Marina turned her eyes to Mendoza for help. Miss Mendoza's face was in the shadow and her expression could not be seen. But Marina could see her hands wrung on her chest and a drop of sweat on her chin.
The beads were shining brightly. Marina quickly crossed herself on her chest and then turned her gaze to the audience, hoping to find the good man Mr. Trini who Mendoza had pointed out to her.
Marina saw a maid holding a bright glass lamp, slowly walking to a table from behind and stopping, then raising the lamp high to illuminate the table. Marina saw that the person under the lamp was Trini.
Sir. He was sitting at the table, as if he was holding some document in his hands. Behind him stood four Tatar men, all leaning over to look at him. Marina noticed that Mr. Trini's hands were shaking. After a while,
Yes, he wiped his forehead with his sleeve, closed his eyes again and seemed to take a deep breath, then picked up a pen and quickly wrote something on the document. The four men seemed very satisfied and took away the document.
Marina vaguely knew what Mr. Trini had just signed, but she didn't dare to think about it. Mr. Trini grabbed the sign in his hand, raised his head, and met Marina's eyes. Marina saw that he was big
He was dripping with sweat, his face was pale, and his eyes were full of exhaustion and fear.
"Four thousand circulating coupons!" Trini shouted out the new price again.
"Five thousand!" Xiao Bailang's expression remained unchanged.
He Fanghui had to stop the auction and sent a staff member to ask Xiao Bailang: Can he come up with so much cash?
"I don't need it." Xiao Bailang took out three tickets very arrogantly, "Is that enough? I want to settle on this Spanish Yanma - although the butt is not big and the breasts are small - I just won't give it to the Dutch pretty boy.
!”
He Fang recalled that he was convinced - Xiao Bailang was definitely going to get excited about matters related to "national dignity".
The bidding started again. This time the price jumped to 500, and Xiao Bailang directly increased Trini's quotation by 1000 each time.
When the price rose to 9,500 yuan, there was a burst of discussion at the scene. Most of the elders thought this was ridiculous! He Fanghui's originally calm face began to look unnatural.
But Trini's face was completely convulsed, his muscles were twisted together, and he looked like he was about to collapse.
"Ten thousand circulation coupons!" He Fanghui finally shouted out the incredible price tonight.
Trini couldn't hold it up anymore and fainted to the ground.
"Ten thousand first times! Ten thousand second times!..."
At this tense moment, a man stood up from the back row. He was wearing black clothes, a black cloak, black gloves, and a black velvet mask on his face. He didn't care at all about the surprised looks of others.
, strode onto the stage.
He Fanghui slowly put the gavel down. But he did not knock it, as if he had expected this person to appear.
"What objections do you have to the auction, your lordship?"
"What was the final bid?"
"Ten thousand negotiable coupons. Your Excellency."
"I am a guest here and I only have one admission ticket. Are there any restrictions on bidding?"
"As long as you have enough currency to pay for it - silver or gold coins will do."
The man named Earl looked at Marina who was about to faint and said:
"I'll double it, 20,000 circulating coupons."
He Fanghui opened his mouth in a bit of pretentious surprise, "Twenty thousand yuan?"
"Yes, I can take out even 20,000 pesos in cash." said the man who was as strong as an ox.
"Asshole! Who allowed him to do this..." Xiao Bailang was furious. As soon as he stood up and wanted to express his rebuttal, two people pushed him down on the chair. Before he could react, someone stuffed a stick into his mouth.
cigar.
No one called out the price anymore, so He Fanhui picked up the gavel and knocked lightly on the table: "Twenty thousand yuan of negotiable bonds are sold!"
Marina watched the tall man walking towards him. He took off his velvet mask, revealing the handsome yet rugged face of a Latin man - it was the Jesuit priest who delivered the medicine. She was surprised.
She yelled out. The man's black cloak fluttered and wrapped around her body. Then he picked her up effortlessly and let her lie down in his strong arms.
"Don't be afraid," the man whispered in Italian, "I am a Sardinian noble and I am willing to serve you!"
Doña Marina de Arellano fainted again.
When she woke up, she was already lying in a large and luxuriously furnished room. The knight in black was sitting at an exquisite desk with his back facing away, writing something. Hearing the sound of her waking up, he stood up and approached her.
come over.
