Chapter 673: Is Shimizu Kazumi a Scab?
A girl.
She wasn’t pretty. Her face was covered in a full set of protective makeup—supposedly able to block over 70% of UV rays, over 30% of radiation, and over 20% of electromagnetic pollution. Her eyes were large, but her gaze was vacant. She wore a plain, standard summer tracksuit and clutched a thick folder in her hands, which seemed to contain quite a bit of documentation and blueprints. She looked about twenty-four or twenty-five, but her demeanor and movements were like those of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old middle school student.
She appeared somewhat shy and uncomfortable, seeming reluctant to approach anyone, doing her utmost to shrink herself and appear less conspicuous.
She entered the coffee shop and went straight to a corner, facing the wall like a student being punished for standing.
She furtively observed her surroundings from the corner of her eye, appearing very worried about something—perhaps about encountering trouble later, or about having chosen the wrong seat.
In reality, she had already chosen the wrong seat.
This was a coffee shop called “Shimizu Fire Basin.” The name itself was quite distinctive.
The coffee shop was designed with minimalist, plain walls. The walls had no adornments, no color. Even the music, usually indispensable in a coffee shop, was deliberately omitted here. Inside the coffee shop, apart from the coffee, there was only a fireplace on the wall.
This was, of course, not a real fireplace. The fireplace used virtual imaging technology, projecting a full set of special effects.
On the fireplace, blazing flames constantly changed color and shape, morphing into various forms of life: sometimes, dancing girls appeared faintly within the flames, wearing red cloaks like a mass of vibrant fire; sometimes, golden swans appeared faintly, breaking free from the flames and freely stretching their bodies, treating the flames as if they were water and swimming in the fire basin; sometimes, gray birds appeared faintly, singing within the flames, looking so free, so unrestrained…
When the girl saw the illusions in the fire basin, her expression relaxed slightly.
She exhaled softly, like a lost child who had finally found a sliver of comfort.
She took out a blueprint from her folder and a pen from her bag, as if preparing to work.
The blueprint depicted many machines. The lines of the machines were sharp, their structures intricate, their various pipelines clear. The location and quantity of each part were meticulously labeled. She looked at them as if looking at her own home.
She didn’t notice that many people in the coffee shop were observing her.
They were of all heights, builds, ages, and genders.
They all wore the coffee shop’s uniform and moved through the various corners of the shop.
However, their walking speed was extremely slow, their movements stiff, and even their gazes were methodical, like robots.
On their chests, they all wore a white brooch printed with the coffee shop’s logo—a small fire basin in clear water.
Suddenly, the side door of the coffee shop was pushed open.
A middle-aged woman walked in. She also wore the coffee shop uniform.
She had a smile on her face and walked with great elegance. She approached the coffee shop’s service counter, nodded slightly to a server, and then said something to the server behind the counter.
The server did not react.
The middle-aged woman repeated herself.
The server still did not react.
The middle-aged woman smiled, extended her fair white finger, and gently touched the server’s brooch.
The server seemed to suddenly receive power, smiled, nodded, and then quickly ran out.
The middle-aged woman, with her elegant posture, walked up to the girl.
The girl was making corrections on the blueprint. She heard footsteps and looked up.
Middle-aged woman: “Miss, you’re here.”
Girl: “Yes. I’m here.”
Middle-aged woman: “You’re twenty minutes earlier than yesterday today.”
Girl: “Mm.”
Middle-aged woman: “How does it feel sitting here?”
Girl: “It’s good.”
Middle-aged woman: “You look very uncomfortable. Is it because there’s no music? I’ll have them play some.”
Girl: “No need. I like quiet.”
Middle-aged woman: “That’s because I asked them to turn the music off.”
Girl: “?”
Middle-aged woman: “You seem to like this fire basin a lot.”
Girl: “It… it doesn’t seem like a fire basin. I like the golden swans and the birds reborn from flames.”
Middle-aged woman: “Those are all things from your heart.”
