After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 100

Chapter 100: The End

Overcoming rejection and regaining consciousness took two months.

Tao Ning opened his eyes, and his vision was met with a man with pale, unremarkable features a face that had appeared in his dreams, the “person” who had once gazed at him across the blue glass, and later looked out at Earth while holding him as an infant.

…Was he dreaming again?

“No.” The person smiled, his voice like a faint wisp of wind, leaving no trace once it passed. Just like his perfectly ordinary but well-put-together features, matched with his precise height.

It was precisely because this person looked perfectly adequate in every way that he seemed unusual, causing a psychological discomfort. If one had to describe it, it was like something copied and pasted, lacking any unique personal characteristics.

He smiled faintly, his steps light as he approached Tao Ning. “You’re not dreaming, 510… You’re resisting me. Do you not welcome my visit?”

Everything around was unusually quiet. Tao Ning suddenly realized that the sounds of movement and conversation from the medical staff outside were all gone. The world was quiet to the point of deadly silence. Only the medical machinery was still running, and the glucose solution in the IV bag was slowly dripping.

“…Who exactly are you? Were you the one impersonating Song Heng?” Because he hadn’t spoken for dozens of days, Tao Ning’s voice was very hoarse. “…And who is 510?”

“So many questions right after waking up?” As if he couldn’t feel Tao Ning’s vigilance, the person sat by the bedside, crossing his legs and resting his chin with a slight smile, his tone containing a hint of faint, almost-imperceptible helplessness despite the rhetorical question. “Looking at it this way, your initial personality was a little cuter.”

“…” Tao Ning’s expression turned slightly cold.

“Alright, I’ll answer these three questions. Firstly, yes, I was the human named Song Heng that I impersonated.” The person lightly tapped the edge of the hospital bed with his fingers, his voice still like a faint breeze with little fluctuation. “Secondly, the number 510 is your name. Finally—”

He looked up and met Tao Ning’s gaze. “My name is Alpha, and I am the one who created you. In common human terms, I suppose I would be your father.”

Alpha expected to see an expression of disbelief on Tao Ning’s face, but after a moment, there was only a long silence in the room. Tao Ning neither yelled that he was speaking nonsense nor showed any fear after learning of such an incredible thing. He was so calm that it was as if he were answering a simple question like whether he wanted to eat.

This piqued Alpha’s interest slightly. “You’re not afraid?”

“What good would fear do?”

Completely unprepared for this answer, Alpha’s emotionless face was visibly stunned for a moment. Then, a burst of prolonged laughter erupted in the room. After a while, Alpha stopped laughing: “510, you are truly too interesting. I take back what I said earlier. Your current personality is also very engaging.”

Tao Ning said, “Could you please not call me 510? I strongly dislike it because I have a name, Tao Ning. Tao as in pottery, Ning as in lemon.”

“Are you angry?”

Tao Ning was expressionless.

Alpha smiled and said, “Tao Ning, on this Earth, and even across the entire universe, I am the one who knows you best… Well, let’s call it a person for now.”

The smile on his face gradually faded. Alpha stood up and slowly walked to the window. It was late at night. The streets were deserted, and only the lights of this hospital, which contained life, old age, sickness, and death, were bright. Alpha simultaneously heard the cries of newborns and the sighs of the dying.

“You really like mathematics, don’t you, Tao Ning?” Alpha said. “Then I wonder if you pay attention to news related to ancient organisms. Humans commonly agree that dinosaur fossils were first discovered in the nineteenth century. That was your first glimpse into the traces of hundreds of millions of years ago. Since then, various theories of evolution have emerged. To my knowledge, the most famous theory was proposed by a human named Darwin. He believed that humans evolved from ancient apes through mutation, heredity, and natural selection.”

Alpha looked back, raising an eyebrow. “What’s that expression? I don’t have much to say about this theory of evolution, but later, you started questioning ‘where life on Earth came from,’ and I find that very interesting. The current mainstream human theory is that the Earth’s primordial ocean created organic molecules, thus forming the basis of life… Over the next few billion years, two creatures, dinosaurs and ancient apes, appeared. Dinosaurs became extinct over a few hundred million years, while ancient apes evolved into humans over a few hundred thousand years. See, everything is self-consistent.”

“Sometimes I admire your confidence,” Alpha changed the subject with a smile. “You can confidently and arrogantly assert things that happened billions of years ago based on a few bones and some inferential experiments.”

