On the west side of New Hanover is a vast plain, known by the Indians as the heart of the earth because of its abundant natural resources and pleasant climate suitable for human settlement.

The Emerald Ranch is located in the heart of the Earth.

The size of the ranch is only medium, but the variety of livestock raised is very complete, and there are basically common livestock such as horses, cattle and sheep.

Not far away, there is a small train station and a carriage station.

Coupled with the fact that several roads intersect here, the ranch is doing very well, and the rancher, Eugene Wegener, has a well-to-do family and hires many farmers to help.

In time, it is likely to develop into a town like Valentine.

But Archina prefers the ranch as it is now, looking much cleaner than Valentine.

After getting out of the carriage, she looked around: "Good place, suitable as a new annex for the Dimitrescu family, I'm going to live here tonight, you are responsible for finding a way." ”

The 'head of the family' has spoken, and Li Ang, who is a son-in-law, naturally does not dare to disobey: "Okay, okay, I'll figure out a way." ”

Having said that, a mere ranch is not worth it for him to go out personally.

So Leon came up with an idea that would not only satisfy his wife's request, but also make the three young ladies have fun.

"Come on, girls, come to me and play a little game with you."

The three sisters immediately gathered around curiously, their eyes full of anticipation.

"What kind of game" Bella hugged her lover's arm and coquettishly, almost writing the four big words "I'm curious" on her face.

Out of nowhere, Leon took out a pipe and put it in his mouth, and said in a matter-of-fact manner:

"I'm a detective from the Old World, and in the process of traveling to the New World, I discover a place called Emerald Ranch that seems to hide many secrets. However, due to the detective's daily skills and lack of skills, he needs three assistants to assist in the investigation and find clues hidden in the shadows. ”

"I wonder if the three ladies are willing?"

Brushing and brushing, the three white little hands immediately raised, and the answer was self-evident.

Leon nodded with satisfaction: "In order to ensure the fairness of the game, there are some rules that you must follow: first, you are not allowed to leave the ranch too far, second, you are not allowed to have any form of communication with the rancher and his daughter, and third, there is a time limit of two hours. ”

"Now that the rules are read, you can get started."

The simple script killing game successfully aroused the interest of the three sisters, and they couldn't wait to enter the ranch to find useful clues.

And the appearance of these strangers also attracted the attention of the ranch workers.

Soon, the rancher Eugene came to the door.

This is a middle-aged man with a vicious face, a very bad temper, and a little arrogant.

If he had encountered this situation before, he would have driven the intruder out without hesitation, but this time he was facing three delicate girls, and judging from the clothes, his identity was either rich or expensive, not to mention that he was protected by a gunman by his side.

After weighing up, Eugene finally decided to convince people with virtue.

"This is private land, not a place for ladies to play, please leave as soon as possible."

The three sisters were very obedient to the rules and didn't say a word to him.

In order to prevent the rancher from disturbing their interest, the Nether Dog brought it to Leon.

At this time, the small river at the entrance to the pasture.

An awning was erected beside the carriage and seats were set up, and Leon and his wife sat in the shed drinking tea and chatting, while Bayek fed the two horses.

As soon as Eugene arrived, he was struck by Madame's unique size.

And the leisurely state of her and Leon also made the rancher feel that the other party was not easy to mess with.

"Dear Sir, Madam, I am the master of this place, I don't know the two"

Before he could finish speaking, Leon stretched out his hand and invited, "Mr. Eugene, right?" Come, please be seated. ”

"Oh good, thank you." Eugene spoke incoherently, sat down across from the two of them, and finally did not forget to take off the straw hat on his head as a sign of politeness.

He couldn't figure out why he was so scared.

Bayek walked over and poured a cup of tea for the cowering rancher.

In the brown-red tea, Eugene's restless expression was reflected, and seeing this, he couldn't help but secretly scold himself for not being angry.

Leon suddenly said at this time: "Mr. Eugene, do you know Detective Pinkerton?" ”

Pinkerton Detectives, whose full name is Pinkerton National Detective Agency, is a private detective company.

But it is inextricably linked to the American government, and can even be regarded as the predecessor of the CIA and the FBI.

The founder, Alan Pinkerton, is a legend, most notably known for his association with Abraham Lincoln, the 15th president of the United States, who had known Lincoln since he was a railroad lawyer.

During the Civil War, Alain served as the head of Lincoln's intelligence agency, and Detective Pinkerton grew.

By the end of the war and the Westward Expansion Movement, there was a lack of adequate police protection along the railroad lines and in many of the new towns, and the experienced, financial, and well-connected Pinkerton detectives became the main law enforcement force in these areas.

Not only do they have the right to issue bounty wanted notices, but they can also catch fugitives across the country.

