Chapter 15 Chapter Twelve

Franz Josef Strauss International Airport is located in the northeast of the Munich suburbs and is the second largest airport in Germany.Strauss, who gave the airport its name, has nothing to do with the father and son of musicians also named Strauss in Austria. This Strauss is a politician who served in the Second World War. He was a German military officer. During the Allied occupation of Germany after the war, he became friends with the famous General Patton, and was able to continue to make his appearance in the political arena. Later, he became the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Germany. On September 17, at 5:30 p.m. local time, an Airbus 340 of Lufthansa arrived at Terminal 2 of Munich Airport on time. The computer bag, with the flow of people out of the cabin, set foot on the territory of a foreign land for the first time.After ten and a half hours of flying, Xiaoxue didn't feel tired at all. He was very excited. Everything was so novel, but this afternoon seemed very long. Flight LH723 took off at 1:00 noon Beijing time. After flying for such a long time, he I had already had two lunches on the plane, but it turned out that it was still afternoon in Munich. Xiaoxue felt puzzled, and experienced the joy of flying like Kuafu chasing the sun.

Xiao Xue looked at everything around him, and his mood quickly changed from excitement to nervousness. Pufa and his group of thirteen people will fly to Munich on the 18th. He came to the front stop one day in advance to meet with the local tour guide.The terminal building was bustling with people, Xiaoxue closely followed the group of people who arrived on the same plane, for fear that he would lose his way after being left behind. In front of him was a long corridor that seemed to be endless. Xiaoxue was about to wonder if everyone was going in the wrong direction, when he saw the luggage conveyor belt not far ahead.

The suitcase that Xiaoxue consigned soon appeared on the conveyor belt. He bought it specially for this trip abroad. When he moved the suitcase to the luggage cart, a stone fell from his heart. What worried him the most before was It's because your luggage didn't board the same plane as yourself.The immigration and customs procedures went smoothly, which made Xiaoxue feel relieved for a while. He thought, haha, from now on I can travel freely in fifteen countries in Europe! Xiao Xue found a currency exchange office in the lobby. He carefully opened his computer bag and took out a hundred-dollar bill from the wallet inside. The exchange cost was less than ninety euros. He did not intend to exchange more. I told you that it is more disadvantageous to change money at the airport, and the tour guide can find an exchange office with a much better exchange rate in the city.Xiao Xue put away a large amount of US dollars and these few euros, and when she looked up, she saw the sign marked "TAXI", and walked out of the gate of the terminal building according to the guidance.

Going out and turning right, the front is the place where the taxi line is queuing. Xiao Xue unloaded the suitcase from the luggage cart, looked forward, and was suddenly dumbfounded.The taxis waiting in line are almost all "Mercedes", with a few BMWs and Volvos mixed in between. The bodies are new and large, and they are all painted in spotless milky white, with the "TAXI" logo in black on a yellow background.Xiao Xue was stunned, this situation was completely beyond his imagination, he thought that the taxis in Germany should be either "Poussin" or Jetta, at best they were Passats, but unexpectedly there were groups of "Big Ben"!How much does it cost to take a "Big Ben" and run dozens of kilometers to a hotel in the city? !Xiao Xue didn't dare to inquire about it, and didn't make any calculations. He already felt distressed, so he picked up his suitcase, lowered his head, withdrew from the waiting line, and walked back to the terminal hall.

He looked around and was looking for the information desk to find out if there was a cheaper transportation like the airport bus, when he saw a striking circular sign with a white letter "S" on a green background, and "Train" next to the sign Xiao Xue had an idea. He remembered that the travel agency specifically mentioned in the e-mail to him that the hotel booked for him and the inspection team in Munich was called the InterCity Hotel. Less than fifty meters, since it is so convenient, why not go directly to the main train station by train?Xiao Xue made up her mind, and followed the "S" sign with white letters on a green background all the way to the light rail station in the central area between the two terminal buildings.

Arriving here, Xiao Xue felt that the surrounding scene was a bit familiar, it was very similar to the subway station in Beijing.He bought a ticket for less than nine euros, and confirmed on the route map that he could reach the main train station no matter whether it was "line S1" or "line S8".Just a few minutes later, he was already sitting in the comfortable and tidy light rail car, looking out the window at the beautiful rural scenery of a foreign land, he couldn't help feeling a little proud that everything went well, and he had found such a convenient solution when he first arrived.

About forty minutes later, the train arrived at the main train station located slightly west of the center of Munich. Xiao Xue stood on the platform with his luggage. He was stunned again, and there was another challenge in front of him.Xiaoxue has never seen such a railway station. It is not so much a station as it is more like a huge factory workshop that Xiaoxue has seen before. Trains stop at the end of a dozen rails, just like the assembly line in the workshop; Under the bright ceiling are shops, which look like a huge bazaar, Xiaoxue lost his way. It was the weekend rush hour, and the station was crowded with pedestrians. Xiaoxue stood in the middle of the crowd like a mainstay, looking for someone to ask for directions. He guessed that the younger the person, the more likely they could speak English. The young man walked faster and faster, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and almost rudely stopped a brown-haired boy who was about his age. The young man quickly reacted, pointed back, and told Xiaoxue in fluent English although the pronunciation was hard: go forward, turn right, go forward, go out the gate, InterCity Hotel is in front .

