Chapter 133 Father and Son

Tom carefully looked at the man in front of him. When he looked at him for the first time, Tom felt a familiar feeling in his heart, as if he was looking at a mirror that could see the future.

The man's pale skin was even a little transparent, and he looked sickly, but under his haggard old face, he had the same straight nose bridge, the same thin lips and the same sharp eyebrows as Tom, and all kinds of features on his face The features are exactly the same as Tom's, but there are some differences—his browbones are high, and his eye sockets are sunken. The same shock as Tom's flashed in his bloodshot eyes.

"Have you... seen enough?"

A hoarse voice sounded in the room.

Old Tom also looked at Tom, staring at this boy who was almost a replica of himself when he was young. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked away calmly. He didn't want to show timidity in front of this boy who seemed to be his son, so he had to look sideways. Face, hiding his expression in the shadow behind the flames, like a hunter waiting for his prey to enter the net in the snowy field, he asked.

Tom didn't say anything. He found that the most comfortable position for him to sit on the sofa was exactly the same as that of the man with the same name. He simply changed his posture, spread his legs, put his arms on his knees, and crossed his hands for support. Chin, body arched, like a leopard ready to go, but also like a poisonous snake with its body coiled up.

There was only one sentence between the two of them, but the atmosphere at this moment suddenly became tense. The servant who was waiting at the side felt that the temperature in the room was a little cold, so he shivered. The old butler at the door shouted away.

Tom and Old Tom looked at each other by the fire, only the sound of old Tom's heavy breathing and the crackling of the pine wood in the fireplace being baked to bursting were left in the room.

After a while, the old housekeeper returned to the room and brought a booklet to Old Tom. Old Tom took the booklet and spread it out on his knees. He rested his head on the armrest of the sofa and flipped through the booklet. The sound of paper flipping was obviously loud, but it could not be squeezed into the air of the room at all.

"Enough is enough."

Just when old Tom was about to turn back after reading halfway through, Tom suddenly spoke and interrupted his movements.

Old Tom froze. He raised his head and looked at Tom opposite. He opened his mouth, but only squeezed out a syllable similar to "uh" from his throat. With a complicated smile, he said, "It seems that you are much better than I imagined."

Tom continued to rest his chin, nodded, and signaled old Tom to continue.

"So, she... named you 'Tom Riddle,' didn't she?" asked old Tom, closing the booklet, "My name..."

"is my name."

Tom said indifferently, his heart was twisted, and he thought inexplicably: "If Gnar and his father meet, it shouldn't be like this scene."

"That's right, it's your name." Old Tom nodded and said, "You can call it anything, including that Gellert Grindelwald, but now it's also my name, and when I'm a hundred years later, it will be It's all yours."

Old Tom had a strange expression on his face, sighed, turned sideways and stretched out his trembling right hand to Tom, and said seriously, "My name is Tom Riddle."

"I know."

As if there was a delay, Tom stood still for a while, then sat up straight, stretched out his hand and gently shook old Tom's fingertips.

"You may not be able to see that you are almost exactly the same as when I was young, so let me explain to you the intention of finding you."

Relying on the shadow of his ancestors and years of experience, Old Tom is used to making surprises in the mall, but he didn't know how to speak up in this situation. After holding back for a long time, he said something that made people laugh. Fortunately, in the room The three of them have all seen the market, and they didn't laugh out loud, but it made the atmosphere even more awkward.

"I know."

"Fine, let me tell you... wait, you know?"

"I know."

Old Tom clenched his fist and tapped his forehead, and said with a headache, "Do you know what I'm going to do after I find you?"

"I don't know." Tom finally said something other than "I know". He shook his head and asked seriously, "What is it?"

"It's for..." Old Tom seemed to have completely lost his ability to express himself in front of Tom. His well-prepared words had completely lost their usefulness under the three "I know", so he had to say weakly, "The story is a bit long. , can I start from the beginning?"

"You are welcome."

"Okay, I and the woman who gave birth to you... I don't know if you have any impression, your mother, there are some quarrels, but obviously, you should be my biological son." Old Tom babbled , suddenly scratched his hair and asked, "Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?"

"Please."

The butler took a step forward and handed over the open cigar box with a wink. Old Tom shook his head and said, "Smoke."

The butler quickly brought him what he wanted. Old Tom lit one, took a deep breath, and coughed violently, but the feeling that his vision was covered by smoke made him feel like a fish in water, and he was able to continue talking comfortably go down.

"To be honest, I only found out that I still have a son alive not long ago. In fact, our family has been paying attention to you for so many years..."

Through the smoke, Old Tom saw "Continue to make up a few words" written on Tom's expressionless face, so he coughed, changed the subject, and told the story of him and Merope.

A few cigarettes passed, and old Tom said earnestly, "Really, I don't expect you to believe—"

"I believe." Tom believed it too much. As a wizard who had just heard about the dangers of the love potion in class last week, he had inquired a lot from various pure-blood genealogy and Nelson. Tom was something his wizard mother could do, he nodded and said, "I see, so you think you are just an innocent victim in this matter, don't you?"

A struggling look appeared on Old Tom's face. He was silent for a moment, lit a cigarette and smoked it out, lit another, and finally said: "Yes, boy, I would like to lie to you that we are very close." This is to win your favor, but I can't do it, I have escaped from that devil's lair for more than ten years, and it has always been my nightmare."

