CH 6

In the small lecture theater, more than 30 people were scattered on the seats. Apart from the sound of my lecture, there were no other noises. 

Shang Muxiao sat in the front row, in the middle. His eyes kept moving to me, and sometimes he would take some notes, as if he wasn’t the one who was kicked out of the classroom by me last time.  

“Now it’s time for questions.” After pausing the ppt, I came to the edge of the podium and said to the students, “Everyone is free to ask questions.” 

Not many people raised their hands, but Shang Muxiao was among those who did. The bet with him only said that I couldn’t deliberately avoid him. It didn’t say that I would definitely pick him if he raised his hand. Moreover, subconsciously, I always felt that he would not ask serious questions. 

I calmly turned a blind eye to his optimism, skipped him and picked a male classmate in the back row. 

Shang Muxiao withdrew his hand in dissatisfaction, looked back at the boy whom I named, and then leaned back on the chair, looking quite arrogant. 

The boy I named didn’t know what happened, but visibly shrank, and his voice stuttered a little.

“I, I want to ask, could you please explain the core concepts of Schopenhauer’s theory of “The Four Roots of the Law of Sufficient Reason” without using philosophical language?” He scratched his head embarrassedly, “I think It’s a bit difficult, not…not very clear.” 

Philosophy was a very difficult and complex subject, full of various contradictory and unified factional theories. It was just an elective course because of interest or forced to take this “History of Western Philosophy”. Without great understanding, it was indeed very easy for beginners to get confused by complicated philosophical terms. 

I nodded to show my understanding, sorted out the language, and said slowly: “The Four Roots of the Law of Sufficient Reason, in simple terms, are the four fundamental reasons why everything in the world appears like this. Schopenhauer believed that the world is so different because people have different ways of expressing themselves.”

“First, perceptual experience constitutes a human’s fundamental view of things, which is inherited from human beings.”

“Second, abstract concepts constitute people’s basic judgments about things, which come from people’s knowledge of things.”

“Third, innate perceptions of time and space constitute people’s sensitivity to numbers, which define the sense of being.”

“Fourth, things are responsible for action, it is how the will is presented and the ‘motivation’ that drives it.” 

“The above are the core concepts of “The Four Roots of the Law of Sufficient Reason”, understand?” 

The boy nodded vigorously while taking notes, “Mn, I understand. I understand as soon as the professor explains it! Professor, you are amazing!” 

Shang Muxiao sneered, and he didn’t bother to hide his contempt. He seemed to think that it was really unprofessional to talk about such a problem. 

I didn’t know where he got the courage to laugh at others when he failed the exam. “Anyone else have questions?”  

Shang Muxiao raised his hand lazily, as if he had no hope that I would pick him. 

But I just actually picked him and asked, “What do you want to ask?” 

Po tf rjsr rbwfatlcu lggfifnjca, P mbeiv peraloljyis lcnlaf tlw bea. 

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“Vtbeiv ibnf, ktlmt lr cba yifrrfv ys atf kbgiv, byfs gfjrbc bg lcralcma?” 

“Pa vfqfcvr bc ktlmt atfbgs sbe qgfofg ab yfilfnf.” 

He further asked, “What about Professor? When you meet your other half, but your love is not blessed by the world, do you choose to follow reason or return to instinct?” 

“The difference between humans and animals is that humans have rationality. Rationality can enable us to better plan for the future, take the initiative, and reduce risks. I don’t think we should give up this right.”  

“But rationality also makes us lose our sensitivity to things.” Shang Muxiao argued rationally, ” ‘We gain things through reason but we also lose things.’Shouldn’t this sentence mean that reason isn’t that important?” 

These were Schopenhauer’s original words. It seemed that he came prepared. 

To be honest, this was not a difficult question to answer. It wasn’t very philosophical in nature. Instead, it was more suitable as a debate topic for debate, so that both sides could be understood.

I thought he was going to ask some good questions, but it turned out to be nothing more than this. 

“I am a rationalist, you are an irrationalist. We are not of the same faction, so how can we agree on the same thing? You are willing to return to instinct, I prefer to listen to reason. From the very beginning, we have differences. You can’t convince me and neither do I intend to convince you. Philosophy is an existence full of various opinions and speculations. There is no need to distinguish between superiors and inferiors.”

There was no point in debating this question any further. I wanted to put a stop to it, but he was still planning to continue.

“So you will never be driven by instinct and will always be rational, right?” He leaned forward slightly, his tone and expression had changed subtly from before, as if he didn’t believe it, but also seemed expectant. In those dark eyes, was a straightforward eagerness to try.

He felt that he could get me to break my rationality, go against my principles, and leave today’s insights behind. Looking at his young and arrogant face, I already knew what he was thinking. 

He wasn’t asking a dumb question, he was just laying the groundwork for someday in the future to laugh at me for being a rationalist.

Evil brat.

I didn’t give him that opportunity and quickly closed the issue.

“My opinion doesn’t matter. This question is over, the next one.” 

