"As long as it's reasonable. Why work so hard?" Draco said. "If you work so hard, doing the work of two people, wouldn't your colleagues be unlucky? They'd get fired by the boss the next day. Would anyone want to work with you then?"
"You easily do the job, and the rest is just pretending. Because you can't not work, the boss gets annoyed when he sees you not doing anything: he thinks, 'I paid you to be idle?'"
At this point, Draco suddenly changed the subject. "And what if you work so hard at work, and your wife expects you to work even harder at home?"
Trillian was taken aback. The young master's sudden "exertion" and his risqué jokes left her a little bewildered, but she quickly recovered and smiled at Hermione with a wink.
Hermione, of course, secretly reached out and pinched Draco's thigh hard, giving him a warning look to watch his mouth.
Kraven chimed in, "It's not like that anymore. When they were hiring, the job descriptions were huge, like one person doing the work of several. If they didn't make you work hard, they'd practically kill you."
Draco nodded:
"This is probably the result of the hard work of those who came before us; all regulations are established because there are lessons learned from the past."
Kraven seemed thoughtful, pondered his words for a moment, then suddenly chuckled and posed a revolutionary question:
"If that's the case, the saying 'One generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade' seems completely wrong, even a bit absurd."
"I feel there's something wrong with this," Trillian thought so too. "People planted trees to provide shade for themselves, of course. What else could it be for? Someone provides the money and saplings, and I plant the trees and get paid; or I plant the trees and sell them for timber when they grow big. Is there really such a thing as people planting trees and then selling them for money?"
"Yes," Kraven answered seriously.
Trillian was waiting for Kraven to explain, but he said instead, "Because the tree isn't grown big enough to be sold yet."
Trillian's expectant expression froze instantly, her lips twitching slightly. She had thought it was real, but it turned out to be a humorous twist.
Seeing the group fall silent again, Draco revived the conversation. "Although crickets are no good, I still want to say that not only all things in the world, but even Ox-Head and Horse-Face have to pull carts down there."
" Ox-Head and Horse-Face? What are those?" Trillian asked curiously.
Draco explained, "Two Underworld messengers."
Trillian was even more curious. "Didn't they already receive a government salary and have an official job? Why are they still saying they're pulling a cart?"
"It's just a metaphor," Draco laughed. "It's just a metaphor. 'Ox and horse' is actually an adjective used to describe working-class people."
Before the Industrial Revolution, oxen and horses were used to pull things, whether it was a cart or a plow.
Trillian's thoughts drifted away. "Indeed."
"A person's whole life is about waiting."
"When I was a child, I waited to grow up, and when I grew up I was free. But then I was locked in the cage of school, and I've been locked up for decades."
"Kindergarten waits for elementary school, elementary school waits for middle school, middle school waits for high school, high school waits for university, university waits for work, work waits for marriage, marriage waits for having children, having children waits for them to go to school, children go to school waits for them to get a job... and so on, until death. After death, one waits to be reincarnated, and then enters the next cycle to continue the cycle."
"They're not even as good as Ox-Head and Horse-Face; at least they're stable."
After listening to Trillian's words, Kraven pointed out:
"Not everyone can be Ox-Head and Horse-Face. And if you become stable, others lose the option of that position."
That's correct.
Draco looked at Trillian and suddenly asked a probing question, "So, do you want to come to Earth in your next life?"
Trillian nodded without hesitation:
"Of course I'll come. I'm not an animal."
Draco laughed:
Do you think the cattle and horses will come?
Most of the cattle and horses said they wouldn't come back.
Kraven recounted the words of the cattle and horses he had heard.
"That's because they didn't consider what they could do if they didn't come," Draco said. "Would they just wander the earth as ghosts, waiting until their yin energy was exhausted, then find someone to absorb their yang energy, harm people, and then be taken in by Daoist priests or destroyed by underworld officials?"
Kraven proposed a hypothesis:
"Then stay in the Underworld and not be reincarnated?"
" The Underworld doesn't tolerate idle ghosts," Draco said mercilessly.
"Doesn't the Underworld need resources? Ghosts also need to consume yin energy. Where does the ghost money come from? It's burned by their descendants, so they're enjoying the blessings of their descendants. But can you guarantee that every generation will remember you? At most, three generations will remember you. Your great-great-grandchildren have never even seen you, how can they remember you? By then, they'll have forgotten everything, and there won't be any ghost money left."
"Besides, isn't it said that you can avoid reincarnation just because you want to? Underworld? If you disrupt the balance of the Underworld, you'll be completely obliterated. But they won't be that ruthless; at most, you'll be forced into reincarnation."
Draco changed the subject, mentioning another possibility. "As long as you enter the cycle of reincarnation, there's still a glimmer of hope. Maybe in your next life, you'll be reborn as a second-generation being."
"What second-generation? A rich kid or a beast of burden?" Trillian asked jokingly.
Draco chuckled. "Of course not. It could be the son of an official, a businessman, or a miner. Everything changes. If every life's script is about being born into wealth and privilege, it's like the world only having one color, and the existence of the Heavenly Dao would be meaningless."
"That's true," Trillian agreed, then continued jokingly, "Who knows, maybe in my next life I'll be reincarnated as Hermione in a parallel universe and receive the young master's favor."
Hermione turned to look at her, a speechless expression on her face that said, "You're at it again." "You really won't give up."
Everyone should have dreams...
"Of course, it doesn't mean they'll definitely become second-generation rich kids," Draco continued, broadening their horizons. "It's hard to say what they'll become."
"Think about it, stones, flowers, trees, pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, and fish. Don't these things want to be reborn as humans?"
Trillian gave him a thumbs up, her tone tinged with admiration. "Awesome, young master! Your perspective is absolutely brilliant; you've brought everything into the examination hall of reincarnation."
Hermione, realizing something, agreed, "Indeed, there are many trees and stones in the world that have grown into human shapes; perhaps that's truly their obsession with becoming human."
"Is that so?" Draco smiled slightly. "You find being human too arduous, but some creatures yearn for human form. If you didn't want to be human, you might turn into stone, become grass or trees, or even become objects like televisions, sofas, or cars."
The beginning was alright, but when she heard the latter part, Trillian looked on incredulously. "What the hell is a car sofa?"
Draco retorted, "Are you saying these things don't have souls?"
Trillian glanced instinctively at the sofa she was sitting on and said, "Young Master, don't scare me. Do these things have souls?"
"I think so," Draco said casually.
"Once a person gives their anger and thoughts to these things, they become sentient. For example, a car; if you keep driving it, cherishing and protecting it, treating it as your beloved car, and drive it for many years, then it will steadfastly accompany you."
"But if one day you decide to get a new car, it will immediately break down right before your eyes... it's that amazing."
"Really?" Trillian asked incredulously.