The little party was soon over, and Boa followed Miss Marcia, and as she passed by Jane, the assistant doctor gently stopped him, "Boa," she said in a gentle voice, "Dr. Douglas wants to talk to you for a while." ”

Boa looked at Miss Marcia from under her eyebrows, and Marcia shook her head vigorously, "Go, Boa," she pushed the boy by the shoulder, "Come to the restaurant at seven o'clock, and we'll have dinner together." She didn't notice that her voice had suddenly become, or rather restored, to a level that could be described as loud. Jane struggled to resist the urge to pluck her ears.

The promise soothed Boa, who sighed like a troubled adult, put his hands in the pockets of his linen trousers, and followed Jane into the depths of the huge flower garden.

Marcia watched them leave, and the place of the tea ceremony was at the edge of the flower garden, a clearing as narrow as leaves, and the dark green grass was long and dense, and with the occasional thyme, mint, rue, large glazed grass, and lemongrass that one had just tasted; At their junction with the woods, the darker shrubs are lush, gooseberry, martin, hazel, prickly pear, privet, French holly, myrtle, elderberry, said to be able to drive away death, most of which are in bloom, and the pink, red, purple, and golden flowers are densely clustered together, stretching from east to west, like a delicate and ornate Persian miniature painting; Countless cross-leaved nettles creeping at their feet, covering the earth through the shadows cast by the trees above them—the sun was setting, and the scent of the plants and flowers was a little overwhelming.

Dr. Douglas didn't speak when he saw his nephew, and he nodded to Jane, "Thank you, Jane." You can go back and rest first," and then he turned to his nephew: "Follow me." ”

As they walked along the moss-covered, soft, comfortable path, Borough heard the sound of the water flowing, which was artificially dug from the upper reaches of the Grande tributary, flowing merrily in the dense cobweb-like canals, whose watersheds covered the entire garden by human design, and at the end of the journey, all the currents were brought together. A deep, small lake is formed in the still unnatural stone hollow, and at the bottom of the lake there are hidden channels that connect the downstream of the tributaries. In this way, even if it rains heavily, there is no need to worry about waterlogging.

"Tell me, dear nephew," said Dr. Douglas, "what have you been up to lately?" ”

"Doing bad things," replied Boa without thinking, "my dear uncle." ”

Douglas pulled away an off-white branch that blocked his way. He picked a few purple-red fruits from it and put them in his pocket: "Including treating a lady roughly, pushing her to the ground?" ”

"It's a pity," said Boa coldly, "I don't think that such a creature can be called a lady—she's as dull as a sloth—she's the only one, always standing where she shouldn't stand." ”

"You're still targeting Sasha. Hopkins. Dr. Douglas calmly noted, "My nephew, your recent behavior is as childish and ridiculous as your thoughts. ”

"Marcia looked the other way at him."

"Does that make you jealous?" Dr. Douglas said, "As a teacher. I think I have to tell you that jealousy is a useless and false emotion, and it is not beneficial. It will only make you suffer and feel empty, and ......"

"And, by admitting jealousy, you are admitting that that guy is stronger than me." Bao'er quickly answered, his eyes surging with more mature and complex emotions than ever: "He is indeed better than me. Thank you, uncle, for the reminder that I managed to get his report card and that he would be quite a tricky enemy. He snapped a vine that almost swept him in the eye in disgust, and Dr. Douglas frowned, "I don't want to tell my father the next year that I lost to a mongrel of unknown origin - it doesn't matter what class or swimming, so I have to ......" He paused: "Prevention is better than prevention." ”

"The Douglas family motto," Boa sings playfully, "early detection, early treatment, early safety." The young man's sharp eyes searched for an early-ripening peach in the dark and deep foliage, and immediately stretched out his arm to pluck it, the peach was white, only a little red on the tip, hard, and not very sweet to eat.

