In Elphis's hand was an exquisite nanmu pipe with a white ivory mouthpiece made of a three-hundred-year-old briar root burl as the main material. The mouthpiece was flush with the handle, and the thickness of the bowl was even at all points.
Such a rare material requires a master craftsman with extremely high skills to polish and process it. The material of briar reflects bright red and clear lines under the light, and its wood grain is fine and distinct, but such a briar root nodule needs to go through more than 70 complex processes before it can be formed into a bucket. ①
There was once an interesting metaphor: cigarettes are like prostitutes, satisfying desires in a hurry and leaving no trace;
Cigars are like mistresses. They can satisfy your desires and you can show them off in front of others. However, they are very expensive and only cost you a lot.
A pipe is like a wife, bought once and maintained for a lifetime.
It can be seen that the holders of the pipe are people with taste and philosopher qualities.
On the surface, Elphis appears to be such a person, a calm, elegant businessman.
Yudkao felt that he seemed to have seen this pipe somewhere before, and suddenly remembered that he had met a man smoking a pipe outside the bar. His figure gradually overlapped with Elphis' current image, and he realized that he had met him outside the Black Pepper Bar.
If you look more closely at the pipe, you can see that the wood grain forms a twisted and intertwined spiral pattern.
This is a mark, shaped like three question marks rotating around a point. It also looks like a person in a cloak, empty, extremely empty. Looking at this mark, one feels as if one's spirit is being sucked into the abyss of despair.
At this moment, Yudkao seemed to see an endless starry sky, vast and ethereal. In the distant Pleiades, there was a being crowned with a crown and draped in a yellow robe. It emitted a whisper that made people tremble in their minds and souls, but at the same time made people unable to extricate themselves from staring at its figure until death.
The illusion was interrupted by the sound of a cup being accidentally broken by Philip, son of Pwent.
"This scene is horrible,"
Yudekao found himself sweating profusely, with fear and the humiliation of being a human remaining in his mind. He even wanted to give up his own beliefs and worship the existence in the starry sky. Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind.
As the cup broke, Elphis silently put away the pipe in his hand. Puvent turned and walked towards Philip, and helped the servant to collect and clean up the broken pieces of the cup.
At this time, no one noticed that Elphis took advantage of the temporary chaos in the meeting room to quietly walk into Hermann's study, put down a picture album and left quietly.
Hearing this, Hermann strode over there and said loudly,
"Oh, Mr. Purvin, thank you. This saves us a piece of exquisite stained glass! You know, we Jews have the custom of breaking glass to get blessings on important matters."
The others laughed secretly when they heard the sound.
Mr. Hermann's words not only eased the embarrassment of Philip's rudeness, but also demonstrated his tact and personal charm.
When Purvant heard this, he realized that he owed Hermann a favor.
Philip was embarrassed to be pressed on the head by Purvent and bowed. Purvent whispered to Philip,
"Apologize now."
Philip, eleven years old, felt ashamed of his mistake and blushed shyly.
"sorry!
Mr. Herman, I didn't mean to do that.
I was just mesmerized by the beautiful dancing of the ladies on the stage."
Hermann laughed and said to Purvant,
"Mr. Provent, it seems that Philip has reached this age,
It's time to worry about his future marriage.
ha,
Perhaps you could take Philip to meet the ladies and gentlemen present.
look,
Miss Yaxinna from the Wenxit family over there is very cute."
Puwente also responded with a smile.
“Thank you for your generosity,
I won't say anything about compensation, as that would only lower your noble character.
In a few days, after our grocery store has taken inventory, I will send you some goodies from all over the place.
Of course, if you find it useful, the best reward would be to promote it for our Puvent Grocery Store."
"It's settled then."
Hermann responded:
The two cunning businessmen smiled at each other tacitly, as if the previous incident did not affect everyone's mood.
Hermann saw that the little life in his wife's arms had fallen asleep and felt that the scene was very heartwarming.
Kirk gently laid little Albert flat on his back in the crib and let him sleep quietly.
Hermann ordered the band to stop playing for the time being because it was Kirk's turn to perform next.
Kirk held up the two ends of her skirt and saluted the guests present.