Xiao Xue quickly thanked him, repeated the route he had just inquired about, dragged his luggage forward, bumped into a shop window and turned right, then walked straight, and finally passed a huge "Coca-Cola" hanging " Billboard door, he came to the street outside the station. It was past seven-thirty and dusk was just beginning to fall, and the streets were brightly illuminated by the lights of the street lamps and surrounding buildings.Xiao Xue couldn't tell the direction at all, and didn't know that he had just walked out of the south gate of the station and was facing south.He looked to his right hand direction, it was the taxi waiting area, all Mercedes-Benz cars were parked here, there were no BMWs and Volvos here, Xiao Xue knew that there was no need to take a taxi, he was only 50 meters away from the hotel.

Xiao Xue looked across the street, and there was a hotel in front of him on the right. He recognized the eye-catching sign on the wall: Le Meridien, not the one he was looking for.He saw a street sign at the corner of the street. Two signs were hung on a pole at right angles. The first few letters on the street sign facing him were "Bayer". His hotel was on Bayer Street, because he had the impression that the German Bayer Pharmaceutical Company seemed to be Visier's customer, so he remembered the name of the street. Without thinking about it, he crossed the road and walked along the road just now Go forward on the opposite street.

In fact, Xiao Xue has already missed the InterCity Hotel he was looking for. It was already close at hand, but now it is getting further and further away.Just outside the south gate of the station where he stopped just now, this hotel is on the left, an inconspicuous building with a gray ground floor and four red floors above, and Bayer Street is actually under his feet, but he Cross Bayer Street and walk south into Goethe Street named after the great German writer Goethe.Xiao Xue clearly saw the street sign just now, but another sign on Goethe Street with the first few letters of "Goethe" was blocked by the sign on Bayer Street. Maybe Xiao Xue didn't expect that his hotel was so close to the station. Maybe the hotel he imagined was not like this, and he missed it by accident and went astray.

The road surface of Goethe Street is not as wide as the urban arterial road in Beijing, but it is not the narrow streets and alleys in ancient European cities. There is a motorway in the middle, and some trees are planted scattered on both sides. The leaves are luxuriant, it seems that the age of the tree is not too long, there will be a gap between the trees, some cars are parked in these gaps, the buildings on both sides of the street are antique, at most six or seven floors, not high, But the buildings are side by side, without any gaps, and the floors are like continuous barriers, making the streets look like enlarged Beijing Hutongs, giving people a sense of oppression. Xiao Xue dragged his suitcase and walked along the sidewalk on the left side of the street, checking the signs on the buildings on both sides from time to time, looking for his hotel in vain.The street lights are bright, cars pass by from time to time, passers-by in twos and threes can often be seen on the sidewalk, and there are also beer halls and small stalls on the street. Although it is not popular, it is by no means dark and secluded.Xiao Xue walked less than 100 meters forward, probably just in the middle of the block, saw a man with a huge travel backpack in front of him, glanced at the sign on the building, and glanced at his hand through the street light. The map he was holding was obviously lost as well.Seeing Xiao Xue approaching, he rushed forward eagerly and said a series of place names in English, as if asking Xiao Xue to help guide the direction.Xiao Xue looked at this blond boy and smiled wryly in his heart, this foreigner is really stupid, can't he see that he is also a foreigner who is not familiar with him?He stopped and said to the backpacker in English, "Sorry. I don't know." The backpacker didn't give up, as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw, he brought the map in front of Xiao Xue's eyes and poked it, and murmured, Xiao Xue only heard a few " please".Xiao Xue insisted on refusing at first, but suddenly felt that "we are the same people who have fallen in the end of the world", thinking that maybe brothers and sisters in trouble could help each other find their destinations, so they put down the suitcases they had been carrying all the time, leaned their heads over to look at the map, Hope to see what I can do to help. Suddenly, someone yelled behind them, and they both turned their heads at the same time, and saw two men walking out of the shade not far away, the one in front yelled again in