The early spring in Gotham is far less gentle than in the wilderness, and in this season of growth, the cold wind still howls here every night.

But the sound of the wind outside the window could not drown the roaring fireplace flames, and Merkel, with a chill on her body, added firewood she had just brought from the warehouse into the fireplace.

The flames stretched his shadow long, and in the unlit hall, the silhouette of every piece of furniture loomed in the light and shadow of the flames.

Footsteps came from the stairs, Merkel got up and turned back, he walked quickly to Schiller, who had just come downstairs, and took his coat from the hanger next to him, and after Schiller put on the coat, he picked up the black umbrella from the umbrella stand.

Merkel glanced down at her watch and said, "Sir, tonight's opera doesn't start until nine o'clock, do you have an appointment with someone else?" ”

"That's right, someone asked me to go to the restaurant next to the Grand Theater for dinner, and he called me directly to the school, so you don't know." Schiller straightened his tie in front of the mirror, Merkel picked up the duster, dusted off the dust from the corner of her clothes, and said: "It seems that this is a modernist gentleman who asked you to have dinner and actually called the school directly." ”

"Yes, after all, this year is 1990, a new year, a new atmosphere, a lot of old order, should be gone."

After speaking, Schiller walked out of the gate and walked into the car that had been arranged in advance, and through the window glass, he could see that the road was extremely prosperous, and the original decline of the West End Manor District was transformed into brilliant lights.

As Gotham's logistics industry grew, so did the supporting services, and the dining scene in the East End was booming, especially the small, even slightly poor and dilapidated local restaurants, which became the favorite of dockers and truck drivers.

Every restaurant near the logistics cluster will have such characteristics, the materials may not be the best, but the amount must be large enough, if you have a little bit of your own flavor and characteristics, can be passed on by word of mouth among drivers, porters and construction workers, etc., then there is absolutely no need to worry about business.

While Schiller was sitting in the car and heading to the restaurant near the Grand Theater for an appointment, Copote was also in the car, traveling from the North End to the East End to prepare for the opening of the Iceberg Restaurant.

He did a long period of research before deciding to open a restaurant, so he chose the location in the East End.

Most of the restaurants here live up to the guidelines, and when you sit in the car and look out the window, the roads are still a little tattered, and there are no opulent Gothic facades, no lettering, no restaurant signage written in French, and no waiters in suits and shoes that reflect brighter than a lamp compared to the resurgence of the West End.

Cobot saw that none of the restaurants here had any decent facades, most of them were repurposed from the first floor of a residential building, with a small round window for handing out food and a wooden door with an awning on top of it, and a sign hanging next to the awning that said what was being sold here.

French lamb chops and Italian desserts are not popular here at all, and as the car slowly moves onto the most crowded shopping street, the most popular restaurant is called "Anderson Old Street Steakhouse".

The steak here is not the kind of high-end steak that is placed on a delicate porcelain plate, and after being cut, it will still flow with juice in a faint red color, and Copote, who has investigated the buyers and the channels of purchase, knows best, that old bastard Anderson is reluctant to buy good beef, he will only buy the cheapest one.

The steaks here are not eaten in their original flavors, and one of the most famous dishes here is called Lao Cai Secret Steak, which is poured over the steak with a large bowl of chili sauce, which is Anderson's capital here.

The small steakhouse had less than ten tables, and it was all full at the moment, and there were many people crouching outside the door to eat.

Gotham is perennially wet and cold, and the spicy food here is popular, and Copot has taken advantage of this by hiring a Mexican to make a chili sauce for him, and at the same time, manual laborers will always crave plenty of meat and carbs, and the bigger and thicker the steak, the better, and if you can eat it with some more juice dipped in bread, even better.

Copote thinks back to his restaurant's menu, and he certainly didn't forget to put a large portion of thick-cut steak with bread at the top of the main course.

At the moment when the car whizzed by,"

Jingle bells" rang, and Copote looked out the window on the right to see a dozen children gathered outside a bakery, some moving boxes, others packing bread, and others counting milk.

