An old-fashioned mechanical elevator like this one is very complicated to operate, and it is impossible for an operator who is not professionally trained to make it move normally.
There was also a staff member standing in the elevator car, wearing a red uniform, a round hat of the same color, and a small mustache, giving him the funny temperament of a comedian.
There were six people in total, including Qi Ji, Gary and his wife, his sister and brother, and a male employee. Together with the operator in red in the elevator car, there were seven people standing in a space of three or four square meters, which seemed a bit crowded.
Qi Ji huddled in the corner, head lowered, suppressing his own presence to the minimum, while his senses were paying attention to the other six people.
At the same time, the mind also connected to several...mini reconnaissance puppets that happened to be inside and nearby the building.
She let Gary's family into the building, not just to let them find someone to claim compensation.
Because no matter what, as the owner of that billboard, the people in this building... are indeed very suspicious.
She thought it necessary to follow up and investigate.
As for the strange figure that disappeared on the rooftop...
He shouldn't have noticed that as he slipped away...
A finger-sized lizard had been following silently behind him.
Chapter 129 Meeting and Negotiation
"Ding!--"
With the sound of the copper bell knocking, the hollow iron sliding door made a sharp sound of metal friction and was slowly opened by the red-clothed operator.
A straight corridor comes into view.
The crimson carpet stretched out smoothly, and warm-toned lamps were hung from the ceiling at regular intervals.
Not a gas lamp like the one in the hall, but some special light-emitting mechanism without an open flame, as bright and steady as an incandescent bulb.
The walls on both sides are covered with dark-colored wallpaper, and wooden doors of uniform shape are arranged at the same intervals and symmetrically with each other.
"Please follow me," the male employee standing closest to the elevator door took a step out of the elevator car, "Mr. Dale, the secretary of the chairman of Berkeley, is waiting behind this door."
As he said this, he pointed to the end of the corridor.
Looking along the carpeted, straight corridor, I saw that at its end was a single wooden door, but the material and decorative patterns were more luxurious than the wooden doors on the walls on both sides. It was also thicker and more solid, and the door handles were gold-plated.
Gary pursed his slightly dry lips and followed the employee out of the elevator.
Then came Mrs. Gary, holding Daisy in her right hand and Youl in her left, and following her husband at a nervous pace.
Qi Ji, who was huddled in the corner, quickly scanned all the people present. A sneer suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth, but he didn't say anything and walked out with them.
"Crash-"
The hollow iron sliding door was closed by the operator, then slowly descended and finally disappeared into the elevator shaft.
This is the top floor of the Berkeley Building.
"Tuk, Tuk, Tuk..."
The hard soles of leather shoes stepped on the soft carpet, making short, dull sounds.
Gary followed the male employee and watched the uniformed man in front of him walk to the wooden door with the gold-plated handle and knocked on it quickly and forcefully with his index finger:
"Mr. Dahler, the pedestrians who were nearly injured by our negligence have arrived."
As soon as the words fell, a deep and young male voice came from behind the door:
"I understand. Please come in."
"Yes, Mr. Dahler."
The male employee immediately turned the gold-plated handle and pushed the heavy and luxurious wooden door inward.
"Squeak-"
Amid the barely audible sound of bearings turning, dim light poured in from the open doorway, causing Gary to subconsciously squint his eyes.
When his vision returned to normal, the first thing he saw was a floor-to-ceiling window hanging from the ceiling.
"Setting Sun, what a big glass..."
Glass itself is not expensive, but such clear, transparent and translucent glass must cost a lot.
Moreover, glass with an area that is too large is very difficult to manufacture and the difficulty of transportation is also greatly increased. Most windows are just installed with a piece of glass several dozen centimeters in size.
This was the first time he had seen a floor-to-ceiling window that was three meters high and took up the entire wall.
Through this unprecedentedly huge glass window, he saw the incomplete sun sink completely into the horizon, leaving only a stubborn hint of dimness that stretched out in an arc, hanging unwillingly at the junction of heaven and earth.
