There is no luck in this world

When Professor Zhang first heard Lin Yuan say he wanted to marry Xia Ye, he looked at him as if he were a prodigal son.

After calming down slightly, he continued, "You want to marry her? Tell me the truth, what do you see in her?"

Lin Yuan didn't think much and replied, "Besides being good-looking, she doesn't really have many advantages. Oh, right, although she's a bit slow, she's diligent and honest, and she doesn't despise me for being poor. When I was with her before, I always kept it a secret from her; she even thought I was a delivery driver."

"Heh~~, no wonder. I was thinking, how could such a smart kid like you fall for her?" Professor Zhang had a look of understanding. "You, you've been poor since childhood. Suddenly, there's a good-looking girl who doesn't despise your poverty, and she's willing to follow you honestly, so you can't help but be moved.

I understand you very well. What you've lacked in your heart since you were young is others' regard."

Lin Yuan gripped the railing with both hands, implicitly acknowledging his mentor's judgment.

"But there's an old saying: 'Near cinnabar, one turns red; near ink, one turns black.' When they were checking Song Xiaoxiao's chat records, I incidentally asked them to also pay attention to her chat records with Xia Ye. Because I remember you telling me: you had a girl you liked.

Looking at their chat records, it confirmed my judgment."

Lin Yuan readily agreed, "I know you're doing this for my own good." Professor Zhang had already mentioned "near ink, one turns black," so how could Lin Yuan not understand? His mentor was kindly reminding him: Xia Ye and Song Xiaoxiao are close, and Xia Ye might be influenced negatively.

"Xia Ye worked as a greeter at a maid cafe for a few days."

Professor Zhang was stunned for a moment. "So you knew."

The secret Lin Yuan least wanted Xia Ye to reveal was now exposed.

"Since you already know, and you still want to persist, it seems this young woman named Xia Ye indeed has some extraordinary qualities."

Lin Yuan chuckled, "Teacher, aren't you going to scold me?"

"What's there to scold? As long as you're not kept in the dark, I'm too lazy to scold you. But I still want to say one more thing, based on my experience: you don't need to stake your marriage on someone's temporary admiration for you.

For two people to last long, they need common topics and to be on the same level.

You and that girl are clearly not from the same world."

But Lin Yuan had no intention of listening. "I just feel that a person is like a mille-feuille cake, made up of many layers. And for me, when it comes to the layer of emotion, I don't want too many things mixed in. I just feel that if I abandon her now, I'll feel uneasy.

Just like if I ignored Song Xiaoxiao, I would also feel uneasy."

"Then I understand. You're going to follow your heart. You're wilder than me, kid. They call me 'Old Ghost Zhang' because I was wild enough when I was young, but now it seems I'm not as good as you."

Lin Yuan just smiled awkwardly, "So, Teacher, you're not against it then?"

"No. I am against it."

"Ah?"

"As long as you're not married yet, I'll definitely introduce you to suitable girls whenever I have the chance. But you can choose not to accept my introductions. Because, to use your words, if I saw you being so headstrong and didn't care about you, I would also feel uneasy later."

"Uh..." Lin Yuan was dumbfounded by his mentor's "return the favor" move.

"I'm not joking with you," Professor Zhang said, changing to a serious tone. "If you want to get married, go ahead, but there's only one thing: a true man must be able to pick up and let go. If one day you find that some people and things are not as you imagined, then by no means lose your composure.

Given your circumstances, losing a little money is nothing, and a second marriage is not a big deal."

Lin Yuan understood instantly. His mentor was too open-minded.

To summarize in one sentence: anyway, the most valuable thing about Lin Yuan is him as a person, so as long as his dao heart is not disturbed, what's wrong with divorcing and remarrying?

Lin Yuan felt that his mentor was a unique force in the world, always with one foot in the mundane world and the other in the heavens.

"Since we've talked this far, I might as well say a few more things that are taboo."

"What is it?"

