Chapter 1681

NO．296：You're Not Enough, Little Girl

As a newly promoted artist who mingles in the ailishuma online community, the evening great painter who once felt especially surprised and resistant to the title 'madam' is now also long able to accept with ease the compliments of 'gongbi madam' from others.

It can be said that she was thoroughly washed clean by contemporary internet culture, with most of her former pretensions discarded.

But...

If you come from the past, or carry her past with you, you can still see her former self, whether you wish to or not.

Because she never truly let go.

And it is impossible for her to truly let go.

Just as the Sui family's second child coming over was merely hasty, and indeed more than half simply stayed there in that world, the Sui-pian clan in fact has nobody who has let go of the development of that land that could be called a homeland; those stationed on the Federation side either bear a 'mission', coming to study to repay the homeland, or they put on an act of being carefree, or seek tranquility—then they will be sent here together by their siblings.

——Send her over; treat it as insurance for my failed Sui-era plan. As long as even a single fragment has not returned, the chance of further division remains a viable strategy—and the more unmerged fragments there are, the better. You all had best go over.

The Sui family's second child, called 'Wang', once said that; it is obviously not a statement to be taken at face value, for earlier he had claimed his method had a ninety percent success rate, and this remark has not yet been refuted by himself.

Insurance arrangements and the like are hardly to be taken at face value; remarks like 'You all leave, I'll stay and that's enough' will only draw a couple of jeers—'What can you become without me?'—and most will stay.

In the end, it amounts to no more than just a few.

Nian, Xi, Ling Shu, Zhong Yue—only five.

Even a few months earlier, there were only four.

At that time, Shu had not yet come bearing a new agricultural plan; Nian volunteered, the eldest sister went along half-heartedly, the eldest brother was outright pushed, and Xi herself had fled here.

Whenever she becomes aware of her own motives, that inferior shame makes her care more than other family members about concealing the past. This leads her to appear more integrated locally, into this civilization and world, yet at the same time she becomes sensitive to any opportunity that might, in others' eyes, expose the past.

Especially when that outsider is the one who recommended her.

Yes.

Although her appearing more integrated locally, into civilization and the world itself, is the result of a sense of urgency chasing her, the result is still the result, with no falseness to it.

The great painter Xi has indeed become a fan of horse-girls, with a touch of idol otaku, and even a DD.

She does not simply favor a particular horse-girl; rather, she is quite omnivorous, having consumed much horse-girl popular science and derivative works, among which is even worth mentioning the 'legacy work' of Umastar, a well-known popular-science compiler on the Umastagram creation board.

Without doubt, the doujinshi collaboratively created at last year's exhibition is not the great painter Xi's first encounter with Aomo Lindun's works, but this is presently irrelevant, given that Aomo, in a reality already reduced to a sieve, maintains the status quo by a mere stroke of luck.

Even if a certain great painter could retain a deep impression of the texts from then and now, she would still have to face the three years in which young people undergo the greatest change.

From selecting words well to phrasing sentences well, all count as the superficial changes between past and present; there is currently no one who can discern Aomo merely from writing style.

Even if Qianming represents and Ludaofu Xiangzheng those horse-girls who noticed early on, they rely not on such purity but on being pure information powerhouses; as for someone truly clever like that, who can be locked in directly through insight and manner of speech, that is yet another level beyond discussion.

Therefore, in a certain sense, the demon can empathize with the great painter Xi's current situation, for he too is intentionally burying Umastar's past while also knowing that more than one person nearby knows that past, which could surface at any moment.

But the two personalities differ markedly; this difference makes Xi's apprehension genuine, while Aomo's apprehension is merely a fear of trouble.

When one truly has idle time, they will also run simulations and make preparations; then—no matter how abrupt the development, it will not count as a shock, and that trouble will cease to be trouble.

But Xi cannot.

She lacks that habit and cannot make such preparations, because she is accustomed to fleeing—fleeing her homeland, fleeing home, and online she can flee with extraordinary ease, far more convenient than reality.

Is it really right to let her keep fleeing like that? Can her flight truly run through the Sui-pian's theoretically endless life?

Regardless of whether she can persist to the end, that process will turn her habit into an utterly irreversible instinct, immersing her in the inertia of fleeing whenever something happens, with no way back.

Following inertia, following instinct, pursuing the comfort zone, the deeper the immersion the harder to extricate oneself; rather than a human failing, it is a common trait of sentient, feeling beings.

That is fundamentally a rejection and repudiation of all pain, a basic motive for pursuing a better survival environment, with no trace of malice or harm; yet it is also an instinct, a thoughtless instinct.

Unless you can be truly solitary, truly without attachments, the end of abandoning thought in all things will only bring evil and harm.

There is no second possibility.

But for her, what behavior counts as help, what method can dispel the gloom?

Ling Shu and Zhong Yue have thought of many things and made many efforts, but the results were all contrary to wishes, merely strengthening the little sister's rebelliousness; only after a long period of indulgence and neglect did everyone's relations actually improve.

But can that truly be considered an improvement?

Even if keeping distance with indifferent, respectful family members counts as family or not, if this continues, Xi may truly end up with no family at all. Whether it is a bond thicker than blood that once was a unified whole, or a tie formed solely of affection, none will exist on her path, and the end of that road……even the sibling who least gets along with her, Xie, would have little interest in looking.

Those who share the same origin, more or less, will have had feelings about the world, hesitations, and while they understand her choices, they simply do not like them.

Among them, some Sui-pian feel they are unqualified to intervene, some feel unable to intervene, some have tried in vain, and some repeatedly try to provoke the other party in hopes of retaining a bit of vitality beneath the dead-air inertia.

In the end, the Sui-pian eventually grow weary, no longer seeking answers inward, but looking outward for help—yet the help they receive still tells them to work inward.

——Just like that drawing attempt you once made, wouldn't it be good to guide her first from her field of interest?

Interested?

But that drawing attempt wasn't a clean loss……

——Not saying drawing, but like drawing, from a field of interest, preferably one she is interested in but not too familiar with, not too specialized.

You mean?

——Horse-girls, it happens to be easy to get in touch with them, right? Whether it's the suddenly appearing Suzi Chazuo, or the Lu—Ludaofu and Bai Ren contending for king, at least getting her out the door is not hard.

Getting her out the door……

——Yeah, that's the first step, but to step off the original path, you inevitably need a first step to think of a second, right? I still remember she attended the last exhibition on her own initiative, going out the door, right?

Indeed……

Being able to take that first step is no easy feat; in the past, everyone was too eager, too apt to project themselves onto the other, thinking that whether going out or facing up, it's just a simple matter of a single sentence.

But can the problem that has troubled her for so many years really be crossed that simply?

"Give us time, let time prove the answer, maintain the current situation, and we'll soon be able to announce a second pleasant collaboration, Director."

"Then I'll have to look forward to it, Mr. Aomo. I'll see you off, please."

"Ah, you're too kind; I believe for people like us, work time and leisure time are equally precious, so just stopping here is fine, Director."

"It's also hard to disagree, then, Mr. Aomo, see you next time."

"See you next time."

After a thoroughly enjoyable host-guest conversation, Aomo, who had successfully checked for spiderwebs and taken into account the grass-snake gray lines, felt lighthearted and pleased.

But what's going on outside this door?

……

Facing the sharp gaze of the Evening Great Painter, which seemed able to represent the players' voices, Aomo slightly narrowed his eyes, looking at that somewhat helpless command.

What's the situation?

I thought she had already let it go.