Chapter 223 Signature

Laura Louise analyzed William's selling points to the editor-in-chief, even if half of what Yusolin Heller said was the truth. This is a news figure worth exploring and will become another commendable success story in the press.

But when Louise said this, she was interrupted by the editor-in-chief: "The World Economic News is already successful enough."

When Louise heard this, she pursed her lips, and then said firmly: "But that was the success of the World Economic News, not my success, nor the success of our branch."

No matter how Louise exaggerates the importance of news, the editor-in-chief, who still disapproves, only then did he really look at Louise seriously and ponder for a while before he said: "Whether you go to the clay continent or the windless belt, you need official approval. The world government's work efficiency has always been slow. I'm afraid you will have to wait for a while before you can get up and go to the East China Sea."

Louise's eyes widened, and she hadn't figured out why the editor-in-chief suddenly agreed to her proposal.

"Are you planning to go to the East China Sea alone? Or do you need a newspaper to send a few people to accompany you?" asked the editor-in-chief.

Louise suppressed her excitement and tried her best to analyze it calmly: "I went there alone, and this time I mainly went to conduct investigations. According to Yusolin Heller, the target person is very powerful, and if there are too many people, it is easier to attract attention."

"It's good that you know," the editor-in-chief nodded. "What you are looking for now is not only a pirate, but also a ruler of a kingdom. The world government, hundreds of franchisees, and their own laws. Even if you are from our newspaper, we cannot guarantee your safety when we go to other countries."

Louise is serious, as a journalist working in the news industry, she knows very well that the rulers of various kingdoms are sometimes more vicious than pirates. A tyrant's harm to the people in the country will not be much worse than a big pirate, or even more so.

"I hope that when you come back here again from Donghai, you will bring big news that will make you successful."

The editor-in-chief said that because of Louise's previous words, he suddenly admired the young reporters in front of him. The World Economic News does not lack smart people, but only those who dare to fight for their own lives. In this chaotic world, big news is often linked to dangerous people. If you want to obtain first-hand materials, you often need the reporters below to fight for their lives. Only those who truly put life and death aside, who have a desire for success and news beyond ordinary people's desire to obtain news can be considered talents for newspapers.

The editor-in-chief's attitude towards Donghai has not changed, but he thinks that Laura Louise, a reporter who has never paid much attention to before, seems worthy of training.

...

Harden can't remember how many years he hasn't been home.

The "hometown" that should represent the warm label in memory is only poverty in Harden's memory.

Harden's father is a poor drunkard in a poor town. His mother couldn't stand a day of hardship when Harden was very young and ran away from home, leaving the young Harden alone facing the man who was forced into a corner by life and could only commit violence against his weaker child.

Later, when Harden was ten years old, his father was found dead in a stinky ditch one day, and no one knew who the murderer was.

Until there was a rumor in the town that Harden, who had always been gloomy, could not bear the beating and moved his hands while his father was drunk.

In fact, this was not done by Harden. His father's death may be the result of the debt collector, or the conflict caused by drinking too much. However, no matter what the reason is, it is not important to Harden. He does not hate the murderer at all, but on the contrary, he is very grateful to the other party.

Harden never denied the rumors that appeared in the village.

Because Harden discovered that with this rumor, the contemptuous gaze that had always fallen on him in the town turned into fear. Those peers who usually bully him did not dare to hang out in front of him since then.

Harden did not kill anyone, but a rumor about him killing allowed him to gain a status he had never obtained before and was free from bullying.

So when Harden grew up, he naturally became a pirate, a criminal born of killing and violence.

Since he was a child, he has never been favored by his hometown people. He is accompanied by either cold eyes or disgusting eyes.

But by some reason, after volunteering to join the expedition to the Great Route, Harden always wanted to go back to his hometown to take a look.

When warships with the Morgan Pirates flag were moored at the dock, the shore was filled with crowds of onlookers.

After Harden got off the gangway alone, he looked around. He remembered that the dock, which was in disrepair and almost no one cared for, seemed to have been renovated for a while. At this time, two merchant ships were moored, and some porters were moving goods up and down like ants, constantly carrying goods from above.

