Chapter 2 The Art of Accommodation

1994.

North Africa, Port Royal York.

The scorching sun in summer makes this modern port city extremely hot.

Being in it, I felt like a poor roast chicken in the oven with oil constantly oozing out of it.

"Close to the sea, tropical desert climate..."

Staring at the distorted air on the road ahead in a trance, the boy Andy couldn't help but mutter, "Damn, this is embarrassing for a Shandong native like me."

He was standing next to a fire hydrant at an intersection waiting for the traffic light, his left hand holding his taken-off suit jacket and his right hand holding a tightly sealed black metal suitcase.

On the nearby sidewalk, many people passing by couldn't help but look sideways at him, just because he looked so disheveled.

The carefully tailored white shirt and black trousers should have been neat and shiny, but now they looked as if they had been soaked in water and were wrinkled when worn.

His thick black hair was also messy, with a few strands of dried seaweed leaves stuck to the back of his head.

Considering his appearance of looking about twelve or thirteen years old, it is hard not to attract attention.

But Andy was thick-skinned and didn't care about other people's eyes at all. Instead, a newspaper blown to his feet by the wind attracted his attention.

[A passenger plane carrying 157 people crashed into the sea near this city last night. Search and rescue work is underway.] This is the headline on the front page.

[It is reported that this B33 aircraft took off from the port of Francassee, suspected to be due to bad weather and...] As he was looking down, the suitcase in his right hand suddenly vibrated!

Along with it, a few wisps of thick black mist wriggled out from the cracks in the box like liquid tentacles! This phenomenon was very strange.

Under the dazzling sunlight, cold frost spots appeared around the black fog tentacles, like thin ice, slowly spreading along the metal box!

"Okay, okay, don't be angry."

Andy patted the suitcase and whispered to comfort him as if he was petting a pet, "I know you did it. Let the damn bad weather go to hell."

"Although this is not something to be proud of, it's because you are a brainless idiot who can't tell the difference between good and bad."

His complaining words were not correct, at least the things in the box could distinguish that the boy was "good" and was now "standing up for himself".

So even though he was still dissatisfied with the newspaper, the few wisps of black mist tentacles that overflowed from the box still squirmed and shrank back contentedly.

Andy sighed at this.

It has been a long time since I came to this world which is like a twin of the Earth.

As a time traveler, his golden finger allows him to be reincarnated an unlimited number of times in this world.

Sounds great to never really die.

However, one's identity after reincarnation, as well as whether one can uncover the mystery in the womb and awaken the memory of the past life, are no longer under one's control.

For example, he is very unlucky now, or he is very unlucky in this life. He was reincarnated into a sickly kid who is obviously fifteen years old but looks like a little kid, and his life experience is also very bad.

An illegitimate child, his biological father is a scumbag, and his mother is critically ill. She only remembered she had such a son half a month ago.

Then they sent people to pick him up, but for some reason, they sent a group of thugs who intended to kill the poor little boy on the way.

If he hadn't been stimulated by the awakening of his past life memories at his mother's funeral and hadn't had some means of saving himself, he would probably be dead by now.

But there was nothing to be thankful for, because he was seriously ill and had only a few days to live.

"So, why did those people go to such lengths?"

"It's my bad luck to meet this burden."

While muttering to himself, Andy saw that the green light had come on at the intersection ahead. He did not stop and walked along the zebra crossing towards a hotel across the street.

Lung cancer is in the late stage. Although it is a terminal illness, he believes it is not incurable.

The world after time travel is very similar to Earth in terms of geography and international situation, but similarity does not mean exact identity.

Apart from anything else, if this illness happened in ancient times, he could have been cured simply by sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Unfortunately, times have changed. If we want to transcend the secular framework and cure terminal illness, we need to rely on external forces.

Including but not limited to financial, human, material resources...

This is a bit complicated.

In other words, curing this disease may not be successful.

Andy plans to let nature take its course, and if things go well, he will be treated, and if not, he will just lie down and hope to be born into a good family in his next life.

But before that, he didn't want to stand on the curb in a daze under the scorching sun that was blinding enough to blind his eyes. The important thing was to find a place to stay first.

So Andy chose to walk into a roadside hotel.

The store is not large, and the first floor is designed as a pub, with a retro British colonial feel.

In an environment that was much darker than outside, a fat middle-aged man with brown hair was leaning against the bar wiping wine glasses.

When he saw the boy walk in, he immediately waved him away with disgust on his face.

"Get out! Didn't you see what the sign says? Minors are not allowed here!"

The boss didn't speak Andy's native language.

But this did not bother him.

"A single room with air conditioning, quiet, for half a month, and two sets of clothes for me to change into, plus a travel backpack."

As the boy with a foreign accent spoke, he took off the silver mechanical watch on his wrist and placed it on the wooden bar.

"Just make sure the food is up to the standards of your employees."

He seemed not to hear what his boss said.

But before Andy finished his words, the fat boss who had looked down on him just now quickly took the watch away, then walked out to the bar with a big smile on his face to greet people, showing his hospitality.

After some trouble, Andy finally settled down here.

This stay lasted for three days.

Because the weather was too hot and he was in poor health, he ate, drank, defecated and urinated in the air-conditioned guest room with a private bathroom and never came out.

