Chapter 2796: I Was Just Smelling
Xu Huo didn't answer. He smiled, then called over a street vendor. After negotiating with the owner, he took a sugar figurine and turned around.
"Thank you, uncle!" The little girl happily ran over, only to see him shove the sugar figurine into his own mouth and crunch off its head with a bite.
The little girl was shocked and confused, but she kept her composure and didn't make a big fuss. She sneaked a glance at her parents, then tried to quietly communicate with the vendor.
"Xiao Qing!" A shout came from ahead. The little girl immediately stepped back and loudly defended herself, "I was just smelling!"
Her words embarrassed the adults. A few other children also ran over, looking very tempted.
Xu Huo took five more sugar figurines from the vendor and handed them out. "Vegetable version sugar figurines, worth a try."
The children saw the variously shaped vegetable leaves inside the thin sugar coating and suddenly lost their craving for snacks. They righteously refused, claiming they weren't hungry at all.
The adults didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but they still made the children accept the sugar figurines and say thank you.
Unlike the other children's grimaces, the little girl happily chewed on her sugar figurine. "I like vegetables, and I like sugar figurines too."
"Then eat mine for me," her brother turned his head and said, but his attempt was thwarted by their parents before it could succeed.
The children were unhappy, and the adults started laughing and joking.
The little girl ate her sugar figurine and whispered, "When I grow up, I'll buy as many sugar figurines as I want."
She paused, then looked at Xu Huo. "When I do, I'll trick kids just like you."
Xu Huo chuckled. He casually bought a small pendant and said, "I'll give you this. Will you forgive me?"
The little girl grinned happily. "I forgive you!"
With that, she sped up to catch up with her friends and share her new toy.
"Your way of educating children is very bad." A middle-aged man who had been walking near them suddenly spoke sternly to Xu Huo. "When she asked you to help her lie to the adults, you should have refused, not rewarded her afterward. That will make her think this method is acceptable and beneficial."
Xu Huo glanced at him and nodded. "You have a point."
Seeing that Xu Huo seemed unbothered, the middle-aged man continued, "Children are the future of the district. Especially such young ones who might become players. If they're corrupted from the root, gaining greater power will make them like runaway horses, potentially causing severe consequences."
"I believe her parents will raise her well," Xu Huo said with a smile.
The middle-aged man looked at him with suspicion. "So you're saying you know your actions were leading the child in a bad direction?"
"Not exactly," Xu Huo said flatly. "I just think a sharper mind makes it harder to suffer losses when they grow up."
"That doesn't set a good example." The middle-aged man showed no sign of stopping. He said seriously, "Only after a person has built a solid moral foundation should they be exposed to bad things, so they won't be easily influenced. Even when facing setbacks, they can maintain their inherent goodness. Exposing them to the dark side too early blurs the line between good and evil, making them unable to understand the opposition between the two."
"Are you a teacher?" Xu Huo asked.
The middle-aged man handed him a business card. On it were the words "Towards Goodness Sect" and "Bu Chunfeng, Missionary."
"Aren't you afraid of getting beaten for preaching like this?" Xu Huo handed the card back.
"Only people who can't reason resort to violence," Bu Chunfeng said. "If what I say is unreasonable, you can refute me with words. If you make sense, I'll naturally be convinced."
"I don't agree with that statement, but I think what you said earlier has some merit," Xu Huo said. "Children's education is indeed very important."
He paused, then added, "But what if a child is accustomed to doing evil from a young age? What should be done then?"
"That's the adults' fault," Bu Chunfeng said firmly. "I don't entirely oppose genetic theory. Some genes are so strong that education can't reverse them. Those genes come from the parents. If parents discover their child has bad genes, they should cut their losses in time, rather than creating a bad child."
"District 022 has strict laws against parents conducting genetic screening in advance," Xu Huo said.
"That's true," Bu Chunfeng said. "But some already identified disease genes are included in the screening items, which can block the inheritance of some inferior genes. However, I believe this genetic screening should be expanded to fundamentally eliminate many problems."
"The Towards Goodness Sect probably doesn't have many members, does it?" Xu Huo said with a smile. Laws clearly prohibiting such things had already gained widespread acceptance, so openly advocating for genetic screening was definitely not feasible.
Bu Chunfeng shook his head, however. "The key isn't genetic screening, but stopping evil. Most children can be taught well. If the world were full of such children, would they still run rampant with evil when they become players?"
"You're talking about two different things," Xu Huo said. "Players who don't run rampant with evil still kill people, sometimes many. The resulting chain of cause and effect won't be broken unless humanity goes extinct or saints emerge."
"The education children receive during their few years or decade-plus of childhood and adolescence can't determine their entire lives."
He smiled at Bu Chunfeng. "I think you might consider expanding the scope of your sect's educational focus from children to lifelong learning. After all, some people need education their whole lives."
Bu Chunfeng actually considered this seriously, but after a moment of thought, he still said, "If children receive enough positive education in childhood, they won't make major mistakes when they grow up. Educating adults can only be done through coercive measures, because by then, a person's thinking has already been set."
After hearing this, Xu Huo asked again, "When did you join the Towards Goodness Sect?"
Bu Chunfeng understood his meaning and immediately said, "I founded the Towards Goodness Sect. I had this idea in my childhood and only put it into action after growing up. For the past thirty years, I've been practicing my beliefs."
"Have you ever done bad things?" Xu Huo asked further. "Things not explicitly prohibited by law, but considered bad in others' eyes."
Bu Chunfeng was clearly an honest man. He first looked troubled, then said with some shame, "No one is perfect. That was a mistake I made in my youth. I've been actively atoning for it all these years."
"Back then, I burned down my family's flower garden in anger. Over the years, while preaching, I've also been constantly planting flowers and plants. Nature calms my mind."
He looked at the vast forest ahead and let out a heartfelt sigh. "If only human hearts could be as open and relaxed as grass and trees."