After nearly half a day's efforts, Mrs. Schmidt finally woke up in the evening. Mrs. Schmidt knew that her life was short, but the only thing that reassured her was her daughter, Alice. After her death, Alice will be left alone. Although Alice still has her cousin White, she really doesn't dare to entrust her daughter to him, a gambler who loses red eyes, and will do anything for money! She didn't want to push her daughter into the fire pit.

Mrs. Schmidt, who had countless thoughts flashing through her bed, finally found that Alice, who was only twelve years old, really had nowhere to go. She couldn't help but feel sad when she thought that her daughter would beg in the streets, and even be crushed and humiliated by those dirty sailors for a piece of black bread.

Ruth, who had been guarding the sidelines, found that Madame had woken up, and said happily, "It's so good, Madame, that you have finally woken up."

Mrs. Schmidt had been hit in the lungs, and as soon as she breathed, she felt an unbearable pain in her chest as if it had burned through a raging fire, so she had to whisper: "Where is poor Alice?" I want to talk to her. ”

Ruth brought a glass of water to Mrs. Schmidt before saying, "Alice is at Mr. Wickham's." Madame, I have to say, Mr. Wickham is such a good man, that it was he who paid for your doctor's appointment today. If it weren't for Mr. Wickham's constant explanation of Alice, I don't know what the little girl would have been sad about. ”

Wickham? The young man with a handsome face who looked out the window in contemplation from time to time? Mr. Wickham is so kind to Alice, telling Alice stories every day, and also acting as Alice's temporary governess, and even sometimes when Mr. Wickham is out, he will remember to bring some small snacks back for Alice. Mrs. Schmidt looked back on Lin Zihan's care for little Alice these days, and thought of a solution.

Mrs. Schmidt knew that there was guilt, nostalgia and even pampering in the way Wickham looked at Alice. Before this, she had never known that a person's eyes could contain so many complex feelings. Although she did not know what had happened between Mr. Wickham and his deceased sister, perhaps Mr. Wickham would take in poor Alice in the face of his deceased sister.

"Ruth, can you help me get Mr. Wickham here?" Mrs. Schmidt said weakly. Without saying a word, she felt like her lungs were about to explode. Ruth nodded hurriedly and hurriedly retreated.

At this time, Lin Zihan was looking at Alice with pity, the little girl was obviously absent-minded, many words were written incorrectly, and the crooked handwriting on the paper showed that the writer was not in a calm mood. Ruth said through the door, "Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Schmidt asked you to come over." When little Alice heard her mother wake up, she happily threw down the quill in her hand and said to Lin Zihan: "Brother Wickham, I also want to see my mother." Lin Zihan nodded weakly, he knew that it was just Mrs. Schmidt's return, because the old doctor had already told him before he left just now that Mrs. Schmidt would definitely not survive tomorrow morning.

When she took little Alice to Mrs. Schmidt's room, Mrs. Schmidt was coughing weakly with a handkerchief covering her mouth, and the sharp-eyed Lin Zihan found that the handkerchief was already covered with coughed blood, which should be caused by a lung injury. Little Alice pounced and took Mrs. Schmidt's hand: "Mom, you have finally woken up, Alice is about to die of worry." Mrs. Schmidt reluctantly stroked Alice's smooth blonde hair: "Alice, you must be good in the future, promise your mother, okay?" Little Alice was still at an ignorant age, and she didn't know what kind of deep meaning her mother's words implied, so she just nodded mechanically.

Mrs. Schmidt turned to Ruth and said, "Take Alice out for a while, I have something to talk to Mr. Wickham alone." Ruth answered and went out with a reluctant Alice.

Lin Zihan came to the window, glanced at the poor woman, and said, "Madam, if you have anything to explain, just say it." Mrs. Schmidt coughed violently a few times before she was relieved: "Mr. Wickham, I know that I am hopeless, and I dare not hope for anything. But the one I couldn't worry about the most was Alice, and after I died, Alice had nowhere to go. ”

Lin Zihan was a little puzzled: "Don't you still have a nephew, that is, Alice's brother?" Wouldn't he want to take Alice in?"

