The sun is gradually setting, and the earth reflected in the evening glow will be shrouded in the darkness of the night.

It was getting dark, and the people who lit the lamps climbed the ladders and lit up the city with kerosene lamps.

This is no longer the time when you could only use moonlight and torches in the dark.

A tall, thin black man in a brown leather coat leaned against the red and white brick wall outside the hospital and took out a black cardboard box from the inside pocket of his jacket.

The carton was made of more elaborate material than the paper used by the wealthy, and the black box read Marlbora (1) in a gilt pattern, with an opening in one-third, and eighteen cigarettes in it when gently pushed.

The exquisite packaging and the one-piece design of the mouthpiece are different from the ordinary cigarettes of that time, and it is obviously not a product of the same time period, it is a product from the future.

There is also a blue bead printed on the mouthpiece, and when you press it lightly, the mouthpiece will have a minty scent after hearing a pop.

He took out a box of matches, bit the delicate cigarette holder with his teeth, polished the last match in the box, and leaned over to light the cigarette he had just taken out.

He swung the lit match vigorously, extinguished it, and then threw it to the ground without care, and stepped on the dark and shiny leather shoes gently.

took a small puff, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and muttered to himself,

"The last spark has been lit, this is the beginning and the end, time is running out, hey, let's have a glass of wine."

Humming a light tune and a cigarette in his mouth, he walked towards the darkness without lights.

Because it was the only place where he could feel a sense of security.

————————————————————————————

The hallways of the hospital smelled of disinfectant potions, while Kirk's superior private room had a faint scent of lavender.

The sleek marble floors and yellow wood beds are visible, and the walls are adorned with a portrait of the Sistine Madonna by the famous Italian painter Michael Langiro. The painting was hung directly on the wooden bed, and the Virgin's kind eyes were cast on the person on the bed.

Herman looked at Kirk, who had just given birth on the bed and had a haggard face, and stretched out his right hand, stroking her face and said,

"Dear Kirk, you are still so beautiful at all times, you are my muse (2). I just thought about our child's name, how about being called Albert? Albert. Einsta. ”

Kirk enjoyed her husband's pampering and responded,

"Listen to you, Albert is such a good name, noble and wise being,

At the same time, it can also pay tribute to the late Prince Albert, son of the Duke of Goth,

I hope that our Albert will be a smart and kind child, who will grow up to contribute to society and the world. ”

Herman responded,

"You really understand my mind, I have been mediocre all my life, and I am most proud to be able to marry you.

Secondly, I just want my children to be happy and make a difference, and not to repeat my mediocre life. ”

Kirk stared at her husband, sensing that he might not be satisfied with his current life, and comforted him,

"Mr. Herman, please remember that although we are ordinary, we are not mediocre, and we are very happy in the current state of our lives.

Look, our children represent our future, our hope, don't give up hope, just go for it.

As parents, we naturally want to give our children the best, do you understand? ”

Hearing the words of comfort from his wife, Herman decided that he wanted to cheer himself up, as she said, to make a career and provide a better life for his family, and after thinking about it, he stood up and called the nurse to carry the child.

In an instant, Herman found the nurse from the nurses' station and asked the nurse to bring the child to him. A chubby female nurse immediately went to the nursery to take the child out, of course, this also has the effect of a little golden mark.

In addition to carrying the child, the fat nurse sensibly brought a cup of hot coffee and hot milk and put them on the table in the ward, and helped Herman put two soft pillows behind the frail Kirk so that she could lean on.

This coffee was originally used as a medicine for diabetics and Alzheimer's patients, but people found that the flavor of this medicine was very good, and it gradually became popular.

With the popularity of coffee, after people discovered the tasting value of coffee, some coffee shops have also appeared in the society, forming a new industrial chain, which can only be enjoyed by the upper class;

And these coffee shops are often places where people gather and talk, which of course means that they are a reliable source of information, and some information sellers will stay in the café for a long time and wait for customers to ask for some hidden information.

For example, the direction of politics, the affairs of high society, and even clues about mysterious forces. ③

"The coffee is a little hot, Mr. Herman, you drink it slowly."

