Chapter 23 Karakarai Waterfall - 1

"David Setiniaz." The voice calling his name was calm and slow, and it sounded very clear in the noisy noise of the bustling crowd, but it was not a shout.Setiniaz stepped out of the elevator and turned to see the man in a blue shirt casually leaning against the marble wall with a cloth bag at his feet.It was September eighteenth. "Excuse me, I'll get back to you tomorrow," Setiniaz said to the two men beside him. He went up to Reb Klimrod, looked at him, and wondered what to say. In the end, Klimrod asked with a smile, "How was your honeymoon?" "Excellent. But where have you been? Last week, George Tarras called me and said you went to see him and returned his book."

Setiniaz was a little overwhelmed, inexplicably agitated, as if he happened to bump into an old comrade in the army, and he had almost forgotten about this old comrade.He walked across the porch almost involuntarily, and at the same time he was clearly aware of this thin young man in strange clothes and always carrying that ridiculous-looking sack.The two came out and onto Madison Avenue.It was sunny and quite hot that day.Several secretaries walked by them together, smiling at Setiniaz, and looking at the person walking with him with curiosity and interest. "Are you waiting for me?" Setiniaz asked.

"Yes." Klimrod replied. "Why don't you come to my office?" "What did George Tarras tell you?" This is asking questions to answer questions. "Just that you went to see him in Maine and returned his books. And that his wife has charmed you." Setiniaz tried to sound casual, though he still felt a little awkward. "It seems that you know a lot about painting, very knowledgeable," Setiniaz added. "He didn't say anything else?" Setiniaz thought for a while and searched in his memory. "No," he replied sincerely. "Is it important?"

"Nothing," said Klimrod. "I want to talk to you. Are you free now? Or make another appointment?" Setiniaz remembers that he had no other plans that day than to return home at night near Park Avenue—a gorgeous apartment furnished by his mother and in-laws.After he and Diana returned from their honeymoon, they spent very little time together, as they had been caught up in a whirlwind of social events, both in New York and Boston, and the Peggy family property was on the Atlantic coast. , David's mother also has a large horse ranch in Kentucky.Since he had joined Whittaker & Cobb on September 1st, the newlyweds had been either invited out or entertaining guests at home every evening. "However, in good conscience," Setienaz later admitted to others, "it was not the only and not the real reason why I did not ask at the time; It seemed absurd to come into my house and introduce it to my friends and relatives. It was 1950, and we were far more bound by stereotypes of etiquette than we are today. Of course, judging by what has happened since...  "

At that moment, Setiniaz hesitated and said, "That's right, I..." At this moment, Klimrod's big hand pressed his arm, which made Setiniaz even more embarrassed. "Can I call you David?" "of course can." Klimrod laughed. "Anyway, I can't accept your invitation to dine at your house. Because, unfortunately, I have business tonight. Maybe there will be a chance later." You could tell by the look in his eyes that he was having fun. Setiniaz, being an honest man after all, thought to himself: "What a fool I am." Klimrod continued:

"In five or six months, I'm going to need a lawyer like you. No, no, I don't want to have to deal with Ham Tucker and Cobb or any of their partners. I've read your background..." Xian showed that intriguing smile again. "Please don't be offended. By the way, I haven't found anything—how should I put it?—I haven't found anything against you. I'll need your help next spring. It's up to you Decide for yourself. However, in the few months before this, I have a suggestion: I hope we can spend three or four hours a week together. Of course, I am prepared to borrow money from Cobb or Whittaker Your services, if that would make things easier. But you're only needed. I'll pay you as much as you want. I'd like us to meet three or four hours a week, not on days of the week, but on your terms. Our schedules are flexible for both of us. I'm going to ask you some questions, mostly theoretical..."

