Chapter 51
"Teacher, what do you think talent is?"
Chi Xia sat down on the pearl-embellished soft seat beside Cheng Mozhen's large seashell bed. "The word 'fu' originally meant burden. In ancient times, it was tied to the land, signifying that poor people had to pay money and grain to the imperial court. When scholars saw the suffering of the people, they began to express this suffering in the form of writing, adding the word 'fu' to their inscriptions. Over time, 'fu' became a cultural symbol, representing poetry and prose. When suffering is adorned with a magnificent cloak and displayed to the public, it becomes an art form, and is even worshipped as a right."
Cheng Mo, hands in his pockets, leaned against the blue wall, listening in a daze. The history of men farming and women weaving was too far removed from the new era of unimpeded interstellar travel.
He frowned. "Teacher, what exactly did you do before? Could it be that you were really doing academic research?"
"No." Chi Xia looked down and saw the octopus rug, with its three-dimensional, ugly octopus head. "Is this a lamp?"
Cheng Mo walked over and kicked it open. Who would have thought that the mischievous devil everyone in school called Brother Mo would have such a cute and princess-like room?
Chi Xia withdrew her gaze. "Continuing our previous topic, in our last century, talent was something naturally endowed, a certain innate ability and aptitude. Its usage was very similar to ours now, but what people called talent in that era was mostly extraordinary intelligence in a certain art, sport, or academic subject. Having it was considered a virtue, as it would create many contributions and wealth; not having it wouldn't result in any criticism. Now, talent has become a mark of the times, and selection exams account for a very high proportion. Out of the three criteria of culture, physical ability, and talent, it accounts for 40%, which means that this era is already using talent to compete."
Cheng Mo sighed, folded his long legs and sat on the starfish cushion. "How could I not know its importance? It's just that I don't have it. I can't force myself and my family to their deaths. After all, every era has some people who drag us down. It's just that it's especially unbearable for such people to appear in a class like mine."
Chi Xia watched him fiddling with the octopus head, the light changing color from red to green. "Is that so? Then you haven't seen how miserable ordinary people without talent are. That's what you call unbearable. However, you've matured beyond my expectations, even precocious."
Cheng Mo chuckled. "What are you talking about? In your mind, I'm just an ignorant and good-for-nothing young master?"
Chi Xia looked around at his underwater castle and said, "It's clear that he has a lot of artistic talent in design."
It was such a lame joke, and they both laughed.
Cheng Mo looked at Chi Xia and said, "Don't feel pressured. Although you are the homeroom teacher who teaches talent development, whether someone has talent or not is not something you can change."
“I’m not under pressure.” Chi Xia remembered something and changed the subject, “Tell me the story of the Ye Feng family manor.”
Cheng Mo: "Are you really interested?"
Chi Xia: "Not really, but it's better than just sitting around doing nothing."
“Alright.” Cheng Mo crossed his legs, intrigued. “The Ye Feng family’s manor was seized by his great-grandfather. That’s the origin of the ‘Talent Theory.’ Ye Feng takes his grandmother’s surname, you know that?”
Chi Xia: "I don't know."
Cheng Mo: "Now you know that Grandma Ye Feng's great-grandfather, whom I'll call Grandpa Ye for convenience, held military power over half of the New World at the time and made great contributions in the interstellar war against the alien species. But you probably don't know that this manor was originally a wartime base for the alien species. It was built by the alien species. At that time, humans had not yet awakened their talents on a large scale. Resisting the alien species, whose civilization was backward but whose talents were rampant, was like throwing an egg against a rock."
Seeing that Chi Xia was interested, Cheng Mo continued, "When the old master Ye realized he couldn't win, he came up with a wicked plan. He had his subordinates gather information from various sources and, based on the alien species' aesthetics, created a new type of human. On a dark and stormy night, he threw it into the manor—the legendary honey trap. As expected, the alien species fell for it. Their high-ranking generals fought tooth and nail for the new human. In the end, the old master Ye, as the new human's father, stepped in to choose a husband for his 'daughter,' holding a martial arts contest. In the end, the most powerful generals died in battle, leaving a slightly dim-witted one to marry the new human. The old master Ye successfully made the alien his 'son-in-law,' and even used the power of the son-in-law to expel the alien species from humanity's planet."
