餐具轻盈的声音与餐具叮当响.伴随着液体嘶嘶作响的声音,戈登首先举起酒杯,欢呼道:"恭喜你的新家!
布鲁斯,哈维,席勒和维克多都举起了酒杯.他们互相敬酒.席勒喝了一口饮料.吞下微辣的液体后,一股温暖从他的胸膛升起.壁炉的火焰像燃烧的火焰一样照在玻璃上.
"现在是你应该买房子的时候了."哈维说:"我已经说了很长时间了.没有人应该在员工公寓里住这么久,他们那里甚至没有咖啡机.我只住了两晚.床让我的腰从床板上酸痛.
"我觉得还不错."维克多说:"哥谭大学的设施相当不错.当然,也比不上这豪宅.我希望这里能有个房间给我.
"随时欢迎."席勒向他举起酒杯.布鲁斯用刀子切开盘子里的牛排,说:"你应该为我们所有人留一个房间.毕竟,我已经在韦恩庄园为你们所有人保留了房间.
"那就够了."席勒回答道.
"上帝保佑,我有生之年就能买到豪宅了.我非常乐意为你们每个人留一个房间.戈登一边说,一边吃着一块香肠.
"你好吗?你应该很快就能攒够钱了,对吧?哈维问他.
"我最近的收入下降了,但还是可以的."戈登用餐巾擦了擦嘴,继续说道:"教父什么都没发生,但其他的黑帮都急于出手.暴风雨来临前很平静.
"当你有足够的钱时,你必须让我知道.席勒用叉子轻轻敲了敲他的餐刀,说
"怎么了?"
"没什么,我只是觉得我对选择公寓有一些建议.在买房子之前,我会查看很多信息.
"那太好了.我实际上不确定该买哪一个.你如何看待鹈鹕社区?嗯...马洛里巷也不错.但考虑到我们将来可能会有一个孩子,它有点小,而且没有托儿所.
"你考虑过第九大道吗?和我做邻居怎么样?哈维笑着问他.
"天啊,那太远了,而且住在那里的人大多都是像你这样的单身汉,对吧?"
席勒发出"啾"啾"的声音,正要喝一口饮料.戈登疑惑地看着他.席勒笑了笑,"你太忙了,连这么大的新闻都不知道.
"What happened?" Gordon glances at Harvey and asks, "Did I miss something? Is he not a bachelor anymore?"
Victor guesses, "Have you officially started dating Christine? You should keep it discreet at school. You know, there are almost as many girls interested in you as there are boys interested in her."
"Well, it happened last week." Harvey shrugs.
Bruce looks at him in surprise and says, "Really? Oh my! You manage to win over the most sexy and beautiful girl in the whole Gotham University so quickly. I thought you were also a pedant."
Schiller taps the edge of the plate lightly with his fork and then snorts, "I hope you're not hinting anything. You can sit at this dining table and eat with me. Is it just because you get 69 on your final exams?"
Everyone bursts into laughter. The flames in the fireplace burn fiercely. The reflecting lights of many metal flatware on the dining table intersect, emitting circles of soft halos. After overlapping, the whole room seem to be illuminated.
After the meal, everyone sits on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Harvey is slightly tipsy, "What is this? Our bachelor's night? Gordon is getting married too. Before he gets married, we can still have some fun…"
"Sorry I should be going now." Victor has already put on his coat and hat. Schiller turns his head to look at him and says, "Take the bag by the door. There are two bottles of wine and a pack of cigars inside."
"Oh! Thank you. How could you bear to give me these good Cuban ones?" Victor opens the bag and asks with a smile.
"I remember you mention, these past few days should be your wedding anniversary with your wife..."
"Oh, sorry, we don't know!" Bruce apologies, "Professor Fries, I'll send the gift to your office tomorrow."
"No, there is no need to be so polite." Victor smiles, "In fact, I'm already very happy that you all can understand.
Victor spoke the truth. Regardless, the act of freezing his wife in a cryogenic chamber is rather terrifying. He never expects anyone to understand his insane action. The people who hear about it before will, at best, advise him to accept the inevitability of life and death.
But most of his new friends in Gotham express great tolerance towards it. They don't shy away from discussing the matter. Truth be told, Victor doesn't like it when others look at him with sympathy and avoid mentioning his marriage and family. It makes him feel like a jinx.
But his friends are different, as if his wife is merely hospitalized with a minor ailment. They always remember her and it brings him comfort. It feels like his wife is truly just in the hospital for a cold and will quickly recover.
After Victor leaves, Gordon also leaves soon after. Bruce lounges on the couch and yells, "See, these are all busy people. Only us, only us idle fellows, can get drunk here all night..."