Copote also worked like this for a while, when his mother was just admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and of course, he went to deliver bread and milk, not only to make money, but more importantly to find out what the vendors were doing.

He had great ambitions in his heart, and he wanted these children to be of his use, and he did just that, and now he is the veritable king of children in Gotham.

It doesn't sound like a mighty title, but the natives of Gotham know that whoever holds it will have a place in the upper echelons of Gotham, and the foundation will be stronger than anyone else.

In the process of the development of the logistics industry, it is not without setbacks, the previous snow disaster, to Gotham's newly developed industry head-on, but this has made Gotham's children help to develop better and better.

Heavy snow closed the door, the weather was cold, and the roads were congested, so there was no way to go out to work, and everyone stayed at home, so what about eating, drinking and firewood?

Most people don't choose to buy it themselves, on the one hand, they don't know which store has the goods, if they walk over with so much effort against the cold wind, but are told that the goods have been sold out, isn't it a trip in vain?

On the other hand, in a city full of gangsters, a strong adult who shuttles through other people's territory at will is prone to being shot.

But the children don't have this problem, they are already doing this, and they know very well which bakery has stock, where to go to get the freshest and warmest milk, spices, beer, and daily necessities.

The gangsters don't care about these little kids, they don't see their trespassing on the turf as a provocation, and they know too many paths, especially underpasses, for a little errand, newspapers, bread, milk, beer, everything.

It took a short time for Colbert to figure out their context, and because the previous child king was involved in the affairs of Constantine, he was now sacrificed to the devil.

After that, several children fought very hard, just to compete for the throne of the child king, at the beginning, Colbert, who was killed halfway, was questioned by many people.

However, the ambition and wisdom of the penguin man are unquestionable, and he can successfully sit on the throne of the child king, not only by violence, but more importantly, he can bring everyone to make money together.

No child has the strength of him to coordinate the children of Gotham, rearrange suitable positions and the most efficient routes for them, double the money they earn every day, and there will be no conflicts because of customer grabbing.

Fresh milk is delivered every morning from a ranch outside the city, where children can buy bread and milk directly, depending on the clientele, and may have to go to the tobacco shops and bars to buy cigarettes and beer, and a newspaper at the newsstand.

Cobott set these things up into different set menus, if someone only bought bread and milk, then the vendors would recommend a newspaper to them, and if someone often bought cigarettes and beer, the vendors would recommend a breakfast set to him.

In the past, when they were stuck at home, they had no choice but to drive these children to buy groceries, but after they got used to it, they found it really convenient.

Hot milk and steaming bread are waiting outside the door every morning before you even wake up, and you don't have to go to the bar to have a drink every evening.

After a few months, the vast majority of Gotham citizens have already bought the full package.

For a family of three in an ordinary family in the East Side, breakfast will be ordered for a pound of ordinary white bread, a bottle of milk, and two slices of bacon and ham will be added to the better family conditions, plus a newspaper.

As for those who like to buy cigarettes and alcohol, they are generally booked the day before and delivered the next day, and the same is true for daily necessities.

Although the East End is a slum, but because of the overall economic level of Gotham is good, the material is relatively abundant, the people here are not poor to the point of starvation for nine meals in three days, the biggest problem in the Gotham slum is that the living conditions are very poor, frequent water and electricity outages, plus diseases caused by poor sanitation problems.

Living land

The renovation of the slums in the prison is going very well, and now it is in the third phase, and the entire perimeter of the living hell has been renovated, but when it is carried out further afield, it has encountered great resistance.

The living conditions and sanitary conditions in the living hell have reached the point of unbearable, but in other places it is not so serious, and because it has not reached the point of starving to death, many people are not so urgent about improving the living environment, and even many people think that it is better to maintain the status quo.

A local who has lived here since childhood, has never read a book, and has little contact with other places, has no urgent need to improve his life, after all, life is not impossible.

They envy the old men who live in the manor and go in and out of the theater and the fancy restaurants every day, and they occasionally dream like that, but that doesn't mean that they are willing to let people make a mess of their houses.

