I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

"Technically speaking, we're barely friends."

She corrected immediately.

"Yes, yes." I sighed helplessly. "Although I don't know where you got your experience, thank you for your guidance."

"Oh, it's not really teaching... Oh, wait." She seemed to suddenly remember something. "Do you have any experience in love you could share? You don't look like someone who would be annoying to girls, do you?"

"...You're asking the wrong person. I've only been confessed to once by a girl, and I rejected her."

"For a guy like you, being confessed to once is already enough, right?" She showed a playful expression.

"...Well..."

She wasn't wrong. Actually, I'd been trying to convince myself it was all just a dream. I was just someone who wasn't worthy of a confession.

"But you're really good at rejecting people. What's your reason for rejecting someone? Is she not good-looking?"

"No, she's beautiful... and cute."

After Li Qinya's instigation, I actually began to recall her appearance over and over again.

"So that means he has bad character?"

"Even though she was a bit rude for a while...she is actually a gentle and kind girl at heart."

"...So, it's just a personality clash, right?"

"...It's never boring to be with her. We always discuss different topics..."

"Uh... Is it because my family disagrees?"

"If my mom knew I was in love, she would be so happy that she would set off firecrackers to celebrate."

"Um...so you hate her?" In fact, she didn't believe this statement either.

"...If I had to say I hate it or I like it, I would definitely like it."

"Then why did you refuse?"

She seemed quite angry. She was just asking a question... and her back hurt from being photographed.

"There are many reasons. You're not me, so no matter how you explain, it's useless."

"Then explain it to me. You're not me, so how can you be so sure that I don't understand?"

“....” “.....”

Her eyes are so...stubborn that I don't know how to describe it in other words.

"...Just consider it as a part of helping you find love."

The world is like an irresponsible teacher, handing everyone a question with multiple answers. Clearly, any answer is acceptable, yet people insist on establishing standards of right and wrong.

"I'll tell you clearly how I felt at that time."

I already had a premonition at this point.

This short girl in front of me, named Li Qinya, has a fundamentally different approach to the challenges that are about to come. And there aren't many things I can do for her...

"All ears."

Looking at her, or more precisely, looking into her eyes, I couldn't help but think of my early self. The simple desire to do something was so hard to find now.

The raised flag is not a good thing

"You live in a really remote place."

It took at least 20 minutes to get to her current residence after taking the subway. If I lived in a place like this, I would definitely not want to go to school.

"Isn't this great? Away from the noise, I can work quietly. No one will bother me, not even door-to-door salespeople."

"Working..."

Considering what I do now as work, should I say dedication or something else?

"Making money from something you can do is a job. If someone asks me what I do, I can definitely say 'full-time writer' or 'author' or something like that. There are all sorts of bizarre professions in this world, so I think mine is pretty normal."

"...I didn't mean to refute you." She said so much to herself, "Now that you're home, my mission is accomplished. The journey home is long, so I say goodbye."

"I don't mean to keep you for tea. Be careful on the way back." She waved at me and said, "Or you can call a taxi."

"No need, it's not far from the subway station anyway." If you run, it will take about ten minutes to get there, but there is no need.

"Thank you so much today for telling me your past experiences honestly. Honestly, it gives me a little more confidence."

My experience only gave me a tiny bit of confidence... I'm a bit disappointed. But that also means I haven't had a significant impact on her. If she just rushed into it and confessed her feelings, that's exactly what I don't want to see.

"It's okay, just keep doing it."

I said giving her a thumbs up.

“…Ahaha…”

"Then, goodbye." I said, waved and turned to leave.

"Wait a moment! I suddenly thought of a very important question."

"Um...what's the problem?" I had no choice but to turn around and look at her again.

"Do you still have someone you like now?"

"..." I hadn't expected her to care about this. It was something I had no idea how to respond to. After a moment's thought, I finally responded.

"Of course. Do you have any other questions?" In order to avoid being called back halfway, it would be better to let her ask all the questions.

"No." She looked quite happy after receiving the answer, although it was unclear what she was happy about. "Although I have already said it just now, I still want to remind you to be careful on the way back."

"...Yeah, bye."

What is the reason for this operation of raising two flags in a row?

Chapter 4: The flag raised is not a good thing

I don't know when it started, but the idea that men should respect women has been gaining popularity in society. Well, it's not that this behavior is unacceptable, but it's hard to understand the reason behind this idea.

If we want to promote gender equality, we should not just use the slogan "Men respect women". Women, who have the same rights, should also respect men.

If the purpose is just to advocate that women have higher rights than men, then it is implicitly admitting that today's society is still a society where male power is higher than female power.

But thinking about this kind of thing is ultimately meaningless. At best, it's just online talk, without any concrete action. Demanding change without considering how to achieve it is ultimately just empty talk.

The reason I thought about this was simply because after sending Li Qinya home, I still had a long way to go before returning home. I was alone on this journey, so accidents were inevitable.

This does not mean that men can avoid the danger of walking at night. After all, things like money and internal organs have no ownership, and whoever grabs them owns them.

This world is truly strange. Anything of practical value is clearly priced... even body organs and human lives can be bought with money. With a high enough price, even knocking someone unconscious and stealing their kidney is just as common. The money gained clearly outweighs any legal consequences.

"Well, there's nothing to be afraid of..."