By 1899, Pinkerton had far outnumbered the U.S. military.

The word "Private Eye" is derived from Pinkerton's trademark design.

Such a well-known and notorious institution, Eugene certainly knows.

"I know, I know, but why do you suddenly ask this?" The rancher laughed a few times and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Seeing this, Archyna couldn't help but hook the corners of her mouth.

It was clear that the rancher in front of him was very weak-hearted, and things were about to get interesting.

Leon smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, Mr. Eugene, I'll just ask." By the way, are the horses in your ranch interested in selling? ”

Eugene breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, it turned out that he had come to buy a horse.

Then he thought again: Deliberately mentioning Pinkerton, did he want to imply that they had a relationship with Pinkerton? Will it be good to lower the price later?

Yes, definitely!

The rancher, who consciously figured everything out, looked the same as the two of them just now, leaned back on the chair, picked up the teacup in front of him and took a big sip, and finally said something.

"The taste is okay, I'll buy some tomorrow!"

"As for those horses, these things are raised at home to sell, and the price is right, so they will naturally sell."

Leon and Archyna looked at each other, and then said, "The price is not a problem, but we will talk about it when my wife and her two sisters are chosen." ”

Eugene's state became more and more relaxed: "Of course, there are several docile mares in the stable, very suitable for a few elegant young ladies, do you need my help to recommend?" ”

Li Ang said lightly: "For families like us, it doesn't matter whether it is suitable or not, the most important thing is that they like it." ”

Eugene understands again, this is obviously a not bad money owner, it seems that he can make a lot of money today!

"Then let the three young ladies pick hard, and you can pick as long as you want!"

Leon smiled and turned to chat with the rancher about the Emerald Ranch's past.

Eugene opened the conversation box, gushing about his difficult entrepreneurial experience, what his beloved wife died early, and his daughter depended on him, and claimed that sooner or later he would develop the Jade Ranch into the first ranch in the west.

Li Ang pretended to listen very carefully, and from time to time he praised a few words.

For this reason, he was also given several white eyes by Achina next to him.

But as time passed, Eugene noticed something abnormal, and there were more than a dozen horses in the stable, as for the almost two hours of picking?

"Sir, there's still a lot of work to attend to on the ranch, so I'll be with you for a while."

As a result, as soon as he put on his hat and was about to get up, Bayek behind him pressed his shoulder.

Li Ang smiled and said, "Alas, don't worry, don't you see that they are back." ”

Eugene, who was worried, looked back, and sure enough, he saw the three sisters walking towards him, looking elated and seemed to be discussing something.

The rancher was relieved and seemed to have finally picked up.

As soon as Bella arrived, she sat down directly on Leon's lap, picked up his teacup and drank it. The other two sisters also hurriedly poured themselves a cup of tea.

They walked non-stop for two hours, but they were exhausted.

Li Ang put his arm around the eldest lady and asked, "How are you looking?" ”

Daniela grabbed the conversation: "Our three sisters are out, and we can't find any clues!" ”

"Clues?" Eugene was a little uneasy.

Li Ang ignored it and continued to say to the three sisters: "Then let's talk about it, Bella will come first." ”

The eldest lady took a fan from Bayek's hand and told her story as she fanned the wind.

On the side of the ranch path, she found a long-abandoned women's clothing store.

Opposite the shop was the tavern that the injured woman had spoken, also dilapidated, and the interior was even more in shambles, with scattered bullet casings in addition to bloodstains.

And at the back of the tavern, there is a tombstone whose owner is named [Joshua Burgess], who died just last year.

The fact that a pasture that mainly raises livestock and grows wheat has a women's clothing store that can only be found in a big city, which is even more eye-catching than standing out from the crowd.

Bella judged that only the mysterious daughter of the rancher in the entire ranch had the money and leisure to engage in such a thing.

After listening to this, Li Ang praised the eldest lady.

Then, it was the turn of the second lady, Kassandra.

She searched around the ranch and found the clue she was looking for.

It was an abandoned roadside mail wagon with a letter from [Annabelle] to [Miriam], and coincidentally, both of them had the same surname Wegener as Eugene.

(The location of the mail carriage is near Valentine, which has been modified here)

The letter mentioned that this was the sixth letter written by Annabelle, but she never received a reply, and advised her cousin Annabelle not to be too sad about the death of her boyfriend Joshua, and finally hoped that her cousin Eugene would stop withholding her letters without permission.

After listening to this, Li Ang gave a compliment as usual.

In fact, at this point, a cliché and bloody story can be roughly pieced together.

The poor boy and the rich girl fell in love, but the latter's father did not approve of this marriage, so the poor boy lost his life inexplicably, and the rich girl was also imprisoned at home and not allowed to go out.