The living habits of this generation have been formed, they have no higher pursuits, as long as they have enough food and the house does not leak rain, so in the end, the problem goes round and round, and it comes back to education.

If you want them to accept the change from the heart, you have to raise the level of education, so that they realize that this living environment and hygiene are not normal, but the possibility of this generation to start education from scratch is very low, so in the end, it is necessary to start with the children.

This is also the reason why the godfather allowed Copote to convert the original luxurious mansion into an ordinary restaurant, which will let the children here see that in another society that is different from the environment in which they live, they must have the motivation to climb upwards in order to be motivated to receive education.

Colbert drove to the Iceberg Restaurant, where children who had changed into waiter uniforms stood in a row, listening to a waiter explain their job requirements.

"First of all, I'm going to teach you how to clean, I don't know if you've ever done this kind of work, but it's actually very simple, everyone is divided into three groups, one group is responsible for dry cleaning, one group is responsible for wet cleaning, and the remaining group is responsible for changing the water, and all you have to do is wipe down the floor, tables, and chairs here......

"People with more strength go to the water change group, and those with the weakest strength go to the dry cleaning group, you, yes, it's you, have you lost your fever?" The waiter called out the thinnest boy among them, and he reached out and touched the boy's head, and said, "No, you have no fever, go back and take another pill, and then go and lie down." ”

But who knows, the little boy trembled and said, "I can work...... I'm not sick, I can mop the floor, I've done it before......"

"yes, if you take a rag and wash it in cold water, then you will die tonight, do you expect me to get up in the middle of the night and throw your body in the trash?" Cobot walked forward briskly and said, "If you all die like this, who will do the work?" ”

The waiter urged the little boy and said, "Go quickly, and if you are well tomorrow, we will call you." ”

The little boy sniffed, the fear on his face diminished slightly, he nodded, and walked on.

As soon as the rest of the children began to work, Cobott discovered that they didn't know how to do work at all, not even the simplest mopping floors.

The eldest of these children is only seven or eight years old, and because of chronic malnutrition, they are extremely thin, they can hardly do any physical work, but in fact, the scope of erasure is not large, and the cooperation of nine children should have been able to do it quickly.

But they wiped the floor in no order, wiped the floor not backwards, but wiped forward, just wiped it, it was trampled by the footprints again, two people cooperated to wipe a chair, the chair surface was wiped reflective, the chair legs were not wiped at all.

Cobot stood there for a moment, and instead of being angry, he turned to the waiter and said, "Is Mrs. George there?" In addition to mopping the floor, they also have to learn how to boil water, serve dishes, shine shoes, carry luggage, collect umbrellas, and other tasks that waiters have to do......"

The waiter shook his head and said, "It's okay to mop the floor and serve dishes, but other tasks require a lot of strength, maybe try to see if they can do it......"

"It's not like I haven't hired a professional waiter like you, tomorrow, they will come to report, one person with two children, let them help first, if you can't do this business, let them deliver newspapers."

After Colbert finished,

He turned and went upstairs, and did not arrange more, his attention never completely fell on the group of children, as if he did not care about them at all, but those children were relieved to see his attitude.

Because they knew that if Copote, like his old parents, put all his energy into them, it would mean that he would definitely want to recoup ten times the reward from them.

If Cobott doesn't care much about them, how they work, and how much money they make, it means that he is actually rich and doesn't need to squeeze them to make money.

Upstairs, Cobot stood on the balcony of the mansion building, where he could see the lights of the docks, which were still bustling with traffic despite the light rain, and countless goods were being removed from cargo ships, loaded onto trucks, and stored in cold storage.

It doesn't take long for the goods to be taken out of the cold storage and loaded into other vehicles for shipments across the East Coast.

Gotham has now become the largest cold chain transportation hub on the East Coast, covering the entire Gotham underground natural cold storage, which has become a killer weapon for the sustainable industry of this megacity.

The cold chain industry can be used as a pillar of the city's economy, generally speaking, the cold chain industry in coastal cities does not exist in isolation, and most of them will cooperate with fishery, light processing industry and tourism.

