The male supporting character was actually myself.

When I was a child, there were many customs associated with weddings in the inner city.

One of the requirements was that the groom's family had to give eight betrothal gifts. A's sister was very beautiful and her husband's family was quite wealthy. The eight betrothal gifts were very generous and all made of pure gold. Among them was a gold-threaded fan that was both beautiful and valuable. It was said to have been made by a famous craftsman before the disaster and was kept as a family heirloom by the groom's family.

It was agreed that the betrothal gifts would be sent over to make a show of things, and then taken back on the wedding day.

When we were kids, there were all sorts of trendy little items among students. I remember that year, pretty gold-flecked fans were very popular, and almost every classmate had one except for A, whose family was poor and couldn't afford one. He always felt that others looked down on him.

When A saw the valuable gold-threaded fan among his sister's betrothal gifts, his vanity got the better of him, and he wanted to steal it to show off at school. He was ten years old that year, no longer a child, and could not fully understand the significance of his sister's marriage to the whole family.

No one knows what he was thinking or what he did, but A actually stole the gold-threaded fan and brought it to school. He sat at the entrance of the small shop with the highest student traffic, eating snacks and showing off by playing with the gold-threaded fan.

We've never seen such beautiful and valuable items before.

Many classmates who usually teased A shamelessly went over to say nice things, wanting to touch or take the gold-threaded fan.

A was as smug as a peacock displaying its feathers that day, looking down on everyone with disdain.

At first, the fan was passed around among the students, admired and appreciated. But gradually the crowd dispersed, and no one knew whose bag the valuable gold-threaded fan had ended up in. Anyway, by the time A realized what was happening, the fan was gone…

Si Anrui listened intently to the story, but when he heard that such an expensive fan had been lost, he slapped his thigh and winced in heartache. "He wouldn't be stupid enough to say that he stole it and then lost it, would he? Wouldn't his family beat him to death if he did that?"

Du Xuerui: Σ(°△°|||)︴

You clearly did something wrong because of vanity, and you mean... you're going to lie to your family to avoid responsibility?

What kind of shameless person could come up with such a thought?

"He stole something that didn't belong to him to show off, and ended up losing it, ruining his sister's marriage and the family's hopes of living in the inner city! His sister was dumped and burdened with huge debts and is still working to pay them off. His parents had no choice but to take him to the slums. All because of his vanity and selfishness, he ruined the whole family!"

Du Xuerui felt she was becoming incoherent, and excitedly waved her hands to emphasize her point, "It's all his fault!"

The person who stole the fan is certainly despicable, but the premise is that A also stole the fan from his own home. It wasn't his property, so he had no right to touch it! Wrong is wrong!

A is a minor who escaped legal punishment and doesn't even have to bear the debts, ruining the whole family. Doesn't he have even the slightest remorse? Is he even worried about being beaten?

Si Anrui couldn't understand why she was so angry, so he shrugged and said in a light tone, "In my opinion, A didn't do anything wrong. He's only eight years old and still a child."

Besides, he just wanted to show it off, he didn't mean to lose it, so why blame him?

If anyone's to blame, it's his parents for not raising him properly. A child's ignorance is the adults' fault. Just like the mistakes I made back then—I was only three years old, what did I know? My parents chose to have me, so they have a responsibility and obligation to educate and supervise me. They failed to supervise me properly, and I got into trouble; they should bear full responsibility!

To be fair, who doesn't have a bit of a desire to show off?

How could A, who couldn't predict the future, know that the valuable gold-threaded fan would be stolen? His biggest mistake was admitting to stealing it; that would mean his whole family would bear the consequences. He could simply refuse to admit he touched it, and what could happen if it was lost?

“But…” Du Xuerui opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. What the other person said seemed to make some sense, but something felt strange and not quite right.

Her head was buzzing, and after calming down for a moment, she realized she was a little hungry.

He took two lunches from the trunk, handed one to Si Anrui, and said in a muffled voice, "Eat first, I still have work to do after I finish eating."

"Thank you." He accepted the lunchbox and thanked him politely.

Seeing this, Du Xuerui asked curiously, "I'm just a stranger I just met, and you're so grateful for the food I gave you. Your aunt raised you for fifteen years, and you've eaten so many meals of food that she earned through her hard work. Have you ever thanked her?"

Si Anrui looked up, completely bewildered. "Why should I thank her? Choosing to take care of me was her own decision, so she has to bear that responsibility and obligation. Isn't it the most basic requirement to make sure I have enough to eat and live comfortably?"

You and I are not related, so of course I should thank you for giving me food.

Providing food is her duty, her obligation! You have to see the path you chose through, even if you have to crawl on your knees, otherwise it's irresponsible. Don't you know that?

Du Xuerui: Σ(OдO|||)ノノ

Is there something wrong with this theory?

"Children don't have the right to choose how they are born. Letting them be born into this messed-up world is a decision made unilaterally by their parents, so don't be fooled into being grateful or anything like that. They decided to have us and raise us, so they have to take full responsibility. It's their duty to raise us well; if they don't, it's their fault, and we shouldn't have to pay the price."