"I understand that if that happened to me, I'd run away anyway." Tom has always been an emotionally distant person, except for a few here and there, including his biological mother, whom he has never met, for whom he is grateful The witch brought him into this world, but she doesn't feel like she owes her anything, "especially after hearing this story, I think I should be just a by-product of her crazy love. Besides, I am the same as her people."

Tom's last words were slurred, and old Tom didn't catch them.

But when he heard the previous sentence, he, who had never softened his heart in his life, suddenly couldn't bear it. He felt that he should at least fulfill some of his father's duties, and at least let this child have the right to know the truth. Surprised, "What is this? Am I repenting?"

"what did you say?"

"It's nothing." Old Tom flipped open the booklet on his lap, opened one of the pages, called the old housekeeper, and beckoned him to tell Tom.

"Master," said the old housekeeper, "according to what I learned from Mrs. Cole, the administrator of the West City Orphanage, Miss Gaunt persisted for five months after the master left before giving birth to you. At that time, she had run out of oil and the lamp was dry, so she found the West City Orphanage on that snowy night, and fell on the steps of the door——According to Mrs. Cole, she faced the door, but her back and The back of her head hit the steps, which may be one of the reasons why she died so soon."

Tom grinned, half-smile, not knowing whether it was because he heard Mrs. Cole's name, or because he heard the story of his mother protecting him.

Old Tom was uncomfortable listening, and sucked on the end of his cigarette quickly, making the sparks on it brighter than the fire.

"So why are you looking for me?" Tom asked after digesting the news.

"On the one hand, I want you to inherit my family business." Returning to the topic, Old Tom was obviously much more comfortable. He sighed again and said, "After all, I'm dying soon."

"I don't need it." Tom raised his eyebrows. Muggle wealth hardly excited him, but the news behind him still surprised him.

"I know that although you are young now, you have a career," Old Tom was taken aback for a moment. He didn't expect his son to be not interested in his family background. His son was ready, and this refusal caught him off guard, so he had to persuade him earnestly, "There is no way out for art. I don't object to younger generations in the family having their own hobbies, but they can only be hobbies after all. You Don't understand how rich I am."

"How rich?" Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Our family has been operating in Europe, especially England, for hundreds of years, and countries all over the world have their own estates," Old Tom said. "The street where this hotel is located, the Riddle family can buy it in less than a month."

"Oh, that's amazing..." Tom said flatly with his eyes hanging.

"The old colony is full of our family's property. Although they are independent, gold is not independent."

Old Tom has completely deviated from his original intention. From the moment Tom entered the door, he was very satisfied with the son who fell from the sky. He no longer wanted to deceive a tool man looking for his daughter. Feeling—this son with the same name as himself might be able to continue his career and make the family more brilliant, so he worked hard to continue bewitching Tom with what he was best at.

"Go back home, study for a few years, and you can go straight to the top, or even go higher!"

Old Tom was bewitched by himself, he even thought he was a few years younger, but Tom was already bored, I was the one who would use magic to change the world with Gnar, who rarely played that with a group of Muggles?

He repeated impatiently, "I don't need to."

"You don't need it?" Old Tom could only feel a mouthful of old blood stuck in his throat. His family is old money among old money, noble among nobles, politicians and rich businessmen can't wait to be his son. How can anyone not see it? superior? Raising his voice, he asked, "Didn't you catch? Do you know what you refused?"

"Just tell me what you want me to do." Tom was a little tired. He didn't want to play with these twists and turns. He has grievances and ulterior motives, and he doesn't have much trust—this is completely different from the scene he imagined that father and son would recognize each other, so Tom relaxed his body, leaned comfortably on the sofa, looked at the fire and asked, " There are no gratuitous gifts in the world, everything has a price, this is what a friend of mine told me."

"I--"

"So, what's the price?"

The room was quiet again, and this time old Tom was panting louder, drowning out the sound of cracking wood.

The black veil outside the window became even thicker, which made it impossible for Tom to judge the time by natural light sources. He just lay on the sofa and watched the flames changing shapes every moment. The armrest of the sofa wanted to stand up, but because it was too weak, it fell back on the sofa. The housekeeper hurriedly stepped forward to help, and Old Tom waved his hand, and held on to the armrest for the second time. His legs struggled to stand up, and he trembled. Walking in front of Tom majestically, his red eyes were a little moist.

"You win, Tom." Old Tom called Tom's name for the first time. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit, took out an old yellowed photo, handed it to Tom, and said, "Whether you want it or not I am willing, since I have found you, you are my heir - those things will be yours in the future."

"I don't--"

"Wait until I finish," Old Tom interrupted Tom's refusal. This was the first time he took the initiative in today's conversation. He stood up straight, like an old and frail old lion. Fighting is far less fierce than those young lions, and even makes them want to move, but before he really abdicates, his roar can still deter all incoming enemies.

Tom was even a little frightened. He took the photo and looked down. Seeing the girl on it, he froze for a moment, then slowly raised his eyebrows.

"As I said, my time is numbered, and it doesn't matter to me what you do with what is left to you." Old Tom said, "But there is one thing you must do anyway!"

"Okay...Okay." Tom shrank his neck, he was so surprised that he was a little afraid of the old Tom at the moment!

"This is your sister, her name is Laura, Laura Riddle." Lao Tang raised his head, blinked hard, and his voice was distorted, "Birthday is December 30, 1927, how about me and your mother It doesn’t matter anymore, it’s a matter of the older generation, but your sister is your closest relative in this world. In 1932, she was lost in London. You must find her, not for me, but for yourself ,do you understand?"