Chapter 9 chapter eight

Sarah walked to Lower Thames Street, waited for a gap in the roaring traffic, and quickly crossed the street.She walked toward Cannon Street and stopped in front of a pay phone box next to Bush Lane.She picked up the receiver and lightly pressed a number.After a few rings, a slightly trembling voice called back. Five minutes later, Jacob.Sarah Goldsmith's longest-standing and closest friend, actually more of a teacher, puts down the phone with a smile, picks up his cat, and strokes its shiny black fur. It's about time she came to visit us, right?Ruby lay triumphant in his arms, her eyes closed happily as he stroked her, and opened wide again angrily when he lowered her to the ground.The cat flicked its tail back and forth angrily, watching him nimbly put on his shoes, picked up the keys and wallet from the living room table, and gently closed the door behind him.The door behind the old man was concealed in a sheet metal inside the pine door with three deadbolts that clicked loudly.His mind is full of recipes.He crossed the road cautiously towards the supermarket on Golders-Green Road.

Jacob.Goldsmith was seventy-three years old, and possessed all the mysterious wisdom of an ancient man.For the people he likes, Sara is the first, he is full of meticulous care and love.He had always been kind and gentle, but age had added to him a quality of deliberation and tact.This instills a sense of well-being and joy in those around him.You wouldn't say about him at all that you'd say you're applauding a good guy who actually belittles, because he's so much more than a nice guy, and to say that about him is to belittle him anyway.He's far sharper and quicker than your average good guy, and there's still a bit of a rebellious streak about him, mostly in the form of a wink.He was still alive and strong.When he dressed up to meet former business associates, he would change into another outfit, so he could easily pass for sixty.But lately he had seen them very seldom.He retired from retirement twenty years ago, so his lifestyle has completely changed.Twenty-three years ago he moved from the East End to this Golders-Green Road apartment, looking forward to the beginning of retirement.His neighbor was Sarah's aunt Ezra, a professor of chemistry at the University of London.

A year after Jacob moved in, Sarah and her brother Alex moved here from the United States to live with their aunt Ezra.Sarah was eight and Alex was six when their parents were killed in a traffic accident.After his childhood sense of security was shattered, Alex was almost in a state of collapse.Sarah became a grown-up overnight, his backbone.Their love turned to Ezra, but she could not fill the void left in their hearts by the death of their parents. Ezra is a wonderful woman, ahead of her time, and in many ways the best role model for Sara, but she doesn't know anything about housework.She would leave Alex and Sara for a long time, leaving them to fend for themselves.After a while she became fascinated by the subject of her research, which was carried out in a small dusty room at the top of the apartment.Three meals a day, again and again.Jacob often tended the flowers and plants in the garden outside the house, so he became a friendly presence.Soon, the kids were spending a lot of their free time with him.His wife died ten years ago.He has no children, so for the three of them, spending years together has been a blissful symbiosis.He often cooked for them; Ezra became dependent on him, and an informal division of labor was drawn up between them.Ezra helps the kids with their homework and gives extra tutoring on their favorite subjects Sarah is Maths and Alex is Geology.Jacob is responsible for providing meals and entertainment for them.

There seemed to be endless stories in his belly, from his days and nights serving in the Royal Dragoons in World War II, to his wanderings after the war and his return to London, when he became a Expert in making safes.He is also an expert at opening safes. Sarah was especially fascinated by this aspect of Jacob's life.He was fascinated by her interest, told her the fancier stories alone, and, with her constant pestering, taught her how to open locks and safes without a key.By the time she was nine, she had become adept at entering her house without a key and opening Jacob's and Ezra's safes.She opened the safe just for the sake of opening it, and had no interest in what was inside.In fact she will add some content.Whenever Jacob opened the safe, probably once every month or two, he always found a series of little notes that Sara had left him.

Due to the unusual upbringing and influence different from other children after losing their parents at an early age, Sarah and Alex developed a peculiar moral outlook.As well as being loyal to each other, they were also very loyal to Jacob, and tolerant of his actions that would at least be regarded as misdemeanors by others.They didn't think Jacob's petty theft was a problem because the victim wasn't harmed and the insurance company would pay the premium and because Jacob himself was clearly a good man.He cares for them, loves them, entertains them, helps them develop their personalities.Their personality formation is largely unfettered by traditional conventions.

Jacob's experience in World War II and his three years of traveling before returning to the East End fueled Alex's love of adventure.Sara's love for Jacob was not weakened by knowing that he was what people usually call a criminal, but instead created in her young mind the idea that morality had different levels.According to this idea, a single act does not necessarily constitute yes or no in itself.She has grown up with a deeply emotional and idiosyncratic sense of morality and law. Jacob had never been caught, never set foot in prison, but as a child Sara was constantly worried that he would be taken away.Only after the realization of his semi-retirement status and his vow to her never to return to his old career did her worries subside.But she had always felt growing up that it would be a mockery of the law if he were arrested and imprisoned.