Those onlookers had different expressions, some were excited, some were nervous, and some were confused. They could not be close, but they did not have any disgust or rejection.

Nearly ten years away from home, Harden doesn't know how many people in this town know him.

He seemed to have a certain aura on his body. When he walked to the shore, the crowd unconsciously separated a path for him and watched him leave.

Some half-old children saw that Harden was coming off the Morgan Pirates' boat, and they kept following him, curious and scared, pushing each other's companions, laughing and shouting, as if they wanted to answer him.

Harden suddenly turned around and made a face. Cooperating with his fierce appearance and terrible scars, the children behind him frightened him to scatter.

When a group of children left, Harden, who had a calm face, couldn't help but smile.

When Harden arrived at the edge of the town, he was surprised to find that his original house was still there, but the door shaft of the door had been removed, and the windows were not intact.

He pushed open the door that was more symbolic than practical, and entered a room that seemed narrower than his childhood. He touched a skull pattern on the wall that was lighter in color and could not be seen and crooked, and made a hoarse laugh.

When Harden came out of the house, he saw that several people had already stood outside the house.

An old man with gray hair in the middle saw Harden turn his head and look at him. He hesitated for a moment and asked softly: "Harden? Is it you?"

"Polino?" Harden looked up and down and said carelessly, "You are actually the mayor, but you are really good at being a human being."

Harden knew that after William banned the local autonomous institutions, he also took off the official hats of many local officials. Those who can retain their positions must be very sensible and honest and obedient.

The old mayor named Paulino was beyond Harden's expectations. Not only did he not have fear or disgust, but he looked overjoyed. He stepped forward and held Harden's hand and said enthusiastically: "Harden, I didn't expect it to be you. I originally heard that the Morgan Pirates also had a hero named Harden, and he was skeptical and suspected that it was a duplicate name! Unexpectedly, I didn't expect..."

Harden pulled his hand away with impatient look, but the mayor Paulino looked at no embarrassment. He also diligently recommended himself as a tour guide, saying that he would lead Harden, a person who had not returned to his hometown for almost ten years, to revisit his hometown.

Harden did not refuse. Seeing Mayor Paulino drive away all the people who followed him, several of them seemed to recognize Harden and turned around frequently with concern. Harden sneered at them.

Mayor Paulino hurriedly waved his hands to those people, then greeted Harden and guided him personally.

Along the way, Mayor Paulino not only told Harden about the changes and major events in the town over the years, but also sang praises for William's various policies and deeds. I don't know if it was because he knew that Harden had a high status around William.

"...There are a lot more merchant ships coming and going this year, thanks to your Morgan Pirates clearing out the pirates around you," said Paulino with a sincere look. "You should really go back to your hometown to see more. Although the town is not rich yet, the conditions have improved a lot."

Harden responded, with a cold attitude. He was straight and didn't like a slippery person like the mayor. Moreover, after returning to his hometown, he found that this trip seemed to be a mistake. He did not have the feelings of returning home as ordinary people. Those familiar scenes would make him recall the past and then become disgusted.

The mayor rubbed his hands awkwardly. Harden had such a cold attitude along the way, and he finally lost the topic.

The two walked all the way to the school playground. At this time, there was no one in the school, but there was a little boy reading a book on the playground.

Mayor Paulino suddenly remembered something: "Harden, you are the right-hand man of the consul now. Can you give him advice to prevent people from moving this school to the next town?"

Seeing Harden's confusion, the mayor explained to him that until now, he has gradually discovered many problems. One of them is the lack of teaching staff. The primary school classrooms in many places are dissatisfied with it, which has caused great waste to the teaching staff. At the suggestion of the attendant's room, he decided to merge schools near villages and towns according to the island division.

Because Harden's hometown is insufficient, it is the one that is about to be merged. The school has to be moved to the next town. Students in this town will need to go a long way to go to school in the future.

"How can the school site be selected simply based on the number of people? Shouldn't we look at the results? The students in our town have always been among the best in the surrounding areas," said the mayor. Seeing Harden disagreed, he shouted to the little boy reading a book on the playground, "Kebe, Kebe, come here!"

