"Yes, I was born here, probably more than 50 years ago? I can't remember clearly. My parents threw me in a trash can, and I picked it up for a tracker who worked at the dock."
"I'm quite lucky, aren't I? My father is very capable and can support me. Although he was beaten to death later, at least I grew up smoothly..."
In the ward, a slightly obese gang leader leaned against the wall, smoking a cigar, and recalled: "I think you are quite young, so you have not experienced that era. It was really a magnificent time. Is that the right word for you?"
"Yes, you all know that I am new here. Not only did I just come to the hospital, but I also just got a gun and a whip," Bruce said very cryptically, but everyone else smiled and said, "Then you
They are quite experienced, and there are many newcomers who have offended everyone here just after killing their own boss."
"I know very well that many friends lead to many paths." Bruce also lit a cigar, took a puff with his eyes wrinkled, and said, "Actually, I am also worried about how to take the next step."
"Why are you worried? Isn't life difficult now?" A younger gang boss on the other side said: "It's much better than ten years ago. I didn't catch up with the good times. I was shot twice while trying to seize the dock.
It still hurts all the time..."
"You are already very lucky." The fat boss said, "When I first came to Gotham, no one told you the rules. The whole city was in such a mess that it was impossible to see."
"Oh, by the way." He spoke again, looked at Bruce and asked, "Boy, did you get to the position by killing your elders? Or did you grab it from someone else?"
"I don't have any elders." Bruce shrugged and said, "I just couldn't stand the boss of my area. I lied that I was a businessman from out of town and killed him with a gun. Fortunately, the guy himself
It’s so bad. He also deducted the wages of the people below him. Everyone has tolerated him for a long time, but I caught him.”
The fat boss raised his eyebrows and said: "You are really capable and dare to shoot directly, but that's fine. You are so young. If you kill your father or uncle, you will be in trouble later."
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.
The fat boss waved his hand and said, "If you have no foundation and work on your own, then everyone will be more tolerant to you. But if you are brought into the social circle by your father or uncle, then if you go out of your way, everyone will
They will think you are unreliable and will not do business with you."
Bruce frowned and said, "Why would you be more tolerant to me if I don't have any foundation?"
The younger boss on the other side said: "Don't you know this? If you haven't learned the rules from your elders, then everyone will treat you as a country bumpkin. It's okay to make a fool of yourself occasionally. That's how I came here too."
"But, if you are originally a child from a gangster family, and you learn the rules from your parents every day, see what they do every day, and still make mistakes, doesn't that mean you are stupid?"
Bruce didn't expect that there was such a difference. He said, "Then if I make a fool of myself, won't they laugh at me the same way?"
"It doesn't matter, I've been laughed at too." The younger boss lit a cigar and said, "As long as you don't make those fundamental mistakes, it's okay to be laughed at twice."
"After all, you don't know how to do it because you haven't learned it. But if you have learned it, and you haven't learned it after so many years of learning, how can you let others do business with you? Who would learn the most basic etiquette and still haven't learned it after so many years?
A retarded person who has learned how to do business?"
Bruce nodded, and the fat boss said: "Speaking of this, I think of my daughter. Thank God, she doesn't have the mind for free love, but don't mention this to me, let alone fall in love with the son of a wealthy businessman.
, none of those playboys are good..."
The fat boss took a puff of his cigar and said, "I originally wanted to send her to a missionary middle school to study, but my wife told me that she wouldn't learn anything there, and she wouldn't even be able to reply to invitations, and she would be laughed at."
.”
"Church high school? It should be pretty good, right?" Bruce said, "Especially the most famous girls' school in the city."
The fat boss waved his hand disdainfully and said:
"That's true, but you have to look at what they teach. They taught my daughter to read the Bible, make tailors, arrange flowers, and paint. But the problem is that she will marry into the Lawrence family in the future."
"She will become little Lawrence's wife and the mistress of the Lawrence family. What's the use of just knowing these things? Match Malone...is that your name?"
"Let me ask you, if you want to visit the Lawrence family, write a greeting note and send it to their mailbox, at this time, should you expect their reply?"
Bruce nodded and said, "Of course."
"But if the mistress of their family is a stupid girl who doesn't even know who you are and what level of person you are, how can you expect her to give you a suitable reply?"
The fat boss blew out the smoke and said, "The Lawrence family is much stronger than you. If a little person like you wants to visit their home, of course they can't respond too enthusiastically, otherwise they won't be able to deal with those families of the same level."
"However, if the wording of agreement is too cold, it will be mistaken for rejection. If you want to grasp this degree, in addition to the wording above, you should also look at the handwriting, the texture of the letter, and the reply.
Time, if you don’t manage these well, wouldn’t that offend people?”
Bruce thought about it and felt that it was indeed the case. Not to mention gangsters with many rules, even gatherings of Gotham's upper class had all kinds of troublesome rules.
