He paused and asked a hypothetical question.
"If, I mean if, a person does something illegal, Ichinose, what do you think will be his final outcome?"
"Will he be...arrested and sentenced?"
Ichinose Honami asked tentatively.
"Yes, but not entirely."
Wu Yi snapped his fingers crisply.
"There are three types of scoring for this question. The first is that his technique is quite sophisticated, so he did it but was not discovered by anyone. The second is that his technique is not good but he is good at escaping, so he did it and was discovered but was not caught by the police. The third is that his technique and escape skills are not good, so not only did he do it but he was also discovered and eventually arrested and sentenced by the police."
"Among these three situations, the first one has the least consequences. The person may be frightened for a while, but then he will be fine."
"The second one is more serious. The person may be frightened and have to hide for a while."
"The third option is the worst, and that means you end up in jail."
"but--"
Wu Yi suddenly folded the three fingers he had raised.
"No matter which of these three results, that person needs to pay the price for what he did, it's just a matter of whether the price is big or small."
This……
Ichinose was quite smart and figured out the meaning after a little thought.
"So... living in fear is a price, hiding from place to place is a price, being arrested and sentenced is also a price?"
"Absolutely correct~"
Wu Yi patiently and kindly persuaded.
"But the final results of these three costs on individuals are very different. Why is that?"
"because……"
Ichinose suddenly got stuck.
It wasn't because she couldn't answer, but because she simply didn't dare to answer.
The answer is obvious. It is because of different personal abilities that one has to pay different levels of cost to do a thing.
But according to this logic, doesn't it mean that the greater the ability, the less responsible one can be?
No, it shouldn't be like this...
"There is a saying in ancient China that a prince who breaks the law is subject to the same punishment as a commoner. Have you heard of it?"
Wu Yi interrupted the girl's thoughts.
"It means that if a prince breaks the law, he will be punished the same as the common people, with no special treatment. In other words, before this sentence was invented, the prince's crime was different from that of the common people."
"Of course this is normal. After all, he is a prince, so it is normal for him to have some privileges. Even if the prince is caught stealing something, the old king will take out treasures worth ten times the value to shut that person up, or simply get rid of the person who created the problem if the problem cannot be solved..."
"However, these methods have nothing to do with you, Ichinose."
Wu Yi pointed at Ichinose.
"Because you are not a prince, you are just a commoner."
"If common people break the law and are caught, they either have to pay money or go to jail. But if you have no money, then of course you can only go to jail. This is the price you pay for doing something despite your lack of ability."
"Everyone in this world must consider two things when doing something. One is whether they want to do it, and the other is whether they can do it. You only need to consider these two things. Apart from that, morality and law are just a reference."
"That's why I said that what your mother did, Ichinose, is not a problem for ordinary people who are ready to live a peaceful life as a legal citizen."
Wu Yi looked at the girl whose brain had crashed and spoke softly.
Ichinose never imagined that this world actually operated with such a bloody and brutal logic, and that everything was divided into what you want to do and what you don't want to do, and what you can do and what you can't do.
"She made you understand early on that doing such things would come at a price, and this price would often be something that would cause you extreme pain. In contrast, if she hadn't made you understand this truth at the time, you might have become a thief in the future, and by then you would have been unable to pay the long bill."
"so……"
Ichinose murmured.
"So you actually paid the price you deserved," Wu Yi said, "when you and your mother returned the hairpin to the store intact and knelt down to ask for an apology."
"But……"
"No buts, this is the fact. If you are still struggling with it now, it's because you can't get over it in your heart. To put it bluntly, you are torturing yourself."
"But I still committed the crime of theft..."
Ichinose let out a long sigh.
However, Wu Yi shrugged.
"It's okay, I forgive you... By the way, if dignity can be quantified with money in a situation like yours, Ichinose, and supplemented by various things like good kid coupons, discounts for underage students, and subsidies for poor students, then theoretically you've already overpaid."
"puff……"
Probably for the first time in these days, Ichinose was amused, and it was a laugh that came from the heart.
But she quickly restrained herself, carefully covered her mouth, and looked a little helpless.
"Student Wu Yi is really something. He is talking about something so serious..."
"I think it's okay."
Wu Yi didn't care.
The girl could only smile helplessly.
"But it's also true... After chatting with classmate Wu Yi, I do feel much better."
"Ahaha, that's good."
"Ah."
She responded obediently, and Ichinose's eyes gradually became gentle.
"By the way, can I borrow your shoulder, Wu Yi?"
"...What do you want to do?"
"Don't move, just for a moment."
With no intention of letting Wu Yi refuse, Ichinose moved over by himself, then took the initiative to lean his cheek, which was a little cold from the cold wind, on the former's shoulder, and tried to close his eyes in peace.
