After hanging up the phone, Batman stood still, not understanding the nonsense Shiller was talking about.
He looked at Pied Piper who he had thrown into jail and pondered for a moment before deciding to deal with his paper first.
In the past few days, under Shiller's relentless demands, Batman had developed good studying habits, he could at least finish today's tasks within the day, and the papers due today would be edited by today.
Bruce returned to school, spending another afternoon at the library, correcting all the mistakes in his previous essay and adjusting the argument flow, ruthlessly cutting out irrelevant parts. This time, he was confident that he would pass in one go.
By seven o'clock in the evening, Bruce was back at the office building. Just as he was about to knock, the office door opened.
Shiller was walking out with a pile of documents, looking surprised to see Bruce. He eyed Bruce up and down before looking at the essay in Bruce's hands."
Before Bruce could speak, Shiller said, "Just leave it on my desk, I'll take a look at it in the morning."
With that, he started to walk away, but Bruce stopped him. "Professor, are you busy right now? I have some questions..."
"If you have questions, then read a book." Without turning his head, Shiller answered, "Have you finished reading the Jungian theory I assigned you? If not, better get to it. If the basic theories aren't clear, where are all these questions coming from?"
Having said his piece, he walked away briskly, leaving Bruce alone. The windows at both ends of the corridor were open, and whenever a cold breeze blew through, Bruce finally understood what being bone-chillingly cold felt like.
Humans are strange creatures. When another person pays a lot of attention to you, it feels very stressful and annoying. But if their attention suddenly fades, you start wondering what happened to them.
In fact, such sudden attention isn't always necessary. However, during the process of being focused on, people train themselves to adapt to this pace. When this unnecessary attention disappears, you feel a sense of loss.
Bruce had a hard time describing how he was feeling. He should be happy to have escaped the horrifying academic pressure, yet he stood there holding his paper, not knowing what to do.
Bruce wondered if he had felt smug about Shiller's special treatment. After all, he knew that Shiller had put so much pressure on him because Shiller knew he had potential, that he could excel. The professor affirmed his talent, which made him different from other students."
When a person is acknowledged by a top figure in their field, they start to believe that they must possess a unique talent in that particular area and thus get special treatment.
But, in the grand scheme of things, it might just be because they had no better choice,
Shiller wouldn't focus on training Batman just because he's the protagonist of the comics. The fact was, given the conditions at Gotham, Shiller didn't have better candidates.
Regardless of whether Bruce had a knack for psychology, his outstanding IQ and comprehension skills were evident. The limits of his abilities remain unknown, but the bottom line is that he has significant value in any discipline.
However, times change. No one remains seventeen forever, yet the world is always full of seventeen-year-olds. Bruce was twenty, while Jason was still eleven.
At present, Jason was much healthier mentally than Bruce. Despite both of them being orphans, Jason did not have extreme emotions.
Perhaps it is because when you barely have enough to eat, philosophical thoughts about evil, life, revenge, and the law need to be postponed.
People only reflect on life when they have too much spare time, leading to unnecessary emotions that don't contribute to survival. Jason, who struggled at the bottom of Gotham society, spent every day hustling to survive. This surprisingly gave him a more stable mindset and a more sensible logic.
If a person struggles with their own mental stability, they cannot treat others. If you are not open to others' emotions, you can't understand the key to help them in therapeutic conversations. You have to be calmer than your patients to help them feel at ease.
The reason Shiller has always pushed Bruce to improve his academic level is that considering Batman's mental state, even if he could study psychology, Batman could only specialize in theory. He couldn't genuinely face his patients because he was a patient himself.
Moreover, Batman was not proficient in expressing himself linguistically. His personality made it difficult for him to explain in detail, not used to expressing the emotions he received to others. This prevented him from gaining experience in real-life situations.
Jackson, on the other hand, was exceptionally gifted in this aspect.
He could rapidly perceive others' emotions and express his feelings linguistically, without getting overly invested to the point of emotional collapse.
Moreover, Jackson just demonstrated he had a strong memory. Despite him previously saying he disliked reading, Shiller assumed he wasn't an input type of person. But now, it seemed he probably just hadn't found something he was interested in. He was more fond of humanities than the sciences.
Jackson was younger, right at the age to absorb knowledge and learn about the world. His personality was more malleable and easier to convince.
