I'm not Yingjie

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

The man hiding in the shadows asked the Speaker who was spinning a coin.

"Hasn't it been decided long ago?" The Speaker smiled, appearing both crazy and calm in the interweaving of shadows and lights. "Are you afraid?"

"...Those escorting soldiers are all innocent."

"innocent?"

The Speaker placed his finger on the front of the coin. He placed the silver coin on the table and put away his smile. “Do you still care about this?”

"Don't you know how to do that?"

"I am essentially no different from other high-ranking officials." The Speaker's cold eyes flashed with a cold-blooded look. "We will all stop at nothing to achieve our goals. To me, the only difference is the value of giving up how many people and who to give up. I will not become less of a bastard just because I killed other bastards."

"..."

"I think many people have heard this question many times. A trolley is coming. There are five people tied to one track and one person tied to the other track. You can only choose to let the trolley go to one of the tracks. This is the classic trolley problem. What would you choose if you were in their shoes?"

"...Let one person die."

"A wise choice. Let me change the question. Those five people are all heinous criminals, scum who can be shot on the spot. The man on the other road is a helpful person. He asks you to switch the tram tracks to his road to save those five people. What would you choose?"

"There's no need to think about it. If those five people were alive, they would only bring disaster to society." His tone was cold.

“Hahaha…” The Speaker chuckled, “In this world, humans stand at the feet of the behemoth that is society. They shout loudly, but not to express their own wishes, but to let someone who conforms to their wishes realize their ideal world for them.”

He stood the coin in his hand on the table, with the front side facing himself and the back side facing the empty seat: "Then again, who is that person?"

"what are you talking about?"

"That person could be a top official in a country, a star who can make things happen, a shrewd politician, a cook, a cleaner, a waiter, or even a beggar."

“What matters is not who the person is, but whether that person has the same idea.”

The Speaker turned around and smiled at the man, "I am a demon who has killed countless people, but the people who follow me agree with my ideals, so I help them realize their wishes. All I need is their 'recognition', even if it's only for a moment. In that moment, they become me."

"When you answered the question just now, you knew exactly what you were thinking. For just a moment, you also agreed with my thoughts."

“So, do it.”

This child is Anna

"Boom boom boom!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Uncle! The sun is shining on your butt!"

Lin suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes, the bags under his eyes looked particularly heavy under the drawn curtains. He covered his ears, trying to ignore the knocking sounds coming from his door that seemed to smash it down, and escape into sleep.

However, the noise was like a vampire hitting his roof with a steamroller, and it was not something that an ordinary person could ignore if they wanted to.

"Ka." Lin opened the door impatiently. Just as a snow-white figure was about to rush in, he grabbed the forehead with one hand and lifted it up.

"Do you know what day it is today, Anna?"

The girl whose head was grabbed was wearing a flawless white velvet dress, her face was as red as if she had put on blush, her long chestnut hair leaked out from her beret, playfully draped over her hips, and the snowflake-shaped hairpin added a lot of cuteness to her.

Lin's grip was as strong as the veins on his forehead, causing the suspended girl to whistle with a dry laugh: "Toot↑Toot↓Toot↑Toot↓... Isn't it my birthday?"

She played it quite rhythmically.

"I know it's your birthday, thanks to you sending me messages non-stop since yesterday morning. I knew it even if I didn't want to know!" Lin's expression was distorted, and his fingers exerted force, causing Anna to hold her head and twist in the air. "But school is closed today! Thanks to the heavy snow, our hard-working teachers can rest assured for a day, and our smart classmates can play comfortably for a day."

"Think about it, how many opportunities does a high school student with the pressure of going to college have to get a good night's sleep? Don't you think this is a gift from God?"

The girl looked at Lin with tears in her eyes: "But, but, today is really my eighteenth birthday..."

"I know, that's why I still allow you to be here instead of throwing you out."

Lin put Anna down, rubbed his wrist, and pointed outside: "Okay, happy birthday to you, go back and celebrate with Binet."

"Big……"

"Oh!"

The slam of the door made Anna's words stuck in her throat.

……

"Wow... this is too much. How could the uncle kick me out just because he wanted to sleep in... I clearly wanted to celebrate my birthday with him..."

Bi Nai touched Anna's head awkwardly, and comforted her helplessly: "Okay, don't cry for now. I know it's Lin's fault, but you can't harass him 24 hours a day."

Anna grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose, muttering, "But I just can't help it."

"......Alas." Bina didn't know what to say. She knew Anna and Lin's tempers quite well. Sending harassing text messages non-stop was something Anna could do, but in her memory, Lin seemed to have always been nicer to Anna and tolerated her like a brother. Why was he so angry today?

Maybe he was really annoyed.

Anna and Lin are in the same high school, Lin is a third grader and Anna is a freshman. They met during a heavy snowfall. Bina doesn't know the specific reason, but Anna has been pestering Lin since then, calling him "uncle" all day long, which sounds quite weird to outsiders.

But Binet felt that she didn't need to worry. If her estimate was correct, Anna would probably cheer up in less than a few minutes.

"No, I'm so mad! I've decided, I'm going to ignore uncle for a month!" Sure enough, after wiping the tears from her face, Anna sat on the chair with her arms folded angrily, which made Bina smile bitterly.

"A month seems a bit long... then let's do half a month! Hehehe, without a perfect girl like me by his side for half a month, he will definitely be lonely and unbearable, and decide to come to me on his own initiative. By then, I will ignore him and make him mad to death!"

"…Forget it. If the uncle takes the initiative to find me, I won't be angry."

...Are you so easy to please?

Binet touched Anna's head and smiled at her, "Why do you have to celebrate your birthday with Lin? Can't we celebrate for you in the orphanage?"

