Xu Shuangrong was unhinged. She always had been.
The only reason she had remained calm and composed in the original story was that everything had gone her way, and her interests had never been infringed upon.
Once her interests were threatened, the side of her that would stop at nothing would reveal itself without reservation.
Causing a car crash and injuring innocent people was no big deal to her, either.
Xie Mi watched her like that for a long time before a look of pity suddenly crossed her face.
"Xu Shuangrong, you're actually pretty pitiful, too."
Xu Shuangrong scoffed almost immediately, as though she had heard an utterly hilarious joke.
"Are you going to start preaching again?"
"No, I mean it."
Xie Mi walked around her and sat on the bench beneath the streetlight. Looking at the shadows stretching beneath it, she said, "We're all characters created by a so-called 'author,' with settings assigned to us from birth and plots we have to fulfill."
"Like puppets controlled by fishing line, we can't even control our own lives."
"That's a tragedy in itself, so some people fought desperately to escape those so-called settings and predetermined fates. At least so far, most of them have escaped."
"But you're the only one, Xu Shuangrong, who's still trapped in that setting."
"That's why I think you're pitiful."
Xu Shuangrong's eyelid twitched, and, in a rare occurrence, the muscles in her face spasmed.
"What's wrong with following the setting? Since we're pawns that were created, we should obediently listen to our creator! Who are you to try to change things without knowing your place? You're nothing but an object someone created..."
Xie Mi interrupted her. "Even if that setting turns you into an utterly evil person?"
"So what?" Xu Shuangrong sneered. "At least I can