The Omniscient - Chapter 11: Fate

Well that took a while, didn't it...I also don't have that many witty things to say. Really need to find a way to get rid of this accented first line.

---

        "Send him to school? No way, he'll be bullied at school." The old man shook his head after listening to Fan Lingli's proposal.

        Huang Ji had displayed to Zheng Xuan his affinity for machinery. With data perception, reassembling a television and laptop couldn't have been easier.

        First, was his memory. While he didn't have photographic memory, it didn't really matter. His own data would faithfully record everything he'd experienced. He could read his own data and retrieve any memory he'd ever experienced or forgotten. Except, he didn't even need to do this to reassemble the laptop.

        Every component contained numerous pieces of data; their uses and original positions were all very superficial information. It was like how seeing a coin on the ground allowed him to know data such as who it had belonged to, when it had fallen out, which pocket it had fallen out of...

        The disassembly and reassembly of any machine was easy as pie for Huang Ji...as long as nothing was damaged in the process, and it was humanly possible. Like this, while maintaining his character as a retard, Huang Ji was able to update it with a new setting: A genius highly attuned to mechanical architecture! A retard could also be a genius.。

        Upon realizing his talent, Zheng Xuan talked with him about a lot of things and asked about his situation. In response, Huang Ji told him about how he'd given up on the High School Entrance Examination and had nothing to do besides stay home and stroll around. He also casually mentioned how he actually really wanted to go to school, to learn some skills and earn money to take care of his grandfather in the future. Zheng Xuan didn't comment, simply explaining Huang Ji's situation to Fan Lingli later on.

        Fan Lingli was a very kindhearted person who was always looking to help out. She was also shocked by Huang Ji's talent in this domain. Thinking that it wasn't a plan for Huang Ji to be loitering around all day, she asked him if he wanted to go to school in Shanghai. She could find a school for him to try out.

        Huang Ji obviously had no problem with this suggestion, but he still needed his grandfather's consent. After all, going to that kind of school would require him to move away from home, and he'd be staying at the school for five years. However, the moment they brought this up to him, his grandfather immediately shook his head in disagreement.

        Huang Ji was very disappointed, but he didn't say anything.

        The village chief couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Ol' Huang, going to school is a good thing. The kid's got talent."

        The old man shook his head, "Ha! What talent? It's not like you guys don't know his situation."

        Zheng Xuan thought to himself, "Are you doubting my expertise?", and them immediately proceeded to explain what had just occurred. The grandfather didn't believe him. He knew that Huang Ji had never messed around with or taken apart anything at home. In a sense, he had never come in contact before with anything in this area, how could he have this sort of talent?

        Zheng Xuan said, "Talent is natural, it's got nothing to do with whether or not he's ever encountered it before. Even though Huang Ji does have a...slight impairment, but according to my knowledge, people like him will at times show extraordinary talent in certain special domains. Nobody can say for certain. If you don't believe me, why don't you let him give it try."

        He brought out the laptop and took it apart again, spreading the components over the table. Huang Ji then easily reassembled the laptop in front of everyone. Zheng Xuan had taken it apart very thoroughly, just looking at all the parts gave them a headache, unsure of where to even start; but this was no problem for Huang Ji.

        Once it was restored, the village chief stared at it in wonder. While his grandfather didn't comprehend the difficulty of the task, he could feel the focus and spirit in his eyes when Huang Ji was reassembling the machine! This was very important, the child had always had difficulty concentrating. The only times he'd ever seen such a focused look on his face were when he was spacing out in the fields, or staring at people talking by the road. Now, he was full of spirit even when doing something more serious.

        "This is great!" The grandfather was overjoyed, bursting out in laughter. For one, he was delighted with the expression of interest he saw in the child's eyes. Secondly, he was gratified with the fact that his grandson really did have some talent!

        "That was amazing, Xu'er! I don't even know how to use a computer. You've really got talent." praised the village chief.

        The grandfather was very pleased. Huang Ji had never possessed any merits worthy of praise. The most a person could say about a retard was that they were well-behaved and docile. Now, he finally had a skill worthy of praise, one that even shocked people. The grandfather was elated, but he then furrowed his brow and asked, "But he gave up on the High School Entrance Examination, can he attend technical school?"

        Zheng Xuan answered, "I know a junior college where he can attend a "3+2" curriculum plan. This means he'll study at that school for five years after middle school; for the first two years he'll study the high school curriculum, while the last three years will be spent developing technical skills. He'll be able to graduate from this school with a college diploma. He doesn't need a middle school diploma, and they care even less about High School Entrance Examination scores."

        This was, without a doubt, not any sort of good school; on the other hand, it wasn't that bad either. It would provide all of the necessary papers and qualifications. The grandfather was simultaneously surprised and content with the fact that a college diploma was provided upon graduation. Yet, he asked again, "Can he...get his diploma like this?"

        Who could guarantee that? For a moment, the room remained silent. 

        They were just here to give their thoughts, thinking that Huang Ji's talent was wasted. It's not like Huang Ji had to go to school. In earnest,  as a fellow villager making this proposal, Fan Lingli was fully prepared to help take care of Huang Ji in Shanghai. She was making extra work for herself. At this point, they had already said enough.

        Seeing this, Huang Ji said, "I'll do my best, Grandpa."

        His grandfather sighed, "That's not the problem...I know you're a hard working child. Ol' Fan, he's very helpful at home; he does all of the cooking, laundry, and even the farming. Rather than saying that I'm taking care of him, he's actually the one taking care of me. Xu'er really isn't an idiot."