Mrs. Schmidt smiled self-deprecatingly: "My nephew White? No, he's a bad gambler, and to tell you the truth, he has mortgaged this inn to greedy Jews. Who knows what the gambler who loses all his possessions will do to his sister in the future, and as Alice's mother, I really don't want to take this risk. So, I thought of you, Mr. Wickham. ”

"Me?" Lin Zihan had already vaguely guessed what Mrs. Schmidt meant.

"Yes, Mr. Wickham. I know my request is unreasonable, but I have to be cheeky to make it. Alice is now young, but in two years she will be able to work as a maid. I don't dare to expect my husband to treat her like he did to my sister, I only hope that you will take little Alice in and give her a bite to eat, and in two years she will be an excellent maid. Mrs. Schmidt's eyes were filled with sorrow for her fate, but more of a plea, a humble plea for Lin Zihan to take her only daughter in after her death.

Perhaps he couldn't bear to refuse a dying man's request, but Lin Zihan impulsively agreed: "Madam, don't worry." I will definitely treat Alice as my own sister and take good care of her. I will find her the best girls' school, learn the most elegant manners, wear the most fashionable women's clothes in Paris, and our Alice will live like a proud princess. ”

If Lin Zihan just regarded Little Alice as his sustenance for his sister in that time and space at the beginning, then after so many days of getting along, Lin Zihan has long regarded her as his sister. Alice's cuteness and Alice's goblin are deeply imprinted in Lin Zihan's heart. He secretly swore in his heart that he would do his best to take care of her.

Mrs. Schmidt said with relief: "Mr. Wickham, I know that you are a gentleman of good character, and I am relieved to have your assurance. With that, Mrs. Schmidt closed her eyes forever. What she said just now made her already damaged lungs even more overwhelmed, which accelerated the loss of her life.

The inn was full of people, and all the servants in the inn were in a state of panic. A valet quietly left the inn, and he was to inform the inn's true owner, Mr. White, of the news. And some of the servants took advantage of the chaos, secretly took some valuable things from the inn, and left without a word.

Alice sat on the steps in the backyard of the hotel, looking at the starry sky, worried about her mother. Lin Zihan sat beside her gently, looking at the little trembling back, and her heart was full of regret. He carefully put his hand on Alice's shoulder, feeling the tightness of that small body, Lin Zihan shouted in a low voice, "Alice?"

Alice looked up at the night sky and whispered, "Mom is gone forever like Dad?" Lin Zihan raised his head, looked at the vast starry sky that had not been polluted by light in this era, and replied, "Your mother just went to heaven, Alice." There was no pain, no sickness, no all the ugliness of the world, and maybe she would have lived better there. ”

Feeling Alice's low sobbing, Lin Zihan looked down and saw that Alice was already in tears: "Brother Wickham, what should I do?" I don't have a father, and now I don't have a mother, and Alice will be a child that no one wants from now on...... Woohoo......"

Wickham took Alice into his arms: "How is Alice a child that no one wants?" You still have a brother, and Brother Wickham will take care of you in the future. Alice didn't answer, just hugged Lin Zihan's shoulders and cried loudly. Lin Zihan gently patted Alice's shoulder and comforted the little girl silently. What happened today is so much, how can Alice be just a child, how can she afford it? After crying bitterly, Alice fell asleep in Lin Zihan's arms.

……

The next morning, a bearded man arrived at the Schmidt Hotel with a richly dressed middle-aged man. When the sloppy man arrived at the hotel, the first thing he did was not to care about his aunt's death, but to say to the man flatteringly: "Mr. Eric, what do you think of this hotel?"

