America's King of Poetry

Chapter 4 Reading Poems

Arthur rubbed his eyes, he thought it was a hallucination, why did the red heart turn into a goat's horn?

He took a closer look at the card, and found that the red heart had indeed turned into two blood-red horns, and some densely packed small words began to appear on the card.

Arthur squinted:

"Name: Arthur Luciano, Occupation: Cook, Sequence: 9, Codename: Leaping Soul. Comment: Let the fragrance of poetry fill the land bestowed by God."

"What the hell is this? Magic? Or some kind of joke."

Arthur thought it was a joke, and he looked at the other three cards, but nothing appeared on them.

Arthur now has a lot of question marks.

He focused on observing the 2 of hearts. A few minutes later, the goat horns on it turned into hearts again, and the small characters disappeared without leaving any traces.Looking at the back of the pattern, there are also rows of small characters. These characters are more than the front. It is a poem:

"How many years later, I dreamed that I was king in hell. Those people of the sun who drive the chariot of the night in the flesh, who are the people in the sun? Who are they? With my whole life, try the light of the blade, will the gods under the trees welcome me back to their ranks? I have come to the end of mankind."

"What are you writing here?" Can't you write something understandable if you don't know anything about modern poetry Arthur?Can you just explain what you want me to do?

Thinking so in his heart, Arthur still read out the verse lightly. Although he didn't understand the meaning of the verse at all, he felt that these sentences contained some kind of power.

"I've reached the end of humanity..." When Arthur finished reading the last sentence, the text on the back of the playing card disappeared, but the other cards in his hand lit up!

On the back of the 3 of Spades, 6 of Clubs, and Jack of Diamonds, there are lines of small characters, and they are all different obscure poems.To be honest, Arthur still has a little understanding of ancient Chinese poetry, and he has no idea what these modern poems are about.

Arthur feels a little tired, Zinima, why don't you just give me a system with a "ding" and let me take a task to draw a prize or something, wouldn't it be great?

TM's asking Lao Tzu to read poems?Arthur read the poems on the backs of the remaining three cards, but nothing happened.

If you are tired, don't worry about it so much, go to sleep, maybe you will find that this is just a dream when you wake up.

If it's really a dream, then it's better now...

When Arthur thought of Gina sleeping on the bed, he felt a little dizzy all of a sudden, and he couldn't help thinking a little bit.

But Yu Peng is a gentleman after all, and he can take advantage of it, but not now.For the lovely little girl Gina, if it wasn't for the dream to stay for a long time, he hoped to cultivate and cultivate feelings. After all, after more than 20 years, such innocent little girls are becoming less and less in the United States or China.

Arthur washed up a bit, and on a cold night in early spring, he entered the room in the dark and slipped into the bed quietly.

The bed has been warmed by Gina, warm, and she is asleep, but when she realizes that Arthur has entered the bed, she turns around and hugs Arthur, clinging to Arthur.

"God... If it's a dream, don't let me wake up..."

Arthur's mind fluttered for a moment, and he felt as if he had returned to the time when the girl's enthusiasm almost melted him that night.As the years got older, he thought that he would never experience such a feeling again, but how could he know... Damn, he was really big and soft.

But soon, Arthur didn't have the mood to feel it anymore. He was really tired. He said he would get up to send Gina to school the next day, and he fell asleep in a daze.

……

Arthur woke up the next day, the sky was bright outside the window, he got up and rubbed his eyes, and saw that he was in a strange apartment.

That's right, not his home in Chengdu, but in New York, in Little Italy.Arthur was sure of this when he came to the window and looked down.

Sure enough, I have traveled through time, and it seems that I can't go back. If you come, let's be safe.

Looking at the time, it was already ten o'clock in the morning, and there was no one at home.

There is a note left by Gina on the table in the restaurant, saying that she went to school by herself and hoped that he would pick her up at school at night.On the sticky note was a plate of fried eggs, some toast, and a glass of cold milk.The girl also made Arthur breakfast before school, although she didn't look very skilled.

The original Arthur was a cook, but to be honest, his cooking skills are not very good. He helps out in the restaurant as a helper and cooks, and his mind is on picking up girls.Now Arthur had eaten this tasteless but loving breakfast, and remembering that he had to go to work at Luciano's restaurant, he hurriedly put on his coat and shoes and went out.

The Little Italy area in the morning is very lively, in addition to the daily life of the locals, there are also many tourists from other places.

In the 90s, there were still very few Chinese who traveled abroad. For example, more than 20 years later, the faces of Chinese people can be seen everywhere in Little Italy during the day, because there is a street across from Little Italy, which is Chinatown.

On the way to work, Arthur was thinking about two things. One was what happened to the playing cards in his pocket?He decided to find an opportunity to experiment with experiments.Another thing is the assassination of Abramo. Uncle said that Casey and Russell will come to him this afternoon and tell him the specific implementation plan of the assassination.

Killing people as soon as they cross over?Yu Peng felt that this was inappropriate, and there must be something ulterior about letting Arthur, a stunned young man, do this.He decided to observe and observe temporarily, contact Casey and Russell before taking the next step.

Thinking this way all the way, he didn't pay attention to the work of Luciano's restaurant at all, and he was already late when he arrived at the restaurant.

Luciano's Restaurant specializes in Italian cuisine. In addition to lunch and dinner, it also serves coffee, desserts and takeaways.When the ancestors of the Luciano family came to the United States to work in this restaurant, they married the restaurant owner's daughter, inherited the family business, and slowly worked hard on this basis.By the time of Arthur's great-grandfather, it was already a well-known underground family in New York.

