Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 372 The Trolley Problem
"Teacher Ouyang, can't you sleep?"

The room was pitch black, with only the faint light from the desk lamp illuminating the small area beside the bed.

Although the doors and windows were closed and the curtains were completely drawn, the noisy sound of rain outside the window and the occasional flash of white light were still enough to show how heavy the rain was outside.

It was so noisy that I couldn't sleep.

Ouyang Lianyu tried to forget the horrible woman she saw tonight and fall asleep as quickly as possible. However, the more she tried to forget, the more she couldn't. In addition, she had watched a horror movie tonight, and many scary images flashed through her mind from time to time. She tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

It was already twelve o'clock in the middle of the night. Fearing that she would wake up Xiao Xiaoxiao beside her, she turned over very gently, but it seemed that she still woke her up.

Hearing the sound, Ouyang Lianyu suddenly felt apologetic and said softly, "Sorry, Xiaoxiao, did the teacher disturb you?"

"No." Xiao Xiaoxiao turned his back to her, half of his head buried in the quilt, his voice sounded muffled, "I couldn't sleep anyway."

Ouyang Lianyu smiled bitterly and said embarrassedly: "It's all because the teacher's movements were too big."

"Teacher Ouyang, don't always look for the reason in yourself. It has nothing to do with you. I have always had insomnia." Xiao Xiaoxiao said as he yawned.

"Insomnia...is it because of something on your mind?" Ouyang Lianyu asked worriedly.

"My worries... you could say that."

"Can you talk to the teacher? It's okay if you don't want to talk."

"It's not really a big deal."

Xiao Xiaoxiao hesitated for a while, as if she didn't know how to describe her feelings. "How should I put it... I'm just a little conflicted."

"Tangled?"

"Well, it's like a child who is looking forward to growing up, imagining that he can do many things that he couldn't do in the past, eat snacks that he couldn't eat when he was a child, and play toys that he couldn't play with when he was a child. But when he really grows up, these things seem to be meaningless."

"The teacher understands the feeling you are talking about."

Ouyang Lianyu listened patiently and comforted her softly, "But even if the things from childhood have lost their meaning, there are still many new things to try when you grow up. Since the wishes of the past cannot be realized, then work hard to achieve the wishes of the present... So are you in the troubles of adolescence now?"

"What's puberty? I'm already grown up, okay?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao raised her voice to express her dissatisfaction, hesitated for a while and muttered, "But it seems that it is not impossible to say so..."

Ouyang Lianyu smiled and did not respond, but waited quietly for the other party to continue.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Xiaoxiao continued, "Maybe my analogy is not quite right, but it's probably like the 'trolley problem'... Of course, it's definitely not a problem as serious as a life-or-death decision."

Ouyang Lianyu restrained her smile. Of course she knew what the trolley problem was.

On a track, there is a tram that is out of control. It is speeding and the driver has no way to stop the tram.

What was terrifying was that there were five people tied up in front of the tram. If no action was taken, these five people would surely die.

The only thing the driver can do is pull the lever to make the trolley change track, but there is another person tied to the other track.

On one side are five lives, and on the other side is one life.

In other words, no matter which track the driver chooses, people will eventually die. The only difference is the number of casualties.

This can be said to be an unsolvable proposition, because no matter from which angle the choice is made, someone will die in the end, and the value of life obviously cannot be simply judged by the number of people.

It is impossible to calculate whether five lives are more important than one life, or whether they are equivalent.

The key point is that no matter what choice is made, the other result will be difficult to be accepted by the driver and the public. This is the trolley problem.

Ouyang Lianyu once spent a long time thinking about this question, but still could not come up with an answer.

Ethical issues are different from mathematical problems. The latter always have an exact answer, and no matter how they are deduced, the same result will be obtained in the end. However, the former may not necessarily get the same answer in the end even if they are deduced in exactly the same way.

So she likes science and mathematics more.

She expects a precise answer on most things.

Putting away his thoughts, Ouyang Lianyu asked tentatively: "You mean, you are facing a difficult problem that does not have an exact solution, and no matter what choice you make, you will not be satisfied in the end, right?"

"As expected of Teacher Ouyang." Xiao Xiaoxiao nodded, "That's indeed the case."

"No wonder you feel conflicted." Ouyang Lianyu said with a wry smile, "If it were the same situation, the teacher might not know what to choose."

She did not ask what the "trolley problem" Xiao Xiaoxiao was facing. If she was willing, she would definitely tell her the problem. If she was unwilling, there would be no point in asking.

As if she suddenly thought of something interesting, Xiao Xiaoxiao said proudly: "Teacher, you teach mathematics, and you are very good at solving math problems, but if it comes to solving similar difficult problems, your experience may not be as rich as mine."

Ouyang Lianyu laughed and said gently: "Then teacher, please teach me humbly. If you face similar problems in the future, what should you do?"

"It's simple. Use the process of elimination."

Xiao Xiaoxiao pulled the quilt down, revealing her slightly pale face. "If it's a decision you'll definitely regret, then don't choose it at all."