He looked out the window again, but this time, there was a vague sadness in his eyes.

“The stagnation of Earth’s civilization today is largely due to the blind self-confidence and self-deception of the species that dominate this planet. The truth is often buried in the fears you are unwilling to believe.”

“The ‘human’ species has existed on this blue planet for three billion years,” Alpha said faintly, a casual sentence that was enough to shock the entire world.

“Those ancient people were my ancestors. Humans now divide civilization into three levels. The lowest is planetary civilization, meaning the ability to utilize all resources on Earth and freely control the planet’s climate and disasters. The next is stellar civilization, which can fully utilize the sun’s energy, and the highest is galactic civilization.”

“Over hundreds of millions of years… our ancestors once prospered and developed into a galactic civilization, even a super-galactic one. We could move freely in the universe and reverse short spans of space-time. Just like I can change human memory and become Song Heng until now, coming to you and meeting you in this human form.”

Alpha’s tone suddenly became desolate.

“Later, just like you are now, we became curious about what lies beyond the universe and questioned where our own origins truly came from. So the bravest and wisest of our ancestors decided to embark on interstellar colonization. But to our regret… this universe is lonely.”

“—Our ancestors searched tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of galaxies in the universe, yet found no other civilization besides us.” At the mention of this, Alpha’s eyes finally showed a hint of fear. “Do you know what this means?”

Everything he said was too shocking and hard to accept, especially his last sentence, which pressed down on Tao Ning’s heart like a boulder, suffocating him, as if he could transcend time and feel the despair of those spaceships drifting in the universe.

Alpha chuckled softly, “It means we are all nothing. We all live in a pre-set program, or… maybe just in a book. After realizing this, our ancestors gave up on searching for companions. Similarly, they also abandoned Earth, this resource-poor mother star.”

He looked up at a point in the void. Tao Ning didn’t know what he was looking at. He thought, perhaps he was looking at the elusive thing that created all this.

“All the ancestors immigrated to the PUZZLE galaxy, hundreds of thousands of light-years away from Earth, and finally settled there. Later, through technological intervention, we selectively evolved into another, higher-level species than humans. If the current humans are compared to ancient apes, then we are the true humans.”

Alpha suddenly changed the subject: “It’s too lonely.”

He looked at Tao Ning: “You haven’t forgotten the Darwinian theory of evolution I mentioned at the beginning, have you? Because we were too lonely in this universe, we launched a project called the ‘Civilization Spark,’ consciously modifying the stars in various galaxies and spreading human DNA through comets… However, this plan may have gone against the will of the Creator. So far, only Earth has given birth to the human species again, yet the current humans believe they evolved naturally. How coincidental, and how ironic.”

“The ‘Civilization Spark’ project later split into two factions. One faction continued to modify stars and spread human DNA. The other faction, led by me, began direct technological creation of humans.”

Alpha said faintly, his gaze resting on Tao Ning, his eyes full of profound meaning.

“I can’t explain too many things to you. You only need to know that at our stage of evolution, the concept of natural reproduction no longer exists. Our world is occupied by what you call ‘robots.’ I hate these things and advocate for the ancestors’ ideals, so I wanted to cultivate ‘people’ entirely created by technology and send them to various stars to prevent the failure of civilization emerging only on Earth.”

“These ‘people’ don’t even need eggs and sperm. They are born, grow up, and die directly in a culture dish.” Alpha smiled, “But unfortunately, for a long time, these ‘people’ were just like robots. They lacked the basic emotions of humans, only understood commands, and were empty shells, one after another.”

“…So, I was one of those people…”

Alpha raised an eyebrow and said playfully, “Of course, you are my most perfect creation. You were born on the Earth calendar’s May 10th. I named you Code Number 510. Humans are visual animals, so I consulted human opinions on the most attractive features and face shapes of the past few decades and meticulously crafted you. You should call me Father.”

“Alright, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to.”

Alpha’s tone was slightly regretful. “We tried many methods to give those technologically created people emotions, but without exception, they all failed. So the faction modifying the stars began to suppress my experiments. I was unwilling to give up and happened to read a story in an ancient text. It was about a stag that admired the strength of a lion, so it infiltrated the pride. Years later, when the stag ate the flesh and blood of its former companions, it successfully transformed into a lion.”

