The Death Knell

"Boss, you made two people pay attention."

With the cold air on the pier, Gin got into the car, while Su Ming closed his eyes and meditated while holding the wine glass.

"Let me guess, it's Rogers and Barnes?"

"As expected of the boss, it's exactly what you said."

"Very good. Write down your home address and we'll go there together in a few days." Su Ming finished the drink in his glass and turned to look out the window: "Is there any news from Africa?"

"Not yet, boss. It's as if the country called Wakanda you mentioned doesn't exist. No one has heard of it, let alone knows where it is..."

Gin felt guilty for not doing things well, but the people below had indeed tried their best.

"It doesn't matter, just take your time. As long as something exists, you will find it if you have the patience to look for it."

.............................

Young Steve woke up from hunger. In his dream, he was eating a cake with beautiful cream and fruit decorations, but for some reason, the more he ate, the hungrier he became.

The emptiness in his stomach made him feel pain, and the burning stomach acid made him finally wake up from his dream.

There was no cake, nor any food. He just bit his pillow, which was covered with teeth marks and saliva.

Like his father, he only ate a piece of bread today. The only food left at home was a little flour and potatoes, which he had to eat sparingly.

It was midnight, the window glass was covered with frost, it was cold outside, and even inside his hut it was not warm at all.

His family is not well-off. His mother used to be a nurse, but now she is unemployed. She can only help people sew and wash occasionally to earn some change, and she is very busy.

In today's world, even children know that it is difficult to make money.

He and his little friend Bucky no longer go to school. During the day, they go to the street to sell newspapers. If they are lucky, they can only earn more than ten cents. Most of the time, they want to eat the newspapers. Satisfy hunger.

They had seen people eating newspapers. There was an old beggar a few blocks away. He and Bucky saw him eat a wad of newspapers and be dragged away by the police under a white cloth the next day.

He didn't know whether the cause of death was hunger or eating newspapers, but he and Bucky were so frightened that they could only hope that the papers could be exchanged for normal food.

Bucky's family situation is slightly better. His father is more flexible than his father and can occasionally find temporary jobs, so life is slightly better, but it is only limited.

In order to prevent himself from feeling hungry, Steve wrapped his belly tightly with a quilt and began to think wildly, thinking that maybe his father or himself could find a good job.

But his brain seemed to be out of control, and he would always think of the cake in his dream, even if he could eat a cherry garnished on top.

At this time, he heard the sound of the door. It was his father who came back. The apartment building they lived in was very simple, and sound insulation was non-existent.

If you open the door in the middle of the night, the neighbors can hear it.

He heard Uncle Tom talking to his father, his voice was very low, but both of them spoke very quickly and seemed very happy.

"See you tomorrow, Tom."

"Ha, see you tomorrow."

His father closed the door and turned around with the things in his arms, but in the dim moonlight, he saw Steve wrapped in a quilt and walking out of his room.

"Why haven't you gone to bed yet?"

He began to take out the things in his arms. They were dozens of cubes wrapped in brown paper. They were the food distributed by the group, including burgers and sandwiches.

Tom's mind was quick, and when he heard the person in charge saying that he could take it as he pleased, he asked the two of them to unbutton the shirts inside the coat, and kept loading things into it like a big bag.

Although these foods are cold and make people shiver when they are stuffed into their arms, their hearts are warm, and this is hope.

The only strange thing is that although they have all worked on the dock, they are not shipwrights. Why are they assigned to work in the shipyard office?

But this doubt has disappeared in front of the food. After looking at the small mountains of food delivered by several large trucks, the hungry people no longer have time to think about other things.

All they can think about is how to bring more home.

"I...I just woke up to the noise."

Steve looked at the paper bags and wondered why his father came back in the middle of the night with so many things.

"Oh, you must be hungry. Just in time, I brought food back." Joseph smiled, picked up a few paper bags and handed them to him: "Add some coal to the stove, put these things on and heat them up before eating. , otherwise you will have diarrhea.”

Steve took the paper bags. These huge paper bags were almost as big as his head. He had been seriously ill when he was a child. Although he is better now, he is still much thinner than his peers.

He smelled food through the bag, maybe beef, but also cheese sauce and tomatoes.

"Dad...where did this come from? Did you do something...bad?"

The food was so good, especially this winter, and he knew that even as a kid, he wasn't going to be shunned by the people who jumped off buildings last month.

"Why do you think so?" Joseph took out all the food from his arms and hung his coat on the hook behind the door. He squatted down and touched Steve's head with his cold hands: "I told you , You must be an upright person at all times, and the more difficult the situation, the more persistent you must be.”

"What about these foods?"

"Haha, it's a gift from the new boss to our employees. Not only me, your Uncle Tom, but also many uncles you know also brought food home, so you don't need to keep these for Bucky, don't worry Eat it."

"You got a job? Great!"

Steve calmed down, quickly threw his quilt on the sofa, and wearing only his pajamas, started to turn on the stove again and add coal to it, not only to heat the food, but also to boil a kettle of hot water.

"Yes, I found a job." Joseph went to the stove and stretched out his palms to keep warm. Because he walked home from the dock for nearly ten kilometers with the things in his arms, his hands were cold. He was pale, but the smile on his face remained unchanged: "A good job, in a shipbuilding factory."

"Then we'll have something to eat from now on, right?" Steve looked at his father expectantly.

Joseph opened a paper package and revealed the burger inside. The thick bun sandwiched a large hamburger steak. He put the burgers on a tray and baked them against the stove. The firelight illuminated the two people. Similar faces.

"You will have something to eat from now on, and your salary will be paid in a few days. You and Bucky can go to school again."

"I can work too. My mother is not in good health." Steve shook his head. He didn't want to go to school anymore. Many children his age didn't go to school anymore.

He has grown up and can earn money to support his family.

"No, my new job pays very well and I can buy a lot of food." His father turned his head to himself and said seriously: "I discussed it with Tom. He was because Bucky picked up a dead man that day. The pocket watch on you is very unhappy, so we will send you back to school in a few days. You are not allowed to go out and run around these days, and study hard at home."

"The man jumped down from the building and almost hit us. We were frightened. The pocket watch rolled in front of us. We didn't think about anything else at the time. Bucky just subconsciously picked it up. We didn't touch the body... .”

Joseph rubbed his eyebrows. Regardless of whether he was searching for corpses or not, that was not a scene that children should see.

Not to mention their son, he and Tom were walking on the street, and suddenly a corpse fell in front of them, red and white everywhere, and both of them wanted to vomit.

But the two children were fine at the time and could run away. Is it because the cruel reality cast a shadow on them? This is really not a conducive time for children to grow up.

"Listen to me, Steve, you want to become a capable person, a person who is useful to the country and society. There are many poorer people than us. You have to go to school to learn the knowledge that can make everyone live a happy life. This is what you should do at your age."

"Okay, Dad." Steve nodded. Although he didn't understand much, he understood that he should still study.

"Very good. Just look at the food and I'll call your mother."

Joseph stood up holding his knees and walked towards the back bedroom, while Steve's eyes fell from the shiny burgers to their wrapping paper.

Against the backdrop of the swaying red flames of the stove, the kraft paper appeared orange, and there was a huge black letter "W" in the middle.

He picked up the paper and smoothed it in his hand. In the firelight, he saw a line of small words under the symbol.

"Wilson Enterprises..."