24 posts tagged with "Human Nature"

Old Wang was about to go downstairs to buy groceries when he received the letter. The envelope was a cheap white one, with a blurred red heart printed in the middle, along with some crooked cartoon words: "Thank you for your charitable donation!" He suspiciously opened the letter. Inside was a printed piece of paper with graceful Song typeface, which read: "Dear Mr. Wang, thank you for your generosity in donating a valuable ten yuan to the underprivileged students of our school. Your kindness is like a beacon, illuminating the path we tread. All teachers and students of our school hereby express our sincerest gratitude! To reciprocate your kindness, we are awarding you the following 'exclusive' honorary title: 'The Magnanimous, Yet Miserly Great Philanthropist'!"

Old Wang's hand trembled, and he almost dropped the letter. What was this? Subtle sarcasm? He stared at the bolded words "Magnanimous, Yet Miserly Great Philanthropist," feeling like his chest was constricted. He donated ten yuan to show his support for his daughter's school's "charity donation" event; he didn't actually intend to be a philanthropist. How did donating a small amount become a sin?

Old Chen sat in the monitoring room, staring at the scene of "The Brain" competition through the screen. The contestants were wearing special electroencephalogram monitors, expressionlessly solving a series of complex logic puzzles. The time on the LED screen ticked away, one second at a time, already at 198 minutes.

He took a deep breath and looked at the tablet in his hand, which displayed the real-time data of the contestants: heart rate, brainwave intensity, body temperature, and sweat secretion volume, all precisely recorded. These numbers determined who was the final winner. This competition, rather than being a contest of brainpower, was more like an extreme test of human endurance.

Chen Pi first felt that something was wrong with his face during his senior year's final exam. The invigilator, Old Wang, stared at his face for a full three minutes, then took off his reading glasses, rubbed his eyes, and looked for another three minutes. Chen Pi felt his cheeks burning, not because he was too nervous about the exam, but because Old Wang's gaze was like an X-ray, scanning for some secret.

Doctor Lin had lost weight recently. Her cheekbones, once rounded, now felt a bit sharp to the touch. Being a doctor herself, she knew it wasn't just fatigue; it was something weighing on her mind, draining her spirit. What was it? Her child was gone. That past summer, a sudden illness, and they couldn't save him.

With the child gone, the apartment felt empty, and cold. It had been a nice two-bedroom apartment, south-facing, with an old pagoda tree outside the window. In summer, it offered lush green shade; in autumn, its pagoda flowers littered the ground. When he was still around, he liked watching ants move their homes on the windowsill. Doctor Lin stood in the living room. Sunlight streamed in, dust motes dancing in the beams. But his laughter seemed to linger in the corners; she'd turn her head, and there was nothing. This apartment... she couldn't live here anymore.