“That day, I finally understood the root of the problem. Although human life is short, only a few decades, they must experience all the things that we still cannot fully understand, such as separation from loved ones, meeting with those they hate, inability to obtain what they desire, and the loss of joy and glory. How could I, being too eager for quick success, demand that a technologically created human possess those emotions and self-awareness from birth? So I destroyed all the completed tech-humans, including you, who were already in adolescence upon creation.”

Alpha smiled gently, his eyes tracing Tao Ning’s features one by one.

“I created a large batch of tech-human infants, pre-implanting programs with different personality traits, and sent them to Earth. Those programs would activate autonomously, guiding you to experience those emotions through things you could understand and monitoring your extracranial nerves. In your case… the program in your head should call itself the System.”

Speaking of this, Alpha sounded somewhat helpless. Seeing a clear shift in Tao Ning’s reaction, he smiled. “That System was the initial personality trait I set for you. It was very lively and cute, but some researchers didn’t find it appealing, so I transferred those traits into a program implanted in your body. As for your second personality, I generated it randomly… Hmm, I still think your initial personality was cuter.”

“…He… was me?”

“Yes.” Alpha said playfully, “I liked him very much. Later, he promised me that he would make you learn some human books and actively pursue people, so you could experience love, hate, and sorrow early and develop self-emotion. I even agreed to such an unreliable thing.”

“I played along with his act, altering your body data to coerce you into actively interacting with them. Therefore, from beginning to end, it wasn’t you trying to conquer those three humans; they were subtly guiding you to develop feelings… I didn’t expect it to succeed.”

The clock struck five in the morning. Alpha said faintly, “Originally, we only randomly selected one person, but since the probability of tech-humans developing self-emotion is extremely low, we randomly selected three. You are lucky. All three of them loved you deeply, so much so that you learned what love is. And the family you were ‘born’ into was also random, and equally lucky is that you have a family that loves you very much. You learned what kinship is.”

“On this blue planet, love, kinship… and the friendship you had with the System, you experienced them all.”

“Tao Ning, you have become a real human.”

After he finished speaking, the surroundings once again fell into a deathly silence, but the person on the hospital bed remained silent. Alpha suddenly realized that he could no longer read Tao Ning’s emotions.

He walked up to Tao Ning, wanting to gently stroke his cheek as he had outside of Earth, but Tao Ning gently pushed his hand away. The eyes that Alpha had personally sculpted with technology were looking at him with coldness and rejection.

Tao Ning said clearly, “From the moment my parents picked me up, I was already me. Just tell me what you really want to do.”

Alpha was momentarily stunned, then burst into hearty laughter, a seemingly frantic joy. He clapped his hands and said, “Excellent, Tao Ning, excellent. Do you know? This conversation was actually our final test. If after I said those things, you had shown self-doubt and the technological human’s inclination to belong to our civilization…”

His eyes turned cold and deep. “I would have destroyed you immediately.”

As he spoke, a massive black vortex instantly appeared behind Alpha, like a terrifying monster opening its blood-soaked mouth, the darkness bottomless. He turned around and walked toward the black vortex.

Just as Alpha was about to step into the vortex, he turned back and smiled: “I don’t really want to do anything, Tao Ning. In fact, the experiments of the Stellar faction and mine were, from the start, ethereal obsessions. From beginning to end, we just wanted to prove that we are not alone in the universe.”

“Now, you have shown us a glimmer of hope, even if this hope was created.” Alpha winked playfully, using the System’s former tone: “Blockhead, this behavior is just as foolish and contemptible as the Creator who made us despair, isn’t it?”

With that, without waiting for Tao Ning’s answer, Alpha slowly disappeared before the black vortex.

Until the very end, there was no trace of the vortex left in the entire world. Only the nurses’ blessings for newborns outside the delivery room and the rising sun, piercing through the morning fog outside the window, remained.

A new day had begun.

After leaving the hospital, Tao Ning’s life returned to normal, except that he would be accompanied by medication for the rest of his life. When he returned to school, he only had two months left before the college entrance exams.

He ignored the strange, impressed, and curious gazes of the people around him. He attended classes, ate, took mock exams, and went back to the dorm to sleep according to the schedule. On weekends, he went back to his apartment alone. During this time, Tao Ning noticed someone silently following him. The person was very tall, with his hands in his pockets, and his baseball cap pulled down low, making it hard to see his expression.

But Tao Ning could feel his scorching and repressed gaze.

Tao Ning didn’t pay him any attention.