Not getting the answer he really wanted, he leaned back in his chair a little bored. He played with a ballpoint pen in his hand, a slight smile on his lips, silently mouthing one word to me.

— — coward.

I nonchalantly swept my gaze over him and started to answer the next question.

Since the bet took effect, Shang Muxiao had reported to my office every day before work ended and sent me home. 

I didn’t quite believe that he really wanted to chase after me. Thinking about it, his sudden change was maybe just out of some weird desire to win – he had to prove that all my rejections were denials. That I was already coveting him, and had a wicked heart. I was truly a person who “talked of humanity, justice and morality, with nothing but greed and lust at heart”. 

If Yan Ying was an arrogant person who thought that she could take over the world with her beauty alone, then Shang Muxiao would be no less so.

If he wants love, you must give him love. If you didn’t give it, he would take it. Once he took it, it would probably only satisfy a certain collection addiction, and he wouldn’t cherish it. I always felt that he must’ve lacked love as a child.

Understanding this, I no longer resisted his pursuit. I was still happy that someone took me home every day. It was just a child’s game. As long as he gets tired of it, he would naturally do what he needed to do. 

“Are you free on Saturday? I’ll take you to a good place.” When he parked at his usual spot, Shang Muxiao put on the handbrake and sent me a date invitation. 

“No time, I have an appointment with a friend on Saturday.” 

Yang Haiyang asked me to make an appointment earlier, which wasn’t against the rules. 

Unfastening the seat belt, I saw that Shang Muxiao was still not moving, and asked him what was wrong with my eyes.  

“What about next Saturday?” He was facing me, with one elbow on the steering wheel, the expression on his face was much lighter than before. 

So, a child was a child, and everything was displayed on his face. 

“Next Saturday, we’ll talk about it next week.” When he heard these words, he leaned back in his seat, didn’t communicate with me and didn’t move. He had the stance that he wouldn’t let me get out of the car if I didn’t agree. 

In terms of time, I really wasn’t his opponent, and I was also at a disadvantage. If he just threw me here in displeasure, I would have no choice but to crawl back.  

“Got it, I’ll free up next Saturday.” In the end, I had to compromise.

Shang Muxiao changed his face quickly, and suddenly became happy again. He got out of the car and assembled the wheelchair without my urging, and then went around to my side and carried me out of the car. 

Just a few days later, he became more and more comfortable, and I became more and more at ease. When my car was repaired, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be used to getting on and off by myself. 

Terrible. For more than ten years, I had relied on myself for everything because I knew that if I relied too much on others to survive, I would become a real waste sooner or later. As a result, because of a small accident, an inexplicable gambling game, the persistence of more than ten years had been shaken.  

It suddenly dawned on me that I might be taking human instincts too simply. 

After taking me to the elevator, Shang Muxiao suddenly answered a phone call. The voice of the person on the other end was so loud that he almost shouted, as if he was in a noisy environment. “The old place? Don’t call…” 

He glanced at me and swallowed the words he was about to say, “Don’t call so many people, I won’t go if I don’t know them.” 

I could only hear the last two words — — hurry up, from what was spoken on the other end. 

“My friend asked me to sing, I’ll go first.” Shang Muxiao seemed to be really afraid that I would mind, and he explained it to me seriously. 

“Mn, have fun.” 

I was still immersed in the conflict between rationality and instinct when I said goodbye to Shang Muxiao. I went home and closed the door for a night to think about whether I could really be completely rational. I didn’t get an answer. 

On Saturday afternoon, I arrived at the restaurant designated by Yang Haiyang at the appointed time. He had already arrived, but his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.  

“You look at the menu first. Yunrou came by herself. She just arrived and is still parking.” He explained to me. 

I wasn’t really picky about what I ate. I didn’t take the menu, saying that it was all up to him.

When the order was almost finished, Yang Haiyang and I were talking when he suddenly raised his hand and waved in the direction of the door. His whole face lit up because of the other party’s arrival. 

Only now did I finally believe that he had really found someone who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, instead of just finding someone to live with. 

“I’m sorry, I’m late.” The other party sat down with a clear voice, shoulder-length hair, and a casual yet professional white suit jacket. She looked as pretty as a female star, and most importantly……deja vu. 

Just…was it possible? Wasn’t it too dramatic? 

“Hello, I’m Shang Yunrou, Yang Haiyang’s girlfriend. I’ve often heard Haiyang talk about you, and I’ve been looking up to you for a long time. I finally met you this time. You really live up to your reputation.” Shang Yunrou politely reached out and wanted to shake my hand. 

I stared at her face, combined with her rare surname. I was only 20% suspicious before but now it had risen to 60%, exceeding half in an instant.  

“Excuse me…” I asked while shaking hands with her, “Do you have a younger brother?”

The author says: 

The idea that “only human beings have reason” and the idea that “rationality is not that important” are both Schopenhauer’s. It can be seen that Bei Jie used a philosopher’s point of view to express his point of view, and Shang Muxiao used the same philosopher’s point of view to refute it.