"There was a time when I became a very powerful person, and I did some very cool things. My body seemed perfectly suited for those dangerous extreme sports."
"I turned those life-and-death thrilling sports into something spectacular."
"At least in the eyes of others, it was something they secretly desired but were afraid to do. They felt a sense of wild joy from me, a thrill of defying fate."
"But they have their own lives, their own shackles. They work nine-to-five, need to support their families, which brings them both joy and pain."
"They can’t become me, and I can’t become them. But back then, from their praises, I realized something."
Tang Rui asked:
"What was it?"
Wen Xishu looked at Tang Rui:
"Only when we don’t care about whether we are loved and complete ourselves, can we truly be loved by others."
"Begging for love from those who make us incomplete only makes us more incomplete. It’s a vicious cycle."
Tang Rui was slightly stunned.
In her life, who were the ones that made her incomplete?
The answer was so obvious.
The rotting corpse of Yan Zhihai in the room had indeed harmed her.
Made her incomplete, filled with fear, obedient and timid... causing irreversible damage.
But she could have avoided meeting such a terrible person.
Her life could have been outside the parrot cage. She could have picked up a guitar, could have chosen to sing the songs she loved.
She never, like the kids on the internet, resented her parents for being poor, resented her father and mother for not providing ample material conditions.
She envied the youth clubs outside the cage, but never sought them extravagantly.
She simply wished for her parents’ praise, for love. For recognition, for some encouragement from here.
But in this process, she became increasingly inferior, sensitive, and incomplete. She never thought of blaming her family for the numerous hardships in her life thereafter, only thinking that she wasn’t good enough.
She didn’t even dare to think about the root cause of it all.
But Wen Xishu’s words made her, for the first time, start to carefully consider the reasons for living like this.
Wen Xishu said:
"Our situations are different, my foster parents wanted me dead, if they didn’t die, I would have to."
"But your parents didn’t want you dead, you weren’t in a life-or-death situation."
"I hate Freud, he blames all problems on the original family, so much so that on the internet, everyone blames their poor lives on their parents."
"But the vast majority of parents in this world, though not perfect, sincerely love their children."
Tang Rui looked at Wen Xishu with a complex expression, feeling a bit at a loss for a moment.
Wen Xishu suddenly smiled:
"Do you think I’m going to persuade you to stop?"
Tang Rui nodded. But Wen Xishu smiled even more happily:
"Don’t worry, I’m a petty person. Tang Rui, since I’ve come here, I’m going to take you to do evil."
"Indeed, your parents didn’t want you dead, but living with significant incompleteness is more painful than death. Fortunately, you are innately kind and didn’t become a monster."
"Similarly, there are countless parents in this world who sincerely love their children, and for those people, their suffering actually stems from themselves."
"But you’re not among them."
"Tang Rui, your suffering can definitely be blamed on them. Of course, you could find a hundred reasons to defend them, if..."
Wen Xishu said word for word:
"If they hadn’t read that page in the diary."
Tang Rui’s body lightly trembled.
In the midst of complex emotions, Wen Xishu and Tang Rui deeply exchanged their experiences.
So Wen Xishu clearly knew... Tang Rui’s parents were among the rare genuinely unfit parents.
Tang Rui also remembered at this moment—the persecution she faced as a child, her parents actually knew about it all along.
That missing page from the diary was actually torn out by her parents. She just kept deceiving herself not to think that way.
Up until now, if it weren’t for Wen Xishu’s arrival, if it weren’t for this night’s heartfelt exchange, Yan Zhihai could still be living well.
There would be other girls with similar destinies to hers.
This meant, in the eyes of her parents, the vanity brought by certificates hung on the wall was far more important than a girl’s body at that time.
Tang Rui softly laughed, Wen Xishu said:
"Let the scum meet the scum’s end, let the villains meet the villains’ end. The heavy rain hasn’t stopped yet, little parrot, I have unfinished business, it’s time to set off."