Setiniaz looked at him, stunned. "You want me to teach you law? Three hours a week?" "You could say that. But not quite. I want to learn the outlines of what I need. I know exactly what I need and what I don't." "Then any night school you go to will serve your purpose." Klimrod shook his head. "No, I tried." He chuckled, so it could be clearly seen that he was still very young. (It was only later that Setniaz found out that Klimrod happened to be twenty-three that day.) "Evening courses don't go fast enough and waste time on side points, and besides, the hours of the classes don't always suit me, I've thought about it, David. Is it a question of money?"

He reached into his cloth pocket and pulled out several wads of thousand-dollar bills. "Forgive me for not wanting to hurt your pride in any way. You just tell me what's best for you, and I'm entirely in charge of the money. Do you talk to Whittaker and Cobb face to face, or is it up to you? " "My God!" cried Setiniaz, who had the feeling that he was being swept away by the waves, "my labors are not worth much; I have only worked eighteen days?" "Please accept it. After all, you saved my life, so you should let me pay back." Klimrod's gray eyes flickered humorously.At the same time, from him, you can feel the persuasive force that is almost pressing on you and the sincere friendship that he proactively expressed, which is completely undisguised at once, like opening a door with light in the dark.

"How is it, David?" "Okay," said Setiniaz, and Setienaz answered, letting go of the wave that would change the course of his entire life. Four days later, the two met again in a hotel lounge.It became clear to Setniaz in the first few minutes that Klimsaid had the greatest intellect of any man he had ever come into contact with. "It was kind of scary," Setiniaz recalled afterwards. "He has a knack for hitting the nail on the head that can leave you bewildered, even dumbfounded. Of course, you just have to look in his eyes to feel it. Yet seeing his extraordinary intellect work without hindrance Well, that was different. At that time, he took off all the disguises that could be seen with great painstaking efforts - including the usual indifferent expression on his face, the blurred eyes, the slow tone of voice and various gestures - completely exposed So, he shows its hugeness and terribleness to the full - it's not too much to use such a word - which is certainly fascinating, but it also often annoys you. When I was a student at Harvard, I probably called it Go to the top students. In New York at that time, and even in the country, Whittaker and Cobb was considered the smartest and top-notch family of law firms. Hiring at a firm is like—I don't know how to compare—it's like having Gary Cooper (Note: Gary Cooper (1901-1961), American movie star, won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1952.) No, but ask me to make a movie. They hire me, purely for my talent, without any familial influence, at least this time, So I was so proud. I spent six years specializing in law and business. But I hadn't talked to Klimrod for a few hours, and I left him feeling like a four-year-old. Doll at age 1 was forced to teach nuclear physics. I was on the verge of saying no to the next meeting.

"Of course I will go next time. If you underestimate his allure, you will feel incomprehensible to the king, and you will not understand why he has such an amazing influence on us. All of Reb Klimrod's The mask—the acting, the tone, the politeness, the politeness—was all a concession he made to us, in order that we might forgive him for being so good. Once we learned that, we could get on anyway.” "That year, before November 20th, we met about fifteen times. Then I got confused: Who counts who's law?" "I have to admit, it never dawned on me that he didn't meet with me just to get the legal knowledge he needed, to size me up and pass a judgment before trusting me completely. He was also out to take advantage of us I want to see Xia Mian again by the chance to meet..."

