Lin Li turned around and looked at the ten-year-old blond boy. His face showed none of the anger or disappointment Andrade had expected. Instead, he wore his usual gentle smile and said calmly:
"Family, school, region, society, country, ethnicity—everyone bears different labels and belongs to different groups. These labels let frail individuals distinguish friend from foe. By rallying around them, they form powerful organizations that protect their interests from being violated by others."
"By watching adults, you learned to use lies to protect your interests. You also learned to rally people with the same labels as you and form a group to improve your standing."
"You did well, just as I did when I was here."
Andrade was surprised. He hadn't expected the kind and generous young tycoon of legend to have done the same things he had when he was young. His fear and unease vanished, replaced by a powerful sense of being understood.
It wasn't the happiness of being seen as a well-behaved child, but the joy of having others accept who he really was.
Lin Li reached out and ruffled the little boy's smooth blond hair. "But you could have done better."
"Pure selfishness and one-sided lies can bring obvious benefits, but as the leader, you'll become the direct target of the people you control."
He stood and pointed to the boy with the injured leg. Andrade didn't understand, so Lin Li patiently explained:
"You show everyone your cruel side. That's fine while you're in power, but the moment someone finds an opportunity, all that hatred and fear will become fuel for revenge."
"Suppose a kind staff member discovers what you've been doing and openly tells everyone the truth. What do you think would happen to you?"
Andrade thought it over and quickly understood. If even one adult with enough credibility exposed him, his actions would immediately be revealed to everyone. The children he'd bullied would find the courage to tell the truth, too.
He shook his head. "But, sir, my friends would speak up for me. The word of a few deformed, ugly kids wouldn't affect me much. The adults would just think it was kids fooling around and, at most, give me a scolding."
Lin Li shook his head and addressed the boy. "That's what I want to teach you. Will your friends really stand by you? How many of them have actually done those bad things themselves?"
Andrade's eyes flickered at Lin Li's words. He was beginning to understand. As the leader of the children, he often bullied the others himself to maintain his powerful image. Just like when he'd thrown that ball today, his strength and aggression earned the children's awe and kept them from challenging his authority.
Yet no matter how powerful he seemed, he was still weak compared to adults. If the friends gathered around him pushed him forward as a scapegoat, all the bad things would become his responsibility alone.
"You'll become the bad kid in the adults' eyes, a liar who bullies the weak, while they'll be the poor children who were forced to obey you and had no choice. From then on, you'll be even more isolated than the children with autism. Everyone will loudly condemn your violence, and the adults you deceived will see you as a disgrace, because they won't want to admit they were completely fooled by a ten-year-old."
Andrade, who had still been somewhat defiant, finally understood. All his authority depended on the adults ignoring him. If an adult stronger than him appeared, the children who had once feared him would turn around and drag him down.
At last, the little boy felt afraid. He had only enjoyed the urge to control others, never realizing that his seemingly powerful authority could be shattered with a single poke. Hope showed in his blue eyes as he asked:
"Sir, my shallow wisdom can't compare to yours. What should I do?"
Sensing the twists and turns of Andrade's thoughts, Lin Li smiled faintly. "Learn to act for the benefit of others. Don't use violence and fear to control people. Use the chains of morality to bind their hearts instead."
He crouched down, picked an ant off the grass, and held it out to the boy. Andrade took it and looked at him in confusion.
Pointing at the ant, Lin Li said, "Don't think of yourself as merely the strongest among the children in the orphanage and assume you have the right to oppress and dominate the weak. If you follow the law of the jungle, one day someone stronger will oppress you. Widen your perspective. Look at society as a whole, and at humanity as a whole. Now tell me, how should you protect your interests in the face of all human civilization?"
Andrade stared at the ant in front of him. It was only a few millimeters long and would die from the slightest squeeze. He was no different when faced with human society as a whole. Countless individuals and groups had more power than he did.
He began thinking about the two most powerful organizations in the world, the Hong Alliance and the Commercial Alliance. No matter where he was, his behavior wouldn't be accepted by mainstream society. Just as he knew deep down that it was wrong, his understanding of right and wrong was itself a moral constraint imposed on him by human civilization.
At last, he hesitantly said, "So, I should try to be a good person?"