Girl: “Perhaps.”
Middle-aged woman: “Perhaps not. I spent a fortune to have the world’s top visual psychologists, mathematicians, sonic chemists, and material science masters collaborate to develop it. The science contained within it is more than ten times more complicated than any nuclear reactor science we currently possess.”
Girl: “I just hope it can give me peace. I just like this kind of pure beauty.”
Middle-aged woman: “What is pure beauty?”
Girl: “It’s a beauty that cannot be defiled. It’s a beauty that can make people feel hope. It’s a beauty that can make people feel free and unrestrained.”
Middle-aged woman: “Do you wish to be free?”
Girl: “I like those birds because they can break free from constraints and be reborn in the flames. Their beauty, their power, comes from the strength of their hearts. Their power is spontaneous, infinite, and can penetrate any obstacle.”
Middle-aged woman: “What constraints do you wish to break free from?”
Girl: “I don’t know.”
Middle-aged woman: “Of course, you know.”
The girl fell silent. She looked back down at the blueprint, but her eyes were blank.
Middle-aged woman: “Are you afraid to look at the blueprints? You seem not to like them very much.”
Girl: “They are my dreams.”
Middle-aged woman: “Your dreams are meant to be created, but why are you scribbling on the blueprints? These scribbles have stripped them of any possibility of being manufactured.”
Girl: “I’m just modifying some of the structures. I want to make them more perfect.”
Middle-aged woman: “What do you think perfection is?”
Girl: “Perfection is a capability.”
Middle-aged woman: “What kind of capability?”
Girl: “A capability that can be interpreted arbitrarily. It can be treated as a building, as clothing, as a dish, as a book, as any object, and be endowed with any capability.”
The middle-aged woman walked to the girl’s computer and pointed at the screen.
Middle-aged woman: “From my perspective, what you’ve drawn are just simple machines. They have sharp lines, cold structures. They have no flesh or soul. They don’t think, they don’t even move. They are just symbols on paper.”
Girl: “Perhaps.”
Middle-aged woman: “They are your dreams, I believe. And they are indeed great machines. But what do they have to do with your soul? I can’t see any connection between them.”
Girl: “They are my understanding of power.”
Middle-aged woman: “What kind of power?”
Girl: “A power… that can change the world.”
Middle-aged woman: “Change the world? What can they do?”
Girl: “I don’t know. But I believe they can change my life. I even think they can save my life.”
Middle-aged woman: “I don’t believe it.”
The middle-aged woman suddenly walked behind the girl, placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders, as if giving her a massage.
The girl’s body stiffened slightly, but she did not pull away.
Middle-aged woman: “Do you really want to know your destiny?”
Girl: “I’m fine now.”
Middle-aged woman: “You are not fine. Wearing this outfit, with this protective makeup, you’ve done your best to hide yourself. You don’t want others to know your inner fears, you don’t want others to know that you are actually a young girl full of fear. You want to disguise yourself, but you have failed. Your worries are written all over your face. Your body is trembling, your hands are trembling, your eyes are trembling. You haven’t even realized that you’ve been secretly observing me from the corner of your eye. You’ve been guarding against me.”
Middle-aged woman: “What exactly are you afraid of?”
Girl: “I don’t know.”
Middle-aged woman: “Of course, you know. You are afraid that what you’ve drawn will never become reality. You are afraid that it will always remain on paper, in your imagination.”
Girl: “I want them to become reality.”
Middle-aged woman: “But you are scribbling on them. Is there a voice in your heart telling you that they shouldn’t exist?”
Girl: “There is no voice in my heart.”
Middle-aged woman: “You do. That voice has always been telling you that your blueprints are imperfect, your designs are flawed, your ideas are wrong.”
Middle-aged woman: “Are you afraid of being told that all your efforts are just a joke?”
Girl: “I haven’t.”
