"Any character in a story, if she can be completely forgotten by the author at the end of the story, then she has gained complete freedom - the person walking on the edge of the story does not have to bear a long gaze, she only needs to do what she should do , when the mission is over, you can leave the stage completely and disappear from there..."
At this time, at the other end of the lawn, twenty or thirty young students were called together by the physical education teacher and began to line up and spread out to do warm-up exercises.
Xiang Hanshan stood up, picked up his huge luggage, and walked towards the edge of the lawn with Hesta.
Han Shan walked in front with his bag on his back, about one body ahead of Hesta. She talked about her insights enthusiastically, and Hesta was fascinated by it. When she talked about this slightly dreamy topic in detail, it sounded like it was different. Like some slightly unfamiliar worldly wisdom.
The pace of both of them gradually slowed down, and they arrived at a deserted pavilion. The fallen leaves on both sides of the pavilion were piled on the ground, tainted with the smell of last night's new rain.
Xiang Hanshan sat down on the corridor, "...when the spotlight is removed from her, her life will truly begin. At that time, she can finally be free from the danger of being stared at, free from all inexplicable responsibilities - the past The predetermined fate of the plot character has been fulfilled, and all the unknown future belongs to her... completely belongs to her alone.
"Think about it," Xiang Hanshan said with a smile, "Isn't this exciting?"
Hesta looked at the person in front of her.
"The 'unknown' you are talking about, this...'future', doesn't it belong to you now, at this moment?"
"Of course not now," Xiang Hanshan replied, "I am an NPC and I still have a lot of responsibilities to fulfill -"
"Who gave you this responsibility?"
"Creator, I have said it before," Xiang Hanshan turned back, "You can think of it as a huge game or text -"
"But this is just your assumption," Hesta said softly, "You can't prove it to be true -"
"Indeed, but you can't prove it is false," Xiang Hanshan smiled even more happily, "And isn't this assumption fun? Why do you have to worry about whether it is true?"
Hesta was silent for a moment.
"Because you said you want to be free. But it sounds like you have created a cage of ideas for yourself to explain why you cannot be free at this moment."
"Don't be so serious..." Xiang Hanshan kicked up the leaves under his feet, "If you are not interested in this topic, we can also talk about something else."
"I'm interested. I discussed a similar issue with my friend not long ago," Hesta recalled, "It was about this summer -"
"I suddenly remembered that I have something else to do today," Xiang Hanshan suddenly slapped his forehead and grabbed his huge backpack again, "I will withdraw first - ah, don't worry, I will hand over the outline to Lin Jiao as soon as possible. We are here There’s a meeting on Thursday night, and I reckon she’ll invite you then.”
"Okay." Hesta nodded, "Then I'll wait for your news."
The two waved to each other, and Hesta stood there, looking thoughtfully at the back of Hanshan Mountain.
The conversation just ended really hastily.
…
On Wednesday afternoon, Hesta sat in Yu Xuekun's consulting room as scheduled.
"This is the situation," Hesta said softly, briefly summarizing the new news she learned yesterday. "Lin Jiao has made an appointment with me to go to Wenhui Building on Thursday night. I guess she might mention the consultant thing by the way. But no matter what, I will refuse it when the time comes.”
Yu Xuekun was very pleased, "This is the best."
"How can they hire a genuine mercury needle as a consultant? Is this allowed in District 14?"
"There are exceptions to everything," Yu Xuekun said with a smile, "Don't you think Fa En will step down now?"
"They still haven't told me what kind of society it is...do you understand?"
Yu Xuekun shook his head and quickly smiled, "But if you continue to follow them in their activities, I should be able to receive information about them soon."
"...It doesn't sound good to them."
"If you are really interested, you can actually put off replying to them until the end of November when your observation period expires, and then accept their invitation."
"The end of November..." Hesta was startled, "Shouldn't it be the end of September? You said before that the observation period starts when I enter Orange Town -"
"The people above have their own ideas," Yu Xuekun spread his hands, "I can't help it."
Hesta held her forehead.
"Is it really that painful to live in that home?" Yu Xuekun looked at her curiously, "I asked about the home selection criteria at the school, and they all carefully selected from a bunch of 'six good families' -"
"Forget about the 'Six Good Families'," Hestad seemed to be wearing a mask of pain, "I feel like I'm rushing to be executed when I go home every day..."
"You can continue studying at school and come back when it's time to go to bed-"
"No, I can not."
"Why?"
"Sometimes, I feel like Yuqing wants me to stay there," Hesta's expression was a little complicated, "She's not in a good condition... Oh, how's Yugali doing lately? She started not replying to my messages again. .”
Yu Xuekun flipped through the calendar, "...She seems to have two exams today. If you wait a little longer, maybe she will go back tonight."
"Where did you get all this information?" Hesta frowned slightly, "Is there someone monitoring her movements?"
"No, why are you spying on her..." Yu Xuekun's expression was a little subtle, "It may not be very friendly to you, but... these things were indeed told to me by Yugali."
"Have you seen each other often lately?"
"She is very busy preparing for the exam. She has no time to go out," Yu Xuekun said softly, "We all sent messages to say so."
"...So she replied to your message," Hesta murmured softly, "She just... didn't reply to mine."
Yu Xuekun nodded.
Hesta slowly leaned back on the sofa, her expression gradually slipping from initial confusion to depression.
After a long silence, Hesta spoke in a low voice, "...I must have done something wrong."
"You didn't." Yu Xuekun replied.
Hesta raised her head, "Then why..."
"These are all issues that she has to deal with. Although it is also related to you, in the final analysis, it has little to do with it-"
"I do not understand……"
"If you can understand why she cried in the city hall that day," Yu Xuekun carefully selected her words, "...then you should also be able to understand why she is afraid to see you."
(End of chapter)
