In this way, Ah Xiu left the house of the dead. Thin ice covers the black shrubs and trees in winter, as if it has become some kind of insulator in the fantasy kingdom. The road is slippery.

Drinkward led the way in front and walked over to Asho's white Chevrolet parked on the side of the road. The car is now very clean and the London license plate has been replaced with a Birmingham license plate. Drinkward's trunk was in the back seat of the car, and he used a duplicate key to open the door. The key that Ashu had left was still in his own pocket.

"I'm here to drive. "I'm afraid it'll be an hour before you're fully conscious." ”

They drove north, and the ancient canal flowed on the left side of the car. Under the grey sky, this ancient canal shimmers with silver waves. They drove past a large gray tree with no leaves on the side of the road, and the shadow of the tree fell on the surface of the river, which was reduced to a picture. At this moment, Ah Xiu saw a huge gray-brown lizard, lying on the river, staring at them with a pair of crazy eyes. Then, with a flick of its tail, it swam slowly into the river, disappearing with a dark green wave.

Ah Xiu realized that this time in the home of the dead was only a brief respite. It hadn't been long since I left there, but that life already felt like something that had happened to someone else, something that had happened a long time ago.

After leaving Birmingham that night, Ah Xiu finally couldn't help his curiosity and asked the first question along the way. After seeing the "Welcome to Stoker" sign, he asked Drinkward, "Who are the guys who caught me in the parking lot that day? Are they really Mr. Wood and Mr. Stone? What are their origins?"

Bright headlights illuminate the winter nights. Delinward told him not to take the highway because he couldn't figure out which side the highway was on, so Ashu had to keep driving on the normal road. Ah Xiu didn't mind much, he didn't even think that Drinkward was nervous about doing this.

Drinkward snorted impatiently. "It's just a few agents. It's all people in the enemy camp, villains in black hats. ”

"But I don't think so," Ashu interjected, "but they think they're on the side of justice." ”

"Of course they think that way. Real wars have always been fought between those who are convinced that they are the embodiment of justice, and the real danger is precisely those who are convinced that everything they are doing is right, and because of this, they are extremely dangerous. ”

"And what about you?" Ashu asked, "why do you insist on doing what you're doing?"

"Because I want to do it," Drinkward replied, then smiling, "for me, that's enough." ”

Ah Xiu couldn't help but ask again, "How did you escape that day, did everyone leave safely?"

"We were surrounded, but we managed to escape. "If they hadn't stopped and caught you first, maybe they would have caught some of us." However, that incident strengthened the confidence of a few people who were still wavering at the time, and believed that I was not completely crazy. ”

"How the hell did you escape?"

Drinkward shook his head, reluctant to say more. "I'm paying you, not for you to have nothing to do and ask questions. He reminded coldly, "I told you a long time ago. ”

Ah Xiu shrugged his shoulders and stopped asking.

That night, they spent the night at the Super Eight Motel, south of the city.

On Christmas Day, they spent it on the road. As they drove northeast, the farms on both sides gradually turned into pine forests, and the distance between towns seemed to be getting longer.

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that they had Christmas lunch at a family restaurant that looked like an auditorium in the south-central region. Ah Xiu sullenly tugged at the dry turkey, and there was a dessert of red lingonberry jam, roasted potatoes that tasted like wood, and canned green peas. He tasted only one bite of everything, and he had no interest in eating it any more. But Drinkward seemed quite satisfied. At mealtime, he began to dance and talk rhetorically again. He kept talking and joking. Whenever the waitress girl came over, he had to ** her a few words. It was a skinny blonde girl, and judging by her age, it didn't seem like she had graduated from high school.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but can I trouble you to pour me another cup of one of the delightful hot chocolates in your restaurant? Really, it looks very festive and beautiful on you. ”

The waitress wore a brightly colored red and green dress with silver metallic foil trimmed on the skirt. She giggled, her face flushed. She smiled happily and walked away, helping Drinkward get another cup of hot chocolate.

"It's fascinating. Drinkward said with a deep groan as he stared at her departing back. "It fits perfectly. He added. Ah Xiu didn't think he was really commenting on the girl's clothes, he wasn't stupid enough to do that.

Drinkward shoved the last piece of turkey meat into his mouth, wiped his beard with a napkin, and pushed the plate away from the plate in front of him. "Ah, I'm finally full. He turned his head to look around the family dining room, where Christmas songs were playing in the background: "The little drummer forgot to bring a present, bang ......"

"Some things change," said Drinkward with some abruptness, "but people ...... People are still the same people, they don't change. Some scams can be used forever and never be discovered, while others disappear and cease to exist as time and the world change. One of my favorite scams is now no longer available. Still, there are a staggering number of scams that don't have any time limit. For example, ** scam, Zhenyuan gas scam, He Yuelan scam - a famous Ponzi scam, chess endgame scam, rich second generation scam ......"

"I've never heard of He Yuelan's scam," Ah Xiu interjected, "but I've heard of several other scams." My former cellmate told me that he specialized in the rich second generation scam. He's a liar. ”

"Ah," Drinkward's left eye flashed with excitement for a moment, "If you want to say that it is delicate and beautiful, it is a rich second-generation scam." It takes a group of people to do it, mainly to set traps for money glutches and misers, which is a test of the team's ability. Like all scams, it is designed for human greed. Of course, you can fool an honest and honest person, but it will take a lot of time and effort. Well, let's say we're on a tour, and we're in a gold shop, a jewellery store, or an expensive antique shop, and we're visiting here, whether it's forced or necessary, and everybody looks around, uninterested in the garbage in front of them. That's when we saw a man. This person is casually dressed and has a social temperament, definitely not the kind of cookie-cutter counter lady, who looks completely different, very much like a person with status. Let's assume his name is Wang Shaohao. Then, when it was time for him to appear, the wayward son-in-law, the loser's son-in-law! People thought that the son-in-law was stupid and would only spend money indiscriminately? Oh, in order to show his boldness, the seekers had a share, and each person gave a gift first! The family had money, and he didn't care about this thing at all, and he was willing to sell a piece of jewelry at a very high price. ”

The waitress showed up. Drinkward's smile immediately turned into a full smile, but there was a hint of predatory birds of prey in the smile. "Ah, hot chocolate! My Christmas angel brought it for me! Tell me, my dear, if you have time, can you get me more of your delicious bread?"

