The next day, Xiang Jin and the others had just come out from breakfast in the cafeteria when they heard that something big happened in the school last night, and then they saw many students rushing towards the school gate.
Xiang Jin looked at Yan Chen, "What happened at school last night? Why didn't we know about it?"
Yan Chen shook his head.
Then Xiang Jin pulled a girl who ran to the school gate to watch the excitement and asked, "Hey, classmate, what big thing happened in the school?"
The girl said, "I'm not sure. I heard someone died."
"Ah? Someone died?" Xiang Jin and Yan Chen were both surprised.
The girl nodded, "Well, I heard that the student's family is blocking the school gate and asking for an explanation from the school. Okay, I won't tell you anymore. I'll go and see him." After saying that, the girl said
He ran away in a flash.
Xiang Jin looked at Yan Chen and said, "Yan Chen, what kind of luck do we have? Why do we always encounter this kind of thing this year?"
Yan Chen said, "What does this have to do with us? Let's go and see what happened."
Xiang Jin nodded, and the two of them walked to the school gate together.
However, when they got there, they saw a lot of students gathered there. It was not an exaggeration to describe it as three floors inside and three floors outside. They couldn't see what was going on inside at all, they could only hear the parents' shouts.
A loud, sad cry.
Xiang Jin stretched her neck and looked in, but she didn't expect anything. The main reason was that there were too many people surrounding her. Even though she was the tallest among girls, she was still in front of some taller boys.
Her height is nothing.
Then she asked Yan Chen, "Hey, have you seen what's going on inside?"
Yan Chen said, "I roughly saw two stretchers placed there, with one person lying on each stretcher, and then there were several adults kneeling beside the two stretchers, crying hard."
Xiang Jin felt that this was the advantage of being tall. Then she looked towards the teaching building not far away, and found that the corridor of the three-story teaching building was also crowded with people. She looked again
I looked at the stairwell of the girls' dormitory building next to me and the small protruding platform, but there were also people standing there.
Well, they arrived late, and the seats were all taken. She couldn't see them now.
Yan Chen pulled her and said, "Let's go back and put away the bowls, chopsticks and lunch boxes in our hands. Maybe we can see them when we come back."
"Yeah!" That was all he could do, so Xiang Jin nodded, and then the two of them went back to the teacher's dormitory to put down the dishes.
The two put the bowls and chopsticks back, and sure enough they saw a few empty seats in the corridor on the third floor, so she pulled Yan Chen and pointed in the direction of the third floor, "Look, you can see it there,
Let's go up, let's go up quickly." After saying that, she pulled him and rushed up to the teaching building.
But when they climbed to the third floor, it was occupied by someone again.
Xiang Jin looked at Yan Chen, "It seems we are still a step too late?"
"It's okay. You will always know what you need to know. There's no rush now," Yan Chen comforted her.
Xiang Jin felt that this young man was really calm and steady and would definitely be promising in the future.
At this moment, a student left, and Xiang Jin quickly replaced him. Yan Chen had no choice but to follow and stand behind her.
Although the location is not the best, I can finally see the situation below. As Yan Chen said, there are two stretchers below, with a person lying on each stretcher, and they are both covered with blankets.
Several parents were kneeling next to the stretcher. Each parent was covered in dirt at this time. Not only were they tearful and snotty, but they were also crying out of breath.
Then Xiang Jin and the others heard classmate A next to them asking, "Hey, do you know which class they are from?"
Classmate B said, "I heard there's one from Class 2 and one from Class 1."
"Our grade? Third grade?" Someone C confirmed.
Classmate B nodded, "Yeah!"
Classmate C then said, "Oh, how did they die?"
"I heard he drowned!" Classmate B said.
"Ah? Drowned? What happened?" Everyone was surprised, including Xiang Jin and Yan Chen.
Then I saw classmate B and said, "I heard that a few of them went home after evening self-study last night.
Then when a group of people were walking on the side of the 13th Brigade, a toad suddenly jumped out of the grass, and then jumped directly onto the girl's feet.
The girl was startled, and then she jumped to the side and hid. Little did she know that the direction she was hiding was next to the ditch. As soon as she stepped down, she stepped on nothing, and the person followed and rolled directly underneath.
It went into the ditch.