"The alien species and the new type of human had a baby boy. That baby boy was the later inheritor of the talent. He voluntarily offered his talent bloodline for research and even extracted his talent spirit cells to be injected into newborns as a vaccine. As a result, almost all of us now possess the talent."
After listening, Chi Xia said, "You told a story of plunder."
Cheng Mo: "Humans themselves don't possess talent. Talent is a genetic inheritance produced by the offspring of that new type of human and an alien species. We drove out the alien species, but we took their talent for ourselves. This is indeed plunder. But that doesn't mean I hate talent. I also crave talent. The essence of survival is plunder, I understand that. I just don't understand why we are now using something that originally didn't belong to us as a selection and test for ourselves. Do we want to become an alien species?"
Chi Xia: "There's no reason why, it's just a necessity of the times. Humans are products of their time and are naturally pushed forward by the times. In this era, those without talent are weak, and only the strong can change the world."
Cheng Mo didn't argue. He casually fiddled with the octopus head. "You're right, I am indeed a weakling."
“I don’t want to comfort you, because that’s the truth for now.” Chi Xia stood up. “Besides, your story was very interesting, I’m leaving.”
Cheng Mo stared at her with wide eyes. "You're not kidding, are you? You come for a home visit just to have a meal and chat with me about random things?"
Chi Xia raised an eyebrow. "Otherwise, do you want me to stay at your place for the night?"
Cheng Mo was amused by Chi Xia's antics and saw her out. "So, what is your talent?"
Chi Xia subconsciously pulled up her sleeve to cover her injured wrist, and at the same time withdrew her observing gaze to look at her toes. "I have no talent."
Cheng Mo stopped. "Are you kidding me?"
Chi Xia also stopped and looked at the other person, "But I never consider myself a weakling. That's a label defined by the times, what does it have to do with me?"
The gloom on Cheng Mo's face gradually dissipated. "I accept your encouragement. Shall we go upstairs again?"
Chi Xia walked forward, "Next time, I have other things to do tonight."
Cheng Mo caught up, "What is it?"
Chi Xia originally felt there was no need to say it, but seeing that Cheng Mo was very interested in asking, she said, "I promised Teacher Anna that I would accompany her to a blind date and watch a movie at the midnight cinema."
Cheng Mo was indeed very interested. He took a step forward and blocked Chi Xia's way, "Take me with you. That movie theater is under my mother's name. I can get you a VIP room."
Chi Xia: "Okay, how about we invite your uncle along?"
Cheng Mo smiled, "That would be perfect."
The young people went out to play, but the elders did not participate.
When Grandma Cheng and Cheng Mo's parents saw them off, Grandma Cheng asked for Chi Xia's contact number and gave her a green card that allowed her to go to the Cheng family's old house anytime. To put it bluntly, only the Cheng family had this card, just like the key to the front door. If she left it in the car, the gatekeeper wouldn't stop her.
Cheng Mo sat in the passenger seat watching. As Cheng Yang drove off onto the side road, Cheng Mo began to tease, "Teacher, now you're practically half a member of the Cheng family. You could really consider dating my uncle, and we can split the Cheng family fortune equally in the future."
Cheng Yang laughed, "Do you think I'm invisible?"
Cheng Mo turned to the side and said seriously, "My teacher is about the same age as me. Don't you know how much older you are than her? She was dating you and you left first, so it's no wonder that she and I are dividing the inheritance."
Cheng Yang laughed angrily, "Xia, don't listen to his nonsense. I'm only 31, maybe a few years older than you. You're 23, right?"
Chi Xia sat in the back seat, gazing out the window with a nonchalant air, listening to the uncle and nephew chatting. "Yes, I'm 23."
