Imprisoned, I asked

Lin Yuan held the book “the book of changes and Numerology” that Zhang Yan had brought him, and he closed its pages once more.

It was too abstruse; to be precise, it was too mystical.

Those Qian and Kun symbols made his eyes spin.

If the author of this book wasn't spouting nonsense, Lin Yuan had to admit that with his current experience, he truly couldn't understand it.

The biggest problem was that he couldn't connect the content of the book to real-life situations.

Scientific theories can be proven by experiments and calculated with mathematical tools. But how does one deal with the book of changes? How could Lin Yuan understand why such mystical terms like “Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act” were created?

Based on the superficial explanation he gleaned from the book at hand, “Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act” simply meant one word – to bide your time.

A hidden dragon, a dragon lurking underwater, one that hasn't grown up yet, so it must bide its time.

'You can summarize something with just one word, “bide,” yet you babble on for over ten pages. It's like a web novel author who waters down his word count to make money.'

With nothing better to do, Lin Yuan tried to unearth deeper explanations from the book. But in the end, he racked his brain and still didn't gain any deeper insights.

'Perhaps I'm still too young. Forget it, as the Taoists say – just let nature take its course.'

Lin Yuan put down the book.

But he wasn't entirely without Gains.

Although he didn't gain a comprehensive understanding of the book of changes, one sentence in the book did catch his attention: “He who is deep in desire has shallow heavenly secrets; he who is shallow in desire has deep heavenly secrets.”

According to the book's explanation: Heavenly secrets correspond to a person's desires; the greater the desire, the further one is from obtaining heavenly secrets. Conversely, the shallower the desire, the closer one is.

As for what heavenly secrets are, they are a person's true heart.

Lin Yuan thought of his mentor, and also Dean Li.

Is Dean Li deep in desire? So his heavenly secrets are shallow? But if he catches a big fish with this OCR matter, won't he start as a full dean?

So, what exactly are heavenly secrets?

He didn't see where Dean Li’s heavenly secrets were shallow.

Yet, even with some doubt about this statement, Lin Yuan's heart couldn't help but be stirred.

This time, he wasn't thinking of his mentor, but of himself and Xia Ye.

He had to admit that his feelings for Xia Ye began with “desire.” But in just over three months, he had already secured an 800,000 annual salary from Good Group with the system. It seemed like a class leap was within reach.

So, if this desire for Xia Ye wasn't controlled, wouldn't his desires become deeper and deeper?

He believed that he would always encounter other girls he liked in his future life, and there would be many more Xia Yes.

So what should he do?

If his desires were deep, then sooner or later there would be impurities between him and Xia Ye. What would he gain from indulging in such desires?

Besides the pleasures of men and women, there seemed to be nothing else.

Although Lin Yuan's heart yearned for such pleasure at this moment, every pore of his 24-year-old vigorous body seemed to be shouting, seemed to be gushing with hot blood.

But Lin Yuan had already prepared for the worst, believing that such pleasure would inevitably have an upper limit.

And what then, after reaching that limit? Looking back, Xia Ye's gaze at him would surely no longer be as clear as it was now; perhaps by then, she would no longer be by his side.

So, what are heavenly secrets?

Lin Yuan's answer at this moment was: If the saying “He who is deep in desire has shallow heavenly secrets; he who is shallow in desire has deep heavenly secrets” were applied to him and Xia Ye, then his heavenly secret would be Xia Ye’s clear eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a glimmer of insight. Heavenly secrets, perhaps, were what he truly cared about in his heart. Something for which he could restrain his primal instincts.

Lin Yuan looked down at the book in his hand. From this perspective, the book wasn't entirely the ravings of a charlatan.

Lin Yuan rejoiced in the pleasure of this realization.

So he grasped this point of his inner desire, sat cross-legged, and began to meditate, self-taught.

He replayed his recent experiences in his mind, recalling from the day he rode his electric scooter to an interview and met Xia Ye.

When his heart truly quieted down, he once again confronted his not-so-lofty character.

Even with the system, he always thought of achieving success and fame first. For this, he clung tightly to his mentor's leg.

He criticized Song Xiaoxiao not because he was noble, but because he was afraid that the filth stuck to the fly's leg would soil his own feathers through Xia Ye.

He had to admit: Essentially, he seemed to be not much different from Song Xiaoxiao.

Because if he put himself in her shoes, he didn't seem to have a much better way out. He would probably do the same things she did.

He didn't do that, ultimately, because he had a choice.

Aside from the rotten things Song Xiaoxiao did, she was actually a good person in everyday life.

And wasn't he also putting on an act in front of his mentor?

It's even possible that with his mentor's shrewdness, he had long seen through this act, after all, his mentor already knew about his foolish past of forging an admission letter by hand.

His mentor had always focused on teaching by example, rarely lecturing him on grand principles.

Was this because his mentor thought grand principles were useless, or because he thought they were useless for him?

And if viewed from the mentor's perspective:

His exceptional recruitment could be interpreted as a favor under opportune circumstances, but this favor couldn't last, as his mentor wasn't his biological father.

Unless he showed talent, only then would the other party continue this favor.

And with his below-average professional ranking, and not being a top student from Zijin University like Gu Xuan, how could he gain his mentor's favor?

Most likely, it was because of that embarrassing incident of forging the admission letter by hand. Because his mentor himself had said that he “only recognized his professional ability after that incident.”

So, isn't this the principle of intertwined fortune and misfortune, of yin and yang revolving?

As for why his mentor treated Gu Xuan coldly, even though he initially valued Gu Xuan, the reason is also very simple: it was naturally because Gu Xuan was too eager for quick success—rushing to publish papers in his first year of graduate school, and publishing them for the sake of publishing.

Didn't he, in fact, replace Gu Xuan?

And the ability to achieve this replacement is the best embodiment of this statement—he was shallow in desire.

Coming from an ordinary family, he was more down-to-earth, diligently working at Good Group, striving to improve his life. He always did what was most important at the moment.

It was precisely because of this “shallowness of desire” that he didn't miss this heavenly secret—forging connections with several important figures.

But the principle of intertwined fortune and misfortune, and the revolving of yin and yang, did not stop there.

“Shallow in desire” literally means a shallower craving for desires, but it does not mean being without desire.

And as long as there is desire, that desire is subject to change.

In the future, he might inadvertently fall into “deep desire” one day and lose his heavenly secret.

How should one grasp the proper measure in this?

Not to mention Lin Yuan himself, he thought of Dean Li and Director Wang.

Was it wrong for those two to desire further advancement? Obviously not. How did they grasp the measure?

Hoping to follow the rules written in a book, that certain things should be done and certain things should not. This is clearly the innocent babbling of a child.

To cling to his mentor's leg, Lin Yuan had to show more patriotism and national sentiment in public.

Even if his mentor saw through his act, if he didn't even bother to act, wouldn't that mean he had no patriotism or national sentiment at all?

Moreover, ultimately, even if Lin Yuan was acting, did he truly have no patriotism or national sentiment in his heart?

Who can describe such a complex situation with a mathematical formula?

Furthermore, if his mentor had dealt harshly with Lin Yuan just because he forged the admission letter by hand, it would appear to be supremely just, but in reality, wouldn't it be destroying a promising young man?

How should such a situation be handled? How can it be divided by written regulations or mathematical formulas—which situations allow for leniency, and which should not?

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan gained a basic understanding of the book of changes—this might be an operating system designed for the complex hardware that is humanity.

Just like Windows is to a personal PC.