Chapter 191: True Selves

Because a guest was coming over, Lu Xin’s family was eating slower than usual today.

They sat quietly around the dining table. Father was clearly drinking much slower than usual, Mom picked at her food distractedly. Lu Xin ate his rice grain by grain while Sister’s attention was obviously not on the television today. She crouched on her chair, mashing rice everywhere while constantly turning her head to watch the movements outside the window.

Lu Xin gradually felt the atmosphere grow oppressive, sighing silently to himself.

How rude of the guest to be so late. His family was getting impatient.

…

…

“Are we really going?”

On a bustling street in Satellite City No. 4, several diners of various descriptions sat at a street stall selling small wontons and grilled skewers.

There were young girls, an auntie in her fifties, workers covered in dust with scruffy beards, and students carrying backpacks.

Each had a bowl of wontons before them, while slightly burnt skewers lay on stainless steel plates.

“Why would you ask something like that?”

Hearing the auntie’s question, the few people at the small stall turned to look at her.

The high school student carrying a backpack started getting agitated. Suppressing the anger in his eyes, he said to the auntie, “You’re already one of us. We are people who have seen the truth of this world. Why are you still asking such a question?”

“Those people… those people are idiots…”

His agitated face held an unnatural distortion, hands gesturing wildly in the air. “You wouldn’t believe how stupid they are until you see them… They just like being this way, like walking corpses, obeying those hypocritical rules. They willingly become slaves to hypocrisy. Even if you tell them what to do, they still won’t listen…”

“They’re so stupid you just want to rip open their skulls and stuff something smart inside…”

…

The auntie, startled by the agitated high school student, explained numbly and nervously, “I was just… just worried about you…”

“Why should you worry about me?”

The high school student’s gaze fell coldly on her face, unsettling enough to make one look away.

“She’s not worried. She’s afraid.”

Just then, the middle-aged man beside them, silently drinking a bottle of beer, spoke in a low voice tinged with a sneer.

“Right.”

The student sneered. “She’s just scared but doesn’t dare admit it. Instead, she disguises it as worry to try and persuade me… What is this? This is the most disgusting thing in the world. You won’t even admit you’re scared… Just like back then, you never admitted that your daughter was forced to hang herself simply because of your greed…”

“I… I didn’t…”

The woman who looked like an auntie became flustered, her mouth wide open, hands waving feebly.

“That’s the truth!”

The student cut her off, staring straight at her. “Because you greedily demanded a bride price from your son-in-law again and again, he broke up with your daughter. Because you wanted to marry her off to someone else, she killed herself…”

Here, his tone shifted slightly. “But what’s wrong with that?”

His face showed a composure and confidence as if he’d seen through everything, even a calmness unfitting for his age. He smiled coolly. “Your husband was heartless, abandoning you and your daughter so early. You raised her all by yourself. Compared to those who abandon their children, you’ve done very well. You don’t owe anyone anything…”

“So, if Neighbor Old Zhang can demand tens of thousands for marrying off a daughter, why can’t you?”

“The son-in-law’s family wanted to marry your daughter, so what’s wrong with giving you tens of thousands as a bride price?”

“Your daughter didn’t understand because she was heartless. She just wanted to abandon you. She could have convinced her fiancé to borrow the money for you, and they could have paid it back slowly… She was young, she had plenty of time. Why didn’t she do that?”

“She was just selfish. She never thought about taking care of you, her loyalty lay elsewhere. So…”

He gritted his teeth slightly. “She deserved to die!”

“Others mock you because they haven’t lived your life. What right do they have to laugh?”

“And why do you punish yourself because of these hypocrites?”

…

The middle-aged woman’s expression, initially flustered and even fearful, gradually calmed.

She didn’t speak but bit her lip slightly, her face settling into a chillingly cold indifference.

“It’s the same for everyone else…”

The high school student’s gaze swept over the others at the small table, turning to a girl. “Wasn’t your best friend good to you? She shared snacks with you, went everywhere with you, even the bathroom, often gave you gifts, even nice clothes. When your father was seriously ill, she even helped pay the hospital bills. So, why did you push her downstairs back then?”

