左腿是包好了，生华侧过身又微微抬起他的右腿，双手在上面捏来捏去，检查有没有循环不好的地方。陈靛双腿截肢时身体还没有发育完全，因此在之后的几年中腿骨不断生长，长长的骨头顶着残端，那些年他吃了不少苦头，一次次开刀截骨，残端总是疼也穿不了义肢，最终残株定型成了锥形。好在发育完全之后他坚持复健，残肢状况恢复的很好，大多数时候并不算磨人。
“这边想戴硅胶套还是弹性绷带？”
“弹性绷带吧。我自己缠吧。你先睡。”陈靛说着准备把自己靠左斜放到床上，让左侧的腰分担一些身体的重量，这样就能把左手解放出来，右腿残肢也能暂时抬离床面——生华不在的时候他常这样自己缠绷带。
生华可不依：“脊柱不想要了？！”把他的左手一把摁回床面撑着，生华有些生气的低斥。陈靛失了一侧坐骨身体习惯向左借力本来就容易脊柱侧弯，她严令禁止他任何向左借力的行为，每天都要做一套定制的瑜伽来帮助纠正身形拉伸一边紧张的肌肉，定期陪他去医院复查脊柱状况，生怕他这一身本来就不太灵光的“破铜烂铁”再出什么问题。
陈靛见生华生气赶紧乖乖束手就擒，听话的扶稳身体，微微翘起右腿任她熟练的在上面一圈一圈缠绷带。
他俯首帖耳，右手半搂着她的肩，在她身侧柔声念道：“谢峻来历不凡，能耐还在其次，心性远在你我之上。他非池中物，此行同路一程，有幸被他借势，倘若他日异轨殊途，不过缘起际会、缘灭分离。我们无需过分思量，他定自有打算。”
生华心明如镜，沉静着面色给他缠好右腿。陈靛善于把他真正忌惮的人收入麾下，比起鸣鼓攻之，不如把他们买下来关起来而不是让他们乱跑到对面的立场跟自己作对。生华收拾好药箱和精油，心满意足的把陈靛这只大猫摁回床上。
“睡——觉——”
温和地走过这个良夜的后果就是——他们差点儿放了杰瑞米鸽子。
原本定好上午八点杰瑞米过来讨论陈靛后天出席H大毕业典礼上用的讲稿，现实是杰瑞米和酒店早餐几乎一同迈进了房门。
生华觉得十分尴尬，巴巴盯着烧腊肠粉咽了口口水便借称去健身房逃之夭夭。陈靛彼时其实连义肢都没来得及穿，裹着衬衣西裤端坐在轮椅上一脸若无其事的叠着裤腿，甚至还非常慷慨的邀请杰瑞米要不要一起尝一下潮汕砂锅粥。
杰瑞米无语。在他心目中，身负世袭爵位的陈靛绝不应允许自己在他面前坐下来汇报工作，但事实是陈靛竟然坚持在未经女王和高级法院批准认可前连他在圣诞节手写的祝福信件上都禁止使用“Lord”作为前缀。虽然爵位目前确实还在陈靛母亲内尔克勒斯勋爵身上，但谁不知道准贵族的身份可以顺理成章的打开多少扇紧闭的大门？所以杰瑞米一直认为陈靛的坚持到底有些个人好恶上的牵强，思前想后耿直进言称陈靛是由于频繁漂洋过海去波士顿看望生华不免过多的沾染了美式个人主义的叛逆行径。
“这不公平！”生华掐着腰站在波士顿的公寓里义愤填膺的指着窗外波光粼粼的查尔斯河，“进入陈氏之前你至少在河对岸那栋楼里待了四年。而我只来了四个月！”河对岸的那栋楼正是陈靛念MBA的斯隆商学院。
“确切点说是十八个月，大多数时间我在理学院和港湾医院。”陈靛一边伏着身忙着在狭小的公寓里给轮椅清障，一边又觉得这么说一点都没有灭火的诚意，于是赶紧补充道：“你知道的，他一直硬的像块石头。”
虽然陈靛一直抱着等闲视之的态度把杰瑞米的奇葩理论当做跟她茶余饭后的谈资，生华听着好玩但也总不免盘算，决计不想当这个祸国殃民的红颜祸水。因此今时今地便莫名有种被抓现行的理亏。
生华回到酒店套房即见杰瑞米正襟危坐在客厅一侧二人位沙发的一边，手捧笔记本十指飞动，而要不是看到窗前空落落的轮椅，她几乎没找到陈靛，后者则背朝她慵懒的窝在一百八十度全景落地窗前的一张冷白皮质躺椅里，听到开门声慢悠悠的探出头来，抬抬额头道：“Would you mind if I asked you to do me a favor?”