German, and seeing that they didn't respond, they switched to English Shouted: "Police! Hold still!" Xiao Xue was startled. She didn't know what happened. Two police officers had already walked in front of them. They were both wearing black jackets and jeans. One is bald, and the other is full of beards.Bald took out a wallet from the inner pocket of the jacket, and after opening it, it flashed in front of Xiao Xue and the backpacker. Xiao Xue saw that there was a certificate with a photo of Bald on one side of the wallet, and a shield-shaped certificate on the other. The badge has an eagle pattern on it, and the bald head said a series of English to them. Xue Lianmeng guessed that the bald head was introducing his identity, and the ending was like a question sentence, probably asking what they were doing. The backpacker was obviously also nervous about the incident, and hurriedly explained in English: "We didn't do anything, and I was asking him to give me directions." Xiao Xue understood, and said "yes" while nodding.The bald man said suspiciously to the backpacker: "Are you kidding? Can't you see that he is not a local? How can he point you in the direction?" Xiao Xue understood, this is exactly what he found strange just now, so he also turned his head to look at the backpacker. There's no one else around to ask. The bald head went on to say: "The law and order in this area is not good. Many tourists know not to come here, especially at night. I suspect that you are buying and selling drugs!" Xiao Xue felt that he understood, but the word "drug" at the end made him not believe his ears, "drug"?Oh my God!This is no joke!He was anxious and panicked, and quickly waved his hands and shouted: "No! No! No!" The bald man asked Xiaoxue, "Did he talk to you first?" Seeing Xiaoxue nodding, he pointed to the suitcase on the ground and reminded, "Please watch your luggage." Then he surrounded the backpackers with beards. Xiao Xue moved the suitcase between her legs and clamped it tightly, covering the computer bag on her shoulder in front of her body, and heard the bald man say to the backpacker in English: "Please take out your ID." The backpacker hurriedly put the map in his hand under his armpit, freed his hands to remove the backpack, opened a side zipper, took out a black passport and handed it to the bald man.The bald man opened the passport, compared the photo with the backpacker himself, and then gestured on the passport with a small object in his hand, then handed the passport to the bearded man, and asked the backpacker, "Did you sell him drugs?" Backpacker Shaking his head like a rattle, the bald man said again, "Please take out your wallet." Eager to prove his innocence, the backpacker quickly opened the other zipper of the backpack, took out a wallet and handed it to the bald man. The bald man took out a few dollars from the wallet, twisted them, and asked suspiciously: "You only have this money? Come to Germany travel?" The backpacker pointed to the wallet and said, "I don't have much cash, I use credit cards." The bald man took back the passport from the bearded hand, handed it back to the backpacker together with the wallet, and asked, "Did he sell drugs to the You?" The backpacker spread his hands in denial. The bald man turned around and walked up to Xiao Xue, saying, "Please take out your ID." When Xiaoxue saw that the backpacker seemed to have passed the customs, and the police's attention was shifted to him, Xiaoxue was even more panicked, even a little scared, and hurriedly followed the example of the backpacker to cooperate with the police. He opened the computer bag and started He took out his brand new dark red passport from his inner pocket. Baldhead took the passport and opened it. While looking at the photo, he took out the small thing in his hand. This time, Xiao Xue saw it clearly. Pen, the bald head pressed something like a laser pointer on the page of the passport and opened it, and it really projected a red light spot on the paper, and the bald head scanned the paper with the red dot, probably through anti-counterfeiting such as watermarks mark to identify the authenticity of the passport. The bald head returned the passport to Xiao Xue directly, which made Xiao Xue feel more relaxed, and the bald head said: "Please take out your wallet." Xiao Xue took out the wallet from another pocket of the computer bag, and the bald head took it casually At the same time, he said to the bearded Hu: "Check his backpack and see if there are any drugs that this person just sold him in it." The backpacker was very reluctant, but still opened the backpack and let the bearded man fiddle with it like a security guard at the airport security check.The bald head opened Xiaoxue's wallet, took out a few euros from one interlayer, looked