Five minutes before the agreed time, Anna called Chi Xia to say she was waiting at the door. Cheng Yang drove the car to the VIP area and parked it. The group then walked towards the door together.
Anna was chatting enthusiastically with her blind date when she noticed two handsome men walking towards Chi Xia. She smiled and called out, "Hey! Cheng Yang and Cheng Mo, what brings you two uncles here? Are you here to protect our Xia? It's good that you're here, the more the merrier. Let me introduce you, this is my blind date, Lin Xiang. These are my colleagues and classmates."
Unlike other wealthy young men, Lin Xiang wasn't used to a hearty laugh when greeting others, nor did he extend his hand to shake hands. He simply stood upright, nodded slightly, and said, "Hello, everyone."
"Hello." Cheng Yang was much more casual. He put his arm around Chi Xia and Cheng Mo and led the group inside, saying as they walked, "Anna, this film studio is my sister-in-law's business. Since we, uncle and nephew, are here, we'll treat you today. No objections?"
Anna hooked her arm around Lin Xiang's and smiled brightly, "Of course I have no objection, but Xia, I've already bought our tickets."
Cheng Mo opened the bracelet's communication interface and said, "I'll have the staff refund me."
Anna smiled like a flower and said sweetly to Lin Xiang, "See how great it is to be friends with a tycoon."
Lin Xiang gave a faint smile and softly replied, "Mm."
Before we even reached the ticket office, the manager on duty that night warmly greeted us and led the way, asking about our needs as we walked.
Chi Xia and her two companions were there to help create a lively atmosphere for the two people on their blind date, so they asked for their opinions. Anna had a great idea: since it was a VIP suite, the hilarious romantic comedy she had originally chosen, with its holographic effects and atmosphere, was not quite up to the standard for the viewing experience. So she immediately switched to a Star Wars movie.
Lin Xiang seemed to lack his own opinions and followed Anna's lead.
After greeting Anna, Chi Xia began to observe Lin Xiang intentionally or unintentionally. He looked somewhat familiar, and it's usually not a good thing for her to recognize him.
She wasn't usually a very curious person, but as she walked to the door of the VIP room, she couldn't help but ask, "Sister Nana, what does Brother Lin do for a living?"
Anna glanced at Lin Xiang with a sparkling look in her eyes and smiled, "He's a veteran."
Chi Xia: No wonder even wearing jeans and a T-shirt can't hide that upright manner.
Cheng Yang smiled and said, "It seems our teacher Anna wants to be a military wife."
Lin Xiang: "Not anymore."
The manager opened a private room, went in to adjust the equipment, and everyone found seats. Originally, they could have sat in a row, but Chi Xia wanted to sit in the back. Her intuition told her that she must have seen Lin Xiang somewhere before, and she would remember him if she looked at him a few more times.
Then the seating arrangement changed, with Anna and Lin Xiang sitting in the front row, and the Cheng family uncle and nephew and Chi Xia sitting behind them.
Coincidentally, this interstellar war is based on the story Cheng Mo told Chi Xia before, only this time the perspective has changed to alien creatures, who are the protagonists of the story.
Their civilization is primarily based on aggression, so they possess astonishing talents for warfare, but they are not adept at the psychological tactics that humans consider wisdom. Their military strategies certainly do not include figures like Sun Tzu; a simple honey trap nearly led to the extinction of their entire species.
It was rare for Cheng Mo to become so engrossed in a disaster movie. Presented in holographic high definition, he couldn't help but reach out and touch those beings who were different from himself. They couldn't see through human tactics and thought they were touching sacred and noble love. Brothers and clansmen turned against each other, and everyone fought to the death.
Chi Xia gradually became engrossed in watching. When Lin Xiang's bracelet vibrated, she remembered why she was sitting in the back row. When she lowered her eyes, she saw Lin Xiang lowering his head and Anna asking him a question in a low voice. He then slightly raised his head and turned his face to the side.
Back of the head, side of the face, shoulders and neck...
A sense of familiarity exploded in Chi Xia's mind like a thunderclap—it was him!
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