Why bring us into this world if there aren't good conditions? Did you ask for our consent before bringing us into this imperfect world?

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Du Xuerui finally figured out her point of rebuttal: "If you had studied biology properly, you would know that if you didn't want to be born, you wouldn't have to rush to compete for the opportunity. Maybe it would have been better for your parents if you hadn't competed and had a different brother or sister."

Don't spout nonsense like "children don't get to choose their birth." If you didn't want to be born, you wouldn't have fought for the opportunity in the first place. And to put it another way, if you truly feel that everything is wrong and the whole world has wronged you, you can commit suicide and die—it won't waste air and water resources.

After a few sharp words, she finally felt better and added, "You can decide your own fate, but remember not to harm others. No matter what excuse you use, you should never touch things that don't belong to you!"

Whether it's the money your aunt painstakingly saved, or the gold-threaded fan that Sister A received as a betrothal gift, you were terribly wrong from the moment you decided to steal it!

Chapter Sixteen: Cannon Fodder, Run!

Si Anrui pouted, clearly unconvinced, but the beautiful girl beside him was both his sugar daddy and someone he liked, so he decided not to argue back to avoid ruining their relationship.

He silently finished a delicious meal from the inner city, beautifully packaged with a good mix of meat and vegetables. It was the first time he had ever felt so satisfied. Compared to that, the black bread he had eaten for so many years, which was hard to swallow and needed to be soaked in water to soften, was simply garbage!

"I'd like to ask, how much does such delicious food cost per serving?" Si Anrui didn't want to ask too much, but the atmosphere in the carriage was a bit awkward, so he wanted to find a lighter topic.

Du Xuerui checked the virtual map. Her colleagues were very close to her and had been secretly protecting her. When he asked her, she replied absentmindedly, "The supermarkets in the inner city usually sell three types of meals. Grade A is better and more expensive, Grade C is the cheapest but it's all vegetarian. We're eating Grade B fast food."

Each serving costs about thirty yuan, but it can be cheaper when there's a discount.

If you just want to be full, you can buy Grade C: a serving of rice and two different vegetable dishes are enough to provide nutrition, and the taste is also quite good. One serving costs fifteen yuan.

I usually eat at a C-grade restaurant when I work overtime at night, spending an extra two yuan to add a fried egg.

"Holy crap! So cheap?!" He thought things in the inner city must be ridiculously expensive, with a delicious meal costing at least a hundred dollars. Who knew he would hear such a shocking price.

For just thirty yuan, you can have vegetables, meat, and rice. Even if she were to treat herself to a better meal every few days, her income would be more than enough. Yet she was so stingy that she hadn’t bought herself anything in fifteen years!

Du Xuerui: Σ(°△°|||)︴

Convenient and cheap?

How dare you, someone who does nothing but spend and never earns, say that a 30-yuan fast food meal is cheap?

My monthly salary is 6,000 yuan. If it weren't for the company's meal allowance when I'm on business trips, I wouldn't be willing to eat such expensive fast food all the time, okay? It takes some time to buy groceries and cook for myself so that I can have some left over...

"How much does your aunt earn in a month?" To be on the safe side, she first asked about the family income.

Si Anrui grumbled twice in dissatisfaction, "Sometimes more, sometimes less, on average I can get about four thousand yuan by working overtime."

"Four thousand?!" Du Xuerui couldn't help but raise her voice.

What gave him the confidence that a meal costing 30 yuan was cheap when his family's monthly income was only 4,000 yuan and he could only earn 4,000 yuan by working overtime?

One fast food meal costs thirty yuan, so two meals would cost sixty yuan.

This idiot thinks that eating half of a day's hard-earned income in one meal is the only thing humans need to worry about in the real world?

“That’s not bad, is it? The rent for our place is only 100 yuan a month.” Si Anrui then added.

Du Xuerui glanced up at the "high-rise" made of discarded shipping containers not far away. The room was cramped, dark, and dangerous. Let alone a hundred yuan a month, she wouldn't want to live there even if it were given to her for free, having grown up in a proper community in the inner city.

"The living conditions are poor, so it's naturally cheap. But what about other expenses?" She asked earnestly, counting on her fingers, with the meticulous mindset typical of children from the lower class in the inner city. "You need money for your schooling, and the family's total income is only the hard-earned money from your aunt's work."

After paying rent, meals for two people, water bills, clothes, shoes, socks, daily necessities, tuition, and books, how much of that four thousand yuan will be left? Don't forget that you've just turned 18. Living in this kind of environment, a child with a very weak immune system can't just tough it out when they get sick.

"You need to set aside emergency funds for medical treatment, plus unexpected expenses. Have you calculated how much money she can save in a month?"

Si Anrui was completely bewildered. He had never imagined that his tiny, pigeon-coop-like home would have so many expenses.

"I see that your clothes are a bit dirty now, but overall they are still relatively new and there are no stubborn stains, which means that you have washed your clothes and shoes carefully. Did you do these housework yourself?"

Si Anrui: ...

