Chapter 1 Prologue
On Sunday morning in London, a roadside restaurant was open normally. There were not many people in the restaurant. Some people were dining in their seats, and some were sitting on the long bar drinking hot tea. The waiter took a coffee pot and black tea to each customer, and stopped from time to time to chat with familiar customers. The atmosphere in the restaurant was slow and comfortable.
The two children who packed sandwiches played and laughed in the narrow long restaurant, which ruined the atmosphere. The waiter couldn't help but drink: "Hey! Hey! Hey! Two gentlemen, be quiet."
The two children stopped and stood and looked at each other. After the aunt turned around, the eldest child twisted his butt and knocked the child down. The child fell on the side of a middle-aged man's chair. The middle-aged man hurriedly reached out to support the child. The child stood up as if he had done something bad, with a restrained expression and apologized: "Sorry, sir."
The middle-aged man smiled: "It doesn't matter, but the restaurant is not a place for fighting."
"Yes, sir." The child nodded.
The waiter aunt said, "Two boys, your breakfast is ready."
The eldest child stepped forward and took the paper bag and walked towards the restaurant gate with the child one after another.
A bald man in his fifties, who was sitting in a bar chair, slowly folded the newspaper up and reached out to stop the child. He smiled and looked at the child: "I'll treat you to breakfast."
The child was a little nervous, shook his head, turned to look at the older child, and looked at him for help.
The eldest child stood at the door and looked at it without saying a word, as if waiting for the child to come by himself.
The aunt noticed the abnormality and said, "John?"
The man named John glanced at the kid's right pants pocket: "I found he was hungry, right?"
The right thing was asking the child. The child nodded in the face of this question, and John smiled with satisfaction, pushed the bar chair beside him and let the child sit on it. At this time, the eldest child quietly left the restaurant.
John asked for a portion of milk and a hot dog, then took out five bills from his coat pocket and placed them in front of the child. The child did not dare to move, and John explained: "I want to buy the wallet in the right pocket of your pants."
The child hesitated for a moment and took out the purse in his right pants pocket. John took the purse, threw it at the ground without looking at it, and asked, "What's your name?"
The child replied: "Liang Xi."
John asked: "Vietnamian?"
The child replied: "Chinese."
At this time, the aunt saw the wallet, picked it up and shouted, "Hey, which careless guy lost the wallet?"
Everyone was exploring, and the middle-aged man realized that his wallet was lost and hurried forward to claim it.
John pushed the milk in front of Liang Xi and glanced at the five bills he placed on the table: "This is your money, you can put it away."
Liang Xi picked up the banknotes and asked, "Can I count them?"
John laughed: "Of course."
Liang Xi picked up five bills and started counting. His way of counting money was different from others. He first held the money in his left hand, then pulled out one with his right hand and placed it on the table, counting: "One, one, one, one, one."
After counting, Liang Xi's hands were empty, and there was only one banknote on the table. Liang Xi pushed the banknote to John: "Sorry, sir, I can't take your money."
John was very surprised. He knew that this was a magic trick, and he also knew how to use this magic trick. He was just surprised that Liang Xi could do it so well. John put away a bill in front of him and thought for a while: "Liang Xi, I know you are a student of the Blue Jacket School."
Liang Xi was surprised this time: "How did you know?"
John smiled and replied: "I am a detective." Chinese children will not be pickpockets unless they are orphans. There is a blue coat charity school four blocks away, and the restaurant is near the bus stop. Based on all the information, John came to the conclusion.
Liang Xi was not interested in detective profession and tilted his head without caring: "There are detectives everywhere in the UK."
John felt that this was right, so he agreed and nodded and asked, "Do you like being a pickpocket?"
Liang Xi did not answer and drank silently with milk in his hand.
John knew in his mind: "My detective agency is located not far from Benning Street, and there is a lack of someone to clean me. If you want, I can solve your trouble."
Liang Xi looked up at John: "But...but they are a very bad group of people."
John said: "I just ask you if you are willing or not. As for how to solve the problem, that's mine."
Liang Xi thought for a while and said, "Sir, it is illegal to hire child labor."
John said disinterestedly: "If you don't give money, you won't be hiring."
Liang Xi was shocked. Is this the logic of the detective?
Chapter completed!