The girl didn’t speak, but her expression tightened slightly.

The student continued, “It’s precisely because she relied on being rich and pretty that she was so selfish. She mocked the way you copied lines from movies. She laughed at you in public because you didn’t even know how to drink coffee. She knew you had a crush on the Class President too, but still flirted with him. She called you her friend, but in reality, she just treated you like a follower, like a servant…”

“What’s wrong with hating someone like that?”

…

The girl lowered her head deeply, then slowly raised it again, a smile appearing on her face.

“And you…”

The student looked at the middle-aged man drinking beer. “Why did you poison your coworker?”

The middle-aged man met his gaze, lips suddenly curling into a grin. “You don’t need to tell me. I never thought I did anything wrong. That bastard was clearly worse off than me, but just because he came to the city a few years earlier and got lucky, he not only saved money but even found a widow in the city. And the widow was quite pretty… Heh, I just couldn’t stand him!”

…

“Very good…”

The student looked at him, a faint smile spreading across his face. Then his gaze swept over everyone. “In others’ eyes, none of us are good people. Sometimes, even we ourselves feel uncomfortable. Why is that?”

His voice dropped, letting out a cold laugh. “It’s because others are hypocrites. Their hypocrisy even affects us. This hypocrisy prevents us from being our true selves. Heh, when I set that fire back then, I was very panicked too, and felt uncomfortable for a long time. Until I realized my discomfort actually came from *them*…”

“They are clearly the same, yet they insist on adding layers of disguise, and then use those disguises to mock us.”

“We’re all the same kind of people, we all eat and shit, so why do they insist on pretending to be nobler?”

“We are all clearly selfish people, all acting for ourselves, so why must they pretend they are righteous?”

…

He lowered his voice. “They are the hypocrites. We are the real ones. We have taken off our masks.”

“Since that’s the case, why should we be afraid?”

…

Everyone at the small table looked up at him, their expressions a mix of excitement and perhaps awe.

“So, if you ask me if I’m afraid, then I’ll tell you…”

The high school student’s face took on an expression of having seen through everything and being in control of everything. Illuminated by the dim yellow light bulb of the nearby wonton stall, his face resembled that of a young demon. “I am not afraid. We have nothing to fear. Because we know the truth of this world. We can also make others reveal the truth, see the truth. So, when we truly begin to control this city…”

“Then let all the hypocrites pay the price!”

…

The expressions of the people at the small table became excited.

“Let all the hypocrites pay the price…”

Even the auntie repeated the phrase, then asked quietly, “But what if we attract the attention of the Security Hall?”

“What’s so scary about the Security Hall?”

The student sneered. “I know someone might be investigating us now, but it doesn’t matter. They are just people controlled by hypocrisy, useless. Besides, even if we die, we will only return to our Hometown…”

His voice dropped, his smile turning profound. “Return to that… real Hometown…”

…

Hearing his words, everyone beside the stall silently exchanged glances.

After a long moment, they lowered their heads one by one and prayed silently, “Praise the Hometown…”

“Praise the Hometown…”

“Praise the real Hometown…”

…

After the prayer, the high school student lowered his clasped hands, slowly picked up a skewer, and began eating it, mimicking a pose from a manga. Beneath his glasses, his eyes shone with a cruel and excited light…

“To let the people of this world understand the truth… then let them see the real world…”

…

“They’re here…”

In the Second Satellite City, near Moon Terrace, within a solitary old apartment building.

Sister suddenly spoke, her voice trembling slightly.

But she wasn’t scared; it was because she was too excited…

At the dining table, Mom had already elegantly put down her chopsticks, unable to quite hide the smile on her face.

Heh heh…

Father’s laugh was hollow and dry. He finished the alcohol in his cup in one gulp. The electric lamp overhead flickered faintly a few times.

“Don’t scare the guest.”

Mom immediately gave Father a somewhat reproachful look.

For the first time, Father wasn’t agitated at all and immediately controlled his emotions very well.

Lu Xin glanced at his family, relieved. Then he slowly stood up, went to the window, and looked out.