回来的路上就知道会被他抓壮丁，这种他个人的或是不涉及CCU保密条款的事务他一直以来都很乐意邀她出谋划策。
“Count me in.”
生华从卧室取来自己的平板往键盘上一架，跳上开放式厨房的吧台，咬开水瓶灌了几口，单刀直入：“Where are you?”
“Disenchant predecessor’s mysticism, ”吧台在落地窗边，所以陈靛现在一转头就可以看到生华。他还是没穿义肢，空荡荡的左臀下面塞着一只靠枕以免从躺椅上滑下去，非常老派的握着一支笔在手中的便签上打草稿，“especially when you a green hand landing in the real world from the air.”
十分习惯自己老板这种雾里看花式的头脑风暴，杰瑞米从沙发上抬起头来，对着生华言简意赅：“How you think experience plays at your disadvantage?”
生华重新扎好马尾，几乎没费什么力气的信手拈来：“Narrative fallacy.”这实属得归功于陈靛前天晚上在写的、集团官网邀稿致职场新人的《致年轻自己的一封信（A Letter To My Younger Self）》。这次陈靛谈的是向上管理的同理心，其中谈到认知偏差时他们在“narrative fallacy”和“attribution theory”的措辞上考虑到职场反偏见的心理诉求而一拍即合地选择了后者。相反，此时把听众换成即将迈入社会的大学毕业生则颇有点学院派的前者便成为了更好的选项。
“Impressive.”陈靛转过头来冲她一笑。
生华咧咧嘴，并不觉得多么受用，他应该知道这到底是有些作弊的嫌疑在里面，而且比起措辞，生华倒是比较在意陈靛这篇讲稿的立论——跟各方面经验都匮乏的学生去讲什么经验之谈显然不是个明智之选。生华目不转睛观察着已经回头落笔的陈靛，想在他脸上捕捉到一丝他一贯的那个微微有些讽刺意味的标准英式假笑，然而并没有。
“But what’s that?” 还在正常频道徘徊的杰瑞米终于停下他时刻不歇的十指，盯着面前两人之间微妙的氛围鼓起勇气耿直发问。
“…which is, the tendency to create stories by connecting dots that should not be connected, and use those stories to give apparent meaning to things that don’t have a meaning, or create chains of cause and effect that provide comfort.”生华解释，然后问道：”But why experience?”
“Put this down,”陈靛却接着她的话串成了讲稿：“‘As time goes by, you start being surrounded by those stories, like someone sitting inside your personal library, and picking up a book to map something that your experience to something THAT YOU have seen and experienced already.’”陈靛着重强调了这个坐在经验图书馆里的“自己”，意味深长地偏头与生华对视了一眼，显然是在解释她关于选题的疑惑。
生华闻言咬唇。某种程度上她承认陈靛的话本身的的合理性，但还是对陈靛的意图一知半解。陈靛善用隐喻，他强调的那个“自己”分明是在隐喻什么。
“‘As a young person,’” 陈靛接着讲稿，“‘you don’t have many of those stories, so you need to make sense of things as they happen, using your judgement more than your or anyone else’s experience. That’s uncomfortable, and scary at times. But that’s how you learn, and how you let randomness make you stronger, instead of confusing you. That is something I never want you to lose, because …’”
被陈靛的情绪所感染，生华不禁也感怀：“‘Because reality is infinitely more complex than any stories you could have written about it.’”
