La Ronde

He is like a small beast, relying on instinct to bite the enemy vigorously.

Dusk was approaching, and before Valentino finished the painting, Conrad woke up.He rubbed his eyes in a daze, and sat up against his sleepy blond hair.Usually, as long as he made a little movement, Valentino could hear him, but today Valentino was particularly focused.

So Conrad didn't wear slippers, and carefully stepped on the pure white long blanket with bare feet.He walked slowly on tiptoe, trying to scare Valentino from behind.

When he saw Valentino's drawing paper, he was so shocked that he forgot what he was going to do.

The painting is an open-air garden with bright colors, and there are tiny flashes of water between the water droplets splashed from the small fountain and the bright tulips, calla lilies and carnations. over the cheek.In the middle of the garden is a beige beach umbrella. Under the huge umbrella are two finely woven wicker chairs. The wicker chairs are covered with soft purple velvet cushions, and a young man with a casual posture is sitting on one of the chairs... …

One leg of the blond young man was placed naturally, and the other leg was bent on the seat. He was not wearing anything, leaning on one side of the armrest, fiddling with a brown fedora casually.Anyone in such a rich garden setting is in danger of being overshadowed.But the young man's unfocused posture and cool complexion skillfully reached a wonderful harmony with the over-trimmed garden.

Valentino put down his pen at this moment and stretched the stiff back of his neck.Turning his head, he saw Conrad looking at the painting like a god.His eyes always look innocent when he is absent-minded, and that innocence has a part beyond the world.The soft light at dusk shrouded him, making him look like he didn't belong in the mediocre space right now.

Valentino watched the light and shadow play tricks on his face, and sighed unconsciously.

Conrad came back to his senses when he heard him sigh, and he had forgotten that he was going to scare him: "What's wrong? Is this... a painting of me? It's so beautiful, I mean those flowers... If you can Even better with a picture of my favorite cardigan."

Valentino shook his head with a helpless self-deprecating smile: "No... I shouldn't draw you. Only God can draw you well."

Conrad said puzzledly: "What should I do? I like your paintings. If you don't want them, just give them to me. This is the first time someone has painted me. But I have never been to such a beautiful painting." garden, where is this?"

Valentino was silent for a while, but still answered him: "It's my castle on the shore of Lake Como. Apart from the garden that was built later, the natural scenery there is also very beautiful."

Although Conrad knew that Valentino was an aristocrat, he was stunned when he heard the "castle". It was a life he couldn't imagine. He said enviously: "It's great, rich people can have their own gardens. My family's Only amaranth and pea sprouts are planted in the courtyard, but the green ones are also very beautiful.”

"If you like this garden, I can take you to live in Lake Como for a few days. Of course, this painting can be given to you, but you have to promise me one thing. After the matter subsides, take me to your home once. I I want to see the yard you grew up in.” Though steeped in poetry and philosophy, Valentino has more or less inherited his entrepreneurial grandfather’s forte—negotiating properly.But after he finished speaking, he thought of something else.His words presuppose that the revolution will not last, and that everything will eventually be peaceful.

But when will we usher in that inflection point?After the inflection point, what will people face?Overthrow reconstruction or endless improvement?

Conrad looked even more puzzled after hearing what Valentino said.He didn't know what a poor man's yard looked like to Valentino who had seen it all, but it wasn't difficult.His mother and sister would also be happy for him to have such a friend, so he agreed.

The two had dinner together, and Conrad left with the installed paintings. He had been staying at the Hotel du Cap for the past few days and needed to go back to get some clothes and visit Barbara and her children by the way.

***

Devillers was still trying to figure out how to get in touch with Valentino and Conrad again.After thinking about it again and again, he still felt that it was necessary to win over these two people. If he could become friends with them and publish some newspapers together this May, it would undoubtedly be beneficial to his political reputation in the future—of course, the premise was that the left wing successfully came to power.

When he opened today's newspaper and read both sides, he unexpectedly discovered that the opportunity had come.He didn't need to brood over that contact letter.

During the demonstration in the Latin Quarter last night, more workers and students were arrested.Although there are too many people in conflict on the picture, and the specific faces cannot be seen clearly, Conrad's name is clearly included in the attached list.If he wrote to Valentino now, expressing his willingness to find some students from the Sorbonne to jointly report to protest the release of these workers and students, would he still be so lukewarm?

Thinking of this, de Ville showed a sarcastic smile, and laid out the letter paper leisurely.

