However, it seemed that in order to gain the trust of the two hard-won customers, the man began to tell his story, which really wasn't much. While cleaning one day, he improperly lifted the vacuum cleaner, causing the nozzle to shift off course. Coincidentally, the tag was hanging on the outside, and it got sucked in.
Although the tag was eventually rescued from the vacuum nozzle, the string was torn, and the tag was scratched. The man obviously couldn't reattach the string or forge a new tag, and when his boss found out after work, he was required to purchase the damaged goods.
From this, Jason identified two doubts. First, Batman couldn't possibly be so dumb as not to know how to use a vacuum cleaner. Even if his daily life was taken care of by Alfred, Batman was fully skilled at operating machinery. He was not only able to operate the Batmobile and the Batplane, but any mechanical device in his hands would comply dutifully and obediently.
Secondly, even if Batman did do something that foolish, he had a thousand ways to fix it before anyone found out—including but not limited to instantly rolling a new string identical to the original and attaching it, completely restoring the scratched tag, or at the very least, convincing the store owner who came over so he wouldn't have to compensate for the damage.
But this man who looked exactly like Batman just helplessly waited for the worst to happen, which was far from what Batman would have done.
So Jason started to casually inquire about the man's name and his past. There were no other customers in the store, and the man seemed to be dying of boredom. He actually started chatting with Jason.
The man's name was Bruce, but his last name wasn't Wayne; it was Gordon. He said his parents were indeed Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, but after their death, Wayne Enterprises completely collapsed, and he was adopted by Gordon. He went to school and because he had no money for college, he went to a community college and then started working.
Because Gordon, who had always pursued justice, wanted to investigate the cause of the Waynes' deaths, he became the target of shareholders wanting to divide the profits. Bruce was just in middle school when Gordon suffered a severe gunshot wound and has been paralyzed in bed to this day.
Since he had to take care of Gordon, Bruce couldn't commit to a long-term job and could only do odd jobs here and there. Unfortunately, he ran into trouble not long after he started at this toy store.
Jason could clearly see that this man was hoping to move them with his story to sell at a higher price. It was a form of psychological manipulation, but too direct and simplistic—something the Robins wouldn't even entertain.
Jason felt that if this scenario were real, this Bruce had a bit of talent, but not much. He hadn't been able to step up immediately after his parents' deaths like he had in reality. Or perhaps he had tried, but failed, resulting in the collapse of Wayne Enterprises and him being kicked out.
That he could do odd jobs while caring for a bedridden patient and still look strong and well-groomed meant he had some ability, but it was just slightly above average.
But stepping out of all this story, this was a dream, meaning if this Bruce was indeed the Batman of this universe, then this was his image in a dream.
Would Batman wish to be an ordinary person?
Jason had never thought about this question before, but he had often felt deep down that Batman was being dramatic. Could his parents' death really have affected him for so many years? Even if he witnessed it with his own eyes, wasn't his willpower strong enough to conquer the shadows?
Jason knew his thoughts might seem insensitive, as it's easy to talk without experiencing the same pain. It wasn't because he had seen worse things from the lower echelons that he had the right to demand others to not feel pain. Therefore, he kept these thoughts to himself and never voiced them.
However, at this moment, he truly found Batman a bit dramatic. In a dream, where one's consciousness escapes painful reality, he imagined himself as just an ordinary nobody.
Jason always felt that Batman had an unrealistic and overly romantic fantasy of ordinary life, much like those wealthy people who constantly complain about the troubles of being rich, sometimes thinking that living an ordinary life could be nice.
Jason knew very well that, despite their complaints, these rich people wouldn't simply give away all their wealth. From the perspective of an ordinary person, he often thought, since you find it burdensome, why not give your wealth to me? Let me worry for you while you go live the blissful life of an everyman.
So Jason often sneered at these rich people's fantasies about ordinary life, even if it was Batman who harbored such thoughts. In his mind, he would mock Batman's foolishness. If the life of an ordinary person was so good, why would everyone want to be rich? Why was everyone complaining about not having money?
The reality is that money is truly important. The collective worries of those scraping by far outweigh the occasional, earth-shattering troubles of the rich, wearing people down far more significantly.
Time is not the butcher knife; it's the impoverished times that really cut deep. The rich yearn for immortality— if life is truly difficult and troubles abound, are they masochistic for wanting to prolong such painful days?
