Just exist.
No need to delve into it.
A detective collection is both a mystery novel and a deciphering novel, and these two points are actually contradictory. I think I should not let some things completely lose their mysterious veil. If I really explain some truths in a science fiction way, then unless I am sure that the topics I bring up later can be as grand and touching as the theories in The Three-Body Problem, otherwise it can be regarded as a blasphemy against mystery.
Because the unknown is the biggest source of emotion.
What a grand background the first season of Code Geass had, but after reading it in R2, I was like, huh, that’s it?
(I personally think that the problem with R2 is that it is too short. The length of the World War is condensed into just over episodes. Too many details are not explained before the plot is hastily advanced. Everything is wanted to be said but not enough is said, which makes everyone look like lunatics and psychopaths. If it weren't for the ending, it can be said that it is a complete collapse.)
I'm definitely not as good as them. The emotional appeal of light and shadow art cannot be matched by novels, but I don't want to make the same mistake.
There is also a response to some of Belmullen's foreshadowing.
Not only did he have the scene where all the beasts paid tribute to him, he also mentioned that he was a native of the mountains and the only survivor of that village tribe.
The reason why I take some time to describe this character is to explain the continuation of life.
If Namiya is a world of hope, then Lana is a world of only despair.
No matter what time it is, it is not wrong for life to want to live. In order to survive, life will try every possible means, to evolve, to kill, to plunder, to devour... It can be said that it will use any means, even if it is a self-proclaimed advanced animal, a human with wisdom, will not care about morality and shame at this time.
Only a very small number of people care, which is a miracle in the process of advancement of nature and even the universe.
Lana's personification and experience are like a mirror to Namiya, which travels through time and reflects the future that is destined for Namiya once she fails.
In this respect, its presence will intensify the feeling of oppression before the crisis arrives and make that feeling more concrete.
On the other hand, when life cannot survive after trying its best, it will not die, because it has left a way out for itself.
No longer itself, but "a seed of Mithros".
At the cost of completely integrating into another world, another civilization, blurring one's identity, at least one can continue to exist as a hope.
That’s the meaning of that last scene.
As for what’s in the box, that’s what Ah Qing came here to find at the beginning. “Deliver to Connie” basically tells us what it is, so I won’t go into details.
come on!
Let us enter the "Third Century".
Enter the story where the mysterious figure of Aisun Hitzfeld can be revealed...finally.
Chapter 1: The Diplomatic Mission (Two in One)
The ice month is over, which means that the temperature will gradually warm up for people living in the southern coastal areas. But for port cities like Wayne, which are located in the north, they still have to wait for about two more months before changing clothes.
But that doesn't mean they can't prepare ahead of time.
Like many vendors who "have a little adventurous spirit, but not enough", Nong Lin also chose to open a tailor shop in East Lane, Wayne Port. This can be said to be a decision made after careful consideration, because he did not enter the industry from scratch. His father worked for another tailor shop before his death. The stitches he sewed were fine and inconspicuous, and many noble lords praised his craftsmanship.
Nong Lin didn't completely inherit his father's talent, but he had been helping his family since he was young, and he did a lot of things like measuring and cutting cloth. In addition, he had become familiar with the owners of the cloth market over the years, so at least he wouldn't run into something with a black eye.
I don't seek to develop into a famous brand and become rich, but it's fine as a stable source of income to support my family, or even to be content with a small fortune.
Nong Lin got up very early today because he had a large backlog of orders. He did the math before going to bed last night and felt it would be better to come early to cut the cloth.
His father had passed on relevant experience to him when he was still alive. He always said, "Nonglin, if you open a tailor shop in the future, you can't just hire people to do the work... You have to use the scissors yourself, and remember that you must not wait for the season to change and store them."
The so-called consignment refers to some clothes that are piled up in the warehouse and cannot be sold.
Clothes can't always be sold, there will always be some left over. And the fashion trends in Wayne have changed very rapidly in recent years. Even the most experienced tailors can hardly accurately determine what the next popular style will be. The number of consignments will only increase.
Many small shops don't know how to adapt. They always stick to the rules and only sell winter clothes in winter and summer clothes in summer. They only use promotions to clear inventory when the seasons are about to change, which is inappropriate in Nong Lin's opinion.
If you go a little further in, the people there might be more reasonable. But this is East Alley near the port, and if you tell people here that something you sold yesterday is suddenly cheaper today, they will not be happy, but will suspect that there is something wrong with the item.
What's more, it will be too late by then... Truly far-sighted tailors will start preparing for the change of consignment two months in advance. Famous ones will even start designing summer styles in winter.