In front of this setting sun, countless buildings and streets are like miniature toys, spread out on the ground, extending into the darkness beyond the reach of the sun.
"It's so beautiful..."
Gary not only felt deeply moved, but also experienced the rare sense of grandeur of standing high and looking far into the distance.
"Guys, please take a seat."
A deep, young male voice brought him back to his senses.
The picture-like dusk scene from above was so eye-catching that he didn't notice the scene inside the room.
Turning his eyes downward, he saw a dark brown solid wood desk placed horizontally in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, with several books and a stack of papers covered with words piled on it.
Sitting behind the desk was a young man, who looked to be in his thirties and was thin.
Because of the backlight, Gary had a hard time seeing the man's specific appearance. He only felt that his face was pale, he was thin, and he didn't look in good health.
"Hello, Mr. Dahler."
Gary calmed down, showed the spirit of a family pillar, walked to the desk, pulled out a few chairs from the side in front of Secretary Dale, and sat down without any courtesy:
"My dear, Daisy, Youer, Miss 166, you can sit down too."
Mrs. Gary looked at the expressions of her husband and secretary Dale, held her children's hands, and sat down next to Gary.
Qi Ji walked slowly to the corner of the room, leaned lazily against the wall, and smiled nonchalantly:
"I'll just stand."
Dale turned his head to look at Qi Ji, who was wrapped in a cloak, and quickly looked away, as if he didn't care about her existence at all.
After everyone was seated, Dahler signaled with his eyes to the employee who was still standing at the door. The latter immediately understood and walked forward to the wall side of the desk.
There was a tea cabinet there, and he skillfully and fluently used the boiled water that had been prepared long ago to simply brew a pot of very strong black tea.
Then, holding an iron teapot in one hand and a ceramic teacup in the other, he walked forward in small steps, placed the cups on the desk, and brewed the tea expertly. He then placed a few sugar cubes on the ceramic cup holder of each cup and used silver tweezers to match them.
After completing these basic preparatory actions for receiving guests, he left the room without saying a word and closed the door silently.
"Okay, now there are no outsiders here," Secretary Dale held the cup holder and brought the half-full cup to his chin. He added a sugar cube with tweezers in his other hand and then gently swirled and stirred it with a silver spoon. "We can have a good talk now."
"Sir, you don't know how dangerous our situation was!" Gary took a deep breath, his face showing real anger and throbbing, "If it weren't for her protection, we would all be dead!"
As he said this, he pointed at Qi Ji, who was leaning against the wall without saying a word, and a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes.
He was intentionally reminding Dale of Miss Yaoliuliu's existence, telling him that we have a powerful bodyguard with us and he shouldn't try to do anything rash.
Even if it was just an act, she is our lifesaver after all. It would be a bit embarrassing to deliberately degrade her to a hired bodyguard in front of others...
"Sir, I'm deeply sorry for what happened to you and your family," Secretary Dahler cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. "Name a price, and I'll make sure you're satisfied. I beg you not to tell anyone about this."
After saying this, he gracefully placed the rim of the teacup against his lower lip, took a sip, savored it carefully in his mouth, and swallowed it down after a few seconds. A satisfied smile appeared on his thin, pale face:
"Very good Earl Grey tea, produced in the Giant Island of the southern continent. It traveled thousands of kilometers before arriving at the port of the Dusk Sea and our empire. It is very precious, and I rarely drink it myself."
Listening to the bubbling sound of sipping tea, Gary, who hadn't touched water all morning, felt a little dry in the mouth, so he picked up the cup of black tea in front of him and was about to drink it to quench his thirst.
However, before his lips could touch the rim of the cup—
“Swish!——”
The crisp sound of ceramics cracking and shattering exploded from his hands!
=========================
This is the last chapter of today. There are still two chapters left to complete in this round of additional tasks. I really can’t do it anymore. I will save them for next week.
