Chapter 8 smart julio

Julio handed the cigarette money to the boss, then leaned against the counter and tore open the cigarette pack.Just as he was about to take out a cigarette, a beautiful brunette walked into the grocery store. What a beauty.Eyes like sapphires, milky white skin with a little brown color, and a cheerful and lively expression on his face.She walked slowly towards Julio, wearing a pair of pink shorts and an open-back top, showing off her beautiful curves, like a contestant in an international beauty pageant. female player.She has a light gait and an alluring manner in which she walks.In her hand, she is also leading a big dog, which is a pure-blooded French poodle with neatly trimmed hair, and is following the hostess briskly.

The brunette walked to the newspaper rack next to Julio, picked up a newspaper from the rack, folded it in half, and handed it to the poodle. "Bebe, here you are," she said with a smile, "hold it for me." Beibei was obviously well-trained, and he put the newspaper in his mouth in one bite, wagging his tail happily.The brunette took out her wallet and handed the money for the newspaper to the shopkeeper. Julio liked dogs very much. When he saw the French poodle standing beside him, he didn't bother to smoke. As soon as he put the cigarette in his pocket, he bent down to play with the dog.

"Hey, Babe!" he said affectionately, mimicking the brunette's tone, "You're pretty, aren't you?" Julio stretched out his hand and gently touched the dog's nose with his fingers, letting him sniff and play.Beibei felt very fresh and interesting, and excitedly wagged her tail.Julio grabbed the newspaper in its mouth and pretended to snatch it away.Beibei seemed to know that this was Julio's prank. While biting the newspaper firmly, he stepped back, trying to get rid of Julio's hand, and made a bluffing threatening sound from his mouth. "Ding Lingling." The bell of the cash register rang behind him, and Julio stood up, smiling at Bebe's owner, the brunette who was receiving the change.

"This is a wonderful dog!" said Julio. "The poodle is very clever." Hearing what Julio said, the brunette also nodded, expressing her agreement with him.At this time, the shopkeeper standing behind the counter also spoke up, and he said, "Beibei is so smart. He brings newspapers home for the owner every day, isn't it, Beibei?" Beibei shook her tail at everyone. Julio said: "Yes, in terms of intelligence, the poodle's intelligence is higher than that of ordinary dogs." The brunette could see that Julio was very interested in Bebe, and she could also see that Julio was very interested in herself.She smiled lightly at Julio, then walked out of the shop with the dog.Seeing that her master was leaving, Beibei also followed her out with a newspaper in her mouth.

Julio took the cigarette case out of his pocket again, tore off the wrapping paper, took out one from inside, lit it, put it in his mouth and started smoking.Then, he waved at the shopkeeper and walked out of the shop, onto the sidewalk outside.He saw the brunette walking north with the dog. This is a very hot day, especially at one o'clock in the afternoon, which is the hottest time of the day.After Julio walked in the sun for a while, his shirt was soaked. He was very puzzled: "Why do brunettes always give people a fresh and cool feeling when they walk under the sun?" Just as he was thinking, he happened to catch a glimpse of Harry and Lehman from across the street towards Coming in his direction.

Julio pretended he didn't see it, and continued to walk forward, but he didn't speed up his pace deliberately.And Harry and Lehman have been walking on the opposite side of the road, seeming to deliberately keep a certain distance from Julio.It wasn't until Julio was about to walk to the small hotel where he was staying that Harry and Lyman crossed the road and followed. This is a very shabby, shabby little hotel.Walking into the door of the hotel, there is a bar and a bar counter inside, and the bar counter is located behind the stairs.In this hot noon, there was no customer in the bar, only a fat waiter lying on the bar counter and sleeping soundly.

Julio entered the hotel and walked up to the second floor.As soon as he stepped on the first step, Harry, who followed him, called him from behind: "Julio!" Hearing the shout, Julio stopped, turned around, and looked at Harry and Lyman in feigned surprise, "Harry, it's you!" "Yeah," said Harry, "do you live here?" "Oh, I live here temporarily, how did you find me?" "No, we also ran into you by chance today on the street," said Harry. "Last week, after you left your address for Andy, you suddenly moved. How do you explain this?"