at them and put them back, and took out a stack of hundred-yuan dollar bills from another interlayer, twisted them with his hands, and held them up to the small one. Xue asked in front of him, "Is this cash yours? Or did he just pay you?" Xiao Xue became anxious, blushing and said in English: "This is my money, not his!" The bald man turned his head and asked the bearded man: "Have you found anything?" Xiao Xue looked up and saw that the beard was still turning, and said, "No." Xiao Xue lowered his head, saw that the bald man had put the wad of dollar bills into his wallet, handed it back to him, pressed his hand and urged: "Please put the wallet away." Xiao Xue felt at ease, and hurriedly put the wallet back to its original position in the computer bag. The bald man frowned and said: "Is that all? Please take out the other wallets, otherwise if we find more cash, we will suspect that you got it from selling drugs." Xiao Xue just let go of his heart and raised his throat again. He saw that the beard had already opened the zipper inside and outside the backpack, and the backpacker shrugged helplessly at Xiao Xue. When Xiao Xue saw this kind of digging three feet The posture was probably unbearable, so he gritted his teeth and took out an envelope with the Visier logo from the bottom of the computer bag. The bald man took the envelope, took out a thicker wad of dollar bills from it, and twisted it with his hands again. Immediately, as if he had found a treasure, he yelled at the bearded man with the intention of getting all the stolen goods. Xiao Xue seemed to hear it in panic. To be bald means to have a beard and scout backpackers carefully, because backpackers should have drugs of equal value on them.The backpacker kept screaming, as if saying that he had been wronged again, turned over several pockets on his clothes, and searched quickly with his beard. The bald head asked Xiaoxue: "All this money is yours? How do you have so much money?" Xiao Xue hurriedly argued, "It's all mine, because I don't have a credit card." The bald man was dubious, when the bearded man said this way, Xiao Xue turned around and saw the bearded beard shook his head at the bald man, apparently he found nothing with the backpacker.The bald man put the dollar bill back into the envelope, folded the seal, and put it into Xiaoxue's computer bag. While helping Xiaoxue to zip up the computer bag, he asked, "Why do you bring so much cash? You don't know it's dangerous." ?" Xiao Xue repeated: "I don't have a credit card." Bald nodded, his face calmed down, and he said: "He has no cash or drugs on him, which means that there is no drug transaction between you and him, so there is no need to check your luggage. Thank you for your cooperation, you can go gone." The bearded man seemed to be saying similar things to the backpacker. The backpacker cursed, quickly packed his backpack, and walked towards the opposite direction of the main train station with a map.The bald head told Xiao Xue again: "You have to be careful with your luggage, don't take out your envelopes and wallets on the street, it's very dangerous." Then, he patted Xiao Xue on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I wish you You had a good time in Munich." After speaking, he and the bearded man also walked in the direction the backpacker had just left. Little Xue was still in shock, so he straddled the suitcase to let himself rest for a while. He patted his head suddenly, thinking that he was so stupid, why didn't he just ask the two policemen about the hotel he was looking for?He raised his head and looked forward, hey, why did the backpacker and the two policemen disappear in the blink of an eye?Did they all evaporate suddenly?In an instant, Xiao Xue felt as if his head had been struck by lightning, and his internal organs sank like being tied to lead ingots, and there were two voices in his head, one was saying: "Oops! ", the other said: "No way?" Xiaoxue stood up, dragged the suitcase and moved to the nearest tree, saw that there was no one around, then ignored the bald head's instructions before leaving, took out the wallet from the computer bag, opened it, oh, it was still there Now, a few euros and the wad of dollars were lying intact in the interlayer. A smile appeared on the corner of Xiaoxue's mouth, and he said in his heart: "I was scared to death." He took out the dollars and looked at the fat Franklin on the first one. The headshot of his head actually looks a bit like the bald head just now. He smiled and rolled the dollars away, his smile froze. He couldn't believe his eyes. On the eight dollars below, the fat Franklin had turned into a thin man. Washington!The hundred-dollar bills have all become one-dollar bills! Xiaoxue's head was swollen and his eyes were full of stars. He