Be True to Yourself

Although Jessica had never expected to pay for meals too, in all fairness, the boss's cooking was surprisingly good. She would be eating well from now on, so paying a little money did not seem like such a bad deal.

It was just that chopsticks were far too inhumane a tool. Jessica felt as though her intelligence had been insulted. She had already decided that, once she had the time, she would find some video on how to use chopsticks and secretly practice until she mastered the two sticks, reclaiming the dignity she had lost today.

Richard rather enjoyed the meal. Watching the legendary "don't-mess-with-her" woman, Jessica Jones, get stumped by two chopsticks was inexplicably amusing.

After dinner, Jessica actually fished a bottle of beer out of her room. She popped the cap and boldly tipped her head back, gulping it straight from the bottle. The sight involuntarily reminded Richard of the forthright heroes and heroines in wuxia stories, drinking without so much as blinking.

But he knew that Jessica Jones in the original story did indeed have something of a drinking problem, especially after a terrible experience that could be called a turning point in her life. Jessica Jones had been controlled by the psychic powers of a supercriminal called Purple Man, becoming a puppet who could only be manipulated by him for a long period of time. That period had become the darkest moment of the heroine's life, as well as her greatest nightmare. Afterward, she became increasingly short-tempered, lived sloppily, had no ambition, and spent her days in a state of depression.

Richard had originally assumed Jessica's drinking problem began afterward. Alcohol dependency was indeed a common escape for many people who had suffered inescapable psychological trauma. But now, it seemed Jessica's alcohol problem had not started then.

Watching Jessica take a couple of swigs, Richard suddenly said, "Alcohol dependency is a bad habit. I think you should stop."

Jessica shot him a sidelong glance and continued drinking without concern. "My body is different from other people's. I'm not that easy to get drunk."

Richard's expression remained blank. "Then, regarding the rent, I gave it some more thought just now... For a room in the center of the city, the rent really is a little too cheap. I think it may need to go up."

Jessica's drinking motion abruptly froze. She stiffly turned her head and glared at Richard. "Boss, you realize this is extortion."

"Extortion? Who? Who could be so shameless?" Richard began looking around.

As if that were not enough, Richard immediately remembered something else. "Oh, right. Our newspaper has been a little short on funds lately. You know, that gold-plated model on the roof cost quite a bit. So I was thinking, I'm afraid your salary won't be going up anytime soon..."

Jessica clenched her teeth, nearly crushing the beer bottle on the spot with too much force.

Fine! You win! I'm too much of a lady to fight with a man. I won't drink, then.

Jessica glared coldly at him for a moment before finally setting down the bottle resentfully. Her eyes were so full of grievance that Richard's spine went cold, and for a moment he even wondered whether he had really gone too far.

A person had to bow their head under another's roof. Jessica might possess immense strength, but she still could not overpower her landlord and boss.

Sure enough, superpowers were completely useless in modern society. Capitalists were the real bosses.

Still, although Jessica had pulled a long face, she was not actually as angry as she appeared.

Because in truth, Richard was the first person who had ever told her, "You're not allowed to drink."

Jessica Jones's biological parents and younger brother had all died in a car accident. She had been the sole survivor. After that, no one ever told her what she should or should not do again. No one ever demanded that she be home before seven in the evening.

She did not even feel that she had a home to return to anymore—if the place she returned to was merely an empty old house, could it really be called home?

So she was surprised to discover that when Richard sternly told her she was not allowed to drink, not only did she not resist, but somewhere deep inside, she even felt faintly happy.

Only when no one was left to tell you what you should not do would you miss the days when someone kept you in line, because that itself was a kind of happiness.

Humming a little tune, Richard returned to the kitchen and began washing the dishes. Jessica offered to help, but he refused.

She had paid for meals, after all. Since she had paid, she was a customer, and it was only proper to provide the full service.

Besides, Richard really did not trust Jessica with the dishes. When ordinary people washed dishes, a plate might slip from their hands and shatter. But if Jessica washed dishes and squeezed too hard, the plate would shatter anyway. It was simply too risky.

As Richard scrubbed the dishes, he softly sang, "As long as you're a man, you should become stronger for the sake of others. Women are the same; words without action can change nothing..."

Hero, one of the theme songs from Ultraman Nexus, and also his favorite.

Jessica leaned against the doorframe and listened for a while before she could not help asking, "What song is that?"

Since it was in Japanese, she had not understood much of the lyrics. She only thought the melody and tune sounded nice.

"This? It's called Hero." Richard explained with a smile. "It's one of my favorite songs. It's roughly about... about a solitary hero who keeps getting knocked down, then keeps getting back up."

"Oh." Jessica thought for a moment. "Then do you want to become that kind of person? A hero?"

"Me? Better not. I'm not cut out for it." Richard shrugged.

"But don't you have abilities?" Jessica asked. "You're actually like me, right?"

"Mm-hmm, I suppose."

We're not really that alike. I can grow bigger and stronger—can you?

"But so what?" he said. "I'm still me. Superpowers can't change anything."

Jessica hesitated before asking, "So you've never thought about... say, using your abilities to help others, to make the world a better place or something?"

Richard gave her a sidelong glance. "Why? Because someone would pay me a salary? Or because I'd get a medal from the mayor?"

Jessica was somewhat stumped. "Because... because we have superpowers, and it's the right thing to do?"

Richard remembered that Jessica Jones in the original television series had also tried being a superhero for a while. It was only after she encountered Purple Man and experienced darkness firsthand that she became disheartened and gave up on the idea of being a hero.

Richard had actually noticed this before. It seemed that in the Marvel universe, whenever people gained superpowers, they naturally felt they had to become either superheroes or supervillains. In truth, many superheroes had not thought things through when they entered the profession. Gaining superpowers only meant they qualified for the word "super"; they had yet to understand the weighty meaning of the word "hero."

Only after they had been through much and lost much would they understand that being a hero was not so glamorous or beautiful. Not everyone could bear the weight of that word.

"Having superpowers doesn't mean anything," Richard said to himself. "Standing up for justice is diligence; being true to yourself is duty. I know what kind of person I am, and that's enough."

It always feels like something gets lost when I say it in English, but hopefully Jessica understands...

Jessica leaned against the doorframe, lost in thought. She remained silent for a long while.