The waitress was guessing her age, 16 or 17, and looked down at the floor, her cheeks burning crimson. With trembling hands, she put down the hot chocolate and hurried back to the side of the dining-room where the baked pie was displayed, where she stopped, glanced at Drinkward, and then slipped back into the kitchen to help Drinkward get bread.

"Then, the point is, how can this little gift reflect the character of Brother Gongzi's loser? ”

"Worth thousand--- you may have some doubts when you get here, thousands, but the greedy gene quickly dispels your doubts, and you have already believed that the man in front of you is a loser--- and he is indeed going to sell you a thousand pounds worth of jewels at a discount. ”

"Now, our young man claims to be very close to you, and to everyone here, claiming that he is the rightful heir of a well-known jewelry store, young master, who specializes in the buying and selling of rare and priceless jewelry. 'Don't you want to buy it at such a price?' asked our king Shao in a contemptuous tone, as if he looked down on him if he didn't buy it. 'Buy,' those greedy people, young and old, were blinded by greed, and were completely unaware that 'pie will not fall from the sky', and still looked forward to Wang Shao coming up with more things with fanatical eyes, 'at least a thousand pounds! ’”

"The teller next to him, the guy who looked like a security guard, might come forward to persuade him, but it was all acting, so that you were more sure that the person in front of you was a loser, so he did not hesitate to take out ninety-nine pounds and buy the so-called gold inlaid jade, commemorative gold, pendant or other shiny thing worth a thousand pounds. Money becomes someone else's, things become yours. 'It's good luck to meet a fool today,' and you are still happily talking to your fellow travelers, 'There is a chance to come again!'"

"But what if anyone understands that none of them were fooled and nothing happened?" Ashu asked--- of course this exists, as mentioned above, any scam will fail.

"Then we'll have spent our two meals in vain. Drinkward said. He wiped the remaining broth off the plate with bread, his mouth chirped, and he ate it all to his heart's content.

"Let me guess what happens next. "The tour group left there and bought a bunch of fakes, imitations, or some other shiny piece of garbage. In the store, the so-called Wang Shao is actually just a nursery, and today's perfect performance won him a commission of a few hundred pounds. I guess the so-called jewels worth a thousand pounds are only worth 10 pounds. ”

"A purely personal word of advice, don't pay more than £5 for that kind of so-called jewelry--- maybe not even a pound in the Far East. With that, Drinkward turned to the waitress who had been sneaking around. "Now, my dear, let us indulge in your sumptuous desserts, for today is the birthday of the Lord Christ. ”

He stared at her closely, his eyes were simply naked and lewd, as if the delicious food she could offer him was herself. Ah Xiu suddenly felt very uncomfortable, it was like watching a cunning old wolf slowly sneak up on a little lamb that was too young to know how to escape. Even if it escapes, it will eventually be caught and eaten by wolves in a clearing in the woods, and even the bones will be pecked clean by vultures.

The girl blushes again and tells them that dessert includes apple pie with ice cream "topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream", Christmas cake with ice cream, and red and green egg pudding. Drinkward stared into her eyes and told her that he wanted to try the Christmas cake with ice cream. Ah Xiu didn't order any desserts.

"Now on to the fraud. Drinkward continued, "This hoax appeared as early as 300 years ago, or even earlier. If you can choose who you want to scam, you can continue to use this trick tomorrow anywhere in the UK. ”

"I remember you mentioning that your favorite scam is no longer working. Ah Xiu said.

"I did say that. This scam isn't my favorite, though. One of my favorite tricks is called the Bishop scam, which has all the elements of a scam: excitement, conspiracy, simplicity, surprise. I think even with the passage of time, maybe with a little bit of modification, it could be ......," he thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, it's outdated. In the days when this trick still worked, even in 1920, the location was a medium-sized city or metropolis, such as Berlin, London, or Rotterdam. We are in a jewelry store. There was a man, dressed like a priest, not an ordinary priest, but a bishop, dressed in a purple bishop's robe. He walked into the shop, picked out a string of necklaces, ornate with diamonds and pearls, and paid for twelve brand-new hundred-dollar pounds.

There was a stain of green ink on the top of the banknote, so the owner sincerely apologized to the customer, but insisted on sending the stack to the bank on the corner for identification. Soon, the clerk of the jewelry store returned with the banknotes, and the bank said that there were no counterfeit banknotes in them. Once again, the owner sincerely apologized. But the bishop was a reasonable man, and he said that he understood this kind of thing, because there are so many illegal and imgodly facts in the world nowadays. Immorality and evil fill the world, and there are women who don't know shame! Criminals at the bottom of society crawl out of the gutter and actually appear in movies and show off their might on the screen. What else can you expect in times like these? Finally, the necklace is placed in a jewelry box. The shopkeeper tried to restrain himself and not to be cranky. Why did the bishop of the church buy a diamond necklace worth 1,200 pounds, why did he pay in cash? What did all this have to do with him? ”

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