Granville's estate

"They took my gloves while I was sleeping and by the time I found them they were already there."

Louie opened his hand with tears in his eyes, and showed Callister the destroyed glove.

In Saint-Etienne, bullying among students is actually not uncommon. Even though the school is isolated from the outside world because of the wall, it is a miniature society. The principal, supervisor and teachers are the rulers here. Students have an unspoken hierarchical relationship according to grade and age.Since the school itself is a product of the era of absolute monarchy and retains a strong tradition, just like the rules of the era of autocratic monarchy, it is natural for the superior to dominate the inferior, and only those students who are favored by the teachers can fortunately not need Get into too many fights, but also be targeted when others are jealous of the favor they get.

Among the more than 30 children in the small class, if Louis is a good boy who never makes mistakes in the eyes of the teachers, then Charlie and his companions are the kind of troublemakers who need strict discipline in every class.The cause of this incident is also very simple-Louis got a perfect score in Mr. Robert's Latin spelling class and was praised by Mr. Robert, while Charlie took a zero egg and was beaten by Mr. Robert, so he held a grudge Charlie and his cronies threw Louis' gloves into the water at night when everyone was sleeping, then fished them out and baked them on the stove.

Once the woolen fabric encounters water, it will shrink and deform even if it is dried immediately, not to mention the malicious damage of putting it on the stove after being soaked. By the time Louis finds out, the damage of the glove is gone. It can be redeemed.

Callister naturally knew this kind of bullying trick - after all, he himself was one of the students in the middle class that caused headaches for the teachers, but what surprised him most was the kind of Louis who seemed to be going crazy. It looked like it had collapsed.

"You hide here and cry because of such a small thing? It's nothing to make a fuss about. You're an idiot."

In Callister's view, damage to the gloves is really normal, because of the material, no matter how careful you are when using it, this kind of thing will get wet sooner or later.

Anyway, as far as Callister himself is concerned, no pair of woolen gloves can be used until the beginning of spring, and they are often broken within a month after they are sent out-either accidentally destroyed by himself or by others.At this time, he will ask the teacher for another pair. If the teachers are in a good mood, he can get a new pair without paying any price; if he is unlucky, the teachers will not give him any more gloves. You can only suffer from the cold with your hands, but Callister doesn't care much about this.

"It's, it's not a trivial matter!" Louis sobbed, and refuted Callister's statement: "There is, there is an inspection during dinner today!"

Saint-Étienne will equip students with uniforms, including jackets, trousers, coats, shoes and socks, and the so-called dresses that are basically only used on Sundays, celebration days and when senior officials come to visit , Gloves are also in the list of winter clothing and equipment.Half of the cost of these clothes is borne by the parents, and half is allocated by the finances. In order to ensure the quality of the clothes, there will be so-called inspections every month, that is, suppliers, teachers and school supervisors will accompany the principal to inspect the students. clothing quality and hygiene.

"They say there's a big man on the inspection this time, so no mistakes are allowed. Anyone who doesn't dress up for the inspection will be locked up in the brig."

For Louis, who has always been obedient and obedient, this is simply a nightmare and frightening news.

"Hey, only a fool would believe such words. If that's the case, a hundred confinement rooms are not enough to lock people up. At most, they'll just slap their palms."

Callister scoffed at the stupidity.

For energetic students, it is impossible not to break things: whether it is shirts, trousers, socks, shoes, even books, pens and paper, whether in the classroom or in the dormitory, everything is easy Bad, some are of dubious quality, some are due to careless treatment, and a large part are intentionally damaged due to quarrels and fights among each other.Saint-Etienne is full of boys of their active age, how can you expect them to be as gentle and quiet as the girls?According to the rules that have never been written but have always existed, as long as the teachers and supervisors can be fooled, nothing will happen; Or punished several times for copying.

Callister originally just wanted to comfort the little guy who was frightened by other students' exaggerated words, and laughed at his fuss by the way, but he obviously forgot that for good babies, no matter what kind of punishment, "you have to be punished." The fact of "punishment" is beyond their acceptance.

"Hit, hit the palm of your hand?"

Louis' little face turned pale.

Although the palm of the hand sounds better than confinement, the problem is that he only saw Charlie being beaten in the palm of his hand two days ago—a leather board as thick as four centimeters, more than a foot long, and when it was hit hard on the palm of his hand, he would It makes a lot of noise, and the hands will swell after beating, and the pain is so bad that you can't write or do other things at all...

Callister watched him start to sniff his nose and look like he would cry if he said another word, and his head suddenly became dizzy.

"Tsk, really, if you are so afraid of being discovered, then ask the teacher in charge of you and ask for another pair of gloves!"

"I... I dare not, woo woo..."

Louis was sobbing, almost crying.For a well-behaved child, whether it is being locked up in a confinement room or being beaten on the palm in public is a very serious matter, it is so serious that he can no longer think normally.