After saying to Herman, the fat nurse consciously closed the door and gave the family a quiet time together.

"Honey, look at our big fat boy, he's sleeping. He's so heavy, he should weigh eight pounds. ”

Kirk gently hugged the boneless Albert, looked at her first son, and said.

"Look at his nose and mouth that look very much like you." Herman responded.

The family spent the day so warmly, congratulating the arrival of a new life in the family.

—————————————————————————

Dr. Yudekaw, dressed in a crisp suit, walked home alone, the light on the kerosene lamppost fading.

With the cool breeze swaying, it seems a little uncertain. There are also few pedestrians on this stone road.

Most of the inhabitants of the city of Umur are not in the habit of lingering in the streets after dark, except, of course, a few drunkards and ruffians, as well as members of the security patrols.

The faint light of the kerosene lamp reflected on the pale blue slate, which was covered with pitted marks, which were the scars of time. Several pitch-black feathers fell from the sky and floated onto the stone slab.

After a hard day's work, Dr. Yudkaw, though a little tired, seemed to be in a good mood, and he thought of the generous Mr. Herman today.

"Oh, lovely Golden Mark! Praise God! Extra income is not always available, and the wicked mother-in-law of the family would have told me to turn over all these charming gold coins.

No, no, let's sneak a drink at the Black Pepper Bar, listen to the bard sing two rhyming poems, and watch the drunkards beat each other, hey! ”

Dr. Yudkaw thought so, and then he changed directions, and walked through two alleys to the door of the Black Pepper Bar.

On the right side of the door of the Black Pepper Bar are two wooden barrels with lids, which are cleaned daily by the bar owner, and they are for drunken drunkards.

If the bar owner notices that something is wrong, the owner will throw him out of the door with a strange force by the collar, and open the lid to stuff the person's head inside. Often at this delicate time, it will pour out, of course, accompanied by a sour and smelly smell.

The door of the bar is painted with a strange symbol, as if there is a huge figure hovering above a city, which is very scary.

According to the old conversation with the bartender, the bar owner used to be a sailor at sea, and this symbol was discovered on a desert island when he was adventuring at sea, and he thought that the style was quite mysterious, so he recorded it, and no one knew what it meant or what it symbolized.

Outside the door stood several men dressed in gentlemanly clothes and high hats, some smoking cigarettes, some smoking pipes, they chatted with each other, they were all high-class people. There were also a few little hooligans in sackcloth who were secretly rolling cigarettes, but judging from their expressions, this roll may not be tobacco.

Pushing open the door of the bar, the noise swarmed, the space inside the door was much larger than from the outside, there were about dozens of tables inside, all full of people, obviously the black pepper bar was doing very well, after all, this was the only bar in the city of Ulm.

Unlike other smoky bars in the city, the owner of the bar is a cleanliness addict who pays great attention to every detail in the bar, and some people even think that his cleanliness is a bit like obsessive-compulsive disorder.

But this has also led to the fact that black pepper bars are also popular with the upper-class men of the city of umur. Although there are many noisy people here, there is an order, and the one who sets the rules in the bar is naturally the former sailor and current owner Mills. J. Monch.

Dr. Yudkaw looked in and found a familiar figure, a middle-aged man with curly blond hair named Pvent. Les, slightly chubby, kind and always with a smile on his face.

He is the owner of the grocery store that Dr. Yudkaw frequents, and the two are quite close to each other, and of course they also have a very tacit understanding when it comes to drinking. Stout is the favorite of the two, and both of them have beer bellies.

"Hey, Mr. Pvent, why are you here!" Dr. Yudkaw patted Pvent, who was sitting on the edge of the bar, and said.

Pvent raised the draught beer in his hand and responded,

"Ha, of course it's for the fragrance of this malt!"

After that, he turned to the bartender and said,

"Two more, one for mine, on the rocks, and one for our great life greeter, Dr. Yudekao!"

When the bartender heard this, he turned around and took out two refrigerated beer glasses, and slowly let the black and gold liquid flow into the glasses.

