticked by, the wrinkles on Maugham's face deepened.

In the evening, a young man in a black trench coat and top hat walked into the watch shop.

Maugham's face suddenly showed a look of joy when he saw this, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Hello, what service do you need?"

"Take the table. The young man said indifferently, and then handed Maugham a business card.

Maugham took the business card and looked at it carefully, and then said with a smile on his face, "Are you Mr. Glass's agent?"

The young man nodded, and although the brim of the other's hat was pressed low to cover most of his face, Maugham was keenly aware of the burn scars on the other's exposed skin.

Maugham quickly retracted his gaze, and he didn't want to make the other man feel uncomfortable.

Maugham asked the young man for a moment, then turned back and took out a delicate square box from the top of the cabinet and handed it to the young man.

"Looking forward to your next visit, please bring it to Mr. Glass for me. ”

The young man took the box, nodded, and turned to leave.

Looking at the other party's departing figure, Maugham breathed a long sigh of relief, and a relieved look appeared on his face.

I can sleep well again tonight.

At that moment, but the sound of the door was being pushed, and another man walked to the watch shop.

"I'm sorry, but our business hours are already today—" Maugham couldn't help but be stunned, but saw that the person who walked into the watch shop was the young waitress he had met in the dining room at noon.

"It's you," Maugham wondered.

"Surprising?" said the lady's signature sweet smile.

Maugham didn't reply, but his teeth clenched together.

If the other party came to the door on weekdays, Maugham might not care, but the appearance of the other party at this moment is really suspicious.

Soon, Maugham also regained his peaceful gentlemanly demeanor.

"Alright, is there anything you need me to serve?"

The waitress looked around at the interior of the watch shop and whispered, "You must have what I need." ”

Maugham smiled and said, "That's not necessarily, you can buy a clock from me, but you can't buy time." ”

Maugham's humor did not draw a smile from the waitress, who just said indifferently: "What I need is intelligence." ”