Dr. Hopkins watched Anne. As Kent leaves, the little girl had previously seemingly inadvertently expressed a desire to dine at the same table as them, but both the big Hopkins and the little Hopkins cleverly ignored the hint, and lunch was confined to their private time, and in private time, the father and son with different personalities would never welcome a "third party" to intervene. But we don't have to worry about Anne, she is very popular in the class and in the school as a whole, and in a few moments she is surrounded by a group of little boys and girls with various lunch boxes and standard lunch plates; Surprisingly, Dolores, a little girl with a rather rough temper, also has her supporters. There were few people, but they were all like-minded mischievous ghosts who had less than five minutes to fill their stomachs, and then they began to sing and shout lines from the movie, throwing chips and pieces of fruit into the air before the teacher could stop them, some falling into their mouths and more sticking to their hair and clothes.

There are also children who look at Sasha, but when Sasha looks at him, they immediately turn their heads and stare at their plates without saying a word, not like they are annoying, but like they are shy.

There are all kinds of wonderful appearances, so that Sasha can't help but wonder about such a strange time that his father once had.

"It's worse, it's more chaotic, it's more unbearable, but it's also more fun and convenient." Dr. Hopkins replied that children only began to be valued after World War II, and that protection laws were formally established in the seventies of the twentieth century, and that public schools forty years ago were full of abusive teachers, harsh and outlandish regulations, and all kinds of corporal punishment. Hopkins had already gained enough "knowledge" and "experience" in the orphanage. After a moment's recollection, he decided to return to the previous one: "The trouble of jealousy has been with me for a long time – four-month-old babies have learned to be jealous, and they will cry when their caregivers hug other babies. And there is not much difference between children's jealousy and adult jealousy, and if anything, it is probably that children will put them on their faces and actions. Adults know how to comfort themselves, exercise restraint and forbearance...... In fact, jealousy is one of the most pervasive and deep-rooted human emotions. If you are willing to go back to the roots, you will find that jealousy is nothing more than human selfishness, which is one of the necessary elements of human survival and reproduction. Look," Dr. Hopkins added a little vegetable juice to the sprinkles: "As Mr. Darwin said, survival of the fittest, natural selection—the big, the beautiful, the healthy, the intelligent always have more and better food, utensils, shelter; So, what about the small, the fragile, the ugly and the stupid? They also want to live, and they want to breed their children and grandchildren, so ...... Since you can't make yourself better, let the better become worse, become equal to yourself or even worse...... They would do so as long as their ability allowed, and it was not a sin (although the thirteenth-century Dominican priest St. Thomas. There is indeed a place for jealousy in the manifestations of Aquinas enumerated evil deeds), but it is instinct. Although there is no doubt that if left unchecked, this sentiment will cause the entire human society to stagnate. But there are always things that people know are bad but can never get rid of. ”

"It's easy to solve this problem...... The list goes on. Dr. Hopkins excitedly persuaded that, like encouraging his child to play a game of baseball or participate in a calligraphy game, or more accurately, an adult beast pushes the young beast with its nose to make it face its first prey in his life - Sasha has faced hostile adults more than once, but this is the first time he has really faced humans, and minors are a good choice - children's emotions are best recognized and controlled, like acid-base test strips, fast, sensitive, and precise, And once you change, you can never return to the way you were.

Memories from early childhood can have a direct impact on decades to come.

Mr. Ghoul paused, pressed his fork to his lips, and suddenly remembered Mason, who he had placed on the second floor of the Palace of Memory, the arrogant fellow who had been instigated by him to cut off his face and feed it to the dogs, and cut half of his neck with a rope, and began to invite the children of the slums to his manor - his body did not allow him to go out, he had to ask his assistant to bring the children to him, he intimidated them in the dark, and then the assistant would collect gauze soaked in the children's tears, Put it in the frozen martini and leach out the salt so that he can drink it in one gulp; and the little boy he met in that little airliner, a rare child who liked liver sausages; Or the young Catherine, who hid behind a musty plank...... The slaughterhouse was brightly lit, hot blood was flowing everywhere, and the white lambs were screaming miserably...... Did she think she would be one of them? Or...... Dr. Hopkins quickly closed his thoughts, like a door slamming shut—he nearly opened the stinking cellar.

The new black-haired teacher turns her attention back to her own child.

Sasha is enjoying a small sandwich with fat foie gras, his rosy cheeks are bulging, Hopkins is very skillful, he uses apple brandy and truffle as ingredients, frying it on low heat, turning the noodles only once, the meat is tender, fragrant, and there is no fishy smell and bitterness of liver at all.

There are many ways to get rid of the envy of others, but the simpler one is to hide your own excellence - Hopkins is sure that Sasha will not choose this method, Sasha will not despise people who are inferior to him in terms of intelligence or emotional control, but this does not mean that he is willing to accept the contempt of the former; So another way...... That is, the opposite becomes the inevitable first choice - you can be better, better, until others can't reach heights no matter how hard they try...... Envy always goes hand in hand with competition, and the fruit that is not plucked without hope will not be coveted, just as a beggar will not be jealous of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but will only be jealous of his peers who are two streets away, because he is more successful in begging (even if it is just a few more coins).

