Concert

First objective, failed.

Si Ming summarized his experience and lessons learned. "Indeed, to make friends, you should look for people your own age; making friends with older people can easily lead to a generation gap."

Yu Shuying said, "No, I don't think it has anything to do with age. No matter who seeks out Director Yao, there will be a generation gap."

"Anyway, if we're looking for someone our own age, what do you think of Murong Qing? As the class monitor, she knows how to take care of others best, and she's responsible, sentimental, and a true mentor and friend," Si Ming suggested.

Yu Shuying directly refused. "No, only her. I don't want to make friends with her."

"Why?"

"... Because we'll never get along."

Seeing that Yu Shuying was unwilling to talk about it, Si Ming didn't press her further and could only say, "Never mind, there's still Hongdou, her word will be fine, right?"

"Well, although she acts illogically and I always can't understand why she comes up with such ideas, I have to admit that she's a simple person, and being friends with someone like that won't be difficult."

So the two went to the underground art studio, and after meeting Hongdou, Yu Shuying made a request, which Hongdou readily agreed to.

"Sure, I'd be happy to make another friend, since I don't have many friends anyway, hehe."

The first step was successful, but Yu Shuying still felt it wasn't real. She turned to Si Ming and asked, "What do we do after we become friends?"

"Um, let's start by introducing our respective preferences."

Hongdou said, "As you can see, what I like to do is draw. Sometimes I get so engrossed in drawing that I forget to eat. So if I forget to do what I told you, please don't be too angry. I won't stop until I finish a painting."

In the past, Hongdou could paint for three days and three nights straight, then crawl out like a zombie. Now that her cultivation has reached the Peak Spirit Transformation, she can go a month without eating or drinking without any problems. Therefore, she paints without any taboos and becomes extremely crazy.

Yu Shuying said, "What I like to do is read books, especially those on psychology, criminology, law, criminal investigation, and crime solving. I don't have any other hobbies."

Si Ming felt extremely awkward listening to this. The two of them had very similar interests, with no overlap whatsoever. They had no interest in shopping, clothes, or TV dramas, which are things that most girls enjoy. Therefore, they couldn't talk about anything and ran out of things to say after a few sentences, leaving them just staring at each other.

Hongdou had a habit of spacing out, sometimes staring at the same thing for half a day, completely oblivious to what she was thinking. But Yu Shuying wasn't used to stopping thinking, so she asked Si Ming, "What do ordinary friends usually do?"

"If you're a girl, let's go shopping."

Yu Shuying said, "I have no experience in shopping. Walking aimlessly is too inefficient and a waste of time. I really don't understand the point of their shopping. It's an irresponsible attitude towards life."

Hongdou said, "I rarely go shopping. The last time was with Xiao Ming."

"Oh, so what did you do?"

Si Ming tried to stop Hongdou from speaking, but it was too late.

"Let's go rent porn," Hongdou said innocently.

Yu Shuying cast a disdainful glance at Si Ming: "What a cunning tactic, exploiting a naive girl's curiosity to trick her into watching porn with you, then using the guise of learning and practice to let the two of you personally experience the content of the film... You wouldn't happen to be helping me make friends for the same reason, would you?"

"That's slander! After all, it was Hongdou who invited me to rent movies, not me who suggested it."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"Of course not!" Si Ming vowed to defend his reputation to the death.

"Do you even deserve to be called a man? A woman, and a beautiful one with such big breasts, invites you to watch porn. Doesn't that mean she wants to try something new with you? You turn down something that's offered to you? Are you impotent or gay?"

"None of those!"

"Yeah, I can tell at a glance you're the kind of guy who hides his erection in front of his girlfriend, then goes home and frantically tries to rouse himself in front of a porn star who looks like her."

"What kind of pervert is this?!"

"By the way, you have that face that screams 'female swordsman,' you must have rented some cosplay videos."

"... I don't think you can tell something from a face," Si Ming said guiltily. (PS: See Chapter 85)

Chapter 408 Concert

After emerging from the underground art studio, Si Ming, "Congratulations, you've successfully taken the first step. I didn't expect you to be able to connect with Hongdou's wavelength; it went surprisingly smoothly."

Yu Shuying thought for a moment, understood the meaning of the radio waves, and said, "Actually, in my opinion, it's not surprising at all, because Hongdou is one of the three people in this room who don't care that I have the ability to Mind-Reading Technique."

"Three? I know one of them is Yao Bilian, but who's the last one?"

"Murong Qing." Yu Shuying pursed her lips as she said this name.

"Why her? I already explained why Yao Bilian is like that—her bottom line is too low. When people are shameless, they become invincible. Hongdou is naturally naive; she does whatever comes to mind and never plans ahead. I can understand why Mind-Reading Technique doesn't work on them, but why Murong Qing?"

"Because her words and actions are consistent, and her thoughts and actions conform to moral standards—that is, she is upright and honest—so she doesn't care if others see through her. 'Having a clear conscience' and 'a straight body casts no crooked shadow' perfectly describe this kind of person," Yu Shuying added softly. "That's why I dislike her."

The difference between Yao Bilian and Murong Qing is that the latter would not do anything shameful, while the former did something shameful but did not feel ashamed.

Just as Si Ming was about to press for an explanation, Yu Shuying immediately changed the subject. "Of course, more importantly, Hongdou is a smart person, and I hate communicating with idiots."

"Is Hongdou a smart person? This is the first time I've heard this opinion. It's undeniable that she's a genius at painting, but few people consider her smart. For example, her grades in school are just average. In contrast, Murong Qing consistently ranks among the top three in the school, is considered to be very intelligent."

Yu Shuying laughed dismissively and retorted, "Does being in the top three in the whole school mean you're smart? Who do you think is smarter: someone who attends class diligently, takes detailed notes, and reviews after school, consistently ranking first, versus someone who's always carefree, doesn't pay attention in class, never takes notes, and only thinks about playing after school, yet still gets into the top ten in the whole school?"

Well... being able to restrain oneself is a great advantage in itself.

"It's undeniable that people with self-control are often more outstanding, but that has nothing to do with intelligence. Being in the top three in the whole school is impressive, but considering that Murong Qing usually works very hard, there's nothing surprising about her achieving such results. On the contrary, the fact that she had to work so hard to get into the top three proves that she's not actually that smart, doesn't it?"

Si Ming was speechless for a moment. He had to admit that what Yu Shuying said made sense, but he still felt that something was wrong. After thinking about it carefully, he finally understood what was going on.

The statement "This child is very smart, but just doesn't study hard" is actually a form of psychological opium in education. Similarly, there are statements like "The child actually knows how to do these problems, but just didn't perform well on the exam." These kinds of remarks are usually made by teachers to parents during parent-teacher meetings.

While the intention is certainly to comfort parents and make them feel that their child can still be saved, such words can make parents relax and even feel good about themselves. They might then just casually remind their child when they get home, without taking it to heart.