The dignified appearance and clever matching make the beautiful Kirk even more charming and attractive.
She went to the piano and sat down.
Under the rhythm of his hands, beautiful and moving melodies were composed.
She is a pianist.
The guests present were all fascinated by the speech.
At the end of the song, there was thunderous applause.
"Ms. Kirk, I love you."
This is the cry of a young scoundrel.
"Ha, it's a pity that she is my favorite. I won't give her to you."
Herman replied humorously.
Everyone present burst into laughter.
Yudkao was still thinking about what he had just seen.
That mark has incredible magic.
As long as you read it once, you will never forget the strange structure of the mark and its indescribable existence.
It was like a hot iron searing it deeply into my mind.
He believed that even if he lost his memory, he would never forget that terrible mark.
Yudekao then thought of a question.
"Alphis may not be a simple person. Under his gentlemanly image as a big businessman, he may have some unspeakable secrets.
Eh? Where are the Elpheus people
Maybe it would be better to ask Puwente later.
The two of them seemed to know each other, although it sounded like they didn’t have a good relationship.”
Hermann walked towards Yudkau and said cheerfully,
"Dr. Yudkau, you look very tired. Did we not treat you well enough? Or are you not used to our Jewish food? Or is it that the good wine and the piano music of my beloved wife have made you half drunk and half awake?"
Yudekao responded with a somewhat embarrassed salute.
"Maybe I'm too tired this morning. You know we need to work in shifts, and today's is the early shift. Maybe I can find a quieter place to rest now."
Hermann called the servant and said to him,
"Please take Mr. Youdekao to the study to rest for a while. As the midwife of the child, Mr. Youdekao will be the first to come out when we return to give our blessings."
The servant agreed, and Hermann told the servant to turn around and say to Yudkao,
"Mr. Yudekao, please go to the study and take a rest.
Of course, you can read any of the books in there. I have collected many works by famous literary masters, and there are also several original works for you to enjoy.
Of course, you can take away any books you like, except for those originals, haha."
Yudkau then followed the servant's instructions to Hermann's study.
The door of the study is made of fir, a hard and insect-resistant wood. The door handle is inlaid with colorful gems, making it look very luxurious.
After opening it, you can smell the scent of ink and books, and a refreshing yet elegant fragrance floats in the air.
It's the incense of the finest cedarwood essential oil.
It can not only repel insects, but also make people feel peaceful. Apparently, this is the incense that the careful Hermann ordered his servants to arrange.
The study is filled with a wide variety of books and picture albums, and the walls are hung with oil paintings by famous artists, including high-quality imitations of paintings from the Middle Ages as well as works by contemporary popular painters.
I didn't expect Hermann to be so low-key and luxurious. It turns out that the wealth of the Jews cannot be compared with that of ordinary people.
Jews,
A race that is naturally favored by God, but also a race that suffers many disasters.
God may have endowed them with infinite wisdom.
Although the fate of the Jews has been rough, they have often been able to survive from desperate situations and continue their race.
They wander, they roam, they migrate, but they still survive,
They have spread out all over the world, and although their nationalities are different, their bloodline continues.
After being oppressed and targeted by various ethnic groups,
The number of Jews gradually decreased, but they learned how to survive and developed a talent for making money.
Almost every Jew can obtain a large amount of money in adversity to pass on.
This is an incredible miracle. Perhaps it has something to do with their devout belief in the Creator as spoken by the Jews.
This makes them all have amazing business talents.
————
Elphis mysteriously sneaked into Hermann's study.
He saw a picture album from Japan on the desk.
After flipping through it, the contents were disgusting.
Apparently this was the picture album "Every Man Can Understand" that Purvind gave to Hermann at that time.
The men and women in the album were in various embarrassing positions.
After reading two pages, Elphis tore off the cover of the album and put the inner volume in his arms.
As a gentleman and a big businessman, he naturally disdains and has no need to steal this album;
Elphis once had a beautiful wife, but after she mysteriously disappeared, he remained single.
He relied on his handsome appearance to socialize with celebrities, but he never had any children.
