I Have Yet to Become a Doll Today

Grateful to him, Su Man glanced again at his kneecap and said, “Let me carry you. I’m strong and won’t get tired.”

“No, no need!” Lu Yuwen’s hand gesture became even more emphatic, “I can walk on my own! You still have to carry the luggage, don’t you? We…we’re in no rush, we can take our time, see things more clearly this way!”

“You make a valid point.” Su Man considered his words seriously, “But there are so many arrows all around; I can’t help but be drawn to them. It’s like the more you forbid me from thinking about elephants, the more I will think about elephants.”

She spotted another small arrow in the bushes and promptly averted her gaze.

At that moment, an idea popped into her mind—

“Aha! I’ve got it!” Su Man’s eyes lit up as she said to Lu Yuwen, “We can change the direction of these arrows! For instance, some of them point east, others west, and so on, in all cardinal directions. This way, the arrows won’t be able to control me anymore!”

Assuming that when all arrows point in the same direction, they will have the greatest influence on a player, would they still have an impact if each arrow pointed differently?

Unexpectedly, Su Man had a moment of inspiration. Exhilarated, she rolled up her sleeves to get to work.

Lu Yuwen stopped her, “We can’t disperse the direction of the arrows. We should keep moving.”

Slightly surprised, Su Man inquired, “Why can’t we disperse them?”

Lu Yuwen contemplated for a while, looked up at the sky which was still early, and thought explaining to her wouldn’t waste much time.

“How about this,” Lu Yuwen started, “You just change the direction of one small arrow for now, and then I’ll explain.”

Skeptically, Su Man glanced at him, walked to the side of the road, and turned around one of the small arrows on the lamppost so that it was pointing in the opposite direction.

“We should be able to change the direction. Don’t you remember? You asked me to do this once before. After changing the direction of all the small arrows, the big arrow also changes…”

Lu Yuwen chuckled to himself, held onto a tree branch acting as a crutch, and told her from the roadside, “Be patient, you’ll understand in a moment.”

Confused, Su Man stared at the small arrow.

Just as Lu Yuwen mentioned, after a little while, the small arrow unexpectedly jerked!

Stunned, Su Man’s eyes widened as she saw the arrow automatically switch direction, turning back as it had before, returning to its original position!

“How could this be?!” Su Man was astonished, “I was clearly able to change the direction before! Why did it flip back this time?”

Lu Yuwen’s mouth curved up slightly.

“Don’t keep me in suspense, come on, tell me!” Su Man implored impatiently, her clear, bright eyes studying his, free of blemishes.

She was always so straightforward, wearing her heart on her face.

Lu Yuwen cleared his throat and proposed, “Try changing the direction of a few other nearby arrows. You don’t have to change many, four or five is enough.”

Following his advice, Su Man altered the direction of the arrows under the streetlights, on the left, right, and in the bushes.

“Now what?” she turned her gaze back to Lu Yuwen, eagerly awaiting his answer.

Lu Yuwen pointed to the arrows, “Then, you just watch.”

“Just watch?” Su Man was again puzzled as she cast her glance back onto the arrows.

After about three to five seconds, the small arrow on the streetlight shook lightly. Then, it changed direction, becoming the same as the nearby arrows!

“Ah!… That’s exactly how it happened last time I changed the directions!” Su Man exclaimed immediately, “As soon as the number of arrows changing direction increases, it affects the nearby arrows. So in the end, I didn’t spend much time making all the arrows change their direction!”

Lu Yuwen thought to himself, even so, you were really fast.

From the changing patterns of the arrows, Su Man discerned a message, thoughtfully comprehending, “I get it now. The arrows change according to the state of the other arrows, so we can’t make the arrows point in mutually exclusive directions.”

“Exactly.” Lu Yuwen nodded, flashing a faint smile, adding, “It’s the same concept as people being swayed by majority opinion.”