Such supporting industries may not necessarily make the city a first-tier city, but it can indeed become the foundation of economic development.

The problem is that Gotham has no way to develop fisheries, light processing and tourism, and the cold chain industry alone cannot replace the unsustainable gray and even black industries.

"It's a lot better now." Gordon put down the fork in his hand, wiped his mouth, and said: "For the security of a city, the most terrible thing is that there are unemployed vagrants everywhere, but on the contrary, if everyone has a job, the chance of crime is much smaller. ”

"Working will consume physical strength, gangster fire and in the case of physical exertion, you have to bleed and be injured, you can make money by working, fire may expand your territory, but the income may not be as much as work, so why not work?" Schiller said, cutting the steak on the plate.

"That's right, that's it, the gang bosses I often deal with say so, the people at the bottom are too busy to get guns, and he said that if I drove a police car along the whole street, I might not be able to meet a single person who would shoot at me, which was unimaginable before." Gordon said with a sigh.

He leaned back in his chair with his glass in his hand and said, "But the main problem now is the education of the children. ”

"There are 23 community elementary schools in the whole of Gotham, which may sound like a lot, but for a megacity on the East Coast, that number is pitiful, if not compared to the Met, only compared to Brughhaven, which is only one-fifth the size of Gotham, but they have 16 elementary schools."

"It's actually against the law, but because the mayor didn't do anything before, he didn't make any changes at all."

"There are even fewer middle schools, and there is only one university, and this kind of educational conditions, even in the west, can be said to be weak and pitiful."

Schiller lightly tapped his fingertips on the table and asked, "Do you think that because the Gotham people are unwilling to receive education, there are fewer schools, or because there are few schools, Gotham people are not willing to receive education?"

Gordon was stunned for a moment and said: "I think it's the former, because I saw in the file that there were originally more than forty schools in Gotham City, but later, many schools were closed for various reasons, and most of them were public security reasons." ”

Schiller shook his head and said, "I think it's the latter." ”

"I want to hear about it." Gordon said.

"Some time ago, I read the book "The History of Urban Construction on the East Coast", and the book mentioned the situation in Gotham, in the beginning, all the schools in Gotham were established by churches or invested by wealthy families, and there were almost no municipal elementary schools."

"The monopoly of education by the church and private primary schools has resulted in the vast majority of citizens losing access to education, with only a very small percentage of the population allowed to enroll, and privately invested private primary schools only open to the children of the wealthy."

"Later, the security in Gotham City began to deteriorate, and some of the rich people left here.

The school was abandoned due to the interruption of investment, and then the church began to pay no attention to this sinful land, and now, the elementary school that is still in operation is either invested by the Twelve families or the Wayne family. ”

"Neither quantity nor quality can support the educational requirements of such a large city, and over time, the vast majority of Gotham citizens are limited by their education level and are unable to pursue technical jobs."

Gordon fell into deep thought, and said, "I really haven't paid attention to this issue, but why didn't Gotham have public elementary schools when it was built?" Doesn't the state legislature care? ”

Schiller shook his head, Lucifer erased the existence of the Owl Court before, but Gotham did not get better, which means that the setting that Gotham is Sin City may be the basic rule of the DC universe, and the Owl Court has been erased, and there may be other forces.

In short, someone must have artificially interfered with the development of education in Gotham, otherwise there would not be a city in the United States at the end of the 20th century, and the vast majority of people did not even go to elementary school.