"Yeah, it's really warm."
"If you feel cold, I suggest you buy some more hot packs. They are both warm and convenient to put inside your coat in the winter..." Wu Yi complained.
"I know."
Ichinose smiled silently.
"After all, Wu Yi-san already has Kushida-san, Karuizawa-san, and Sakayanagi-san. If we were seen in this state, it would probably make Wu Yi-san very embarrassed... But, at least just this once..."
As she spoke, the girl's voice became lower and lower until her breathing became even.
Volume 263: Chapter : The Violent Attack on Ichinose
After an unknown amount of time, Ichinose was awakened by the aroma of food that came from nowhere.
As her thoughts restarted, her chaotic brain gradually became clear. The girl slowly opened her eyes and murmured softly between her lips.
"Well……"
All I could see was pitch black, but certainly not the kind where you couldn't see your hand in front of you.
Judging from the faint light coming from afar, Ichinose was sure that he was in someone's dormitory at the moment. He could feel the bed below him and there was a soft quilt covering his body.
But what exactly am I...
Ichinose thought about it for a moment, then her face turned slightly red.
Oh my God, she actually fell asleep leaning on Wu Yi's shoulder.
Maybe it was because I was under too much mental pressure in the past few days and had not slept well for many nights in a row, which caused my mental state to be extremely bad. After I got everything off my chest, my tense nerves finally relaxed. I thought I was just pretending to sleep for a while, but I didn't expect that I actually fell asleep.
So now, isn't it...
As if realizing something, Ichinose sat up from the bed with his entire upper body almost like a catapult, then he threw back the quilt and got out of bed...hiss~it's so cold!
The tip of her toes touched the cold ground through the thin stockings, and Ichinose shivered instantly from the cold.
She looked around and saw that the light was coming from the kitchen on the right side of the entrance.
The flat-heeled black leather shoes that he usually wore were now quietly placed on the shoe rack at the door, and at his feet were a pair of pink bunny slippers that had just been unpacked and looked like they had been kept for use since he bought them.
Wu Yi actually thought of this and prepared slippers for her in advance.
Pretty thoughtful...
Ichinose thought a little happily and put his feet in carefully.
I stood up and took two steps. It was just the right size.
After tidying up the bed a bit, Ichinose moved to the kitchen door in small steps.
Looking inside, Wu Yi was leaning against the stove with a takeaway in his hand. He was eating while looking at the phone next to him.
There was also another unopened takeaway on the stove next to it.
Noticing the movement over here, Wu Yi turned his head and looked. His eyes fell on the pink-haired girl who peeked out from the door, and he raised his eyebrows.
"woke up?"
"……Um."
Ichinose nodded slightly, clasped his hands in front of him, and walked in a little embarrassedly.
To be honest, she really does feel a bit like a newlywed wife.
Without organizing his words in advance, Ichinose spoke hesitantly and stammered.
"Um... classmate Wu Yi, I was... ah!"
A cry of surprise was heard, and it was the classic case of the left foot tripping over the right foot. Ichinose lost his balance without any warning and fell forward.
If nothing unexpected happened, she would fall to the ground in a very painful position in half a second, and even Wu Yi wouldn't be able to put down the takeaway and catch her with his backhand in such a short time... If he just put down the takeaway box, that would be possible, but the food inside would most likely spill all over the ground.
They both harm each other so I don't want either.
At the critical moment, Wu Yi decisively moved to the left and leaned forward, using his shoulder to firmly support the pink-haired girl who was about to fall to the ground.
"Well!"
The first point of collision occurred at the front armor plate. Ichinose subconsciously let out a slight groan, then reflexively stretched out his arms and hugged him.
So, the two of them stuck together again.
The picture seems to be frozen at this moment.
Feeling the surprisingly soft touch on his arm, Wu Yi turned his head to look at Ichinose.
Ichinose, who was in a daze again, blinked twice cutely and looked up at him.
goo~
Someone's stomach honestly made an embarrassing sound.
After a little thought, Wu Yi picked up a piece of fragrant barbecued pork with chopsticks and handed it to the latter's mouth.
"Taste it?"
"..."
As if possessed by some mysterious force, Ichinose instinctively obeyed his body's will, opened his mouth, and took the piece of barbecued pork into his mouth.
Then, stop again.
About two seconds later, two obvious blushes quickly appeared on the girl's cheeks.
She swallowed the piece of barbecued pork without even chewing it. Her face was so hot that it seemed to be reflecting blood and her speech was incoherent.
"You, you, you, what are you doing? You...we are here..."
hiss--
The brain stopped functioning due to the excessive load, and a wisp of invisible white smoke quietly rose from above Ichinose's head and floated into the air.
"Sorry sorry, just a joke."