        "You think I don't know that?" The village chief rolled his eyes. He knew that Huang Ji had no problem with daily living. "See, go on and sign him up for a mechanical maintenance program. If he really does learn anything, he'll be able to find a good job after he graduates. Even if he doesn't graduate, repairing electronics for people is also a pretty good livelihood."

        The grandfather nodded his head, "I know that, but I just can't stop worrying. Shanghai's a big city, can he get used to living there? He's never even left the county before!" When it came down to it, the grandfather had raised Huang Ji since he was born. He felt uneasy about letting him go far away to live by himself, and he also couldn't bear watching him go.

        All further discussion around this matter was brought to an end. There was nothing else that could be said at this point. They were simply fellow villagers, if he was too worried to let Huang Ji go, who were they to continue pressuring him?

        Seeing that his plan to attend school was about to fizzle out, Huang Ji opened his mouth. While he didn't say much, it ended up becoming the deciding factor!

        "Grandpa, if you tell me not to go, then I won't go. I'll stay by your forever and take care of you, I won't go anywhere..."

        Huang Ji's words deeply moved his grandfather, but also dowsed him with a bucket of cold water. Stay by my side...forever?

        The grandfather let out a long sigh and thought to himself: I can't let that happen! He'd raised Huang Ji his whole life, but what had he amounted to? Nothing. Staying by his side would only give the child a meaningless life. He would have no future.        

        There wasn't a single thing he could teach Huang Ji. With the farm and some savings, after he died, Huang Ji would probably be able to live the rest of his life without much trouble; but it would be a sad and lonely life.

        Deep in his heart, the grandfather had always harboured a sense of guilt towards Huang Ji. He just felt like it was all his fault. He'd kept Huang Ji by his side for sixteen years, unwilling to let him go, but Huang Ji's statement of staying with him for the rest of his life instantly roused him, "You can't, how could you stay by my side for the rest of your life?"

        Huang Ji was only sixteen years old, yet he was already old and withered. They'd finally unearthed Huang Ji's talent. He could have a decent livelihood in his future. Was he still not going to let go?

        "It's time to for you to see the world. You have a gift, you need to learn how to use it. Do you hear me?" The grandfather couldn't help crying when he thought about how he'd raised the child to simply go along with everything he said. The memories of Huang Ji being called an idiot under his upbringing also cause him great pain.

        Huang Ji cried together with him. He wasn't intellectually disabled anymore, but he couldn't tell his grandfather.

         His words were the result of him discerning his grandfather's mental weakness. He knew that his grandfather was always wrapped in guilt. He knew that if he said he would always stay by his side, his grandfather would worry about his future and what Huang Ji would do after he died.

        This was a problem that constantly weighed on his mind. That's why Huang Ji's words were able to sway his grandfather. He could see through the human heart and learn the weaknesses of all people.

        Seeing his grandfather suffering from his words also caused him immense pain. He was racked with guilt for using his grandfather's weakness against him...but, he had not choice.

        "I'm sorry, Grandpa, I'm so sorry. I have to go, there are so many thing I want to do..." Huang Ji held onto his grandfather, apologizing in his heart.

        The reason he'd stung his grandfather with these words wasn't for all of humanity. Neither was it to study and grow faster to solve Earth's predicament. All of that came second in his heart.

        He was still young. So many years had passed by, and Earth was still doing perfectly fine, right? Everyone was still living their happy lives, weren't they? The aliens weren't actually a pressing matter, nor was there anything that could be done any time soon.

         The root cause of why Huang Ji had to leave, even at the cost of hurting his grandfather, was for his grandfather's health. He wanted to study medicine and find a way to cure his grandfather. There was no time to waste. His grandfather seemed healthy enough, but he would die within five years. This was clearly perceived from his data

        Everyone's life came to an end eventually. All people had a lifespan. The lifespan of most children was between 100 and 130 years. In other words, most children had a lifespan bordering the human limit! But as they grew older, their overall lifespan would continuously shrink! By the time they were 18, most people's lifespans would have dropped to around 100.

         He had also observed numerous people in their twenties who generally only had a lifespan of 80-90; some would even die when they were 60. Lifespan was an everchanging piece of data!  From a different perspective, it meant that a person's fate wasn't predetermined, it wasn't set in stone! 

        A person might have been able to live until 120 years old, but because they had bad resting or eating habits, their lifespan would immediately plummet! A person who would have been able to live to the age of 80 might get seriously ill, and because they couldn't control their desires during that period, their lifespan might drop from 80 to 60 even after they recovered.

        The problem was, virtually nobody was aware of these changes. When that person contracts some other illness and dies at the age of 50, they would probably think they were meant to live a short life. Unbeknownst to him, the illness he had contracted when he was younger had drained his body; there was no way he was living past 60!

         Every change in a person's habits, circumstances, and even mentality would cause a change in a person lifespan. That was why Huang Ji was to to observe, summarize, and experiment to see what actions could preserve one's health, and what actions would reduce lifespan¹.

        The driving force behind his grandfather's death was illness. This was a terminal illness, but if he could cure it, his grandfather would undoubtedly live longer than five years; his lifespan would even be greatly prolonged!

        Fate wasn't predetermined, it was decided by the intertwinement of an infinite series of cause and effect.

        Theoretically speaking,  if a person could identify a sufficient number of causal lines and had enough information, they would be able to predict the future.

......

<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>

Keyboard shortcut: Previous chapter (←) | Next Chapter (→)

---

1. He's basically got the Shinigami Eyes from Death Note, but instead of seeing some magical fated lifspan, the lifespan he sees incorporates elements of life expectancy, which is the average number of years a person/group is expected to live as determined by a number of factors and circumstances such as age, gender, and smoking or whatever.^↩

---