Occasionally, he would receive transfer notifications on his card. At first, it was two hundred thousand, and then it got increasingly larger, all from an unfamiliar account, but Tao Ning was too busy to deal with it.

The intense studying had him constantly short of breath. During this time, he also had to go to court to testify for Liu Yuliang to reduce his sentence. Later, he took time off to go to Jing City to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad, which was hosted by China in Jing City this year.

Participating in the IMO had always been Tao Ning’s goal. It was in the competition area that he ran into the owner of the unfamiliar account. Xu Jun was wearing a simple white shirt and black trousers. Because there were many contestants, they were all crowded in one corridor, and the air was very stuffy.

Yet, even so, the top button of the white shirt was still tightly fastened, and the previous gold-rimmed glasses were broken, so Xu Jun had replaced them with a pair of frameless ones, which made him look tall and scholarly, with an intense aura of “do not approach.”

Separated by a crowd of people, Xu Jun spotted Tao Ning, who was surrounded, at a glance. He crossed the surging crowd and came to his side, handing him a clean jacket that subtly smelled of wood: “The air conditioning is on inside. Put this on.”

“…Mhm.”

Even though he hadn’t seen Xu Jun in a long time, Tao Ning was still comfortable with him. He took the jacket, which was a size too big for him, and put it on. The other foreign contestants who had intended to talk to Tao Ning immediately backed off when they saw Xu Jun intentionally and unintentionally shielding Tao Ning.

On the way to their respective competition rooms, neither of them asked about the other’s life, as they were already almost fully aware of everything about each other. Especially at this time, although they were both representing their country in the competition, the competition for the gold medal was still fierce.

In the past, there were secrets and intense feelings between them, but at this very moment, they were each other’s most respected opponents.

“Don’t be nervous,” Xu Jun said faintly as he escorted Tao Ning to the examination room entrance. “I believe in you, just like before.”

Tao Ning was stunned, then broke into his first smile in over two months.

“Me too…”

Before entering, Tao Ning turned back and said, “I will get the gold medal.”

Xu Jun gazed at him deeply, the usually cold and sharp eyes behind his glasses utterly tender.

“Mhm.”

The two-day exam ended. Xu Jun had already left, someone informed Tao Ning, saying he had to leave urgently because of company matters. Actually, there was no need to specifically inform a regular friend about this, but Tao Ning knew that he and Xu Jun were far more than just friends.

What kind of relationship was it exactly?

Tao Ning knew clearly that this question might never be fully answered in his lifetime.

After Xu Jun left, Tao Ning saw Song Yucong outside the venue. The man was wearing a mask and sunglasses, leaning against a Lamborghini with his arms crossed. Because of his overly flamboyant behavior and strange attire, some people stopped to take pictures, whispering among themselves.

Just as Song Yucong’s patience reached its limit, Tao Ning rushed over from the crowd, pulling him aside to ask, “Why did you come?”

“If Xu Jun can come, why can’t I?” Even with sunglasses and a mask, it was obvious that Song Yucong was radiating displeasure. The thick scent of vinegar could be smelled from a distance.

Avoiding the question that could set off an explosion, Tao Ning suppressed a smile: “Do you know why those people are staring at you?”

At this, Song Yucong proudly lifted his chin, seeming delighted. “I’m a popular singer now. It’s only natural for them to look at me.”

“Yes, that’s one reason. But mainly, you can’t park here.”

After having dinner with Song Yucong, Tao Ning returned to the apartment near the school since it was the weekend. In seventy-two days, he had never met Zhao Jingqun. However, Sun Lao Er had told him all the news related to Zhao Jingqun, including his entanglement with Zhao Yi and Zhao Jingsui… and finally, about Zhao Jingqun seeing a psychiatrist.

Throughout all this, Tao Ning showed no reaction. Sun Lao Er couldn’t gauge his thoughts, so he awkwardly left.

Tonight, he was going home alone again.

The apartment was well-hidden. The stairwell was exclusive to the unit, and one couldn’t enter without a key card. Passing the corner of the stairs, Tao Ning passed a man wearing a baseball cap. The latter walked very slowly and carried a faint scent of smoke.

Just as they were about to brush past each other, Tao Ning stopped, “…How long are you going to hide from me?”

The person behind him stopped. Despite such a simple question, the man couldn’t move his feet at all. He even seemed to shrink slightly, pulling the brim of his hat even lower, and his tall back hunched over.

