"You're right, but..."
When people are unwilling to wake up from a self-woven dream, when they begin to constantly reinforce their own perceptions with closed-loop logic, their subconscious will naturally block out all negating possibilities and voices.
The onlooker sees most of the game. Lin Wei, seeing the determined yet yearning expression on Raven's face, knew that saying any more "discouraging words" right now would be meaningless, aside from making her unhappy.
So some things are probably truly unavoidable...
Only when the small world one has delineated for oneself is completely shattered by the heavy fist of reality, when all one's dreams, expectations, and even dignity are utterly destroyed, when one is left with absolutely nothing as a result; perhaps only then, in that heart-wrenching pain that makes even the soul tremble, can one thoroughly understand a most profound, yet most simple truth—
"Self-deception is meaningless; people always have to learn to face reality..."
When did Lin Wei truly understand this truth?
It wasn't in the small shelter called "The Nest" in the ruins of Nagazora City, nor in Singapore when the Great Honkai Eruption occurred, but at the very beginning, in the rented house in the small coastal city near St. Freya Academy.
At that time, Lin Wei was secretly overjoyed, thinking he had successfully escaped all dangers. He believed he could use the advantage of "hiding in plain sight" to safely weather the next few most dangerous and turbulent years in this beautiful, unnoticed little harbor.
But on an ordinary night, a few faint lines on his arm easily and completely shattered his incredibly naive expectations and fantasies...
In that instant, Lin Wei collapsed to the ground as if he had died, letting out the most miserable and desperate wail of his life.
But when he stood up again from that puddle mixed with blood, tears, snot, and a whole bunch of other messy liquids, he had, in turn, slapped his hand on fate's throat, then with a calm yet crazed smile, politely and gently choked it, tore it apart, bit by bit...
Lin Wei had truly hurt, so he particularly understood and sympathized with Raven at this moment.
But precisely because he had truly hurt, he also understood a helpless reality—he couldn't help her; she could only find a way out of this maze herself.
Even for himself, Lin Wei asked himself: if, before anything had happened, someone had run to him in the town next to St. Freya Academy and said with a serious face—"Brother, hiding here is useless, you have to stand up! Listen to me, quickly find a way back to Nagazora City, which is probably a dead city by now, and tear that Herrscher from fifty thousand years ago apart with your bare hands. Only then can you have a truly bright and brilliant future!"
If such a thing had really happened, what would he have done back then?
Lin Wei thought about it carefully and, with a somewhat wry smile, found that it would have been good enough if he hadn't punched him in the face on the spot!
"Get lost! If you want me to die, just say so! Ptooey, what nonsense!"
After all, that path was truly too difficult. If one wasn't forced to that point, who would willingly throw themselves onto a path to death?
If even he himself was like this, how could he be confident that he could, with mere empty words, make Raven willingly give up everything she had paid so much for and longed for for so long?
One had to know, facing that kind of terrifying global disaster, just moving Raven's home wouldn't solve any problems...
Precisely because of this, after much thought, Lin Wei wisely chose to keep his mouth shut in the end, deciding to return this dream-like happy life intact to Raven.
Some people, some paths, are destined to hit a wall and be bloodied before they truly turn back from their straying ways. Before that, he could only wish her well in overcoming this difficulty...
"I thought you were going to say something discouraging. After all, it's not the first time you've said something like that."
Raven watched with interest as Lin Wei first hesitated to speak, then quickly regained his composure, and said with a light smile.
"I didn't expect you to be so quiet this time. That's really surprising."
Lin Wei had given her several very obvious hints before. How could she not hear the lack of optimism in Lin Wei's words?
"I did have some things I wanted to say, but I guess you probably wouldn't like to hear them, so let's forget it."
Lin Wei spread his hands and frankly admitted it. Then, imitating Raven, he gazed at the distant sea horizon, hazy with mist, and the faint green dots appearing and disappearing within it, and smiled lightly.