On the other hand, Valentino discovered that Conrad still hadn't returned to the Du Cap Hotel on the next day of the appointment.I thought he was delayed because of something in the factory or to see Barbara, but Conrad did not come back for a long time.He was going to look for Conrad at his rented house, but before that he read the papers and de Villey's letters from the waiter.

He looked at the blurry little picture in the newspaper, and the violent guards surrounded and beat up two young men. Thinking of Conrad in the middle, his limbs went numb, and the blood all over his body rushed to his head.He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair, forcing himself to calm down.He first wrote a short reply letter to De Ville, and after asking someone to send it, he drew the curtains alone and sat in the dim room for a while.

Finally, he decided to make a call to Italy.

***

Conrad did make it to the lodging safely that night.The next day, he went to see Barbara, and it happened that she was going to go to the parade.Conrad thought about it and went with her, and Barbara gave the child to the kind-hearted neighbor grandma.On the way, he also told Barbara some interesting things that Valentino told him, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

Conrad and Barbara were holding signs and were shouting slogans with the crowd.I don't know what Barbara saw, but her face suddenly changed.Conrad noticed it and followed her gaze - among the people on the street who were beating the students was the guard who lifted her skirt last time!

Soon, the commotion on the street attracted everyone's attention, and they only wished that there could not be more paving stones.Conrad and Barbara squeezed to the side of the street and were about to go up to help the student who was crouching on the ground with his head folded in case he was hit in a vital part.The guard also saw Barbara—the woman with short hair was particularly conspicuous in the crowd. He also recognized her, and while swinging his baton vigorously, he laughed at her: "Idiot! You are still holding that stupid What's the sign? Your man won't come back! It's much more useful for you to be a prostitute than to go to the street, otherwise where will you get the money to bury your man!"

Before Barbara had time to move after hearing this, Conrad rushed up regardless, and he kicked the guard hard.He was much taller than the guards, and he was quite strong, so he kicked people to the ground in one fell swoop.But the guards have also accumulated a lot of experience in fighting radicals in the past half a month, let alone they still have weapons.Conrad didn't know many fighting skills like Kurt, so he was quickly beaten to the ground, but he still struggled to fight back, and punched the guards whenever he had the opportunity.He is like a small beast, biting the enemy instinctively.

Barbara and other student workers tried to rush in to help them, but soon the guards from elsewhere came too, armed with tear gas and clubs.Finally, under the reminder of some sane people, they did not beat Conrad and the student to death, but dragged them towards the police station with insulting gestures.

Barbara saw that Conrad's white shirt was stained with blood, and that his head was cut and bleeding so much that she couldn't even see if his eyes were open.She yelled helplessly, tears of self-blame and anger falling down uncontrollably.But what can she do?She can only ask those college students who can write to add one more name on the sign, and when will this list be completed?Her desperate cries were quickly drowned out by the angry howls of the crowd.

During the two days when Conrad's whereabouts were unknown, de Ville used his influence to gather some students, and those students then passed on the news, and everyone jointly wrote a protest letter.Primarily, of course, it was drafted by De Villey.He talked about the rights granted to the people by the French Constitution from the 1948 "Universal Declaration of Human Rights", from the situation in various parts of Europe to the inevitability of young people taking to the streets in France this May, and also quoted Sartre's recent speeches and some radical left-wing philosophies The author's account provides a detailed and provocative portrait of the revolutionary ideals of the youth and the oppression of intellectuals and workers.The students all signed it.

Just as he was about to send a copy of the article to Valentino, he first received a message from the other party—through the negotiation between the union and the police, the police decided to end the detention of Conrad.But today is Sunday, and we have to wait until Monday to pick him up.

Devillers was so angry that he threw away the manuscript, his face turned pale.He hammered the wooden table hard, and such a great opportunity was lost!Although this article can still be submitted to the newspaper, after all, people love to read such things these days, but because of this, it will be quickly forgotten by people, because such articles are updated too fast.

He really couldn't figure out why Conrad was decided to be released in just two days.Although there are many rumors about the trade union actively organizing workers to participate in the movement and even equipping workers with weapons, according to his observation, in fact, the trade union is only shouting slogans behind the scenes, and does not care about the specific affairs of any specific worker.

Unless someone helped Conrad.If it is Valentino, it is unimaginable.He is a nobleman, how can he persuade the union to help him?Even if he has such energy, but he is Italian after all, how could he contact the police in this area so quickly?

He thought quickly, but his subordinates didn't stop, and wrote a letter back to Valentino, expressing eagerly that he hoped to go with him to pick up Conrad back. This is a victory worth celebrating, and Conrad is undoubtedly Heroes of the Left.