Immediately, he returned to the car and drove away.

"That's the problem, isn't it?" Ryan asked.

"Yes," replied Bronze angrily, "so that the problem is solved." ”

"He lost so much blood," the emergency room doctor said in Italian, "that his pulse was weak and irregular, and his blood pressure was low." I don't want to be too pessimistic, but I'm afraid that any outcome could happen and you have to be prepared. ”

"I understand," said Bronze, "for anything you have done for him, his son and I are very grateful. ”

The doctor nodded solemnly and went back to the emergency room.

Two tired hospital officials were standing respectfully in a corner of the waiting room. Bronze turned to them and said, "I am very grateful for your cooperation in this matter. My boss will appreciate it even more. Of course, we will express this gratitude to everyone concerned in an appropriate manner. ”

"Your superiors have always been the most generous," said one of the officials, taking off his glasses, "and we will do our best not to let the authorities know the true circumstances of the wounded man's injuries." ”

"I have complete confidence in your prudence." When Bronze shook hands with them, the money that had been quietly slipped into their palms was then put into their pockets. "Thank you so much."

As soon as the two officials left, Bronze sat down next to Ryan. "It's good that you haven't interjected."

"Do we have a tacit understanding with this hospital?"

Bronze nodded.

"Is this hospital top-notch?" Ryan asked. "It looks small."

"This hospital is the best."

"We'll see."

"It doesn't hurt to go for a handful of incense."

Brian frowned. "You mean you believe in Buddhism?"

"I don't like to rush to a decision." Bronze looked at the wet clothes clinging to him. "It will take them a lot of time to rescue your father. I think we'd better go back to your hotel and change into dry clothes. ”

"But what if something happens while we're away?"

"You mean, if he's dead?" Bronze asked.

"Yes."

"In that case, it makes no difference if we're not in this room."

"It's all your fault."

"What?" Bronze suddenly felt the pressure. "My fault?"

"You're the one who dragged us into this mess. None of this would have happened if it weren't for you. ”

"How can you think that?"

"If you hadn't come to urge me to act hastily on Friday, I'd have dealt with Renata and her accomplices well."

"Why don't we discuss this on the way to your hotel?"

"He claimed that when you took him out of the hospital, you pushed him into an alley and beat him up." Bronze's boss said.

"He can say whatever he wants." It's Monday, and Bronze is back in the office of that foreign firm. This time, however, he was talking to his boss face-to-face, not by telegram.

The boss's hair was gray, and his flabby cheeks were tense and red. He leaned over the table. "You deny his accusations?"

"Ryan was injured in the incident at the apartment complex. I don't know where this weird idea of me beating him up came from. ”

"He said you were jealous of him."

"That's right."

"He said you were angry because he found terrorists."

"Of course."

"He said that in order to get revenge on him, you framed him for inadvertently wounding his father."

"It's up to him to figure it out."

"He also said that it was actually the terrorist he shot and that you were trying to steal the credit for yourself."

"Listen," said Bronze, "I know you have to keep your pension, I know you're under a lot of political pressure, and you have to keep your position." But why are you repeating that idiot's words to me, taking his ridiculous accusations as fact? ”

"Why do you think they're ridiculous?"

"Ask Ryan's father. He's very weak, and it's a miracle that he survived. But he'll be able to—"

"I've already asked him."

Bronze didn't like the serious tone of his boss. "How?"

"Reich testified that everything his son said was true." "The terrorists hit him, but before that, he saw his son hit three terrorists," his boss said. A ballistics test could have further confirmed Reich's words, but you were clever enough to dispose of all the weapons you used that night. ”

Bronze's gaze was as calm as his boss's. "I see."

"What do you mean by that?"

"From the very beginning, Reich warned me – I couldn't hold his son accountable. I liked the old guy so much that I didn't take his words seriously. I should have been more careful. The enemy is not outside, he is on my side. ”

"Reich's personality cannot be questioned."

"Of course, no one wants to be an enemy of Reich. His incompetent son had screwed up an important operation, and no one was willing to take responsibility for misemploying people. But there has to be a scapegoat, right? ”

The boss did not answer.

"How did you cover up what Ryan did during this incident?" Bronze asked, "Didn't the terrorists send evidence of his incrimination to the police?" ”

"After you called to remind me that something like this was happening, I informed our informant inside the police station. A package did arrive there, and our informant withheld it. ”

"And what about the press? Didn't send them a package? ”

"It was sent to a newspaper to which terrorists had previously sent messages. We also intercepted that package. The crisis is over. ”

"Except for the 23 Americans who were killed." Bronze said.

"Don't you want to make any changes to your report?"

"There's something to change. I did beat that idiot to the ground. I wish I had beaten him even harder. ”

"Isn't there anything else you want to change?"

"I would like to add a word." Bronze said.

"Oh? What is it? ”

"Saturday is my 40th birthday."

The boss shook his head. "I don't think this sentence has anything to do with it."

"If you're willing to wait a while, I'll print out my resignation report."

"Your resignation report – but we're not asking you to go that far. What do you think quitting your job will give you? ”

"Life!"

Bronzer leaned on a bed in a hotel room in New York, holding a glass of Jack Daniel's whiskey in his right hand, sipping it and flipping through the newspaper in his left hand, flipping back and forth irritably. He asked himself, when you've been everywhere, where else do you go?