Shiller preferred to spend time with those who were straightforward. In his daily life, deciphering the hints from patients already exhausted him. It would be best if Riddler would just leave Gotham.
After discovering Jackson, Shiller decisively made Batman the warehouse manager. After all, university professors are not necessarily responsible for pushing a specific student to study. So it´s better to let Batman return to his self-disciplined lifestyle.
And so, Shiller disappeared from Bruce's world at a breakneck pace, leaving him caught off guard and thoroughly confused.
Shiller told him that as long as he handed in a readable thesis before he graduated, whether he made up the other assignments or not and whether he retakes the courses or not didn't matter.
This freedom came so suddenly that for a moment, Bruce didn't know what to do.
Standing at the entrance of Gotham University, after being hit by the cold wind for three minutes, Bruce realized that he should go home and see Alfred, whom he hadn't seen for several days.
But when he returned to Wayne Manor, he didn't see Alfred. The vast Wayne Manor was empty. There was no Alfred, no Dick, and no Elsa.
Bruce had to admit, when he saw this scene, his heart skipped a beat.
But within two minutes, Alfred returned. Seeing Bruce, Alfred smiled and said, "Sir, you're back?"
"Yes, Alfred, where have you been?" Bruce asked.
Alfred took off his gloves, hung the scarf on the coat rack, then turned around and said, "Don't you remember? I had called you to discuss Elsa's kindergarten, but you were very busy then…"
"Both kindergartens in the South District have very few positions left. To catch up with this year's start, one must attend the adaptation class in advance. I was worried that Elsa wouldn't be able to register this year, so I sent her to the kindergarten adaptation class early, today is already the fourth day of school."
Bruce, somewhat dazed, said, "Oh, she's started kindergarten, how is she adapting? Is she making a fuss to come back?"
Alfred laughed happily and said, "Miss Elsa's social skills are stronger than I thought. Although she doesn't speak much, she plays happily with the other children and likes to dance with the teacher…"
"Doesn't she need someone to tell her stories?" Bruce asked.
"For the first couple of days, Dick told the stories. But later, Elsa played so hard at kindergarten that she fell asleep as soon as she got home. She slept all night and even ate more attentively than usual. Sir, Elsa has really made a lot of progress."
Bruce was silent for a while, then asked, "And Dick?"
"Dick has rejoined the choir at his new school. The choir's teacher even recommended him join a dance club because of his great flexibility. They are rehearsing a ballet now, and Dick is the protagonist…"
"Oh, by the way, Alfred, how's your health?" Bruce looked worriedly at Alfred, who shook his head and said, "It's just an ordinary cold, I've long recovered. There's no need to worry."
Bruce nodded and said, "Everything's going well, right?"
Even though his tone was positive, there was still an inexplicable emotion hiding inside. Suddenly, like remembering something, he said, "What about Selina? Has she visited recently?"
Alfred shook his head and said, "Miss Selina hasn't been here for a week, but she did call twice."
"What did she say?" Bruce asked.
"She asked you to visit her when you have time, but you've been busy this past week…"
As soon as Alfred finished speaking, Bruce turned and left. He quickly got into his car and drove to Selina's house.
Selina lived in a relatively well-off apartment in the East District. Although it was a bit shabby, it was much better than other places. When Bruce entered the corridor, he saw that the door of Selina's apartment was open, and light was pouring out.
Bruce furrowed his brows and walked over. Just as he approached the door, a bottle was flung out with a "bang" and smashed against the opposite wall.
Bruice hesitated for a moment then took a step forward. There was another "bang", and several magazines were thrown out.
Bruce arrived at the door and peered inside; Selina was tidying up the room. Scads of odds and ends were being thrown out. But upon closer inspection, she wasn't cleaning, but packing her luggage.
Hearing the noise, Selina turned to look back at Bruce and said, "You're here?"
Bruce nodded, examining her up and down as he said, "You were looking for me?"
"No, not anymore." Selina quickly stuffed a pile of clothes into her suitcase and then said, "Anyway, you don't have time."
"I was a bit busy before, but now I have time. Where are you going?" Bruce asked.
Selina opened her mouth, took a deep breath on the spot, then slowly rose from her knees, looking down at her suitcase and said,
"I am going to Hollywood."