My father told Nonglin several stories about famous artists. Without exception, they were all distinguished guests in luxury mansions. They usually went to salons where celebrities and noble ladies gathered. People there didn't care about the temperature - even Bingyue's family had enough charcoal and firewood anyway - they only cared about art. It was said that they would argue about whether a skirt should have buttons on the collar, and they would argue for a week to find out the reason.
Nong Lin could not understand this kind of behavior. Even his father could not understand it. His craftsmanship was not as good as his father's. These were too far away for him.
But although he was not qualified to be a guest of honor in aristocratic mansions, nor was he qualified to accept orders like famous masters in the cold month - or even in Ramadan, he could at least prepare to cut seasonal clothes two months in advance, which at least allowed him to outperform his peers.
"You don't need to compete with the masters, Norin. You just need to be better than all the tailors on this street."
Nong Lin benefited greatly from the teachings also coming from his father.
After three years of running the store, he finally understood why the old man had asked him to do everything himself.
If I don't do it, I won't know how many feet of cloth should be cut for this batch of clothes, let alone how much it will cost to repair these few feet of cloth. Those hired tailors and servants may join forces to cheat me, and I will not be able to make any money.
On the way to the store, he kept thinking about these truths. Nong Lin walked to the door of the store, took out the key and quickly unlocked it.
It was dark, and there were only two street lamps on the road. He got up at 4:30 today and rushed here, so it was still not very bright.
The new dynasty is still good...
Looking up at the bright light bulb, Nong Lin felt relieved and praised the king at the same time.
When Wayne was a child, electricity was very scarce. I still remember that several times at night, my father wanted to revise manuscripts but there was a power outage, so he could only sew slowly under the light of an oil lamp or candle.
The new dynasty directly solved the electricity problem in Wayne Port. In the past, the street lights would be turned off at three or four o'clock. But now, they are still on at almost five o'clock.
Guangliang emboldened Nonglin to go out on the street at this time - he knew that the closer to the docks and stations in any city, the more chaotic it would be. This had nothing to do with Wayne being the capital of a country, it was the same everywhere.
After opening the door, he went into the store, turned on the lights, and then closed the iron door again.
He wasn't planning on opening for business yet; he was just here to check the consignment and decide how to sell them as quickly as possible based on the verified quantity.
"46 pieces of men's clothing, 87 pieces of women's clothing, 1 bolt of dyed cloth, um... there's actually an order for designer clothing here?"
Nong Lin looked at the statistical results in deep thought, a little hesitant about what to do with this thing in the end.
Famous clothing is celebrity clothing, which is distinguished from other clothes.
After all, there are huge differences in the most basic materials. The same sailor shirt may look the same in style, but normal people only need to buy linen, while famous clothing requires fine woven cloth, which is more than ten times more expensive.
Nonglin's shop usually does good business, which has little to do with his craftsmanship, but mainly benefits from the business experience he inherited from his father. Nearby residents basically know that his father was a famous figure in the past, because his father was the only one in the nearby streets who could make clothes with fine cloth.
To make clothes with fine fabrics, it is not enough to just have the courage to do it, you also have to be knowledgeable and know the trends that are being pursued by the upper-class salons.
After all, people who buy clothes care about it!
If you don't understand and the details of the style you make are not correct, or if you don't understand enough and the style you make is the style that was popular a few months ago, how can you expect those people to pay a high price?
"I remember I told them that the store doesn't accept orders for designer clothes. What's wrong with these people... Is my words no longer effective?"
Nong Lin was having a headache thinking about it.
It's not that he can't make famous clothes. After all, his father had experience in taking orders and there were twelve manuscripts of various styles of clothes left at home.
But the problem is that they are definitely outdated. This is the only thing I can make. Wouldn’t it be asking for trouble if I use them to get the job done?
"This customer... didn't go to the brand store in the central area, but came to the East District Lane to order branded clothing?"
Shaking his head, Nong Lin turned the list over.
"Ok?"
He found that this side was covered with densely written words, all of which were detailed requirements for this order.
At the bottom there were even three sketches showing the design from different angles, with even the metal materials used for the buttons marked out, which really surprised him.
Such knowledge is very valuable.
This piece of manuscript alone can be sold for some money. What on earth is this person thinking... Didn't father say that even if a noble places an order, he would bring them to your house for a face-to-face meeting?
Nong Lin could guess the reason a little bit. He knew that those young ladies all hoped to make a stunning appearance at the next salon or dinner party, so the information of customized famous clothes was naturally not allowed to be leaked in advance, otherwise it would be embarrassing if they had the same style.
He was still somewhat worried, and after thinking for a while, Nong Lin locked the other notebooks in the cabinet. He put the small notebook with the manuscript paper into his inner pocket, locked the door and went to find the tailor in the store - he remembered where the residence was.
"Boss? It's not even daybreak yet... Did something happen?"
The old tailor who opened the door had a tone full of resentment.
