The girl was wearing an ugly and vulgar sportswear, with a white strip tied around her head and her soft black hair braided into two village-style twists. The words on her body read: 【Don't mess with me, I'm beautiful on my own】. It's hard to imagine that just 48 hours ago, she was wearing a haute couture gown, adorned with well-known luxury brand 【White Diamond Variations】 jewelry, standing among a group of wealthy people who could live a worry-free life for centuries when their wealth added up to an average.

At this moment, she was rubbing her red eyes and nose, lowering her head to silently write ancient texts she had never seen before. In her heart, she cursed Bai Weiran bitterly. Only then did she feel that he had a little bit of tenderness, accompanying her when she cried and comforting her in a low voice. He didn't continue to comment on the right or wrong of her relationship. "I will always stand by your side and help you," he said. This sentence was like a gentle hand, brushing over the most delicate strings of her heart. She was inexplicably moved.

But the next moment, Bai Weiran looked at the time and said coldly with a 37-degree warm tone, "Well, it's time to start reading!" "Time and tide wait for no man, good years won't come again, don't waste it." He didn't leave, sitting quietly next to her like a tutor, accompanying her in her studies. "This one is interesting, don't hurry to turn the page."

As Qing Ning was about to turn the page, Bai Weiran stopped her movement. Qing Ning looked at the content of the page and was somewhat puzzled. 【There are three types of beneficial friends: honest friends, understanding friends, and knowledgeable friends】 A simple sentence, with annotations written, easy to understand the meaning at a glance. It couldn't be more straightforward.

"I can understand," Qing Ning argued seriously, feeling that Bai Weiran was insulting her intelligence. "Understanding and comprehending are two different things," Bai Weiran shrugged. "You understand it, and you can score on a test, but if you can't apply it in your daily life, can't remember it, can't make it your companion, then you haven't really comprehended it. The things you truly comprehend will become part of your basic mental model, and whether you want to use them or not, they will be there, naturally applied to your daily habits."

Qing Ning was very unconvinced. "What makes you think I can't use it!?" "I have all three types of friends: honest friends, understanding friends, and knowledgeable friends." Bai Weiran had anticipated that Qing Ning would have this kind of personality. After removing her obsession, her personality was more like a spoiled child who, while being pampered, also bore the pressure of control from her elders at home.

On the surface, she was both domineering and strong, but inside, she was hollow, weak, and timid. Before starting the task, he had carefully observed the personal profiles of these "sick-girl" characters - after all, this Bai Weiran was overly cautious. He found that the formation of many such personalities had a close relationship with their original families, and the man they fell in love with was just the fuse that ultimately ignited their personalities.

This situation reminded him of a very old joke. A fool was traveling and feeling very hungry, so he came to a restaurant. He ordered a lot of dishes to eat, and after eating them all, he was still hungry. So the boss thought about it and gave him a piece of bread to eat. After eating it, the fool immediately felt full. The fool then said, "If I had known that eating a piece of bread would fill me up, I wouldn't have eaten any other dishes, just this bread would have been enough."

Qing Ning's father was a strong man who controlled a large business conglomerate, and her mother was also a strong-willed woman. From a young age, they had inadvertently instilled a sense of anxiety in Qing Ning. 【As long as you listen to me, all problems can be solved】 - there is no such thing in the world. Although Qing Ning seemed to have a lot, she actually lost more freedom in thoughts and actions under the control of her parents.

She wanted to be loved, but the relatives she should have relied on managed her with methods of mental whipping, behavioral repression, scolding, and control.

She was someone who had eaten many meals but still felt hungry.

And Ling Luo was like that piece of cookie, which suddenly made her feel loved, from starvation to fullness in an instant.

The value of this man was far below her expectation, but she firmly believed that it was this piece of cookie that filled her up.

At this time, it was not practical to belittle the man or to have her choose to resist her parents.

The former easily falls back into the emotional whirlpool when facing it, while the latter's family affairs are a tangled mess that can't be figured out.

As for the proportion of love and control in it, he didn't know, only Qing Ning, the person involved, could tell. When she could tell, and accept love but resist control, she would not simply resist, be angry, or obey, she would also learn how to really get along with her parents.

The behavior she would make at that time would belong to a truly complete and well-rounded personality.

It would be boring to break off a relationship and run away from home just because of being controlled and oppressed.

It's probably like how some people look down on you and you have to clench your fists and shout in your heart "Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, don't bully the young and poor" and "One day, you won't be able to reach for me" in a binary opposition, which is quite uninteresting.

So Bai Weiran decided to start from the third way, the friend's perspective.

In this world, there are people with incorrect worldviews, but there are also many people with normal worldviews. Learning to screen them out and getting close to them is an important task.

He tapped his knuckles lightly on the table and pushed the half-box of strawberries left in front of Qing Ning, speaking casually.

"Let me guess, your friends often put you in this situation."

"You feel lonely, like you don't need anyone's help and no one needs your help, which makes you feel worthless."

"And then you go looking for someone to rely on, seeking recognition, but that person criticizes you, scolds you, and makes you feel pain and pressure."

"You feel tired and stressed, so you get close to friends who make you feel relaxed and play with them? But after the partying is over, you feel lonely again?"

