Chapter 459 Crossroads (Ⅰ)

Joan has had good luck along the way. First, he accidentally obtained the "Tears of God". With the help of this artifact, he changed from a mediocre person to a so-called "genius".

After entering the college, he met such rich and noble friends as Thomas, Edward, and Rebecca, and was favored by Rawls' mentor, so he snatched him away from "Old Owl" Walter Lee and accepted him as his own , unreservedly imparted to him what he had learned all his life, worrying about his future...

In Joan's view, Martin Smith is actually a self who did not get the above-mentioned adventure.

Without the "Tears of God" and "Fountain of Wisdom" to improve his intelligence, Martin could not become a respected spellcasting genius, and could not be appreciated by famous professors like Rawls's mentor. In the end, he became a student of "Old Owl" and was accepted by Walter Li made things difficult and even abused, and he worked diligently to study for eight years.

Even though he has reached the level of graduation, he is still left in his laboratory by Walter Li Qiang as a cheap laborer. He not only owes a butt of student loans, but also endures the ridicule of his roommates and even his juniors. Every day is like life In hell, suffering from both mental and physical torments.

Joan often imagines this: If he is not lucky enough, will he also become another poor, mediocre, unlucky and annoying Martin Smith?

Judging from his poor background and mediocre talent, this is very possible.

Because of this, Joan has deep sympathy for Martin, and has also thought about why Martin fell into such a predicament.

Young people like myself and Martin, who were born with humble births and mediocre talents, are destined to become stepping stones for other students with better backgrounds and better backgrounds, and are destined to be discriminated against and suppressed, no matter how hard they try. Never get ahead?

He vaguely felt that reality was indeed so cruel.

Students from good family backgrounds have more money, connections and resources to lay the foundation for them. Even a pig, with such good conditions, will be bred into an outstanding pig.

In contrast, people like myself and Martin who came from a poor background have no resources to use, and even have to bear heavy debts for their studies. Unless they are very talented or lucky, how can they compete with rich kids?

Isn't it normal to be stepped on by others?

Joan faintly felt that something was wrong.

There is a one-way invisible barrier in the school and even in the whole society, which separates the poor students from the rich children. The latter are born at the top of the barrier, while the former are pressed down, and they have to make extra efforts to obtain special benefits. Only luck can break through this barrier and be in the same class as those rich kids.

Poor students like Joan who are lucky enough to break through this invisible barrier are as rare as pearls on the beach, and the vast majority of poor students have struggled to survive under heavy barriers all their lives - Martin Smith is the epitome of these humble people.

Qiao An is still too young and has limited vision. Although she feels the existence of class barriers, she doesn't know where they come from, why they exist, and how to eliminate them.

He turned his eyes more to the campus he was familiar with, and felt more and more that Leiden College was not as beautiful as he thought.

Setting high tuition fees is tantamount to oppressing poor students in disguise, acquiescing to Walter Lee’s oppression of students is tantamount to connivance of this evil behavior, the school knows that these systems are unreasonable but still refuses to make changes, what does this mean?

Joan suddenly remembered the words Martin Smith inadvertently said to him when he came to Leiden College to take the exam:

"Leiden College is not a paradise for poor students, and never has been."

Joan believed that this sentence came from Martin's feelings.

After spending eight full years of his youth at Leiden College, Martin may have recognized the reality, realized that Leiden College has followed all kinds of stereotypes and bad habits, and even intentionally or unintentionally maintained these unfair traditions, just because these traditions can benefit vested interests. Those who have benefited have brought many benefits, and those who have benefited certainly do not want to make changes, while those who have been insulted and damaged have no right to speak at all.

Thinking about it in the shoes of Martin, if Joan was in Martin's position, he might drop out of school and find another way out in less than eight years. Anyway, I have learned a lot of magic, so where can I go without getting a living?

Joan didn't understand why Martin was so obsessed with getting a diploma?

Is it to realize the wishes of oneself or relatives and friends, to save face, to join the Leiden Port Mages Association so as to find a bright career in this city, or because I have already spent eight years and cannot part with this huge sunk cost, Must use a graduation certificate to comfort myself that eight years of hard work have not been in vain?

Perhaps all of the above factors are a little bit, together constitute Martin's heart knot, and finally push him to the embarrassing situation of riding a tiger.

Joan also heard that Martin Smith made a request to Walter Lee at the beginning of this semester, hoping that the other party would sign his graduation certificate at the end of the school year and grant him the freedom to wait for eight years.

However, the "Old Owl" ruthlessly rejected Martin's begging, and told him hypocritically: "I'm afraid it won't work this year, but I will definitely let you graduate next year."

Martin must have heard such a promise countless times.

Year after year, Walter Lee's promise was never fulfilled.

It's not difficult for Joan to imagine that no matter how good-tempered a person is, he can't help getting angry and even murderous when he hears Walter Lee's reply.

Now he can't be sure that Martin is the murderer of Walter Lee. Taking a step back, even if Martin is the murderer, Joan feels it is justifiable.

In fact, Joan now has no spare energy to care about Martin's whereabouts, and he himself is at a crossroads in his life.

The death of Professor Robert Rawls was undoubtedly a tragedy for his relatives, friends and students, but his colleagues at Leiden College took it as a great opportunity to express their gratitude to his three gifted students publicly or privately. Toss an olive branch.

Joan, Edward, and Thomas have all received invitations from several Austrian professors these days, offering to accept them as disciples and help them complete their studies for the next two years.

Edward and Thomas are not heartless people, but they have to face the reality that their mentor Rawls is no longer alive. For their own academic considerations, it is a reasonable decision to transfer to other professors. The only problem is which professor to choose. his new mentor.

The two disagreed on this.

Edward believed that Master Wordsworth was the second most famous professor at Leiden College after Master Rawls, while Thomas was worried that Master Wordsworth was too harsh and harsh, so he preferred to join Professor Hamilton, whose personality was similar to Master Rawls. .