Seeing Harry's sullen expression, Julio hastily explained with a smile on his face, "I can't afford the rent, so I decided to move temporarily. Please understand that." "So that's what happened. It's a good thing we saw you walk into that grocery store, otherwise Andy might have thought you were playing tricks on him!" "How dare I play him," said Julio. "What do you want from me?" "Talk to you," Harry said. "What are you talking about? I told Andy last week that I really have no money." "I know you said," Harry and Lyman said, taking a step closer, "let's go to your room and talk!"

Julio had no choice but to lead them up the narrow stairs.The three of them came to the top floor and walked up a dark and damp corridor. There were six doors on each side of the corridor. Julio walked in the front. When he reached the one closest to the staircase, he took out his key and opened the door. opened the door, and walked in, followed by Harry and Layman, and Layman who was at the end closed the door behind him. Lyman was short, with a bulging, protruding eye that was clearly abnormal, and a small mustache on his chin.Harry, on the other hand, was a burly and strong man with well-developed muscles and bulging veins.

Julio's room was messy, he spread his hands awkwardly, made a gesture of "Please sit down" to Harry and Lehman, then sat down on the messy bed himself, and asked, "What do you want from me? " "Andy asked me to bring you a message, he said you might be rich by now," said Harry softly. "No, I don't!" said Julio. "I didn't have any money when I met him last week, and I don't have any now. Andy promised me a month, of course, and a few other conditions... " "You were there when he said that!" Julio went on to defend loudly.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but Andy thinks you're rich now, so he can't wait." Julio stared at him blankly: "What should I pay him back?" "Nonsense, of course I paid it back with money, what else can you use to pay it back?" Harry laughed triumphantly. "What money? I told you..." Harry said to Lyman, "Did you hear what he was saying, Lyman? Why did you ask for money? He seemed to be pretending to be confused, didn't he?" Lyman turned his good eye to Harry, and the other One eye remained motionless.Julio couldn't help laughing at Lehman's expression, but he tried his best to control himself. "What money are you talking about?" Julio asked. "Andy said, you got it yesterday, right?" "You got it?" Julio asked in surprise, "What did you get?" "Century Corporation," said Harry, "robbery! I say, are you really stupid or are you pretending to be?" Julio said nothing for a long time, and then said: "How did Andy decide that I did it?" Harry shrugged: "Of course he has his sources of information, don't worry about that." "He must have made a mistake. Please tell him for me that yesterday's robbery really had nothing to do with me. I didn't even know about it. I didn't know it from the papers until today. Please tell Andy , I will definitely pay back the money owed to him, I have been raising money, but I will not get money through robbery." "If you didn't do the Century robbery," said Harry, "where are you going to get the money?" "Where else can I get it? I can only get it from other loan sharks. Andy has blacklisted my name. He will never lend me a penny again." "Hey, do you think other usurers will lend you money?" Harry asked contemptuously, "Last time you borrowed three thousand dollars from Andy, and you didn't pay back any of it, you The 'deeds' of this have been circulated in this circle, you know, Julio." "If I can't get loan sharks, where else can I get money?" "Are you asking me? You better ask yourself!" Harry said with a smile, "Let's get down to business, and Andy said you got five thousand dollars from the Century Company." Julio exclaimed, "No! Andy must be crazy!" Harry shrugged: "Oh? We always thought that maybe you are the one who is crazy!" He raised his hand and made a gesture. Lyman beside him understood, took out a pistol from his coat pocket, aimed it at Julio's abdomen. "You...you...what are you doing?" Julio asked in panic. "We want to make sure," Harry replied.Then he went over, grabbed Julio by the arm, and pulled him up from the bed. Julio tried to struggle, but he knew it was useless because Lyman's gun was pointed motionlessly at his stomach. "Turn around, man!" said Harry. Julio looked at the gun in Leman's hand, and turned around tremblingly.Harry searched him, and found several things in his pockets in a short time-the pack of cigarettes he just bought, a pack of matches, a dirty handkerchief, a ballpoint pen, and thirty-eight dollars and eight cents. . "Where's the money?" Harry turned Julio angrily. "Where did you hide the five thousand dollars?" "How can there be five thousand yuan, that's all I have," Julio said, pointing at the banknotes Harry threw on the floor, "That's the ones, see, thirty-eight yuan, all my belongings are here There it is. Now, you should understand why I moved to this goddamn place, right?" Harry didn't speak. He shoved Julio to stand in a corner and began searching his room.They