Chapter 8 chapter eight

So Ke Shinuo's law firm started their investigation work, and Bicui also returned to Reichett to deal with the issue of the extension of the coming-of-age ceremony. Was she supposed to tell the kids about it before it got out? If she didn't tell them, what excuse would she have for not having the bar mitzvah on the appointed day? Mr. Sandow didn't approve of telling the kids now.Mark Wen's judgment still had considerable influence on him, and he also tried his best to find a flaw.He thought it would not be appropriate to involve the child now. Beatrice agreed with that—if the boy wasn't Bert, they didn't need to know it at all.Maybe I could tell Simon then, before anyone came to blackmail him.Now her question was: if she postponed the bar mitzvah, how would she not make the children suspicious? Just in the middle of the dilemma, Uncle Charlie happened to untie her.He sent a telegram saying that he was getting ready to retire (which he should have done long ago) and that he wanted to attend his great nephew's bar mitzvah too.He was coming back from a flight in the Far East, and since he didn't want to fly, it might be a while before he got home, but he still hoped that Simon would wait until he got back before opening the bottle of champagne that symbolized adulthood.

Generally speaking, uncles are not very important in a family, but in the Asybe family, Uncle Charlie has far more significance than ordinary uncles.He is a very popular member of the family.Every child's birthday, and every Christmas, there is always a gift from Uncle Charlie. Once he sent a pair of chopsticks, and once he sent a snake skin, which disgusted Simon who received the gift for several days.Eileen still goes in and out of the bathroom wearing the pair of strange-smelling leather slippers she received when she was twelve.At least four times a year, Uncle Charlie will be the most important person in the Asybe family, and if you have been the most important person four times a year in a family for twenty years, your importance is of course not to be underestimated .Simon might grumble, and the others would protest a little, but no doubt they would all be willing to wait for Uncle Charlie to come back.

Besides, she had a worldly idea—Simon would not want to offend the only surviving elder of the older generation.Charlie wasn't very rich--he'd been a big spender all his life--but he was doing well, and Simon, though he couldn't care less at times, was a pretty practical guy. Therefore, they all thought that waiting for Uncle Charlie's return was a matter of course.The problem of delay is thus solved.Taking advantage of her free time after dinner that day, Bicui began to change the date on the invitation letter, and while changing it, she thanked her for God's merciful and ingenious arrangement.

Bitui is still quite conflicted these days.Partly she hoped that the child was Bert, but partly she thought that it would have been better for the whole situation if he wasn't.Seven-eighths of her hope that Bert can come back, but the other eighth refuses—if Bert really comes back, what a storm it will bring to her family! She always felt ashamed when the thought of Yi came to her, but she couldn't kill the thought.So these days she is always out of her mind and has a bad temper, so Ruth can't help asking Jenny curiously: "Do you think she has something on her mind?" "I guess the accounts are wrong," said Jenny. "She's terrible at arithmetic."

Mr. Sandow reported every once in a while how the investigation was going, and the reports were consistent—everything seemed to be exactly what the kid said. "The most heart-warming thing is that this boy has never been in touch with anyone since he arrived in England. He has been staying at that address since he got off the Fred Fea wheel. He has neither received a letter nor has anyone come to him. I have looked for him. The landlady of that house lives in the front downstairs and guards the front door all day long. She has nothing to do all day long, just sits there and observes the movements of the tenants and neighbors, and nothing escapes her eyes. She also had a habit of waiting for the postman to receive all the letters that came to the house without missing a single one. If the young man had any visitors, the landlady would be the first to know. But She said he was out all day, like every young man in London, but he didn't seem to have any friends."

Every time the young man was asked to come to the office, he was cooperative and willing to answer every question asked.With Bicui's consent, Ma Kewen also came to the office to "listen in" once, and even he was moved. "What moved me," said Mark Wen, "wasn't the lad's knowledge. He was so surprisingly candid. You've been in our business for a long time and you can tell the truth from the fake very quickly. The boy really impressed me." Convinced, he doesn't look like a fake at all." Therefore, on this day, Kosnow's law firm officially notified Bitui and the others that they were going to accept that this young man was Bert Ashby, the eldest son of Recht's Ashby family, and handed over the property he should inherit to him. .Of course, there are still some legal procedures to go through, because he was originally supposed to have been dead for eight years, but the procedures for restoration are not difficult.

Ke Shinuo's law firm believes that Bert can go home at any time. What should come has finally come.Beatrice now faces the responsibility of breaking the news to her family. Her first reaction: tell Simon privately first.But she felt that she shouldn't be too special to him in this matter.As soon as this elder brother came back, all the family business he wanted to inherit would belong to this elder brother.This situation is already enough to make him uncomfortable, if you tell him otherwise, it seems that you are expecting him to have a violent reaction.It would be better to announce him in front of them at the same time as his sister, so that they would feel that it was nothing special to Simon, and that they should be equally pleased.

After lunch that Sunday, she broke the news to them. "I have something to tell you, maybe you will be shocked to hear it, but it should be a good thing." She spoke carefully to the children.Then she told them: In fact, Bert did not commit suicide as they thought, but just ran away from home.Now that he's back, he's been in London for a while because, of course, he has to prove to his lawyers that he is indeed Bert.But he had passed the investigation without any difficulty, and now he was coming home. She avoided looking at them as she related the facts to them.It's much easier to speak to the air.