You may all know that the ditch on the side of the 13th Brigade leads directly to Saican Town. It is two to three feet wide and more than ten meters deep.
Although the water in the canal was not more than ten meters deep, it was still five or six meters deep, and it was flowing rapidly. The girl rolled down and was swept downwards.
Then the boy from Class 1 jumped in to save people, but you also know that the light is weak at night, how can it be so easy to save?
So both of them drowned, and they were only fished out at about five o'clock this morning about two or three kilometers away from the incident site.
But when they were salvaged, both of them had already drowned, so why didn't the parents bring their bodies to the school to demand an explanation, saying that the incident was caused by the school's poor management."
After hearing the origin of the incident, Xiang Jin and Yan Chen looked at each other, and then they both sighed.
They also knew that section of the canal in the 13th Brigade. It was the only way they had to pass every time. Indeed, as the classmate said, the canal was very deep and wide, and the water in it was very fast.
The most important thing is that the water channel goes down at an angle, and is covered with smooth stone slabs. There is not even a place to climb on. Once a person falls in, it will be difficult to climb up.
"Alas, everybody, look, everybody, look, the principal is here, the principal is here," someone shouted after him.
Xiang Jin and Yan Chen cast their gazes downward again, and sure enough they saw Principal Gao and several other leaders of the school heading towards the packed crowd with serious expressions on their faces.
When everyone saw them coming, they all spontaneously made way for them. A few people walked up to the two corpses and the parents. Before they could say anything, the parents swarmed up, grabbed them, and beat them.
Kicking, and some even directly biting.
Faced with the anger of the parents, the leaders couldn't hide, they didn't dare to hide, they couldn't hide, and they didn't dare to fight back. They could only suffer. After a while, several people were in a state of panic. It wasn't that their clothes were torn and damaged.
Yes, there were just a few cuts on his face and a bloody bite on his arm.
After the parents vented their anger, they hugged them and cried bitterly, asking them to give an explanation.
A few people sighed and comforted everyone, saying that they didn't want to see such a thing happen, and that they were very sad. They also said that they followed the day students from the school gate directly after their evening self-study.
Yes, they didn’t even return to the dormitory. When the teachers at the school went to check the dormitory, they found out that they had gone home secretly. They couldn’t guard against it. After all, they couldn’t tie them up with a rope because their legs were on their bodies.
Not so.
Xiang Jin felt that the school was completely evading responsibility. Sure enough, the parents suddenly became short of breath and felt irrational. All of them could only hang their heads and cry helplessly.
Seeing that they were no longer "unreasonably making trouble", several leaders of the school comforted a few people and then walked over to the two corpses to see them.
The school janitor knelt down and took off the blanket covering the two of them. Yan Chen pulled Xiang Jin behind him, "Let's go back to the classroom?!"
"Hey, hey, I haven't seen it yet?" Xiang Jin stood on tiptoes, stretched her neck, and looked down. But at this moment, someone had already crowded into her position, and she could only see the girl opposite her.
On the small platform in the dormitory, she looked at Yan Chen with a dissatisfied look.
Yan Chen looked at her unconvinced look and smiled, "I've seen similar scenes before. It's nothing interesting and even a little scary, so don't watch it. Be careful not to have nightmares at night."
Xiang Jin muttered in dissatisfaction, "I'm not that timid. It's not like I've never seen dead people before?"
Yan Chen said, "I'm not talking about Xu Heng."
Xiang Jin was startled for a moment, "Have you seen it before?"
"Well," Yan Chen nodded slightly and continued, "When I was in sixth grade, I followed my grandfather to the company. That place was in a big mountain, and it happened to coincide with the summer solstice. There was a lot of rain there in the summer.
Once there was a flood, many local villages were flooded, and many people and animals were washed away by the flood, including many children.
Two days later, the flood receded, and the children were found downstream. Except for the clothes they were wearing, it was still possible to vaguely identify the children from which family they belonged to. It would not be an exaggeration to describe the other places as unrecognizable. At that time,
The entire company participated in the disaster relief, so I went with the large army and saw that scene with my own eyes."
Xiang Jin sighed after hearing this, "How many people died in total at that time?"
"There are five adults and seven children. The oldest among those children is sixteen years old and the youngest is seven years old."
As soon as Yan Chen finished speaking, he heard several students next to him take a breath, and then one of them couldn't help shouting, "Wow, why does that face look like that?"
