Ah Xiu wondered in his heart that it made people feel that he could pluck the moon from the sky and turn it into a one-dollar silver coin—how to play with this hand. Also, what makes a woman who has already died crawl out of her grave and also walk through the town to talk to people.

"Isn't this a great place?" said Drinkward out of the bathroom. His hands were still wet, and he dried them with a handkerchief. "There's no paper towel in there. He explained. He changed his clothes. Now he wears a dark blue jacket and matching pants, a blue braided tie, a thick blue sweater, a white shirt, and black shoes. Looks like a security guard. Ah Xiu told him what he thought.

"What else can I say, young man?" said Drinkward, picking up a goldfish made of floating plastic in a fish tank, "it won't fade and it won't need you to feed it." ”

"I can only congratulate you on your keen eye. How about your name Arthur Haydock? Arthur is a good name. ”

"It's too banal. ”

"Hey, then you can think of one yourself. Alright, let's go back to the city. Now is the perfect time to rob the bank, and then I can have a little money that I can spend freely. ”

"Most people," Ashu said, "just the rules for withdrawing money from ATMs." ”

"Strange, that's exactly what I was going to do—sort of. ”

Drinward pulled up in the supermarket parking lot across the street from the bank and pulled out an iron box, a paper jacket and a pair of handcuffs from the trunk. He hung the handcuffs on his left belt. The snow was still falling, and he put on a blue hat with a brim and hung a nylon ID tag from the breast pocket of his jacket. Both the hat and the ID badge read A1 Security Services. He clipped the deposit slip to a paper clip. Then, suddenly, he became lazy, and looked like a retired patrolman. I don't know why, I actually have a beer belly.

"Now," he said, "you go to the supermarket pantry and get something and wait on the phone." If someone asks you, you say you're waiting for your girlfriend's call and her car breaks down in the middle of the road. ”

"But why is she going here to hang up on me?"

"Hell, how do I know. ”

Drinkward put on a pair of faded pink earmuffs and closed the trunk. Snowflakes fell on his blue-black hat and earmuffs.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"It's ridiculous. "Ah Xiu is honest.

"Ridiculous?"

"Or a little silly. Ah Xiu said.

"Oh, silly, ridiculous. Very good. Drinkward laughed. The earmuffs make him look very reassuring, and at the same time silly and cute. He strode across the street, along the side of the street to the door of the bank. Ah Xiu walked into the supermarket and began to watch his performance.

Drinward hung a conspicuous red "faulty" sign on the ATM and put a red ribbon around the outside of the overnight deposit office with a freshly printed notice on it. Ah Xiu watched with interest.

The sign reads: "Repairs and improvements are underway to better serve you." We apologize for the temporary inconvenience. ”

Drinkward turned and stood facing the street. He looked cold, like a low-level security guard.

A young woman walks over to use the ATM, and Drinkward shakes his head and explains that the machine is broken. She cursed, then immediately apologized and walked away.

A car stopped, and a man walked out with a small gray money bag and a key. Ashu saw Drinkward apologize to him, asked him to sign the paper clip, checked his deposit slip, and struggled a little to write a receipt, and then saved the copy. Finally, he opened his large black iron box and put the man's money bag inside.

The man shivered in the snow and cold, and kept stamping his feet, waiting impatiently for the old security guard to finish this pointless set of prescribed actions, so that he could put down the money he was going to save, escape the cold, and hurry away. As soon as he got the deposit receipt, he immediately got into the car and left.

Drinkward walked down the street with the tin box and bought a hot cup of coffee at the supermarket.

"Good afternoon, young man. When he passed by Ah Xiu, he smiled at him like an uncle, "It's really cold. ”

He walked back across the street and took the gray bag or envelope of money from the people. On Saturday afternoon, it was the time for everyone to deposit their day's business income or a week's salary into the bank, and he was a conscientious old security guard, despite wearing ridiculous pink earmuffs.

Ah Xiu bought some magazines to read, "Turkey Hunter," "People," and "World News"—because of the picture of the cute Bigfoot on the cover—and continued to look out the window.

"Is there anything you need help with?" asked a middle-aged black man, presumably the manager here.

"Thanks man, no. I'm waiting for a phone call. My girlfriend's car broke down halfway through. ”

"It could be a problem with the car battery. The man said, "It's only valid for three years, or four years, but people can't remember it." These car sellers, how much more can it cost them to install a good battery!"

"That's right. Ah Xiu said.

"Wait here, big man. "The manager is gone.

Heavy snow transforms the streetscape into a world of transparent snowball toys, where every detail comes to life.

Ah Xiu admired it and was deeply moved. He couldn't hear the voice from across the street, and it felt as if he was watching a movie from the silent film era. A pantomime, but with a vivid expression, you can see it clearly: the old security guard is a little rude, but serious and enthusiastic, a little pretentious, but completely out of good intentions. Everyone gave him their money and walked away, feeling happier than they had just been when they got to know him.

Just then, a police car appeared in front of the bank. Ah Xiu's heart sank. Drinkward raised his hat at the police officer and slowly walked to the police car. He said hello, reached into the open window and shook hands with the officer, nodded, then rummaged through his pocket, found a business card and a letter, and handed them to the officer in the car. Finally, he took a leisurely sip of coffee.

The phone rang, and Ah Xiu took off the receiver and tried to make his voice look boring. "A1 Security Company. He said over the phone.

"May I speak to Mr. Haydock?" asked the police officer across the street on the phone.

"I'm Andy Haydock. Please speak. Ah Xiu said.

