Trafford’s Trading Club

In fear, time becomes very slow - especially when supported by projects that don't have much time to spare, time is like a snail climbing.

With a TV show in the university bedroom, Caroline has switched dozens of channels back and forth, and even so, only half an hour has passed.

Arnold is not here, he says he still needs to go to class, otherwise he won't get enough credits to graduate - Caroline knows that Arnold is studying three different societies at the same time.

There are some certificates and awards and stuff in the bedroom that belong to Arnold personally —— this guy, I'm afraid, is a genius?

Though Caroline doesn't know what a real genius should be, Arnold is undoubtedly the smartest person Caroline knows... well, in terms of reading alone.

The university campus is very quiet and clean. Young faces everywhere, cheerful, young men and women walking on campus paths, Caroline leaning by the window, feeling like she was entering a zoo called "University” - a world she had never been in contact with herself.

Caroline suddenly remembered Nia, who hadn't heard from her for days, wondered if Caroline's lawyer had sold Nia's property - perhaps already sold it, and then let Boston's men split two million.

Perhaps more than ever, she lay in bed in despair, because Carol's lawyer was probably gone, because even Caroline herself had disappeared from the end of Nia's life at this time.

Every time I think about it, Caroline feels very sad and self-reproached.

Perhaps the real bitch should be more heartless... Caroline thought for a long time and finally found a reason to quiet herself down.

She hides herself from thinking about Nia any more - and she's in trouble now herself.

The constant change in television channels was due to the desire to see if there was any information about any of the murders in Libya.

Unfortunately for Caroline, however, television stations broadcast either non-nutritious programmes or strange news stories.

Caroline suddenly feels a little ridiculous because she realizes that a sex worker as small as Livia, even in the streets with corpses, doesn't really have a lot of attention —— the police even bother, because they add their own workload and so on.

A life's death just hides itself in a changing society of information… scum, garbage, for a moment, Caroline even subconsciously labeled herself.

She then looked at the men and women on campus and suddenly felt that they were somewhat hateful. She knew it was purely her own kind of anger.

But what can you do without anger... someone like her?

Someone like me?

Caroline suddenly rushed out of this bedroom at all costs, reminding her of Arnold's orders not to leave the place at random. But at this point, she's just looking for a place to get some air - even if it's just sneaking around downstairs.

Of course, some protective measures she would still do.

For example, she put on a hoodie and took a pair of glasses from Arnault's desk —— and she found that the glasses had no lenses, just a pair of frames.

Caroline didn't think too much about it because she felt so confused today that she couldn't figure out what was going on in there.

She gradually crossed the boys' dormitory trail and came to the front of an artificial lake on campus. Caroline threw a few stones into this artificial lake - she even played a few flightstone games, but ended up feeling bored.

She turned around and saw an old man sitting alone on a bench not far away.

The old man looked at the artificial lake and looked stunned, Caroline felt that the old man was obviously not having a relaxing afternoon... he should have something on his mind or something.

Perhaps it would be quicker to talk to a stranger… Caroline walked subconsciously toward the old man sitting on the bench.

“Can I sit here?” Caroline asked ahead.

The old man looked up and did not speak or continue to follow.

Caroline shrugged her shoulders and sat directly on the other side of the bench.

“What is this?” Caroline, that's when she noticed a black card next to the old man.

The old man didn't come back, he just quickly stuffed the card in his pocket.

Caroline doesn't care much either.

She suddenly pulled some chocolate out of her pocket, "Want some? Eat something to lick when you're not happy, and you'll be happy. It seems to be because the chocolate has something special in it. ”

“Aminoethanol arachidonate.” The old man spoke softly.

Caroline was curious, “What is this? ”

The old man glanced at Caroline and frowned: “Aminoethanol arachidonate is an endogenous cannabis-alkali substance that binds to the opioid receptors in our brain and then promotes dopamine production in the brain, which occasionally makes everyone happy and relaxed... this is the campus of the Department of Bioengineering, are you a student of the Department of Bioengineering? Why don't you know anything so basic? ”

Caroline rolled her eyes and said, "Are you sure you're a student here? So you're a student here, too? Old man?”

Of course the old man can't be a student, it's just Caroline playing with her mouth.

“You don't know me?” The old man looked at Caroline in surprise.

“Are you famous?” Caroline asked backwards.

“Nothing famous.” The old man said softly, “I'm just a bad old man who had to retire and was sent to this place to support his old age. ”

“Retirement... isn't retirement good?” Caroline asks curiously, "Had a lifetime of hard work, wasn't it just to retire? I think you should be wealthy. You should enjoy your life, right? Why are you still sulking here? ”

"My life is long gone," said the old man. ”

Caroline saw the chocolate sent out at this moment, the old man didn't mean to move, so she took it back and ate it herself, and suddenly she said, "Probably better than some people waiting desperately for death in their beds, at least you can sit here and be silly. Others may not see the sun tomorrow. ”

The old man glanced at Caroline surprised and intuitively told her that the girl had a sense of sanity that the average student did not have.

He subconsciously asked, "Are you in trouble too? ”

Caroline kicked her leg and seemed to be in a better mood, and she said, “Old man, you said 'too' earlier, right? You go first! ”

The old man shook his head.

Carolinso sat up and turned himself to the old man's side, "Don't you think that's a good idea? I have something to worry about, and you have a mind. We're all bored, and we don't want to know each other, so maybe we won't see each other again. So why don't we talk to each other? I hear that if you listen to more people's tragic experiences, you will feel happy. ”

“What logic are you?” The old man frowned.