"Yeah, why are there still bumps and bumps? It's just a bloody mess? Is that still a face?" Another classmate asked after him.
"Yeah, how come it's like that?" Someone followed and agreed.
When some timid girls saw it, they screamed "Ahhhh", then quickly turned their heads and squatted on the ground without daring to take a second look.
Out of curiosity, Xiang Jin tilted her head and wanted to look outside. Yan Chen immediately pulled her face away, "Don't look, let's go, go into the classroom!" He ignored her objection and pulled her away.
He held her arm and walked towards the classroom.
When they entered the classroom, they found that there were only a few people in the classroom, and the others were probably outside watching the fun.
Yan Chen directly pushed her down on the seat. Xiang Jin wanted to get up, but Yan Chen just stared at her, "Don't look!"
Seeing his stubborn little eyes, Xiang Jin couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, and curled her lips, "Domineering!"
Yan Chen put his hands on her desk and raised the corners of his mouth, "I know you are brave, but you really don't have anything to look at."
Xiang Jin was not a ungrateful person. He knew that he was thinking about himself, so he stopped arguing with him and said to him, "They said their faces were all pitted and bloody.
?”
Yan Chen nodded, "The water flow is so fast, and with the stones, bacteria and microorganisms in the water, it is not easy to preserve the face."
Xiang Jin nodded, "Yes, even if you stand on it, you can see that the water inside is very fast. The key is that the left and right sides of the canal are smooth. It is estimated that no matter how good the water is, people will fall in.
It’s very difficult to survive.”
Following Yan Chen, he concluded, "So don't go back with others at night in the future." Last night, the black boy from the second class actually wanted to come and encourage her to go back. Thinking of this, he wanted to pull that boy out and give him a good beating.
.
Xiang Jin turned his head and looked at him, "If I don't go back, why should I go back? It's not like I don't have pocket money to spend. I have clothes to wear, a bed to sleep on, food to eat, and I eat meat every day. I
I don’t lack anything, so why should I go back so late at night? I’ve eaten too much and need to digest my food?”
Yan Chen smiled and said, "Exactly!"
Xiang Jin suddenly said, "Well, let me tell you, after the second evening self-study class last night, a student from Class 2 came to me and asked me if I would go home after self-study class. It seemed that he was with us.
In one direction, do you think the two lying down at the school gate were the ones who were with them last night?"
Yan Chen shook his head, "I don't know," but he was also secretly laughing in his heart. The black boy in the second class was named Song Kaiyan. He was indeed on the same road and in the same direction as them, and his family lived in the sixth team of their brigade.
, he remembered it all. It seems that she still doesn’t have much impression or memory of him, but that’s just right, isn’t it?
Thinking of this, the smile on his lips grew wider.
At this time, some classmates entered the classroom one after another. Yan Chen raised his wrist and checked the time, "Okay, class is about to begin. I'm going back to my seat."
Not long after, as the school bell rang, the students rushed into the classroom in groups of three or two, but there were still students standing in the aisle looking at everything below, and then walked slowly to the ground when the teacher came.
Come into the classroom.
The teacher looked at the students below and said, "Although we are extremely reluctant to see such a thing happen, our class still has to go on. Everyone, please put your thoughts back and we have to go to class."
However, when the class ended, everyone quickly rushed to the corridor and looked down, and found that there was no one at the school gate, and the two bodies had been carried away at some point.
Then Xiang Jin heard someone saying, "Oh, were you just carried away like this?"
Someone said, "What can we do if we don't carry them away? The school cannot be blamed for this. They sneaked home at night while they were studying in the evening, and it was not the school that chased them back with sticks."
Family, can they still stay in school and not leave?"
Someone also echoed, "That is, the legs grow on themselves and not on others, how can others control them? They are dead now, and they asked for it, so their family members are purely
You shouldn't bring their bodies to cause trouble for the school. Isn't it just pure unreasonable trouble for the school?"
Some people sighed, "Well, no matter what, people are gone now."
Someone said, "That's right, I still can't believe this is true."
"Yes, I have always seen that girl and that boy before, but now they are no longer there. Is it still a bit hard for me to accept them?" Another person followed.
Then someone said, "Well, since we were not in the same class with them, the impression is not big. The key is that those who were in the same class with them will probably be deeply impressed in their lives and will not forget them, right?"
