"What is this?" Joseph frowned and asked. Joseph did not have much urge to take it to his mouth for those unknown things, which shows that he was not a big eater before crossing over.

"Let me tell you, this crystal liquid, it is the goddess of youth Herb entertained Zeus, the king of thunder and lightning, when the jade pulp. It was given by the Muses to their followers ．．．．．． Come and try it, it will bring you all kinds of dreams and inspirations and make you forget all your worries." Armand replied in the exaggerated tone of a recitation of the Cid.

"Come on, Armand, you're not on stage, you're not performing the Cid. What the hell is this thing?" Joseph sounded impatient.

"O mortal man, the endless treasure is before you, but you have no eyes to see it. Amand continued in that aria-like voice, "Do you love gold? With it, the treasures of Ali Baba and Alexandria will open up before your eyes; do you love fantasy? Drink it, and the infinite space, the deep ocean will open their arms to you; you love power, drink it, you become Caesar, become Augustus, become Alexander. Isn't that tempting enough?"

"What is it?" Joseph frowned. He knew that this was a time of widespread abuse of psychotropic drugs.

"Have you ever heard of Sarasin?" Amand asked.

"Of course I have. I know the Assassin's Creed." Joseph thought so and said, "Of course, of course.

"Then you know about the old man of the mountains who tried to assassinate Philip Augustus. Legend has it that he ruled over a rich valley flanked by lofty mountains-where he got his legendary name. Legend has it that in that mysterious valley there was one of his gardens, where, according to Marco Polo, he planted an immortal herb. His voters, the assassins, could ascend to heaven earlier if they ate it. After seeing the bliss of heaven, they all believed that by serving the old man, they could enter that heaven forever. So the old man told them to kill whoever they wanted, and they went to kill. Even if they had to trek to the end of the world, to the golden apple tree where Hercules had been, or to face torture or even beheading. They had no fear, for they thought that it was only a way for them to ascend to the paradise to which they had briefly gone. Now, my friend, the key to this paradise is in front of you."

"Indian fire hemp!" Joseph said.

"That's right, that's the stuff!" Amand said with an exaggerated smile, "Well, want to try it?

"No, no, no," Joseph said, "You know, Amand, I've always been very resistant to these oddities when it comes to food and drink.

"Alas, Joseph, your life will be less interesting for that! But maybe you don't really need it, because you never lack the spark of inspiration. Besides, your attitude toward food is a bit like my uncle's. Armand said, "Well, what's wrong with your father?"

"I'm not sure yet." Joseph said sadly, "But the doctors suspect that he has a tumor in his stomach that is causing his stomach to bleed and ulcerate. All in all, it's very dangerous, and the doctors can't do anything about it. They don't think he's going to last much longer. Maybe I'll have to leave school soon and go back to Corsica.

"Will you come back?" Amand asked.

"I hope to come back," Joseph said. Joseph said, "Who wants to leave Paris? But, you know, I have several brothers and sisters. The sisters are fine, but the brothers have to go to school, and that's a lot of money. If something were to happen to my father, as the eldest son of the family, I would have to step up and take responsibility for the family.

"Joseph, you're not even fifteen yet." Amand said, "Even if you want to work, it's still a little early. You are now also a year short of graduation. If you drop out of school at this time, not only a pity, but also, you now directly to find a job, and after graduation to get a certificate to find a job, can get the salary, will also be much worse. Perhaps you drop out of school to work a year in advance, the salary you can get, but not as good as gritting your teeth, and then study a year later to get one-half of the salary. Your family is noble ．．．．．． Of course, I know that Corsican aristocracy and France's aristocracy are very different ．．．．．． You know, I'm talking about the economic difference and nothing else. But, after all, the nobility is nobility, even if the poor nobility, but only compared to the other nobility is poor. So, I think, your family can always find a way to support you another year.