"Such beautiful scenery, such a peaceful place, truly a wonderful vacation spot. Shouldn't one just enjoy this rare holiday here?"
"..."
Raven was silent for a moment.
Lin Wei had, after all, hinted at something to her again, only this time it was much more subtle than before.
The place where she now lived with the children was originally a beautiful resort. It was just that all the peace and comfort had been completely destroyed after a Honkai Eruption. Raven had spent a lot of effort hiring people to clean up the ruins here.
In such a place, to say such words, was it really that difficult to understand what Lin Wei wanted to convey to her?
Lin Wei was saying, this was just a vacation—and vacations, one day, will end...
"...Heh, clever of you not to say those unpleasant things."
Since Lin Wei didn't spell it out, Raven was happy to continue playing dumb and said with a seemingly indifferent smile.
"Otherwise, even if you really came to visit again next time, I'm afraid I wouldn't welcome you as a guest."
"Haha, how could that be? I'm still quite looking forward to your new home."
Lin Wei also smiled. He naturally understood Raven's subtle warning—If you say that kind of thing again, then get lost early!
Since neither side had spoken too bluntly, the relationship between them was still relatively harmonious. The understanding was enough.
But no matter how much tacit understanding there was, the atmosphere between the two of them now inevitably became somewhat awkward. There wasn't much point in staying on this mountaintop any longer, so after a brief pause, they hastily concluded and returned the way they came.
When they returned to the courtyard, back to the children, the relationship between them seemed to return to its previous state of being neither too close nor too distant, only Raven didn't put her hood back on.
Lin Wei had once asked Raven about this out of curiosity. The latter had irritably replied,
"This is North Africa, desert and beach. I get hot too!"
Lin Wei didn't press further with obviously tactless questions like "Then why were you still wearing it when I saw you before?" He merely feigned sudden realization and wisely shut up, successfully avoiding Raven falling into an awkward, defensive state again.
At this, Raven pursed her lips again, because she found she had inadvertently dug a pit for herself—this way, it seemed she really couldn't put the hat back on her head.
"Despicable Lin Wei, so you had this kind of scheme too?"
Raven thought somewhat resentfully, and then deliberately added an extra spoonful of chili to Lin Wei's dinner that day...
Lin Wei keenly exposed Raven's conspiracy. So from that day on, he arranged for Yuno to help Raven in the kitchen—of course, he himself would go too.
"Out, out! There's no room for so many people in the kitchen!"
Raven shooed the two of them out with a look of disgust, keeping only Sora by her side to help.
"Sigh, assassin, mercenary..."
When Sora wasn't around, Lin Wei, with a look of utter heartbreak, shouted at a certain individual who was willingly degenerating,
"Cook!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly ducked his head, dodging a spinning kitchen knife.
"Yoho? Your skills have improved~"
After successfully delivering her physical rebuttal, Raven sneered and retracted her hand.
"Get it back for me!"
"Close call, almost lost my hair."
Lin Wei grumbled dissatisfaction. If he had stood still just now, the knife wouldn't have hurt him, it would have just grazed his left cheek and flown past his ear—of course, it would have also cleanly shaved off the hair on that side.
"Such good knife skills, must be great at peeling potatoes..."
Lin Wei returned the knife to Raven and then ran for his life. Then, a "thud" was heard from behind, and a gleaming implement appeared out of nowhere on the kitchen door.
"..."
Yuno witnessed this scene, and for some reason, felt a faint sense of envy. It was the first time she had seen Lin Wei being so mischievous and playful.
"No need to be surprised. I was never a serious person to begin with."
Sora, returning from the storage room holding a large box of cream, interrupted this scene. She stood at the doorway, looking at the door panel with a puzzled expression, wondering why there was suddenly a small, thin groove there—as for the original "implement" on it, Raven had taken it back long ago. Lin Wei also ended this impromptu little prank and said to Yuno with a smile,
"Just now, that was also a small demonstration, just to let you see something different."
"Something different?"
