Chapter 8 Maomao Chapter 8: A String of Dreams and a Few Doubts

In the afternoon of the next day, Jiji and old Beppo came to see Mao Mao.They found Mao Mao sitting in the shadow of the wall, pale and frightened.They sat down before her and asked her what was the matter with concern.Maomao began to stammer and talk about yesterday's experience, repeating her conversation with Mr. You word by word. When Maomao was talking, old Bepo looked at her seriously and squeezed his forehead tightly.After Maomao finished speaking, he didn't say a word. Gigi, on the other hand, became more and more excited as he listened, and his eyes began to light up, as he often does when he tells a story when he gets excited.

"Now, Momo." He said, putting his hands on Momo's shoulders, 'Our great moment has come!You discovered something no one knew until now!Now, we not only have to save our old friends, we have to save the whole city! The three of us - me, Beppo and you Momo! " He stood up abruptly and stretched out his hands.In his fantasy, he seemed to see countless people cheering for his savior in front of him. "But," Maomao said a little at a loss, "what should we do?" "What do you mean?" Gigi asked bewildered. "I mean," Mao Mao explained, "how can we defeat Mr. Gray?"

"Oh, yes," said Gigi, "but of course I don't know very well right now, we have to think about it first. But one thing is clear, that is, we know they exist and we know What are they doing, so we must fight them—what, are you frightened?" Mao Mao nodded embarrassingly, and said: "I think they are some unusual people. The person who came to see me is very strange, and the cold is also very severe. If there are many of them, it must be very dangerous. I am already scared gone." "Oh!" exclaimed Gigi excitedly, "it couldn't be easier! Those gray gentlemen can only do that kind of dirty business when they are not recognized. Your unexpected guest has already given it away. Good! What we should do is to expose their true colors. Because whoever has seen them once will remember them, and whoever remembers them will immediately recognize them! Therefore, they cannot harm us at all. We're not that easily hurt at the root of a hair"Really? " Mao Mao asked a little suspiciously.

"Of course!" continued Gigi with bright eyes, "otherwise the intruder would not have fled in such a panic. He would have been trembling in front of us." "However," Mao Mao said, "maybe we can't find them at all, maybe they are hiding in front of our eyes." "It won't be easy," Gigi replied. "We'll definitely be able to lure them out of their hiding places." "How to lure?" Mao Mao asked, "I think they are very cunning." "It can't be easier than this!" Gigi said with a laugh, "we just do what we like. People use fat to catch mice, so we use time to catch time thieves, and that's enough! You have to sit there as bait and draw them in, and when they come, Beppo and I will burst out of hiding with me and defeat them."

"But they already know me." Mao Mao objected, "I don't believe they will take the bait." "Okay," Gigi said.At this time, various ideas began to pop up in his mind. "Then we'll use another method. Didn't that Mr. Gray say something about the Savings Bank?I figured it must be a building somewhere in town and we had to find it.Surely you will find it.I can guarantee that it must be a very strange building: gray, gloomy, without windows, like a cash box poured with reinforced concrete!I have seen it.We rushed in as soon as we found it, each of us with a pistol in our hand.At that time, I said: 'Immediately hand over all the stolen time! "'"But we don't have pistols at all. Mao Mao interrupted him worriedly.

"Then we don't use pistols," replied Gigi nonchalantly. "That way they'll be more frightened. Our presence alone is enough to make them panic." Mao Mao said: "It might be better if there were more people than just the three of us. I think if other people went with us, they might find their time savings bank sooner." .” "That's a good idea." Gigi replied, "We should mobilize all our friends. And those new children. I suggest that the three of us split up immediately and notify everyone we can find. Tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon Come on, let's gather here and discuss this matter together."

As soon as Jiji's voice fell, the three of them started to act.Mao Mao walked to one side, and old Bepo and Gigi walked in the other direction. They walked for a while, and old Beppo, who had been silent all this time, stopped suddenly.He said, "Look, Gigi, I'm worried." Gigi turned around and asked, "What are you worried about?" Old Beibo looked at his friend Jiji, and said after a long time: "I believe in Mao Mao." "What do you mean?" Gigi asked in surprise. "I mean," continued old Beppo, "I believe Momo is telling the truth."

"Okay, what else?" Gigi asked, still not understanding what old Beppo was trying to say. "You know," Old Beppo explained, "if what Momo just said is true, then we've got to think about what to do. If there's a secret criminal group involved, then it's not a big deal to subdue them." A no-brainer, you understand? If we challenged them so lightly, it would put Momo in danger. Not talking about ourselves, but if we brought other kids into the mix, it would do the same put them at risk. We should really think hard about what to do." "Ah, that's how it is!" Jiji said with a smile, "You are always afraid of wolves and tigers! Isn't the more people participating, the better?"