Ezra, though not very close to them, was also a powerful influence on the two children in her charge.With such an independent, successful career woman as the only woman in their lives, and with Jacob doing the cooking, that usual gender pattern was absent in their home life.Alex had developed a deep respect and love for women, acquired by her aunt and sister, while Sara refused to acknowledge the limitations her sex imposed on her talents and ambitions.Growing up, she felt deeply that the permanence of love was insecure, but she had full confidence in her own talents. This kind of self-confidence accompanied her through middle school, and enabled her to show her talents at Cambridge University, where she became a top student in double subjects majoring in mathematics.From childhood she had wanted to be a mathematician, but while at Cambridge she attended several lectures given by the Commercial Bank.The commercial banks were scrambling to find top math graduates to send them to the increasingly sophisticated trading floors.She found herself moved.The distant world of mathematics began to lose its charm for her.After extensive discussions with Jacob and Ezra, Sarah decided on a career in the City.She will have a lot of company there.The world of pure mathematics is too lonely for her, and the challenges and opportunities in the City of Finance and a lot of money can buy her the freedom and security she longs for.

So Sarah became a bank practitioner, and Alex became a mountaineering enthusiast sponsored by his sister's career, and at the same time became a little famous.Once he became famous, he would make a documentary film and pay her back a little money.In ten years or so, when her time in the City was over, he would take her on an adventure.They had planned everything, and in four years both made good progress. Ezra accepted a visiting professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, after being relieved of vague housekeeping duties.She has been there for two years.She rented out her flat, and Sarah moved out, took out a large mortgage, spent all her savings, and bought her present flat in Carlyle Square.She and Alex moved in.Three months ago, the basement suite of the apartment was listed for sale.The old lady who lived there finally gave up her increasingly shaky independent life and moved to Scotland to live with her son and daughter-in-law.

[Note] Mortgage loan: Mortgage refers to the use of real estate and other physical assets or securities, contracts, etc. as collateral to obtain bank loans and pay off the principal and interest in installments according to the contract, and the bank returns the collateral after the loan is paid off. Sarah acted quickly.She had wanted the basement suite for a long time.It's ready for Ezra and Jacob, and Alex can store his bulk of climbing gear in it.If Eddie was going to be here, they might need more space.So she maxed out her mortgage loan, emptied all the deposits she had made since she started restoring her savings, and bought the apartment for £160,000.Aged twenty-eight, she owns an £800,000 house in Chelsea with a £400,000 mortgage, while maintaining a well-paying but insecure job.

Two years ago, she would not have been able to cope with this financial instability.But the trauma of her childhood was being overshadowed by her adult success, and although she was still unhappy when she thought about it, she didn't want to worry about it, and even lied to herself that she found the thrill of a gambler in a shaky career.With a few more years of smooth sailing in the City, she could pay off her mortgage.At that time, she will start saving what she calls running money. She's smart, beautiful, accomplished, and popular, but never really takes things lightly.Her life was in many ways as good as it could be now, and she rarely analyzed it, but when she did, she feared that the present peace was only temporary.