To put it bluntly, why would a high-quality single man who has no shortage of women around him need to steal such a pornographic book
At this time, Elphis took out another picture album from his robe, put it into the Japanese cover he had just torn off, and put it back to its original position accurately.
Then he flipped out of the window and landed on the grass outside.
After walking a few steps, he looked back at Hermann's residence, his mouth corners raised and his body straightened, like a wild beast staring at its prey, like a director arranging a scene, with everything under control.
He left quietly, thinking,
"The props are ready, and the actors are in place one after another.
My Lord, please watch this farce, this is the script I designed for you.
This time, the script will be more exciting than ever before.
My Lord, I hope that You will be pleased this time and grant us the power You have bestowed upon Your followers."
————
You Dekao sat down on the comfortable leather chair in the study, closed his eyes and tried hard not to think about the mark just now.
As his thoughts emptied, Youdekao smelled the fragrance of cedar, which relaxed his tense emotions and relieved some of his psychological pressure.
"Oh, this chair is so comfortable, I want one for my home too.
I should ask Mr. Hermann where he bought it. Maybe it’s made to order with calfskin
It might not be appropriate to ask directly. Considering how generous Mr. Herman is today, he might just give it to me directly.
That’s not right. Go back and ask the servants.
Perhaps, according to Mr. Herman, appreciating calligraphy and painting now may bring me a moment of peace of mind. "
Yudekao thought so.
He first stood up and observed the oil paintings nearby for a while, but felt that he still could not resonate with these works of art;
It's just a pile of scribbled paint, why is it so priceless
No one can understand this theory. Maybe it is just the so-called commercial hype.
Yu Dekao gave up his artistic "task" and turned to the bookcase.
Reaching out and pulling at the cover of the book,
Hey, "History of World Civilization", the next one is "How Merchants Deal with Things", and the next one is "The Art of Auction".
"Oh my God, isn't there an interesting book? Is the taste of high society so boring?"
Yudekao lay back in the leather chair dejectedly, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed that there seemed to be an "interesting" picture album on the table.
It was a book with a cover in the same style as the album of Oriental paintings that Provent had given to Yudekao.
"Could it be that Mr. Herman also likes this tune
The Japanese painting style is indeed different from ours, it is bold in a different way!"
As Youdekao thought about this, a lewd smile appeared on his face.
He casually picked up the picture album that Elphis had "intentionally" left in Hermann's study.
"It's really a series, huh? A beautiful flower in a golden vase
My copy seems to be called Monks and Believers, and the content seems to be different.
Hey, it shouldn't be a problem to take a peek, maybe you can even take it away? Anyway, Mr. Herman is in a good mood."
Fertility and reproduction have always been an instinct in human life.
Even though Yu Dekao has lost his ability to be a human being, it does not prevent his instinct from working.
Moreover, Youdekao did not find any suitable books in the vast sea of books.
Such an "easy to understand" picture album was the only choice for him who was depressed at that time.
Before Yudkao opened the cover, the maid knocked on the door and entered the study.
"Doctor Yudkau, Mr. Hermann asked me to come and ask you to prepare for the next blessing ceremony.
If you have any books you like, you can take them away. ”
Yudekao's old face turned red.
Unexpectedly, when I was about to open it and read it carefully and appreciate it, I was interrupted by the little maid.
If I put the album back while the maid was staring at me,
I'm sure the maid would misunderstand Mr. Hermann after seeing this album.
And she watched me put the picture album back. I was afraid that tomorrow the whole city of Ulm would know that "Dr. Yudkau likes to read Japanese picture albums."
He quickly took stock of the current situation.
Youdekao had no choice but to hide the album in his robe to avoid damaging his reputation.
"Thank Mr. Hermann for his attention to me, and thank him for me,
I have taken an interesting book from here and will return it when I have finished reading it. ”
Yudekao said so.
Afterwards, the blessing ceremony went smoothly and people gradually dispersed with the moonlight and music.
Pvent and Philip bowed to the Hermanns again to express their gratitude, while Yudkau shook hands with Hermann and left.
He forgot to return the picture album, and all the disasters that had nothing to do with him were transferred to him.
This is fate.