"I don't think," old Beppo replied earnestly, "that you don't believe what Momo is telling the truth." "What do you say is true?" Gigi said. "You are so unimaginative, Beppo. The whole world is a big stage, and we all perform on this stage. Actually, Beppo, I'm like You also believe everything Mao Mao says." Old Beppo fell silent, but Gigi's answer did nothing to ease his worries. Then, they broke up.They went in different directions to inform friends and children to assemble tomorrow.Gigi's mood is very light, but old Beppo's is very heavy.

That night, Jiji dreamed that she became the savior of the city and got a high honor.He saw himself in a tuxedo, old Beppo in a frock coat, Momo in a white dress.All three had gold necklaces around their necks and crowns of flowers on their heads.Solemn music resounded, and the whole city held a great procession of torches in honor of their savior, a procession so long and magnificent that he had never been honored before. Meanwhile, old Beppo was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep.The more he thought about it, the more dangerous the whole thing seemed. Of course he can't just let Gigi and Mao Mao go on adventures-no matter what happens, he will go together.

But he'd at least try to stop them, and he'd better not go. At three o'clock the next afternoon, the ruins of the ancient amphitheater echoed with the chirping and excited cries of children. Although none of the grown-ups among the old friends (except Beppo and Gigi, of course) came, there were about fifty or sixty kids. Some of them live near here, some far away.Among them there were children from poor families and children from rich families, some well-bred and some very rough; there were also children, like the little girl Maria, who brought little brothers and sisters, and some led , There are also hugs.The little ones were sucking their fingers and watching this extraordinary gathering with wide eyes.Of course Franco, Paolo and Massimo are among them.The rest of the children were almost all recent arrivals to the amphitheatre. They are naturally particularly interested in what happens here that may concern them.Also, there was the little boy with the portable radio--no radio this time, of course.He sat next to Momo and told Momo for the first time that his name was Claudio and that he was very happy to be allowed to participate in this rally. Finally, when they saw that there might be no more people coming, the tour guide Jiji stood up, and he happily raised his hand to signal for everyone to be quiet, and the chirping conversation fell silent.There was a sudden silence in the stone circular building. "Dear friends," began Gigi aloud, "you probably know what it is. This was told to you when you were invited to this secret meeting. Today, although more and more people are trying to They save time, and they have less and less time. But you see, what those people lose is precisely the time they save. why?Mao Mao discovered the secret here!It turns out that the time saved by those people was all stolen by a gang of time-stealing thieves!We need your help to stop that ruthless criminal organization.If you all are going to join us, then this prank on the people will be over. Don't you guys think it's well worth the fight for this? " He paused, and the children applauded. "Then," Gigi continued, "we're going to talk about how we should act. But now you should hear about how she met one of those guys and how they revealed themselves .” "Wait a minute," said old Beppo, standing up, "listen to me, boys! I'm against Momomo talking, it won't work. If she does, she is putting herself in great danger, not only to herself, but to all of you..." "No!" several children shouted, "Let Maomao tell!" Several other children agreed, and finally their shouts became a chorus: "Momo! Momo! Momo!" Old Beppo sat down, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes wearily. Maomao stood up at a loss, she didn't know whether to satisfy old Beppo or the children.Finally she started talking.The children listened nervously, and when she finished, there was a long silence. When Mao Mao told the story, those children felt a little scared.They didn't expect Time Thief to feel so scary.A little girl started crying, but was coaxed again. "How?" Gigi asked, breaking the silence, "Who among you would dare to join us in fighting against Mr. Fat?" Franco asked, "Why doesn't old Beppo want Momo to tell us what happened to her?" Gigi explained with a pleasant smile: "He thinks that Mr. Gray sees everyone who knows their secrets as their most dangerous enemy and will persecute him. But I believe that, on the contrary, everyone who knows Their secret people are able to resist and will not be harmed by them again, this is very clear! Do you admit it or not, Bepo!" But old Beppo just shook his head slowly. The children fell silent again. "Anyway, one thing is for sure," Gigi went on, "now, regardless of the consequences, we must all work together! We should be careful, but we should not be afraid. Now I ask you again, who among you Willing to work with us?" "Me!" Claudio yelled and stood up, his face pale. The other children were still hesitant at first, but with his example, they became more and more determined. Finally, all the children present signed up. "How about it, Beppo." Gigi said, pointing to the kids, "Do you have anything else to say?" "Okay." Old Beppo nodded sadly and replied, "Of course I will." "So," Gigi turned to the children again, "now we're going to talk about what we should do. Who's going to make a suggestion?" All the children are thinking.Finally, the bespectacled Paul asked, "How is that possible? I mean, how on