The man named Eric glanced around with a critical eye, and covered his mouth and nose with a white silk scarf in disgust: "Oh my God, I didn't expect that one day I would step into such a filthy place!" The sloppy man frowned unhappily, but said kindly, "Mr. Eric, although it is dilapidated, it is no problem to earn fifty pounds a year. Look at your loan shark of 100 pounds" In fact, he only borrowed 60 pounds to pay off his gambling debts, but he didn't expect that the debt would be 100 pounds in this month.

Eric jumped up like a cat that had been stepped on by its tail: "White, you shameless bastard, such a shabby inn is worth a hundred pounds?" If you can't pay back the hundred pounds, you bastard, you're going to go to debt prison! (A debt prison is a special type of prison in the United Kingdom that houses people who are overdue for payment)

White's face was ugly for a while, he didn't want to go into that goddamn debt prison, this Jew Eric is such a goddamn vampire! Although White cursed in his heart, the smile on his face grew: "Mr. Eric, how can it? Not only do I have this hotel, but I also have a beautiful sister, although she is young, but she is indeed a beautiful embryo! ”

Eric's expression moved, he didn't have any hobbies, he just liked young and beautiful girls, and if White's sister could be as beautiful as he said, it wasn't impossible to consider forgiving his remaining debts.

Lin Zihan had already heard the movement downstairs, so he took Alice downstairs. Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him with bloodshot eyes and messy hair, Lin Zihan asked in disgust, "Are you Alice's brother White?" White looked at the well-dressed gentleman in front of him, and couldn't figure out the situation for a while: "Good day, sir." I'm Alice's brother, may I ask you?"

Before Lin Zihan could answer, the loan shark merchant named Eric looked at Alice with bright eyes: "White, your sister is really a beautiful embryo!" As long as you hand her over to me, I will not pursue the rest of the debts. Eric felt a thrill in his heart, such a cute little girl was so rare, he had already made up his mind to go back and enjoy this little girl. When he gets tired of playing, he will hire someone to train him for a few years, and London will surely have another famous courtesan.

White didn't care about talking to Lin Zihan, and said happily: "Mr. Eric, your decision is wise. I dare to pack tickets, there is no such cute and sweet girl in the whole East End of London. ”

Lin Zihan's voice was a little angry, and he said to White: "You sold Alice?"

White listened to Lin Zihan's words, craned his neck and said, "This gentleman, how can you say that?" I'm Alice's brother, and I'm just looking for a good home for her. With Mr. Eric, Alice will no longer have to suffer from poverty. ”

Feeling Alice nervously grabbing the hem of his coat, Lin Zihan said to William behind him: "William, teach this gentleman what shame is in the past!" White looked at William a little nervously and shouted, "What are you going to do?"

William smiled evilly: "What are you doing, of course it is to educate you well!" With that, William rushed forward with his fist raised. How could the weak White be the opponent of the tall William, and he fell to the ground in a few blows, leaving only a hum.

Eric was also taken aback, he didn't expect the young man in front of him to use force as soon as he came up, with his figure, he was definitely abused. "Young man, the magistrate here is very familiar with me, and I advise you not to be impulsive." Eric tried to use the name of a magistrate to scare him off.

Lin Zihan sneered contemptuously: "You dare to threaten an officer of the Royal Navy? If you know each other, you will disappear from front of me immediately! "Lin Zihan didn't get the mandate at all now, and he was just bluffing now to scare the damn Jew. As soon as Eric heard that Lin Zihan was an officer of the Royal Navy, he immediately lost his arrogance just now, because most of the naval officers were children of nobles, and he didn't want to offend the nobles of London. "Sir, I didn't mean to offend you just now, so I'll leave." After saying that, Eric glanced at Alice reluctantly and hurried away.

Seeing that Lin Zihan didn't speak, William asked, "Sir, what should we do now?"

Lin Zihan's eyes swept over the tenants and servants who were watching the excitement around him, and said in a deep voice: "Pack up your things, let's leave here!"