........
Everyone was talking about it, and Xiang Jin acted like he was just listening to gossip, without saying a word or expressing any opinions.
However, after listening to the conversations and discussions of the teachers while eating in the cafeteria at noon, she went back and said to Yan Chen, "Actually, the school has a certain responsibility for this matter. Although it is not the main responsibility, there are fault responsibilities and
Supplementary responsibilities.
It is true that people's legs grow on other people's bodies, and they can't stop them if they want to run away. However, the school has indeed not issued corresponding school rules and regulations, and the management of dormitories is also extremely loose, which leads to the situation from time to time.
Students take advantage of evening self-study to sneak home. If the school had stricter supervision in this regard, perhaps such a thing would not happen."
Yan Chen looked at her in surprise and said, "Do you still understand this?"
Xiang Jin said, "Of course, I said I like to read books on this subject, but it's just those parents who don't understand the law. It's easy for them to be fooled by the school leaders. If they know a little more about the law,
, just insisting on this point of the school, then the school also needs to give them an explanation. How can they be dismissed by the leader with just a few words like today? No matter what, the school must make an explanation.
Some blood and some compensation will be given.
You must know that the school collects students' accommodation fees. From the moment they collect students' accommodation fees, it is equivalent to signing a contractual relationship with the students' parents. They are responsible during the existence of this contractual relationship.
Students who live on campus are supervised, but in fact they are not.
And I just listened to the discussions of the teachers in the cafeteria. It seems that the school has passed all these responsibilities onto the students themselves and their parents. Those parents did not get any explanation from the school today. At most, it was the school’s
Just a few words of comfort.
To be honest, I think the school's attitude today is a bit inappropriate. Even if it is unwilling to take responsibility, out of a humanitarian spirit, it should give parents a spiritual comfort, so that even if someone says something in the future, it will not matter.
As for those who give people a reason to talk."
"Well, that's true!" Yan Chen nodded.
But at this moment, the door to their dormitory was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and then they saw Director Zhao standing at the door with the key, looking at them.
"Director Zhao, are you here?" Yan Chen said nothing, but he still said hello to Xiang Jin.
Director Zhao nodded slightly, then closed the door and walked in. Then he stood in front of them and looked at them both.
Xiang Jin said, "Director Zhao, you have something to do with Yan Chen, so what do you guys think, I should go back to the room and read for a while?" He turned around and left.
Then Director Zhao stopped her and said, "No, come back. I'm here specifically to see you."
Xiang Jin was surprised, "Looking for us?"
"Well, I'm looking for you," Director Zhao nodded, and then said, "Go over there and sit down and tell you, where is Yang Hui? Yang Hui hasn't come back?"
Xiang Jin said, "My cousin is steaming rice. We usually eat it in the classroom after the rice is served. Yan Chen and I came back to put the rice bowl and lunch box."
Director Zhao nodded and pointed to the sofa in the living room, "Okay, then I'll tell you two, and you can convey it to Yang Hui later."
The two of them nodded and sat down on the sofa in the living room.
Then Director Zhao said to them, "You also saw what happened in the school today, so what I want to tell you is to pay attention to safety and don't go home at night. You also have to pass through that canal.
, so it is still very dangerous, especially at night. If you accidentally step on the air and roll down, you will be fine.
Look at what happened today, neither our school nor the parents of the students, nor you, the classmates in the same class, want to see it.
Think about it, how difficult is it for your parents to raise you to such an old age? If something goes wrong, what do you think they would do? How sad would that be?"
The two of them nodded, and Xiang Jin said, "Don't worry, Director Zhao, we won't go home late at night. You see, we are not short of food and clothing, so there is no need to go back. Besides, we are not all
He is a little baby, how can he still be attached to his family all day long? We are relatively independent and will not go back in the middle of the night."
Director Zhao nodded, "That's good," and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
Then Director Zhao looked at the two of them again, "I was outside just now and heard the conversation you two just had. What, do you really know the law?" He said the last sentence while looking at Xiang Jin.
Xiang Jin suddenly felt that the sound insulation effect of this house was really not very good. What they said inside could be heard by people standing outside. It seemed that they should pay more attention to what they said in the future, or at least turn down the volume.
.
