"Yes," Luo Binhan said, "I have a sister."
Chen Wei's posture was like that of a priest, listening to a married man confess his unknown illegitimate daughter.
"She is a bit special." Luo Binhan continued, "Not...not very special. Children these days are quite self-centered, so I think she is just ordinary and a bit naughty. I dare say that there are actually many children like this. When they grow up, they will know how to take care of themselves. By then, they will take the initiative to plan their own lives without anyone else having to worry about them."
Chen Wei didn't express anything about these remarks, which made Luo Binhan a little embarrassed. He knew that it was nervousness and guilt that made him adopt this defensive tone, but he still continued with a little anxiety: "There is a big age difference between her and I - of course it cannot be compared with your situation, but for us here For a cub, if you are three years old, she will think you are old-fashioned. I saw her not long after she was born, just a little red thing. From then on, I took at least half a month to see her every year. She. I almost watched her grow up, and that feeling is very different from that of siblings who are similar in age. It's different here. She doesn't treat me as the kind of friend who can share secrets, more like Government stooge—her mom was her government, and I was an agent sent by an evil government to spy on her. That's definitely how she viewed me when she was six or seven years old."
"I understand." Chen Wei said solemnly.
Luo Binhan began to nervously grab his hair. The traumatic experience in the past had made him forget that Chen Wei had not paid, so he grabbed the nearest wine glass and drank heavily.
"It's hard for me to think of her as a sister," he said incoherently, "I mean - a sister of the same generation. Sometimes I feel like I'm more like her uncle, or uncle, anyway. A relative who is a generation older than her. Once I kept thinking about asking her to wear an extra sweater before going out. I told her about five or six times, and she went to the next door neighbor and borrowed a cane for me."
"crutch?"
"She said it was time for me to go out for a walk to prevent Alzheimer's disease."
Chen Wei put her hands on her legs, straightened her back, and lowered her head to her chest, like a warrior expressing condolences in front of a lonely grave.
"People do have a dilemma when dealing with their loved ones. You just care too much about your sister. The person you care about the most cannot understand your own feelings. I think it is really troublesome."
"Oh," Luo Binhan said, "Actually, it's not bad. She does often dislike me, but sometimes I will let her suffer a little. After all, she is just a kid, and there are some tricks that she can't even think of - for example, I put Her favorite broccoli was chopped up and stuffed into meatballs, which she didn't realize until she was halfway through eating. Another time she tried to secretly replace all her cough syrup with Coke so that she could get away with it when her mother was supervising her drinking. You guessed it? What was the result? She spit out everything she drank on the spot. Because I had sprinkled a handful of chili powder in her Coke. I went a little overboard... I just wanted to teach her to drink the medicine honestly. , but since then she doesn’t eat spicy food, not even a little bit. You know her parents like Mexican food.”
Luo Binhan's breathing suddenly became easier. He grabbed the wine glass and thought for a moment, and finally concluded with a morally guilty, but at the same time a bit triumphant attitude: "She has suffered a lot from me."
"Yeah." Chen Wei said slowly. She put her hands back on the table.
Luo Binhan was immersed in the illusory sense of victory for a while, and finally returned to the topic they were talking about. He anxiously grabbed the glass again.
"Anyway," he said, "I've known since she was little that she's not the quiet type. She likes to take risks and explore strange things, and she does have some skills in that area. She can really dig out things that ordinary kids can't. The things she found... I don't know, sometimes I think she encountered so many things, it's not like she dug them up, but those things found her on their own initiative. But she is just an ordinary person, a native of our place, I can guarantee that. All I can say is, maybe life in our backcountry is not as boring as it seems.”
"Are you worried that she will be in danger?"
"I think she can actually handle that kind of small danger." Luo Binhan said, "I mean the gangsters who strike up a conversation, or thieves and drunkards. She grew up listening to her father's adventure stories, and she also knows how to Using guns and electric batons. I was a little worried that she would get into some big trouble, but I have been worried about this for more than ten years anyway... Sometimes, I still have nightmares about her."
Chen Wei nodded. Like Falk, she was an ideal listener and easily made people feel valued.
"Most dreams will never come true," she said. "Although there are people who can use their dreams to sense luck, I don't think you have that ability."
"Of course I don't think those dreams will come true." Luo Binhan defended, "Those are just ridiculous contents. They are all caused by worry. However, it is true that she can easily cause trouble. I don't want to involve her. Come into my business.”
"I should say, it's something on Jing Huang's side or mine, right?"
Luo Binhan's wine glass was empty. He thought for a moment bitterly, and then said: "It will be because of me."
"How do you say this?"