There is a good sentence in the letter, don't confuse love with perverted possessiveness.

Eugene, the rancher, made this mistake.

However, Li Ang was not in a hurry to do anything, but wanted to hear about the third lady's discovery again.

Who knew that Daniela, who was full of confidence just now, was a little embarrassed at this time.

"That. I found the tombstone, and I saw the girl under house arrest on the second floor of Wegener's house. ”

As soon as these words came out, Li Ang didn't say anything, and Achena's expression froze first.

"In other words, you didn't find anything, did you?"

Although it is only a small game, Madame still hopes that all three daughters will be excellent.

Daniela was a little afraid to see her mother's disappointed eyes and quickly hid behind her brother-in-law.

Bella said, "You misunderstood, mother, if it weren't for my sister's help, I wouldn't have been able to find any clues with my stupid person, and besides, she actually found something, that is."

Achyna's sharp eyes swept over the third daughter behind Li Ang: "Say! ”

Daniela had no choice but to ramble on what she had found.

In a barn not far from the pasture, she finds a dead man and a dead sheep.

The sheep wore beautiful bows, and the men wore no pants.

A gold ring for marriage can be found on both a person and a sheep.

After the third lady finished speaking, everyone's expressions were a little strange, as if they had heard an extremely absurd joke.

A man chooses to marry a sheep and ends up playing himself to death.

No wonder Daniela looked unspeakable just now.

Even Eugene, the rancher, had an incredulous expression, and it was the first time he had heard of it.

"I brought the ring back, do you want to take a look?" Daniela said with a low brow.

"Throw it away, throw it away!" Archyna felt goosebumps all over her body: "Don't you feel dirty?" ”

"Oh." Daniela pouted and threw the ring into the stream behind her.

Anyway, it's all her trophies, and it's a pity to throw them away like this.

Eugene silently memorized the location of the rings, ready to find time to pick them up, it was all money, what was so disgusting about money!

As soon as he made up his mind, when he looked up, he saw Li Angzheng looking at him meaningfully.

Only then did Eugene realize that his business was not over yet.

"I protect my daughter, and I don't need you outsiders to meddle in my business! Get out of here, don't let me call someone! ”

Archina, who is also a parent, said disdainfully: "You still have the face to say protection? ”

In the past, because of the cold of her three daughters, Madame thought of many ways, wishing that they could see the world outside the castle like normal people.

The rancher did the exact opposite of her.

Bella empathizes, thinking of the scene when she wanted to be with Leon and her mother strongly objected.

Fortunately, this is all in the past.

"It's you who should roll, let Miriam go, and then roll as far as you want!"

Eugene stalked his neck, slapped the table, and disgusting saliva splashed everywhere: "Wishful thinking!" This is my place, never leave, don't blame me for being polite. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Bayek gave him a slap in the face with a round arm.

The poor rancher flew straight out of his chair and was dragged back to his chair like a dead dog.

Leon pointed to the table and said slowly, "Why don't we talk about the murder of Joshua, the tavern owner?" ”

Eugene, who was unconscious with half of his body, was still stiff-mouthed: "Joshua was obviously affected by stray bullets because the tavern guests were drunk and troublesome, or was I paid for him to erect a tombstone!" ”

In the distance, several able-bodied ranch workers hurriedly pulled out their guns and rushed to the scene when they saw the boss being beaten.

The people in the west are fierce, playing with guns and riding horses is the basic skill, and even more so they work as workers during the day and bandits at night.

But before the gunners could get close to the river, they were stopped by Nether Dogs, who rode tall horses.

"Pinkerton investigates, don't be blind!"

As soon as they heard that it was Pinkerton, the gunners immediately hesitated in place, not daring to step forward.

Two of them even turned around and ran, apparently committing crimes.

The ghost dog didn't talk nonsense, and directly shot the two down.

Now no one dares to move.

Returning to Leon's side, he instructed Bayek to bring a slip.

Eugene looked at it intently, it was a land transfer agreement, the ink on it was not dry, and it looked like it was freshly written.

Enraged, he snatched the agreement and tore it to shreds.

"So you guys are beating the idea of my ranch, a bunch of villains, even if I die, I can't sign it!"

Li Ang pouted: "The murderer is still reasonable, since you want to die, then send you to die." ”

"When you get down there, don't forget to apologize to the tavern owner."

Bayek then dragged Eugene by the collar to the river, then pressed his head into the still-biting waters of early spring.

In less than half a minute, the rancher realized that he was afraid of death.

"He agreed to the transfer!"

"Very well, bring it back."

Eugene sat back in the same chair he would never forget for the rest of his life, a pen stuffed in his hand, and a deck of agreements in front of him that was exactly the same as before.