lifted Julio's mattress and tore the mattress's interlayer; they tapped carefully on each floor to see if there was anything hidden underneath;But their efforts were in vain—nowhere. "Where's the trash can?" Harry asked. "In the corridor, go out and turn left, the second door is there," Julio said. Harry walked out. Lyman stood in the middle of the room, holding Julio at gunpoint until Harry returned. "Nothing," Harry said to Lyman. "Let me ask." Lehman, who had been silent since he came in, said. "Okay, jock, try it! You think he's lying?" Harry said, giggling, disapprovingly. Lyman nodded: "Yes, I am deeply suspicious of what he said, so I will torture him myself. You press his hand on the table." Harry dragged Julio to the edge of the table, grabbed his left wrist, and pressed his left hand hard against the table. "Is that so?" he asked Lyman. Lyman nodded.Julio didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in their gourds. Lehman suddenly raised his pistol and smashed it hard at Julio's little finger, only to hear a "click", which was the sound of the little finger bone breaking. "Ah!" Julio cried out in pain, struggling desperately to break free from Harry's grasp.Harry laughed out loud. He was a full head taller than Julio, as strong as a bull, and Julio couldn't break free. "Now..." Lehman raised his pistol, "This is just the beginning. Let me ask you a word. If you dare to lie again, I will break another finger. Let me ask you, you hid the money in the Where is it?" Julio was pale with pain, and beads of sweat dripped down his cheeks.He said: "Andy has a lot of eyeliners in this city, I know that, but this time he really got it wrong. I repeat, I didn't rob, and I didn't have that money. I can't afford Andy's money." Debt, don't you see that? Even if you break every finger of mine, I still can't pay a penny." "Okay, are you still talking hard? Harry, hold his hand for me." After Lyman finished speaking, he raised his pistol again. "Wait a minute," Harry said, he was dubious about Julio's words, "Lyman, that's enough, let's stop here, we'll check with Andy again." Lyman shrugged and tucked the gun back into his coat pocket. Only then did Julio withdraw his hand, and while gently stroking the broken finger with the other hand, he said angrily: "Lyman, you remember, the next time I see you, I must peel off the finger. It’s impossible to touch your skin.” Lyman smiled and said, "Are you threatening me, Julio?" After speaking, he rubbed the bad eye with the heel of his thumb. Harry said loudly, "Julio, we're sorry for your finger. But even if you didn't do the Century case this time, we're sending you a message: Andy hates broken promises." So, for the sake of your own safety, I hope what you just said is the truth." "Yeah," said Julio, "the way you convey your message to people is really special." Harry and Lyman left. Seeing them walking away, Julio walked out of the room with confidence and went to the public restroom in the corridor of the hotel.He locked himself inside, filled a basin of cold water, and soaked his injured hand in the cold water until the pain subsided.Then he returned to his room with heavy steps, looking at the house that had been turned into a mess, he fell down on the torn mattress, stared at the ceiling, thinking about what to do next. Julio lay there for more than an hour. At three o'clock in the afternoon, he got out of bed, first looked at the broken mirror of the chest of drawers, combed his unkempt hair with a comb, adjusted his coat and tie, Then he picked up the sundries and money on the ground, put them in the pocket of his coat, and went out. Julio went downstairs and came to the stairs. He glanced at the bar and saw that it was already full of drinkers, including a dozen construction workers, who were shouting loudly while drinking beer. It seems that they came from a nearby construction site. Julio thought it would be too risky to walk through the bar to the outside of the hotel, because Andy might have sent someone else to wait around the hotel.He touched his injured finger, turned around and came to the back door of the hotel, went out from there, dodged into a narrow alley, and walked quickly along the alley after he was sure no one was following him. Through the narrow alley, Julio came to a gas station, and there was a public phone booth nearby.He walked into the phone booth, pulled out a coin, threw it in, and dialed a number. After the phone rang three times, a lively woman's voice came from the receiver: "Hello?" Julio knew it was the brunette with the dog. He asked: "Hello! Are you the owner of the black poodle?" "Oh, it's me," she said cheerfully, "who are you?" "My name is Julio. I met you at the grocery store about two hours ago. I teased your poodle. Do you remember?" "Ah! It's you!" She laughed loudly, her voice was very crisp. "You know, I've been waiting for your call, and you finally called!" Julio was startled and thought: "Maybe it will go well!" Then he asked cautiously, "Did you know that I would find you?" The brunette giggled on the phone: "Is it because of the money? Because I was so surprised when I found