took out the envelope again in a trance, and took out the thicker stack of dollars. The top one still had Franklin's face on it. He opened the bottom one with trembling hands. Sure enough, it became Washington. , He counted and looked at them one by one, no more, no less, still the original twenty-five, but except for the first one which was worth a hundred dollars, the other twenty-four were all worth one dollar. Xiao Xue clutched the money and leaned against the tree weakly. He couldn't believe that what happened in the few short minutes just now was true. He looked at the Franklin in his left hand and the stack of Washington in his right. The empty envelope fluttered down to the ground. Slowly, Xiao Xue's body slid down little by little. Finally, he sat down under the tree, his mind blank. * * * Perth is located in the southwest corner of this lonely continent in Australia. This beautiful city has a beautiful river. This beautiful river has a beautiful name, called the Swan River. Through the windows of every room in the Sheraton Hotel, it is almost You can see the Swan River flowing quietly not far away. This is Hong Jun's third and last night in this hotel. He has looked out the window at the Swan River many times, but now he can't see it anymore. Both curtains have been drawn tightly. It was almost two o'clock at night. Hong Jun was half lying on the head of the bed, without a trace of sleepiness. He held the remote control in his hand and stared at the opposite TV screen in a daze. The real-time market quotations of the stock market are reported quickly, and there are two hours left, and the week of stock market trading is coming to an end. Hong Jun didn't pay attention to the pictures and sounds on the TV. He was thinking about his boss, Kirk Woodbridge, president of Visier Asia Pacific.The two-day Asia-Pacific meeting has ended, but Hong Jun has never had the opportunity to talk with Kok alone, which makes Hong Jun a little uneasy. Although the final results of the third quarter will be known in two weeks, it can already be concluded that the situation in Visier China is very good. The company's reorganization and personnel expansion have been completed, and the business focus has been adjusted. Key projects also have ample cash flow, and the most important thing is that for Visier, which is talking about performance, the figures for Visier China in the first three quarters of this year are not ugly, and the sales team led by Li Longwei is about to win several A beautiful contract, considering the practice of sprinting at full speed before the end of the year, the annual sales should be able to meet expectations. However, during the two-day meeting, Hong Jun could always feel that there was something wrong with Cork's state, and he seemed a little anxious, without the usual Australian cowboy style of boldness and humor. After the Siere China situation, instead of standing up and yelling while pumping his fists like before, admiring and cheering, he only slapped his hands a few times.Hong Jun also noticed that Ke Ke seemed to have a hesitant expression when he met him a few times, and this was the most elusive for Hong Jun. Hong Jun originally hoped that Cork would ask him to meet him on this last night. After dinner, he stayed in the room, expecting that the phone in the room or his own cell phone would ring at any time. He was waiting for Cork's call. However, It was past midnight before he knew it, and he knew that Cork would not call this night. Hong Jun turned his head and looked at the clock on the bedside table. The LCD showed two o'clock. He sighed softly, praying that these were all just his nervousness and unfounded worries. That didn't happen either.Hong Jun turned off the TV, put the remote control next to the pillow, and leaned over to get the mobile phone on the bedside table. Just when his fingertips were about to touch the mobile phone, the mobile phone rang suddenly and sharply. Hong Jun was taken aback, his first reaction was: This Cork finally waited for you.He calmed down, picked up his phone, and the screen displayed a series of "0" and "1". Hong Jun was a little strange. His phone had been switched to the local mobile network in Australia, so Cork's phone number should be displayed normally. ?He pressed the call button and said, "Hello." To Hong Jun's surprise, the voice on the phone was obviously not Cork's, because it was in Chinese: "Boss Hong! I finally found you! Something happened to me!" Hong Jun didn't recognize who the other party was, and asked, "I'm Hong Jun, are you?" The voice on the phone was very urgent, and I could vaguely hear heavy panting and crying, saying, "I'm Xiaoxue! Something happened to me. I called Larry just now, and he turned off the phone. I thought, if I call again I'm done