So she said humbly, "I don't know much about it. I just read some books on this topic. I'm talking nonsense to Yan Chen here. Director Zhao, don't take it seriously?!"
Director Zhao said, "I've heard a long time ago that you like to read miscellaneous books. It seems to be true. Then study hard and strive to become a barrister, so as to bring glory to our school in the future."
Xiang Jin pretended to be embarrassed and said, "Director Zhao, you are joking, I can't be a barrister. I can't memorize the thick legal books one by one. I don't aspire to be a barrister either.
I just thought that I could make a little money in the future so I wouldn’t have to worry about food and clothing.”
Director Zhao laughed loudly, and then sighed solemnly after laughing for a while, "Oh, this is indeed a fault of our school. It is also true that we have not formulated strict school rules and regulations. In this regard,
There are indeed loopholes and deficiencies in the supervision of school students, and what you pointed out is correct.
But you should also know that there is no way for the school to shirk responsibility. Once we assume that responsibility, the impact on our school will be great. In all aspects, we will not only have to face high compensation payments, but also face
The various punishments imposed by the County Education Bureau must also take into account the future source of students..." At this point, Director Zhao sighed again.
Xiang Jin and Yan Chen suddenly felt that there was a reason why the teaching level of this school had not kept up. For example, the school's leadership team and teachers had not corrected their mentality in the first place. They even
If you don't have the courage to take responsibility, how can you teach good students?
But it doesn't matter to them. They only study here for one year. After one year, they won't have much to do with it.
Then I heard Director Zhao say again, "But you are right. If we proceed from the humanitarian spirit, our school can still give some condolence funds to the parents of the two students."
Xiang Jin and Yan Chen remained silent and did not express any opinions. Then Director Zhao stood up and said, "Okay, I will tell you two about this. Remember to tell Yang Hui tonight."
The two of them nodded, and Director Zhao walked to the door, but after walking a few steps, he turned back to look at them and said, "The words you two just said were not said outside in front of others, right?
"
The two of them shook their heads, and Xiang Jin said, "This is the first time for us to talk at home. How can we talk outside? Isn't this obviously causing trouble for the school?
Director Zhao, even if we don’t take care of the other leaders of the school, we still have to take care of you. You see, you have given up your dormitory to the three of us, how can we be those white-eyed wolves?"
After hearing what Xiang Jin said, Director Zhao immediately nodded with satisfaction. The smile on his face became more obvious, and then he said, "Well, that's right. They are two good and sensible children.
Don’t say it again?”
"Yeah, I know!" Xiang Jin responded quickly.
As soon as Director Zhao left, Yan Chen's eyes were full of teasing and he said, "Why didn't I know you could flatter me?"
Xiang Jin turned off the volume and complained to him, "This is not called flattery, this is called the way of survival. Talking to others and talking to ghosts. Think about it, what we just said, he was completely honest.
I listened to everything. What if he talks to the principal again? What if the principal is petty and gives us little shoes?
I'm not afraid of fighting with my classmates, nor am I afraid of fighting with any of the teachers in the class. I don't necessarily have much respect for the school's leaders, but I don't want to think that my last year of junior high school life is a waste of time.
There are twists and turns, so let’s just go with the flow.
Besides, we don’t need to be arrogant. If we speak up for others, they may not be grateful to us, so why should we offend others?
Besides, if you say a few nice words to the leader without having to pay taxes, maybe he will still think of us and be more lenient with us."
Yan Chen couldn't help but laugh, "You are the only one who is the best, the monkey is the monkey!"
Xiang Jin reached out and patted his shoulder, "Young...classmate, the world is hard and survival is not easy. Don't I have to be more refined? Otherwise, I will always be stuck in a rut. How can I have a good life?"
ah?"
Seeing her old man's tone, Yan Chen couldn't help but frown. Then he glanced at her hand on his shoulder and said, "Take off your chicken feet!"
Xiang Jin rolled her eyes at him angrily, "What chicken feet?" She raised her hand and waved it in front of him, "Have you ever seen such beautiful chicken feet? My hands are still pretty.
Well, the roots are slender and slender, only
It's just a little bit dark, but that's because I often work in the fields during the summer. By next spring, I guarantee that my hands will be white and slender, as good-looking as the tips of onions.
of."
Yan Chen raised his hand in front of her, "Are my hands ugly?"