Middle-aged woman: “Haven’t you realized that you’ve been resisting everything around you, resisting life itself? You’ve even been resisting your own beauty. Why are you wearing such ordinary clothes and such terrible makeup? Why are you hiding yourself?”
Girl: “I just like it this way.”
Middle-aged woman: “You don’t. You’re just afraid. Afraid of being seen for your beauty. Afraid of being noticed. Afraid of being hurt.”
Girl: “I haven’t.”
Middle-aged woman: “You are a girl with unparalleled beauty. You shouldn’t be wasting your time like this. Haven’t you considered that you could use your beauty to achieve anything you want?”
Girl: “I don’t want to.”
Middle-aged woman: “Why?”
Girl: “Beauty is the most fleeting thing. It’s not long-lasting. It’s not power. It’s just a tool. I don’t need this tool.”
Middle-aged woman: “You’re wrong. Beauty is power. It can change the world. It can charm men and make them serve you. It can change your destiny.”
Girl: “I don’t need it.”
Middle-aged woman: “Why?”
Girl: “I only believe that the blueprints in my hands are the true power. Only they can help me change the world.”
Middle-aged woman: “You are so naive. Do you think as long as you draw the blueprints well, the machines will be built? Do you think this world is only about machines, not about people’s hearts?”
Girl: “I don’t know.”
Middle-aged woman: “Let me tell you, the most complicated thing in this world is not machines, but people’s hearts. Especially men’s hearts.”
As if remembering something, the middle-aged woman looked into the distance, her gaze deep and faraway, her expression becoming complicated.
She suddenly smiled again. She placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder again and patted it gently.
Middle-aged woman: “You don’t need to be afraid of me. In this world, I am the only one who truly cares about you.”
Girl: “You care about me just because I can create value for you.”
Middle-aged woman: “You’re wrong. I care about you because you are also a woman. We women are the weaker sex in this world. We must unite and help each other to change the world. Haven’t you noticed that it’s always men who hold power in this world?”
Girl: “It has nothing to do with me.”
Middle-aged woman: “You’re wrong. The blueprints you draw, the machines you create, will ultimately fall into the hands of men. They will use your power to serve themselves. They will use them to oppress us women.”
Girl: “I don’t want to listen to your platitudes.”
Middle-aged woman: “You are always so stubborn. Haven’t you realized that you are a contradiction? You want to save the world, yet you reject it. You want freedom, yet you imprison yourself in blueprints.”
Girl: “I just want to build my machines.”
Middle-aged woman: “You want to build machines, but you are destroying the blueprints. Do you want to build machines or not? Do you want to change the world or not?”
Girl: “I don’t know.”
Middle-aged woman: “There must be a voice inside you speaking to you. What is it saying?”
Girl: “It’s telling me that my capabilities are insufficient to change the world. It’s telling me that I should give up.”
Middle-aged woman: “Should you really give up?”
Girl: “I’ve been thinking about it.”
Middle-aged woman: “You don’t want to. You’re just avoiding it. You’re afraid of facing failure. You’re afraid of facing your own heart.”
Middle-aged woman: “Don’t be afraid anymore. We women have a difficult time in this world, but we must also be strong. We must believe in ourselves. We must believe that we have the power to change the world.”
Middle-aged woman: “Do you believe in gods?”
Girl: “I believe in myself.”
Middle-aged woman: “You’re wrong. You believe in gods. You believe your machines can save the world like gods. Gods are the machines you draw.”
Girl: “I’ve never thought of it that way.”
Middle-aged woman: “You’ve always thought that way, you just didn’t know it. You place your hopes in them. You hope they will bring you peace, freedom, and power. You hope they will lead you out of suffering.”
Girl: “I haven’t.”
Middle-aged woman: “Look at this blueprint in your hand. What is its name?”
Girl: “[Fire Spirit].”
Middle-aged woman: “See? You hope they will bring you power and hope like fire spirits. You hope they will bring you light and freedom.”
Girl: “I just think the name is cool.”
