Arthur was busy until three o'clock in the afternoon before he had time to take a breather, and the restaurant was not very busy at this point.

He asked Carson for cigarettes, and Carson shook his head and said, "No smokers, boy, yesterday my money to buy cigarettes was discovered by my wife, you see how pitiful I am, I can't even squeeze out the money to buy a pack of cigarettes." ”

Carson looks pitiful, he is oppressed by his wife all day long, and he is a middle-aged man who lives aggrieved. Arthur shook his head, left the kitchen to the front desk, knocked on the table at the front desk, and said to Schmidt, who was taking inventory, "Store manager, give me a cigarette." ”

Schmidt raised his eyes and looked, this kid, when Montolo and the others came at noon, he had specially instructed him to take care of Arthur. Tony has not appeared recently, and Montolo has replaced Tony as the new boss of the family, and Schmidt guesses in his heart that something is likely to happen to Tony. He was happy so that Tony wouldn't know about his sneaky loan sharking, and Arthur couldn't threaten himself with it anymore. Montolo, after all, was not Arthur's uncle.

It's just that he can't figure out now whether Montolo wants to take care of Arthur more politely and pretendly, or if he really wants to take care of him himself.

Schmidt frowned, pulled open a drawer, took out a bag of camels, and threw one to Arthur. Arthur caught it, took it into his mouth, took out a lighter, lit it, inhaled comfortably, and then exhaled the turbidity in his chest. Smoking a cigarette after a physical job is a simple and effective way to relax. Arthur took another sip before he said to Schmidt: "Store manager, you should pay me a bonus, and besides, the store is not busy now, I want to ask for leave, I have something to do." ”

Arthur looked at the time, it was time to go to the New York library to meet Gina, and they made an appointment to meet at the library at half past three. Schmidt's brows furrowed even deeper, and the stinky boy asked for leave again, and on Good Friday, he took leave to keep the kitchen busy enough. He rubbed his hands, then spread his hands, stretched his brows, and said in a serious tone: "Arthur, you have already been given a holiday this month, if you want a bonus, it is best not to ask for leave, others, Carson, will have opinions." Your absence will add to their burden. ”

This Schmidt, obviously you have your own opinions, but you have to say that the big guys have opinions. It's like some leaders, it's obviously your own idea, but you have to say that it's the idea of the big guy. Arthur's face sank, and Schmidt was a little unsightly, and it seemed that Montolo didn't make it clear to him.

Seeing that Arthur's face was not good, Schmidt also gritted his teeth and said, "Arthur, you don't need to mention the matter of using Tony's money, and now Tony doesn't know where to go." Let's work with peace of mind first, I won't let you work overtime today, you don't need to come to the cleaning work, you will leave as soon as you get off work, OK? ”

Arthur didn't speak, and the waitress Lisa passed by with an empty coffee pot in her hand, asking for some coffee from the coffee machine. Arthur stepped forward and snatched the coffee pot from Lisa's hand and said, "Let me do it." Lisa let go of the coffee pot and gave it to Arthur, and Schmidt behind the counter thought that Arthur had given up his leave, smiled, lowered his head and continued to take inventory.

Who knows, Arthur came to Schmidt with a coffee pot and smashed it into his head!

With a "pong" sound, the coffee pot was smashed, Schmidt let out a scream, a bloody hole was smashed open on his forehead, and he fell down on the counter with a clatter. Lisa stood aside with her mouth wide open, and the few customers in the store gave them horrified looks, while Arthur threw away the handle of the coffee pot that was left in his hand, clapped his hands, and said to Schmidt at the counter, "You should be glad it's an empty coffee pot, or you'd have gone for a plastic surgery." ”

With that, Arthur went into the locker room, took off his chef's uniform, changed into his coat, and went out, got on his motorcycle, and flicked off the cigarette he had smoked a few puffs in.

"Damn, I seem to be getting more and more violent, but it's really convenient." Arthur thought to himself, started his motorcycle, and sped towards the New York Library.