Yuno tilted her head, not quite understanding.
"Look at me just now. Did I look happy?"
Lin Wei asked instead of answering.
Yuno recalled for a moment, then nodded lightly.
"Mm."
"That's right then."
Lin Wei smiled faintly.
"Learning to find small joys in life, this is also a very important lesson in life—whether it's an optimistic attitude or a positive state, it's accumulated bit by bit in these inconspicuous little things."
"...Is that so?"
Yuno looked down at herself, then frowned and thought for a moment, finding she couldn't imitate Lin Wei's manner.
"This isn't for you to imitate me. I just want to tell you that you don't have to always be so tense or hard on yourself in life."
Seeing this, Lin Wei chuckled and comforted her.
"People are different. Find your own little hobbies, cherish your own little pleasures. Although they may seem inconspicuous, they will make your life a little more fun."
In Lin Wei's view, learning to find joy in hardship and relieve stress at any time was a very important life skill—although life mostly involved carrying heavy burdens, one should also always maintain a relaxed attitude to appreciate the wildflowers by the roadside.
For the same journey, compared to silent endurance, active enjoyment clearly allows one to gain more from it and also gives one the courage to go further.
"Is that so?"
Yuno said thoughtfully.
"Vice-Captain Rita once suggested that I could learn flower arrangement in my spare time, saying it might help me."
"Rita is also a thoughtful person."
Lin Wei smiled. He had always had a good impression of that seemingly elegant yet dangerous girl. He asked with some curiosity,
"And then, did you do it?"
"No."
Yuno shook her head and said somewhat shyly.
"Every time I walk into the flower arrangement room, many of those overflowing vases of flowers complain to me about how much pain and discomfort those people caused them when they were making them. The chattering is so annoying..."
She could understand the language of plants. This ability sometimes brought her convenience, but of course, she also had to endure the accompanying noise.
"...Is that so? Then it seems plants can also be your good friends."
Lin Wei was momentarily speechless. This was truly a kind of distress that ordinary people could hardly imagine.
"See, isn't this also a very interesting thing?"
"Friends?"
Yuno fell silent. These two words made her involuntarily think of Ana, wondering how she was doing in Schicksal now.
"It's okay. Things will gradually get better."
Seeing this, Lin Wei patted her shoulder and sighed softly.
"You too, Ana too..."
How could he not worry about how Otto would treat that foolish girl? But he really couldn't rush. Things had to be done one by one; he had to hurry, but also take it slow...
"Have you chatted enough?"
When the conversation between the two came to an end, Raven opportunely opened the kitchen door and kicked out a basket of potatoes, which rolled all over the floor with a "guruguru" sound.
"If you have this much time, help me peel these potatoes clean. We need them for dinner."
After saying that, she tossed a small knife at Lin Wei's feet, then slammed the door shut with a "clang."
"...Can you hear what they're saying?"
Lin Wei looked at the potatoes scattered all over the floor, and suddenly a random thought struck him, leading him to ask such an irrelevant question.
Ingredients are also plants, right? Lin Wei thought somewhat strangely.
"They say it hurt a lot when they were kicked..."
Yuno rubbed her ears and said with some annoyance, seemingly bothered by a headache from the noise.
"Is that so? Then it seems this ability of yours is actually quite inconvenient."
Lin Wei shrugged.
"Alright, in that case, leave this to me."
If Yuno were really to peel potatoes here, then to her ears, the cries of those potatoes would probably be even more unbearable...
"Then what should I do now?"
Yuno asked.
Lin Wei pointed to the area where the children were playing, just about to say some outrageous words like "Otherwise, why don't you go tutor the children," when his communicator suddenly beeped.
Lin Wei took it out and looked. The smile on his face quickly faded.
"What's wrong?"
Yuno asked, seeing this.
"Nothing, just Gray Serpent sent me a message. The things I wanted, he has prepared."
Lin Wei stood up and stretched lazily, saying calmly,
"Soon, we'll have things to do."