Chapter 115: Non-Contention

“The reason you’re here now is that White Cloth felt it was safest for you to follow us at this moment. If you still have doubts, you can ask her yourself when she wakes up. She’s currently in a deep sleep within her own ‘Changing Room’.”

“Just to save me?” Qi Ran looked down at the white cloth beneath her and smiled silently. “Well, then… I’m undeserving of such an honor.”

Her fingertips subconsciously touched her neck, the very place White Cloth had once strangled her to death. The agonizing memory of suffocation was still vivid. She had first met White Cloth at Li Wanying’s house. Back then, White Cloth was Li Wanying’s accomplice and killed her without hesitation. Yet now, White Cloth had suddenly played the role of her savior, twice even. It was a rather curious thing.

“You don’t seem to believe me. Honestly, I can understand that,” Silhouette said. “If I had been kidnapped three times, I wouldn’t believe the thugs saying, ‘We don’t want money, we’re just protecting you’ either.”

“I said it from the very beginning, and I said it clearly. We are not a disciplined, organized group with a clear goal. We just huddle together for warmth. Some among us have ambitions; they want to do something to change the current situation. But their ambitions are their own, unrelated to others. We might help them, but only because we’re friends, not for some grand, so-called plan…”

Silhouette paused and added, “That might be a bit convoluted. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say.”

“Understood very clearly,” Qi Ran nodded. She then asked, “So, what about you? What are your own thoughts on this?”

“I naturally don’t belong among those with ambitions. I am a person without ideals or faith,” Silhouette said. “I am a day-to-day person.”

“A day-to-day person?” Qi Ran was hearing this term for the first time.

“It refers to someone without grand ideals or aspirations, someone who just wants to live a decent life,” Silhouette patiently explained. “Take me, for example. Unlike many in the Circle, I don’t care if I’m respected or not. I don’t care about so-called human rights or privileges. I don’t even care to debate whether the syndrome on me is a ‘talent’ or a ‘disease’… I just want to live my own life. I’m seventeen now. I’ve only finished mandatory education, but I’m self-studying the curriculum. When everything’s over, I’ll take the exam for an adult university, then get some certifications to help me find a job. That way, I can find better work.”

Qi Ran smiled silently.

“Did I say something funny?” Silhouette asked, not offended by her expression, merely curious.

“You remind me of a post I saw a long time ago. It said, ‘If you gained a superpower one day, the ability to teleport anywhere, at a very small, almost negligible cost.’ Everyone was discussing how they’d use this power for all sorts of things. Then, one person spoke up, saying he thought this power would be awesome for delivering food…” Qi Ran said. “I’m not mocking you. I just suddenly remembered that joke and couldn’t help myself. It’s the first time I’ve encountered a mindset like yours in reality.”

“It seems you don’t approve of this way of thinking,” Silhouette said. “Why?”

“—Ah, don’t take it too seriously,” he added, seeing Qi Ran’s expression. “Consider it a discussion. Speak freely. At least, that’s how it is for me.”

“Then let me apologize in advance for any potential misunderstanding or offense,” Qi Ran nodded. “The punchline of that post was that the person didn’t actually want to use a superpower to deliver food. He was just joking. He felt it was ridiculous that others were seriously discussing how they’d use such an impossible, fantastical ability. So, he said he’d just keep delivering food even with a superpower—everyone else was fantasizing, and he was the only one coolly thinking about reality. That felt too cool… how did that saying go? He felt he was ‘scarily calm,’ and that feeling was too cool, enough to make him proudly puff out his chest and look down on everyone else in the thread.”

“But the problem is, if there really was a button you could press to gain superpowers,” Qi Ran reached out and mimed pressing something down, “he would press it without hesitation. And after pressing it, there’s no way he’d keep delivering food. All those words he said before would be completely forgotten.”

Silhouette listened quietly, offering no rebuttal.

“So, that also prevents me from believing whether your earlier words were sincere. You said you don’t care if you’re respected, or about so-called human rights or privileges, or how the syndrome on you should be defined, or who gets to define it.” Qi Ran paused, then continued, “Yet you also said you hope to study, that you hope to find a job… That’s a bit contradictory. If you have no human rights, how do you expect to find a job? On what basis would a boss pay you a salary? Their own conscience? The restrictions and condemnation of social morality and ethics?”

“I can only imagine two possibilities. One: you’re a somewhat naive greenhouse flower, thinking things can’t possibly get worse and everyone will eventually sit down together in a happy family gathering,” Qi Ran said. “But you clearly aren’t that type. You’re good at organizing your thoughts and maintaining a calm, objective view of many things. You’re certainly not a greenhouse flower with a brain as smooth as a wrinkle-free sheet. So, I can only categorize you as the second type.”

“And what is the second type?” Silhouette asked, his tone calm, like a student asking a teacher a question.

“Compared to the first type, I’m much more familiar with the second. I can at least claim some understanding of that kind of person,” Qi Ran said. “Since you’ve seen my file, I assume you know I have a twin sister.”

“Of course, I’ve heard,” Silhouette nodded. “An impressive, memorable record.”

“My sister, many people describe her as mature and sensible. And indeed, she is. No matter what happens, she remains neutral, objective, and calm. Even if the sky were falling, she’d probably decide whether to run or just wait for death on the spot. Nothing seems to provoke an emotional change. She never shares her thoughts, never takes a stance. No matter the situation, she can accept it, always maintaining an impassive expression,” Qi Ran said. “For example, even if I suddenly slapped her in the face, she wouldn’t get angry or hit back. She’d start analyzing why I hit her, what purpose the slap served, what consequences it might lead to…”

“You sound like you hold her in high regard,” Silhouette said.

“High regard?” Qi Ran said softly. “Look at her, don’t you find it pitiful? She does everything to the absolute best, putting in ten, even twenty times the effort of others. Yet, anyone can easily change, or even destroy, her life without paying any price. Someone slaps her for no reason, and her final analysis is that the other person had no agenda, and this slap will have no follow-up, so the matter is settled.”

She pointed at herself. “That example wasn’t quite right, actually. If it were me, she’d hit back, because she holds grudges. But if it were you, or some stranger she just met, she wouldn’t retaliate. Because that wouldn’t be rational enough, wouldn’t maximize her interests… She feels that even if she hits back, there’s no benefit, and it might invite unnecessary trouble. So, she chooses to be calm, to let the matter slide.”

“In truth, that’s not rationality, nor calmness. It’s just cowardice,” Qi Ran murmured. “If a stranger slapped her, and I stepped forward, slapped that stranger back so hard they spat out teeth mixed with blood, would she feel displeased? No, she wouldn’t. The reason she doesn’t act is simply her unwillingness to pay the potential subsequent price,” Qi Ran stated flatly. “Ultimately, at her core, she’s a pitiful wretch who counts every penny and is cowardly by nature.”

She paused slightly, then added slowly:

“But luckily, my sister has one good quality. She at least has self-awareness. She doesn’t think being so calm makes her superior, doesn’t think those who rage or wail are too ‘irrational,’ and certainly doesn’t think those emotionally broken wretches are utterly stupid… She has very little arrogance, very little. And that’s the reason why, even now, I can’t truly harbor any resentment towards her.”