Timid but not cowardly, passionate yet afraid of death, a little careless in what he did, but once he set his sights on something, he would do his best to keep moving toward it.
The Gao Ming in this room was full of contradictions. There was nothing special about him, and all his choices were ordinary. He was the most ordinary version of himself.
But if there was a most ordinary version of himself, perhaps there was a most unusual one too.
"Three Punishments, Hurting Officer, and Goat Blade; Four Pillars Without Children, ordained from birth. Everything in this world is dictated by fate; in the end, none of it is ours to decide."
"Gao Ming, we gave you this name for a special reason. You were born fated to be alone, with neither spouse nor children, plagued by disasters and hardships. In the end, you would walk a road with no loved ones left beside you. That is why we put the character for 'fate' in your name. Those destined for solitude have weak family ties and cannot draw on any outside help. But with 'fate' in your name, you can take complete control of your own destiny. No matter how dangerous or terrible things become, at least you will still have yourself for company."
"Your dad and mom passed away early. Once Grandma is gone, you'll have only yourself left. You have to be all right. You must be all right."
An elderly woman's voice message played from the phone, repeating over and over. A long time passed before a hand covered in writing reached out of the bathroom and turned it off.
The bathroom door stood half open. A crumpled high school uniform lay discarded at the doorway, and a rather scrawny high school boy stood inside.