As the saying goes, what is destined to happen will happen. If an accident is destined to happen, there is no way to avoid it. After all, among so many works that involve time travel, almost none of them can change the existing timeline.

Ah, that seems a bit far-fetched. But even if you don't think about it or look at it, this kind of thing will still exist.

This is the best time and the worst time.

No matter when you were born, there will always be a group of people who think this way. And the fact is that this is indeed the case... because this world has always been like this, no matter how science and humanities develop, the essence remains unchanged.

"........"

When I stopped at the bridge railing and came to my senses, I suddenly realized that the river water under the lights was quite beautiful.

..........

After this time, my family still hasn't called to ask where I am, which means no one is home. Even if I go home, I won't be able to eat...

I had just exited the subway and was strolling down the street when I reluctantly put away my phone, ready to find a restaurant. Compared to the previously deserted suburbs, the streets in the city center were naturally bustling with people at night.

"..."

Having said that, as soon as I put my phone back in my pocket, it started ringing and vibrating. If anyone could be so ignorant of the current situation, it would be Miss Ye Jinye, the most prominent person in my social circle.

And that was indeed the case. Looking at the "troublemaker" in the caller ID note made it clear. She was the only one who could easily cause me trouble.

"Hey..."

"Where are you fooling around so late?!"

"..." Although he really wanted to respond with "No matter where he's hanging out, it's none of your business," he thought it wasn't worth getting angry with such a person, so he gave up. "I have something to do, and I'm on the street right now. What's going on?"

"My family is out again. I went to your house after cram school this afternoon and have been waiting there ever since. You haven't come back yet. I'm almost starving."

"Oh——" That's exactly what I wanted, "Then you should just starve."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Oh, it turns out that saying no to those self-righteous people is such a pleasant thing.

"Okay, how dare you hang up on me!"

"...Who do you think you are? Why shouldn't I dare?" Faced with another call, he remained calm and even found a restaurant and started looking at the menu.

"Say another two words and I'll format all the disks on your computer."

"Mu Da, Mu Da, all the precious data has been backed up to the cloud drive. Do you think it's still a few years ago? The same tactics won't work on me." Not only that, I even ordered, "Large BBQ rice bowl."

"Wait! I heard you ordering."

"That's what I'm telling you. So, if you have the guts, just find me and I'll treat you to a meal."

Poor thing. She's in middle school and her parents restrict her spending, so now I'm the only one she can rely on. Normally, I might let it go, but now that I have the upper hand, I can't miss this opportunity for revenge.

"Damn... There's no way I'm going to find this."

"Then I'll give you a hint."

"...What hint—"

Before he finished listening to her words, he put his phone aside, paused for a few seconds, and then started talking to her again.

"That's my clue. If you can figure out where I am from the noise just now and find me, I'll let you do whatever you want..."

"Don't say any more, stupid brother."

"Eh...?"

Her tone was completely different from before. After all, she was asking me for something, so even though she was upset, she refrained from calling me "idiot brother." But now, she was clearly confident.

"What... You didn't really know where I was based on the noise just now, did you..." I actually felt a little guilty in this situation.

This is like the plot of a mystery novel.

"Whether it's true or not, you can just experience it yourself to find out. I'm going to find you now and empty your wallet—" He ended the call in a hurry, unable to suppress his joy.

"..."

Now she is the one who hung up the phone on my behalf... Hey, is this true? Could she be the real genius?

Actually, I don't care about this at all

Now that things have come to this, perhaps some of the people who have been watching our lives and taking pleasure in it may not be aware of what is about to happen, so let me briefly explain it.

This is a story about a young man who is about to grow old and is surrounded by sorrow as strong as the wind.

This might sound a bit hard to understand, but if I had something to inscribe on my tombstone, I'd probably write something like, "This guy spent his life in melancholy." After all, the charm of a man who embodies melancholy is beyond words. If you don't believe me, you can look for examples of such frustrated travelers throughout literary history.

At my age, I haven't yet experienced the feeling of frustration. There are probably two reasons for this. One is the times, and the other is that there's nothing I want to do, so there's no such thing as frustration. It's in this state of idleness that I become more attentive to the stories of others.

If food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are all essential for living, then stories are born out of life. While it's difficult to discern truth from what others say, the hardships people face are real. Some people cheat, deceive, and commit all sorts of evil, but what they reveal is poverty.

Lack of money is the root of all evil, and besides laws, so-called morality is what helps people restrain their evil desires. It's impossible to trace the origins of this so-called moral dilemma; simply because they started out that way, subsequent generations naturally follow suit. But in the end, they don't know whether their actions are right or wrong. Many people hold the belief that "rules set by our ancestors are infallible." It's no wonder that the idea of ​​male superiority and female inferiority has only been gradually eliminated in modern times—or perhaps it hasn't been. The root cause is the belief that the majority is right. It sounds like a strange theory, but people are like pine caterpillars circling a clay pot, blindly following those who have followed them, only to go around in circles.

This is a person who sees things clearly.

Yet, for various reasons, these things, easily broken, remain unspoken. Perhaps it's because "this is the best of times," or perhaps it's because the people around me are all "happily confused" mediocre people and self-righteous fools. Therefore, silence is far better than being misunderstood.

Wanting to surrender to the tide of life.

This is the cruelest reality I can accept now. After leaving my parents' protection, the life I will face cannot be explained in words.

"Oh, trouble, trouble."