Chapter-40 | Cats and Bats... (1)

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Bruce lay on the hospital bed as Harvey adjusted his upper body and handed him a glass of water.

Bruce said with some frustration, "She is so unpredictable. Her moods change so frequently, it's like she's a cat. I just can't figure her out and now I'm worried that her outbursts will hurt others. After all, I have access to the finest medical resources in Gotham, but others may not be so lucky."

Harvey put down the water jug and said, "You should be thankful that your kidneys didn't rupture. The knife was short and only left a shallow scratch on your organs. Otherwise, you would only have one kidney left now."

"When I was in school, I had a crush on a girl and I was crazy about her. I pursued her passionately, but one day when we were on a date, she intentionally threw a bottle far away just to tease a janitor. I thought to myself, how could she do this? She's so mean, she doesn't deserve my affection. But later, I realized it was my love for her that made me see her as a perfect person in my mind. In reality, she had always been moody, liked to mock others, and looked down on anyone in the service industry. She never changed, but because of my intense love for her, I had high expectations for her."

"I broke up with her and she found it inexplicable. At the time, I didn't know. I really looked like a crazy person, first crazy pursuing her, confessing to her, but suddenly cleanly proposing a breakup, which is a kind of shame in anyone's eyes, so she was very angry."

"Later, I thought, this is normal."

Bruce felt a tad ashamed to open his mouth, but he still said: "The problem with that girl is much more serious than your ex-girlfriend, and it may hurt others physically."

"The problem is not here, the problem is that when you met her and fell in love with her, didn't you know this flaw?"

Bruce thought, didn't he know? He knew it all too well. He even met her on the way to the crime of the Catwoman.

He couldn't help but think absurdly. How could he fall in love with a criminal? Or at the scene of her crime?

After Harvey left, Bruce fell asleep due to fatigue.

In the dream, the dazzling lights of the jewelry store shone on the scattered pearl necklaces on the ground. However, suddenly all the lights were out, as if everything had returned to that dark alley. Only the pearl necklace shone with a faint luster.

Batman didn't like jewelry, especially things that glittered, like a real bat.

But his head was filled with the girl holding the shiny gemstone, smiling slyly.

In the haze, the luster of the pearl in his memory suddenly became less revolting. And at the end of the dream, there were a group of bat-like shadows flying across the sky.

The next day, when Schiller met Bruce in the psychology counseling room, he was quite surprised. He looked Bruce up and down and said: "Your injury has healed? You can walk so fast?"

"Actually, it still hurts a tiny bit, but it doesn't matter. My internal organs were not seriously injured, and they are almost healed now."

Schiller said: "Then it looks like you don't need to waste my cup of coffee." Knowing that, he only poured a cup of hot coffee for himself, and Bruce was speechless. He said: "Give me a glass of water."

After the two sat down, Bruce said: "Harvey doesn't know my true identity yet. I think it's better not to tell him, but I am now very troubled. That thief who gave me a knife appears in my dreams every day."

"I am even a bit resistant to wearing the bat suit now. Once I meet her, I don't know what to say to her."

Schiller never dreamed that the first psychological counseling problem that Batman would open up to him was Bruce's teenage love troubles.

It is well known that in the comics, Batman and Catwoman are true lovers. The scriptwriters used a lot of ink to tell the story of their love. Despite the fact that the background of all of this is extremely dark Gotham City, a substantial number of readers will still believe it is a story about a dark knight with a grudge in the blood sea and a cunning and beautiful criminal.

Schiller said: "It looks like Harvey should have already guided you, but it doesn't seem to have any effect?"

"Harvey's words make sense. I already knew she was a thief before I fell in love with her, and I even met her when she was stealing from a jewelry store. I don't know how I could fall in love with a criminal. This is too absurd..."

Schiller asked: "What do you think caused you to become Batman?"

Bruce thought for a moment and said: "Many things."

"Then what do you think caused her to become a thief?"

Bruce was silent.

"So, you are here feeling depressed about a woman without knowing anything about her."

"Are you sure you really like her? Or just want a romantic one-night stand?"

"I haven't even slept with her yet." Bruce said.

"Do you want me to applaud for your pure love?" Schiller said, and then his gaze fell to Bruce's waist, he said: "You haven't slept with her yet, and she gave you a knife in the kidney, I am now a bit worried about your life and safety."

"Do you think I should talk to her?" Bruce asked.

Schiller sighed and said: "You like the thief, don't you want to talk to her instead of me? Whoever you like, just go and talk about love with them, understand?"

Schiller said with a hint of helplessness: "Otherwise, what do you think love is about? Two people running around on the roof of Gotham for several days and still don't even know each other's parents. If you're not sleeping with her or talking about love, and you don't even know the basics, I'd give you a knife too."

Bruce paused for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go talk to her."

The next day, Batman caught Catwoman again in some exhibition hall. Although he didn't know her past or family, he was spot on with her habits.