When a layman comes to pour beer, he may make a joke and pour out half a glass of foam, only a professional knows how to pour a perfect beer, seven tenths of the wine, three tenths of the foam, this is the golden ratio. ④

"Two glasses of two marks and forty pfennigs, Mr. Pwent." The bartender said. ⑤

Hearing this, Dr. Yudekaw took out three marks and gave them to the bartender, and waved his hand to organize Pvent, who was ready to give money, and said,

"No, no, no, this time should be mine, I have an extra gain today."

Provent drank the dark beer in his hand and raised his glass to salute Dr. Yudekaw.

"Ha, a toast to Dr. Yudekaw's generosity!"

At the same time, Yudkaw picked up the wine glass, took a sip of the delicate beer foam and said,

"Cheers! And thanks to the truly generous Mr. Herman, no, Mr. Herman. ”

"Oh? But the electrical merchant Herman. Einsta? That's an iron rooster in the mall. You can get money from him, but it's not easy. Provent responded.

"No, no, no, today is the day of his son's birth, and I, am in charge of his child's delivery. Getting some extra "labor fees" is a regular reward, after all, the work is very tiring.

You know that, too. But I didn't expect that today Mr. Herman actually gave twenty gold marks, praise God, and in a while let Boss Mills personally roast a fragrant bar specialty, black pepper pork knuckle, for us.

That's the job of Boss Mills, and I've heard that the sauces are all secret. ”

Yu Decao said with a proud look on his face and a sense of villain's pride.

"Then I'm not welcome today, the next time you come to my grocery store, I'll give you a discount and give you a few more things.

Recently, a batch of goods came from the East, and there are several albums in them, which are exquisite and lifelike, and you may be able to pick a few to go back and see. ”

Pvent looked at Yudekaw with the kind of eyes that men understand, and raised an eyebrow, and the bartender laughed silently.

"Haha, then I thank you in advance for your kindness, but don't you have to worry about your rebellious little boy Philip finding this album in the store? He was only eleven years old, and these "stimuli" were too early for him. Yudeko said with a smile.

"Alas, lately this child has been more reluctant to pay attention to me than ever, since the death of his miserable mother, he has become reticent, and it is useless to visit famous doctors and pediatricians.

I was only given a little advice to do more company, but I had to go to the stock during the day and visit the store in the afternoon, not to mention the chores at home, since Ariana left us to go to God's side, I could only stop after the moon rose, how could I have time to spend with him? Provent shook his head, sighed again, took a sip of most of his beer, and continued,

"You see, this wine is so good, you forget everything when you get drunk."

Yudekao's eyes were also pale when he heard this, but he opened his mouth to comfort Pwente,

"Alas, everyone has unspeakable suffering, maybe this is God's test for us, don't be too discouraged, my old friend, why don't we let Boss Mills roast pork knuckles for us now!"

After a while, Mills himself came to the bar with a large wooden plate.

Although the bald Mills was covered in muscles and had a lot of scars on his back, all the drinkers in the room knew that as long as you didn't make trouble here and brought enough gold marks to the Black Pepper Bar, Mills would be your dearest old friend.

"Hey gentlemen, this is my best black pepper roast pork knuckle, please eat it hot. Today, the boss is in a good mood, and I have a fried onion ring, please enjoy delicious food to ease the sorrow of the two. ”

Mills poured the sauce over and over for the pork knuckle as he said,

"Also, don't forget to pay the bartender after enjoying it, it only costs six gold marks, and the fraction counts. For the sake of Dr. Yudekaw's generous tip. ”

This pork knuckle is made of the part of the calf of the pig with thick fat, and after three hours of marinating, it is put into the steamer and steamed for 20 minutes.

At the same time, the soup in the steamer is taken out and then roasted in a pine oven for 30 minutes, the roasted surface is golden and crispy, with cumin, basil leaves and black pepper colliding, creating a wonderful fragrance in the air.

When the skin is cut, the fat inside takes on an attractive sheen, accompanied by a firm, rich hind leg meat. The soup in the steamer is evenly poured over the special sauerkraut and dumplings that accompany the plate. ⑥

After a full meal, the two of them walked out of the bar with each other's big bellies, and slowly sang local folk songs while they staggered to their residences.

The wild dogs on the side of the road watched the irregular steps of the two and fled in fright.