"That's going too far," Setniaz said to Klimrod with some annoyance, "you keep our conversation jumping from one topic to another, so..." He suddenly switched to English, so that he could avoid the "thou" (note: there is a difference between you and you in French). "But where can I find information on this?" Leiber asked calmly. "In a graph drawn by Gordon Weiser. Perhaps Chandler addressed this issue in his Money and Banking Economics. I have the book, but it's not here, at home. Next time I'll give you bring." "Or, I'll go back with you, and you can lend me the book tonight. Do you agree?" The two left the hotel lounge together.A taxi took them to Park Avenue.On the way they continued to discuss the dollar, exchange rates and international financial issues.Setiniaz was engrossed in this discussion until he found himself in the foyer of his apartment, handed the briefcase to the Hawaiian-born housekeeper...and found his wife and aunt looking mockingly at him from the living room By Reb Klimrod. On November 20, 1950, Xia Mian just passed her 23rd birthday.Despite his close relationship with his wife, David Settiniaz has always admitted that the younger sister is much more beautiful than the two sisters.However, even with a knife to his throat, he would not marry his sister, because she always had a way of embarrassing and even frightening David.Diana laughed and explained this as "a special sense of humor in aestivation".Over the past fifteen years, starting with his French grandmother, Setienaz has heard countless times that he is just lacking a sense of humor, boring as a rag, or something like that.Now, even he himself believed it. Therefore, while accepting everyone's unanimous opinion, he has begun to regard his sister-in-law's strange temper as normal. Economically, aestivation is completely autonomous.Peggy's family fortune has accumulated for four generations.Xia Mian had already received $10 million when he turned twenty-one.She scoffs at the usual family lawyers who manage money.She's going to manage the estate herself, and to everyone's surprise, she's proven that she has the talents of a financial guru. At one point, Xia Mian burst into the offices of Whittaker & Cobb (this was before Settiniaz joined the law firm) and threw a fit, claiming that a stock trade, in her opinion, had been screwed, at least Her very specific instructions were not followed.Jonas Whittaker, who was nearly seventy at the time, was slow and careful about everything, and had been brooding over the matter for days.In his opinion, such accusations are unreasonable, and the one who blamed him is still a woman!This made him even more unbearable.As for the woman he knew, there was only one, that is, his wife.It was a woman's business, he argued, to bring up children, to make pudding cakes, to fish for lace, and to embroider in the cross-stitch if born imbecile. Xia Mian has been engaged five times, and none of the times did not make her fiancé wait for nothing in front of the altar of the church where the wedding was held.She had traveled to India and wanted to become a Hindu.A producer in Hollywood suggested to her that she should be promoted as the second Ava Gardner "Goddess".), because she resembles that big star, she has already agreed, even the script of the storyboard has been decided.But on the third day of filming, she boarded a boat and went sightseeing in the South China Sea.David was soaping himself in the shower, and Aestiva would come and sit on the edge of the tub, scaring him out of his body.She chartered a plane as a wedding present to her sister and David Setiniaz, and on the pretext that David's ancestry was from Savoy , Twelve large disc-shaped cheese blocks - a specialty of the Jura Mountains - and six batches of folk singers were flown in from France. "Well, David, it's fun, isn't it?" Diana asked at the time. "Brilliant enough," he replies, scowling and downcast. The scene was really fun.But David felt that there was another point which only he noticed and which he never mentioned to anyone else.From Xia Mian's lovely amethyst blue eyes that were opened to the temples, he often found a strange, fanatical gaze, which made him uneasy. She said, "We've met, haven't we?" Originally she was sitting on a big sofa, but now she stood up, walked over, and walked around him slowly. "German?" "Austrian." "Is your hometown in Tyrol?" "In Vienna." Even though Xia Mian was quite tall, it still didn't reach his shoulders. "Naturalized in the United States?" "I have an Argentine passport." Reber looked from Diana to David with a dazed expression, as if in deep thought. She put her hand up Reb's neck and felt the fabric of the cloth shirt Reb wore under his leather jacket. "Business?" "The same can be said." "Wall Street?" "Basically." Xia Mian faced him. David said nervously, "I'll get you that book." He took a few steps towards the study, when he heard Leib's calm voice