……

Located on the famous Fifth Avenue, the New York City Public Library is the largest public library in the United States, with more than 16 million books, periodicals, pictures, manuscripts, etc., which is not only an important place to store and collect materials, but also one of the famous attractions in New York. Arthur parked his motorcycle in nearby Bryant Park and trotted all the way to the library's entrance.

Completed in 1911, the library is built in the Romanesque style of stone, with three massive arched doors and six towering Roman columns, each topped with intricate reliefs, making it look like a grand palace rather than a library. Because of this, the New York City Public Library is known as the "People's Palace".

There are two stone lions on either side of the stone steps in front of the gate, and Gina and Arthur make an appointment to meet next to the stone lions. Arthur saw Gina's figure, she was looking around with her left hand on the pergola, the sun was a little sunny. She squinted and wrinkled her nose, and her hair was tied back with a leather band. April is the season of spring, and girls like Gina can't wait to put on their denim shorts and stand there with their legs straight together, letting the sun and wind blow.

American girls don't have the concept of sun protection, and they don't wear umbrellas when they are exposed to the sun, on the contrary, they love to tan their skin darkly and brightly. Arthur greeted Gina from afar, and Gina followed the sound to see Arthur, her squinted eyes and wrinkled nose opened at once, and her whole face seemed to brighten. She rushed towards Arthur and gave him an unbridled hug, her enthusiasm like the warm April sun, shining comfortably.

"Where's your friend? Why are you alone? Arthur looked around, surrounded by tourists, but there didn't seem to be any friend of Gina.

"The visit is not over yet, free time, they are still inside. Let's go inside. Gina took Arthur's hand and walked up the stairs through the main entrance into the library, to Astor Hall. Inside, the Romanesque arch is still the structure, and several tall candlesticks stand in the hall, each lit with nine white candles, which are still lit even in the daytime, emitting a scorching light.

"Everyone is watching the documentary in the screening room, it is estimated that there is still half an hour, do you want to go in and watch it together?"

Gina asked, taking Arthur's hand. She felt a little regretful in her heart, a little that she didn't want her friends to see Arthur, or that she didn't want Arthur to see her friends. Especially Jenny, who was on the cheerleading team with her, a blonde girl who was taller and more beautiful than Gina. She has many suitors at school, and it is said that she often changes boyfriends, isn't this the same as Arthur before?

Thinking of this, Gina doesn't want Arthur to meet his friends more and more, what if they look at each other?

Arthur didn't notice Gina's thoughts, he didn't come to the library today to see Gina's friends, he had other things to do. Arthur looked around and said, "Then let them watch the documentary first, I haven't been here yet, I'll go around inside." ”

Gina nodded, and took Arthur on a tour of the huge palace-like library. The walls are all marble, the ceiling is carved with wood and gold lacquer, and the gilded inscriptions can be seen everywhere, all of whom are people and families who contributed to the library. The two of them went up to the third floor, which was the largest reading room in the library, the Rose Reading Room, the size of a football field.

Entering through the door of the reading room is like entering the halls of Hogwarts House, where desks are neatly arranged and bookshelves are lined up. A circular chandelier hangs above the desk, and large arched glass windows on either side provide light to the reading room. There are many people sitting in front of the desk, burying their heads in quiet reading, and the huge reading room is quiet.

Arthur went to the guide desk to ask a few words, and walked towards a bookshelf in the Rose Reading Room under the guidance of the front desk. Gina followed Arthur, who was really not interested in books, but more interested in the carved wooden door of the reading room door and the ornate colorful mural on the top.

Arthur stopped in front of the bookshelf, rummaging through the materials he was looking for. Gina was bored and leaned on Arthur's shoulder and whispered, "When did you start to like reading?" ”

Arthur replied, "I don't like to read, but I happen to have some information to look up. As he spoke, he continued to read through the pages.

Gina looked up, this place is a book related to architectural history, I really don't know what Arthur wants to look for.

After checking for a while, Arthur couldn't find what he was looking for, and Gina, chewing bubblegum in her mouth, ran to an empty desk to study the lamp on it. Arthur put down the thick book "History of Religious Architecture" in his hand, sighed, scratched his face, and thought to himself that in the era when the Internet was not widespread enough, it was really troublesome to consult materials. If you have a smartphone, where can you use it to come to the library, you can find the answer by opening the phone and searching for it.