“Zhao Jingqun… have you been cured by the doctor?”

Tao Ning turned around and walked toward the man step by step until he cornered him against the wall. The streetlights were dim, and the person cowering in the corner didn’t even dare to lift his head. Neither of them knew what expression the other had on their face right now.

After a while, the man spoke quietly, like a child who had done something wrong: “…No.”

“If not,” Tao Ning stared at him and asked, “Then why didn’t you continue to lock me up?”

Zhao Jingqun looked up in surprise, not expecting Tao Ning to ask this. He thought Tao Ning knew about his psychological abnormality, which was why he asked the question. He wanted to explain that even if he wasn’t cured, he wouldn’t do such crazy things anymore.

But before he could speak, Tao Ning looked at him intently and said, “If not, then why didn’t you come to see me? If not, then why have you been hiding from me all this time? If not… then why did you leave me alone?!” The last sentence was shouted, those beautiful eyes glaring fiercely at him.

Zhao Jingqun had never seen Tao Ning so emotional. He was momentarily stunned until he saw tears welling up in Tao Ning’s eyes, and his heart ached again. He immediately dropped all pretense and rushed to hug and comfort him: “Ning Ning… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean not to see you… I… I just…”

“Just what?” Tao Ning pushed him away and said coldly, “Just that you feel guilty and don’t dare to see me because you think your family troubles implicated me?”

A few words laid bare Zhao Jingqun’s thoughts. The man, usually eloquent, couldn’t utter a single word now. He was just too scared and too ashamed. Xu Jun almost died protecting Tao Ning. Song Yucong donated bone marrow to Tao Ning without hesitation.

And what about him? He was the culprit who caused everything. What right did he have to see Tao Ning?

Zhao Jingqun lived in self-reproach every day. All he asked for now was Tao Ning’s health and safety. As for his own love and hate, they no longer mattered… Although the desire to kiss Tao Ning and hold him tightly to confirm he was alive tore at Zhao Jingqun just as much as his self-reproach.

“I… I…”

He couldn’t speak a complete sentence, only watching the beloved person in front of him with cautious and greedy eyes.

“What exactly do you consider me?” Tao Ning wiped away his tears.

His wife, his partner, the person he would protect all his life.

But Zhao Jingqun didn’t dare to say it now.

Seeing his silence, Tao Ning pursed his lips, then took out a card and handed it over. “In that case, here is the key card for this apartment. I won’t come back, and you don’t need to follow me anymore.”

Seeing Tao Ning place the card on the ground and start to leave, Zhao Jingqun completely panicked. In the end, the desire to possess the boy who kept him awake at night gained the upper hand. He immediately rushed forward, hugging Tao Ning’s waist, and urgently pleaded, “Don’t go! Ning Ning, don’t go… You can’t leave me.”

In this small corner of the world, far from the mundane, Tao Ning sighed. He broke free from the embrace and, in turn, hugged the insecure man, saying, “I’m lying. I won’t leave. I’m just a little angry. This is your punishment for leaving me alone at home.”

“…Home?” Zhao Jingqun’s expression went blank instantly.

“You said this is our home,” Tao Ning asked. “Are you denying it?”

“I’m not denying it! I’m not denying it!” Zhao Jingqun was momentarily stunned by the surprise of this address, so much so that he couldn’t believe his ears. He hugged Tao Ning tightly again, “Darling… I’m sorry. I… From the day I started being with you until now, I have always considered you my only partner for this life.”

His illness was ultimately incurable. He would love Tao Ning pathologically, relentlessly, for the rest of his life.

“I know, that’s why I’m angry,” Tao Ning said. “You want to know my whereabouts at all times? I’ll tell you. You want to lock me up? I’ll cooperate with you. I just cannot tolerate you pushing me away to protect me. That’s not love to me. You are selfish and didn’t consider my feelings.”

“You think I’m weak and need your constant protection. Although my body is very weak, I have never given up. I’ve always moved toward my goals and can even face death calmly, so you have to trust that I can stand by your side. Besides…”

At this point, Tao Ning’s voice grew quieter. “I only feel sorry for your past and your struggles. I have never felt that you are a burden to me.”

On the contrary, thank you for letting me know what love is. Because of you, I have the courage to believe that Alpha’s words are wrong—I am just an ordinary person who encountered some strange things, but otherwise quite normal.

So, please appear openly by my side and protect me.

