"Good morning, Mr. Langdon!"

"Mr. Langdon, what happened last night? I see the sheriff looking for you. ”

"Mr. Langdon, would you like something to eat?"

In the early morning of the next day, when the door was opened, there was an endless stream of greetings.

It's a greeting to the door's neighbors;

It was also an inquiry from a professor of engineering at Corner Manchester College;

It is also the sale of hot oatmeal porridge downstairs.

The vigor brought by the vivid faces made Li Shenzhi more and more happy, and even swept away the tossing and turning of last night.

Man, what a strange creature.

If Li Shenzhi was allowed to cross over here at the beginning, he would be difficult to accept, and maybe he would go crazy.

Look at this terrible world:

Murky air, gray skies, white-washed clothes, no computers, no mobile phones, no entertainment.

To make matters worse, even the tap water that was wrung out had a strange smell.

Even the toilet paper used to go to the toilet is an old newspaper with a bad ass.

It's just a buttocks, and the rough touch always makes Li Shenzhi have the illusion that he can't wipe it clean.

He had to be like a girl who loves cleanliness and fetch water to clean.

Everything is so inconvenient.

But after experiencing the extreme loneliness of being deprived of the senses, these inconveniences in front of me have become a different experience.

At this time, he held a piece of sixpence jam bread in his left hand, and looked at the bustling crowd, and the sweet and sour taste that exploded between the taste buds made him feel sincerely happy!

- It feels good to be alive!

Pinching his fingers, today is his day at work.

The apartment building where he lived was some distance from the Municipal Clock Tower, about 4 miles.

This is not a short distance that can be reached on foot.

Fortunately, Langdon spent a huge sum of 19 shillings on a refurbished second-hand bicycle.

This allows him to save a lot of commuting expenses.

You know, even the cheapest 2p subway is still a non-negligible expense for many citizens.

That's right, there is also a subway in this world.

But unfortunately, this subway is different from the "high-speed silent" subway in Li Shenzhi's memory, it is a coal-burning train in the final analysis.

It looks like a whining and smoky locomotive, pulling a row of large mine carts and transporting truckloads of consumables to major factories.

"Boom-"

A bell that seemed to ring from the depths of his soul woke up Li Shenzhi, who was looking around.

He followed the sound and looked, the rows of streets could not hide the towering bell tower in the center of the city!

Legend has it that even in the suburbs of Tudor, the sound of the bell tower can be heard.

For the citizens of Tudor, the bell tower was already their rough yardstick for judging time.

In fact, after this bell, the streets are noticeably busier.

Everyone is stepping up.

Except for Li Shenzhi.

He pedaled his bicycle gracefully, crossed the railroad tracks, skimmed the dark alleys, competed with the cars, raced with the horse-drawn carriages, and I don't know how long it had been, the clock tower leaped into the distance.

Hey?

Under the bell tower, a figure leaning against the wall, smoking a cigar without any image, made Li Shenzhi's eyebrows slightly raised.

"Good morning, Mr. Landon Darius!"

When the man saw Li Shenzhi, he took off his top hat with a smile and saluted, and the joy between his eyebrows and eyes could not be hidden.

"Good morning, Mr. Hansen!"

Li Shenzhi stopped and nodded in greeting.

"Sorry to bother you during working hours, you shouldn't be busy, right?"

Hansen, who put on a top hat, once again regained his appearance as a hanger.

"It depends on who? If it were you, I could not go to work today. ”

Li Shenzhi said with a smile, he had already guessed something.

Eliot is ostensibly his supplier of watch parts, but in fact, he is a big private customer.

He always had a large collection of second-hand watches in his possession, which were in urgent need of repair and refurbishment.

Hansen in front of him is Eliot's deputy.

"Hahaha, Mr. Langdon is funny and humorous, no wonder Elliot always likes to work with you."

"Thanks for the compliment, it's my pleasure."

"Elliot is dead!"

Hansen said suddenly, looking at Li Shenzhi with a narrow gaze.