He is so strong! Tall and big! Marina has rarely seen such a tall and fit Latino man: broad chest, strong shoulders, and muscular arms. On top of this strong body, there is a
The man's face is both weathered and handsome, and the curly hair that symbolizes the upper class is hanging down - he can be called a rare handsome man.
"You're awake," he said. "Would you like a glass of wine? I have some good wine here."
Marina didn't speak, just nodded. She did feel her lips were parched and her mouth was dry.
The man took a carved glass from the bedside table and filled it with red wine.
Marina drank it:
"Where is this? Aren't you the priest?"
"No, I'm not a priest. I disguised myself as one of those respectable priests in order to enter the quarantine camp." The man bowed gracefully, "I am Senzo Lando de Vananova Sardinian.
Count Atifananova."
"Where is this place?" Marina looked around.
"You are now in my temporary apartment. This place is called Lingao."
"Lingao?"
"Yes, there is an island right next to China - this is a colony of the Australians. They captured a city here."
"Are they Chinese pirates?"
"No, they are not pirates." Lando said, "They are good businessmen and industrialists."
"Why are you here? What do you want to do with me?" Marina suddenly became alert. She had long heard that people who were not Christians would be kind to their fellow believers. Among the Barbary pirates, those who believed in Christianity
There were people in the National People's Congress, and they treated the Christian ships with equal rudeness.
And the temperament exuded by Count Vananova, who calls himself Sardinia, shows that he is not a real nobleman. And she knows that Sardinia is a small kingdom in Italy under the rule of the Vice-King of Spain.
The awarding of noble titles is not strict, at least the title of knight can be obtained with money.
This person is probably an Italian adventurer who made a fortune engaging in illegal activities on the seas of East Asia!
Marina thought, suddenly trembling.
The other party seemed to be very sensitive, and he had noticed her uneasiness.
"You don't have to be afraid. I was not interested in you at all." He pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her. "It was Miss Mendoza's request for help that made me finally bid to buy you - otherwise you wouldn't have to be
That good-for-nothing Trini was so scared that he couldn't believe he was so poor!"
"Miss Mendoza?"
"Yes, she will come to see you soon." He said, clapped his hands, and a maid with an East Asian face came in from the door, holding a bag of clothes.
"Please change your clothes first. Wearing these clothes is not decent enough." He said with a smile, "I hope my taste in choosing clothes will not offend you."
The maid spread the clothes out on the bed. Marina recognized them as clothes from her carry-on luggage!
"I redeemed your luggage. Unfortunately, I couldn't redeem your silverware and jewelry - they refused." Mr. Lando explained as if he noticed her doubts.
"Thank you, Your Excellency." Marina said softly.
"You change clothes first, I'll come back later."
Marina changed her clothes under the service of the maid and put on her own clothes again - although the burden made her breathless, it made her feel much more at ease. From the content of Mr. Lando's words
It seems that I have great hope of escaping from this terrible situation.
At this time, Miss Mendoza came. After wishing her freedom in a low voice, Marina had no time to express her gratitude and could not help but threw herself into her arms and cried bitterly. This time, if Mendoza had not helped rescue her, she would not have been able to escape.
She must have fallen into the hands of these Australian pagans like other poor slave girls.
"Don't be like this, you have to thank Mr. Lando and Mr. Trini." Mendoza said, "Mr. Lando spent almost 30,000 yuan in circulation coupons for you-at least a few thousand pesos, if not for his
You are so generous, I really don’t know how to save you.”
She talked in detail about how she went to Lando for help: Mr. Lando was reluctant to come forward at first because he had business dealings with the Australians here and did not want to annoy them, so he discussed asking Trini to come forward.
Unexpectedly, someone would bid against Mr. Trini, and the amount far exceeded the amount he prepared——
"...Mr. Trini had to sign a harsh loan agreement temporarily in order to raise enough money to redeem you." Mendoza sighed, "It still didn't work! I had to run to Mr. Lando in a hurry.
It’s urgent.”
"I will never forget your great kindness." Marina said gratefully, especially to Lando, she was even more grateful - she knew that if it hadn't been for Lando's generosity today, she would have fallen into that black man's trap right now.
In the hands of a strong man, I don’t know what kind of abuse I will receive. “No matter how much money is spent, I will ask my fiancé and father to repay you double.”
Lando smiled slightly and made a generous gesture: "You'd better return it to poor Mr. Trini as soon as possible - his IOU will make him bankrupt in less than two months. Poor artist!" (
To be continued. Mobile phone users please read here.)