陈靛笔头不断，眯了眯眼道：“Ravishing darling, it‘s terribly kind of you if you would continue.”
为了表达对这个过分雍容华贵的赞美的敬意，生华顾自翻了个白眼，一边埋头打字一边继续：“‘You don’t have many days that you can look back to, so you’re naturally inclined to look forward. And your hope is that what’s ahead of you will somehow be better than what you left behind. That’s the wind that fills your sails, and I urge you not to look back, or that wind will turn against you, and make you slow down, and eventually stop. Continue hoping in a better future, and in a better self, because …’” 生华停下来，思索，因为她发现自己又回到了陈靛隐喻的那个“自己”。
“‘Because cynicism is a form of defeat, the defeat of your life.’”陈靛眼神温柔的看向生华，娓娓道来。
几乎是立刻，生华便豁然开朗。在杰瑞米听来陈靛一开始那句有些不知何所云的论点其实已经很明确了，鉴于最近中环在发生的实事——陈靛想聊的根本不是所谓的经验，而是假由承嬗离合、来自外部世俗的被强加在来者不拒的年轻人身上的“二手理想”——愤世嫉俗。结合她进门时陈靛那句有些过分多礼的邀请和对待叙事谬误的严肃态度，比起在世界另一头长大、不食此间烟火的杰瑞米，陈靛俨然更倾向于让文化背景更贴合的她来执笔。
“‘I am standing on a pair of 6-pound titanium prosthetics with a curved rubber auxiliary, made by some intelligent visionary all over the world, that emancipates my dedication from lending my ability to a hand-rolling wheelchair. I can only imagine what you have today at your disposal, may be something that speaks to you. What I wish, is that, no matter how easy and tempting that vested interest and retained power look, you will still consider whatever futuristic wisdom you are using as just your own discourse, not the tip jar from nowhere that would willfully or accidentally ignorant, overwhelm your voices, pathologically make you too lazy to think on your own.’”
飞速敲完最后一个单词生华长舒一口气，不得不说就像是一种幻觉，陈靛的演讲有着极度惊人的感染力。
“Jerry, your turn.”
鼓着腮帮子狂敲键盘的杰瑞米分明也颇受鼓舞，接着陈靛的部分作结：“‘Lastly – it’s easy to be humble at your age, in particular without any answer here. I hope that won’t change, no matter how much or how little you would have accomplished. You look up to more thoughtful people who take the time to listen to you, to be open to feedback, to question even the strongest of their beliefs. I hope one day you will be able to reciprocate, preserving humility and offering whatever experience you have as a path to the next generation …’”
“excuse me,” 生华插进来，“Can we make it into ‘map’? Not a path. ‘Always respecting that others may decide to take a very different road than the one you have.’”
陈靛投来期待的目光，生华便继续道：“‘But there is one humility you are not supposed to allow yourself a privilege, that not knowing for certain, but refusing to give way to those who claim certainty. That is, never would you allow yourself to be made foot soldier in a conflict you don’t understand. Never make your life being narrated for you by others. The courage to live in your own mind, and not in someone else’s. A person claiming about the truth is limited, and will always be limited, coming to terms with their own ignorance and partiality. Keep studying, reading, thinking, traveling, those transform you into someone who no longer belonged to anywhere. In knowing the ground was not ground at all, you find you could stand on it.’”
“BRAVO——”
生华一气呵成，恍如隔世，刚才的那一瞬间仿佛如有神助。她松了一口气抬起头，陈靛笑看着她不停拍手称赞，满含爱意的双眼中甚至还有一丝与有荣焉的得意。生华想，幸好他没穿义肢，不然他现在一定要忍不住踉踉跄跄的走过来吻她。