"If you want to improve the education level of the citizens, you have to run primary schools, if you want to run primary schools, you have to have money, if you want to have money, you have to develop new industries, if you want to develop new industries, you have to improve the education level of citizens, this is a complete endless cycle." Gordon put his hand over his forehead and said, "But if you involve corporations and gangsters in the construction of the school, it won't work." ”

"The gangsters have started to form schools on their own." Schiller put a piece of shrimp steak into his mouth and said: "But they are not destined to develop a systematic education, if there is a shortage of electricians, they will recruit people to learn electricians, and if there is a shortage of security guards, they will be invited to security training, and no one will want to teach grammar, calculation, art, and thinking logic at the same time." ”

"That's the problem." Schiller shook his head and said: "They have no way of understanding what systematic education is teaching, and they feel that it is very correct to learn what they will not learn." ”

"Actually, I thought about this before." Gordon touched his cheek and said, "I used to think, I don't plan to be a musician, so why take music lessons?" I don't need to do calculations for my work now, so why should I learn arithmetic? ”

"Again, the process of learning these things is actually helping people to build a way of thinking, but it's hard to explain these things to the gangsters, and they want to see the results tomorrow."

Schiller tapped the plate lightly with his fork and said, "I discussed this with Victor and Anna, and we thought that we could open a vocational high school for everyone who wanted to learn technology. ”

"If you learn technology, you can improve your living standards, improve your horizons, understand the outside world, and realize the meaning of systematic education, so they may let their children have a systematic education like people in other cities, which is a relatively conservative approach."

Gordon nodded in agreement, but Schiller said, "The problem is that this technical school has to keep its purity, and we can't let this turn into a gangster war." ”

"Some gangsters want more electricians under their men, and some gangsters manage running water, so naturally they need talents in this area, even if it is the twelve families, they also have their own focus, they want the school to teach only this one subject, so that they can cram in more students, but you know, it's impossible."

Gordon sighed with some regret and said: "In a city where no force can suppress the gangsters, it is very difficult to fight against them, the Gotham Police Department may be able to do some security work, but we definitely can't deal with the Twelve Families." ”

"What if the Wayne family enters?" Schiller asked.

"But he didn't have to." Gordon shook his head and said: "Everyone knows, this must be a troublesome matter, which department recruits more people, which department recruits fewer people, how many people can be stuffed in each family, and how to distribute the big gangs and small gangs...... This can lead to a lot of contradictions. ”

And Gordon hesitated for a moment and said, "I always feel that Bruce is a little bit off the corner, I don't know what he thinks, he seems to want to save the city, save everyone here." ”

Schiller smiled and asked, "How can you ask such a question?" Don't you think so? ”

Gordon shook his head helplessly and said, "No, we are different, Batman wants to send all the patients to the hospital, all the criminals to prison, and all the children to school

He wants to make everyone stay where they need to be, as a way to create a perfect society. ”

"I'm not saying that this is wrong, but we all know that this is unrealistic, maybe he also knows, maybe he thinks that with such a high goal to practice, it can save one and count one, at least it is a good thing."

Schiller looked at Gordon and asked, "What do you think Batman or Bruce, who can save Gotham?" ”

"If it was Batman who asked me this question, I would say it was him." Gordon pursed his lips and said, "I want to give every good person the answer they want to hear, but because it's you, a psychology professor, who asks this question, I can only say that I'm more bullish on Bruce." ”

"We all know that Bruce Wayne is a rich man, and the rich in this world have to do things much simpler, and the same is true when it comes to saving people."

"Do you know why he didn't want to do it?" Schiller lowered his head to eat, and then asked, "Do you know why, he would rather spend a lot of money to maintain that expensive and outrageous armor, and then go to fight the criminals and save people one by one, rather than save the city as Bruce?" ”

Gordon shook his head and said, "That's what I can't figure out the most, it's the same is spending money, why not spend it on something more useful?" ”

"Have you ever thought that someone might have done this, but it didn't work out, and it cost a lot, and that caused him to resist doing it all the time." Schiller said.

"But I don't think Batman is such an easily shaken person, even if others fail, he will feel that he may not fail, he is quite enterprising and will not be shaken by others." Gordon said, spreading his hands.

"What if this person is his parents?"

Gordon was silent.

"Wealthy businessmen, generous philanthropists, and wealthy people who are kind to others, these identities did not lead to a good ending for his parents, and the Waynes tried to save the city, but in the end, they died, and Bruce witnessed it all."

"If it were you, would you go back down this path?" Schiller asked, looking at Gordon.