"Mr. Robert just said yesterday that no one should ask him for anything, no matter gloves or shoes, he will not give it... woo woo woo..."

"Okay, okay, don't make a sound to invite others!"

Callister is not good at dealing with this kind of soft student who looks like a little girl. In the class, he has always believed in the principle of strength first. He is a man, so why is crying?

If this little guy is allowed to cry here... Callister thought for a second, then decisively reached out and snatched the glove from Louis' hand.

"Come on, since you're afraid to ask your teacher, let me get you a new pair—now, don't stay here, go back to your dormitory and take a nap. If the superintendent finds you here , you will be in big trouble, and it will also cause trouble for me."

"Can you really help me get new gloves?" Louie asked through tears.

"I'll do what I promise, and you'll get another pair of gloves before dinner, so no one will see it." Callister stuffed the broken wool glove into his pocket, and used the empty That hand pushed Louis out, threatening him by the way: "As a deal, you are not allowed to say a word about me today, understand? If you dare to speak out, I will treat you just like they did, Find a way to put you in a confinement room."

That afternoon was the longest that Louis felt. Every time Mr. Robert walked up to him, he was afraid, and he didn't even dare to lift his head, lest Mr. Robert suddenly ask, "Louis, your glove Woolen cloth?"

Fortunately, Mr. Robert's family affairs probably involved most of his attention, and there were many students in the class that afternoon who did not wear gloves to write, including the one who forgot the gloves under the pillow in the dormitory Alred, in the end Louis used the same excuse as Alred to temporarily escape punishment.

This is the first time that Louis has lied to the teacher. He has used up all his courage to say "I forgot my gloves in the dormitory" to Mr. Robert, and now he can only pin all his hopes on Cali If Callister can't get new gloves, Louis can't imagine how he will face Mr. Robert's accusation at that time.

Thankfully, Callister actually did what he had promised, and before dinner came, he brought Louis a pair of gloves in good condition, though not brand new.

"How? I said I will get it for you, so I will definitely get it?"

Callister waved the gloves triumphantly in front of him.

For Louis, this is simply a miracle like the apparition of the Virgin Mary - it doesn't matter if it is not new, as long as he can have a pair of gloves intact on his hands during inspections, so that he will not be punished

"How did you get it? Did you ask M. Laurier?"

Mr. Laurier is the teacher in charge of the middle class. He is very strict. At least Louis can't imagine reporting to him that "my gloves are broken and I need a new pair". If someone really dares to do this, It is estimated that before he gets what he wants, he will get a palm board first.

"You don't have to worry about how it came here, it's brought to you anyway, so you just take it well."

It wasn't until the inspection before dinner that Louis knew that there was a high probability that Callister hadn't obtained the gloves through normal means.

The so-called inspection means that the students stand in two rows according to their classes and ages, the students in the smallest class and the small class are in a row, and the students in the middle class and the big class are in a row, waiting for the principal, supervisor and teachers. , The suppliers checked the past one by one.

Mr. Nathan, the school supervisor, followed the principal with the one-foot-long leather board that made people look scary. If any student's attire was considered inappropriate, he would use the leather board to point him out Just look at the student, and the person being pointed at will know that it is probably not a good thing to wait for them after the inspection.

Mr. Nathan pointed out a leather board to a student whose shoelaces were loose when he passed by the small class. The poor child trembled with fear, and even Charlie, who deliberately broke Louis' gloves, turned pale.Originally on the way to the cafeteria, Charlie grabbed Louis' arm and said loudly, "Your gloves must have been stolen from somewhere, I will tell Mr. Nathan", but when he really faced Mr. Nathan, don't say The informant, he dared not say a word, for fear of attracting Mr. Nathan's attention.

Louis' heart was pounding, his palms were sweaty, and he didn't relax a little until Mr. Nathan passed in front of him.He saw Callister standing in the diagonally opposite line, looking leisurely - he also wore a pair of gloves exactly like Louis's.

But others in the middle class were not so lucky.

"Pierre, where are your gloves?"

The inspecting group stopped in front of a student in the middle class. Mr. Laurier, who was in charge of the middle class, didn't make a sound, and it was Mr. Nathan, the school supervisor, who asked questions instead.

Mr. Nathan's tone was so severe that even just hearing his voice was enough to make a timid child tremble.

Looking at it from Louis' perspective, the middle class students who were named by Mr. Nadang didn't even have a trace of wool on their hands, let alone gloves.

"My glove fell into the fire yesterday and burned, sir."

Through the inspectors, Louis couldn't see the expression of the unlucky guy without gloves, but his tone was very gritted and he had to accept his fate.

"What's with the bruise on your face?"

"That's when I accidentally knocked on the railing when I went down the stairs, sir."