When Catwoman saw him, she cursed under her breath and immediately tried to run away.

But she didn't get away, and Batman grabbed her. Catwoman cursed and, after taking a deep breath, turned to him and said, "Let go of me! You weirdo! Don't make me use my knife!"

Batman said, "Let's talk."

"What do I have to talk about with you? Don't bother me while I'm working!"

Ten minutes later, the two of them came to the roof of the exhibition hall, and Catwoman waved her hand helplessly and said, "Okay, okay, my little boy, what do you want to talk about? Give me the big lecture? I have almost memorized all of your lectures by heart."

"No, I just want to hear your story." Batman said.

Catwoman was somewhat surprised. She was silent for a moment, looked at the pointed ears on top of Batman's head, and said, "Okay, for your taste in costumes."

"I'm from the slums on the east side, you know, the biggest and most chaotic one. My mother was an alcoholic and my father was a drug addict, but fortunately I didn't get addicted. I grew up with a pimp who was a retired acrobat and taught me a lot, but of course she had a terrible temper and I got beaten up a lot, but the good thing was that I learned the real thing."

"When she wanted to sell me to a middle-aged man with a terrible smell, I ran away. I was 12 years old that year."

"Later, a nosy orphanage insisted on having me live there. Later, someone wanted to adopt me there, but I offended the administrator there and he wanted to abuse me, so I stole his diamond necklace and ran away again."

"I met a head thief, we all called her Mama Lucky, and she specialized in raising young girls like us to steal for her, and I practiced acrobatics and was proficient at it, and was her favorite kid."

"But the good times didn't last long. She discovered the diamond necklace I had always hidden behind me. You know, it's very valuable, enough for her to retire and not work anymore. She wanted me to give it to her, but I didn't want to do that, so I ran away again."

"Later, I met a sister. She was called Maggie. She was very kind to me, but her boyfriend always beat her up and wanted to kill her. When he was about to start, I killed the man and was sought by the authorities. I didn't want to implicate my sister, so I roamed around day by day, but sometimes when I made money, I would send it back."

"That's it, a very ordinary story, not very exciting. I think your life experience shouldn't be very exciting either, right? Big hero."

Batman seemed a bit silent. He said, "Not exciting enough? Still not exciting enough?"

Catwoman shook her head. She said, "Oh, I forgot, you're a young master who grew up in a wealthy neighborhood. At least the people there get access to school, right?"

"But it's not like that where we are. In a whole block, there's not even one or two students. Actually, my mother loved me very much, but she was a bit controlled by alcohol. She spent more time with cats than with me."

"My parents didn't have the ability to pay for my education. My neighbors were also like that. At least if one of the parents was sober they wouldn't starve to death. I also heard that there were parents who were both drunk and their child climbed up on the stove and was burned to death."

Sure, we all had similar experiences growing up, and for the lucky ones, like me, learning a trade is the most efficient way out. The dream job is to work for the mafia, like a casino dealer. Maggie's boyfriend is a casino bouncer and he's really popular with the hostesses. They all cling to him.

Actually, Lucky Mom was pretty helpful to me too. Sometimes she acts like a real mom and when I steal a lot of jewels for her, she praises me and even gives me candy. Of course, she beats and curses the kids who can't steal anything, but I think they just need a few more years to practice.

Catwoman speaks in a relaxed and lively tone, describing her life with some interest.

For example, when she practiced acrobatics, she fell from the roof and hit a person on the first try. As luck would have it, the unlucky drunk had just stolen a dozen dollars from someone else and it fell into Catwoman's hands. She used the money to buy food for her mother's cats and even got a kiss from her mother.

Batman has been silent all this time, listening quietly. Catwoman stopped talking and looked at Batman, saying: "Alright, alright, I know this story disappoints you. I don't have a rich and exciting college life and I don't understand your job goals. We come from two different worlds. Rich people like you should look down on us poor people, but I hope you don't hate me too much."

The Catwoman raised her eyebrows and said, "You're so sweet, I'm almost embarrassed by your praise. Actually, I'm happy too because not many people are willing to listen to me talk about this stuff. Maggie's not in good health and can't go out, so when we chat, she prefers to listen to my stories about sneaking around in the wealthy neighborhoods and telling her about the rich ladies' dresses and necklaces."

Batman asked, "Do you just like jewels that much?"

"I knew you were going to ask that," Catwoman blinked and said.

"At first, it was just because these jewels could get me better treatment from Lucky Mom. I didn't want to be beaten. But later, when Lucky Mom asked me for that diamond necklace, I realized that I actually liked their original luster, not how much money they could sell for. When I think about Lucky Mom selling these treasures, I feel very heartache."

"That kind of charming luster, especially under the light of the lamp, is the most beautiful thing in the world! My lifelong dream is to have a huge castle full of all these beautiful jewels..." The Catwoman's tone became increasingly lively, as if bubbles of happiness were about to burst out.

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