earth could they actually steal time? What the hell is going on?" "Yeah," Claudio said loudly. Ask, "What the hell is time?" No one answered. At this time, the little girl Maria stood up from the other end of the circular stone wall with her little sister Dede in her arms and said, "Could he be a bit like an atom? They can write down the thoughts in people's minds with a typewriter. I watched them on TV." I have seen it with my own eyes. Today, there are many specialists in every line of work. " "I have an idea!" ’ said plump Massimo in his girlish voice, ‘if people made movies, all the images would be recorded on film.When recording, all sounds are recorded on tape.Maybe they have a machine that records the time.If we knew what the time was recorded on, we could easily erase them, and the time would come back again. "Anyway," said Paul, pushing up the glasses on his nose, "we have to find a scientist to help us, or we can't do anything." " "You can't live without those scientists!" cried Franco, "they can't be trusted at all!"Suppose we find a scientist who knows - but how do you know he's not an accomplice of the Time Thief?In that case, our affairs will be ruined! " This also makes sense. At this point a young girl who was clearly well-bred stood up and said, "I think it's best to call the police." "Stop talking nonsense!" Franco protested, "Police? What can they do! Mr. Gray is no ordinary robber! If it wasn't that they knew about this earlier, but they were helpless, or they hadn't discovered those nasty guys at all.To say the least, the police are unreliable anyway.That's how I see it. ’ followed by another moment of helpless silence. "Anyway, we've got to do something," Paul said finally. "We've got to act as quickly as possible before the Time Thief discovers our intentions." At this time, Jiji stood up again. "My dear friends," he began, "I have thought the matter over and over. I have considered a hundred proposals, and I have rejected them all, until at last I have come up with a surefire idea. If only you could all attend. I just wanted to hear it first, and maybe one of you will come up with a better idea. Well, now I'll tell you what we should do." He paused for a while, and looked around at the children around him. More than fifty little faces were facing him. Gigi hadn't had so many audiences for a long time. "The power of those Mr. Gray," he went on, "as you know by now, lies in their ability to work in secret. Therefore, the easiest and most effective way to keep them from harming people , is to let everyone know their true colors. How can this be done? Let's hold a large-scale demonstration! We will write some placards and banners, hold them all over the streets, we will To draw the public's attention to us. In order for the whole city to know the truth of the matter, we invite them to come to the ruins of the amphitheater. "In this way, there will be a huge commotion among them! Tens of thousands of people will come here like a flood! When the endless crowd gathers here, we will uncover the shocking truth. Terrible secret! Then—then, the world will suddenly change! Then time thieves will no longer be able to steal people's time. Then everyone will have plenty of time again, as much as they want .My friends, we can do this together if we want to, will you?" Loud cheers took the place of answers. "I repeat," Gigi concluded, "we have unanimously decided to invite the whole city to the ruins of the ancient amphitheater next Sunday afternoon. Spill our plans, understand? Friends, now—get to work!" From this day, for several days, the ruins of the amphitheater presented a mysterious and busy scene.Paper, brushes, brushes, buckets of paint, glue, veneer, cardboard, and battens, and everything else necessary was procured. (As for how and where they got it, we will not ask.) When the banners and slogans and the placards held or hung on the chest are ready, the children with good handwriting will Come up with inspirational slogans and write them on them. Those slogans are slogans, just like the ones drawn on the picture below.In addition, on all the signs there is written the place and date of the invitation to the rally. When everything was ready, the kids lined up on the ruins of the amphitheater, with Gigi, Old Beppo, and Fluffy standing at the head of the line, and they headed into town with placards and banners aloft.At the same time, they were beating on the lids of metal drums, blowing whistles, shouting slogans, making noise, reciting aloud and singing the following song, which Gigi composed specially for this parade: Listen, residents, let us I tell you: the bell has struck, and it is five minutes to twelve.Please wake up and open your eyes, because someone is going to steal your time.Listen, residents, let us tell you: don't you bother long; come on.Come and hear us at three o'clock Sunday afternoon, and then you'll be free. There are twenty-eight verses in this song, but we don't need to write them all out here. Police intervened on several occasions to disperse the children when the parade obstructed traffic.But the children were not discouraged by this, they regrouped in another place and moved on.However, they found that nothing happened, and in spite of their best efforts to watch, there was no sign of the Mister Grays. Many spectators, though ignorant of the whole incident, joined in and followed the procession along. So the line got longer and longer, quickly increasing to several hundred people, and finally even thousands of people.They lined up in long lines, walked the streets of the city, and they invited all adults to participate in this important gathering that may change the world.