Everything in the world can be used by me, but it only exists within the three-dimensional world that confines us. What we perceive as four dimensions is simply an added timeline. To embellish the present with past events is called experience. To extrapolate the future from immediate happenings is called prediction. Schemers, in their plotting, mostly rely on prediction, which is a trend, also known as going with the flow of destiny.
Suppose you definitively know the outcome of every event, and you plan your schemes around that outcome, with no discrepancies between your predictions and actual occurrences. To achieve this would make you a four-dimensional fiend.
I laughed, "Old Ghost, you're talking nonsense. Your line, 'Heaven and earth, all things, do not belong to me, but all things can be used by me,' had a certain poetic flair. This is just utter rubbish."
"You say that because you don't believe me, because you think no such person exists in the world. I can prove it to you."
"How will you prove it?"
"The doctor comes to check on patients at nine o'clock every day."
"Exactly. Because you're VIP 1, they start with you. What's there to predict about that?"
"The doctor will come to check on you at 9:13 today."
"You're kidding me. You've even calculated the minutes."
"There are still five minutes until nine. Let's wait for the result."
Eighteen minutes later, I remained silent, waiting to see the Old Ghost proven wrong. Time ticked by, while the Old Ghost, eyes narrowed, pretended to sleep.
The door opened. The doctor came to check on the patients. I glanced at my watch: 9:13 AM. Was such a thing possible in this world? The doctor asked the Old Ghost a few routine questions about his condition and then left as usual.
"What kind of scheme is this?"
"I am now setting up a scheme. In this scheme, the schemer is the brain, the pawns are my limbs, and the one being schemed against is my food. Suppose we escape the constraints of space. This scheme is like a two-dimensional world for ants. If worker ants can survive, I choose to be a worker ant. If an ant queen can survive, I choose to be the ant queen. Similarly, if this is a human world, and I am a four-dimensional demon, knowing the future, then whoever is the last person standing, I will become that person."
"Are you implying that Senior Sister is such a person?"
"She has the potential to become such a person."
"What if she is?"
"Then that night you spent together might have an outcome. You might have a child in the future."
Hearing this, I panicked. The Old Ghost had told me all this to convey that if someone were on a higher level than us, their role wouldn't matter. Schemer, pawn, or even victim, their role is determined by the future outcome. They are destined to win. Such a person could indeed be called a fiend, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration.
I understood, but I still couldn't believe such baseless claims. It was too absurd. I wheeled myself back to my room in a daze, then lay on the bed, thinking hard. Before lunch, I had figured it out and went to the office of the Old Ghost's attending physician, Dr. Jiang.
"Dr. Jiang, I need to ask you something. You and Cao Shi arranged for you to enter the ward at 9:13 this morning, right?"
"That's right!"
As the fog cleared and the truth dawned, I felt an urge to curse. He made it sound so mystical, yet it was just a scheme after all. I turned my wheelchair to leave, but then I heard Dr. Jiang muttering to himself, "It's my honor to be able to help Mr. Cao. He said everything he did for me was so I could help him with a favor, and I never expected it to be such a trivial matter."
About to leave, I stopped in surprise. "Dr. Jiang, do you know Cao Shi?"
"Mr. Cao? I wouldn't say I know him well, but he helped me. Three years ago, I had a medical malpractice incident and was sued by the patient's family. Even the hospital director wouldn't help me, but unexpectedly, Mr. Cao, who was vacationing here, hired a lawyer for me and showed me a way out. Not only did I keep my medical license, but my职称 wasn't demoted either."
"I never heard you mention it."
"When he brought himself here, I was terrified. I was only focused on saving him, so there was no time for pleasantries. You know, the moment he entered the hospital, I suddenly believed an old saying: good deeds are rewarded. At his condition then, if I hadn't risked my career and defied hospital protocols to save him, he would have been dead."
I was stunned. The Old Ghost had lied to me. Senior Sister had the potential to become a fiend, but he was the true four-dimensional fiend. Three years ago, he had already paved the way for his future.
Karma?
Four-dimensional fiend?
The only time I experienced an accident in Li Jiu the Long-tongued Ghost's scheme was during a moment of karma. I did a good deed and saved myself.
If karma could be controlled, what would be the point of game theory? For example, if we played rock-paper-scissors, and I told you I was going to play scissors, that's different from you knowing I was going to play scissors.
Though I was taken aback, Dr. Jiang continued, "Back then, I asked Mr. Cao why he helped me so much. He said he needed a favor from me, but not at that time. I agreed."
"He asked you to save his life?"
"A doctor saving a life isn't a favor; it's my job. Even if I violated protocols and used extraordinary medication to save him, that was my repayment. Just yesterday, when Mr. Cao had recovered enough to eat and talk, he contacted me to fulfill that promise."
