It was a small town with nice landscapes that attracted a lot of rich people to live in. Ming was also attracted by the scenic spots of the town. But he had little money, so he rented a cheap house after he arrived. But what drew his attention most here was those wealthy people. So he took up a job to sell cell phones. But his cell phones were not good in quality.

One day, Ming’s pocket was empty again and wanted to earn money. Luckily, there was still a phone in his pocket to sell. Soon enough, he spotted a target—a seemingly wealthy middle-aged man in an old jacket. Ming came up to him and smiled politely, saying, “Hey, friend...” But the man was very cautious and asked, “What’s up?”

Ming said to him   immediately, “Friend, I have a phone. I bought it at 5,000 yuan. But now I could sell it to you at only 3,000 yuan.” The man seemed uninterested in his phone and wanted to go away. Ming stopped him and said, “What about 2,000 yuan?” the man shouted at him, “What do you want to do with me?”

Ming immediately put up a poor face and hugged the man’s legs, crying to him, “Oh, my dear friend! Only 1,000 yuan, is it OK?” Ming began pouring out his “sad story” as he was crying.The man，after seeing this，felt a little bit moved and put his hands into his pocket. Then he took out 1,000 yuan to Ming and took the phone away.

After earning 1,000 yuan, Ming felt happy. As he felt hungry, he went to a small restaurant to have lunch. Ming ordered several dishes and handed over a note of 100 yuan to the cashier. The cashier stared at the banknote (钞票) for quite a while, as if checking if it was a fake note (假币), and then said to Ming, “Sorry, I could not find the change for you for the moment. Please wait a minute.” Then he went away. Staying in the restaurant without anything to do, Ming sat at a table and started to watch TV. After all, his cheap-rented house had no TV.

The TV was broadcasting a piece of news

The police car stopped before the small restaurant and

Max works as a security guard at a famous museum． As a security guard， Max watches visitors to the museum as they come and go． He often wonders things about them． Where do they come from？ Are they happily married？ What do they do for a living？

One day， Max notices a very pretty woman visiting the exhibit he is guarding． He has seen her before． In fact， she often comes to see the rare jewelry exhibit - sometimes several times a week．

During one of these visits， she starts a conversation with Max． She asks if it is difficult to be a security guard and if he ever gets bored． She introduces herself as Maria， a fashion designer．

When Maria comes to visit， she often talks with Max． "Maybe she likes me，" he thinks．

Max thinks she is very interesting and wants to spend more time with her． During one of their talks at the museum， he finds out that she is studying Italian．

He lies and tells her he has always wanted to learn Italian． He is simply using Italian as a trick． And it works! Max and Maria meet every Saturday afternoon in the museum garden to study Italian．

During the lessons， they also talk about themselves． Maria shares her dreams of one day showing her fashions in a museum． Max tells her many details about his security job， including the security code and the locations of alarms． He jokes that it would be very easy to rob the museum．

Over the passing weeks， they learn more about each other． What Max doesn't learn， however， is that Maria is not as innocent as she looks． Maria is actually an international jewel thief! Police from eight different countries have been searching for her in the past two years!

Her latest goal is to steal the rare Black Diamond! This diamond is the most valuable diamond in the world and it is part of the exhibit that Max is guarding． All her attention on him was a trick to learn more about the museum's security system．

About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long overcoat, with collar turned up to his ears, hurried across from the opposite side of the street. He went directly to the waiting man.

“Is that you, Bob?” he asked, doubtfully.

“Is that you, Jimmy Wells?” cried the man in the door.

“Bless my heart!” exclaimed the new arrival, grasping both the other’s hands with his own. “It’s Bob! I was certain I’d find you here if you were still alive. Well, well, well! —twenty years is a long time. How has the West treated you, old man?”

“It has given me everything I asked it for. You’ve changed lots, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall by two or three inches (英寸).”

“Oh, I grew a bit after I was twenty.”

“Doing well in New York, Jimmy?”

“Moderately. I have a position in one of the city departments. Come on, Bob; we’ll go around to a place I know of, and have a good long talk about old times.”

The two men started up the street, arm in arm. The man from the West, his egotism (自我) enlarged by success, was beginning to outline the history of his career. The other, submerged (埋) in his overcoat, listened with interest.

At the corner stood a drug store, brilliant with electric lights. When they came into this glare each of them turned simultaneously (同时地) to gaze upon the other’s face.

The man from the West stopped suddenly and released his arm

“You’re not Jimmy Wells,” he snapped. “Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man’s nose from a Roman (鹰钩鼻) to a pug (狮子鼻).”

“It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one,” said the tall man. “You’ve been under arrest (被捕) for ten minutes, ‘Silky’ Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over our way and wants to have a chat with you. Going quietly, are you? That’s sensible. Now, before we go on to the police station here’s a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the the window. It’s from Patrolman (巡警) Wells.”

The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

“Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted (被通缉的) in Chicago. Somehow I couldn’t do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job. ——JIMMY.”

How time flew! Bob was released from jail. Stepping out of jail into the cold wind,

He turned around and surprised to find a familiar-looking man.