Jason sneered inwardly, surprise that Batman too had a side prone to feeble escapism, and the man before him even more so. He glanced at Spider Man beside him, getting bullied but not fighting back, waiting for society's rules to teach those people a lesson. I want to see what's there to enjoy about that kind of life.
Jason counted out the change and slapped it onto the counter, grabbing the doll over, and after a careful inspection, he found that it was indeed flawless except for the tag.
Then he quickly squeezed past the cluttered counter and took a brand-new Christmas bathtub duck from the shelf under the display window and stuffed it into Spider Man's arms.
He turned his head to Bruce and asked, "Where did you rent your apartment? I'm in New York for a few days and need a place to stay, too. If you could recommend a good place, I think I might come around more often."
Bruce seemed a bit surprised at first, but soon looked embarrassed. To tell the truth, it's quite unusual not to have a house in America. Although there are many renters in big cities like New York, most people just don't want to work in their hometown and at least have a house of their own or their parents' in another state.
After all, America has such vast territory with not so many people. Housing shortages are absolutely not a problem. In Europe, you might see people crammed into buildings, but in America, except for the biggest of cities, the worst you'll find is a small detached house.
In America, those without a single property are either homeless or stowaways. Even the poorest Americans tend to have some old property they have to pay taxes on, rather than having to rent.
Of course, there is another possibility, which is not being able to repay loans or pay taxes and the bank repossessing the home. These cases often lead to homelessness, because if you can't pay off a loan, your credit score is definitely shot, making it difficult to find employment. Without work, you can't afford rent, and you naturally end up homeless.
Jason inquired and found out that this was indeed the case. Gordon wasn't injured on duty, but was attacked on his day off and, without any compensation, had to take out loans for treatment.
Due to the severity of his injuries, insurance could only cover so much. The borrowed money was almost all spent, but he had lost his ability to work and couldn't repay the debt, leaving him no choice but to surrender his collateral to the bank.
At that time, Bruce was underage and couldn't work, so they stayed with one of Gordon's old colleagues for a while. It wasn't until Bruce came of age and started earning money that he could move out and rent an apartment with Gordon.
"What about Barbara?" Jason asked.
"They got divorced," Bruce said before realizing he didn't know how Jason knew about Barbara.
"I mean, don't they have any children?"
"They do, but their daughter has always been with Gordon's ex-wife and is currently studying in another city. Gordon doesn't want to burden them, so he has never made contact."
After learning the basics, Jason couldn't help but think that wanting to live as an ordinary person is not easy when you're caring for someone who is chronically bedridden. It's even worse if the person is completely paralyzed.
"I can introduce you to the place I'm renting, but don't expect much in terms of environment. My only requirement for renting is that it's cheap." Bruce wiped his hands on his apron and added, "Still, thank you for buying this, or I would have lost a lot more in wages. It's getting late, I have to go to my restaurant job now. Goodbye."
Jason watched him walk towards the back door and let out a deep sigh, feeling for the first time the frustration of wanting someone to perform to their potential. He had good money and was a genius, yet he chose this escapade from reality. While others fantasized about a better life when escaping reality, he came here to scrape by with odd jobs.
Wait, even in his fantasies, he was taken in after his parents' deaths, not imagining them alive. Was his psychological shadow already that deep?
Jason was filled with emotions, but at that moment, Spider Man hugged him and cheered, "You're amazing, Jason! You got two toys for half the price, and they're both limited editions! That's so cool!!!"
Jason looked askance at the two toys that Spider Man was clutching. He was long past the age of needing a rubber duck for the bath or a teddy bear to sleep with. Besides, even if he was of that age, he wouldn't need these things for comfort. They were just too childish.
Watching Spider Man's happy face, Jason still wondered with some confusion what the point was of having a duck in the bathtub. What was the purpose of such an item? Was it just for decoration?
Unable to understand, Jason didn't care much. He and Spider Man stepped out of the gift shop, Spider Man happily clutching the two toys, walking and saying, "Actually, this gift shop is a bit far from my neighborhood, but it's closer to our school. Luckily, I came early because this year's Christmas limited edition is only available here."
Jason agreed with this point because when he had gone to pick up that Christmas duck, he found out it was the last one left aside from the one in the display window. It's possible that there was only that one in the store, and he might not have been able to buy it if he had come any later.
The moment they walked out of the street with the gift shop and turned the corner, they heard a shout, "Isn't that poor little Peter? What are you doing here?"
Jason looked and saw three people coming their way, a classic American bully trio, led by a big guy—at least compared to Spider Man.
"Thompson??? You... you're not training today? I... I... I... I just... I..."