33. Smallville: The New Man
41.
After collecting the letter from JOJA, Aria walked towards her beloved strawberry field.
After the strawberry plant matures, it produces an average of one strawberry every four days. Apart from the fact that each strawberry looks the same size and color, and looks like they were copied and pasted when piled together, it is essentially a perfect gift with a sweet and fruity fragrance.
After the farmer harvested all the strawberries, in order to recoup her funds, she made a detailed division based on the quantity of strawberries - some were sold, some were given as gifts, and the rest were used to make wine.
Her small barrel business has not yet been successful, and the farmer has decided to make use of the small barrels that have already been made, at least to use them to multiply the value of the harvested strawberries several times.
After the strawberries were added, the bucket began to bubble, a sound reminiscent of the bubbling of money. Aria stood by for a moment, admiring the sound before heading over to where the cows were. Aunt Susan had built her a barn that looked remarkably durable. While she was away, Susan had even built a cozy nest for the calf that had moved in. Outdated fabrics, no longer used, had been padded and used as cushions for the calf to snuggle up at night. It rested its head on the nest, seemingly sensing the warmth of the last occupant.
The black and white dairy cow stayed in her little nest and had not yet been given a name by the farmer. Although Aria really wanted to call her a name like 74·446·434·*, she finally held back. She reached out and touched the calf and decided to call her back to the shed.
Livestock life would be very busy without the automatic petting machine. Aria took out the explosives given by Black Mask, took a look at the fortune for the day on TV, and decided to try to see if she could blow up something good today.
…
"...Vicky, I have no intention of criticizing your professionalism," the editor-in-chief of Gotham Gazette opened the instant tea bag and put it into the mug. Years of frowning had left an irreversible groove between her brows.
The editor-in-chief tossed Vicki Weir's draft onto the table. This wasn't the first time she'd faced the boldness and radicalism of this top reporter, but she'd almost always been irritated. "...But this time, you need to reconsider. 'The Mayor of Gotham is dead?' Using a headline like that could get us in big trouble."
If this is fake news, then the Gotham Gazette's reputation in the small circle of journalism will be ruined, and many of its colleagues will be the first to rush to laugh at it.
And if this was true news, the editor frowned, temporarily not thinking about the chaos and fighting that would follow in Gotham, and focused his attention on the incident and the newspaper itself - just the fact that Vicki Weir knew the news first was enough for the Gotham Police Department to cause them eight hundred troubles.
After weighing all the pros and cons, she concluded that the report couldn't be published. But Vicki Weir didn't seem to understand her hard work. Unable to tolerate the evidence she had painstakingly collected being ignored, the investigative reporter angrily threw a map onto the table.
"This is the evidence I risked my life to gather." It was a local map of Gotham City. A red marker had already marked a cross on it to represent the mayor's residence. Two blocks down were Gotham's large waste disposal plant. "Someone was carrying a large box in and out of the mayor's mansion last night. Unfortunately, I saw them."
She clutched the edge of the editor-in-chief's desk to make herself look more imposing. "That's when I started wondering what our dear new mayor was doing at night."
"--If he was a newcomer and was moving in one piece at a time, he definitely wouldn't choose such a late night to do it." Although the mansion is a single-family house, due to its geographical location and the superior infrastructure nearby, his neighbors are not easy to deal with. If you disturb them at night, even the mayor will report you.
"And if it's bribery," she casually picked up a black pen from the editor's desk, wrote the word, and crossed it out. "There are so many ways to bribe without being noticed. Why choose the dumbest, most easily discovered one?"
Vicki Weir had originally only intended to gather some private gossip about the new mayor and submit it anonymously, even preparing to rummage through trash cans. Unexpectedly, she followed the two men in black all the way to the waste disposal plant. After they finally left, she inspected the running garbage disposal machine and discovered the pale-faced new mayor lying inside, the machine's sharp steel teeth kissing him closely. The seasoned Gotham reporter immediately realized she had likely stumbled upon a genuine murder scene.
After the initial chill of fear, Vicki Weir, with an indescribable excitement, immediately took out her camera and filmed everything. Now she put the photos of the dead in front of the editor-in-chief, practically shaking her neck to agree to publish them: "That is absolutely Lewis, there is no denying it."
Vicki Weir held onto the editor-in-chief's ergonomic chair and whispered to the woman, "Let's break this window paper before other media outlets report the mayor's death today."
"This is a rare piece of big news, it will definitely help us get the headlines again—"
As the editor-in-chief, she naturally knew how much fame and fortune a headline could bring to the Gotham Gazette. The photos also looked incredibly authentic, unlikely to be fake. But after a moment's thought, the woman chose the more conservative option. "Didn't Mayor Lewis verbally agree to an exclusive interview with you? I'll call City Hall to confirm this."
With the connections of the newspaper editor, she could get this interview to Lewis' desk first, skipping over other unimportant content. If all went well, Vicki Weir would be able to meet Lewis face to face this afternoon.
The editor-in-chief added a sugar packet to her tea. She didn't care about the potential chaos in Gotham City. It didn't even seem as important as the newspaper. "As for the outcome...it all depends on whether Mayor Lewis is willing to see you alive today."
…
In her years as a reporter, Vicki Weir had witnessed most of the city hall tropes. "Wait a moment" generally meant "wait at least another hour," and "Your comments have been noted" was often synonymous with "We actively listen to your suggestions but never implement them." So when the new secretary hired by the new mayor told her, "Our mayor is busy, please wait a moment," she assumed the group inside was getting even more anxious, eager to dig up a new mayor for her right away.
Vicki Weir sat in the mayor's living room, drinking juice served by the staff, completely convinced that Lewis was dead. No matter what excuse the staff ultimately found to shirk this exclusive interview, it would only make Vicki more determined that she was right.
She even began to wonder if she should look for a more receptive newspaper if the editor-in-chief of the Gotham Gazette ultimately disagreed with revealing the truth to a broad audience.
"Ms. Vicki..." A secretary approached her, and Vicki Weir showed him her most perfect smile: "Why, is the mayor not available yet?"
She shook her head slightly, showing her grace. "It's okay. I believe that even if I can't keep my promise this time, the mayor will be able to show me his grace and profound thoughts next time..."
"No," the intern secretary wanted to scratch his head, but his workplace etiquette somewhat prevented him from doing so. Instead, he clasped his hands cautiously and said, "The mayor is already at the door."
Vicky Weir turned around in disbelief. The mayor, who should have been turned into minced meat and bone residue in the blender long ago, was standing at the door of the reception room wearing his duckbill hat, like a brand new person.
"I'm sorry I'm late."
Lewis felt it was necessary to build good relationships with these reporters for the sake of his reputation, and he even revealed some work details that should have been kept confidential: "I was just working on those gangs. You know, many of them don't pay taxes to Gotham, which is not conducive to the sustainable development of our city."
The new mayor coughed twice to make it clear he was serious. “So, in order to make the city better, I’ve decided to start forcibly collecting taxes from them starting next Monday.”
————————
*A cheat method in Stardew Valley, using codes to get what you want
Today's chapter is a bit short, I will make up for it for the little angels tomorrow (bow)
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2024-07-22 23:07:47 and 2024-07-23 23:59:06~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Xiao Hanhan (26 bottles); Yu (6 bottles); Xiao Xiao Xiao Hang, Water Plant Tank, Platinum x2, Kilig (5 bottles); Sheng, Mi (2 bottles); A Xing, XIAN, Lin Ru Shuang Xue, Yi Tan Mao Bing, Alfalfa (1 bottle);
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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