Chapter 454: The One‑Arrow, Two‑Hawks Method

It started raining before the Qingming Festival.

The flight was not delayed.

Jiang Lai turned her head, watching the raindrops sliding down the window, her thoughts drifting far, yet she didn't know what she was thinking.

Thinking of the father who gave her a sense of warmth the first time they met?

Or thinking of the father who chose family, wife, son, but never firmly chose a daughter?

Or the poor man who, with responsibility and duty bearing his family's and clan's honor, was instead blinded, gagged, and stabbed in the back by the very family and clan he cared about?

All of these are.

Both Gu Sen and her biological father.

Ke Zhongyu saw Jiang Lai lost in myriad thoughts; the plane had just taken off, the seatbelt could not be released for the time being, so he had a passing flight attendant bring hot water.

The hot water was placed before Jiang Lai; only when she sensed someone approaching did she slowly come to herself, immediately feeling a gaze from beside her, turning her head toward Ke Zhongyu's caring eyes, curving the corner of her mouth, and slowly sipping the hot water.

In the front seat, Ke Zhongying had already turned the chair into a small bed and was lying down.

In the end I couldn't outmaneuver Ke Zhongying, so I went with her to B City.

After the plane landed we got into a car, which drove to the spacious top‑floor apartment where Jiang Lai had previously lived.

Ke Zhongying said she was already here, couldn't skip visiting her grandparents, so she had the driver take her there and, on the way, inform her parents that they had already arrived.

Rain continued to fall outside the window.

Ke Zhongyu gently embraced Jiang Lai; the two stood by the window, saying nothing, standing quietly.

The rain grew heavier.

The huge floor‑to‑ceiling window was covered with a curtain of water, as if standing before a waterfall.

"I…" Jiang Lai began to say a word, her voice pausing briefly.

Ke Zhongyu said, "Hmm, I'm listening."

Jiang Lai finished the unfinished sentence: "Actually I don't know what I'm thinking, but I know I thought of him, of the words Gu Zhiyan said."

Gu Zhiyan recounted everything he saw and heard after going to G Province, mentioning Director Tang's remarks about the days Jiang Lai had passed through; each sentence Gu Zhiyan spoke was interlaced with an apology, making Jiang Lai's ears feel like they were forming calluses.

He explained what information he extracted from Wang Peng's mouth, and what that information revealed.

He said that after returning he rebuked his father, but his father kept his head down, silent; he said he regretted that he shouldn't have rebuked his father, that he had no right to rebuke his father.

He spoke of Gu Hui's every word questioning him, his fists clenched tightly, saying he didn't know his father bore so much alone, and also apologized on his father's behalf.

From Gu Zhiyan's narration, Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu had pieced together the twenty‑eight years of cause and effect.

Jiang Lai learned that her father had looked for her, and had been searching for her all along.

She learned of her father's difficulties.

And, of course, she also understood the choice her father made out of helplessness.

Yet he still chose it.

At first Jiang Lai felt warmth toward Uncle Gu, but after Uncle Gu became her biological father, she grew indifferent.

Indifference is like a copper wall of iron that can block many things—hurt, discomfort, collapse—but at the same time it also blocks one's own perception in those aspects.

When the situation became clear, that copper‑iron wall began to blur.

"Do you remember that classic trolley problem?" Ke Zhongyu asked.

Jiang Lai nodded.

The trolley problem, one of the most famous thought experiments in ethics.

A runaway trolley is headed toward five people; the switch is in your hand. Pulling the switch diverts the trolley onto another track where one person stands. With only the choice to pull or not, would you pull the switch, sacrificing one to save five, or refrain, sacrificing five to spare one?

The person who held the switch twenty‑eight years ago was Gu Sen.

The runaway trolley headed onto the other track; they chose to sacrifice Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai's breath caught slightly: "From a utilitarian viewpoint, exchanging few for many maximizes benefit, but morally it would be condemned."

Ke Zhongyu: "An unsolvable ethical dilemma."

The trolley problem has always been an unsolvable ethical dilemma.

But Gu Sen actually made a subtle third choice, pulling the switch quickly to rescue people.

According to Gu Sen's original plan, first bring back a child to solve the immediate crisis, resign to avoid passivity, secretly search for his biological daughter and covertly swap her back, resulting in everyone's happiness.

Yet he overlooked the pack of wolves around him; first they forced him into a choice, then held back his legs, even blindfolded and muffled him, creating an illusion for him.

If the person on the track hadn't gotten up again, Gu Sen would have lived his whole life in that illusion.

But.

Ke Zhongyu looked at Jiang Lai and said, "I bring up the trolley dilemma not to make you sympathize with whether the person who pulled the switch was forced or deceived, but to say that the one who pulled the switch to send the trolley toward you is at fault, and the one who let the trolley run amok is guilty."

"When they exercise the right to pull the switch, you also possess the right to assign any blame or punishment to them."

"You don't need to forgive because of Gu Zhiyan's words, nor because Uncle Gu was forced; forgiveness is your right."

"Your choice to return and help Uncle Gu, who fell into trouble again, has nothing to do with whether you forgive; it only relates to the softness in your heart." Ke Zhongyu gently pointed to her chest, "People are not plants, A Lai."

"People are not plants; who can be without emotion?"

Jiang Lai turned and embraced Ke Zhongyu: "I don't know if you're still an emotional master."

Ke Zhongyu held her, his chin resting on her head, chuckling, "That's a unique skill."

He added, "The Gu family's people and affairs are always a trouble; the trouble sits here. If we don't take the initiative to solve it, the trouble will approach on its own. Why not seize the initiative?"

Jiang Lai nodded: "Last time I visited the prison, I brought a recorder; Lin Shutong testified that Gu Yinxue incited a crime, and she said she would appeal."

Ke Zhongyu's eyes flashed: "Once we finish handling it here, she'll be able to win the appeal."

Jiang Lai knew Ke Zhongyu had been scheming behind the scenes, but didn't want her to know, after all she didn't even want her to see him beat someone.

"Why don't you tell me all your thoughts? I know you have good suggestions."

The two had already left each other's embrace; Jiang Lai saw Ke Zhongyu still hesitating: "Do you think that suggestion is too bad?"

It seemed Jiang Lai had realized; being able to say it showed she didn't care, and Ke Zhongyu's heart stirred—he gestured.

"When dealing with a person, the knife must be used at the most vital spot."

He guided Jiang Lai: "What does Gu Yinxue care about most?"

Jiang Lai: "The power and money that come with the Gu family's status."

Ke Zhongyu: "What does Song Shiwei care about most?"

Jiang Lai blinked: "Her son."

Ke Zhongyu: "Who is her son?"

Jiang Lai: "Gu Zhiyan."

Ke Zhongyu: "What else does Song Shiwei care about?"

Jiang Lai truly didn't understand Song Shiwei, so she couldn't answer right away.

Ke Zhongyu: "The status and position the Gu family brings; she married Uncle Gu, putting the Gu first."

Jiang Lai pondered: "Actually she also cares about Gu Yinxue; I'm not jealous."

"I know." Ke Zhongyu suggested a two‑birds‑one‑stone plan: "You expose the dirt Gu Zhiyan planted on Lin Shutong, then point to Gu Yinxue as the behind‑the‑scenes, and they'll lose."