without you!" Hong Jun turned pale with shock, and hurriedly asked: "Xiao Xue? Calm down, tell me, what happened?" "I was robbed! I was robbed as soon as I arrived in Germany, and all my money was taken away." "Ah?! Then how are you? Are you injured? Where are you now?" Hong Jun lost all sleepiness. "Me? I'm still on the street. I'm fine. I have nothing to do, except that my money is gone." Hong Jun let go of his raised heart, and thought, this little Xue, if he is not scared to death by you, he will have a heart attack by being scared by you, so he said: "Oh, it's good that I'm fine, I'm scared enough by you .” Then he asked, “How much money was robbed?” "Three thousand one hundred and sixty-eight dollars!" Hong Jun was stunned. He didn't expect to hear such a precise number, and asked in surprise, "You counted it on the street? Or did you estimate it?" "I brought a total of thirty-five one-hundred-dollar bills, and exchanged one for euros. There should be thirty-four more, and now only two are one-hundred-dollar bills, and the other thirty-two bills have been converted into one dollar It's over." Xiao Xue said, these numbers almost broke his heart. Hong Jun wondered, there are people who "rob" money like this?But he immediately understood, and asked, "Have you seen it clearly? It's all turned into one dollar? You were not robbed, you were 'cut', right?" Xiao Xue didn't understand what "cut" meant, but Hong Jun's voice had calmed him down, so he told Hong Jun about the incident just now in detail, full of grievances.After hearing this, Hong Jun said: "You have encountered a gang. You must not be able to deal with these three guys. Their hands are very fast, faster than jugglers. You have encountered 'Qiehui'." Hong Jun knew that now is not the time to sum up experience and lessons, so he said: "You have to do three things now: find your hotel, call the police, and solve the problem of not having cash in your hand. You first walk back to the train station, and then Inquire carefully about the location of your hotel, or simply take a taxi and ask the driver to take you there, don’t be afraid to spend money; or, if you call the police directly at the station, of course you don’t expect the police to catch those guys and get your money back, but you must Get the report record from the police as proof of this incident, and the police will send you to the hotel, did you hear me clearly?" Hearing Xiaoxue's "hmm", Hong Jun went on to say: "As for the more than 3,000 yuan, the German Vizier has already left work, and they can't be unshakable on weekends, and the banks are closed. If you want to find a German for the weekend You work overtime, it’s more difficult than going to heaven, I can only try to contact them, but it is estimated that you will not be able to go to Visil’s Munich office until next Monday morning at the earliest, I will ask them to give you the money first, and then we will talk to you They settled the bill. Can't you meet the local tour guide tomorrow? First borrow some money from him, so as not to affect Vice President Liu's activity expenses for the next two days." Xiaoxue said "hmm" again, and Hong Jun finally said: "Xiaoxue, pay attention to safety, don't think about it after the incident has happened, take good care of Vice President Liu, keep the phone on, I will contact them I'll let you know right away." After the call, Hong Jun turned over and got out of bed immediately, went to the desk and opened the notebook. He wanted to log into the internal network of Visier to find the contact information of the person in charge of the Munich office. He calculated the time, and it was after eight o'clock in the evening in Germany. , as long as their phones aren't turned off.Hong Jun sat and waited for the network connection, then thought of Xiao Xue again. He didn’t know if Xiao Xue’s accident was what he had been worried about before. I hope, after this incident, Xiao Xue’s trip to Europe will not There were other mishaps. At this moment, Xiao Xue was still sitting under the tree after hanging up the phone, thinking of the $3,168 from the high cost of international roaming plus international long-distance calls, his heart ached so much that he couldn't feel it anymore.Xiao Xue stood up with her hands on the ground, recalling Hong Jun's instructions just now, and decided to go back to the main train station on the same road first. Xiao Xue picked up the suitcase and was about to turn around when two burly men walked up not far in front, wearing grass-green uniforms, light-colored hats with large brims, and leather boots. Xue saw that the armbands on their left arms also had a pattern of an eagle and the words "Polizei", and there were pistols hanging on the belts around their waists. The border officials look a bit like it, and