speaking, he stopped. "If I were in your position," said Reber, "I wouldn't buy those twenty thousand Continental shares." Setiniaz turned around in astonishment.In their fifteen meetings, he had never heard Reber talk about his activities, not even his lifestyle or how he spent money to support himself.From his appearance, Setiniaz guessed that he was doing menial work on the docks or in a shop.Setiniaz even suspected that the Austrian (he had no idea that Reber had an Argentine passport) might be involved in some shady business. Then Setiniaz said, "Reb, I never knew you were interested in the stock market." "David!" Xia Mian said with her back to her brother-in-law. "Please don't interrupt." A moment of silence ensued. Afterwards, she asked, "Did I make a mistake by buying the shares of Continental Electric?" "Yes," Reber said with a smile. "David, have you got the book?" "Do you work for the Stock Exchange, Mr. Klimrod?" "No." "At a brokerage house?" "No." "So at a bank? "No." He laughed. "I sell hot dogs on the street. It's right in front of the New York Stock Exchange, and if you go there, it's on your right." "Is business good?" "Not bad. Thirty-five to forty dollars a day, five days a week. That includes the soda pop, of course. Tips included." "So you learned that I just bought twenty thousand shares of Continental Electric while selling hot dogs?" Reber saw David hesitate, and he came out of the study just as he entered, holding Chandler's book in his hand. "Oh, no," Reber said, "that's not the kind of information that comes out in a hot dog. Sometimes, if you hear something important, it's usually in general terms. To be honest, I did some research on you through someone else. Well, Miss Page. It's not a good time for you to be long this morning. You're not wrong in principle, but you've waited too long. It would have been better if you had bought the day before yesterday. Western Electric is a good idea, although you made the mistake of canceling the Caledonian order. You should act on your impulses and your passions. Thanks, David. As for St. The Jacinto deal, let's get straight to the point: it's just plain stupid. I'll give you the book back next week, David." Slowly he put Chandler's book into the sack.Afterwards, he met the eyes of the young lady for the first time. "Besides, if I were you, I'd change my mind about the Swedish krona. Maybe in three weeks' time. I think it might as well go over to the Swiss franc." He smiled, nodded to the two sisters, and left.There was a moment of silence.Afterwards, Aestivation Pegg laughed out loud. "They actually investigated me!" In her eyes David Setiniaz again perceived that strange, feverish look which had so troubled him. In front of the New York Stock Exchange, there are usually two people running a mobile food stand on a cart.These two Americans of Italian descent are always smiling and quick on their hands and feet.Reb Klimrod and Diego Haas got there around ten o'clock.Reber told the two men to go get a drink or something to eat and come back when he called them. "I can't make hot dogs," Diego said. "We self-important little nobles in South America just look down on craftsmanship. Don't expect me to help." "At least you can uncork a bottle?" He knew the job, and started to do it immediately.He looked ridiculous in his green and white hat like Reb, and thought, "If Mamita sees me like this, she'll pass out right in front of my eyes and die. I should really put it on." A fake beard." But he yelled cheerfully, "Two sodas! Good!" About eleven o'clock she came.Diego had never seen such a beautiful young lady.The secretaries and other staff gathered in front of the exchange naturally made way for her. "Can I have a hot dog, please?" she asked. "Would you like mustard?" Reber asked. "Is it very spicy?" "You can take it," Reber said, "you can take anything." "Including you, don't worry." "I'm not worried." Then he swung his hand.Two Italian-Americans came and went back to their posts.Reber wiped his hands, took off his loincloth, and took off his hat. He asked the lady, "May I buy you a cup of coffee?" "My name is Diego," Diego continued, "I am very cute and enthusiastic." "I haven't had breakfast yet, I have no objection to having a cup of coffee." She and Leib flirted face to face. "Come on, Diego?" Reber seemed to be asking him, but he was actually ordering him, and the Argentine walked with them.They came to Nassau Street, where there was a restaurant with a sign in French. "The door is closed," she said. Leiber hit a torreya, and the door of the shop opened suddenly.There is only one dining table in the middle of the shop, but it is very big and luxuriously furnished, with male and female waiters standing neatly. "How about some toast and coffee?" "Row." Her eyes remained fixed on Reb.The three are seated. "Like I said," Diego spoke first. "My name is Diego and I am a very interesting person. First