"I came to ask you about this order."
Nong Lin took out the manuscript paper and asked about the appearance and details of the customer who placed the order.
"You're talking about this..." The old tailor yawned, thought for a moment and then said, "I remember... it was ordered by a very beautiful lady. She paid one tenth of the fee in advance, which is 1100 gori, and then..."
"Wait, how much did she give?"
"1100 Goli."
"1100 Goli! Is this one tenth?"
Nong Lin was shocked. Doesn’t that mean he can get 1000 Gold Sera for this order?
Many people can’t earn this much money in several years. This... Just a piece of clothing, even if it is a famous brand, is the price too outrageous?
"That's not far-fetched, boss." The old tailor yawned again. "I was wrong about this matter... I was too tired yesterday to tell you, but I also expressed these doubts clearly at the time. After all, I was afraid of something going wrong... But guess what the other party said?"
"Don't give me any nonsense, just speak!"
"She said that ours was the only tailor shop she could find after running around for most of the day, and it was one of the few that could still handle designer clothes."
"How could this happen?" Nong Lin was even more surprised. "We are not a big store... What about the central area? What about the wealthy area? Are all the brand stores there closed down?"
“It didn’t close down.”
"Then why..."
"But they don't accept orders anymore." The old tailor interrupted him, "Don't ask me, I don't know either. The news was provided by that lady, and she said it very clearly - 'Those guys don't accept orders anymore, because all the orders are full.' It seems that the whole Wayne is now crazy about new famous clothes... I guess there is some big event recently."
This is not the case.
Nonglin frowned.
The Ice Moon is over, and the New Year is over. What other activities are there in the near future? The next event may have to wait until the Hot Moon Festival!
How long will it take? May? Or June?
Even if it was the Thermidor Festival, those great nobles would not prepare famous costumes four or five months in advance. This is definitely not right, it is definitely not this reason.
Nong Lin didn't understand, and it wasn't just him who didn't understand. It also included all the tailor shops, big and small, in Wayne that had received orders for designer clothes.
“Is this a bit of an overreaction?”
At 9 o'clock in the morning, in a silver-gray car parked on the street, a man with gray hair and a slightly raised nose - but not quite a hooked nose - looked at his companion with a half-frown.
"You, me, and our entourage... the entire delegation has more than 300 people in total. If so many people have to order costumes, the cost alone will be astronomical."
"It's an investment," his companion said bluntly.
"We came late, and everyone else did it, but we didn't. What would it look like? 'The people of Tarignan don't know etiquette, and they actually despise Queen Sarah'?"
"I heard that he has a close relationship with Earl Xieyang... and can't we also get in touch with the Earl?"
"Oh don't be naive!"
The man who was talking about investment burst out laughing. "You are also an official now... What will it be like to be an official? How different will it be from your previous self? I don't need to remind you of this, right?"
"But……"
"No buts! Listen to me, Moore! She is now the Count of Xieyang, the pillar of the Kingdom of Sara! Don't try to get close to her by bringing up that ridiculous adventure in the past. Do you know that this might lead to her being killed?"
"Okay, Wright." Moore-Sala sighed, "I won't mention it."
"Take it easy." Another person reached out and patted his shoulder. "Famous clothes are also divided into different grades! At most, other people can just not wear such high standards, just enough to show courtesy."
Yes, these two are brothers. The elder one is called Lett-Sara and the younger one is called Moore-Sali. They are from the western dragon country of Talignan. Like other envoys from all over the world, they came here specially to meet King Sara.
In fact, they had arrived at the place a week ago. The reason why they did not go to the White Shadow Palace immediately but stopped to rest was not only because of etiquette concerns, but also because they really needed to queue up.
Excluding those small places whose names I was too lazy to remember, there were two envoys from countries with the same standards as Talignion. They were the "Kingdom of Horns" and the "Kingdom of Eagles", both located in the western cape of Icarolin, and had more water advantages than Talignion.
The prefixes were derived from the outlines of the territories. The territory of the Kingdom of Qulun looked like a horn soaring into the sky, while the territory of Chesman looked like an eagle spreading its wings. This had nothing to do with their inner qualities, and in this respect, Talignan had a sense of superiority.
They are called the Fire Dragon Alliance.
And they really did have dragons.
"If it were you, Eugenie should be the leader." Moore-Sala couldn't help complaining while driving. "Now that there's an accident... our abilities are useless. If you forbid me to ask for help with my past experiences, then what's the point of us coming here?"
"Eugeni looks too young. Letting him lead the team will make others look down on us."
“We’re not old, are we?”
“But we look old.”
"Sometimes I envy your sense of humor, Light... I mean, although we have a lot of similarities, the only thing I can be sure of is that I will definitely die before you."