Men are a little better. Those ladies and ladies can have hundreds of details on a necklace or a tiara.
Who wears the new style, who wears the old style, whose fan is given by whom, whose hat is worn in which direction, all are particular, who has recently been engaged, who has recently given birth, and what changes have occurred in which family.
, all can be seen from the details of food, clothing, housing and transportation.
The reason why Bruce didn't find it difficult was because, in disguise, Bruce Wayne was a bad playboy. He could lose his temper at banquets at will, and no one could do anything to him. He could just work out.
After that, he dressed in sportswear and came to the magnificent mansion. The waiter and manager also had to smile at him.
As for the invitation, he didn't even look at it, and Alfred wouldn't tell him. All he would tell him was, "So-and-so family invites you to come, see if you want to go." If Bruce said
No, Alfred wouldn't ask him how to write an invitation.
To put it simply, Bruce's parents, butler and his own disguised identity have helped him avoid these messy secret rules. No one in Gotham dares to offend him, so what rules does he have to follow?
At this moment, he put himself in his shoes and thought about it. Without the status of the Wayne family, the diligent old butler, and the disguised identity of Bruce Wayne, he would just be an ordinary wealthy businessman. How could he
Integrating into Gotham's circle takes a lot of effort.
Not to mention how to write greetings and invitations? He even has to take care of who the person is sending, what clothes they wear, and what posture they walk in. Even if Batman has 48 hours a day, he still has to vomit blood from exhaustion.
Now, Bruce understood what Schiller was asking. Initially, he asked Schiller to experience life in the slums with him, but Schiller asked him, "Do you really think it's better to live in the slums than in the upper class?"
is it hard?"
What Schiller is actually referring to is that when you live in the slums, your relatives, friends, brothers and colleagues are all your help, but when you live in the upper class, all these people are your troubles.
If something goes wrong, this group of people won't say anything on the surface, but they will definitely gossip behind their backs. If it spreads, it will affect their reputation and business will be difficult.
For a person like Bruce, who has a high IQ but low EQ, it is actually better to live in the slums. As long as he can turn around, his high IQ can bring him a lot of primitive accumulation of capital, and he can definitely work here.
Live comfortably in this environment.
But when it comes to the overt and covert struggles among the upper class, where you come and go, Bruce's perception of emotions and the expression of his own emotions are not enough for him to capture this undercurrent, understand everyone's psychology, and achieve the best results.
good.
Batman is a psychopath, ghetto doesn't care if you have one
Mental illness, but the upper class is different. If your status is not high enough but you do something extraordinary, you will never be able to integrate into their circle.
While Bruce was thinking this, the young gang boss said: "My son is only three years old this year. I plan to take him to meet his two uncles when he is five years old. Both of them are engaged in shipping."
businessman, and when he reaches elementary school age, I want him to go to a community elementary school..."
At this time, the fat boss clicked his tongue and said, "Don't, Doyle. For the sake of our cooperation, I remind you not to let him go to school. This is for his own good."
The gang boss known as Doyle frowned in confusion and said, "Why? In the community where I live, many people send their children to school."
"That's because you have to buy a house in the South District and be with those wealthy businessmen. Of course they will send their children to school, but you can't do that."
"Why?" Doyle asked.
The fat boss shook his head and said, "Think about it, he played with the children of those wealthy people in the community school. Will he be able to do business with them when he grows up?"
"You have to hire a tutor for your child, preferably an old man of the same generation as the godfather, to teach him how to abide by etiquette and rules. Then you have to ask your wife to take him to some salons and afternoon tea parties to talk to him.
The aunties can make out with each other, and finally, play with their children. This is the most honorable thing to do."
The fat boss sighed and said, "What's even more frightening is that if your child grows up with the children of wealthy businessmen and wants to go to middle school and take the college entrance exam like them, what if the exam goes to other places? Your family
No more business?"
"In Gotham, let alone four years, just four months, it would take dozens of families to beat the dog's brains out. Once he's gone for such a long time, when he comes back, he's just a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. There's nothing wrong with him.
He doesn’t understand, he doesn’t know anything, he can’t clearly see the situation, and he doesn’t know anyone, how can he survive in Gotham?”
Doyle thought for a while, then nodded and said: "Indeed, I said you can't listen to Alina. She insists that her children want to go to college. In my opinion, students from Gotham University are nothing. Let them
If you join a gang for two days, you'll probably lose your life."
The fat boss waved the hand holding the cigar and said: "I've been telling you since you got married that you didn't choose the right partner. Your wife is a top student who graduated from Cambridge. That poem written in cursive calligraphy is among the twelve families.
I can’t even find the second one.”
"But that's how it is to marry a woman from out of town. You have to cry every day to educate, educate, study, study..."
"But you don't even look where this is. You've read a lot of books and you can't even hold a gun when you come back. In the end, you can only hold the book and go to see God."