Caroline shrugged, “There's no logic, isn't there? For example, you had an unlucky afternoon, and it felt really bad. But at night, someone tells you that your neighbor died in a car accident, and you might feel sad, but wouldn't you feel ‘lucky'? Because someone is worse than you. ”

“Build your happiness on others?” The old man shook his head, "not interested. ”

Caroline shrugged: “That depends on who it is. Perhaps the other person is building happiness on you as well... why don't I tell you first? One of us says one thing, and we can not discuss any reason for it, just simply listen, okay? ”

Without a response from the old man, Caroline thought for a moment, first of all saying, “I'm being hunted down by a few bad guys, and now I can't go anywhere but hide. The bad guys took all the money from me, and now I'm basically in a state where I don't have a next meal. ”

“Then you should go to the police.” The old man said softly.

Caroline said, "Didn't we have a deal not to talk about things per se, just listen? Well, it's your turn, old man. ”

The old man frowned and hesitated for a moment before slowly saying: “I can still work, but I have a problem at work. It's going to affect my son a lot. So he fired me personally and sent me here. If I disagree, what awaits me is the life of a nursing home. ”

"A friend of mine died a while ago, unfortunately, and I somehow appeared at the scene of the murder, all of whom considered me a murderer. ”

The old man's gaze shrunk slightly and his face sank as he watched the young girl with a clear face.

Caroline was ready to run away when she was ready, but the old man stared at the lake, “I... I killed a lot of people. A long time ago, my colleagues who worked with me died in an accident because of my loneliness. This includes even one of my favorite students, who is also my son's wife. ”

“No wonder your son isn't nice to you...” Caroline stunned.

The old man frowned: "Didn't you say not to talk about it? ”

“I'm sorry.” Caroline shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the distance, "I lied to someone. I don't know if she's good to me, but she's willing to give me the last thing. But I lied to her, to her with others... to her hopes. ”

"I was also cheating, cheating on my family, cheating on my grandson," said the old man. "I didn't dare to tell him what I really wanted, trying to keep this family alive. But we all know that the longer the deception lasts, the more intense the agony will grow waiting for the day when it truly comes. ”

Caroline is silent.

The old man is also silent.

A long time later, Caroline suddenly said, "I have no future. ”

And the old man slowly said, "My dream is dead. ”

Long time.

Caroline stood up sighing and shook her head: “I wasn't happy at all. ”

The old man laughed bitterly.

“Let's go." Caroline shook her head and patted the old man's shoulder casually… a simple comforting move.

However, the moment the palm touched the old man's shoulder, Caroline suddenly had her brain blown apart, and a strange image flashed through her eyes.

The white bed, the white sheets covered, is the look of this old man. He seemed to be dead, in the hospital room… beside him was a complicated middle-aged man and a weeping little boy.

“You… you will die.” Caroline muttered to herself.

She suddenly hit a spirit and woke up. When she saw the old man looking up at herself in dismay, Caroline hurried: “I didn't mean it that way, I just... just..."

“Perhaps.” The old man shook his head, thinking, "Perhaps even I would have died...”

“I mean, you later...” Caroline finally swallowed it up.

The old man also stood up and put on his hat, so he turned around and left, and Caroline turned to his back and said, "Why don't you go home a little more? ”

The old man waved his hand behind Caroline's back and said goodbye.

……

Caroline watched the old man leave altogether before returning to his bedroom, perhaps before Arnold returned from class.

She didn't stop all the way, just about downstairs in the dorm, went into a convenience store, bought a bottle of beer —— the money was taken from the table in the bedroom, just some loose money, probably a bottle of beer.

When Caroline walked out of the convenience store, she saw Arnold walking through it with his head down, and Caroline tried to shout at him, but saw him flying around the back of the convenience store.

Caroline frowned and did not speak, but followed her quietly.

Arnold stopped in the alley behind the convenience store and there were a few young men waiting here a long time ago… these people were supposed to be students at school, and Caroline saw one of them carrying a schoolbag.

Arnold seemed particularly cautious, and what they were talking about, those student-like guys, suddenly paid up and handed it over to Arnold.

After Arnold ordered it, he pulled it out of his body and handed it over to the students.

Caroline opened her mouth, hurriedly turned her back and had a little panic in her eyes... Suddenly she looked a little pale, Caroline subconsciously covered her mouth, but her fingers touched the glasses on her face.

Caroline took off the glasses violently —— no lenses.

Arnold is short-sighted, but these glasses...

This man... not Arnold!

……

……

Later in the day, an old man was greeted on the ramp.

He had a strange black card in his hand and a confused color on his face... he seemed to be looking for something and looking around.

The old man looked clean and tidy and his clothes should be a good brand.

This has provoked some gaze in the neighborhood - although there are rules that don't rob locals, there are times when very few people really care about such rules.

The old man did not know what was behind him and had followed two people quietly.

He suddenly glanced at it and walked towards a grocery store on the ramp - the old man did go in that direction from the eyes of the two people who wanted to see the robbery.

“Where are the people? ”

“Didn't you just stay? Why is it all of a sudden gone? ”

“Find it...”

……

Club.

The old man looked up at the door of this ancient shop and then reached for the pine door.

The elderly were extremely surprised to see such a luxurious yet stylish shop in the slums.

Don't know exactly where the lights are, but the lobby is bright, warm, soft, and eyeless.

“Can I help you? ”

When the old man heard the voice, he looked at the past, a woman in a black and white maid's dress, sitting quietly in a corner chair.

“I…” the old man subconsciously raised the black card on his hand: “As if… it brought me here. But I can't remember when this thing was actually in my hand... we, have we met somewhere? ”

“May I help you, Dr. Frankie?” The club maid asked again.

The voice is not loud, but it clearly reaches the old man's ears, into his heart, as if it had endless magic... the old man's mind flashed countless things.

The old man… Dr. Frankie was not surprised that his name was instantly called out, he just had an impulse in his heart.

“I want…”