it is estimated that the word "police" in German may be written on the armband. Xiao Xue was thinking quickly, should he report the crime?Do you want to ask for directions?But until the policeman glanced at him and continued walking towards the station, Xiaoxue didn't make any sound from his mouth.After the encounter just now, Xiao Xue is now like a frightened bird. Whether it is a real policeman or a fake policeman, he is afraid. He is also afraid that his English is not enough to express the incident clearly, and he is also afraid of causing other troubles. .Xiaoxue made up his mind and went back to the station to inquire about the location of the hotel. Thinking of this, he suddenly felt extremely tired and his mouth was dry. He clutched his computer bag, and the only valuables in it were the passport , dragging the suitcase and heavy legs again, and walked in the direction from just now. * * * After entering September, Deng Wen found that the atmosphere around him became more subtle. As the days passed, he gradually realized that his situation became more and more difficult, and even reached a precarious situation. Just as Hong Jun analyzed for him at the beginning, He and his career at ICE have fallen into a trap set by others.However, what worries him more than his current situation is that he doesn't know how to reverse the current situation. He feels like a terminally ill patient who can only helplessly wait for his own end to come. The e-mail he sent when he was full of righteous indignation only got a reply letter from Pete a few days later. Pete reprimanded that "your behavior shows your unprofessionalism", and "unprofessional" is a heavy weight. However, if you extend the unprofessional behavior of a certain behavior to the person's overall non-change of job, this sentence is even more important. It covers everything from ability to attitude, from standard to character. up.Deng Wen figured it out, no matter whether Pete had a good or bad impression of Yu Wei, when Pete thought that Deng Wen's email was not only an attack on Yu Wei personally, but an attack on the entire business chain from Pete to Susan. At this time, Pete will naturally come out to fight back. Of course Carpenter saw Pete's letter, but he kept silent. He only called Deng Wen after a few days. After patiently listening to Deng Wen explain the whole incident to him, He still didn't express his position, but asked Deng Wen lightly if he could continue to cooperate with Yu Wei in the future.Deng Wen thought of what Hong Jun said at the beginning, and he felt that he should give Carpenter an affirmative answer, but he had already started a high-profile war with Yu Wei, and his face made it difficult for him to get rid of it. In the end, his answer to Carpenter was: only when Yu Wei After Wei formally apologized to him, the two could continue to cooperate.After listening, Carpenter said only one sentence: "I understand." What Deng Wen couldn't bear the most was the atmosphere inside the company. It seemed that everyone knew that Deng Wen and Yu Wei were at odds. Wrong”, and everyone made the same decision, fearing that they would be branded as Deng Wen’s comrades. Deng Wen found himself a plague god, and he was isolated by everyone and drew a clear line.Although the R&D center has moved out of ICE's Beijing office to work independently, even those direct subordinates whom Deng Wen personally recruited are no longer close to him, but put on a purely working relationship.Next, Deng Wen’s uneasy speculation was confirmed by rumors from all over the company. According to informed sources, ICE headquarters is already looking for Deng Wen’s successor, and Deng Wen’s days are numbered. These days, as long as Deng Wen doesn't go to the company, he locks himself in the hotel room, and only Katie often comes to accompany him. In the evening, Deng Wen had just finished eating a piece of pasta he ordered in the room, and was about to put the plate on the carpet in the corridor outside the door, when Katie came again, this time holding a large stack of magazines in her arms, When the two of them came back from the door, Katie put the magazine on the round coffee table and said with a smile: "I'm doing business for my own benefit again, I brought this for you from the business center, let's relieve my boredom when I have nothing to do. " Deng Wen sat on the sofa with a smile, picked up a magazine and flipped through it, but Katie didn't go to sit on the sofa on the other side of the coffee table as usual, but sat on the edge of the bed closest to Deng Wen, her legs Straight forward, leaning on the carpet, the toes of the two of them almost touched each other.Deng Wen took the opportunity of raising Erlang's legs, retracted his toes, and asked, "Why are you always free? Are