He usually just goes to the closet to find clean clothes to wear, and throws the dirty and smelly ones on the sofa.

"Do you know that a bar of bath soap costs eight yuan? A tube of toothpaste costs ten yuan; a toothbrush costs five yuan and needs to be replaced every few months; laundry detergent or soap costs about twenty yuan a month; a bottle of shampoo costs more than thirty yuan; and a pack of 12 rolls of toilet paper costs at least thirty yuan."

"If your aunt cooks all three meals a day, not counting the cost of groceries, there are other expenses: pots, pans, knives, cutting boards, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, bedding, pillows, sheets, electricity for lights, and even the broom for cleaning!"

“As long as you don’t earn money, from the moment you open your eyes and eat the food in that house every day, you are consuming your aunt’s money, time, and energy. Everything you get is due to her selfless dedication and silent sacrifice.”

Si Anrui: ...

Somehow the topic veered back to itself. In less than an hour of knowing her, she had already criticized him countless times, making him more annoying than a stupid woman. Frustrated, Si Anrui finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Who told her to support me? Did I beg her? She decided to take me through hardship herself, and I didn't even have the right to choose!"

Since she has taken on the responsibility and obligation, she should respect my ideas.

I don't want to study or tinker with those messy parts. I just want to wait until I'm eighteen to enter "Perfect World" and do something great!

Si Suduan is just trying to move herself. Who cares about my feelings when she's feeding me meager meals every day?

A meal costs thirty yuan. I'm not asking her to eat this every day. Will buying it for me occasionally really starve her? If she's really that poor, how did she manage to save up 160,000 yuan in secret savings?

Sixteen thousand! Even if you only spend ten thousand on good food and drinks, you could live on it for a long time…

"Your aunt raised you out of kindness, not out of obligation. You weren't her biological child, so she has no responsibility or obligation to you. She raised you all these years without letting you lack food or clothing or making you scavenge for garbage or work as a child laborer. You should be grateful!" Du Xuerui was furious. If it weren't for the company's assignment, she would have kicked this bastard out of the car and left him to fend for himself long ago. Why would she have to put up with this?

After he was interrupted, there was a brief silence in the carriage.

The two were clearly not willing to back down and turned to look out the window at the raging wind blowing through the sand.

"Redemption Plan, Redemption Plan, the reward is exceptionally generous!" Du Xuerui silently repeated this to herself countless times before finally calming down for the sake of the reward. Without even looking at him as he started the car, she said in a muffled voice, "Even though you only started guiding me at noon, I'll still pay you for the whole day."

After it gets dark, I'll take pictures of the buildings under the lights. I'll finish work around 9 PM and settle your daily wage.

This should be the first pot of gold you've earned on your own, right?

Go buy your aunt a small gift she likes, visit her in the hospital, apologize to her, and talk things out so you won't upset her again.

My aunt is very ill. If the treatment isn't effective, she might not have much time left. For the sake of the fifteen years she's raised you with such care, please don't let her be sad and heartbroken, lying in the hospital bed worrying about you.

She paused, then emphasized, "You need to understand that the strongest bonds people have in this world are with their families. Besides your aunt, you have no other blood relatives, and she's been so good to you; you shouldn't hurt her feelings."

If you ask me, your aunt has protected you too well; she's never let you suffer or endure hardship.

I grew up in the inner city and know best the benefits of studying and learning more. Look at me, I studied hard and got a job at M Technology Company. I have a stable job and a decent salary, which allows me to support my parents who raised me and give them a peaceful and happy old age.

Only after experiencing the harsh realities of society will you understand that if you don't endure the hardship of studying, you'll have to endure the hardship of life.

Even if you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you still have to endure hardship. No one in this world lives an easy life. Even the young master of M Technology Company has to consider how to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the company's development. But the degree of hardship varies. If you actively endure the hardship of learning, your future life will be relatively less difficult than others.

Virtual game worlds are ultimately virtual; people need to face reality to gain a foothold.

Otherwise, once the virtual game shuts down, everything will vanish like an illusion, and you'll have nothing left. Only by establishing yourself in the real world and having family by your side can you live a better life.

Be realistic, you're only eighteen. As long as you don't run away from reality and face it head-on, you have a full year of youth ahead of you where you can change your life.

"Don't wait until you lose something to appreciate it, then it will be too late." Du Xuerui didn't want to say any more, and sighed softly, "You are an adult now, ask yourself and think carefully about what you should do."

She drove aimlessly around, while Si Anrui listlessly slumped in the passenger seat, occasionally giving directions.

Jiang Chen watched this scene through the 3D holographic camera installed in the car and couldn't help but frown slightly.

The script team has abandoned the project and is leaving it to fend for itself. Since the character settings can't be changed, it seems the redemption plan won't go well.

"Look at him, spouting nonsense with such self-righteousness, tsk tsk!" The little white cat, perched on his shoulder, munched on dried fish, shook its head, and pursed its lips in evaluation: "I almost threw up listening to him. I really don't know what the script team was doing, giving the protagonist such an idiot character. No amount of effort could save him."