Being good meant giving up one's own interests to help others. That answer seemed completely at odds with the goal of "protecting your own interests."
Lin Li nodded and explained, "In fact, you also protect your own interests through acts of altruism when you rally your able-bodied companions. You share benefits with them to strengthen your group, which lets you gain more benefits in the future. That's what's called reciprocal altruism."
"And in society, family businesses formed through blood ties—parents and children, relatives, and friends—are also organizations built on kin altruism."
Andrade felt as if a light had dawned on him as he listened. He had learned some adult behaviors by instinct, but now he finally understood: all social organizations came into being through various forms of altruism.
Lin Li summed up, "Humans have intelligence, and intelligence gives rise to lies. Deep down, everyone has thoughts they keep hidden. No one can be sure whether someone else will harm them. This suspicion and fear of the unknown cause endless harm between individuals."
"The purpose of law is to constrain the unpredictability of individuals. It uses the overwhelming power of the military to forbid certain acts, allowing people to communicate peacefully and putting an end to the endless suspicions between them."
"Knowledge spreads as a result, and civilization flourishes. From the perspective of all human civilization, pure altruism is one of humanity's ultimate forms: 'I am for everyone, and everyone is for me.'"
Andrade nodded in agreement, then shook his head. "That's impossible. Like you said, humans are born liars. Suspicion can never be eliminated. Pure altruism would only turn you into a penniless fool with nothing but a good reputation—and other people might even steal that from you."
Lin Li looked at the boy before him. Andrade hadn't accepted the future Lin Li had described. In his mind, he had nothing but contempt for a society founded on pure altruism.
He maintained a humble facade only because he wanted to leave a good impression on the young tycoon and learn how to use altruistic behavior to secure his own interests.
Lin Li took the little ant from the boy's hand. It was still struggling nonstop. Lacking intelligence, it had only the instinct to survive; it felt no despair at facing a human a million times more powerful than itself.
With a gentle squeeze, Lin Li ended the ant's life. Then he said to the boy, "Yes. As long as people have something unknown within them, as long as lies and suspicion still exist, pure-hearted people will only become a tasty meal for a small number of others. Everything they have will be divided up until nothing remains."
"I am for everyone, and everyone is for me"—such a grand and beautiful wish would only become a slogan used by the powerful.
They enjoyed the fruits of other people's labor, then gave away some of their money to charity to show off their noble character. They kept all the fruit, while those who planted the trees could only play with mud at home and watch the powerful perform their generosity in public.
Andrade understood the truth of the world. All acts of altruism were ultimately selfish. The selfish would devour the selfless, turning their flesh and blood into nourishment for themselves.
That was why everyone liked good people. Good people were generous and gave freely, which meant anyone might be able to hide among the crowd and secretly take a bite out of them for their own benefit.
The ultimate society Lin Li described could never come to pass in human civilization. As long as even one person broke the rules and successfully stole the fruits of someone else's labor, everyone's selfish desires would grow without limit.
Destruction was always easier than creation. One selfish person could shatter the beautiful world built by the selfless in an instant, triggering a chain reaction that brought out the malice hidden deep in everyone's heart.
Lin Li said to Andrade, "But as well as fearing others, humans also yearn for the better side of human nature. Good people and bad people alike like good people, because they represent harmlessness and safety."
"So, show your generosity and magnanimity from time to time. Show compassion and care for the weak. Don't rely only on fear and authority to force others to obey you."
"Human nature is like a spring. The harder you press down, the stronger it rebounds, and the more determined people become to resist."
"Let your friends be the ones who display their strength. Show the weak some kindness. Then they won't direct their hatred at you, the leader, but at the people who hurt them directly."
Andrade understood completely. Compared to his friends, he could now seem like a reluctant leader who only bullied others because of his friends' loyalty to him. Children whose snacks were stolen would compare the goodwill he showed them with the malice of the others, and feel grateful for his small acts of help.
He responded excitedly, "That way, even if the adults find out, they'll only scold my friends. I'll still be an innocent, good boy. They might even praise me for being generous and helpful."
The conflict hadn't disappeared; it had simply been shifted onto his friends. Andrade could enjoy his authority while keeping up his image as a good boy, escaping the danger of the adults finding out.