And Arthur, a worthless person, can only be a helper.

After entering the door, he was first scolded by the manager of the store, which is now owned by Tony Luciano, and he hired a Jew to be the manager.

"Arthur, you said yesterday that you were sleeping in the store and that you were afraid of being late. Why were you not here this morning? You lied to me again? I don't care what your uncle says. If you are late like this again, I can't fire you, but I will deduct your salary!" Jews are known to be stingy and shrewd.

Arthur had something on his mind, so he didn't bother to talk to the Jew. He just snorted coldly and went to the locker room to change.

Seeing Arthur's attitude, the store manager followed into the locker room and said, "Half of your salary this month will be deducted! Arthur, if you continue to have this attitude, I can't guarantee that you can keep your job in the kitchen! Tony is a fair and just person!"

Arthur used to work in the store, and was often bullied by the Jewish store manager. This guy was a snobbish guy. He knew that the boss Tony didn't like this nephew, so he gave him small shoes everywhere.Arthur has a big heart, and he never argues with him, his mind is on picking up girls.

Yu Peng is different, this is an old fritter, so he is not afraid of the threat of the store manager.

After changing his clothes, Arthur pointed to the manager of the Jewish store and said, "Schmidt, if you dare to deduct my wages, I will tell Tony about the usury of your money from the store. How do you think he will deal with you?"

Yu Peng found everything about Schmidt in the original Arthur's memory. Among them, he used the business income of the store to lend usury, and then advanced it after the maturity date. The interest was all his own business.For the Jews, lending usury is just like the Chinese people growing vegetables, it is their natural skill.

But using the operating income of Tony's store to lend money has a completely different nature.

The amount is not the key point, the key point is that Tony will be given a commission for lending money on the site. Schmidt is lucky, if he uses Tony's money to make money, and even hides a cent of taxes and refuses to pay, then he will definitely die without a whole body.

Hearing Arthur's words, Schmidt's face turned blue with fright. He didn't know how Arthur knew about this, so he quickly grabbed Arthur's hand and said, "Oh dear Arthur, you know I've always been good to you. I just borrowed a little from the store because my family was really short of money, and I paid for it! Not a penny was missing! Not a penny was missing!"

Schmidt's voice trembled a little, because he knew how miserable it would be for Tony to know how he would lend money from his business.

Seeing Schmidt's timidity, Arthur bypassed him for the time being, left the dressing room and went to the back kitchen.Yu Peng thought to himself, it turns out that this Arthur is really a fool, holding such a big deal like Schmidt in his hand, but he doesn't know how to use it.As for how Arthur knew?It was a waitress in the store who told him that the two had an affair in the dressing room. After the incident, the waitress inadvertently leaked the matter to Arthur, hoping that Arthur would not be bullied again.

Who knows that Arthur only has beauties in his eyes, but he doesn't understand the friendship of beauties, and he doesn't know how to use them at all.

Now that the waitress had left New York, she still couldn't forget Arthur's parting, and left him her phone number, hoping that he would find her when he was free.

This guy is really a merciful little Italian stallion.

After entering the back kitchen, Chef Carson saw Arthur and called him to the back door to unload the newly arrived ham and steak from the truck and put them into the cold storage.Arthur had no objection and took the initiative to do the work.

This kid is indeed strong and strong. He drinks and gambles all day without exercising. He is still as strong as a pony. No wonder he is popular with women.

Working until noon, Arthur mainly did some chores, such as carrying, cleaning, and serving dishes, so simple that he didn't need to use his brain at all.

After lunch time, he could finally relax a bit, and Arthur lit a cigarette at the back door.

Chef Carson also came over, and Arthur gave Carson a stick. Yu Peng remembered that Carson treated Arthur pretty well and took good care of himself.But he is also a licentious person. He is 10 years older than Arthur and has a family, but he still often drags Arthur out to fool around.

"Hey boy, something is wrong with you today, why don't you talk?" Carson found that Arthur was different from usual. Usually Arthur was dazed, his mood was always fluctuating, he was timid in front of the store manager, and glib when facing the waitress, but today he was unexpectedly calm.

Is this still the Arthur from before?

Arthur lit a cigarette for Carson and didn't bother him. Of course it was different. He was no longer the old bastard Arthur.

After blowing out a smoke ring, Arthur took out three playing cards from his pocket. Carson waved his hand and said, "Arthur Arthur, you want to gamble again? You're still at work, boy, what about after get off work? Don't let Schmidt see it."

Apart from being lecherous, Arthur is also a small gambler. He often goes to various private casinos. If he wins, he will take the girl to eat Hesse.

But of course Arthur didn't want to play cards this time. He picked up a card and showed the back of the pattern to Carson, saying, "Carson, do you see the words on it? Read it to me."

Except for the 2 of hearts, Arthur read the poem behind the other three cards, but nothing happened.

He wanted to use Carson as an experiment to see if he would respond to reading the poem on the back of the playing cards.

As a result, Carson's answer was unexpected, "Don't tease Arthur, there is no word on the back of the playing card, are you out of your mind?"

No words?

Arthur turned over the back of the playing card and saw that there were words, densely packed with letters, it was a 3 of spades, and it read on the back:

"April is the cruelest month. Lilacs grow on the wasteland, mixing memory and desire, and letting the spring rain urge those dull roots. I am not Russian, I am from Lithuania, and I am a real German. When we were young, I lived with my cousin at the grand duke's house. He took me out to sled. I was very scared. He said, Mary, Mary, hold on tight. We rushed down. On the mountain, there you feel free."

(End of this chapter)