out about the money and then I thought it must have been you and not someone else , isn't it?" "That's right, it's mine." Julio said, "Can I ask you to get the money? I'll explain it to you when we meet." "Okay, I live at 225 Rose Road," the brunette said on the other end of the phone, "do you know where it is?" "It's okay, I'll take a taxi, will you wait for me at home?" "I'm waiting for you at home," she said, "I'm curious about your story." Julio hung up the phone and walked out of the booth.He took out the dirty handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow, then slipped his injured left hand into the pocket of his coat.At this time, a taxi happened to pass by. He waved his hand to stop the car and sat in it. About twenty minutes later, Julio was already standing in front of the door of No. 225 Rose Road, and he rang the doorbell. After a while, the door opened, and standing in front of her was the brunette, still in the same pink outfit, and the black poodle, Beibei, squatting beside her. "Come in, Mr. Julio." Beibei also seemed to recognize this special visitor, and barked cheerfully at him, wagging her tail vigorously. The brunette led Julio into her home and into the living room.It was a modest but elegant room, cool with the air conditioner on. "You're welcome, sit down, please!" The brunette offered Julio a light chair and sat down in one of the back chairs herself.But then she stood up again and asked, "Mr. Julio, would you like something to drink? Ice tea or wine?" "Just an iced tea, thanks!" he said. "I'm sorry, but what should I call you?" "Call me Josephine," she said, smiling slightly at Julio, "Oh, please wait a moment." After finishing speaking, she walked out of the living room, probably to the kitchen, and after a while, she brought out the A jug of iced tea and two glasses. "I'm very surprised, Mr. Julio, how do you know my phone number?" She asked slightly puzzled. "Your phone number is engraved on Bebe's neck tag. I noticed it the other day when I was teasing your dog at the grocery store." "My God, you are so careful! So, you were the one who put five thousand yuan in Beibei's mouth?" Julio nodded with a smile and said, "I guess the owner of the grocery store also knows you, because you and Beibei seem to be his regular customers, right?" Beibei heard someone mention its name, and ran towards Julio happily. It held a plastic turkey bone in its mouth, and was looking at Julio with bright eyes, hoping that he would play robbing with it. Game of Bones.Julio stretched out his uninjured right hand, pretending to snatch Beibei's plastic bone. Beibei bit it, flinched back suddenly, and let out a low growl on purpose in his throat. Josephine said, "You know how I feel when I come home from the grocery store and see your bag of hundred dollar bills fall out of the newspaper that Babe is holding?" "I'm sorry, Miss Josephine, to surprise you, because I had no choice at the time, and that was the only way I could come up with," Julio said solemnly, "Only in this way can I transfer the money safely To a relatively safe place, and I can get it back afterwards..." At this point, Julio suddenly realized that he might have talked too much, so he shut his mouth in time. "No need to apologize," Josephine said. "On the contrary, I find it exhilarating, and I'm glad I could help you!" "Of course, I have a question, why did you transfer the money through me and Beibei?" "It's a long story," Julio said, taking a sip of his iced tea. "To be honest, I had to do that to keep the money. Maybe you don't know, but I owed a Thousands of dollars from usury. Last week, he asked me to collect debts, but I had no money. At that time, I begged him for a few days. However, one night a few days ago, I didn’t know what kind of shit luck I ran into. I won 5,000 yuan! That night, I first made a small bet with my only 20 yuan, and then I won more and more, and finally won 5,000 yuan. This is what I stuffed into Beibei today. The bag of money in your mouth." "Why do you give money to Beibei?" "Because just before you walked into the grocery store, I accidentally saw two villains nearby. They are the two minions of my creditors. Followed me, so I suspected that they must have learned about my winnings and were going to take the money away, so I had nothing to do at the time." Hearing this, Josephine's eyes widened, "Those usurers are all cannibals!" She frowned disdainfully and paused for a moment, maybe she thought her words were too straightforward, A look of embarrassment appeared on his face. Josephine said, "With all due respect, if you win enough to pay off the debt, why not just pay it off?" "Because I have other uses for the money," Julio said. "What is it used for?" "Oh, I have a sister who lives in Columbia City," said Julio solemnly. "My parents died in a car accident when I was young and my older sister raised me. Now, she lives alone and is struggling financially, but it doesn't come easy and she had another stroke six weeks ago. Paralyzed on the bed, I had no choice but to turn to usury to pay for her medical expenses. The 5,000 yuan I won is also going to be reserved