Middle-aged woman: “We women have no status in this world. All power rests in the hands of men. Only by uniting can we change the world’s structure.”
Middle-aged woman: “You are a girl with unparalleled beauty. You shouldn’t be buried. You should stand up. You should use your beauty to conquer the world. You should use your wisdom to change the world.”
Girl: “Thank you, but I don’t need it.”
Middle-aged woman: “Alas, you are always so stubborn. You always refuse to listen. Look, you’re always resisting me.”
Middle-aged woman: “I won’t give up on you. I believe that one day, you will understand my intentions.”
Middle-aged woman: “Oh, right. There’s something I forgot to tell you. My name is Wu Mengsha. The General Manager of the coffee shop.”
Girl: “Hello.”
Middle-aged woman: “I’ve always liked you. I like you as a person, and I like your drawings. I hope you can become my friend.”
Girl: “I am your employee.”
Middle-aged woman: “No. You are my hope. You are my future. You are my everything.”
Middle-aged woman: “Do you believe me?”
Girl: “I believe in my machines.”
The middle-aged woman smiled. She stood up and walked towards the side door.
She stopped at the side door and looked back at the girl.
Middle-aged woman: “You will come to me. I know. You definitely will. When your blueprints are destroyed, when your machines are ruined, you will come to me. You will come to me for help. You will beg me to save your life.”
After speaking, the middle-aged woman left elegantly.
All that remained was the girl and the hopelessly scribbled blueprint in her hand.
The girl sighed softly, folded the blueprint, and put it back into the folder.
She walked to the coffee shop’s fire basin, reached out, and gently touched the virtual flames. A fleeting warmth spread through her hand.
She looked at the dancing girls in the flames, the golden swans, the birds reborn from fire.
She exhaled again.
She took out her mobile phone and set the screen saver to an image of a bird being reborn from flames.
She looked at them, her eyes filled with longing.
They were her hope. They were her future.
The girl sat in the coffee shop for another twenty minutes. She picked up her phone and looked at the image of the bird being reborn from flames on the screen.
She stood up and walked towards the side door.
She walked out of the coffee shop. A man wearing a baseball cap walked in past the side door. The man looked to be in his forties, lean and tall, wearing a black suit and carrying a black briefcase. He walked straight into the coffee shop, went to the service counter, and said something to the server.
The server smiled, nodded, and then quickly ran in the direction the middle-aged woman had left.
The girl did not look back. She began her journey home.
Under an old banyan tree by the roadside.
Wu Mengsha was waiting for her.
Wu Mengsha: “You’re here again.”
Girl: “I was just passing by.”
Wu Mengsha: “You’re always so insincere. You clearly came here on purpose. You just wanted to see me.”
Girl: “I haven’t.”
Wu Mengsha: “Of course, you have. You came to see me just to seek some comfort. You want me to tell you that your machines will surely succeed. You want me to give you some encouragement.”
Girl: “I don’t need encouragement.”
Wu Mengsha: “You do. You just won’t admit it.”
Wu Mengsha smiled and walked up to the girl. She reached out and gently stroked the girl’s hair.
Wu Mengsha: “You are a good child. You are a genius. The blueprints you draw are truly breathtaking. I believe they will change the world.”
A flicker of light flashed in the girl’s eyes, like a praised elementary school student.
Wu Mengsha: “However, you must also know that this world is very complicated. It is not a simple mechanical world. It is a world full of human malice. You cannot just believe in your machines. You must also believe in people.”
Girl: “Why are you helping me?”
Wu Mengsha: “Because we are women. Women help women.”
Wu Mengsha: “Do you believe me?”
Girl: “I don’t know.”
Wu Mengsha: “You need me. You need my support, my help, my protection. You need me to help you build your machines.”
Girl: “Can you really help me?”
Wu Mengsha: “Of course. Who am I? I am Wu Mengsha. The General Manager of Shimizu Fire Basin Coffee Shop. I have many connections in this city. I can provide you with any help you desire.”
