Life is a very long journey, and it's impossible for us to remember everything that happens along this journey.
What we're usually able to remember are only the things that left a deep impression on us.
And those deeply impressive things often share one thing in common.
They are things that touched our inner selves.
Whether they're good or bad, as long as something touched our heart at the moment it happened, no matter how much time passes, we will remember it.
From Notch's answers, it's not hard to see that his prank-loving friend's repeated pranks all touched Notch's inner self.
The reason Notch remembers these things so clearly is naturally not because he agrees with his friend's actions. On the contrary, the reason he remembers them so clearly is entirely because of his resistance to what his friend did.
This resistance is not a resistance on the level of conscious thought, but one that comes from subconscious feelings.
This kind of subconscious resistance already proves one thing, Notch and his friend do not share the same values.
To put it plainly, it's because of the "friend filter" that when Notch talks about these things, the attitude he shows is merely helplessness.
He doesn't mean to abandon his prank-loving friend at all. Saying these things is simply a bit of venting.
From his words, "He's like a child who never grew up…", it's clear that although Notch is dissatisfied with his actions, he still maintains a tolerant attitude toward him.
But the fact that Notch can remember these things so clearly is precisely because they have actually touched his bottom line.
If the one doing these things weren't his friend but someone else, Notch's attitude definitely wouldn't be indulgent. He would absolutely speak up and condemn them.
Obviously, this is the double standard that most people can't avoid under the friend filter.
Notch's words undoubtedly corroborated Xu Yuan's guess, Notch's filter toward his friend is indeed very strong.
He clearly doesn't like his friend's pranks, yet he still tries hard to accommodate downward, tolerating his friend.
After hearing Notch's answer, Xu Yuan thought for a moment and then spoke.
"It's a good thing you were there to clean things up. If you hadn't been, these matters probably wouldn't have been so easy to resolve."
"And also, your friend was quite lucky. That incident with the allergy just now, if it weren't for the fact that there happened to be anti-allergy medicine, it might have ended with a death."
Xu Yuan's approach was the same as before, slowly expanding on the issue and guiding Notch to think.
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Notch sighed helplessly and nodded.
"Yeah, with that lemon juice incident, after he sent his classmate back home, I just collapsed onto the floor, my hands shaking nonstop."
"If he'd dripped a bit more lemon juice, if I just happened not to be home, if my house didn't have anti-allergy medicine…"
"Later on, I didn't even dare to keep thinking about it…"
To be honest, even now when Notch thinks back on it, he still feels a bit scared, let alone how it felt when it actually happened.
Hearing this, Xu Yuan nodded in agreement.
"If those coincidences hadn't been there, it wouldn't have just been a prank."
Notch nodded hard, his face full of lingering fear.
"Yeah…"
Seeing this, Xu Yuan continued asking, "But having something like this happen once isn't necessarily a bad thing for your friend. It can be considered a wake-up call."
"After that, your friend probably didn't pull any more pranks, right?"
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, the expression on Notch's face became even more helpless. He smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
"There's a saying, dogs can't change their…"
Halfway through the sentence, Notch seemed to realize his wording was a bit inappropriate. He paused, then continued, "Sigh, he's just that kind of person…"
"But after that incident, he really did become a bit more cautious. Still, it's hard to change one's nature…"
Notch sighed, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness and indulgence, like a parent talking about a mischievous child.
"He's been like that since he was little. Wanting him to change is really difficult," Notch continued, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.
He knew his friend's behavior was inappropriate, yet he was still subconsciously finding excuses for him.
"Luckily, we were there to clean things up, so nothing serious happened."
Notch's last sentence was basically self-comfort.
It had to be said, when it comes to his friend, Notch was just like an overly indulgent parent. What he said at this moment was no different from the classic lines of such parents, "The child is still young," "He didn't mean it," "Don't argue with a child."
Hearing Notch's words, Xu Yuan finally realized that the "male mom" Notch had described earlier was actually himself.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan let out a long sigh and looked at Notch seriously.
"You also said it yourself, 'luckily' you were there to clean things up."
"It was the previous luck plus you covering for him that kept anything serious from happening."
"What if you weren't there to clean things up?"
"If he really caused a major incident, would you still continue to shield him?"
Seeing Xu Yuan's expression, Notch couldn't help but be a little stunned.
He didn't know how to answer Xu Yuan's question.
Notch really was a bit overly indulgent toward that friend. In his heart, that friend was like his younger brother.
So even though some of the things he did gave Notch a headache, Notch would always subconsciously shield him.
In Notch's impression, although his friend liked pulling pranks, he could actually tell right from wrong. He knew what could be done and what couldn't.
Thinking of this, Notch looked at Xu Yuan and said, "When we talk about cleaning things up, it was actually all stuff from when we were kids."
"Even though he's still like that after growing up, he does have the ability to tell right from wrong."
"He knows what he can do and what he can't, so his pranks still have limits…"
Xu Yuan couldn't refute Notch's words. What Notch said was indeed true. If his friend didn't have the ability to tell right from wrong, who knows how many things he would have done already.
But Xu Yuan knew very clearly that his friend's ability to tell right from wrong existed because he was in the real world at the time.
The real world has the constraints of law.
Precisely because of those legal constraints, he had a clear understanding of what could be done and what couldn't.
But what if those legal constraints were removed?
Notch and his two friends created this game. Wasn't the game world they created back then exactly a world without legal constraints?
Without the constraints of law, and standing at the very top of the world.
At that time, he would have no scruples at all. He would do everything he wanted to do, and his ambitions would be amplified step by step.
It was precisely because of this that the current situation came to be.
Xu Yuan sighed and looked at Notch, speaking in a tactful manner.
"The monster I mentioned to you earlier was born without empathy."
"It was because I set rules for him and restrained him that nothing major ever happened."
"But what if he were to lose those restraints?…"