"I know." Anna's eyes flickered as she bit her lower lip unwillingly. "I actually wanted to pull the uncle over here... Last time, the uncle said that he had never seen Santa Claus since he was a child, because he is also an orphan, so I wanted to take advantage of this birthday to dress up as Santa Claus and give gifts to everyone in the orphanage and the uncle..."

So this is ah……

Binet felt a little distressed and a little amused. Even if it wasn't Christmas, she would still dress up as Santa Claus just to bring happiness to others. This was indeed Anna's style.

"It's your birthday, how can I let you dress up as Santa Claus?" Binet chuckled, "You are the one who should receive the presents."

"……I do not want."

"what?"

"I'm the oldest in the orphanage! I'm an adult! How can I be taken care of!" Anna pinched the corner of her clothes and said tremblingly, "There are so many little ones who haven't grown up yet. I can't always be a child."

"...Anna."

"Bina, you don't have to say anything! I've made up my mind! Just watch tonight!"

Binet was unable to stop Anna and could only watch her run out with hesitation.

……

At night, in the candlelight atmosphere, the children were looking forward to the Santa Claus that Binet mentioned.

“Is Santa Claus really coming?”

The children looked at the gate with great interest. There was misty snow outside, which was very romantic.

"Yes, I will." Bina stood behind the children kindly and nodded.

At this time, Anna was standing outside the door trembling with fear, rubbing her hands. She pressed down the Santa hat on her head and the beard on her face to make sure that her disguise would not be discovered.

She took a breath of cold air, braced herself, and strode to the door, arms outstretched, ready to speak to the children...

"Wow! It's really Santa Claus!"

“Santa Claus is coming!”

However, all her preparations disappeared under the sight of another festive red figure, and even the smile gradually faded from her face.

At some point, another Santa Claus had appeared in front of the children, in front of her.

The Santa Claus turned around, with a smile on his familiar face. With the snap of his fingers, many colorful lights and fireworks fell in the orphanage in an instant. The originally deserted orphanage was suddenly filled with a festive atmosphere.

Anna opened her eyes wide and looked at the exquisite colored lights. She couldn't remember when she had set up these mechanisms hidden in the walls.

Recalling the tired face and bloodshot eyes of the person in front of her in the morning, she understood something.

"Hello, I'm Santa Claus." The man walked up to him, tilted his body in a funny way, and stretched out his gloved hand. "Only the most obedient children can see me when they are eighteen years old."

"To reward a good child, I can grant her one wish."

The orphanage fell silent, as still as the quiet night before sunrise.

The girl lowered her head, and her crystal clear tears fell on the snowflakes at her feet, melting the ice crystals.

"Really...any wish is acceptable?"

"of course."

"Then please come again next year."

Santa Claus tilted his head and smiled warmly:

"Of course, my child."

Chapter 48 Letter

"Since I was born, I have been curious about one question: what kind of creature is human?"

"Are they greedy? But there are many selfless people. Are they cruel? But there are many people who protect life."

"When the end of the world comes, some people sacrifice themselves to protect the weak, while others help the society in times of chaos. Both are human beings, but they are completely different."

“The protector might have been a gangster before, and the troublemaker might have been a doctor before. They do things that run counter to their former selves, but they don’t think there is anything wrong with it.”

"So this question has not been answered until now, and maybe there will never be an answer in my lifetime."

"After all, I am also a contradictory human being. Can I answer questions with questions themselves?"

The man sat on the thick wooden bed, facing the empty room with no one responding, he told the monologue in his heart that no one knew. He never told these words to others, whether it was to avoid exposing his weakness or for other reasons, he himself didn't know.

Human beings are always like this, often changing without realizing it, doing things they once did not know how to do.

His eyelids were lowered, and there seemed to be a flame burning in his eyes, but the flame soon disappeared. Looking at Zero who was still unconscious, the man's head drooped further, as if it was about to fall off his neck.

Zero was still expressionless in his sleep. He was so exquisite and perfect that it was hard to tell he was a living person. But precisely because of this, in the eyes of men, this face made them feel more horrible and ugly.

"I did the same thing as your parents. Judging from the results, we are no different." The man laughed at himself and took out a pistol from the holster at his waist. Looking at the bright Fire Moth logo on it, his expression became complicated and resolute, as if something had replaced his consciousness.

He opened the magazine, removed all the bullets except for the last one, and then...

"Click."

The man looked at the pistol, the rough handle felt cold, then looked at the sleeping Zero, his delicate skin gleaming in the light.

He raised the gun expressionlessly and slowly pointed the muzzle at Zero's head.

"..."

One pull of the trigger and this man-made monster will die.

This is his responsibility. Even as a senior executive of the Fire Moth, he would not take a person's life seriously.

Sacrifice a few for the sake of the majority; sacrifice the wrong people for the sake of the right people.

Isn't this what we have always done?

However, when the man's finger was on the trigger, he felt as if it was as heavy as a thousand pounds and he couldn't move it even a little bit.

Slowly, slowly, slowly... he turned the gun around.

When looking directly at the weapon that took the lives of Zero's parents, the man actually felt a sense of relief.

"Xiao Lin, in the future, I will let you live in a place where no one knows. There I will tell you the truth about everything. Then, it will be up to you to make the choice."

There was no gunshot, and the man did not take any life. He unloaded the last bullet and put it in his pocket near his heart.

Then he hid the pistol in the ceiling of the house.

"Who is this gun aimed at, Xiaolin?"

……

"Hey."

She struggled to open the heavy door, fanned away the dust, and sneezed a few times.

It seems that when it was first built, it was planned that this door would never be opened, otherwise it would not be made so difficult to open. But in the end, the door was not blocked but the key was left behind. It seems that the builder's mood must have been quite complicated.

After searching the entrance, she couldn't find the light switch and could only explore the basement in the dark.