Bab 3119: Chapter 2269: The Autumn in Jin City Comes Late (22)_1
In the rooms of Rodrix Manor, Shiller's gaze fell on Lex's tie. Lex lowered his head slightly, then turned to look at himself in the mirror.
The way the tie was knotted was not complicated. Due to the unique characteristics of the soft silk fabric, the pattern squeezed out in the middle could not be perfectly symmetrical. Lex was just adjusting this and had delayed a few minutes.
A hand circled around Lex's shoulder, getting close to his neck. Lex broke out into a cold sweat almost instantly, the fragments of his previous imaginings about the hand constantly replaying in his mind.
The movements of the human hand hold a special significance. Because different people use their hand muscles differently and even under different circumstances, the expressions of the hands often reflect a person's state more truthfully than one's face.
Like Shiller, Lex thought, Professor Shiller tends to be focused and resolute when holding a pen, His hand gestures that accompany his speech due to a habit of teaching are always more logical, and they catch the eye when he needs to remind others, but remain still when he needs the topic to slide by unnoticed.
But the hand gesture of his godfather was always unexpectedly, and whenever he reached out to do something, his hand and forearm muscles were always tight, as if wanting to throw a powerful punch. The meridians under his skin seemed very light when they were in motion, but the skin and skeleton were particularly heavy, which invariably made people wonder where these seemingly powerful hands had exerted their force.
It was hard to associate this with anything good, it often brought to mind scenes with a more violent aesthetic.
When such hands got close to a deadly area, Lex found it very hard not to flee, it was the first time he realized that maintaining sanity under certain circumstances could be difficult.
When the hand circled around, the arm just rested on Lex's shoulder, without actually touching Lex, but the weightless shadow suddenly gained weight, pressing down on Lex and making it hard for him to breathe.
Dingling!!!!
The piercing ring of the telephone made Lex draw a long breath. Shiller retracted his arm and turned his head towards the direction of the ringing. Merkel turned his head to answer the phone.
"It's Miss Isley, sir, shall I put her through?"
Shiller marched out and took the phone. After getting the phone, he waved at Merkel. Merkel stood by the door and nodded, then walked towards Lex to continue helping him dress.
Shiller tidied the telephone wires on the floor, kicked them to the base of the wall with the tip of his foot. After picking up the handset, he said to the other side: "Hello? Miss Pamela... Yes, I have received your reply letter. How do you feel?... Okay, I'm waiting for you."
Not two minutes later, a stir could be heard from the garden. After Shiller circled the porch and returned to the second-floor bedroom, he drew back the heavy curtains, stepped onto the balcony to look down and saw Pamela's radiant smile.
A vine carried her up to the second floor. Pamela mounted the balcony railing with a firm grip on Shiller's arm and landed steadily on the ground.
Shiller withdrew his hand and extended it to open the curtains to let Pamela go in first. Pamela did not linger in the bedroom but passed through the room at the fastest speed to reach the hallway.
She could hardly contain her excitement at that point, always smiling. When Shiller came out, he also smiled at her and said, "Seems like you're feeling good."
Pamela then tried hard to dial back her expression, wrapped her arms around herself and said with a smile, "I've never felt so good before. All the things that used to drag me down have disappeared. Thank you so much, Professor."
"It's my honor."
Shiller strode forward, leading Pamela into the living room. He then looked back at her bag and said, "I presume you have brought your evening dress."
"Yes," Pamela check her watch and said, "but I think it's still early. Although I can wear a gown to therapy, I'm not sure if you can stand the perfume."
"I can't, miss, come on in."
Shiller pushed the door open and turned on the lights in the living room. After Pamela walked in, she sat down on one of the single sofas. Shiller walked over, bent down, extended a hand, and Pamela handed him her bag.
Shiller placed the bag on the table next to him, sat down on the sofa on the other side, crossed one leg over the other, put his hands on his knees, and said, "Am I still a professor?"
"I want to consult a professor first. But would it be presumptuous if I say I'll find you later?"
"Of course not, beauty has its privileges."
Shiller's expression changed, and after seeing Pamela, he rubbed his forehead lightly and said, "Seems like you've succeeded, who's the other party?"
"You would never guess," said Pamela, laughing and turning to Shiller. She lowered her head and looked at him from above her eyes, "I told you, I really like a challenge."
Shiller shook his head somewhat helplessly and said, "Don't tell me, you've gotten Wonder Woman into bed."
"Cough, cough, you know me..."
"So you've been trying to hide it?" Shiller pretended to be surprised, "So when you sit in the front row of class and stare at every beautiful woman coming up to hand in their work from start to end, it must be because you want to be better at human anatomy?"