Suspecting some kind of self-destructive trait in Sara, Jacob carefully guards her.He knew her financial situation, he knew she was worried about it, and other than that, he didn't worry too much about her.On her eighteenth birthday, he gave her an antique ruby ​​and diamond ring.When she was top student in two subjects, he gave her a pair of earrings to match.He also kept a diamond and ruby ​​necklace for another occasion, though he didn't know what it was.Right now it was stashed in his bedroom, and if it was taken out, it would pay off her mortgage in no time.In this country, it is difficult to sell this kind of necklace, which he knows very well.But he knew that some buyers had a discerning eye for fine gemstone jewelry and would accept it without proof of provenance. He didn't tell Sara why he was giving the ruby, and she would be offended that he thought he lacked confidence in her.Of course not.He knew she would eventually pull through, keep her job, pay off the loan. He just wanted to spare her any unpleasantness in the process, and it was good to know that the ruby ​​was there because it was the best insurance policy. Sarah walked briskly toward the bank station.She really wanted to go home and change clothes, but it was a waste of time to go back and forth.Jacob, however, liked to see her all dressed up.If she went back, she had to change into stockings and flat shoes.Might as well just wear the city clothes and get to Jacob's early so he can sneak in while he cooks.She bought a copy of the Evening Standard from the station and joined the crowd rushing for the Northern Line.Ten minutes later, just as the crowd loitering on the platform became unbearable, a train pulled into the station.Sara squeezed into the car, found a seat deftly, sat down, and for the next forty minutes she buried herself in the newspaper. After she got off at Golders|Green Road Station, she detoured along Golders|Green Road to the hotel with a takeaway liquor license, and picked out two bottles of red wine.Jacob never drank white wine and passed on his passion for red to her.She had been a connoisseur of wine for years before she started dating rich men in high-end restaurants. She put the wine bottle in a plastic bag and carried it all the way downhill, passed the subway station again, and then turned from the bustling main street to the quiet Rotherwick Road.The streets are lined with red brick houses of two or three stories high, with well-tended gardens in front of the houses, most of which are full of roses. Jacob's garden looked very elegant.From the day she knew him, he always devoted his time and energy to the garden.Roses are his favorite flowers. He has the wild perfume rose, the precious Copenhagen rose, and the most proud is the big red Alexander rose with a strong fragrance.There are many, many other varieties.When she was a child he had taught her the names of all the roses, but she had forgotten most of them now. The garden door creaked pleasantly as Sarah pushed open it.Jacob refused to lubricate the door as an early warning system.The crunch caught Ruby's attention, and he trotted around the corner of the wall, splayed against Sarah's calf.Sarah picked it up with one hand and rang the doorbell with the other. The bottle jingled lightly against the brass handle. Seconds later, Jacob appeared in the doorway, grinning so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. hello dear.Ruby was caught between them as he hugged her.Then he kissed Sara on the cheek and looked hopefully at the plastic bag, what have you got for me?Hopefully it's something serious.He opened the plastic bag and took a closer look at the wine bottle, it's not bad, I'm glad you've improved. Sara laughed, I knew everything, and those. She gently put Ruby on the floor and followed Jacob into the kitchen.He took two fragile-looking tankards from an old-fashioned oak cupboard and opened the bottle.After the two glasses were filled with wine, the bottle was almost half empty.Sarah had adopted Jacob's habit of counting her alcohol consumption by the number of drinks she'd had. I'm almost ready to go.Go watch Coronation Street and tell me the story after you finish watching it.I'll call you when the meal is ready. Sara walked into the living room with a glass of wine and lay down on the sofa in front of the TV.Coronation Street is halfway through.Sarah sipped her drink, switched channels, and picked up an old Observer to read. Twenty minutes later, Jacob put his head in the door and asked: What happened? Um?Sarah looked up blankly. Coronation Street.How did it end?Sarah laughed, embarrassed, sorry, Jacob.I am not concentrating. Concentrate and don't be a fool.You don't have to concentrate on watching Coronation Street.He watched her carefully from across the room with piercing eyes, all right, you'd better come over and get something to eat. She followed him meekly into the kitchen.After she sat down, he gave her a large piece of stewed chicken. eat it.You are still so skinny. It's not skinny.After Sarah finished speaking, she suddenly felt hungry and began to eat. Jacob ate only a tiny bit.He looked at Sara, and after a while he asked, "Tell me what's going on?" Sara stopped, took a big mouthful of food, and put down her fork, what do you mean, what's going on? Jacob looked annoyed, what's going on, what's going on.What do you think I mean by asking? Sara sighed, took a sip of her red wine, and listen to me, Jacob.I can't always tell you everything.I guess it's none of your business.Seeing the tears in his eyes, she regretted what she had just said. Oh my God, Jacob.I'm so sorry.I didn't mean to say that.It's just that I've been a little distraught since Alex and Eddie left.not sleeping well Jacob took a long sip of his wine slowly, it's all right, dear.no need to worry.He was silent for a moment, but it wasn't about that, was it?They will leave you sad.I've seen you sad before.You're preoccupied now, aren't you? Sarah watched Jacob's weather-beaten face wrinkle in worry. You can't hide anything from you, can you? Jacob sighed in relief, leaned back in his chair and waited. Well, I'd better tell you, said Sarah, and I don't think I'll do any harm.There was something very odd about which I was about to get involved.In fact, I'm already involved.She paused, it was just a little weird, that's all. Jacob let the whole thing drop from her mouth: Carter, Barrington, and Scarpirato. So you see, she concluded, I need this job, both for Scarpirato and for the President.I just feel a little uneasy, that's all.My time at Finlays Bank has been fine.It was the same with Eddie.Right now everything is fine and peaceful. You can't give up on this thing, can you? No, said Sarah, I can't do it. So what are you going to do? Sarah smiled.If I'm offered the job, I'll take it. Jacob, who sat on the other side of the table, smiled, which amused me. Sarah looked at him warily. I've seen you look like that before, Jacob.Goldsmith.Do you have any brilliant ideas? Let's see if you can get the job first, shall we?