Her tone was quite serious.

Ouyang Lianyu was stunned for a moment, and said softly, "Is that so... What if I regret both decisions?"

“I haven’t had time to learn this yet…”

"what?"

"Nothing, let me think about it."

Xiao Xiaoxiao changed the subject and said after a moment's consideration, "If you will regret both choices, then choose the one that makes you more satisfied. You will regret it anyway, so why not make yourself happier?" "That makes sense, teacher, I understand."

Ouyang Lianyu smiled. She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but she felt that Xiaoxiao seemed different now than usual.

"Have you used the process of elimination to solve the current problem?" she asked.

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head and reached out to touch the peach blossom earrings on her earlobes: "It's not time to use them yet."

The movement of her shaking head was not big, but Ouyang Lianyu still felt it. The soft hair made her neck a little itchy, so she turned around and gently hugged the petite girl in front of her.

"Teacher Ouyang?" Xiao Xiaoxiao's body trembled.

"Xiao Xiao, you are thinking about something very unhappy now, right?"

"No..."

"Don't lie to me, teacher. I have a very sharp intuition in this area."

"Really do not have."

"Yeah."

Ouyang Lianyu did not ask further questions, but just smiled gently and said softly, "No best."

After a pause, she said softly, "If you have any worries, you can always come and talk to the teacher."

After a moment's silence, Xiao Xiaoxiao said "hmm" softly.

She was not used to the feeling of being held in someone's arms. She twisted her body uneasily and said, "By the way, Teacher Ouyang, can you go to Han Zhou's room now? Just tell him that my medicine was left with him."

"What medicine?" Ouyang Lianyu was stunned.

"Medicine to relieve insomnia symptoms."

"Okay, wait a moment, I'll be back soon."

Upon hearing that it was such an important medicine, Ouyang Lianyu immediately took it seriously. She did not even bother to ask Xiao Xiaoxiao why the medicine was with Han Zhou. She first sent a message to Han Zhou, then got out of bed, put on a coat and left the room.

The door was closed, and the only person left in the room was Xiao Xiaoxiao, curled up in the quilt.

The desk lamp emitted a faint light, dispelling the darkness beside the bed.

I don't know how long it had been, but suddenly a lost murmur was heard in the house.

"Really? I thought I would grow taller when I grow up."

……

Zhong Ling doesn't like thunderstorms, or rather, she is a little afraid of thunderstorms, especially thunderstorms like tonight when there is a mixture of strong winds and heavy rain.

Because such weather always reminds her of that terrible night.

She knew that her sister was also worried about the weather, but she was unwilling to show it in order to appear strong in front of her.

Zhong Ling had thought more than once that she was a useless person. She always relied on her sister but was never able to become her sister's support.

In fact, she really wanted to see her sister be mean to her once, just like how she often said with a cold face that her junior was a bad guy.

Because this means that her sister no longer has to hide and suppress her emotions in front of her.

But it’s better not to be too fierce, otherwise it would be a bit scary.

Zhong Ling didn't know whether she was asleep or not. She seemed to have many dreams in her daze, but she couldn't remember anything when she opened her eyes.

Turning her head, she saw that her sister was already fast asleep. Looking at her gentle profile, she couldn't help but feel at ease.

But when she looked at the other person's ears, which were more beautiful than most people's, her mood quickly dropped again.

At this moment, accompanied by the familiar message alert tone, the screen of the mobile phone placed on the bedside suddenly lit up.

Zhong Ling was a little flustered, worried that such a loud noise would wake up her sister, so she quickly picked up her phone to turn down the volume, while checking to see if anyone would message her so late.

Teacher Ouyang?

Seeing the avatar and the content of the message, she couldn't help but feel confused. She didn't quite understand what medicine Teacher Ouyang was talking about, and why he had to come to her to get it. She clearly didn't bring any medicine with her.

She wanted to unlock her phone to reply to the message, but she failed. It was not until the screen was locked for ten minutes that she finally realized the problem.

It seems she picked up the wrong phone.

This is not her cell phone, but her junior's.

The reason why the message alert tone just now sounds familiar is because it is the Fetion alert tone that my junior often uses.

Thinking of this, Zhong Ling felt embarrassed and anxious, realizing that she must have mistaken the phone on her junior's bed for her own. Her junior must be extremely anxious now, so she had to return the phone quickly.

But what if the junior student has already fallen asleep? Will it disturb him...

Zhong Ling hesitated for a while, but decided to take her cell phone to Han Zhou's room to check, and at the same time tell him about Guzheng's strange behavior tonight - she was so engrossed in the conversation with her sister just now that she actually forgot about it.

Oh, by the way, I have to tell my junior what Teacher Ouyang just said...

Thinking of this, she made up her mind, quietly lifted the quilt and got out of bed. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly hesitated, worried that her sister would be too anxious after waking up and not seeing her, so she took out a pen and paper from her bag, left a note under the lamp, then put on her coat and left.

(End of this chapter)