"Mr. Haydock, we are the police. The cop in the police car across the street continued, "Did you arrange for a security guard to be in front of the First Bank of Illinois, just around the corner of the market and Second Street?" ”

"Oh, that's right. It's Jamie. Is there anything wrong with that, sheriff? Jamie, he's still following the rules, isn't he drunk?"

"No problem, sir. Your people are well behaved, sir. We just want to make sure everything is OK. ”

"Please tell Jamie that if he is caught drinking during working hours, officer, he will be fired. Work blows, let him fuck off. The requirements of our A1 security company are very strict. ”

"I'm afraid I shouldn't have told him these words, sir. He's doing a good job now. The reason why we are concerned about this is only because this job generally requires two security guards to do it at the same time. It's too dangerous now, an unarmed security guard, handling so much money alone. ”

"It's useless to tell me, tell the misers at Coventry First Bank. The people I put in the post are the best. As good as you are. Ashur found himself slowly getting acquainted with the character he was playing, and he even felt like he was Andy Haydock: he was snuffing out cheap cigarettes in his ashtray, he had a pile of papers to deal with even though it was a Saturday afternoon, and his home was in Berg Town, where he had a mistress in a small apartment by the lake. "You know, you sound like a smart young man, officer, you're ......"

"My name is Myerson. ”

"Officer Myerson. If you need a part-time job on the weekend, or if you leave the Force, whatever the reason for leaving, you can give me a call. We are always in need of great people. Do you have my business card?"

"Yes, sir, I have. ”

"Keep that business card," said the fake Andy Haydock, "and remember to give me a call." ”

The police car drove away, and Drinkward walked back to his post in the snow, continuing to deal with the people waiting in line to give him their money.

"Is she okay?" the supermarket manager poked his head out of the store and asked with concern, "Your girlfriend?"

"It's a battery failure," Ashu said, "and I'll have to wait." ”

"Woman. The manager sighed, "I hope your woman is worth your wait." ”

Winter nights come unusually early, and the afternoon light is fleeting, the sky slowly turns gray, and the street lights begin to turn on. More people give their weekly paychecks to Drinkward. Suddenly, as if receiving a signal that Ashu couldn't see, Drinkward walked over to the wall, removed the "faulty" sign, and made his way through the muddy road to the parking lot with some difficulty. Ah Xiu waited in place for a minute, then followed.

Drinkward was already sitting in the back seat of the car, and he opened the metal box and was sorting the contents into the back seat.

"By car. He ordered, "Go to the first Coventry Bank on Main Street." ”

"Show again?" Ashu asked, "Is it a little too much?"

"It's not. "We're going to go and do some banking." ”

While Ashu was driving, Drinkward sat in the back seat and took out the bills from a thick stack of deposit bags, the receipts still in the bags. He took the cash out of the envelope and put it back in the metal box. Ah Xiu parked his car 50 yards from the curb in front of the bank, avoiding the surveillance cameras. Drinkward got out of the car and stuffed the envelope into the evening deposit slot. He opened the security door of the night bank, threw the gray deposit bag inside, and closed the door.

He climbed into the car and sat in the assistant's seat. "Go to the national highway," said Drinkward, "follow the signs to Birmingham West." ”

Ashu started driving.

As they left, Drinkward turned his head to look at the bank behind him. "You see, boy," he said happily, "this hand will confuse them. But to really make a lot of money, you're going to have to do it at 4:30 a.m. on a Sunday. At that time, all the nightclubs and bars had just finished settling their weekend night earnings. Just pick the right bank and keep an eye on the guys with huge sums of money — usually big fat guys with honest big guys, sometimes with a few bodyguards, but none of them clever guys — can get two or three hundred thousand dollars in one night. ”

"If it's so easy," Ashu asked, "why don't you see everyone coming here?"

"Because it's not a zero-risk deal," Drynward said, "especially at 4:30 a.m." ”

"You're saying the police are on alert at 4:30 a.m.?"

"Not really. But bodyguards will be extra cautious, so things can get tricky. ”

He counted out a stack of $50 bills, plus a small stack of $20, weighed them in his hand, and handed them to Ah Xiu. "Here you go," he said, "it's your first week's salary." ”

Ah Xiu didn't count, and put the money directly in his pocket. "So, that's what you do, and you make money from it?" he asked.

"I rarely do this unless it takes a lot of money in a short period of time. In general, I always swindle money from people who don't even know they're being scammed. This kind of person will never complain, and the next time you lie to them, they will still wait in line for you. ”

"The guy named Sweeney said you were a liar. ”

He's right. But I'm not just a liar, and I don't just need you to do that, Asho. ”

They drove in the dark, snowflakes flying in the light of the headlights, and they swooped in front of the windshield. The sight has a hypnotic power.

"There's only one country in the world," Drinkward said suddenly, breaking his silence, "caring about what it is." ”

"What?"

"Other countries know what they are. No one explores the Norwegian psyche, or the Mozambican psyche. They know what they are. ”

"You mean ......?"

"Just wanted to make a sound. ”

"You must have traveled to many countries?"

Drinkward didn't speak, and Ashu looked at him. "There are only a few, not too many, and with those who travel the world, I'm just a self-contained old guy. Drinkward sighed, "I've never been to any other country. ”

They stop at a gas station to refuel. Dressing in the clothes of a security guard, Drinkward slipped into the bathroom with a suitcase. When he came out, he had changed into a crisp gray suit, brown leather shoes, and a knee-length brown jacket that looked like Italian goods.

"What do you do when you get to Birmingham?"

"Take Highway 14 west to Clearwater Town. We're going to meet the others at a place called the Cliff Rock House. Have you been there?"

"Nope. "But I saw the signs that showed me there." ”