Trillian was stunned for a moment, then showed an admiring expression. "Awesome, young master, you see the benefit in everything."
"That's true," Draco accepted it readily. "Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, and what lies in between is called 'usefulness'."
"What benefits do average students get?" Trillian pressed.
"The biggest advantage is that nobody cares," Draco explained. "You don't need to curry favor with the teachers; you just need to do your own thing. And every now and then, you can even emerge as a dark horse."
"When a teacher focuses their attention on you, whether it's favoritism or harsh criticism, you're bound to lose something."
"Top-performing students live under pressure, while bottom-performing students seem carefree all the time, yet secretly crave recognition."
Only average students are relatively balanced.
"Balance... is indeed very important."
Selene agreed after hearing Draco's words.
"Balance is difficult," Draco said. "What constitutes a balanced relationship between people—is it a friendship of integrity or one based on self-interest? Finding that balance is very difficult."
After Draco finished speaking, there was a brief silence, as no one could continue the conversation.
A few minutes later, Hermione broke the silence. " Kraven, continue telling us about the later developments in the history of vampires."
"Alright." Kraven cleared his throat and continued recounting the later history of vampires, "After many years of development, with the rapid progress of humanity, vampires were also able to get a share of the profits."
"With the tribal economy booming, the cattle and horses, exhausted from their work, would go home and collapse into bed, with little time to think. Plus, they had food to eat, wouldn't starve, and could even save a considerable amount, so they started to think—'Hey, being a cattle or horse isn't so bad after all...' and life gradually improved."
Here Kraven changed the subject. "But of course, you can't give too much wealth, otherwise you'd be rich, so why would you be a beast of burden? But the beasts of burden aren't stupid; they can't let their calves inherit their beast of burden... They also want their little vampires to get ahead, so they send the calves to school."
The conversation was pretty much over there, so Hermione turned to Kraven: "Go on with the story of the vampires' later development."
Kraven nodded, but he added beforehand, "What I'm saying is mostly from my own perspective, so it inevitably carries some subjective opinions. Just take it with a grain of salt."
Hermione nodded in understanding:
"It's okay, I'll just tell it from your perspective."
With permission granted, Kraven continued his narration, "As I mentioned before, those Laodeng toiled at the bottom of society were unwilling to let their descendants be trapped in low-level jobs and repeat the same toil their entire lives, so they spent all their savings to send their children to school. But after these young vampires entered the school, were exposed to information from the outside world, and learned new ideas, their entire perspectives underwent a radical transformation."
"They are no longer numb and resigned to their fate like their parents. Instead, they have learned to weigh the pros and cons. They will not take jobs that damage their health, no matter how generous the pay is."
"Stable and respectable jobs are always a scarce resource. Each position is unique, and these jobs are never advertised externally. They are mostly passed down within families, with sons inheriting their fathers' businesses and brothers inheriting their brothers' businesses, firmly controlled by each vampire family."
Fortunately, the Laodeng have accumulated a considerable fortune over the years thanks to the clan's economic boom, providing a safety net for the young calves.
"Furthermore, after so many years of comfortable living, many young talents, after graduating, since they can't squeeze into the core circle and are unwilling to endure hardship, simply lie down and become useless."
" The Laodeng watch helplessly as all the good jobs are taken by powerful families, and they realize that even after a lifetime of hard work, they haven't been able to pave a good future for their children. They can only sigh and accept reality. 'So what if their children are useless? As long as they live a peaceful life, that's fine.' Over time, more and more young people in the vampire clan choose to give up and lie low."
Trillian was surprised:
"They're not going to be cattle anymore? These calf-men are that smart?"
"That's one of the benefits of journalism," Kraven laughed.
"Watching our parents leave early and return late, what do they get in return for all that hard work? They just get the next generation to continue working themselves to the bone."
"Then what's the point of working hard? If you work hard to make your children continue to be your slaves, then they'll turn against you, and in the end, you'll be left destitute in your old age. You might as well enjoy the world yourself first."
Trillian also smiled:
"I didn't realize journalism had its advantages after all!"
"One yin and one yang," Kraven said.
"Indeed." Trillian stroked her chin, her thoughts wandering. "It seems that our ancestors were busy foraging for food every day just to survive, and they didn't have much energy left to do good deeds or accumulate merit. But at least they didn't harm anyone much."
"No." Kraven shook his head.
"In any relationship between people, especially when interests are involved, harm is inevitable. If your interests are harmed because of someone else, wouldn't you have negative thoughts?"
"That's right." Draco gave an example, "It's like female vegetable pickers. They're paid by weight, and after they're assigned their own picking areas, do you think someone might steal from someone else's area?"
Hermione replied without hesitation, "I'll pick what's assigned to me and won't touch anyone else's."
"But what if the crops you're assigned are poor-growing, small, and light, and you don't earn much money after a whole day's work, barely enough to make a living? Would you still stick to your principles?" Draco countered with a realistic dilemma.
Hermione paused for a moment, then answered frankly, "Since the task has been assigned, I have no choice but to accept it, even if the pay is low."
Draco chuckled helplessly, "If everyone could be as law-abiding as you are, many conflicts wouldn't exist."
Kraven then followed up with a more brutally realistic question, "If you have elderly parents to support and three or four children to raise, you can grit your teeth and endure your meager income, but how will you support your entire family?"
"But you still have your husband." Hermione glanced at Draco.
"Not everyone is like your man, me..." Draco shattered the illusion of idealism, while also praising himself in the process.
Kraven ignored their flirtatious exchanges and continued with a hypothetical scenario, "Even if you and your husband work together, if your combined income is still insufficient to cover the month's expenses, while the small amount of income you lose from someone else's line of work just barely fills the gap in household expenses, wouldn't you fight over it?"
Hermione paused for a moment before speaking firmly, "Then I'll find another part-time job to supplement our income."
"But your original job already takes more than ten hours of physical exertion. You are exhausted every day, both physically and mentally. Do you still have the extra energy to take on another job?" Kraven pressed on, laying bare the pressure of survival at the bottom of society in front of everyone.
Hermione stopped talking.
At this point, Draco clarifies the essence of the struggle for power. "So what people say about the lower classes harming each other isn't actually accurate."
"Even those at the top can harm each other for personal gain. Ultimately, the root of all conflict lies in the struggle for profit."
"Whose problem is that?" Trillian asked.