Chapter 868: Love
"Scope of knowledge?" I let out a wry laugh. "This probably doesn't have anything to do with 'knowledge,' does it?"
"Yan Zhichun... I told you I've been alone and miserable since I was a child. If there were a single person who could become my entire focus, I wouldn't need to say this sentence at all."
This was a rather rare situation. I wanted to ask directly, but I was afraid it might be offensive. After thinking it over, Bai Yang wasn't an ordinary person either. Asking directly probably wouldn't matter, right?
"So you don't even have any family?" I asked.
"That's right." Bai Yang nodded. "All my family passed away when I was young. Starting from middle school, the only person in this world who had any connection to me... was just myself."
I suddenly began to understand where the "divine nature" in Bai Yang came from. He felt that the people in this place were closer to being family than those in the real world.
Even if they were a bunch of strangers, they were forcibly gathered together by the existence of the "interview room." For Bai Yang, this kind of relationship made him feel like the people in the room were something like family in a strange, subtle way.
It seemed like he had no self, yet he was also deeply immersed in his own self.
"Brother Yang... among all the people you've known in this world... isn't there a single one you'd want to go back and see one more time?"
After hearing this, Bai Yang squinted his eyes and thought for a long time, but in the end, he only uttered two words—
"No."
Hearing those two words, I felt regretful... Perhaps Bai Yang's situation was similar to mine.
But I was the one being isolated by others, while it was possible that he had isolated himself.
If that really were the case, what reason did Bai Yang have to leave?
He had no family and no attachments. He possessed the mindset of a powerhouse and a wonderful spiritual value. I even felt that the "Land of Finality" could better bring out all his talents.
But if he was determined to leave, all I could say was—
"Then I have no solution."
"No... it can't be that there's no solution." Bai Yang frowned. "If we have a line of thought, we can try it. You've mentioned a line of thought I've never considered before."
"Is that so..."
"Yan Zhichun, can one person really carry this eternal motivation just because they want to see another person?"
"I just think it's worth a try." I sighed. "Since you can't leave for your own sake, then you have to leave for someone else's."
"But what's the reason...?" Bai Yang looked at me, puzzled. "Why would that person be so important?"
"The reason is 'love.'" I answered. "It's the one thing in this world that surpasses everything else. It can exist above logic, above reason, above worldly conventions."
Hearing my explanation, Bai Yang slowly lowered his head, his eyes somewhat dazed.
It seemed that no matter how powerful a person was, there were always things they were never good at.
"Brother Yang... have you never met such a person in your life?" I continued. "In some moment of being with her, you'd suddenly have a thought flash through your mind—'If I could spend the rest of my life with her, that wouldn't be so bad either.'"
Hearing these words, Bai Yang's gaze grew even more vacant. I might have truly touched on a blind spot for him.
Unfortunately, for a smart person like Bai Yang, when facing others, he always felt a huge gap between himself and them.
The average person's IQ is about a hundred, while a Border Collie's IQ is about seventy. With a thirty-point difference in IQ, we can clearly perceive the difference between an average person and a Border Collie.
If Bai Yang's IQ reached a hundred and thirty... would he see ordinary people the way we see a smart dog?
Yes, if it were me, I wouldn't know how to fall in love with a dog either. We fundamentally couldn't empathize with each other.
"Tell me..." Bai Yang said. "Have you ever had such a thought? Falling in love with someone... or wanting to spend the rest of your life with another person... or something like that."
Hearing this, I naturally felt a bit ashamed. I slowly moved my left hand behind my back, using my body to block the tattoo on it.
If there had been someone who could accompany me, why would I have carved these three letters on my skin?
"Interesting. I remembered that tattoo the first time you showed up. Do you think hiding it now will do any good?" Bai Yang asked bluntly.
"I..."
I knew that in Bai Yang's eyes, I was just a smart dog.
"What do those three letters mean?" he asked again.
I swallowed hard, feeling like "You Are Not Alone" was my last shred of dignity. Once it was torn away, I would have no pride left.
"It's... it's my surname." I said.
After hearing this, Bai Yang gave me a helpless look, then said, "Are you trying to tell me that the letters tattooed on your finger aren't 'YNA' but 'YAN'?"
When people instinctively defend themselves, they blurt out lies. It's the same even when facing someone like Bai Yang.
What's interesting is that lies are like Pandora's box. Once you tell the first lie, you can never stop.
"Yes... yes. Because I'm a student... I didn't have much money." I said. "I found a cheap tattoo artist, and he ended up tattooing it wrong."
Bai Yang clearly saw through my lie, but perhaps to spare me a shred of face, he chose not to expose me immediately. He just sighed faintly and said, "So tattooing a name on your finger... is that some kind of trend?"
"Maybe. I've actually seen girls do that before." I replied. "The cursive letters of a surname, or the initials of a name."
I felt like Bai Yang was very interested in this topic... I wasn't sure if it was out of curiosity or a thirst for knowledge.
"What do two people in love do together?" Bai Yang asked again. "Spending the rest of your life with another person—wouldn't that get boring?"
"True love is ultimately about the ordinary, I suppose."
Actually, I had never experienced much love myself. I could only tell Bai Yang my own understanding. Even if that understanding deviated from what normal people thought, I could only say I did my best.
"What kind of ordinary?" Bai Yang asked me.
"Maybe on an ordinary day, she'll wake you up after your afternoon nap. When you walk out of the bedroom, you'll find she's already made two of your favorite side dishes." I thought for a moment and continued. "You don't have a grand, passionate love story, but you are each other's only support in the world. You sit together and talk, talking about a lot of things. Every time after a meal, you'll sit on the rooftop, watching the sunset and chatting about memories."
The atmosphere fell silent for another ten-plus seconds, as if Bai Yang was trying to understand the meaning of my words.
"So love... is two people spending time together doing a lot of meaningless things?" Bai Yang asked in a low voice.
"Right." I nodded. "Love is doing meaningless things that make each other happy and will be remembered forever."
"I see..." Bai Yang sighed, his expression somewhat troubled.
"So have you thought of anyone?" I said. "Hasn't there ever been such a person in your life?"
"I'll think of someone soon." Bai Yang said. "Can you bring me a mirror tomorrow?"