"Of course, you can do nothing, but I recommend trying." Dr. Hopkins winked at Sasha, "It's going to be fun, I promise." ”

***

Dr. Hopkins was right in his prediction.

As he expected, Sasha chose the latter method, not only in the classroom, but also in the playground and extracurricular activities, Sunday school also became a place where the Stryff children shined, and every quarter of the school year, he scored perfect marks on written assignments, classroom manners, playground cleanliness, and self-discipline, never missed school or left early, and received a seal of perfection from the Sunday school teacher every week (most of the lessons the faithful's children receive in church on Sundays, mostly memorizing the Bible and biographies of saints). In addition to this, he also participated in a Spanish language competition and took home a trophy for St. Thomas Primary School.

The teachers liked him, and the children loved him. Girls love to sprinkle sand. Steve, because he was pretty, clean, and mild-mannered, had an enviable grade in mathematics, foreign languages, reading, and crafts; The boys liked him because of Sasha. Streiff looks like a soft little girl, his fists are hard enough, and his legs are fast enough - he never turns down an invitation from the boys to play a little game, but he never gets caught, which is really worth cultivating, isn't it?

It's Dolores. Kent is still finding fault every now and then.

Sasha still thinks she's cute.

In the new school year after September, Mr. Stryff will be in charge of the new Year 3 Class 4, and Sasha and the rest of the students will be promoted to the 4th Form Class 4, with Mr. Humbert remaining in charge alone. The classroom of Sasha and the other students was also changed from "the saint Badomaedo, who became the protector of tanning because he was skinned" to "the holy woman of Teresa, the patron of headaches".

On the last Friday before the summer holidays, Sasha was informed that Mr. Humbert needed to speak with him alone.

"It's nothing." Informant Anne. Kent reassured, "It's just a routine for the school year, Mr. Humbert is a good man in charge, he talks to every student like this," and before walking out of the classroom, the girl smiled slightly: "Maybe he's a little harsh, but it's all for your good." ”

Now in the classroom of the fourth class of the third grade, there are only Mr. Humbert and Sasha. Striff is up.

Mr. Humbert waits in the classroom office area, where only a screen separates him from the teaching area. Sasha involuntarily glanced at it as he passed by, and behind the screen was a small blackboard with a faint dot left on it, which reminded Sasha of the scene he had seen when he first entered St. Thomas—exactly the same, except for a little girl with a chalk dot on the tip of her nose.

"Dolores is pretty well-behaved today." Mr. Humbert noticed this, too, and grinned a hearty smile, "Please, little Mr. Stryff, don't be nervous, it's just a little private conversation." He owes a debt in the chair (the chair creaks) and pulls out a piece of chocolate from the drawer, "Chocolate? After Sasha shook his head in refusal, he shoved the chocolate into his mouth.

"It won't take you a lot of time." Mr. Humbert, who had swallowed the chocolate, said, absentmindedly stroking the arm of his chair, "Mr. Striff will be the same in the future, it's a tradition at the school," he shrugged at Sasha, "We have the right and duty to know the situation of each student." ”

He took a 16-carat memo and flipped through it, his eyes slightly upward, "So here we go?" ”

It's a bit of a boring conversation, how is the school, how are the classmates, how are the teachers, what is the place for extracurricular activities, what is the Sunday school like? Sasha expected such questions to continue until the end of the conversation, but after about fifteen minutes, Sasha was keenly aware that Mr. Humbert's conversation was moving closer to "Stryf's" private sphere.

"How's your neighbor?"

Sasha looked at Mr. Humbert, and every wrinkle on his face showed the seriousness of his master, and his eyes were as pure as a baby.

"We don't have any neighbors," Sasha replied, "and our house is a bit far from the rest of the community. ”

"Oh, so you can't play with the neighbors' kids...... Does Mr. Stryff allow you to hang out on your own? ”

"I prefer to be with my father."

"Oh...... So, if it may not be pleasant, Sasha, do you remember your mother? If I'm not mistaken, your mother has been away from you for two years. ”

"Yes," Sasha lowered her eyes, "my mother died two years ago. He unconsciously tensed his back.

"Brave boy." Mr. Humbert's voice was softer than ever and full of pity: "Do you pray for your mother when you go to Sunday school?" Will a candle be lit for her? ”

"Yes, I will pray."

Sasha squinted his eyes, the sunlight outside had turned orange, and everything in the classroom had turned red.

Mr. Humbert put down the memo and clasped his hands together, and his voice suddenly lowered very low, as if a little louder would wake up the little monster sleeping in the shadows and bringing endless calamity to people.

"So," he asked, "did you watch your mother die?" ”

(To be continued)