However, there are at least 10 additional chapters this week... Now I have to wait until tomorrow to finish the update, which is miserable.
Anyway, you won’t be missing, so don’t worry!
My manuscripts are running out, I'm afraid I'll be in the dark room these days QAQ
Chapter 130 Addiction
The ceramic teacup exploded without any warning!
For a moment, all that was left in Gary's hand was a broken handle, and the rich, turbid reddish-brown tea fell down.
"what!"
He felt a burning sensation in his thighs, and the hot and wet feeling quickly spread.
"Honey, are you okay?!"
White hot steam rose up, and he hurriedly stood up to pat it off. His wife beside him also came forward and dipped the tea for him with a handkerchief.
"Uh... huh?!"
Seeing this, Secretary Dahler, who was holding the teacup and the saucer, was also startled. He immediately put the teacup back on the table, stood up straight, and shouted out the door in a high voice:
"Lowell! Bring in a rag!"
"Squeak-"
The door was immediately pushed open and the male employee hurried in with a few dry towels in his hands.
After a flurry of effort, they finally managed to clean the liquid off Gary's thigh, but a dark tea stain was still left on his pants.
The male employee picked up the ceramic fragments of the teacup in a dustpan, left the room and closed the door. Only Gary's family, Qi Ji and Secretary Daler were left in the office.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect the quality of this cup to be so poor," Secretary Dale said with a dark face and a low voice, "I will definitely punish the person in charge of the purchasing department."
Gary used his wife's handkerchief to wipe the remaining stains on his pants, and his face looked very ugly.
"Ahem, let's get back to the topic of compensation," Secretary Dale straightened his collar, took another sip of tea, and said solemnly, "Let's not beat around the bush - 100 aire, how about that?"
"One hundred..." Gary was a little overwhelmed by the huge number he heard right away. He and his equally surprised wife looked at each other in bewilderment.
But he also knew that the real leader of this "negotiation" was not himself, but Miss Yao Liuliu, who had been leaning in the corner without saying a word. He should follow her judgment.
So he quickly glanced at Qi Ji out of the corner of his eye, hoping to get her instructions.
The latter was still leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, with her arms folded across her chest and her head slightly lowered, looking like she was lazily sleeping, making Gary wonder if she could notice his gaze.
As soon as this doubt emerged from his mind, a clear and slightly childish voice inexplicably emerged in his mind:
"Don't accept the price no matter how much he raises it. Just say you're not ready yet and we can talk about it another day."
Gary was stunned by the sudden voice, but soon realized that it was the mage's voice transmission method, so he immediately calmed down and said to Secretary Dale in a serious face:
"This is not about money! Such a terrible experience, do you know how much impact it will have on my children's childhood?!"
As expected, Secretary Dahler snorted and held up two fingers: "Two hundred."
The offer price doubled, and Gary was immediately shocked by the generosity. But remembering Qi Ji's instructions, he leaned back in his chair firmly:
"I told you, this is not about the money."
Secretary Dahler picked up the cup and took another sip of tea, then held up another finger: "Three hundred."
This number was too tempting. Gary was worried that if the other party continued to add more, he would not be able to resist, so he pretended to be angry and stood up quickly:
"I don't see your sincerity, let's talk about it another day! My family and I need time to rest and calm down, so we can't argue with you."
"Okay, I understand." Secretary Dahler showed a look of understanding on his face and stood up from his chair. "I'm always here. When you are ready to rest... you can come anytime."
After that, he raised his voice and shouted to the outside of the door: "Rowell, show the guest out!"
Led by the male employee, the family of four and the strange bodyguard left one after another. Before long, Secretary Dahler was the only one left in the spacious office.
"Ugh……"
Sitting in the empty office, he shook his head and sighed, with a faint smile on his face.
After sitting like this for half a minute, he straightened his back, took out a few documents from the pile on the desk, and began to deal with his daily work.
However, less than ten minutes later, his eyes were covered with a layer of irritation and his brows were tightly furrowed.
