Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 194 41. An Unexpected Visitor for Dinner

It was almost 9 o'clock in the evening when Merlin rushed to Mei's house exhausted.

He knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, the door opened, and a worried Mei appeared in front of him.When this emotional cousin saw Merlin who was safe and sound, the worry on her face dissipated immediately.

She took Merlin's hand, looked at him, and said:

"Are you all right, brother. You just called and said you were in the hospital, which freaked us all out."

"Nothing."

Merlin shook his head, he said to his cousin:

"I met a child on the road. He was involved in a car accident in order to help an old man."

He said to May:

"The child's eyes were infested by the leaked chemical liquid, and his whole life may be..."

"Oh, God."

Mei is a fairly devout general believer. When she heard this terrible incident, she immediately made the sign of the cross on her chest and prayed for the child who had never seen her face.

"this is too scary."

A few minutes later, on the sofa in the living room, Ben, who found out about this incident, also said regretfully:

"The child's life hadn't even started yet, and he was robbed of his light. It's too wrong, his parents...are too dereliction of duty."

"I've heard people say Jack in Hell's Kitchen."

Eric sat next to Charlie, and the near-grown boy said to the others:

"They all said that Jack was not a good man, and he was associated with some gangsters in the past few years. But Jack loved his children very much. After his child was born, his wife abandoned Jack and his children, but never After that, Jack became a man of duty. He was in the underground boxing ring in Hell’s Kitchen, relying on boxing to support himself and his son.”

"Your news is well-informed."

Merlin opened the refrigerator and handed two glasses of drinks to Eric and Charlie. He took off his coat and looked at the clean dining table again. He froze for a moment and asked:

"Haven't you eaten yet?"

"No."

Although Charlie only stayed at Mei's house for half a day, she seemed to be very familiar with the house.

She said to Merlin with a dissatisfied face:

"Everyone is waiting for you! May spoils you so much, she said, if you don't come back, we can't start eating first. I'm very hungry now, Merlin, I ate an unhealthy plane meal all day!"

"Really?"

Eric, who was sitting next to Charlie, rolled his eyes, and he said to Charlie:

"Then maybe, I can take you to Mick's Bistro tonight, the pizza there is delicious, and it's also a very quiet place, just for us to get to know each other. You see, Merlin is my guardian, and so is he Your temporary guardian, in theory, you should still be called my brother."

"you?"

The beautiful girl Charlie looked Eric up and down, she deliberately showed a disgusted expression, she said:

"Forget it, you're not my type."

"Eric!"

Merlin glared at his unreliable "adopted son", who shrugged his shoulders and was not saddened by Charlie's words.

He is a very smart kid with a high emotional intelligence. Through spending most of the day with Charlie, he knows that Charlie doesn't hate him.

This means that he still has a chance to catch up with this beautiful and generous girl.

"Are you still chatting?"

May poked her head out of the kitchen and called to the men in the living room:

"Would any gentleman come over and help me chop some vegetables if I have the time?"

"I'll go."

Merlin stood up, and he said to Ben:

"Brother-in-law, you have also worked all day, so you should take a good rest. I have been on vacation for the past few days, and I am very free."

He walked into the kitchen, flexed his ten fingers, picked up the table knife, and with a dazzling and skillful movement, in a very rhythmic dance, quickly cut a large basket of vegetables into long strips of almost the same thickness .

Beside him, Mei, who was wearing an apron, looked curiously at her younger brother's skillful knife skills, and she couldn't help asking:

"You're good at using knives, Merlin... Are you really a bridge and tunnel designer?"

"I am."

Merlin replied with a normal face:

"Would you like to take another look at my engineering credentials? As for using knives, I've been learning to cook for myself since I was a kid... Speaking of which, sister, I've always heard that Ben has a younger brother ? Why we have known each other for almost 6 years, but I still haven't seen him?"

"Oh, you said Richard."

May replied as she took the baked pizza out of the oven:

"Richard really doesn't have much contact with Ben. I have been married to Ben for almost 11 years, and I have only seen him less than 20 times in total, and they are basically at Christmas every year, but they have a very good brother relationship. .”

May said:

"Oh, by the way, Richard's baby was just born three months ago, and Ben and I went to the baby's christening."

Hearing Mei mention this question, Merlin finally asked the question buried deep in his heart. He put down the knife, looked back at his cousin, and lowered his voice.

"Speaking of which, May, you and Ben have been married for so long that you plan to..."

"When are you going to have a baby?"

Mei seemed to have guessed what her younger brother was going to ask, she stopped the busy movements of her hands, and then said with a normal expression:

"Actually, I don't plan to have children."

"Ok?"

Merlin frowned, and he said:

"There are only two of us left in the Riley family..."

"It's your job to pass on the bloodline, Merlin."

May glared at her brother, and said:

"Ben and I used to be unmarriageists, because my mother, your aunt, had a failed relationship, and I haven't come out of the shadow of my childhood. Ben is a kind person. He chased me for four years in college, and waited for him after graduation. I was moved by him, but it doesn't mean that I must have a child to inherit what I have."

She shook her hair and said freely:

"Ben and I just have to live our lives well, or do you have any opinion on my decision?"

"Uh, okay."

Facing the suddenly strong sister, Merlin shrugged and said:

"Of course I respect your decision, sister, I just regret that you like children so much."

"It's different, Merlin."

May sprinkled yogurt on her green salad and said to her brother:

"I like children. I like to take care of other people. I like to help other people. It doesn't mean I need a child. You see, you are 27 years old, and you are not young, but you have been living alone. I Actually, I'm really worried about you. When you find a good girl to marry and have a few children, I will definitely take care of them for you. "

"Damn it."

Merlin patted his face lightly:

"What the hell did I do, I brought up this topic on my own initiative. Forget about this topic, Mei, it's time to eat."