Beiping has always attracted him before. In the past, whenever he had an occasional holiday, he would involuntarily come to this place. Dadu Theater, Liulichang and Dashilar - these places always beckoned him like an old friend. During the day, he often went to the park, and it was always pleasant for him to walk in it.

Then, he goes to the bargain shop for lunch, then flips through used books in a second-hand bookstore or watches a street artist perform on the flyover. In Beijing, he always had a lot to do.

But to his surprise, this time he didn't want to do anything. Boss Mei is performing in the theater. In the past, Bronze would have been the first to reserve a seat; But this time he didn't want to go. Boss Mei is bronze's favorite Hua Dan, and now he is performing in the metropolis, but Bronze doesn't have the strength to clean himself up and go out there. He had just enough strength to pour more whiskey into his glass and flip through the newspaper endlessly

After coming to Peking from Shanghai, he never thought about returning to his small apartment in the mountain city. He didn't have the slightest attachment to the tiny bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom in the apartment. It wasn't his home, it was just a place for him to store his clothes and sleep in between missions.

Every time he came back, the dust on his face tickled his nose and gave him headaches. He would not allow himself to violate the principle of safety by hiring a cleaning lady to clean the apartment and prepare it for his return. The thought of a stranger tossing through his things makes him uncomfortable - in fact, he never left anything revealing his identity in the apartment.

He didn't let his boss — no, his former boss — know where he was going after handing in his resignation. Of course, Peking was one of the places they expected, and, as usual, they would send someone to follow him and figure out his destination. When he arrived in Beiping, he evaded it and stayed in a Japanese-run inn that he had never stayed in before. However, just 10 minutes after he checked in to his room, the phone rang. Of course, it was his boss who called—and wrong, fuck, his former boss—who asked Bronze to reconsider his resignation.

"Speaking from the heart, Gu," said his boss in a tired voice, "I appreciate your decision as much as everyone else, but now that you've done it, and your anger has been vented, let the past pass, come back to us." I also think that in every way, the Shanghai incident is terrible. This is a real disaster. But quitting your job won't change all that, it won't make things better. You surely understand that your resignation is not beneficial. ”

"You're afraid I'll be angry and tell someone who shouldn't know about it, right?" Bronze asked.

"Of course not. Everyone knows you're reliable. You won't do anything against the rules, and you won't let us down. ”

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

"You're very capable, we don't want to lose you, Gu."

"With an old guy like Ryker, where would you know I'm gone?" Bronze put down the microphone.

A minute later, the phone rang again. This time, it was the boss of his former boss who called. "If you're asking for a raise and a promotion—"

"I don't have a chance to spend the money you paid me." Bronze said.

"Maybe you need more time off."

"What to do?"

"Tourism."

"That's right, travel the world. Let's say, go see somewhere else. I've been in the dark for too long, so sleeping in bed doesn't feel right, because it doesn't feel solid. ”

"Listen, old guy. Everyone has times when they are exhausted and it's part of the job. We have a group of experts who know how to help people relieve stress, which is why we have them. To be honest, I think it would be very beneficial for you to go to Chongqing and talk to them right away. ”

"Didn't you hear? I told you I'm tired of it, and that's enough. ”

"Then take the train in a few days."

Bronze hung up the phone again. He was sure that if he tried to get out of the hotel, he would be stopped by two people waiting in the foyer. They would show their ID and explain to him that his friends were worried about his reaction to the events in Shanghai. Next, they would offer to drive him to a quiet teahouse, where they would talk to him about the things that bothered him.

To hell with them, Bronze thought, I can drink in my own room, and I drink alone; Moreover, the place they took me to was definitely not a teahouse. So, Bronze picked up the phone and asked the waiter to bring a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey and enough ice cubes to the room. Then, he unplugged the phone, turned on the radio, and began to select the channel. Two hours later, the twilight was already thick outside the curtain he had drawn, and he had drunk his third bottle of whiskey, all while still choosing the channel. The intermittent whistling of the radio station was a reflection of his state of mind.

He asked himself, "Where are you going?" What to do? Money is not a straightforward issue. During his 10 years as an agent, he invested a large portion of his salary in real estate. In addition to this money, he has amassed a considerable sum of money. That's the perks, diving allowances, demolition allowances, combat allowances, and professional allowances he had earned from his previous days as a member of the clandestine forces. Like many highly trained special operations soldiers, he enlisted in the intelligence services when he reached a certain age where he was no longer physically able to carry out the special activities required by his duties — he was 30 years old at the time, had a broken leg and three ribs, and had received two gunshot wounds while on different covert missions. Of course, although his constitution had deteriorated considerably, and he was no longer adapted to the activities of the troops, he was still much stronger than most of the civilian population.

His investment gains have been considerable, and his net worth has reached 300,000 fiat. In addition to this, he plans to withdraw the 50,000 fiat money he has paid for himself as a government civil servant's pension. But while he is relatively free in terms of money, he is helpless in other ways. The world was so big that there were so many options, but he had no choice but to stay in this hotel room. If his parents were still alive (as he had fantasized about for a moment), he would visit them, something he had always wanted to do but had repeatedly postponed. However, the truth is that his mother died in a car accident three years ago, and a few months later, his father died of a heart attack, both times catching up with him on a mission outside. The last time he saw his father alive was at his mother's funeral.

。