After hearing these words, Zhao Jingqun could no longer control the surging love in his heart. He reverently cupped Tao Ning’s face and gently kissed his soft lips. In the end, it was impossible to tell whose tears they were, bitter yet burning. They simply devoured the warmth in each other’s mouths. At this moment, the constant longing of over one hundred and eighty days and nights finally returned to the brightly lit harbor.

Two months later.

Tao Ning won the IMO gold medal without a doubt and received an invitation to study mathematics at Cambridge University’s Trinity College. Although many Auxent students go to prestigious foreign universities every year, Tao Ning’s experience was unique. He was the first transfer student to win an international competition gold medal and receive an acceptance letter from an Ivy League school, making his story highly inspirational. Major media in Haizhou rushed to cover the story.

Even a central news channel decided to interview him, broadcasted live on television. Tao Yuan, thousands of miles away, was both happy and proud upon receiving the news. He hosted a banquet, gathering the neighbors and relatives to watch the television at his house. Because Xiao Meng got motion sickness and school hadn’t recessed yet, Tao Ning didn’t ask them to travel all the way.

He just said to watch the TV instead.

“Hahahaha, that’s a student in my class. He’s really something,” his homeroom teacher, Mr. Yang, felt relieved for Tao Ning and sighed, “To my knowledge, Tao Ning comes from a difficult family background, and he came here to study through a sponsorship opportunity. And his health wasn’t great, so it’s not easy for him to be where he is today…”

The reporter was conducting the interview backstage. Meanwhile, inside Auxent’s largest multi-functional hall, the thousands of seats were fully occupied. Everyone’s eyes were on the stage, filled with curiosity, aspiration, and most of all, admiration. All the spotlights were focused on the beautiful young man in the center, who had shed his youthful appearance and become tall and slender.

Tao Ning scanned the audience, his gaze falling on a man wearing a mask in the corner of the second floor. Receiving his gaze, the latter glared at him. Tao Ning curved his lips slightly.

He remembered asking Song Yucong a few days ago if he would come. Song Yucong scoffed, saying he wouldn’t go, complaining that he was too famous now and it would be too much trouble if he was recognized.

Yet, today he saw the person who claimed he wouldn’t come standing in the corner of the second floor.

His gaze shifted down, landing on a man with flamboyant red hair, who was smiling roguishly in the center of the audience. After Zhao Jingqun heard about the event, he donated three buildings to Auxent, successfully securing the best seat in the audience. Seeing Tao Ning look over, he subtly blew him a kiss.

Tao Ning’s cheeks flushed slightly. He deliberately looked away with a calm expression.

At this moment, the host on the stage Xu Jun, who was “rehired” to host this speech glanced at the cue card in his hand and asked faintly, “Does anyone have any other questions they’d like to ask?”

Just then, someone nervously raised a hand. Xu Jun gave a signal, and someone passed the microphone to him. The person looked a little timid but asked a very pointed question: “H-Hello, Senior. I’m Li Le from Grade 10, also a transfer student, but I feel very ordinary. Senior, do you agree that only students with talent can achieve success? Because I feel that the gap between people is really huge, especially since I came to this international school.”

The hall instantly erupted in murmurs. After all, Auxent had a history of discriminating against transfer students. Over ninety percent of the students in this school were prodigies. They had commanded the top resources of society since birth and received an elite education that the average person couldn’t access.

The remaining ten percent of transfer students mostly came from ordinary family backgrounds. Even with excellent grades, only a few could catch up to the other ninety percent of privileged geniuses. To surpass those people, perhaps truly exceptional talent was needed.

After a few minutes of silence, Tao Ning neither denied nor affirmed the statement. Instead, he looked at the man with the red hair, as bright as fire, who was silently supporting him in the audience. Then, he looked at the camera pointing at him, as if he could transcend distance and time to see Tao Yuan and Xiao Meng watching the television, proud of him.

Finally, there were the mountains he had traversed countless times in his childhood. The trees there reached high into the clouds, blocking the sky and making it impossible to see the future, yet they also gave rise to vibrant roses all over the mountainside. Every summer, a young Tao Ning, only a few years old, would lie in the grass and observe the world.

“From a remote mountain area to this podium today, I have walked for nineteen years. If I must talk about the talent needed for success, I believe it is perseverance, and a little bit of luck.”

“What kind of luck is that?”

“Always having the curiosity to look up at the universe.”

—The End—

Support After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People