When Merlin brought the steaming pizza to the table, Charlie gave a whoop and rushed to the table to eat.And at this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Ben was stunned for a moment, and then ran to open the door. After a while, Merlin heard the voice of Ben talking to other people. Those who approached him, a man with a handbag and a woman holding a baby, followed behind him. , walked into the living room.

"Richard?"

Mei, who was walking out of the kitchen with a vegetable salad, glanced at the visitor behind her, and said in surprise:

"What a coincidence I was talking about you to my brother just now. Come on, wash your hands with Mary, put little Peter in the bedroom, and come to dinner."

Seeing Mei exchange greetings with the visitor, Mei Lin, who was sitting on a chair, also looked curiously at the two couples who were walking towards the bedroom.

Richard Parker, and Mary Parker.

These are two guys who only know their names but don't see them.

Merlin met his sister six years ago. During this period of time, he and his cousin and husband often met, basically maintaining a frequency of once a week.

From his cousin May, he knew that Ben had a younger brother, and compared to Ben Parker, who was just an ordinary engineer at present, the slightly mysterious younger brother Richard seemed much more glamorous.

According to Ben, Richard Parker was a biologist and his wife Mary Parker was his assistant in the laboratory.

The husband and wife work for the government. I heard that they have been presiding over a large-scale project since a few years ago, so they seldom go home and contact Ben.At least in these 6 years, Merlin has not seen this family member.

But tonight, they suddenly appeared.

Merlin instinctively felt that there might be some factors that he was not very familiar with but that did exist.

He raised his head and looked at the ceiling, or at the end of the sky.

What is he thinking about.

A few minutes later, Richard and his wife were also sitting at the dining table. Both of them wore glasses, and they seemed to have a bookish look unique to researchers, and they seemed a little silent.Merlin looked at Richard while eating.

This is a man who is 6 points similar to Ben. With a modest smile, he sits on a chair and talks to Ben and May.His smile is very shallow, and his eyes are always bent when he smiles, giving people the first impression of being very gentle.

But Merlin noticed that while he was looking at Richard, Richard was also looking at the people around him with secret scrutiny.

Merlin was very familiar with that look. Basically, every agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. had this look.

It was the same look.

This... made Merlin interested.

"Richard, this is Merlin, May's brother. I told you about him."

Ben picked up a piece of pizza and introduced it to his younger brother with a smile.Richard nodded at Merlin with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Merlin, I'm Richard, Ben's brother."

Merlin also responded with a fake but enough smile:

"Hello, Richard."

He responded decently, and then raised his glass to Richard, who also responded with apple juice. The two people who met for the first time seemed to communicate very friendly.

But there was a not-so-friendly gleam in their eyes.

Merlin pushed his glasses, and he habitually spread his dark perception outwards, but in this moment, he discovered something extraordinary.

In the living room behind them, Richard put his handbag on the sofa.It was an ordinary briefcase, but in that handbag, in addition to sensing some paper documents, Merlin also sensed a cold gadget.

If his perception is correct, it should be...

a gun.

And judging from the outline, it was the kind of firearm that Merlin was very familiar with, because he himself had exactly the same gun.

It was the guns of the agents, and most importantly, in the clips of the guns, there were several bullets exuding the unique cold feeling of Holy Silver.

This is interesting.

Merlin raised his brows slightly. As far as he knew, the only department equipped with holy silver bullets seemed to be SHIELD.

He looked at Richard, who was chatting with Ben, and a thought popped into his head.

Richard Parker, is his colleague?And still a colleague?

"Richard, I hear from Ben, do you work for the government?"

Merlin picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and asked seemingly casually:

"It just so happens that I'm also a public servant."

"Really?"

Richard looked back at Merlin, with a fake smile on his face, he said:

"Where do you work, Merlin?"

"New York Authority of Bridges and Tunnels."

Merlin whispered the name of the disguised institution, and he stared into Richard's eyes.The latter's expression changed slightly.

he knows!

He sure knows!

Merlin couldn't be satisfied with this slight change of expression.

Richard is indeed an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

There is no doubt about this, but now I just don't know, which department he is in, and how high is the secret agent level?

A moment later, facing Merlin's gaze, Richard showed a slightly puzzled expression, and he said:

"I've never heard of this agency."

"how about you?"

Merlin replied:

"Where do you work?"

"This is confidential. I can't disclose it."

Richard said something a little embarrassed, he raised his head, looked at Merlin, and then shook his head slightly:

"I can only tell you that the nature of my work is slightly different from yours. I do research work."

"Oh, I see."

Merlin nodded, he understood what Richard meant.

Obviously, Richard didn't want his brother Ben to know his identity. He was telling Merlin in this way that he was a scientific research agent, so he should be in the logistics department.

No wonder Merlin hadn't seen him.

"So in a sense, we're kind of in the same boat. I do occasionally work on... slightly weird stuff."

Merlin smiled, Richard also smiled, he nodded and said:

"Indeed."

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce."

Richard put his arm around his wife's shoulder, and he said to Merlin:

"This is my wife, Mary."

Richard explained:

"She works with me in the lab."

Mary Parker's complexion was a bit grim, she seemed a little sad, she reluctantly smiled at Merlin, nodded to him, then lowered her voice, and said something to Richard.

Richard's expression also became a little sad at this moment.

The words Mary said were so slight that normal people couldn't hear them at all, but they couldn't hide it from Merlin, who spread his perception to the entire room, and he heard it very clearly.

Mary said to Richard:

"It's time to go. Tomorrow's plane is very early, and I have to pack my things when I go back."

These words made Merlin narrow his eyes.

What kind of charades are these two of my colleagues playing?

(End of this chapter)