…

"I can only say that it was God's blessing that we met this little fat sheep." The fat boss sighed to his wife on the first day.

"I guess he's from America. The people there are all red-necked nouveau riche who love to spend money. They're rough and sloppy. They probably can't figure out that they could buy our store by selling that watch."

“Will this cause trouble?” Although he made a lot of money, his wife was a little worried about it.

"What kind of trouble can a reckless white fool who doesn't know anyone around him cause?"

The fat boss chuckled and said meaningfully, "There are too many idiots who came here from abroad to travel and ended up being robbed or even killed. There are no embassies nearby."

"Robbery? Robbery of such a young child, are you crazy?"

"What are you thinking about?"

The fat boss waved his hands and denied it. "Robbery was just an example. I am a law-abiding businessman, but I didn't intend to do it."

…

That's what I said.

As a result, the next day, the fat boss started complaining to his wife, cursing.

"Damn it, I didn't expect that guy to be a tuberculosis patient. He keeps coughing in the middle of the night and won't let me sleep!"

"I saw that the paper in his trash can was stained with blood..."

The wife said in a worried tone, "Don't let him die here. It would be bad if it causes any international disputes."

"You think too highly of those foreigners."

The fat boss sneered at the words, "International disputes... You've watched too many Madonna shows on TV. What kind of jokes are you telling?"

"What is a bad joke? Haven't you heard——"

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Before the wife could finish her angry words, she was interrupted by the fat boss, "Okay, okay, I've made up my mind. Let him stay for two more days, and then we'll kick him out."

"…Didn't we agree on half a month?"

"He didn't say he was a sickly person. How unlucky must he be to cough up toilet paper all over the floor? Shouldn't he compensate me for the loss?"

…

This went on until the third day.

The weather was scorching hot and business was slow. The fat boss was hiding behind the bar, wiping his watch like a treasure when he suddenly remembered something.

"If I remember correctly, the white kid seemed to be carrying a suitcase?"

"Black, metallic, very common in movies, should be very valuable..."

"What needs to be protected in such an expensive box?"

Just as I was thinking about it, a car horn suddenly came from outside the store.

The fat boss looked up and was stunned for a moment.

Just because he actually saw the limousine of the city's biggest gang leader and police chief parked in front of his hotel! "I just paid less than half a month's protection fee."

The fat boss was shocked. "How could such a big shot come to urge me?"

He was a little afraid, but he didn't dare to hesitate for a moment. After hurriedly hiding his precious watch, he ran out of the bar and prepared to greet him.

After only taking a few steps, the brown-haired fat man suddenly stopped.

Because he discovered that the usually very stylish police chief was actually serving as his driver.

After parking the car, she went to open the door for someone else just like him! "Mayor?"

He was surprised by the figure getting off the car.

"These two were always fighting in the news, why are they now——"

My thoughts suddenly got stuck.

Just like a nesting doll, the middle-aged mayor who got out of the car actually stretched out his hand to block the door frame for others like a lackey!

The smiling face was totally different from the majestic figure on TV! The fat boss was stunned.

The last person to get off the bus was a middle-aged man with gray hair, ordinary looks, and dressed in black priest clothes.

The fat boss didn't know this person.

But seeing how arrogant this priest was, he became a little nervous, fearing that he would have anything to do with a big shot of this level.

Unfortunately, what you fear will come true.

After getting out of the car and looking around, the other person actually walked straight towards him! "Sorry to bother you."

When he came to the front, the priest said with a kind expression: "I'm here to see a black-haired boy named Andy Hall."

He was very polite, but that didn't make the fat boss relax at all.

This was because the mayor, who was following behind the priest, was staring at him with a very stern look, as if warning him to be careful with his words and not to lose his manners.

"Andy, Andy lives in the corner room on the second floor by the window."

The fat boss was so scared that he stammered, "Room number is 2,209."

"2209?"

"No, no, it's 209!"

"Yes, thank you very much."

Having said this, the priest walked hurriedly upstairs, looking a little anxious.

Or, can't wait? The fat boss didn't have time to think about it, because the police chief didn't follow him upstairs.

Instead, after the priest left, he grabbed his arm and seriously questioned him about everything related to the boy Andy.

The fat boss didn't dare to lie and could only tell the truth.

It was emphasized that he did not neglect foreign children at all, nor did he spread any bad information. He was a good citizen who knew how to protect minors.

"very good."

The police chief was obviously very satisfied with this, so he patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are lucky. After this, I will forgive you for the half month's protection fee you owe."

You, you are really thinking about such a small thing?

The fat boss cursed inwardly, but on the surface he could only look grateful and surprised.

However, the next sentence from the other party made his face freeze instantly.

"Oh, by the way, did the kid pay for your room and board?"

"Ah? Uh... Of course, of course, but——"

"Give it back and tell me the number later, and I will replenish it for you."

Having said this, he went up the stairs to the second floor without caring whether anyone was willing or not.

The fat boss was left alone at the place, feeling extremely confused.

After being stunned for a long while, he suddenly let out a cry of realization, then slapped himself hard, his face flushed with anger, "I was careless!"

"damn it!"

"That white-skinned brat has been planning to eat and drink for free since the beginning!"

(End of this chapter)