death of hope

"Sorry, I only have instant coffee at home..."

"It doesn't matter."

"I'm going to cut the fruit..."

Slippers clattered on the floor,

The housewife shuttled between the living room and the kitchen, asking her how she was in Mandarin with an accent, for fear of neglecting the benefactor who saved her family.

·
While the housewife returned to the kitchen, Lynch said:
"If a pregnant woman serves tea and water for me, I will have a bad conscience. What's more, what I want to say is sensitive, so we'd better talk alone."

"Know it."

Mr. Felix understood and clapped his hands:
"Estrella (Estrella!)
Go back to the house and rest, I have something to talk to this gentleman. "

"Lo tengo!" (Got it!)

The housewife served a plate of sliced ​​honeydew melon:

"Thank you for everything you have done for my husband."

She gently kissed Lynch's scarred forehead.

“Dios te bendiga~”

After saying that, he patted his stomach and walked up the stairs.

·
"what did she say?"

"Spanish, she said, God bless you."

Marcus Lynch nodded:
"You married a good wife."

"Actually, it's an arranged marriage between us."

"Oh?"

·
"As you must have noticed, she's Latino,
Their family came here as refugees from Central America, and opened a taco shop in the city to make ends meet.

At that time, I was still working on the streets, covering a street in a slum, and when I saw other gangs coming to collect protection money, I led people to beat up the gangs who didn't have good eyesight.

At that time, Baltimore was already very chaotic. For the sake of the safety of the whole family, the owner of the store introduced his youngest daughter to me.

My boss also agreed, and just like that, Estrella and I went to the Civil Affairs Bureau and got the certificate in a daze. "

·
"You have to get the gang boss's nod to get married? Don't parents agree to this kind of thing?"

"I am an orphan."

Mr. Felix sighed, lit a cigarette and said: "I have no one to rely on, I can only hang around on the street and wait to die, the boss is equal to my parents."

Lynch thought: (Very well, it seems that Xiao Xia's information is completely correct.)
·
"It's not uncommon for street gangsters to move out of slums and live in mansions in wealthy areas."

Felix smiled wryly and said, "It seems that you also think that my money is not a good source, and it is stuck with the blood and tears of the poor."

"Isn't it?"

"I tried my best to clarify, but everyone still didn't want to believe it. In fact, I made my fortune by legal means."

Felix pulled out a cardboard from under the teacup and handed it to Lynch, on which was a beautiful surreal spray painting.

·
"Did you draw it?"

"uh-huh."

"I don't know much about art, but I can see that it's worth a lot, so why don't you use this as a cup?"

"Haha, this cardboard was originally placed under the cake. After the cake was eaten, I just casually improvised it."

"Talented painter, well, now I believe, your money is clean."

"Thank you."

·
"Being a painter can earn more than being a drug dealer on the street, and it's much safer. So, you left the slums, left the gang, and moved out with your wife."

"Anyone with a normal brain will choose this way."

"For a painter, especially a surrealist painter like you, he needs a bole. You have to thank the person who bought your first work. Do you remember him?"

"It must not be forgotten that Director Lecter of the Baltimore Museum of Art introduced me to the

Praise our Almighty Lord!Arrange a gentleman for me!

He passed by my booth, admired it, bought my paintings at a high price, and helped me organize my first art exhibition, helping me enter the circle of artists. Since then, there have been an endless stream of wealthy buyers. "

·
"Since everything is on the right track, why repeat the same mistakes and fiddle with the illegal trading of hallucinogens, and even traded as much as half a ton."

"What the hell, I'm so anxious to get angry when I talk about this! I was framed!
I just drove back to the slums for a walk, went to a party to catch up with old friends, happened to pass by a hallucinogen trade site, and was taken away by a note in a daze. "

"Who do you think is hurting you?"

"I don't know. When I was on the street in the past, there were so many quarrels and enmities. It should be that someone saw that I was doing well and felt jealous."

"That makes sense, but you should see this more."

·
Lynch took out the tablet and placed it in front of the other party:
"Do you know this person?"

"Teng!" Felix stood up suddenly, his goatee trembling with anger:

"Sam Vikwich! I'm a kid!
By the way, it's this silly X!Turned into ashes, I recognize it!

He said he was having a party to catch up on the old days, and he sent an invitation. Because the address of the party was remote, I drove by the trading place, and was caught by the police, it was him!It must be him!
Spicy next door!Brother who has worshiped the handle, just framed me like this!

wait, this photo...

Why is Sam closing his eyes? "

·
"It was filmed at the funeral home."

"Fuck?"

Felix froze:
"Dead... dead?"

"It's cold."

Lynch's finger slides across the tablet, cutting to the next image:
"Do you know this person?"

Felix's frightened expression disappeared immediately, and he said in awe:
"This is a nobleman, it's Bole! Director Lecter of the Baltimore Museum of Art, if he hadn't given the opportunity, I would still be squatting in the slums picking up cigarette butts."

Lynch swiped the screen again, "Look at this."

"What the hell is this? Salomon Bank...printed out...transfer receipt?"

"Mr. Lecter, curator of the Baltimore Museum of Art, an art connoisseur, sent money to Litten House, the gang leader in the slums, 20 federal standard currency..."

Felix stared at the remittance receipt on the screen, his brain was in chaos:

"What the hell is this...?"

·
"I visited Li Teng House's gang headquarters, he has a bad temper,
My friends and I grudgingly 'educated' the bastards and when my friend was about to knock out his second tooth,

He admitted that he had executed his younger brother Sam Vikwich with his own hands, and was offered 20 for his life. "

"My Bole... hired a murderer to kill... who framed me... Fa Xiao?"

"That's it."

"Even if the curator is very optimistic about me...but killing people...is too... outrageous...could it be...my daughter-in-law...appeared when she was praying in the church?"

"You think Director Lecter is the noble person you have chosen? Don't be stupid!
The Lord you believe in will not pity mortals!
It's people!People with powerful power will escort you in secret.

Order curator Lecter to buy your paintings, hold an exhibition for you, and help you become a professional painter.

Buy off the gang boss and get rid of the guy who framed you.

Even without my help, your protector will find a way to get you out of prison. "

·
"My... protector?" Felix scratched at his hair, feeling like his head was going to explode.

Marcus Lynch pointed to the gilded picture frame hanging on the living room wall:
"Is it your idea to put a poker card, Q of spades, in the picture frame?"

"Oh, that one, Curator Lecter gave it to me,
He said that it was his lucky poker card, which helped him win a lot of money at the gambling table, and he hoped to pass this luck on to me, and wish my paintings sell well. "

·
"Your protector,

It is not convenient to accept you for the time being, she hints her identity with playing cards. "

"Her?... a woman?"

"Members call her the Queen of Spades, the former leader of the Green Party, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, the actual leader of more than 30 listed companies, and the most powerful woman in the Terra Federation. You should know who she is."

Felix swallowed:
"Nancy Pelosi..."

Marcus Lynch nodded:
"

once,

For official career,
I cruelly abandoned you to fend for myself in the slums,
yours,

biological mother.

"