Gordon was silent for a long time, and Schiller continued: "We see Bruce Wayne's soul as a third person, and he has two options, either to become Bruce Wayne or to become Batman. ”

"His sanity must have told him that the path to becoming Bruce Wayne was much easier, that he had so many resources at his disposal, and that with his intelligence, he might really be able to save the city."

"His sanity will also tell him that the path to becoming Batman is too hard, and that fighting crime to save a Sin City sounds like a joke."

"People are all about good and avoiding harm, and if someone violates this innate instinct, it means that there must be a reason for him to do it, and most of the time, this drive comes from within."

"At least in my observations......" Schiller paused, "he was disgusted with Bruce Wayne as a person, and he didn't want to be Bruce Wayne." ”

"He became Batman, not because he wanted to be Batman, but because he didn't want to be Bruce Wayne and didn't want to repeat the mistakes of his parents, and he was terrified of it."

Schiller sighed softly and said: "When he was Bruce Wayne, he was also doing charity, he spent a lot of money, but his purpose was not to save people, just to spend money, he felt that Bruce Wayne couldn't save anyone, just like he couldn't save his parents." ”

"He doesn't have any hope for Bruce Wayne, because if Bruce Wayne doesn't save his parents, he can't save anyone."

Gordon looked at his plate and said, "I feel very sorry for what happened to him in his childhood, but if he continues like this, he may go to the other extreme." ”

"His parents chose a happy family and a peaceful life, and did not resort to violence against the city, but fell under violence because of it, while Batman, on the contrary, if he chose violence, then he probably would not have a family anymore."

Gordon gave a sad look and said, "...... I'm the same way, and I really hope that he will realize this sooner rather than later, and maybe there will be a chance to redeem it. ”

"He will

。 ”

After Schiller finished speaking, he turned his head to look out the window of the dining room, the night was getting thicker, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the manor building was looming in the rain and fog.

The sharp Gothic spires were terrified when the wind swept through the rooftops of the Manor, and they didn't get warm when they blew into Wayne Manor through the warm windows.

"Now, you're going to sleep, go to sleep, you know? Don't stand here, don't look at me like that, lie in bed, and fall asleep, is that hard? Bruce said to a very thin little girl with his hands on the shoulders.

This little girl was one of the children he had brought to the hospital before, and the other children were already lying in the hospital bed for treatment, but she was the only one, no matter how much Batman tried to persuade her, she would only cry and scream, and only run away and bite.

The little girl kept looking up at him, her big eyes were full of fear, but she didn't move at all, Bruce wanted to hold her, she ran away, cornered her, she bites, can't speak, can't communicate, like a mad wild cat.

Bruce crouched in place, covering his eyes with his hands, and said, "Can you tell me what the hell you're trying to do?" ”

The little girl turned her head to look at the window, and Bruce closed her eyes hard and said, "It's raining outside, and you're having a high fever right now, if you go out, you're going to die immediately, why don't you understand?" ”

Bruce felt that he had said it so clearly that even Aisha could fully understand it, but the little girl just didn't seem to understand anything.

Bruce even had the illusion that she was deliberately working against her, but when he calmed down, he felt that it was impossible, he didn't abuse her, why the hell would she do it?

"Dick, Dick! You come and watch her, and I'll go look for the book. Bruce called Dick and told him to look at the little girl, and he went to his study and brought a book on child psychology.

This is his textbook, which he didn't read seriously before, but now he has to read it carefully.

After watching for a long time, Bruce found that the little girl should have stress trauma disorder, a disease that often occurs in abused children, and the treatment advice given is to build a sense of security for her, especially to establish a safe environment for her.

Bruce looked up at Wayne Manor, and he felt that there was no safer place in the world.

The hall was covered with warm floors, all the furniture was made of solid wood, the fireplace was burning with a very strong flame that brought a warm warmth, and the windows and doors were sealed so tightly that not a single cold wind could blow in.

If it's not safe here, is it safer in those dark and cramped alleys?

Bruce felt that he had done a lot more to comfort than in the book, constantly asking, caring, and caring, but it had no effect at all, not only did she not respond, but she also refused to take injections and medicines, refused to eat, refused to drink, and showed aggressive behavior.

