Chapter 4 three

Joe and his books (2) After Joe returned from his boss's office and sat down in his own office, he felt a floating sensation in his body.He opened the book and followed the heroine into the alleys of the slums.But today, those alleys do not extend in all directions. In the alley under the sun, a terrible black shadow appeared in front of him. There was also the sound of cloth fluttering in the wind, but there was no sign of wind.Joe stopped in fear.At the same time, the phone rang and the secretary informed him that a client from the south wanted to see him. This man, Reagan, with a square, stern face, wanted to sign Joe to a long-term contract.Joe thought he would make the customary haggling, and quickly worked out several plans in his mind.But Reagan didn't speak. He moved his chair to the window and watched the people downstairs in twos and threes. He propped his wide chin on one left hand, and seemed to be thinking there, and seemed to be thinking about something completely unrelated to business.Joe was confused, he remembered the alley in the book just now.After a while, Regan spoke suddenly, which startled Joe, for his voice sounded like a scream.

"In our south, there are rubber forests and coconut trees everywhere. Can you imagine how many of your clothes those workers have to wear?! Do you have this kind of imagination?! Just yesterday, two workers drowned in the bay because of you The clothes made are too heavy and not easy to take off quickly... what kind of idiot designed clothes. One of the two is a girl and she was seen jumping up like a fish in the water and then sinking .Fool! Fool!!” He covered his head with his hands, looking troubled. Joe was silent, for he did not know what to say.He has known this Mr. Reagan for many years. He is a very cultured and gentle farmer. In other words, he is not like a farmer at all, but like the owner of an old bookstore. However, today, he showed his Violent character.

"Are you really going to do business with us?" he asked Joe, rolling his eyes. "We're going to design some lightweight tops that are easy to put on and take off," replied Joe mechanically. "I don't appreciate your line of thinking." When he said this coldly, Joe was indeed a little puzzled.In the past, when Reagan came to his office, he always smelled of canola flowers in the field, and Joe inhaled that smell deeply, and couldn't help pulling the tanned Southerner into his story. in the network.He himself had never felt any animosity toward him from Reagan, but he felt it today.Joe shrank his neck in fear of the cold, and this action was immediately noticed by Reagan.Reagan asked Joe if he was tired of the deal?In that case, the discussion between them can be suspended.

"Two people like us..." Reagan swallowed after half a sentence. Joe thought what he was trying to say was that it was difficult for two people like them to agree.What happened today?They had worked together for years, and Joe was often featured in stories, his square face dangling in roadside mirrors—there was always a mirror hanging from a tree trunk on Joe's path.Not long ago, he also sent Joe a pair of pheasants, and the colorful and dazzling feathers on the pheasants made Joe dream for a while.At that time, he stared at this expressionless face and felt that this person had unexpected abilities like a magician.

After Reagan walked back and forth in Joe's office a few times, he suddenly asked Joe to show the contract, and then he quickly signed those pages, so quickly that Joe had no time to read them clearly.Joe's only memory was the long, slender right hand with the veins.He marveled in his heart: How could a farmer have such hands? After signing the contract, Reagan left. When Joe sent him out, he saw the figure of the boss flashing into the elevator.Why did the boss come to the building?He asked the secretary Jenny, is the boss coming over for something?Jenny glared at him, then shook her head slowly, as if disapproving of his nervousness.

Joe has worked in this building for more than 10 years, and he is very familiar with all the procedures in work and business.In his sphere, it is almost impossible to have any unexpected arrangements.But he saw that just today, something seemed to be off the rails.Probably everything happened without his knowledge, so even if he racked his brains, he couldn't catch those clues. That day, when Joe was walking home, someone hurriedly chased him up from behind.It's the boss' wife. "Recently, Vincent drank too much every night and ran wild on the grass in front of his house." Lisa said with a blushing face, a little coy. "He's not young anymore. I was thinking, what kind of good influence did you, you, have on him? Huh?" The woman suddenly turned her face and glared at Joe, with a look in her eyes that Joe had never seen before. spark.

Joe couldn't answer.He couldn't recognize the red-haired woman in front of him either.The always cheerful, gaudy Lisa was now angrily pushing past him, nearly pushing him under the sidewalk.She walked away like a gust of wind, her high heels clattering loudly.Many people on the sidewalk in the evening looked at Joe in surprise.Joe saw the abyss in front of the sidewalk, and he was going to step down that abyss, and maybe from that place, he could lead to the web of stories he had recently constructed.But that gaping black mouth is not an abyss, it's just an underground pedestrian crossing.Now, when he came to the entrance of this underground passage, Lisa suddenly rushed out from the shadows.

"Vincent is crazy! He's crazy! Damn, how could this happen?!" Her eyes were frantic, and a strong hand grasped Jo's arm and shook it, and Jo smelled the strong liquor coming out of her mouth.