of all, I am attractive to talk to. It is a talent that does not depend on my will." "Investigated me?" she asked Reb. "Yes, through others." "Including all aspects of me?" "Just something about finance and banking." "No other aspects involved?" "That's off limits," he said, "I'd rather do it myself otherwise." "Is my wealth enough for you?" "I guess so." The waiter brought them coffee, black tea, hot chocolate, toast, and butter; there were as many as thirty or forty kinds of jams and jellies, and eggs in different ways; plus potatoes, bacon, and sausages... The silver serving dishes used can be stacked together to build a small mountain. "Do you think my appearance is suitable?" Xia Mian asked. "Yes, very well," he said calmly, "very very well. Nothing to fault." "May I pour you some coffee?" "Please, thank you." "Give me some, too," Diego interposed. "Just a little, since you insisted on it. An egg or two is fine. No sausage. I'm afraid of sausage these days." "His name is Diego," Reber introduced, "and it's the guy on your right and my left." "Nice to meet you," Xia Mian said without turning her head. "Hello, Diego." She continued to talk to Leiber: "What do I call you? Just Leiber?" "It's called Reb." She sipped her coffee, picked up a slice of toast and ate it slowly.Reber drank a little too. "Of course this restaurant belongs to you?" "certainly." "Is there any more?" "And a few other businesses here and there." "You've gone fast enough." "Well, I guess so." "When a man achieves his goal, he sometimes feels disappointed." He smiled slightly and said, "It's up to me to experience it myself." There was a silence. So she said, "Your friend Diego is very sweet and very warm. First of all, his conversation is very engaging." "It's a talent," Diego said, his mouth full. There was another silence.Leiber made a gesture with his index finger, and all the employees in the store immediately retreated and disappeared into the room behind the store.Xia Mian looked straight at him, looked him up and down, and then stared at him again, with a serious demeanor. "It's so bizarre, don't you think?" "Yeah," said Reber, "that's surreal. And, totally unexpected." He stood up and held out a hand.Xia Mian also stretched out her hand for him to hold.The two walked out of the store and onto Nassau Street. "Shall I come?" Diego asked. "Why not?" Reber said. He still held Xia Mian's hand. The three boarded the ferry, where there were no other passengers except the crew.The ship changed its usual course and headed for the bay. Diego Haas went out to the quarterdeck alone to smoke long black cigars that only he found fragrant.Although his yellow eyes looked at both sides of the river, he saw nothing.The other pair were out of sight of the foredeck.Diego thought: "We are sailing up the Hudson River now, we will also sail on the Amazon River, and maybe across the Atlantic Ocean, my dear little Diego, in the next few years, will eat hot dogs, Drink soda, buy and sell thirty or forty buildings here and there, or even a whole street, without any madness at all; live on Park Avenue or something like that, just as scary. They're going to have kids, and they'll want me to be godfather, and I'll be driving the kids around in a buggy that's specially designed and made by Rolls-Royce or General Motors, and by then they'll be The big business would probably have been bought by Reber long ago. By then, O Holy Mother! My adventures would be risk-free. I'd better go home to Mamita's and talk to any Concepcion Just get married..." Thinking of this, he felt deeply sad, a kind of melancholy from the bottom of his heart, and felt that this crazy, fresh and exciting pursuit might suddenly be interrupted and stop here.Besides, he felt pangs of jealousy. A man of his intelligence need not deceive himself. After Governors Island, the Atlantic Ocean was in sight, so the ferry turned back to Manhattan and anchored at the Staten Island ferry terminal.How this rafting started, it will end like this. Diego had a hunch that things between Xia Ming Peggy and Reb Klimrod would not be too ordinary. The pair parted in silence, not even looking at each other.She got into a taxi and left.Reber strode straight toward the Brooklyn Bridge, letting his leather jacket dangle from his shoulders.Diego was taken aback for a moment, then hurried to catch up. Didungo caught up with Reb and walked beside him without opening his mouth, complaining that Reb always walks in New York or other cities with such long strides, his heels clattering on the road, as if As if to leave eternal footprints. It wasn't until we were on the bridge that Diego asked, "Is there a question?" no answer. "Are you going to meet her again?" Diego asked bravely. "I don't know. Diego, please don't talk to me about it." Diego got the impression that this "crazy, fresh, exciting chase" seemed unlikely to be interrupted, and that was enough to please him.