A cold-blooded mother and a twisted man
The room's light cast his shadow on the cold wall, like a lonely and obsessive ghost. His hatred for time did not stem from any specific event, but rather from a kind of slowly growing mold formed by long-term immersion in a distorted environment.
Shi Zhiyuan was well aware that in terms of absolute rationality and the pursuit of efficiency and results, he was closer to Shi Chongyuan's true nature than Shi Xu, who was easily swayed by "useless emotions" and even openly defied his father. This realization fermented into a distorted arrogance in his meticulous yet narrow-minded thinking. He viewed Shi Xu's emotions as a "basic error," a systemic "flaw."
Shi Zhiyuan inherited his father's intelligence but wasted it on useless emotional entanglements, leading to system inefficiency. I, on the other hand, inherited my father's true core—cold logic and absolute goal orientation. I am the purer, more superior version.
This arrogance made him intolerant of Shixu's "deviation" and "lack of control." Every act of resistance from Shixu, every instance of defending Yunying, was, in his eyes, a betrayal of the "correct path," a blatant provocation against the "superior model" he represented. He had to prove himself right, had to completely and comprehensively surpass Shixu, in order to validate the absolute superiority of his "purer" path. He could not accept that Shixu retained even the slightest "advantage" or "respectability" in any aspect, especially in areas his father valued (such as the provincial competition).
My mother, Chen Wanru, this seemingly gentle woman, was the perfect breeding ground for this hatred. She never stopped subtly instilling this hatred in Shi Zhiyuan's ears. She never directly insulted Shi Xu, but instead used more subtle methods, more in line with my logic, to constantly reinforce the antagonism:
“Zhiyuan, look at your brother. He’s distracted again by some unimportant people. How irrational of him. You must always stay clear-headed.”
“What your father admires most is your unwavering focus; that’s what a successor of the Shi family should be like.”
"Shixu is always unruly, thinking about those vague and unrealistic things. He'll stumble sooner or later... Sigh, if only he were half as sensible as you."
These words, accumulated over time, were implanted into Shi Zhiyuan's system like virus code. They molded Shi Xu into a "negative example," a "system error" that needed to be corrected or even eliminated, while elevating Shi Zhiyuan to the position of "correct role model," implying to him that surpassing and suppressing Shi Xu was not only a proof of ability, but also a kind of "responsibility" and "correctness."
(Shi Zhiyuan's inner monologue: My mother continues to provide data support, confirming that my operating mode is superior to the timing mechanism. He is an unstable factor in the system, and correcting him is my responsibility, as well as a necessary process to prove my superiority.)
Therefore, his hatred of time is a product of a combination of distorted arrogance and an instilled sense of rejection, stemming from a desire to prove himself as "more like his father, more superior."
• And the mentality of “excluding dissidents” that has been reinforced by the mother’s long-term suggestion.
This hatred made him intolerant of any form of "success" or "warmth" in Shixu. Shixu's achievements would sting his arrogance of "superiority"; the emotional connections that Shixu possessed, which he could not understand, were seen as "viruses" that had to be eradicated.
Looking at the provincial competition registration information on the screen, Shi Zhiyuan's eyes no longer held pure rational analysis, but rather a complex mix of cold jealousy and a strong desire to prove herself. This provincial competition was no longer a simple contest, but a battlefield to prove who had the "superior version."
(Objective: To completely dominate the time series competition in the provincial competition, proving that the introduction of emotional variables inevitably leads to a decline in system performance. To show my father, and myself, the only path to the "optimal solution." Eliminating interference is only the first step.)
Shi Zhiyuan, the son who sees himself as the perfect mirror image of Shi Chongyuan, ultimately breeds a more extreme and obsessive venomous flame than his father in this distorted imitation and proof. What he seeks to destroy is not only Shi Xu's competition, but also the very foundation of Shi Xu's firmly held belief in the "usefulness of emotions."
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