When the little boy wearing glasses and holding a book ran to the two of them clumsyly, the mayor said, "Kebi's theoretical grades are the best among the four surrounding villages and towns. What should I do if such a good student moves the school far away and affects his grades?"

He said to Kerby again: "This is the deputy captain of the Morgan Pirates, the hero who went out of our town..."

"Mr. Harden!" Before the mayor finished speaking, Kebby called out Harden's name with excitement, "I know you, you are the veteran of the Morgan Pirates, and the minstrel in the tavern told your story."

Harden finally showed a surprised expression, and saw that Kerby actually took out a pen from his pocket and handed it to him along with the book he had read before, showing an expectant expression, just like William's fan meeting a movie star in his previous life: "Can you please sign me?"

Harden looked at Mayor Paulino and saw that the latter was also a little surprised, so he felt that all this was not specially arranged.

Harden looked down at the book and pen that reached in front of him, and then said lightly after a moment: "I can't read."

Kebi held up the pen in his pen silly, his face full of surprise.

The mayor was afraid that Harden would be embarrassed, so he spoke seriously to Kerby: "Mr. Harden was not as good as you when he was a child, and he could read and read for free. It was because of this that he and other heroes of the Morgan Pirates worked hard to expel other pirates and defend their hometown from being rampant by pirates, in order to give you children a better living environment. You must cherish everything today, do you understand?"

Harden looked at Mayor Paulino singing in a fake high-profile manner, and found it a bit funny. He actually knew very well that there were people in the Morgan Pirates who did not agree with William's request, and he himself could not understand William's thoughts. Everything they did was ultimately because this was William's "order".

Mandatory compulsory education and business-oriented policies are also civil affairs, and have nothing to do with the Morgan Pirates or Harden.

However, Harden found it funny, for some reason, after hearing the mayor's words, he was moved and disappointed, and he was also a little moved. He smiled and asked Kerby, "Do you really want my signature?"

Kebi nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, almost throwing his glasses off.

Seeing him busy protecting his glasses, Harden laughed even harder: "I can't read, but it's just a name. You can teach me to write."

Kerby responded excitedly.

A strange scene suddenly appeared on the dock. A man with a fierce face, under the guidance of a little boy with pink hair, was unfamiliar with a pen and slowly writing something on the paper.

Harden felt that the pen in his hand seemed heavier than a sword and a gun. It took him a long time to leave a line of crooked writing on Kebi's notebook.

Even though Harden was illiterate, he still felt that the name he signed was extremely ugly, but Kebi still closed the book seriously and hugged it in his arms.

Looking at Kebi, who had never seen him before but admired his deeds very much, the boredom that Harden had accumulated in his heart seemed to disappear after he set foot on the land of his hometown.

When Kerby left, Harden finally turned to the mayor who had been standing silently by: "Tell me again about the school I just mentioned."

...

Two days later, a strange ship with slurry wheels on either side was parked at the dock of the town.

On the stern deck of the paddle ship, Harden looked at the town that was getting farther and farther away, and was stunned.

Clow came to Harden at some point: "I thought you wouldn't be a person who was easily melancholy."

"Have you been home?" Harden asked back.

"Go back and take a look." Clowe replied.

"How does it feel?"

"At the very beginning, there is no change, but in fact, many places have become unfamiliar, and I don't know whether it is good or bad."

Harden shook his head: "I think it's a good thing. In my memory, my hometown was not worthy of my nostalgia, but now, some places and some people are at least not so annoying to me."

"Do you know? In the town, a child actually asked me for an autograph!" Harden talked about Kebby as an interesting thing. "I don't know why, I didn't understand what William did, but just acted as he told me. I always thought that protecting the place and not robbing the place. However, when I saw the child holding my signature, just like holding a treasure map, I suddenly felt that it was not good now."

Clow was stunned when he heard this, then smiled and said, "This is what William once mentioned in the 'self-realization need'?"

"What does it mean?" Harden asked.

"It is to have other pursuits besides eating, drinking, defecation and urination." Clowe knew Harden's origin, so he said deliberately vulgarly.

Sure enough, Harden was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then laughed.

———

Volume 3: The thief of the country is finished.

The second volume is as thunderous as the ears.
Chapter completed!