Chapter 48: Deception
Old Wayne Building.
As the elevator door dinged open, Chen Tao just walked into the 14th floor and saw Lincoln March standing there, like a silent and elegant statue.
"Bruce, I was just about to say how grateful I am for meeting me. I can imagine how busy you must be these days."
"Not so busy that you don't have time to meet Lincoln March, the 'next mayor of Gotham'-"
"Is that what the gossip says now?"
"I guess so." Chen Tao smiled at him: "But I don't doubt the authenticity of the gossip. I have been reading reports about you, a self-made financial prodigy who turned into a philanthropist."
"Your story is wonderful and perfect."
Lincoln March felt that when Bruce said the word "perfect", it seemed to point to something else, but looking at his sincere eyes, he felt that this seemed to be an illusion of his own overthinking.
"You also did good things. You funded the boys' home and opened an after-school reading and writing class."
Chen Tao took out a check and wrote something on it.
"So what do you think? Does the number look satisfactory?"
"Bruce, I'm not here to ask you for money, but don't get me wrong - every penny is appreciated."
Lincoln March said: "Damn it, Mayor Carlo has about 10 credit lines running all day, and the source of funds is questionable at best."
"If you want public support, I'm afraid I can't give it to you."
"I don't want public support either. All I really want is your vote."
Chen Tao silently watched Lincoln March act.
The other party looked sincere.
Tsk. Since he likes to play so much, why not play with him?
"My vote. You came all the way here for one vote, Lincoln."
"Yes, but what you're doing right now is also what I believe in. Bruce's Gotham reconstruction plan is a good thing. Frankly, I look at you like I see a friend."
"Cynical people will say you see an opportunity."
"Yes, cynics will also say that you launched the New Gotham plan for the company's image, because it is a publicly held project, etc., but it serves private purposes."
"Is that what the gossips say now?"
"Is it, maybe they are right. I should go, and I will leave the check on the table."
"Bruce, you know, I lost my parents in my childhood."
Chen Tao paused.
The sex scene is coming, the classic parents' opening.
In any case, when you want to deceive Batman, first bring the topic to the field that the other party does not understand.
"It's strange, isn't it? I can barely remember my mother's face, only the details. But I remember her - I remember it clearly.
The brooch she was wearing on the day of the accident. A small, heart-shaped ceramic brooch I made for her at school, completely crooked, one side bigger than the other, but she pinned it on her charming dress, my ugly little brooch.
I don't remember the drunk driver who hit us.
I don't remember much about the accident...but I remember when the paramedics took me away, I saw the brooch lying on the ground intact, not broken, not cracked, just like that Lying on the road, I just hope someone picks it up. "
"After I lost everything I had that night, I was in a state of complete despair for a long time. I hated the world."
"But then I got tuition and funded me to go to City College. This city saved me, Bruce, Gotham saved me."
"This city gave me a goal when I was alone, and I bet it gave you one, too."
"I look at you and I see an ally, a real ally. You must know that there are not many allies in this city, and they are far apart, especially now."
Chen Tao smiled.
"Mr. March..."
"I always think that the best way to understand a city is to be down-to-earth."
He turned around, stood in front of the huge French window, stretched his body, and looked at the fireworks of the world in the distant night.
"Feel the cracks in the sidewalk under your feet..."
An indescribable momentum enveloped Lincoln March. He didn't understand what was going on. He just felt that--
Just seeing Bruce Wayne standing there with a glass of wine... made him a little suffocated.
"The strangely bright silence in the snow-covered parking lot..."
"The elevated train passing over Third Street, hissing sparks."
"The ticking of the traffic lights late at night..."
"But do you know what's most interesting?"
He saw Bruce Wayne turn around, and the light shone into the room from behind him, making half of his face hidden in the shadow.
"Everything in Gotham is so obvious on the surface, but if you try to understand Gotham from a deeper level, you will spend your whole life... and still know nothing about it."
"Isn't it, Mr. March?"
"There is an underground cave in Gotham."
Lincoln March didn't know why the topic suddenly turned to this.
"There is only one, in fact, the only one is in Kane County, located below the Willow Grove Children's Rescue Center. Many years ago, this was Gotham's affiliated hospital for children with mental illness and neurological disorders, and it was still in operation until 18 years ago."
Lincoln March's face changed a little bit. This was a secret that only he and the court would know. They have been hiding it well all these years. How did Batman get this information?
Of course, I know it from reading comics.
Chen Tao looked at him with a solemn expression, and laughed in his heart.
He continued:
"I once had a younger brother, Thomas Wayne II, Mr. March..."
Chen Tao said while secretly observing Lincoln March.
He laughed in his heart, and continued, telling a story that was changed by the time traveler:
"When I was three years old, my mother was pregnant with him, and we had a car accident. I don't remember the accident, but there is a record. He is my younger brother, a premature baby with congenital defects."
Lincoln March felt his heart beating faster and faster.
What Bruce Wayne knew was far beyond his expectations, which meant... all his previous assumptions about the other party had to be overturned.
"The records of Gotham Mercy Hospital show that my brother Thomas Wayne Jr. was forced to be born in an emergency. He was given a name and was soon put on a life support tube - but the doctors said he had severe neurological damage. Because it was so serious, he was very likely to become a permanent vegetable in order to survive the initial trauma." "He survived successfully." "My parents secretly sent him to Liulin Hospital for treatment. They always felt that the car accident was unusual. In order to protect the little baby and prevent the possible behind-the-scenes person from hurting him, they sent him to Liulin." Chen Tao stared at Lincoln March's face: "My parents love my brother. But what no one expected was-" "Half a month later, the little baby disappeared." Chen Tao said: "My parents kept looking for him until they died, and I have been looking for him for so many years." Lincoln March's hands were shaking. "But we didn't find it at all." "You said, March, where will the child be?"