A few minutes later, in the Wusheng study.
"Why is your house so empty?" Xie Yizun was shocked, "There’s not even a sofa in the living room, how can people live here?"
"Why can’t people live here?" Ning Youguang said with a smile, "There are chairs, cushions, and the floor. You can sit anywhere."
"Chairs and cushions aren’t comfortable to sit on." Xie Yizun was rather dismissive and continued to look around at the surroundings, "The place is so empty, doesn’t it feel cold and lifeless?"
"Not at all." Ning Youguang laughed, "I don’t feel cold, just serene."
"It indeed feels quiet." Xie Yizun nodded, "It’s also quite nice to look at, but it doesn’t seem like a place an average person would live in."
"Then who do you think it’s suitable for?" Ning Youguang asked amusingly.
"An artist," Xie Yizun said, "The kind with a very unique personality."
"Thanks for the complint." Ning Youguang interpreted her brother’s comnt positively.
Xie Yizun was speechless for a mont; he hadn’t ant it as a complint for his sister.
"Sis, why do you like having the house so empty?"
Ning Youguang smiled, "Because the Arican novelist Cabell said, ’One who has nothing spares themselves a worldly debt on their mortal coil, but the body can still enjoy much pleasure.’"
"..." Xie Yizun looked bewildered.
He completely didn’t understand.
Shi Wangyue laughed and helped explain, "Your sister is saying that when our living environnt is less cluttered, we can experience more pure joys, those free from material things."
"Oh." Xie Yizun seed to only half understand.
...
A dozen days later, in the Wusheng study.
"Have you been happy staying here these days?" Taking advantage of the weekend, Ning Youguang intended to have a good chat with Xie Yizun.
"Not bad." Xie Yizun sat sowhat awkwardly on the chair.
"Your expression tells otherwise." Ning Youguang smiled as she pushed a bowl of soup in front of Xie Yizun, "Try it. I just made it."
Xie Yizun obediently picked up the spoon and took a sip, "Delicious."
"If you like it, have more. I made a big pot." Ning Youguang said with a smile.
"Mm." Xie Yizun nodded obediently.
Yet, he was sowhat absent-minded.
After quietly sipping a few spoonfuls of soup, he put down the spoon and with a face full of dejection, asked Ning Youguang, "Sis, why do I feel increasingly unhappy even though I do whatever I want every day?"
During this ti.
His sister, as she had said, helped him settle both the company and their parents.
Allowing him to stay with them in peace.
Here, he actually lived quite comfortably, very comfortably.
A completely different life from the company.
At the company, no matter what he did, there were always people watching, always soone managing him, forbidding this and that.
But here, he was free to do as he pleased every day.
Anything he wanted to do was okay here.
Every day, he could sleep as late as he wanted, eat whatever he wanted, and play whatever he wanted.
Even in the first few nights, when he wanted to drink alcohol and go bar-hopping.
His sister and brother-in-law didn’t restrain him.
On the contrary, they helped cover for him and personally took him to bars to play.
Once he was inside the bar, and he insisted on drinking, they didn’t stop him.
These days, whatever he wanted, they provided.
Smoking and drinking, they didn’t stop him.
When he said he wanted a tattoo, his sister got off work, personally drove him to her tattoo artist friend, and patiently designed the tattoo with him.
Among them, one afternoon.
He woke up feeling idle, called his brother-in-law saying he wanted to take a ride.
His brother-in-law imdiately dropped everything at the company and showed up downstairs in a brand-new Lamborghini over an hour later.
He still deeply rembers seeing his brother-in-law sitting in that cool sports car, wearing sunglasses, signaling him to get in. It was incredibly cool, seriously handso.
It dazzled him.
So much that when he got in the car, his legs trembled a bit.
Once the car started, his brother-in-law took him to a race track and began speeding—
He thought he would never forget that feeling of the whole body seemingly floating, thrilling and exciting.
Also, the thing that made him happiest was when his brother-in-law said he would give him the car once he could drive.
Honestly, growing up, he had never received such a good sports car!
Undeniably.
Being cared for like this, indulgently.
He felt a profound sense of being shocked, of being pampered.
Initially, he was indeed flying high with happiness.
But gradually, he began to feel uncomfortable, and increasingly didn’t want to go out.
It felt like his whole strength had been sucked dry, nothing to eat, drink, or play with could interest him.
"Do you really want to know?" Ning Youguang asked her brother.
"Yes." Xie Yizun nodded, looking earnest.
Ning Youguang slowly said, "Because going to nightclubs, getting tattoos, piercings, and drinking may seem cool, but there’s no difficulty in those at all. As long as you want to, you can do them, so the happiness you get won’t last long, nor will it be much."
Xie Yizun lowered his head, sowhat embarrassed as he asked, "What’s cooler?"
"Cooler are those difficult things to do, like reading, fitness, learning, making money, loving sincerely—things that seem boring and hard to persist with from the perspective of ordinary people." Ning Youguang said gently, "Doing these seemingly unpleasurable tasks deepens the real joy when you’re genuinely willing to exert effort."
"I think..." Xie Yizun raised his head, thought for a mont, and said, "In the company, although the daily training is exhausting, I feel comfortable and satisfied after each session, and this sense of satisfaction feels great."
"Yes." Ning Youguang chuckled lightly, "That great feeling allows you to experience real happiness. Think about it, can you capture that feeling in the things you’ve been doing lately?"
"I can’t." Xie Yizun earnestly compared and said, "These past days I’ve also been happy, but the happiness is very short-lived, quickly passing, and afterwards, I feel very uncomfortable. When at the company, the happiness afterward is relaxation and reassurance."
"Exactly." Ning Youguang said softly, "Pleasure is an important part of a high-level life, but pleasure itself cannot bring happiness. Sleep, rest, food, material possessions all represent a recovery of ’balance’, restoring the order of consciousness after ntal entropy caused by physical needs. They cannot facilitate the growth of the soul, nor can they increase the complexity of the self. In other words, although pleasure helps maintain the order of consciousness, it cannot create a new order in consciousness. Simply put, it doesn’t enhance your negative psychic entropy."
"What is psychic entropy? What is negative psychic entropy?" Xie Yizun asked, utterly confused.
User Comments
0 comments from readers