Watching Nina running up the stairs briskly, Duncan didn't understand what was going on for a moment. He just scratched his hair in confusion: "Why is this kid grinning like that..."
Then he heard old Mr. Morris' voice coming from the counter: "To be honest, you are very different from what I remembered, Mr. Duncan."
"Very different?" Duncan raised an eyebrow. "What's your impression of me?"
As he spoke, he walked out from behind the counter and hung a "Temporary Rest" sign on the door, and moved a chair to the side of the counter. After confirming that the other party was a teacher who came to visit and not an ordinary guest, it was obviously inappropriate to let the other person stand.
"Thank you," Morris nodded and sat down in the chair, looking in Duncan's direction with a gentle and elegant smile on his face. "I haven't met you, but I have heard from some channels... about Nina's family situation. Excuse me, but according to the rumors I heard, Nina has an uncle who is an alcoholic, gambler and violent. The child lives in a bad family atmosphere, so much so that she almost has no friends in school - other students are reluctant to deal with her."
Duncan was brewing coffee on the side. After hearing what Morris said, he subconsciously paused for two seconds, and then slowly finished the work in his hands. 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 cheap stuff here - the best coffee in downtown is only this level."
He sat down opposite the old man, each holding a cup of steaming coffee. The old dagger was placed between them, but neither of them was paying attention to it for the time being.
"Strictly speaking... these rumors are all true," Duncan said slowly. "I was ill before. Well, a serious illness. When painkillers didn't work, I had to rely on strong alcohol to numb my nerves. It was a decadent period. Unfortunately, it happened to be a critical period in Nina's adolescence. Now it seems that the impact on her is more serious than I thought."
Morris observed Duncan carefully, and spoke thoughtfully for a long time: "Is that so? But I feel that you don't look like someone who has just come out of decadence - but more like a gentleman who has never fallen into decadence and has always been positive and optimistic. Your agility and humor when talking to people don't seem to be affected by alcohol.
As he spoke, he took a sip of the coffee in the cup. He did not make any comments on the coffee, but just casually said: "I think I am pretty good at judging people."
"Maybe I just adjusted my mindset quickly," Duncan laughed, his tone was particularly calm. He had to admit that the old man was indeed very good at judging people, but he believed that even the most accurate eyes could not see the secrets in his body, so he was not panicked at all. "Nina is almost an adult, and I am her only guardian. I have to show some sense of responsibility."
"... Anyway, this is a good thing for the child," Morris looked at Duncan deeply, "She is at a critical stage in her studies. Although many people say that graduates from public high schools can only work in factories to tighten bolts, they always overlook one point: knowledge itself is a valuable asset. It will always suddenly show its meaning one day in your life, and that is often after you no longer have the opportunity to return to school."
The old man said, shaking his head: "Unfortunately, most of the parents I have dealt with do not agree with this - their focus is on getting their children to graduate as quickly as possible and find a job."
Duncan felt familiar with the old man's words when he heard this: he was familiar with them! When he was a teacher, he often said similar words to students or parents, but no one listened to him...
However, he quickly put aside his "seeing each other in the same field" mentality. After thinking about his current environment, he shook his head slightly:
“Because this is downtown, Mr. Morris—you have a wise and far-sighted view, but most people here really need to pay last month’s bills as soon as possible, and you can’t say they are short-sighted because of that.”
"That's true. Many people actually want to look far ahead, but the high walls of life always block our view of the distance," the old man sighed. "I'm sorry, if you spend too much time in books, you will always ignore the practical problems in life... You are a very thoughtful person. It seems that some of my worries are unnecessary."
"Worried?" Duncan frowned. "Come to think of it, has Nina had any problems in school recently? Has her grades dropped?"
"Her grades have always been good, but recently... she has been a little absent-minded," Morris chose his words. "She wanders off in class, falls asleep during study time, and is distracted during labs—in last week's chemistry class, she even set the lab table on fire. This has never happened before... at least it has never happened to her."
At this point, the old man paused and added, "Her grades didn't drop much in the tests over the past two days, but if this continues, it's hard to say what her grades will be like when she graduates. Although there are indeed limited options after graduating from a public high school, assembling machines in a factory in the downtown area is different from maintaining steam cores in a church in the upper city. As Nina's guardian, you should take this seriously."
"Nina has been distracted in class recently?" Duncan frowned. "She hasn't told me about this..."
"Girls of this age definitely won't tell you too much," Morris shook his head. "At first I thought something happened at home, or that her 'alcoholic uncle' had done something recently that affected her performance in school, so I came to do this home visit, but now it seems... that's not the reason."
Duncan didn't speak for a while, but just carefully recalled whether Nina had shown any abnormality in front of him in the past few days, and recalled Nina's daily routine. Morris asked after a few seconds: "You are the one who knows her best. Has the child shown any abnormality recently? For example, she didn't get enough rest, or she was not in good health?"
Duncan thought for a long time and could only spread his hands: "… To be honest, I can't think of an answer."
He couldn't think of an answer - he didn't even know Nina a week ago! How could he know what changes had taken place in that child recently
Morris didn't seem surprised by Duncan's answer. This was probably because he had lowered his expectations of "Nina's uncle" based on rumors before he came. So at this time, he just said habitually: "You should pay more attention to her - especially for a girl of this age, material support alone is not enough."
When Duncan heard this, an idea suddenly popped up in his mind: "Could she be in love?"
Frankly speaking, this idea is more or less based on Zhou Ming’s experience as a teacher…
Morris had a strange expression after hearing this. The old man looked at Duncan strangely and said, "That's a girls' school..."
Duncan thought about it and said seriously: "Girls' school is also possible."
Morris' eyes widened slightly.
This old gentleman, who has always been obsessed with academics, was greatly shocked!
"Well, okay, I was just saying that." Duncan knew that the topic might be a bit off topic after seeing the old lady's reaction, so he quickly coughed twice to interrupt the embarrassment, "I will have a good talk with Nina... I think she will be willing to tell me."
"Ah... Oh, of course," the old man finally responded. He seemed to be still immersed in some kind of shock, and his words seemed to be half a beat slow. "From what I know... Nina is a very frank and honest child. If you talk to her nicely, she shouldn't be too resistant."
Duncan nodded. "Anything else? Is there anything else wrong with Nina at school recently?"
"Apart from being distracted and in a trance, there's nothing wrong with that." The old man thought for a moment and shook his head. "I came here today mainly to talk about this matter, and by the way, to learn about her real family situation... By the way, speaking of this, Nina's parents are because..."
"It was an accident eleven years ago," Duncan said. "It's officially recorded as a chemical leak at the Sixth Block plant."
"So that's how it is," the old man sighed. "I remember this accident. My daughter and I were near the Cross Street District at the time. There was a lot of noise when the chemical plant leaked, and the people affected even rushed to the edge of the upper city... Later investigations also said that many cultists took the opportunity to cause trouble that night, and they also destroyed the chemical plant..."
Duncan's heart moved, and he said calmly, "Was there a big fire in the downtown area that night?"
"A big fire? I don't remember any big fire," Morris frowned. "Are you remembering it wrong?"
“… It seems that I remembered it wrongly,” Duncan pressed his forehead and said with a smile, “I really should stay away from alcohol.”