"She is used to confronting me." Luo Binhan said bluntly, "Of course, it was just a joke. We are by no means the kind of brothers and sisters who really have conflicts, but we are used to observing each other in this kind of game. If I hide something from her, it’s easy for my sister to tell, and she’ll try her best to find out what I’m hiding. If I tell her it’s harmful to her, she’ll only redouble her efforts to find out.”
"But, what's the problem in that case?"
Chen Wei asked in a very serious manner, as if she didn't take it for granted. Luo Binhan felt that he couldn't grasp her meaning for a while.
"She's quite inquiring," he explained. "I'm worried that she will indeed find out something."
"I'm not doubting this, Luo Binhan. What I want to know is, even if she knows about Jing Huang or me, what kind of impact will it have? For your sister, there should be no way to interfere with me or Jing. Of course we wouldn’t do anything to her for Juan’s behavior.”
Luo Binhan looked around blankly for a while, as if he could find the answer to this question in the room.
"She's going to..." he said vaguely. "She's going to take some action."
"Although you say so, I don't think she can take any real action. In your current situation, you cannot communicate and contact the outside area. At least it can be done according to the current framework for ten thousand years. . Even if your sister knows about the existence of the entire alliance, it is just an incredible story to her."
As if remembering something interesting, Chen Wei showed an unsettling smile. She added: "It's like a myth...or a distant fairyland or some other place. Even if you occasionally roam in a dream, it won't affect real life, right?"
"Really?"
"Because for you here, myth is indeed just a fiction, a concept that has nothing to do with life or history, right?"
"No."
Chen Wei blinked: "Isn't it? But I have read your mythology books. Although there are possible prototypes, I'm afraid most of them are things that have never happened in your history."
"Because we just believe things that don't exist." Luo Binhan said indifferently, "Basically, the survival confidence of our entire species is based on believing in lies and fictitious concepts, even if we ourselves can prove that they are false. .”
He stared at Chen Wei's cold eyes. From those strange black crystal-like pupils, he seemed to be able to clearly see his own reflection. The face seemed unfamiliar because it was unreal. He immediately collapsed on the chair, clutching his chest and said: "You make her believe that the alliance exists, and she will resurrect Hitler immediately. Do you know who Hitler is? I don't want to I saw my sister’s name on the list of Class A war criminals!”
Chen Wei seemed to say with a hint of dissatisfaction: "Resurrecting the dead is not that simple."
"I don't want to see her marry Hitler II either!" Luo Binhan replied painfully.
Now Chen Wei's dissatisfaction became clear. She put a hand on her waist and said reproachfully: "What you said is too far-fetched, Luo Binhan. Although your sister was more naughty when she was young, it cannot be said that she harbors the intention to completely exterminate all people in this world." Ambition——"
"She has no such ambition and it doesn't stop her from doing so." Luo Binhan interjected.
"Anyway, I won't accept such an excuse."
Luo Binhan seemed to see Chen Wei's eyes emitting a crystal and hazy flash. He leaned back unconsciously, and the illusion of halo disappeared. Still leaning back he said, "Well, maybe she won't."
Chen Wei blinked twice with satisfaction. Luo Binhan guessed that she meant no harm, but to be honest, when she smiled, instead of appearing friendly, it actually made him feel creepy.
"On the positive side," she said in a comforting child-like tone, "knowing that the Alliance exists is not a bad thing, right? You always think that bad things will happen to her when she comes into contact with things from the Alliance, but it could also be a good thing. Right? Like technologies to treat diseases and extend life, or methods to repair the environment. There are many common problems in primitive times, and the alliance has mature technical solutions. Why should you be afraid that your hometown will be related to the alliance? "
"I'm not afraid." Luo Binhan said, "But you must have something like admission qualifications, right?"
"Yes. Although I don't know much about this aspect, it seems that the standard is that you can independently find a technology for interstellar travel. However, this is not a rigid rule. After all, technological research depends on the physical environment. . If someone provides you with help, I don’t think the Alliance will care. This standard must only exist to limit the amount of assistance.”
"Let the person who does this figure it out for himself." Luo Binhan said nonchalantly.
"Is your sister someone who studies this matter?"
"Of course not. She's only sixteen!"
"Although, a girl I know started applying when she was three years old..."
Luo Binhan began to wave his hands randomly, as if to drive away the painful memories of taking care of a three-year-old child from his mind. He said firmly: "We don't have such a three-year-old prodigy here - not in reality anyway."
"In that case, you don't have to worry about your sister."
"No, no, that's not the case... This is not a question of technical level."
Luo Binhan was silent for a while. He had decided not to drink before entering, but now his glass was empty. He found it difficult to lie in front of Chen Wei, maybe that had something to do with her eyes.