Joseph shook his head and said, "My friend, our family's financial situation is more serious than you think. The poor aristocrats you mentioned are the poor aristocrats of France. But the poor nobles of Corsica are even poorer than the poor nobles of France. As you know, Corsica had just gone through the war, and the war had caused great damage to the wealth. In addition, in the beginning, France did not recognize the nobility of Corsican nobles as nobility. Later on, although it was conditionally recognized, it cost money to obtain this recognition. And it cost a lot of money. This almost drained our family. So today, our family is much poorer than you think.

"All right, all right." Amand said, "But I still think ．．．．．． By the way, how's your English?"

"It's not bad, maybe a little better than my French." Joseph replied, "What can I do for you?

"Don't you need money?" I was asked to find someone to translate the poems and plays of Shakespeare and Milton," said Amand. He pays well, not much less than you drop out of school to find a job. Well, in fact, you can not spend much money to study, and even if you live a simple enough life, there is still a little left, you go to school while doing more work like this, and let your family a little frugal, to support a year, should not be a problem. After a year, you'll graduate and have a chance to get much more money than you have today.

Joseph knew that Amand's claim that he had been asked to find someone to translate Shakespeare's and Milton's poems and plays were not entirely true. What was really happening was that Amand had been asked to translate them.

"Amand, you were asked to translate, right? If I take it, won't I be robbing you of your money?" Joseph said.

"Hey, I'm so busy nowadays, how can I have time for this? You see, I have to enjoy the fairy dew of Herb, the goddess of youth, and I have to deal with my whole company of qíngfù ．．．．．． God, where do I find the time to do such frivolous things? If I spent my youth at my desk, my qíngfù would be in the bed of Fabio or some other kid I don't know. It's just that the person who entrusted me is my friend, I can't shirk. If you are willing to do it, it will really free me! Amand replied in an exaggerated tone again.

The fact that Amand is good-looking, well-born, and has money in his family, he is indeed very attractive to women. He often compared himself to Don Juan, a typical European medieval legendary pervert, similar to what the Chinese call a "dengue" (a "dengue"), so he did often see different women around him, but to say he had a series of qíngfù would be bragging.

"Thank you very much, then." Joseph replied sincerely, "Besides, do you think I could be an assistant to your uncle after I graduate?

"What? As his assistant?" Amand's eyes widened, "Ah, my friend, with your level of mathematics and natural philosophy, of course, it's no problem. But I don't recommend that you work as an assistant to my famous uncle after you graduate." "Why?

"Why?" Joseph asked.

"If you're not under financial pressure, it's not a bad idea to be his assistant, you can learn a lot. But you may not know that my uncle ．．．．．． Ah, he is my elder, and the pride of all France, I should not have said anything about him. But no one is perfect except Jesus. My uncle is the same, in a way ．．．．．． Have you ever read Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"?

"Yes." Joseph nodded.

"In some ways, he's a bit like Shylock there. So, if you're under financial pressure, it's not a good choice to be his assistant. Amand laughed bitterly.

"So that's how it is ．．．．．．" Joseph also followed.

Joseph knew that Amand's uncle, Lavoisier, was one of the greatest scientists in France, but he also knew that Amand should not have slandered his uncle. Lavoisier had a thirst for wealth. So even at the time of the Revolution, even though he knew that he was an aristocrat and was not liked by the Jacobins in power, he still risked his life. But he still took the risk of taxation, hoarding, and speculation, and was finally guillotined and had his head chopped off. At that time, mathematician Gralanges lamented: "It takes France a hundred years to grow such a smart brain, but they cut it off in just one second. But even Grainger, who said this, did not think that Lavoisier had not done what the Jacobins accused him of doing.

"With your skills and the reputation of Louis the Great's school, it is not difficult to find a suitable job. For example, it would be easy for you to become a priest in a black robe," Amand said. Of course, theoretically, a priest has to give up a lot of things, but in fact, it's a different matter. You know, many popes have kept qíngfù. Pope Alexander VI may have even had his own daughter ．．．．．． What a ．．．．．． It's enviable!

"You're a beast!" Joseph rushed to say.

"Thank you for your high opinion of me," Amand replied shamelessly.