Blue Eyes Under Fog Capital Bridge (4)

There are many people named Oliver.

The surname Twist is not particularly rare, either.

But when the name "Oliver Twist" appears alongside a diary, it is hard for Ye Yan not to associate it with that classic character from Oliver Twist.

"Hello, Mr. Twist."

Ye Yan shook his hand, his knuckles tightening slightly.

The old man's palms were calloused from manual labor, a subtle contrast to his status, and while his suit was refined, it was already showing signs of age.

It seems this man lives a very frugal life.

"My name is Ye Yan; you may also call me Newman."

Oliver was visibly taken aback.

Few people would proactively invite someone to address them by their given name upon a first meeting.

Stiff, old-school gentlemen would view such behavior as an offense; those who care about their own face value honor etiquette and rules more than their own lives.

But to him, this was nothing worth worrying about.

After all, in the eyes of those aristocrats who pride themselves on elegance, a fellow like him who chooses to spend his days mingling with street urchins and wallowing in self-degradation is nothing more than a disgrace to the nobility.

"Ye, may I call you that?"

Oliver smiled gently. "I rarely see a young man as full of vitality as you; it reminds me of those children who are just as full of life."

As he said this, his gaze drifted involuntarily toward the carriage to the side, where the ragged street urchins were entering one by one, their eyes still filled with a trace of confusion and trepidation.

"Of course, Mr. Twist."

Ye Yan nodded and politely withdrew his hand.

He was very familiar with the Oliver from Oliver Twist, but he was not familiar with the old gentleman standing before him.

The Oliver in the original work was an orphan raised in a workhouse who suffered punishment for "daring to ask for more" and was subsequently sold as an apprentice to an undertaker.

Unable to bear the abuse, he fled the undertaker's shop and arrived in London, only to be lured by the Artful Dodger and fall into Fagin's den of pickpockets.

After many twists and turns, he eventually met a happy ending.

Ye Yan remembered that Oliver was actually an illegitimate child of the nobility and was adopted by Brownlow after obtaining his legal identity. He only needed to confirm these two points to determine whether the old gentleman before him was indeed the Oliver from Oliver Twist.

"Mr. Twist, if I may be so bold, do you have any familial relationship with Mr. Brownlow?"

Ye Yan's question was abrupt; he could even feel the surprised gaze cast by Detective Lestrade beside him.

Oliver, however, laughed unexpectedly.

"You know my adoptive father?"

Very good.

Confirmed. This Oliver is that Oliver.

It is just that one is the teenage version of Oliver, and the other is the elderly version from forty or fifty years later.

"No, it is not that I know him."

Ye Yan shook his head, immediately shifting the blame onto the original body's father, who could no longer be questioned.

"To be precise, it was my father who knew him."

He paused and continued, "My father once received help from Mr. Brownlow, and he mentioned this matter."

"And since Mr. Brownlow had an adopted son named Oliver Twist, and you happen to share the same name and are here in London, I had to ask."

"I see. My adoptive father is indeed a gentleman who loves to help others."

Oliver said with a smile, a trace of nostalgia appearing in his eyes. "My adoptive father saved me, helped your father, and today we are gathered here because we are helping a group of orphans. It seems we are quite fated."

He winked playfully, a gesture that made him look twenty years younger.

"If I were thirty years younger, perhaps we could have become friends. But I don't think age is an issue; as long as we are like-minded partners, we can be friends. Don't you think I'm right?"

Ye Yan sighed.

He is truly the protagonist from the pen of Dickens, capable of shining with humanitarian brilliance at any moment.

"You are right; friendships across generations do exist."

"Friendships across generations—a novel term, but very fitting."

Oliver said with a smile, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out like ironed old parchment. His gaze drifted past Ye Yan's shoulder and suddenly brightened.

"It seems there is a little gentleman over there looking for someone."

The smile on the old man's face deepened.

"Let me guess, he must want to personally express his gratitude to the person who rescued him?"

Ye Yan followed the gaze of the elderly Oliver and turned back, seeing Billy hesitating outside the carriage door. His dirty little hands were constantly twisting the hem of his shirt, his eyes darting toward their direction from time to time.

Upon meeting his gaze, Billy's eyes lit up, and he began to run quickly in their direction.

That messy, straw-like golden hair shimmered with a joyful luster under the sunlight.

"Kind sir, thank you so much for helping Irene and me. I will definitely find a way to repay you."

The boy's voice was slightly breathless from running, and his cheeks were flushed with a healthy glow.

"It's just, that lucky coin you gave me..."

His voice suddenly dropped, his gaze darting away, not daring to meet Ye Yan's eyes.

"Are you talking about this?" Ye Yan pulled the coin from his pocket. "I searched this off Scarface."

Billy snapped his head up, his azure eyes shimmering with a longing light. "Sir, I... I want to keep that coin. But I don't have a penny to my name right now."

His voice grew quieter and quieter, eventually turning into a near-whisper. "I can write you an IOU. Once I earn some money, I'll pay you back two... no! Ten shillings!"

The boy bit his lower lip nervously, waiting for Ye Yan's reply with great trepidation.

Ye Yan simply smiled.

"No need for an IOU; it's just returning an item to its rightful owner."

He handed the coin back to the boy, placing it gently into his palm. "Since I gave it to you as a gift before, it belongs to you, Lucky Billy."

Billy's fingers clenched tightly around the coin.

His blue eyes welled up with tears once more, and he bowed deeply to Ye Yan.

From now on, the first shilling he earned from honest work would definitely go to this kind gentleman.

This thought took root and sprouted in his small heart.

No! Not just the first one!

If the kind gentleman needed it, he could give him all the money he earned in the future.

Ye Yan stood quietly in place, watching the carriage fade into the distance. He took a deep breath, turned to look at Lestrade beside him, and offered an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Detective Lestrade, I've delayed you from pursuing your own case. I originally thought it only involved a small gang that the two of us could handle..."

Lestrade shook his head.

"No, Newman, my case is just as important as any other; there is no order of priority. I am grateful that you were willing to assist me in my investigation, and since your case found a lead first, we certainly couldn't just ignore it."

Having said that, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Besides, I haven't come away empty-handed this time."

"Oh?" Ye Yan raised an eyebrow.

"That Scarface we caught confessed to a lead regarding the disappearance case from twenty years ago." Lestrade lowered his voice, his gaze sweeping across the empty street. "You remember Billy's sister, the one sent to the hospital, right?"

"You mean Irene? What about her?"

"Scarface confessed that a well-dressed man approached him earlier, specifically demanding to buy Irene." Lestrade pulled a sketch from his notebook and handed it to Ye Yan. "They agreed to conduct the transaction under London Bridge tonight."

The man in the sketch had a clear face, his hair combed back meticulously, with a prominent black mole at the corner of his left eye.

Ye Yan recognized the person in the sketch immediately.

"This man... is Arthur Mills?"

The detective had long suspected that the criminal involved came from the Butler Family, but he had struggled to find evidence, and Arthur Mills was the butler of the Butler Family.

"It is indeed him."

Lestrade's voice suddenly turned grave.

"I intend to issue an arrest warrant right now and use Arthur Mills as a breakthrough to investigate the Butler Family."