Volume 1 - Chapter 2.2
Then came the angry voice from the store: “Damn it, damn you, you broke so expensive china, you have to pay, for all of them. Even if you spend all your life working here, you won’t be able to pay for these. ”
At then, the door suddenly opened and the boy ran out with cry. He bolted out for the back street.
"You dare to run! Let me see where you can go? I’m going to report you and put you into prison. You will be hanged!”
Following the oaths, the hunchbacked vice manager rushed out of the store, filled with rage. He waved his fists around, as if trying to swallow a man alive.
Fabian knew he had succeeded. He rolled up those killing-time gadgets and wrapped them up into a ball. Then, he left the bench and chased after the boy.
When got to a quiet place where no one was there, Fabian threw away the gadgets into a corner where no one noticed.
It wasn't easy to find a person in South Port.
But Fabian guessed that the boy should have no place to go, so he could only run back to his home. This was the natural reaction of a person — once something happened, the first refuge they would find was their home. That was the safest place they knew and the safest place they believed.
Fabian followed the path in his memory.
As expected, not long after, he saw the boy, who walked with crying.
He walked and stopped, obviously having no idea about what to do.
Fabian stepped up and gave a slap on the boy's back.
The boy jumped up, and Fabian was quite shocked by him.
What came into sight was the boy's eyes that were filled with fear and panic and his pale bloodless face that was tight. The corners of his mouth twitched faintly with fear.
Fabian knew the boy was terrified right now.
In order to make the boy go with him without reluctance, Fabian decided to frighten him further.
He said, “I saw you running out of a store. What did you do? When you ran away, one of the guys called the sheriffs and several came. What the hell did you do? Did you steal? If so, you have to come with me to see the sheriffs, then I will get a fifth reward."
“No, no, I didn’t steal anything. I didn't. Please, spare me. ” The boy cried out loudly.
Fabian looked at the boy, felt quite interesting. The boy was already not a child but still crying. He had forgotten how to cry even before he met the old man.
In normal times, he would do nothing to the weeping person but mocking them, but now he had to console the rookie.
"If you didn’t steal from the shop, then even if I drag you to the government, I won’t get any rewards." With these words, Fabian sneaked a glance at the boy.
As expected, when hearing that he wouldn’t be sent to the sheriff, the boy relaxed a little.
Fabian knew it was time for the boy to take the bait. He continued, “But, I think it’s a matter of time that you get caught. I heard that person told the sheriff that you would definitely escape back to home. He told the sheriff to go there directly and wait for you.”
“What should I do? ” The boy mumbled to himself.
Seeing that the boy was panicking and about to cry again, Fabian said, “How about you hide for a while and wait until the limelight is over.”
“But I have no place to go.” The boy said while starting crying.
“Do you know how to write? Do accounts? If you know these things, I can take you to my boss. ” Fabian said.
“Yes, I know. I can write, even write in the decorative characters. All the price catalogues in the store are made by me, and I can settle the score. My arithmetic is good and I can do the decimal and fractional calculation, repeat the circumference ratio, even make profit analysis reports …”
Fabian knew nothing about the decorative characters and circumference ratio. He was taught by the old man, could read the official notice and did some basic math. He wouldn't make mistakes when calculating the gains from his "golden fingers". It was already quite amazing in the Old Nest.
What the boy said was not something he could understand, not even heard of.
But it did not affect Fabian. He nodded and said, “Not bad. You should be useful, but I have some matters to attend to. I can only return to Leila at dusk. If you want to join me, you can wait at the stage’s carriage. I’ll meet you there.”
He patted the boy’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, it will be fine when we arrive Leila.”
“I’m afraid that my family will worry about me, but I dare not to go home. Can you … Can you …? ” The boy said uneasily.
“Who’s in your family?” Fabian asked, pretending not knowing his intension.
“Aunt Betty is not my real aunt, but we are as close as family.” The boy said.
“I can send a message for you after finishing my job. Tell me the address.” Fabian said.
The boy thought for a moment and didn’t have any better ideas. He gave the address in detail to Fabian, even told him how to go.
After leaving the boy, Fabian walked out from an alley and back to where they had been. He followed the boy quietly and observed his movements carefully.
The boy was still hesitating. He wanted to go home but hesitantly withdrew his steps.
After wandering around for a long time, the boy finally made up his mind to walk towards the stage’s carriage.
Fabian followed the boy. When he saw the boy sit down on a slope beside the place and pondered, he finally felt relieved.
He walked toward the center of the town, and there was still some time before dusk, and now he had enough time to have some fun.
Fabian did not forget to take a look in that shop.
He saw a white-haired old man standing inside the shop. Beside him was a slender young man. The fat manager and the vice manager stood there respectfully. There were several customers who were obviously watching the commotion, and some of these sudden events were quite eye-catching.
The young man picked up a glass bead from the porcelain fragment and gave it to the old man.
“Seems like someone is deliberately making trouble.” The old man sighed as speaking.
“Such a thing has never happened before. How could this be?” said the young man.
“Indeed, who would do such a nonsense?” The manager asked.
“Go to the security council, it’s best for everyone to know about this. All of us should be careful. It looks like South Port aren’t peaceful.” the old man told at the young man.
“Dad, don’t worry. I will handle the matter appropriately.” the young man replied.
The old man nodded then told first and vice manager. “I know that this matter can’t be blamed on you guys. You don’t need to worry. Find the boy, tell him everything is fine.
However, you should pay more attention in the future. Someone wants to mess around in South Port, be careful of everything. ”
After saying this, the old man lowered his head and looked at the shattered pieces of porcelain, shook his head and sighed, “What a pity.”
When he heard these words, Fabian nodded to himself. No wonder this old man could make such a huge fortune.
The first and the vice manager expressed their gratitude, no matter what happened in the future, these two would definitely be loyal. A broken plate and a hopeless truth could be used for such a great purpose, the old man was indeed a good businessman.
When could he reach such a level, Fabian thought.