As soon as the book in his hand was put back on the shelf, it was pulled out by another hand, a slender white hand with a bohemian bracelet tied around his wrist. Arthur turned his head to glance at a white woman with a golden ponytail. He looks to be in his twenties, wears large-framed glasses, has a high nose with a bit of freckles, and doesn't apply powder. Her eyes were green, and she glanced at Arthur as well, and the two of them met each other.

"You don't need it, do you?" The white woman asked politely, she was very tall, 1.75 meters by sight, judging from her appearance and this blonde hair, she should be of the Nordic race.

Arthur nodded, the woman took the book, smiled at Arthur, and was about to turn to leave, Arthur stopped her, "Hey, do you know a lot about religious buildings?" ”

The woman turned around, shook the book in her hand, and said, "Hobbies, understand some, are you too?" ”

Arthur said, "Oh no, I don't know much, so I went here to look up some information, but I didn't find what I was looking for. ”

The woman said, "Maybe I can help you, oh, my name is Karen." ”

The woman held out her hand to Arthur, who shook her hand gently, her fingers were slender, and there were no calluses or old skins on her hands. Although she was dressed very simply, she could see that she was a pampered person, and the bohemian bracelet on her wrist looked ordinary, but Arthur could tell that the small sapphire in the middle of the bracelet was real, not plastic or glass.

"My name is Arthur, and I want to know what that kind of cathedral with a spire is called. What churches in New York are like this? ”

"Spire, you mean a Gothic-style church? This is common in New York, but churches in the United States are a bit of a mixed bag, and it may take some time if you're going to get to know it. ”

"I just want to know what the name of the church with a spire is, I've seen it in a magazine, but I haven't found anything like it in a long time..."

"Is it in New York?"

"It was supposed to be in New York, probably an old church from the past, which was later burned down."

"Hmm... Then you should go to the history and local history reading room on the second floor. ”

"Oh, can you take me there? My first time here, it's a little... It's a bit confusing, it's too big here. ”

Arthur looked at Karen with his clear black eyes, and the two kept looking at each other as they talked, frowning as they spoke. Karen's green eyes rolled slightly, and she agreed to Arthur's proposal, and took Arthur out of the Rose Reading Room and went to the smaller History and Local History Reading Room on the second floor.

Gina didn't notice that Arthur had slipped down, and was still sitting at her desk and listening to music on her Walkman with headphones, immersed in Madonna's singing.

……

Arthur followed Karen to the history and local history reading room on the second floor, which was much smaller than the Rose Reading Room on the third floor, with rows of bookshelves and low ceilings, which looked more like an ordinary library. There are not many people in it, and the American people generally do not have much interest in books such as history and local history.

Karen took Arthur to the bookshelf of the New York Local Chronicle, looked at it, found an atlas and handed it to Arthur, and said, "There is a historical atlas of religious buildings in the New York area, see if there is anything you are looking for." ”

Arthur took the atlas and ran his fingers on the back of Karen's fingers, who stiffened visibly, but didn't pull his hand away. Her green eyes rolled slightly, and she glanced deeply at Arthur, whose face was indeed handsome and charming. Arthur flipped through the catalogue in his hand, and within a few pages, he found what he was looking for.

A black-and-white photograph of the steeped church on it is the same one that Arthur was burning down in his hallucinatory dreams that day! Looking at the small print profile under the picture, Arthur realized that this was St. James's Cathedral, but before it was rebuilt. The current St. James's Cathedral was built later, after the previous one had been destroyed in a fire.

"It was really burned by the fire, and it looks like I'm going to have to go there again." Arthur muttered to himself, closed the album, and said to Karen, "Thank you, I found what I was looking for, thank you very much." ”

Karen looked at Arthur playfully, and chuckled at the corner of her mouth, "Is this your thanks?" ”

Arthur read the meaning in Karen's eyes, he put the album back on the shelf, looked around, leaned forward, and whispered in Karen's ear, "There's no one here, but you'd better keep quiet." ”

As he spoke, his hand reached Karen's slender leg in jeans......