"My sister is...a person with a very unique perspective." He adjusted his words, "I don't completely know what she is thinking, but her way of looking at things is very special. At that time, I often felt that she did not live In reality, but living in a story: an adventure story with herself as the protagonist, or maybe a dangerous love story. I have witnessed such a story two or three times. And she has a determination that in me It seems to be a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, that is, never give up halfway when participating in a story. Do you understand this?"
Chen Wei nodded quietly.
"And that's what worries me. In the past, whenever I saw a movie about crime or adventure, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if my sister was involved. Now I see, there's a possibility here that I I didn’t think about it before.”
There was real fear in his voice.
"What if she participates in a myth about the universe?" he murmured. "She sees the worst of it, or wastes her time chasing phantoms...what else? What if she You will never let go of something once you have firmly established it. I think the best solution to this matter is to prepare another completely unrelated story for her. She will become a successful protagonist, a very proud protagonist. I know She does have it. And her mother will support her. Isn't this a better way out? Of course it is better."
Chen Wei raised her wine glass. She drank with great concentration, showing neither agreement nor objection.
"At least I can be sure of one thing." Luo Binhan said, "Chasing myths will only destroy her happiness. Lifelong, long-term, balanced, happiness."
"What exactly is that, specifically?"
"I don't know." Luo Binhan shrugged and said, "There must be many standards for this. However, in my opinion, at her age, she must be able to sleep peacefully at night - by the way, do you need to sleep?"
"Although there are no consequences for not sleeping, I will still take a rest every once in a while."
"Really? Why?"
Chen Wei did not answer him, but asked: "If your sister knew about the alliance, wouldn't she be able to sleep peacefully?"
"You will always think about it. During the day, if you are so busy that your heels are not touching the floor, there will be nothing to think about. But at night, if you lie alone in bed with your eyes open, as long as you have a little space, you will always think about it. Thought."
"Does something like this bother you so much?"
"To be honest, it depends on who you are. My sister is the kind of person who has her head spinning all the time - I wish she had the same energy for exams. She's pretty good in every way. She's not short of money, and she's healthy. There's nothing wrong with her, her family background is pretty good, she just needs a good grade. It's not that she has to be at the top, but I think she can get 'good' if she really wants to work hard."
"Is that the life you want your sister to live?" Chen Wei asked.
Her tone sounded normal. But Luo Binhan was a little restless. He sensitively discovered that this question was aimed at him and not Yu Xiaorong.
"Isn't this some kind of wishing?" he asked alertly, "Don't you happen to have a wishing machine that you can use?"
"I don't have that kind of equipment. It's just that I didn't expect this from your sister, so I feel a bit surprised."
"It's nothing special. Why do you think so?"
"Probably because Zhou Yu once mentioned you to me. He said that you are a person with a very unique way of thinking, so I think you may have different expectations for your sister. I once heard a warrior from the Eternal Light Realm say , if people think that their mistakes are irreparable, they will always blindly hope to entrust their ideal posture to the younger generations. I have the same experience. But it is true, because although you have knots in your mind, you have not made the mistake. What a big mistake I made, I think it was indeed my misunderstanding.”
Luo Binhan didn't answer. He was extremely shocked that his friend was commenting on him behind his back. How could such a thing happen in the world? Zhou Yu, an upright person who doesn't eat the fireworks of the world, secretly said bad things about his friends to the ten thousand-year-old female monster who looks exactly like Zhou Yu. This is simply the most morally corrupt tragedy in human history.
"What did you and Zhou Yu talk about?" He asked seriously, "When did you meet?"
"Ah, we have known each other for a while. Probably a little later than you and Jing Huang. Because he has the aura of my descendants, so I paid extra attention to him for a while... Although there were some misunderstandings in the middle, we are all over it now. Clarified.”
"Then he knows you and Zhou Yu..."
"That's natural. There's no need to hide this kind of thing. I told him a long time ago."
"He didn't say anything? Didn't he express anything?"
"Well, because he has seen me use my magical powers and knows that I am not Zhou Yu. I think he doesn't care about other situations."
Luo Binhan stared at the rim of his wine glass. Chen Wei bent down and looked at him a little doubtfully.
"I'm fine." Luo Binhan said motionless, "I'm updating this version of the worldview."
"You accepted Jing Huang quickly when you met him, right? Zhou Yu said that when Jing Huang lived in your house, you didn't act abnormal at all and you always got along well with him."
Luo Binhan raised his head and said sincerely: "He is lying to you."
"Zhou Yu wouldn't do such a thing."
"That happened in the previous version." Luo Binhan announced sadly.
