Deep Sea Embers

Seeing Nina briskly running up the stairs, Duncan didn't understand what was going on for a while, but just scratched his hair in confusion: "Why is this kid smirking..."

Then he heard old Mr. Morris's voice from the counter: "To be honest, you are quite different from my impression, Mr. Duncan."

"Big difference?" Duncan raised one eyebrow, "What's your impression of me?"

While talking, he came out from behind the counter to hang the "Temporary Rest" sign at the door, and moved another chair to the counter - after confirming that the other party was a visiting teacher rather than an ordinary guest , It is obviously inappropriate to let people stand still.

"Thank you," Morris nodded his thanks, sat in the chair and looked in Duncan's direction, with a gentle and refined smile on his face, "I have never seen you, but I have heard of it from some sources...Nina's family Situation. Pardon my excuses, but from what I've heard rumors, Nina had an alcoholic, gambling and violent uncle, and that kid lived in such a poor family atmosphere that she hardly even had friends at school - the other students They don't want to have anything to do with her."

Duncan was making coffee at the side. He subconsciously paused for two seconds after hearing what Morris said, and then he finished the work in his hands leisurely. He returned to the counter with two cups of coffee and pushed one of them to the old man. : "I hope you don't mind that I only have this kind of bargain here-the best coffee in the downtown area is at this level."

He sat down opposite the old man, each holding a steaming cup of coffee, and the old dagger was placed between them, but the attention of both parties was obviously not on it for the time being.

"Strictly speaking... these rumors are true," Duncan said slowly, "I had an illness before, well, a more serious illness - when painkillers don't work, I can only rely on strong alcohol to paralyze Nervous, it was a decadent period, unfortunately that period also happened to be the critical years of Nina's adolescence, and now it seems that this has affected her more than I imagined."

Morris observed Duncan seriously, and it took him a long time before he spoke thoughtfully: "Is that so?" But I get the feeling that you don't look like someone who just came out of a decadence—more like a gentleman who has never been in a decadence and has always been positive. affected.

As he said that, he took a sip of the coffee in his cup, and didn't make any comments on the coffee, but just casually said: "I think I'm pretty good at judging people."

"Maybe it's just that I adjusted my mentality quickly," Duncan laughed, with a very calm tone - he must admit that this old man is indeed very accurate in seeing people, but he believes that no matter how accurate his eyes are, he will not be able to see the secrets in his own body , so I didn't panic at all, "Nina is almost an adult, and I am her only guardian. I have to show some sense of responsibility."

"...In any case, this is a good thing for that child." Morris took a deep look at Duncan, "She is at a critical stage of her studies, although many people say that after graduating from a public high school, she can only go to a factory to screw her. Bolt, but they always miss the point that knowledge itself is a valuable asset, and it will suddenly make sense at some point in your life, and that is often after you have no chance to go back to school.”

The old man said, shaking his head: "It's a pity that most parents I have dealt with don't agree with this-their focus is on getting their children to graduate and find jobs as soon as possible."

As soon as Duncan heard this, he immediately felt cordial: He knows what the old man said! When he was a teacher, he often said similar things to students or their parents, but no one listened to him...

But soon he restrained his mentality of "meeting each other". After thinking about his current environment, he shook his head slightly:

"Because this is downtown, Mr. Morris - your views are indeed wise and far-sighted, but most people here really need to pay last month's bills as soon as possible, and you can't say that they don't have enough vision. long."

"It's true, many people actually want to look farther, but the high walls in life always block our sight from looking further away," the old man sighed, "Sorry, after soaking in books for a long time, I always lose sight of it." Will ignore the practical problems in life... You are a very good thinker, it seems that some of my worries are unnecessary."

"Worried?" Duncan frowned. "Speaking of which, is there something wrong with Nina in school recently? Her grades have regressed?"

"Her grades have always been very good, but recently... she is really absent-minded," Morris considered the vocabulary, "she was distracted in class, fell asleep during self-study, and was distracted during experimental classes——Last week In chemistry class, she even set the lab bench ablaze. That's never happened before... at least it never happened to her."

Speaking of this, the old gentleman paused, and added: "In the test two days ago, her grades did not show any decline, but if this state continues, it is difficult to say what will happen to her grades when she graduates." ——Although there are indeed limited options after graduating from public high school, assembling machines in a factory in the lower city is different from maintaining the steam core in a church in the upper city. As Nina's guardian, you should pay attention to it."

"Nina is often distracted in class recently?" Duncan frowned, "She hasn't told me about this..."

"Girls at this age will definitely not tell you too much," Morris shook his head, "At first I thought it was because of something happened at home, or what her 'drinking uncle' did recently, It only affected her status at school, so I came to this home visit, but now it seems...it is not the reason for this."

Duncan didn't speak for a while, but seriously recalled whether Nina had behaved abnormally in front of him in the past few days, recalled Nina's daily routine, and Morris asked again after a few seconds: " You are the person who knows her best, is there anything unusual about that child recently? For example, not resting well, not in good health?"

Duncan pondered for a long time, and could only spread his hands: "...I'm ashamed to say, I can't think of an answer."

He couldn't think of an answer—he didn't even know Nina a week ago! How does he know that the child has changed recently compared with before?

Morris didn't seem to be surprised by Duncan's answer. This is probably because he lowered his expectations for "Nina's uncle" according to the rumors before he came, so he just said out of habit at this time: "You A little more attention should be paid to her - especially for girls at this age, material support is not enough."

When Duncan heard this, an idea suddenly popped up in his mind: "Could she be in a relationship?"

Frankly speaking, this idea is more or less based on "Zhou Ming"'s experience as a people's teacher...

After Morris heard this, he showed a weird expression. The old man gave Duncan a weird look: "That's a girls' school..."

Duncan thought for a while, and said with a serious face, "Girls' schools are also possible."

Morris opened his eyes slightly.

This old gentleman who has always been obsessed with academics was shocked!

"Cough, well, I just said it casually," Duncan knew from the old man's reaction that the topic might be a bit out of line, and quickly interrupted the embarrassment with a dry cough, "I will have a good talk with Nina... ...she should be willing to tell me."

"Ah... oh, of course," the old man finally came to his senses. He seemed to be still immersed in some kind of shock, and his speech seemed to be half a beat behind. "As far as I know...Nina is a very frank, Very honest child, if you tell her well, she shouldn't be too resistant."

Duncan nodded: "Is there anything else going on? Is there anything wrong with Nina at school recently?"

"It's nothing but being distracted and in a trance." The old man thought for a while and shook his head. "I'm here today mainly to talk about this matter, and to learn about her real family situation by the way... By the way, Speaking of this, Nina's parents are because..."

"Eleven years ago," said Duncan, "the official record of the incident was the leak of the Sixth Street chemical plant."

"It turned out to be like this," the old man sighed, "I remember this accident. At that time, my daughter and I happened to be near the cross street. When the chemical plant leaked, there was a lot of movement, and the affected people even rushed to the upper city. Afterwards, the investigation also revealed that many cultists took the opportunity to make trouble that night, and the chemical plant was also destroyed by them..."

Duncan's heart moved, and he said calmly and casually: "Didn't there be a fire in the lower city that night?"

"Big fire? I don't remember any big fire," Morris frowned. "Did you remember wrongly?"

"...It seems that my memory is wrong," Duncan pressed his forehead and said with a smile, "I should really stay away from alcohol."