But in the ensuing silence that almost suffocated her, she glanced at Simon.At this point she almost didn't know him anymore. The pale face that shrunk into a ball all of a sudden, and the eyes that burned like fire, were not at all like the usual him.She quickly turned her gaze away. "Does this mean that the new brother is going to take all the money brother Simon deserves?" asked Jenny in her usual unthinking manner. "Well, I think it's terrible to do this." Eileen also said a little resentfully. "How do you say it?" Beatrice asked. "Run away secretly, making us all think he's dead."

"Of course, he didn't know that we all thought he was dead. I mean, he didn't expect us to interpret the note he left to mean he committed suicide." "Having said that, he still—how many years? Seven years? Nearly eight years—hasn't brought home a word, and then come back without a word, expecting us to welcome him." "Is he all right?" Ruth asked. "What do you mean 'yes'?" asked Beatrice, glad that Ruth had taken an interest in this man. "Is he good-looking? Is he soft-spoken? Or fierce?" "He's very good-looking and speaks without an accent."

"Where did he go all those years?" Eileen asked. "Most are in Mexico and the United States." "Mexico!" said Ruth, "so romantic! Does he have a black sailor hat on?" "A what? No, of course he wouldn't wear a hat like that. His hat is just like everybody else's." "Beicui, how many times have you met him?" Elaine asked. "Only saw him once. A few weeks ago." "Why didn't you tell us then?" "I think it would be better to wait until the lawyers have looked into his case and he can actually go home before telling you. You can't all go to London to see him anyway." "I don't think we can, but I suppose Simon's going to see him, right? Simon? We don't care. They're twins anyway." "I don't think that's Bert at all," Simon said, his voice tense and reserved, worse than screaming. "But, Simon!" said Eileen. Beetui sat aside silently, feeling extremely flustered—this situation was much worse than she thought. "But Simon, Aunt Beatrix has seen him, she must know." "Hmph, Aunt Bitui seems to have bought into him." It was much worse than she thought. "Simon, it's the Kosnow Law Firm who really bought his account. They don't act emotionally, and I think you agree. If there is any doubt, the Kosnow Law Firm will definitely point it out. They learned from Bert Ask about every detail after leaving the UK." Bitui explained gently. "Of course everyone's life can be checked! What do they want to know? What makes them believe that man is Bert?" "Well, for one thing, he looks exactly like you." This was clearly something he hadn't expected at all. "Exactly like me?" he said vaguely. "He's even more like you than he was when he left home." Life returned to Simon's face.But he still looks weird now, like a boxer who has been beaten to the ground. "Believe me, good Simon," said Beatrix, "he's Bert." "No, I know he isn't! You've all been lied to!" "But, Simon!" said Elaine, "why must you think so? I know Bert's coming back is hard for you, and indeed for us, but the fuss doesn't help matters at all. The facts are there, and we just have to accept them. If you try to deny the facts, you're only going to make things worse." "This guy who says he's Bert—how did he get to Mexico? How did he leave England? When? From where?" "He left from Westside on a ship called the Ella Jones." "Xishi Town! Who said that?" "He said it himself. According to the steward of the port, a ship called the Ella Jones did sail out of port the night Bert disappeared." This seemed to stop Simon's mouth, and Beatrice continued: "Everything he has done since then has been investigated. The hotel where he worked in Normandy is no longer there, but they have The boat he took from Harvard Harbor was found, and they found it belonged to a company in Brest. And someone showed pictures of the people on the boat, and pointed out which one he came from. And so on, until he returned to London. , until he walked into Mr. Sandow's office." "Is he back like this?" Eileen asked. "Go directly to Mr. Sandow?" "yes." "In this way, if anyone still doubts, I will definitely tell him that that person must be Bert. But I don't think anyone would doubt it.Anyway, if he wasn't Bert, he'd give it away, wouldn't he? He should know all about our family..." "Tell you, he's not Bert." "Simon, my boy, I know this is a great shock to you," Beatrice said: "Besides, as Eileen said, it is a difficult fact for you to accept. But I think it will be easier for you to accept when you see him. He knew it was our Yasubie family at a glance. The person who looks very much like you." "Pert and I don't look very much alike." Aileen helped Bitui to answer: "He looks like you, Simon, of course he is very similar, you two are twin brothers!" "Jenny, if I ran away from home for years and years, would you believe it was me?" Ruth asked. "Anyway, you won't be out for years and years," Jenny said. "Why do you think I can't?" "You will be home in no time." "Why did I go home right away?" "Look what will happen to us without you!" "Bi Gu, when will he come back?" Ailian asked. "Tuesday. At least that's what he arranged. But if you want him to be later - until you're all used to it, I mean..." She glanced at Simon, who was looking terrible now.She had never imagined such a serious reaction. "If you think I'm going to get used to it, you're wrong," Simon said. "It doesn't make any difference to me when he comes, and I'm telling you, he's definitely not Bert!" He stood up and walked out of the restaurant angrily.Beati noticed that his footsteps were not very steady, as if he was drunk. "I've never seen Simon like that," said Elaine, puzzled. "I should have told him some other way. Maybe it's my fault. I just don't want him to be treated differently." "But he used to love Bert, didn't he? Why isn't he glad he's back? Not even the slightest sign of it?" "I think it's a scary thing for someone to come out of nowhere and take Simon's place," Jenny said. It was really scary, no wonder Simon was so angry. " "Aunt Beatrice," said Ruth, "Pert is coming back on Tuesday, can I wear that blue dress?"