for her, and the current medical expenses are too expensive!" Speaking of this, Julio's eyes widened. It seems moist. "Oh, I'm so sorry for your sister, Don Julio. But don't you have a job? You have a source of income, don't you? Why do you need a usurer?" Julio smiled slightly: "I am not a professional person, so I often gamble for some living expenses. Unfortunately, in the past six months, my luck has been very bad, and I always lost money. I didn't win until the night before yesterday." He I drank the iced tea in one gulp, "Miss Josephine, I would like to ask you to give me my money, because I will take the afternoon bus to Columbia City to visit my sister." "What time is the car?" "Five o'clock." "That's still early," said Josephine. "I have one more question." "what?" "The two minions of the usury, did they find you later?" Julio took his left hand out of his pocket and showed Josephine his injured little finger. "Wow!" she exclaimed in shock.Julio's little finger was already swollen very much at this time, and the skin and flesh had turned black and blue due to the bruise. "My God!" gasped Josephine, "did they do it? Did they hit you? What happened to your finger?" "Broken!" Julio nodded. "Go to the hospital quickly and ask the doctor to bandage you." She said. "When you give me the money, I'll go to the doctor." Josephine refilled the glass with iced tea and said to Julio, "I did keep the money, but I'm surprised. Don't you worry that I'll keep the money for myself?" Julio said: "Since I first met you, I think you are an honest and reliable woman, of course, Beibei is the same, right?" After finishing speaking, he smiled at Beibei. "Thank you for your compliment," Josephine said, "and I thank you for Beibei. But, to be honest, I really wanted to take the money all by myself at first. It's the first time I've seen such a big A sum of money. Besides, even if I keep the money, you don't have any proof that the money is yours, do you? But I think about it again, I can't do this, the money must be in the groceries shop to tease babe playboys, he likes poodles too. so i decided to give you my money back but i dont have your contact info so i just called my brother and told him the whole thing The whole story, my brother asked me to keep the money safe first, and sit at home waiting for your news, because he was sure that you would take the initiative to contact me." "Your brother is right," said Julio. "No, I have already contacted you." "Excuse me, Miss Josephine, when can I get my money back?" Julio gradually became impatient. "Here, it's right there, in the middle drawer." Josephine pointed to the table under the air conditioner and said. As much as Julio wanted to open that drawer and get the money quickly, he held back.He knew Josephine was telling the truth. "Mr. Julio, the bag of money is still in the original envelope, and I haven't touched it at all. But I hope you wait for my brother to come back, because just now, I called him to talk about the money, and he said he hoped You wait for him for a while, he is already on his way here, and he wants to ask you a few questions in person." "What's the problem?" Julio was a little uneasy. "Oh, it's just about identity. Because my brother said, after all, the amount of money is not small, and we should be more cautious." Julio's fingers felt pain, and he even felt that his head was aching. He was anxious to get the money back from the woman in front of him, and leave this place of right and wrong, but he wanted to pretend nothing happened, A calm look. "Okay, then I'll wait for him to come back," Julio said. "It's normal for your brother to do this. He is so careful. I think he can be a lawyer. Is he a lawyer?" "No," said Josephine, "he's not a lawyer, he's a police officer who investigates burglaries." The smile on Julio's face suddenly froze, and his expression was very painful, as if someone had knocked off one of his fingers again.Josephine stared at Julio, and she said: "Because I noticed that the numbers of your banknotes are consecutive, I called my brother, and he told me that a robbery happened to Century Company just a few days ago." case, and the amount lost also happens to be the same amount as your money." Julio jumped up from the chair suddenly, and in his panic, his injured hand touched the arm of the chair, causing him to cry out in pain.Regardless of the pain, he stumbled towards the door, "Bebe, watch him!" Josephine yelled. Bebe, who was very docile just now, jumped out like an arrow and ran in front of Julio, blocking his way. Its two eyes were fixed on Julio's face, showing a fierce light, and its mouth was threatening. cry. Julio was stunned for a moment, he was at a loss. Just then, there was a flurry of footsteps on the front porch.Without saying a word, Julio put his aching hand back in his pocket and sat back in the chair. When the two policemen took Julio away, he looked back at Josephine, whose expression was mixed with sympathy and suspicion. "Mr. Julio, do you really have a sick sister living in Columbia City?" she asked.That voice didn't sound very pleasant. This time, Julio said nothing.