you deserting again?" Katie shook her head and said, "It depends on my ingenious arrangement. I have already made an agreement with our manager. From now on, my working hours will be evening shifts and weekends, when you are not at work." "Then how hard have you worked?" "It's not hard work, I can sleep during the day, so I don't have to go shopping and spend money all the time. I can do multiple things. Our manager praised me, saying that I am dedicated and rushing to take a difficult position; several girls in the same group scolded me, saying that I was lazy. , because there are actually not many customers in the evenings and weekends, and they are quite leisurely, and they say that I am greedy, so I only want to earn more subsidies." "Oh, then don't offend them all. If colleagues don't get along well, either they won't work for long, or they won't be happy." After Deng Wen finished speaking, he thought of his current situation, precisely because of being trapped矛盾纷争而干不长了，便立刻黯然神伤。 “嗨，没事的，我和她们好着呢，都是说着玩儿的，而且，本来也是大家轮流的，过一阵我又该上白班了，所以，更得抓紧难得的机会呀。”凯蒂的脸忽然红了，她也注意到了邓汶的神情，便把脚尖凑过来碰了邓汶的脚尖一下，话题一转说，“哎，你这些天怎么一直闷闷不乐的，是工作上的事？还是……家里的事？” 邓汶竭力装出一副轻松自然的样子说：“没有，挺好的啊。”他站起身，掩饰着心中的沉重和不安，问道，“哎，你喝什么？给你倒点水？” 凯蒂一下子笑了出来，说：“瞧你，什么时候变得这么客气了？居然想照顾起我来了。虽然是在你房间里，但也还是在我的宾馆里呀，所以你还是客人，还是我来照顾你吧。” 邓汶尴尬地笑了笑，但心里暖暖的，来自凯蒂的照顾已经是他在北京惟一能感受到的温情了，他刚要坐回到沙发上，房间的电话忽然响了。 邓汶走到床边坐下，拿起放在床头柜上的电话，他猜是廖晓萍打来的，果然，当他刚听到话筒里传出那声熟悉的“喂”就马上说：“哎，你的时间的昨天晚上，你们去哪儿了？我打了好几次电话都没人接，后来太晚了我也不敢打了，怕你们都睡了。”他看了眼表，又问，“你在家还是到公司了？送Cathy去幼儿园了吗？” 邓汶说着，一边注意着凯蒂的反应，奇怪，以前只要碰到廖晓萍打电话过来，凯蒂就马上静悄悄地拉开门出去，可是这次她没走，而只是在床沿挪了下方向，拿起遥控器打开电视看了起来。 邓汶正纳闷，电话里传来廖晓萍疲惫的声音：“还去什么公司啊，也甭提幼儿园了，Cathy病了。” 邓汶一听就急了，忙问：“怎么啦？什么病啊？厉害吗？” “她昨天在幼儿园就有些发烧，我接她的时候老师告诉我了，回家以后还发烧，老哭，说浑身难受，我就带她去医院了，我还以为是感冒，结果到那儿一看，人家医生立刻就说，chicken pox。” “什么？”邓汶没听清。 “水痘！”廖晓萍不耐烦地嚷了一声。 “水痘？怎么会呢？不是一般春天的时候出水痘吗？现在是9月份啊。” “你问我我问谁呀？！都长出来了，后背上、胳膊上，连脸上都有一个了。”廖晓萍更烦了。 “那，那怎么办呢？”邓汶又着急又因为自己帮不上忙而内疚。 “还能怎么办啊，在家养着呗，我已经请假了，至少一个星期甭想去上班了，总得等到水痘生痂吧。” “Cathy现在干什么呢？我和她说几句？”邓汶怯生生地问。 电话里面能听到廖晓萍召唤女儿的名字，过了一会儿，女儿稚嫩的声音传了过来：“Daddy，我身上有泡泡了，好几个了，特别痒痒，可mommy不让我挠。” 邓汶心里一酸，眼泪一下子流了出来，他努力笑着说：“Cathy，千万得忍住了，一定不能挠，要是挠破了就会留下疤的。” “嗯，我知道，我不挠，要是还特别痒痒我就靠在墙上蹭蹭。” 女儿这句话逗得邓汶带着眼泪笑出声来，忙说：“蹭也不行，只有狗熊才去蹭墙呢。再怎么痒也不能碰那些泡泡，懂了吗？” 女儿说：“懂了，mommy给我戴上小手套了，软乎乎的，就是有点热，mommy不让脱。Daddy，Teddy Bear也长chicken pox吗？” 邓汶想象着女儿戴着手套的小手抓着话筒，对着话筒坚强地点头的样子，他哽咽着一时说不出话来。女儿又说：“Daddy你什么时候回来呀？Mommy说，因为我长了chicken pox，所以你就不敢回来了，你害怕你也长泡泡，那，等我的泡泡没了，你就回来，啊。” 邓汶知道自己不能再和女儿说下去，他受不了，便让女儿把话筒还给了廖晓萍。廖晓萍先是叹了口气，然后说：“愁死了，别的病还好说，生水痘最麻烦了，她痒得难受啊，和你讲电话的时候她倒装得像花木兰似的，等会儿痒得厉害她就该哭了，老得盯着她，生怕她忍不住去挠。” 邓汶想了想，找不出别的话来安慰，只好说：“要是我在就好了。” “好什么呀？你小时候不是没出过水痘嘛，小孩得水痘没关系，要是像你这岁数的成年人得了就不好说，到时候我都不知道该照顾谁。医生刚告诉我的时候我特别生你的气，就是你非回北京不可，现在剩我一个人怎么办啊？可后来一想，幸好你不在，不然要是传染给你可就糟了，算我自认倒霉，你就在北京逍遥自在吧。” 邓汶听廖晓萍在如此麻烦缠身的时候还能这么关心他，心里刚嘀咕了一句“还是老婆好啊”，却看见了坐在床脚处的凯蒂的背影，便支吾道：“我？没有。” 廖晓萍一听就马上问：“你房间里有人啊？” 邓汶吓了一跳，心想女人的感觉真是敏锐到了洞察秋毫的地步，忙掩饰着回答：“啊，是宾馆的值班经理，来给我送东西。” “哦，那你先和她说吧，我等着。” “啊，不用，她刚把东西放下，已经走了。”邓汶说完，发现一向不会说谎的自己，刚才的谎话竟然是脱口而出，不由得惊讶自己的变化，也不知道自己究竟是进步了还是退步了，他又看了一眼凯蒂，她的背影一动不动，仿佛正完全沉浸在电视画面中。 廖晓萍又叹了口气：“烦死了，什么时候是个头啊？北京就那么好？你一点儿都不想回来？” 邓汶的鼻子又开始酸起来，他也叹了口气，说：“其实，我这边也挺难的。” “那就回来呗，起码一家人能在一块儿啊。” “不，不能就这么回去，既然来了北京，怎么也得干出点什么再回去。”邓汶这话与其说是给廖晓萍听的，不如说是在咬牙给自己打气。 廖晓萍不以为然地说：“何苦呢？当初刚来美国的时候那么难，你就是死要面子不肯回国，现在去了北京，你又是死要面子不肯回波士顿，你这不是和自己较劲吗？” 邓汶心里一阵凄苦，心想自己其实再也干不了多少时间，灰溜溜地回波士顿的日子已经不远了，但他还是不认输地说：“那当初不是就坚持下来了吗？说明坚持是对的。我起码要再试试看，不能就这么回去，我到时候还要把你们俩都接回来。”邓汶说完，好像看到凯蒂的身子抖动了一下。 廖晓萍没再说什么，两人商量好每天至少通一次电话，以便邓汶了解女儿的病情发展，便挂上了电话。 邓汶看着背对着自己的凯蒂，正想着应该说些什么，凯蒂忽然站起来，回头冲邓汶笑着说：“好啦，我也该回去上班了，你休息吧。”说完就向门口走去。 邓汶愣愣地站起来，跟着送到门口，替凯蒂打开门，直到看着凯蒂沿着走廊走远了，他都没想出一句合适的话来。 邓汶闷闷地回到床头坐下，看见电视上居然是德国之声DW的德语频道，没听说凯蒂还懂德语啊，他明白凯蒂刚才的心思都放在哪里了。 邓汶正枯坐着，电话又响了，他以为是廖晓萍刚才遗忘了什么所以再次打来，便接起电话，故作轻松地说：“喂，又怎么了？” 电话那端不是廖晓萍，邓汶听到的是另一个他所熟悉的声音：“喂，我是洪钧。听上去你今天心情不错？” 邓汶的心情立刻变得不能再坏了，他奇怪洪钧怎么会打宾馆的电话，以前都是打手机的，他马上明白过来，看来洪钧是怕自己看到来电号码就又挂断他的电话，这么想着，邓汶便没有马上挂断，而是冷冷地问：“你有事吗？” “没什么事，我上周去澳洲开会了，周末才回来，想问问你最近情况怎么样。”洪钧平静地说。 “哦，多谢你的关心。你是大忙人，飞来飞去的，就不必操心劳神惦记我这点事了。”邓汶的语气没有丝毫好转。 “卡彭特那边有什么消息吗？我上次给你出的主意……” 洪钧还没说完，就被邓汶打断了，邓汶对着话筒嚷道：“你少提你的什么主意，我自己的事情我自己解决！”说完他就把话筒重重地摔在电话机座上。 洪钧举着电话，任由里面的长音单调地响了半天才放下。虽然邓汶什么情况都没说，但洪钧已经清楚，他所预言的全都不幸言中，他所担心的全都已经发生了。洪钧了解邓汶的秉性，对自己针对ICE各方利益纠葛的分析判断也充满自信，如果事情不是像他分析的那样，或者如果邓汶按照他的建议做了，邓汶现在的情况都应该还好，他会对洪钧表现出一些宽宏大量；而现在邓汶如此气急败坏和恼羞成怒，恰恰说明洪钧的分析都是正确的，而邓汶根本没有采纳洪钧的策略。 洪钧可以想象出邓汶如今的处境，他也知道此时要想与邓汶冰释前嫌、让邓汶听从他的主意去谋求绝处逢生，已经是根本不可能的事了。洪钧想了想，觉得他还有机会可以挽救邓汶，同时，也只有他才能挽救邓汶了。 洪钧独自在书房里呆呆地坐着，菲比静悄悄地从客厅走了进来，凑到洪钧面前看了一眼，笑着说：“哟，鼻子上怎么全是灰啊？” 洪钧没反应过来，下意识地拂了一下鼻尖，看看手上什么都没有，这才明白菲比是在取笑他，他自嘲地笑了笑，把菲比拉到自己大腿上坐着。菲比又说：“你刚才这个电话，可以打一个灯谜，谜底是一种曲艺节目，猜得出来吗？” 洪钧有心事，懒得动脑子，就直接摇了摇头，菲比自己憋不住笑了：“三句半！你没打过这么短的电话吧？” 洪钧被她逗笑了，手指用力咯吱了她一下，等菲比叫唤着跳起来，洪钧说：“我夜里得打个电话，估计那倒会是一个很长的电话，你今天回家去住吧。” 菲比噘着嘴说：“我都跟家里说了今天不回去了。给谁打呀？还非要等到夜里。” “美国。” “那里是夏时制，现在也可以打了呀。”菲比看了眼墙上的挂钟说。 “旧金山。至少得等到零点以后才能打。” “咦，你和科克还有总部的conference call不都是安排在大清早吗？” 洪钧没说话，只是摇了摇头，又把菲比搂在了怀里，菲比更下决心不回去了，便说：“你打你的，我睡我的，互不干扰。” 等菲比睡了，洪钧又到书房打开电脑忙了一会儿，看到钟表的时针和分针已经完全重合在了一起，就拿起电话，照着电脑上通讯录里的号码拨了一串数字，然后把话筒放到耳边耐心地等着，很快，电话接通了，从里面传出一位女士悦耳的英语：“ICE公司，卡彭特先生办公室。早晨好。我是杰西卡。”