"Oh, come on." Pamela let out a sigh, covering her eyes with her hand, but then peeked at Shiller through her fingers, "Is it that obvious?"
"Do you think I suggest students to wear more to my class just because the air conditioning in the classroom is cold?"
"That's too sharp." Pamela couldn't help complaining, "Professor, you can't do this all the time. Do you know that I'm staring at them just like some of them are always staring at you?"
"If someday, you become a professor, you'll understand. When you see a beautiful exterior, it's usually quite breathtaking."
"But then, the keywords 'failed social psychology three times in a row' will pop into your mind. Compared to her appearance, you'll become more curious about what she has learned."
"Academics is a romance killer, I'll never become a professor."
Pamela gathered her long hair and said, "Not much, the party is about to begin soon, I'm pressed for time. You won't mind if I brush my hair here, will you?"
"Feel free, but if you dare to leave any of your hair..."
"You'd take it to the oldest witch to curse me. Please, Professor, even a three-year-old won't be scared by that."
Shiller sighed slightly, "Even though you haven't completely changed, I have started to miss the old you."
"How am I now?"
"Too excited, all fangs and claws."
Pamela began to laugh, revealing her teeth, and looked at Shiller with glowing eyes, "So compared to before, how am I?"
Shiller leaned back in his chair, examining Pamela, "I began to be glad that you have turned into a lovely lady. It's just like seeing brittle, gray branches sprouting new buds in the dead of winter. Every spring is exhilarating."
Pamela blinked, smiling, resting her hands on the edge of the sofa, then looked up at Shiller, "You've seen many springs? They must all be beautiful, straightforward and passionate."
Shiller didn't deny it, just nodded.
"Anyone made a particular impression on you?"
"At the moment, it's you, Miss."
"Though I know this is just flattery, I'm still pleased." Pamela took a breath, turned her head to one side and looked away, contemplating, "I didn't think this would happen so suddenly, but I hope it's not a burden for anyone."
"Except for the lucky guy you chose."
"Talya?" Pamela perked up her brow, "In some ways, she's like me, she gives me a good feeling."
"I believe you've planned everything carefully." Shiller hinted, "You're about to graduate."
Pamela stayed silent, she seemed drawn into some thoughts, Shiller could see her lost in memories, or perhaps questioning if she really had prepared for everything.
Shiller has always been hearing Pamela's name from various people. Bruce had a collaborative experiment with her. Lex invited her to design his manor's garden. Victor even said that she would definitely become the greatest botanist in the world, even Clark who had only met Pamela a few times considered her someone who truly understands leaves and flowers.
However, one thing they all seemed to agree on about Pamela was she was "calm", but actually somewhat indifferent and numb.
She always cared about plants more than people. While she often said plants have souls and can communicate, she admitted it takes great effort to understand their thoughts. But she'd rather try to communicate with plants, than with people.
During a casual conversation in the office, Shiller's colleague Anna described her as a spirit of plants. Perhaps because they were both women, Anna was more concerned about Pamela, and understood things that Shiller and others hadn't known.
Pamela's mother, or to be accurate, her adoptive mother, was crazy in a sociological sense. But this wasn't discovered until Pamela became an adult.
The case was barely noticed in Gotham, the document recording the past events had long been lost. However, Shiller managed to squeeze some clues out of the documents James helped provide, which allowed him to infer what Pamela's childhood may have been like.
Pamela's adoptive mother could be considered a socialite, but she did not gain wealth and status through her own charm, but through her daughters.
But she isn't a madam in the traditional sense. She has a legal adoptive relationship with her girls, and she does invest significantly in their upbringing and education — albeit not just for the girls' own sake.
In the world, there are always certain matters that require a bit of beauty to mediate. The beautiful corporate spies, mistresses who can sway certain decisions, or just the social butterflies who connect people. Many often assume there has to be myriad sob stories behind these women.
But there is another possibility - as long as there is profit to be made, there would be people trying to establish a production line.
Pamela's adoptive mother is such a person. She tasted the sweetness of success through her own birth daughter, believing she could perfectly duplicate more daughters. Then, by utilizing the success of her "teach-women", she could relish in limitless splendor and wealth.
Unluckily, but fortunately for her, her first three "daughters" were indeed successful. Pamela was the fourth one.
This mother and her daughters were not initially from Gotham. However, according to some vague records in the documents, Pamela's biological parents likely came from Gotham, only to die in the mob wars in Chicago, where Pamela was adopted.
Perhaps it's innate, Pamela was beautiful, but not charming. Neither lively and cheerful, nor delicately charming. To put it in the simplest way, she was like a piece of wood.
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