With every additional sentence he said, Qing Ning's face turned paler.

Bai Weiran's words were like straight stabs to the heart, not painful, but soft, making one hold their chest and relive a lot of memories and emotions.

Qing Ning did feel lonely quite often.

She had everything that everyone envied, but she never felt connected to the world. She often felt that if it wasn't her posing as Qing Ning today, it wouldn't matter if someone else replaced her, no one would care.

She carried many labels, but those labels had nothing to do with her personally.

She felt confused and wanted to seek comfort and guidance from her parents, but her parents cared most about their own careers, and when they communicated with her, they only asked about her studies and performance. She rarely pleased them and received only criticism and scolding.

Her parents would accuse her of being indecisive and melancholic and unable to handle the present situation. What's so difficult about it? Plan strictly, carry out step by step, and solve any problems that arise.

This is a common problem among many successful people, where rational thinking and efficiency in business considerations far outweigh humanity.

Qing Ning met such parents who were very successful in society but very failed as parents.

Coming to the stage mentioned by Bai Weiran.

She hung out with friends who prioritize enjoying life and feasted, drank and played to her heart's content, making sure not to miss any new luxury products on the market. She had two rooms filled with unopened luxury items, unable to remember what her moods were like when she bought them.

Still feeling empty, she enjoyed herself when she was with others, but felt incredibly lonely when she was alone.

That's when Ling Luo appeared in her loneliness.

Ling Luo would use a lonely and distant expression, speaking in a faint tone, saying things that people around her wouldn't say to her.

"You're just a kid who does whatever you want with your parents' money."

"What value do you think you have? I'm not interested in you."

"Aren't all you women the same?"

But while Ling Luo said these words, his behavior was still gentle and caring towards her, never refusing her.

His reasoning was: I need money, and you have it. You hired me to be your tutor, and we're just having an employer-client relationship.In this struggle, Qing Ning became increasingly desperate to prove herself different from others in front of Ling Luo. But the harder she tried, the more Ling Luo avoided her. In the end, she couldn't stand their relationship anymore and wanted to imprison and dominate him. She used the celebration of her academic progress as an excuse to invite Ling Luo to the hotel, planning to drug him...

She came back to her senses from her memories only to find a strawberry in front of her. Following the strawberry, she saw a fork and then The Mask Man's hand. His knuckles were distinct and his skin was pale due to not being exposed to the sun often. The hand holding the fork also pretended to be elegant and composed like an aristocrat.

"Come, eat a strawberry," Bai Weiran said. "Eat more, it's good for a girl's skin and beauty." Strawberries are expensive, and he wouldn't have bought them if not for trying to cheer her up. A few apples and oranges would have been enough for nutrition. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty for kidnapping her for the first time in his life.

The girl took the strawberry, having forgotten to be wary and resist. She bit into it with a juicy, tangy sweetness. "If people only had to point out problems without offering any solutions, life would be the simplest thing in the world," Bai Weiran picked a strawberry for himself.

The two of them ate fruit while a book called "On X Language" lay open on the table. The light in the room was soft, and the balcony door was wide open. A gentle breeze blew in from the window. Bai Weiran had originally designed this room to allow natural air to flow through while keeping dust and insects out. Always using air conditioning could make one feel like a delicate cabbage in a greenhouse.

In a semi-open dimensional room, young people from different parallel timelines chatted about trivial matters. "No matter how well you do, people can always find flaws. So don't admire those who raise questions, especially those who only spout seemingly profound but ultimately empty statements. Look instead at the answers they offer. There is no so-called correct answer in matters involving humans, but you can still judge their merits according to how much happiness they bring you."

"I've mentioned the three situations you're currently facing: loneliness, criticism from your close relations, and indulging in hedonism. People often unconsciously cycle through these three states."

"This wise ancestor gave us an answer: you should look for a fourth kind of friend." Bai Weiran pointed to a sentence on the book's page. "An honest, sincere, and knowledgeable friend. During your interactions with such a friend, you'll not only feel happy, but also benefit from the experience."

The girl understood the logic but was still somewhat confused. "I... still don't quite get it."

Bai Weiran simply smiled and replied. "Let me share my personal preference—I seek out those who make me feel like I've gained something every time we chat, or even just sit together in peaceful silence. But that's my answer; you must find your own, with the emphasis on happiness."

"Don't feel distressed during the process, believing that once you reach the result, you'll be happy. If you spend 90% of your time in pain and only 10% experiencing happiness while doing something, no matter how great or impressive others say it is, it's definitely not a good thing for you."

"So, I don't need to memorize this quote or explain it to others; I'll filter out and find those friends who will gather around me."

"When I've lived up to this quote, what's the point of reading it again?" Their conversation ended here.

Qing Ning sat at the table with her cheek in her palm, somewhat absent-minded. Bai Weiran flipped through the pages beside her, his gaze lowered in a leisurely posture. He had covered the book's title so no one could see.

He decided to guide Qing Ning to read the four great classics in the future, but he must first preview them himself and filter out any content not suitable for a young girl to read.

Starting with the infamous "Jin X Mei"...