"Actually, only you, Mr. Billionaire. I still need to revise my paper, and Harvey has a lawsuit to write. Only you, the idle brainless rich guy..."
Bruce leans back on the couch, closing his eyes. He waves his hand, not saying anything, obviously a little drunk. Harvey puts on his coat and says, "I'll take him back. Don't let him get drunk here for real."
"He has his phone in his pocket. Call his butler and have him send a helicopter to pick you guys up. Don't drive."
"Drunk driving is nothing in Gotham? I can even drive up to 120 miles per hour..." Bruce slurs.
"Yeah, yeah, our genius racing driver..."
After Harvey escorts Bruce out, Schiller walks to the other side of the living room, picks up the phone receiver, and dials a number.
Soon, the lights in the mansion gradually go out, and Gotham's night sinks back into deep darkness.
The next day, Sheldon,the president of the Gotham University, sits in his office, puzzled. "You're saying Professor Rodriguez is injured and in hospital?... Alright, send one to visit him."
In the afternoon, Schiller, lying on the hospital bed, takes over flowers from Anna. "Oh, thank you, I really appreciate it..."
He is about to continue speaking when Gordon bursts in. Seeing that there is someone else here, he hesitates. After Anna leaves, Gordon looks around the room. This is a high-end ward in Gotham Central Hospital, a single room with luxurious decoration. Schiller lies on the bed, covered with a blanket, showing no sign of any hurts in his complexion.
Gordon walks over and stands with his hands on his hips. "I heard you were attacked last night. Damn, if only I had left a little later..."
Schiller smiles, as if it is nothing serious. Gordon gets angrier, "Why you still smile.?!You knew those guys from Metropolis were likely coming for you, but you didn't raise your guard and let them succeed. Where were you injured? Organ or bone?"
Then, he says in annoyance, "And where is that Batman? If he had stayed with you, this wouldn't have happened!"
"It sound you have lots of faith in him.But I don't want him to stay my house. If his butler came looking for him, it would be scarier than anyone else."
"Really..." Gordon looks Schiller up and down, "Are you really hurt? I can't see anything wrong with you at all."
He glances at his watch and says, "Besides, we left in the middle of the night. It's only a little after 7 in the morning now. Can your wound heal so quickly? Even if it was just a knife wound, it would take at least a dozen hours. Or is the medical technology at the Central Hospital that advanced now?"
Schiller waves his hand, indicating for him to calm down. Then he lifts the blanket, sits up, and stands by the window to stretch. Gordon stares wide-eyed, watching him move agilely, as if nothing had happened.
"Fuck! You're not hurt at all!" Gordon exclaims, "I rushed here when I received the news!"
"I am touched." Schiller jokes, "It only took your ancient pickup truck 20 minutes to get from the police station to the hospital. Did you install a propeller on it or something?"
"I told you, I was the number one in driving courses at the police academy!"
Then Gordon shakes his head,"And is that the point? The point isn't why you faked being ill? You finally fed up with of those students?"
"Not really... Well, alright, there is a bit of that, but that's not the point..."
"Do you know how I got this news? This morning, the police station was filled with cries. They heard that Arkham Asylum had temporarily closed because they didn't have the attending doctor. I've never seen them so sad before..."
"Yeah, it's not just the police who are heart-breaking by Arkham Asylum closing."
Gordon frowns, he isn't stupid. After a moment of thought, he says, "The gangsters won't give up. They've tasted the sweetness in this industry."
"Yes, they are probably more anxious than you. You have almost saved enough money, and your goal is just to buy an apartment. But they are different."
"Why are you doing this? What's the benefit of stringing them along?"
"I am injured, the asylum is closed, and the duck that was in their mouth is about to fly away. So, why am I injured?"
"Why... are you framing those people from Metropolis?" Gordon finally understands, "You want to use these gangsters to handle those guys. Once they know you were attacked by those people from Metropolis, they are the one should be blamed to the close of the hospital. Then they will definitely find ways to dig them out and kill them."
Gordon paces around the room, speaking as he walks, "After running for such a long time, many people have invested their time and effort into the industry within the asylum. They won't be willing to give up so easily. It's like the final step of baking a pizza, they can't stop."
"Because of your illness, they will definitely find all kinds of ways to figure out what's going on. The police already know who did it, so there's no reason those gang bosses wouldn't know."
"But how can you be sure they will go after those people from Metropolis?Maybe they'll try to replace you with someone else, like before?"
"You are hurt, but it doesn't necessarily mean the asylum must close. They don't know that this industry is part of your plan. They might just think, the attending doctor is sick, why not find another one?"
"They don't know, but Falcone does, and that's enough."