"He asked you to check on him at 9:13 AM?"
"Yes. Mr. Cao is truly a good person. He helped me so much, and all he asked for was a promise. I even wondered if he wanted me to do something illegal. But then, this favor turned out to be such a trivial matter. He's such a strange person."
I turned my wheelchair to leave, but Dr. Jiang called out, "By the way, Mr. Cao has been discharged."
"Discharged? He can barely stomach thin gruel, and a gust of wind would blow him away. Who allowed him to be discharged?"
"A Mr. Gao transferred him to Hong Kong. Apparently, there's a very powerful private hospital there, and it was on a private jet. You and Mr. Cao aren't ordinary people, are you?"
"..."
I pushed the wheels of my wheelchair with all my might, wishing my broken legs would heal instantly. I pushed open the door and found the bed empty, as expected. But by the window stood a thin figure. He was still as plain as a grandfather bargaining at a market. I had seen him before, when I didn't know his identity, only thinking he was the Old Ghost's pawn. He was the Old Gao who had paid for helpers in the "Greedy for Wealth" scheme. He was the Old Gao who helped me buy the Dragon Stone jade at the "Celebrity Auction." It was only recently that I learned his name: Gao Ji, a man who could shake the Hong Kong economy.
"Old Gao!"
"Young man, we meet again."
"Yes. Where is the Old Ghost?"
"I've taken him to see a doctor."
"They can get medical treatment here too!"
Old Gao smiled calmly, "I don't want to take any risks. From the current situation, my family cannot afford to lose this person. I know you have questions, so I'll stay for a chat."
"You know about fiends too?"
"I do, but what I want to discuss is 'Logical Paradox.'"
I hadn't expected Old Gao to talk about this. I nodded, waiting quietly for him to speak.
"Do you know about the Fermi Paradox?"
I nodded. The Fermi Paradox is a theory about extraterrestrial life, proposed in 1951 by a Nobel laureate. The core of the Fermi Paradox is: where are the aliens? Suppose we spent a million years exploring every planet in the galaxy. Then, if aliens evolved just a million years before humans, they should have reached our planet. So, the final answer becomes one of two possibilities: first, aliens exist, and they arrived on Earth a million years ago. Second, aliens simply don't exist.
"Old Gao, the Old Ghost just told me about fiends, and now you're going to tell me about aliens?"
"No, I'm talking about the organization 'Logical Paradox.' They have since changed their name to 'Feywild Forest.' They, like you, know that the most formidable schemers are called four-dimensional fiends. I mention the Fermi Paradox because we don't know if 'Feywild Forest' truly has any fiends. All truly formidable schemers understand human nature. Suppose there's an experience value for understanding human nature; reaching a certain level makes one a four-dimensional fiend. Given 'Logical Paradox's' decade-long experience in plotting, someone among them should have become a four-dimensional fiend by now. According to the Fermi Paradox, 'Feywild Forest' is currently in one of two situations: first, they already have individuals like four-dimensional fiends leading the organization; second, their organization has no four-dimensional fiends at all."
"But how do I know? Does 'Feywild Forest' have fiends?"
"If you haven't reached the level of a four-dimensional fiend, never interact with them. Even if they probe you, do not respond."
"Why?"
"The Fermi Paradox applies to 'Feywild Forest' as well. They don't know if you are a fiend?"
I understood. The global economy is like a galaxy. Various interest groups' only way to survive is not by peaceful coexistence, but by pretending each other doesn't exist. Once there's probing, it inevitably leads to the law of the jungle: survival of the fittest!
From that day on, I never saw the Old Ghost or Old Gao again, nor did I seek out 'Logical Paradox,' which had changed to 'Feywild Forest.' I understood a fundamental truth of survival: to live well, one must pretend certain things in this world don't exist, such as Gao Ji, the Old Ghost, and 'Feywild Forest'! Sometimes I would think of the Old Ghost, wondering if he had regained weight. But it was just a thought, and so it went until I graduated from university. I sold my apartment in Huisi and, with my suitcase in hand, headed to Beijing.
Firstly, Yu Xiaoluo was getting married! Secondly, I had promised Yu Xiaoluo that I would become a civil servant in Beijing!
Back then, in Tai'an, I hadn't asked for the assets I had given to Yu Xiaoluo. She used her Beijing identity to buy a siheyuan and several rooms. In the past two years, housing prices had skyrocketed like an airplane. No longer worried about my livelihood, I was ready to start my new life.
Stepping out of the new station, I spotted a familiar figure. I waved, "Fatty, I'm here!"
The figure separated, and a beautiful woman passed by the Fatty. I looked at her, feeling a bit flustered, "Lin Han, you're here too!"