Tossed until midnight, Bruce felt very tired, fortunately, the little girl was also tired, her physical strength could not support for so long, so she had just passed out, fortunately, Alfred examined him, fed him some medicine, the fever gradually subsided, and now he just needs to rest.

Bruce leaned on the couch and wiped his face, he felt sleepiness set in, and at this time, he heard the sound of "da-da-da" footsteps, and Dick, who had changed into his pajamas, walked down the stairs with a pillow in his hand.

In the pitch-black hall, only the fireplace was lit and the outlines of the furniture were clearly visible, and Bruce had the illusion that the scene he had lived in for so many years was unfamiliar.

"What's wrong, Dick?" Bruce asked.

"I just...... I just wanted to ask, that little girl she ...... What the hell happened to her? ”

“…… She was sick. Bruce replied, "It might make her a little irritable, but it will get better soon, don't worry, go back to sleep." ”

Dick sighed, walked over to Bruce and sat down, he was next to Bruce, Bruce could even feel his temperature, Dick turned his head, looked up at Bruce and said, "I have something to say to you." ”

"Say it." Bruce didn't look at him.

The fireplace shines on the two of them, and when the two figures, one big and one small, sit side by side on the sofa, they always have a warmth, like a scene of a father-son conversation engraved in human genes.

"I think...... That little girl probably didn't really want to stay here. Dick hesitated and said, "She probably doesn't like us very much." ”

Dick rubbed the pillow in his hand and said, "Or, she's miserable, staying here, making her miserable, we shouldn't make her miserable, right?" ”

"Why is it painful for her to stay here?" Bruce asked rhetorically, and he said, "There's medicine and food, there's a safe room, there's a soft bed, why is that painful for him?" ”

"If this place is painful for her, am I going to send her back to the place where she was staying? Is that a piece of iron sheet built between two alleys and used as a broken shed on the roof? ”

"I don't know." Dick leaned to the other side and said, "I just think that if she's feeling bad, we should think about why she's uncomfortable and try to make her feel better." ”

"I'm trying to do that." Bruce raised his voice and said, "He's now on his medicine and asleep, which shows that there's progress." ”

"But she's tired and fainting......" Dick whispered, "I saw her frowning while she slept......"

Suddenly, there was a "bang" sound, which startled Dick, and he saw that Bruce slammed the table with his hand, and he immediately stood up, standing a meter away from the coffee table, and then looked at Bruce.

Suddenly, Bruce lowered his head, took a deep breath, and said, "Go back to sleep, Dick...... Go back to sleep. ”

Dick faced him and took two steps back until he was out of range of the light source, then turned and ran upstairs, and Bruce leaned alone on the couch, listening to the night rain outside the window, and then fell asleep.

The next morning, when Dick was not at the table, Alfred explained, "Master Dick left early today, and he went to school. ”

Bruce nodded and didn't speak, however, until the evening, Dick didn't return, and Bruce asked Alfred, "Aren't you allowed to go home on Mondays and Tuesdays?" Why didn't he come back? ”

"Just now, Master Dick asked the newsboy to send back a letter, probably the content of which is that he is too busy with his studies and he has to stay for a few days."

Bruce took the letter from Alfred's hand, he saw the handwriting, but he didn't recognize it, he remembered that the last time he had caught a glimpse of Dick's workbook, it was still very childish.

But now, the English on the letter has taken on a fancy style, looking like a letter written by an adult, and Bruce finds that he has never paid attention to the changes.

And when it started to rain again in Gotham, he was still sitting alone on the couch, accompanied only by the faint and heavy sound of the manor's bells.

Before he fell asleep, he clenched his fists as if to make a decision, but as he fell asleep, he relaxed his arms, his fingertips quivering slightly with his breathing, as if playing the fireplace fire.

On this cold night in Gotham 1990, all you can see is the fleeting lightning in the sky, and the shadows of the clouds hidden in the rain and fog in the distance under the light.