"How about this job?"
Jenkins put Miss Evelyn's bag on the sofa, where the governess had already sat down. He started the topic in a chatty tone, and Miss Evelyn replied naturally:
"It's not bad. Although the salary is a little less, at least there are not many things to do. Only two or three hours of lesson preparation per week are enough."
"So, what do you think of this profession? I mean the profession of teaching?"
Jenkins wanted to bring the topic up.
"It's not bad. The world around us has changed rapidly in recent decades. Small nobles in the past, such as Viscount Franklin, were able to acquire wealth with a few very risky investments. Nobles are really good, listen Said they got a big favor in paying their taxes."
Miss Evelyn obviously didn't understand what Jenkins wanted to ask.
"I mean, what do you think about teaching knowledge to an underage girl?"
Jenkins put it another way.
"Underage? Isn't Nancy coming of age this summer?"
Miss Evelyn asked suspiciously, apparently Jenkins applied the "adulthood" he knew to this world without authorization.
"As for teaching her knowledge, it's really nothing. Oh, to be honest, that girl is not very talented in poetry. Fortunately, she and her family did not expect her to become a poet. Nancy herself just wanted to By learning something, by showing off at parties and young people's societies, you might even find a suitable husband."
She still didn't understand Jenkins' question, so she just said to herself:
"I graduated from the Nolan Higher Normal College. After studying literature for so many years, I can only make a living by working as a tutor for aristocratic girls without talent."
The young lady then complained, like a very boring chat with a friend:
"You see, anyone can write poetry now, and you can't make money by writing poetry. In order to go to school, I left the country town and came to a big city like Nolan alone, and I owed a lot of money. Debts. But so what? You can’t make money in literature, you can’t make money by writing articles, and you can’t make money by being a teacher, so you can only teach noble girls.”
"Then what are you making money for?"
Jenkins didn't see any such thing as "selfless dedication" in the other party.
"Buying a house. When I was a country girl and first came to town in a straw wagon, I dreamed of owning my own house here."
There was a smile on the corner of her mouth, and she answered Jenkins' question naturally, even if the question was already private:
"I can always succeed. I am twenty-six years old this year, and I have paid off my debts. I have saved some money through hard work. If life goes well in the future, when I am in my thirties, I can buy it in full. A little house in West Norland."
"Then what about marriage? After marriage, wouldn't it be more convenient for two people to buy a house?"
"If I didn't have my own property before marriage and was bound by a man in the family after marriage, then why did I come to Nolan to live alone from the age of sixteen?"
Miss Evelyn asked rhetorically, and then concluded:
"So, as long as you can have your own property, stay awake and not be cheated by men, you can actually get married until you are thirty. I don't want to be like those women in my hometown. I want to live a little more clearly."
Jenkins said nothing, but he believed his expression was enough to show "admiration":
"Yes, your idea is very good. Independent ladies don't actually worry about getting married. It's good to be independent and not have to rely on others."
As he spoke, he scratched Chocolate's little head on his shoulder. Chocolate raised his head and wanted to bite Jenkins, because it suspected that he had been hinted.
After being praised by Jenkins, Miss Evelyn was also very happy to have someone agree with her thoughts. Picking up the teacup happily, he took the initiative to bring the topic back to Jenkins' original intention:
"As for being a teacher, I really want my students to understand my thoughts and become independent. But for the noble lady, this is of course very difficult. Therefore, it is enough to give her my knowledge, although she also Not much to learn…”
Holding the hot tea, he took a sip carefully, then squinted his eyes as if enduring the heat felt by his tongue:
"I graduated from a normal school, and I thought about becoming a real teacher in the past... But this era is so crazy and so progressive, I have a dream, and I have to let go of another dream. After all, I am a woman, not a man. This It's not that I'm inferior to men, it's just that in this era, my gender determines that I can't do more things like men. I can only let go."
Jenkins regained his energy immediately, since she said that, she must not have let go completely. Considering the sentence, Jenkins tentatively said:
"Then the process of teaching Miss Nancy, are you just for the reward?"
"of course not."