To his surprise, Langdon was not surprised by the news that would affect his livelihood.

"Mr. Sheriff came to me last night." Li Shenzhi deliberately moved out of the sheriff.

"Really? What did you say? Hansen's expression tensed.

"It's nothing, it's just a routine inquiry!"

Hansen breathed a sigh of relief, he thought for a moment and said: "I took over Elliot's business, I think, we can continue Elliot's friendship, for the sake of the pound's face." ”

Li Shenzhi bowed: "Of course, no one will get along with the pound." ”

"I love working with smart people!"

Hansen imitated Eliot's mantra and turned away in style.

Li Shenzhi watched Hansen leave his back, exhaled for a while, and pushed his bicycle towards the municipal bell tower.

There is a dedicated parking lot at the Tudor City Municipal Plaza.

However, Li Shenzhi doesn't like to stop there.

The reason is too far away.

He prefers to park directly in the bell tower, and no one checks on him anyway.

Coming to the bell tower, he took out the key and opened the door, and a spiral staircase appeared in front of him.

He parked his bike, then turned and closed the gate before climbing up the stairs.

Probably because of the frequent climbing to form muscle memory, the long stairs did not make Li Shenzhi feel tired.

Soon, he climbed to the top of the bell tower.

Several huge gray bronze bells, hanging row upon roof, with interlaced gears and levers, constitute a unique mechanical beauty.

It is from these bronze bells that the hourly bell rings.

Li Shenzhi looked at this mechanical creation that could be called the crystallization of the times with interest, and it took a while to realize that he had to work.

Don't work anymore until the bell rings.

He was in the bell tower, what it felt like...... Definitely buzzing all day.

Soon, he found himself on the back of the clock, where an even more complex mechanism lay alongside.

This is the heart of the bell tower – the bell tower movement.

Unlike the watch mainspring, it is made of a circle of iron plates;

The clockwork is actually three hammers with dumbbell plates attached to them, one striking the music, one striking the tune when the stroke is plucked, and one striking the punctuality.

Therefore, as a clockkeeper, the winding is not a mechanical watch that can be twisted a few times.

He needs to use the principle of levers to wind it manually, that is, to pull up three hammers, so that the bell tower can continue to convert gravitational potential energy into mechanical energy and maintain the automatic operation of the bell tower.

It's tiring to live!

Fortunately, Langdon is used to it.

Li Shenzhi successfully completed the winding according to the operation process in his memory, checked the movement again, dripped oil on the key parts, and maintained lubrication, and the work was completed.

He pulled out his pocket watch, flicked it open, and glanced at the time, which was five minutes before the hour.

"Whew-"

"It's about ten minutes slower than Langdon, so it's supposed to be a delay on the way."

Li Shenzhi let out a sigh of relief, ready to run downstairs regardless of his image.

However, as he stepped up the first staircase, he suddenly looked up thoughtfully at the huge hanging bells.

He wondered, in the ghost state, he couldn't hear the sound, could it be because the voice was too quiet?

He remembered that the hallucinations that had come up before were often related to large sacrificial gatherings.

Could it be that this is because the sacrifice is relatively loud, so it is heard by him in the ghost state?

Possibly!

Why don't you give it a try?

It just so happens that there is no one here, so it's just the right time to conduct a covert experiment.

After thinking about it, Li Shenzhi took out his pocket watch and stared at the trend of time.

He decided to wait until the last dozen seconds before half-breaking away from his shell.

Time is like water, passing by in a murmur.

Soon four minutes passed, and Li Shenzhi became nervous.

As a bell watchman, Langdon's personal pocket watch is extremely accurate!

Almost perfectly synchronized with the bell tower.

This is also his mother clock for his clients to proofread the time.

"Tick ...... Tick ......"

As the second hand beats, Li Shenzhi's heart also beats.

"It's now!"

With five seconds left before the punctuality, his mind moved and he decisively left Langdon's body.