"Besides that maid cafe incident, nothing else has been found about your girlfriend after searching the entire internet."

Lin Yuan's eyes widened. 'What does this old guy mean? Did he check all of Xia Ye's records everywhere? Like, all kinds of hotels?'

"Th-thank you for your concern, Teacher."

"This is something you shouldn't talk about."

Lin Yuan then gave a look that said, 'You know, I know.'

Just as Professor Zhang was about to leave, Lin Yuan remembered something.

"Teacher, wait a moment. I just heard you say that regarding my admission letter, you specifically sought out Director Wang, which is why I was released that very night."

"That's right, what about it?"

"What are your thoughts on the admission letter incident?"

"Are you asking your mentor to score your work?"

"Uh..." Lin Yuan scratched his head, "Haha, I was just asking."

"It was from that incident that I truly began to acknowledge your professional ability."

Lin Yuan's mind was already buzzing. "So, so you knew all along, Teacher."

"You're talking nonsense. Although from the perspective of the chain of evidence, it couldn't form a closed loop. But how could there be such a coincidence in the world? If I hadn't vouched for you, would they not have investigated further?"

"Alright." Lin Yuan gave a self-deprecating smile, "I thought I had narrowly escaped, but it turns out I still leaned on a powerful figure. Then why did you never mention this, Teacher?"

Professor Zhang retorted, "Why should I mention it?"

"Because I did, after all, violate XX."

"Then tell me, what actual harm did you cause?"

"I certainly didn't."

"Then that's it. You're worried that I'd rigidly stick to the rules and hold that against you, right?"

Lin Yuan smiled, "After interacting with you more, I stopped worrying."

"Stop flattering me.

In short, rules are dead.

Understanding what rules are and clearly seeing the boundaries of their effectiveness is your first step to truly becoming an adult.

I'm not telling you to disregard rules."

Professor Zhang thought for a moment, "Since you brought this up, I'll say a few more words. After all, it's too sensitive, and I don't want to instill any bad ideas in you."

Lin Yuan listened attentively.

"The common people like those who are impartial and incorruptible. So what I did certainly isn't presentable. But they didn't understand one thing, and that's methodology.

Think about it, if I were truly impartial and incorruptible towards you. Because you committed that act, I would kick you out, or even the school would expel you and send you to prison.

You would definitely be unconvinced, because even if you argue endlessly, the actual harm you caused wasn't great, and you didn't use your abilities to commit crimes. It's just that the potential harm you displayed was relatively large, and the nature of it was somewhat malicious. If they were to act harshly against you simply because of potential harm, I believe many people would be delighted.

But they didn't think of one thing.

What happens after you get out?

At that time, if an overseas NGO organization extended an olive branch to you, offering you a green card, a high salary, and then instilling some ideas of 'freedom,' appearing eager for talent, what would you do?"

Lin Yuan answered without hesitation, "Like a swift horse meeting its connoisseur."

"Exactly, isn't that it? By then, would you still be expected to abandon overseas opportunities and stay in China with a criminal record, living like a mouse? If anyone could persuade you otherwise, then all of humanity worldwide should recognize him as their leader. Because he would have found a way to overcome human selfishness."

"Therefore, why did the ancients advocate the Doctrine of the Mean? Because extremes are always bad. I, your teacher, just have a bad temper, but I'm not stupid. So you don't need to have such concerns in the future.

I wouldn't do something as foolish as driving away our own talent. A flawless gentleman is something performed on TV for people to watch."

Chatting deep into the night, both master and disciple were long since tired.

Lin Yuan deeply realized that there seemed to be no such thing as too many coincidences or strokes of luck in this world, because many of what he previously thought were lucky breaks were not.

If there had to be any, it would only be the acquaintance between him and Xia Ye.

Therefore, Lin Yuan helplessly discovered: the Xia Ye he rescued from the maid cafe, wearing white stockings as a greeter, might be the only other pure land in his world.

The other pure land was naturally his mentor, that old guy.