Miss Evelyn shook her head without thinking:
"If it's just for pay, it's actually more appropriate to spend time on other jobs. Do you know how much time it takes to come here from where I live? Although the dream of becoming a teacher is impossible to continue, I haven't thought about it. , to be able to use another way to put your knowledge, ideas and dreams... "
She shook her head again:
"Don't talk about it, it's meaningless."
"But the thought you spend on Miss Nancy definitely exceeds the reward you get."
Jenkins concluded.
"Of course, I am a student who graduated from the Teachers College, and it is impossible for me to forget my identity."
She raised her neck and said.
Jenkins was relieved when he heard what he wanted to hear, at least it proved that the other party did have such a thing as "selfless dedication".
"But it has been proven that it exists, how can I take it out?"
He turned his head and asked the gear man standing by the window watching the rain. Miss Evelyn didn't seem to have heard this sentence, and the gear man said:
"Dug out her heart, isn't it all right?"
Jenkins looked at it, and the latter said again:
"Well, how about this joke?"
"It sucks. How the hell am I going to get that? Shut up if you don't want to tell me, I think I can find out myself."
"Yes, you can discover it yourself, after all, the first goal is a bit too simple."
The gear man walked to the sofa and stroked the top of Miss Evelyn's head, as if the latter couldn't see it at all.
"Human society is amazing. You see, this lady has determination and perseverance, but the reality forces her to give up her selfless dedication. And Miss Nancy, who you haven't seen yet, has AI Everything Flynn envied, but she had no thoughts or dreams."
"what do you want to say?"
Jenkins frowned, the opponent's routine was familiar.
"I mean, maybe you're in the wrong era."
"wrong?"
"Yes, it looks like a blooming flower, but it's actually rotted inside. Human civilization is very prosperous, but in my opinion, it's just like fireworks, the more it goes up, the more it will blow up. "
It paused deliberately, and then asked:
"Do you know how to cure all of this? Let the dream chaser follow the dream, let the ordinary be ordinary, and let everything go according to the right idea."
"Then let everyone become gear people, and under your exquisite calculation and control, the social cycle will be carried out in an orderly manner."
Jenkins replied without even thinking.
"Look, you really know me best."
said the gear man, and sat down on a separate small sofa. Jenkins sneered, and replied with some displeasure:
"I knew you wanted to say this, but are you underestimating me? I've already come here. Would you give up everything to follow you because of this kind of persuasion?"
"Let us wait and see."
said the gear man.
The conversation between the two didn't last long. After the afternoon nap, Miss Nancy pushed the door and walked in. This was indeed the noble lady Jenkins had seen several times.
Seeing that her students had arrived, Miss Evelyn got up to start today's class, and Jenkins had no chance to talk to her. But he didn't want to try to strike up a conversation anymore. He sat on the couch with the cat in his arms and watched the two ladies gather at the desk to start today's homework.
Check homework, recite new poems, and read this month's new poetry magazine together. Since it is a poetry magazine, there are naturally all types of poems, and some of them criticize society or reflect the content of the times.
Miss Noble and her governess read an article alluding to the oppression of women and advocating that women should have the opportunity to work and not be trapped in the family. Miss Nancy Franklin then asked:
"Miss Evelyn, what do you think of this kind of thing? I think it's a good life to spend all day in banquets and salons without having to work after getting married. Sweet pastries and melodious violins are better than the noise of factories. Better than dust."
Miss Franklin was immature.
"This poem is not for young ladies of your family."
Miss Evelyn said, with a more or less helpless expression on her face.
"But since it wasn't written for me, why did it appear in a poetry journal that only we read?"
She continued to ask, Miss Evelyn originally wanted to be perfunctory, because it is not easy to explain this kind of thing clearly in a few words, and some things are inconvenient to say to her students.
But then I suddenly thought of the conversation I had with someone who looked good just now, I thought of the question and answer about my career, I thought of the conversation about my dream and my job now, and I thought of my debt-debt study at Nolan Teachers College. that time.
Miss Evelyn froze there, and for a moment, she actually thought about a philosophical question—what am I doing