"Then choose the right way," Dr. Douglas said, glancing regretfully at the peach that had been bitten and thrown on the ground, "instead of yelling and pushing him, biting him, and kicking his calves like a child under the age of three, it would be foolish and futile." ”

"I'm willing to do it my way," Bo'er pursed the corners of her lips contemptuously, "I can beat him." ”

"I don't think you have any more time," Dr. Douglas said, "and the bad news for you is that Hopkins' advisor and ninth-grade advisor are preparing to advise him on applying for a 'Certificate of Distinction' (note 1), which means that he will most likely be a member of the gifted class next semester, just like you." ”

Bao'er's face sank suddenly, "...... I should have gone to Wellington College, and you, my uncle, should have been in some messy and filthy public hospital, circling around prostitutes and homeless people twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, and pumping one or two miserable green tickets a month from the government's tax money—why do you think you're here? With a good salary, an easy job, and an unimaginably large flower garden that belongs only to you...... "Ungrateful fool," the boy smiled viciously, "my father brought you here so that I could receive the best care and the most privileges, and not for you to stand aside and point fingers at me idle—you don't have the right to command me, on the contrary, you have to do what I want." ”

He stopped, and after the peach, he began to ravage a double-petaled gardenia, which he tore from the branches, and tore it apart petal by petal, knowing that his uncle loved these flowers and plants, and that he was going to make him unhappy, because he also made him unhappy with the bad news he had brought.

"There's nothing you can do to stop this?" Boa asked irritably, he finished pulling the gardenia, and went to provoke the hook, which was not so easy to deal with, and he was stabbed hard.

"Gifted class eligibility? I'm sorry, but even if your dad rushes me back to the public hospital, I can't change the minds of two people at the same time, Johnny forget it, old Corey has always been stubborn and makes people have toothaches, not to mention other teachers, such as ...... Miss Marcia," Dr. Douglas poked his nephew like a hook, "Grandrie, a child with excellent athletic grades can be brought to the table, and as far as I know, that mediocre Beelzebub. Bisandi has an extraordinary talent for rugby, and his coach is applying for it – which is not a good thing, and you can't do anything about it once they're in the sights and protection of the school committee. ”

Boa was silent, he knew his uncle was right. The Douglas family has an extraordinary significance to the Grande Boarding School – the land once belonged to Douglas, who donated it to the abbey hundreds of years ago. So the school committee is willing to provide some convenience to the Douglas family at certain times, but that doesn't mean they can cover the sky with one hand.

Dr. Douglas sighed softly, "How can I repay your father?" Boa? If your final grades, as you said, he donates a lot of money to school to watch other kids succeed. ”

"Give me some time." Bao'er said firmly, "I can win." ”

***

A bitter whip made of calfskin, hung in a dark corner, with several small pieces of iron with sharp horns hanging from the tip of the whip, which was used to increase the pain of the self-punisher.

One hand pulled the lamp cord and turned off the only small lamp in the room, and now there was only a small window hanging high above the wall to provide light that was better than nothing—the hand retracted, and with its twin brother unfastened his master's clothes, not much, except for a long, tan woolly shirt with little iron spikes in it, so that the wearer could toss and turn day and night—the jagged back was exposed, the buttocks were shriveled, and a belt tied the black carved cross to the outside of the thigh, which was almost muscularThe tip of it often scratches the skin it touches, and the wounds there are always good and bad, bad and good, and endless.

He went into the corner, took up the whip, returned to the little altar with the cross, knelt down, and respectfully offered his back under the gaze of the Lord and the saints—the whip was whipped on it with a crisp and loud sound.

A hundred blows, less than Jesus suffered outside the walls of Jerusalem—he did not think that he had the same privilege as the most holy, and he recited the scriptures as he scourged himself, low but clear.

The two black-clad friars waited anxiously at the door, and when the man had come out after the torture had been whipped, they were ready to come forward to help, and the doctor was still waiting outside.

"What are you panicking about?" The deep voice said, "My ** and spiritual filth have been cleansed, I have atoned for my sins, I have never been so clean and happy, and my spirit is vibrant." With a slight swing of his arm, he pushed away the monk's support and took a few steps forward, pushing open the door to the outside.

As the sun shines down, Stefan looks up, tears streaming down his blue-gray eyes.

(To be continued)

PS: Note 1: According to the regulations of private boarding schools in the United States, graduation certificates are divided into "Qualified Certificate", "Recommendation Certificate" and "Outstanding Certificate", where the Certificate of Excellence means that the student not only has excellent grades, but also has pre-enrolled in some junior college courses.

Note 2: Whipping oneself with a whip is used in the church for penance, penance.

Does anyone else remember who Stefan is? As a reminder, it's been a long time after all—it's the priest who fought so hard with Daddy Hopkins that he almost snatched Sasha......

His name wasn't spoken by Bisan until chapter one hundred and nine, hehe.