Xiang Jin saw that his hands were slender and straight, with well-defined joints. They were indeed very beautiful, so she turned her head away and let out a cold snort.
Yan Chen turned around and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
But after lunch the next day, when Xiang Jin and the others came back to put their lunch boxes, Director Zhao came again, but the purpose of this visit was to surprise Xiang Jin and Yan Chen.
Because Director Zhao came with 500 yuan, and he gave them 500 yuan each. The reason was that he went back and held a meeting with several leaders of the school to discuss it, and he felt that the two of them had gone to school yesterday.
The proposal is correct, that is, strict school rules and disciplines should be formulated as soon as possible, and the supervision of boarding students should be strengthened.
Therefore, the school gave them strong encouragement and rewards for their good suggestions. This five hundred yuan is their reward.
There was no unnecessary expression on Yan Chen's face, but Xiang Jin was a little stunned.
Seeing that none of them answered, Director Zhao said, "Take it and buy a pen, ink, paper and inkstone or something. Since the amount is not very large, we won't commend it publicly in the school. You just need to know it in your own mind.
Don’t go outside and say it, you are both extremely smart children and you should both know."
The two of them immediately understood, how could this be the school's commendation money? In this era, when junior middle schools and primary schools want to reward students, they usually directly give out certificates and notebooks, as well as pens and other school supplies. How can students be rewarded with cash? This
It's obviously a seal for them.
Fee, tell them not to go outside and talk nonsense. After all, rural people in this era have very little legal knowledge. It is not an exaggeration to say that they do not understand it at all. Presumably they will not give people the consolation money in a humanitarian spirit.
, so we have to seal their mouths.
Xiang Jin was thinking whether she should pick it up, not pick it up, or pick it up again. You must know that this is free money. With these five hundred yuan, she will not have to pay for living expenses for next semester.
I went to the bank to withdraw the extra.
Just when she was struggling, Yan Chen directly reached out and took it, including her share, and then he said, "Thank you to the school for the commendation and encouragement to both of us. We also know that the school leaders are very grateful to us."
Thanks to our hard work and cultivation, I would like to ask the leaders to rest assured that we, as
Students, of course, focus on their studies. As for everything else that has nothing to do with their studies, we will naturally not pay attention to it, and we will not pay attention to it. As the saying goes, we are deaf to what is happening outside the window and only read the books of sages. We still
I have to take exams, so I don't have time to worry about other things."
Xiang Jin nodded sharply, "Yeah, yeah," and then expressed his position, "Yan Chen and I have the same idea."
Although these words were cryptic, Director Zhao still understood the meaning of their words, that is, they would not have those people who knew the law in the future, and they were trying to reassure them. At this time, he was indeed relieved, and then
He nodded, "Okay, then I'll leave. I have something else to do."
The two of them nodded.
After he left, and after a while, Xiang Jin said, "I feel like we were bribed!"
Yan Chen nodded, "That's true!"
Xiang Jin said, "Then you still accept it?"
Yan Chen said, "I won't feel at ease if I don't accept it. Didn't you say that you just want to spend this last year of junior high school in peace? Then let's accept it. It's not a big deal anyway, so I don't want it.
Are you too talkative outside? Are you and I the same talkative people as Ai Guangxian?"
Xiang Jin shook his head, "Of course not. I prefer to do less than to do more. Why should I talk too much and meddle in such things? I'm full to support myself?"
Yan Chen said, "That's right, then what do they want to do to us if they want to think too much? Since they want to give it away, let's just accept it. Five hundred yuan is enough for half a year's living expenses. If you don't accept it, it will be free.
, it’s all for nothing, why don’t you take advantage of the advantage of having it delivered to your door?”
Xiang Jin pursed his lips and nodded, "I think what you said makes sense! Okay, let's accept it then!"
Then she leaned her head towards him and whispered to him, "I think people will start giving us money now. I think we will definitely not be short of money in the future!"
Yan Chen burst out laughing, he was never short of money!
Then I heard Xiang Jin say again, "Sure enough, there is a golden house in the book!"
Yan Chen directly put the five hundred yuan into her hand and said, "Put it away!"
Seeing the brand-new 100 scrolls in his hand, Xiang Jin immediately smiled and narrowed his eyes, "What a windfall!"