After hesitating for a moment, he trembled and said, "That money. What about the money. ”

Leon nodded, and Bayek fetched a chest full of gold bars.

Eugene said again, "Then my daughter."

Bayek glared, and he immediately bowed his head and signed his name on the agreement.

Seeing this, Archina sneered: "It turns out that you don't love her that much." ”

Eugene didn't dare to speak, and silently held the gold crate in his arms.

The Nether Dog brought a horse from the stable, which was not even saddled: "Don't get out of here, wait for us to invite you!" ”

Eugene hurriedly got up and got on his horse, ready to flee this hellish place.

As a result, the Nether Dog forcibly took back a gold bar from the box: "Ma Qian, do you have an opinion?" ”

Eugene dared not speak in anger, glanced at his home from afar, and then urged the horse to leave.

Leon looked at his vanishing figure and winked at the Nether Dog.

The outlaws are in flames, and innocent passers-by are miserable, right, right, more reasonable than Joshua at the beginning.

Soon after, the Nether Dog returned, carrying a box in his hand and followed by an unsaddled horse.

Bayek scolded: "Go and wash the blood from the box, you don't have any brains." ”

After the box was washed, the bionic teardrops carried it through the box to Wegener's house at the back of the ranch.

It is a two-storey country house with a simple little garden in front of the door.

Originally, the rancher specially asked a gunman to guard the door, but now he has disappeared, presumably he has run away.

Bayek was about to knock on the door, only to find it locked from the outside.

So he broke the lock on the door, but instead of going in, he stood outside the door and shouted, "Hello, is anyone there?" ”

In the next second, the sound of eager footsteps came from upstairs, and there should have been a fall on the road.

When the girl named Miriam appeared on the first floor, it was already a few minutes later.

She looked at the tall man outside the door in disbelief, but she couldn't hide her haggardness, panting.

"You are. What about my father? ”

Bayek smiled a standard and proper smile: "That's right, Miss Wegener, your father, Eugene Wegener, has transferred the land and the ground part of his name, that is, the Emerald Ranch, to my master, here is the transfer agreement, you can take a look." ”

Miriam read the agreement tremblingly, and didn't know what to say for a while.

Bayek continued: "By the way, I have a message to convey here, your cousin Annabelle has invited you to New York to develop. ”

Miriam covered her mouth, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.

"Does my father want me? Where is he now? ”

"Well, I don't know." Bayek raised the box in his hand: "This is the money for the purchase of the ranch, please take care of it." I recommend that you deposit directly into the bank, and if you are worried about the safety of the road, I can send someone to escort you away. ”

Miriam took the box in disbelief, and when she opened it, she was almost shocked by the golden little guy inside.

Her father sold the ranch without her knowledge, but left the money to her?

Is this what her ruthless, controlling-minded father could do?

Bayek took out a pocket watch, looked at the time, and said, "It's not early, the bank is going to close, please make a decision as soon as possible." ”

Miriam's mind had stopped, and she couldn't figure out what was going on.

Bayek sighed, and simply called for the Nether Dog and asked him to escort her to the nearest bank.

Valentine seems to have one.

"Can I go back to my room and pack my bags?" Miriam finally came to terms with the fact that the ranch was no longer her home.

Bayek indifferently refused her request.

"I'm sorry, Miss Wegener, but everything about the ranch belongs to my owner, including the house and its contents."

Miriam was thus cleared out of the house, and in ignorance, holding the gold crate in her arms, she boarded the train to St. Denis, escorted by the Nether Dog.

There, she would exchange her gold bars for dollars, leave enough money for living on, put it in the bank, and then go to New York to join her cousin and start a new life.

Bayek didn't even give her time to worship Joshua.

After all this, the bionic teardrops conveyed to the workers of the ranch the fact that the place had changed owners.

Those who are willing to stay and continue to work will have their salary doubled. If you don't want to stay, settle this month's salary and leave on your own.

The vast majority of them chose to stay, including the injured woman, not only because of double pay, but also because the change of owners of the ranch was a good thing for them.

Eugene was undoubtedly a villain, often beating and scolding the workers, and if it weren't for the difficulty of finding a secure job, the workers would have left long ago.

And although Li Ang's gang acted more fiercely, it was inexplicably very much in line with the taste of the workers.

Grievances were separated, fair and just, and Eugene was cleaned up, but he did not embarrass his daughter.

As for the small part that is leaving, it's not because of Li Ang, but because I don't want to do it here for a long time, so it's better to just take the money and leave.

After settling the matter of the completed man, Bayek went to Leon to get his life back.

I happened to see the third lady talking to Archyna: "I finally remembered what clue I found, there is a black market in this ranch!" ”

(End of chapter)