Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 63

Yuecheng values traditional culture and etiquette. Even the number of homeless people and drunkards is much lower in this city. For the sake of the overall city appearance, the Yan family invests a sum of money in infrastructure every year, building apartment buildings in the outer city specifically for homeless people.

Of course, many people have to squeeze into one room, and those who live there have to work on construction sites. The Yan family provides them with food and a meager salary.

Many people are homeless because they don’t have a fixed residence and can’t find work. Without work, they can’t earn money, and they can never afford to rent a house. It’s a vicious cycle.

The Yan family’s salary is very low, just enough for three meals a day, but it’s enough. Having a house to protect them from the cold wind and food to fill their stomachs is enough for them.

The work is not easy, but at least they can survive.

The Yan family’s reputation in Yuecheng is very good, and their evaluation is very high.

Just ask a few local passersby about their opinion of the Yan family, and most of the answers will be positive: “Although they’re a tycoon, they’re different from other families.”

“Conscientious entrepreneurs, it’s only right for them to make more money.”

“Yuecheng owes its development to the Yan family.”

The mayor of this city is Yan Wen, the head of the Yan family.

On the big screen in the city center square, his news interview is playing.

This head of the Yan family is middle-aged, but he looks very young. He has a mustache, wears gold-rimmed glasses, and wears a white Zhongshan suit, he’s very elegant. He has some fine lines around his eyes, and he smiles more obviously.

His skin is smooth and tight, his nose is high and straight, he has a pair of peach blossom eyes, and his whole person exudes a kind of calm elegance after years of precipitation.

His tone of voice is also very gentle, unhurried, he doesn’t sound like a mayor, nor a businessman, but more like a poet who finds solace in nature.

The host mentioned his achievements over the years, and he smiled, his voice mellow, even when amplified by the loudspeaker in the square, it wasn’t harsh or distorted. Many young people couldn’t help but look up and stop, and some even expressed their inner thoughts, which were slightly personal and inappropriate to be said in public.

On the list of the most popular people in Yuecheng, Mayor Yan Wen has always been the undisputed number one.

Yan Xianchuan also looked up at the cheap father of this body. To be fair, his appearance was absolutely flawless, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to give birth to a daughter with her kind of looks.

People from top-tier families rarely have ugly features. They all choose the best genes, even if they only inherit their parents’ flaws, they won’t be ugly, at most, they’ll just not be particularly good-looking.

But this kind of appearance, in Yan Xianchuan’s eyes, was the embodiment of ugliness. She didn’t have any affection for this cheap father, and she absolutely refused to acknowledge his identity.

She retracted her gaze expressionlessly, standing quietly beside Lu Mingqiu, waiting for her to sign.

Public recognition is a magical thing. Some people will make big promises for a little fame, to satisfy their vanity, they will use fabricated lies to create a persona of being superior and different.

They like to be sought after, to be praised, to enjoy the admiration in others’ eyes, they take the fake as real, they deceive others and even themselves.

Yan Xianchuan didn’t have any opinion on this kind of behavior. If she wanted a more tactful response, she would say: Everyone has the right to choose how they want to live, others have no right to judge, as long as they are happy and have a clear conscience.

If she wanted to speak her mind, it would only be four words: None of my business.

But when the person being commented on changed from a stranger to someone close to her, her words were completely different.

She would say that Lu Mingqiu being sought after was very normal, it was only natural. Anyone with eyes would inevitably, necessarily, and certainly fall in love with her, because Lu Mingqiu was just that good.

Lu Mingqiu creating a persona was also for a reason, and that reason was very noble, completely selfless. She used her psionic ability only as an aid, to speed up the process. Even if she didn’t use her psionic ability, the shining points on her would be enough to achieve the same effect.

She was such a perfect person, she deserved all of this.

That’s what she would say, but Yan Xianchuan thought gloomily: It would be better if these people didn’t get too close for a photo.

Just then, another excited girl walked over. Yan Xianchuan moved to the side to make room for her, but the girl shouted, “Don’t go!”

“Don’t go, can I take a photo with you two?” She said excitedly, “I’m a shipper!”

As soon as she said this, Lu Mingqiu understood, she pulled Yan Xianchuan back and said with a smile, “Okay.”

The girl dragged her camera, she kept looking for different angles, she was never satisfied. She cautiously glanced at Yan Xianchuan a few times, she hesitated to speak.

Yan Xianchuan: “What do you want?”

The female fan was relieved, she said quickly, “That, can you smile?”

Yan Xianchuan stared at her for a while, the girl was sweating profusely, but she still had a look of death-defying determination, she stared back with wide eyes.

This is the stubbornness of a shipper!

Lu Mingqiu actually laughed out loud, she rarely saw this person be stumped.

Yan Xianchuan saw her smile, she thought for a moment, this person has good taste, I’ll reluctantly cooperate.

So she curled her lips, her gaze involuntarily stopped on the other party’s cheek.

The female fan was quick, she clicked away, taking dozens of photos in a row, then she stood next to the two of them and took two more photos.

She beamed at the photos in her hand, “You two must stay together forever!” After saying that, she ran away happily.

Is there anything more joyful than seeing the couple you ship get married? No!

She squeezed out of the crowd, she happily looked at the heirloom in her hand, the more she looked, the more excited she became, she almost started street dancing on the spot.

In the picture, Yan Xianchuan’s eyes were full of affection, the love was thick, even a dog would blush.

It’s so satisfying to ship a real couple! She hurriedly went to her online group to show off her new photos, immediately attracting a group of groundhogs, they could only spam “aaaaah” in the chat.

After sending the fan away, Lu Mingqiu smiled and said, “Let’s stop taking photos, everyone, I’m sorry.”

The people who had gathered around didn’t make a fuss, they dispersed orderly.

The cultural quality of the people in Yuecheng was indeed the highest of all the towns. This city was also known as the City of Etiquette and the City of Culture, which was evident.

They were both wearing sunglasses, but a fan recognized Lu Mingqiu and wanted a photo, so they were surrounded by people.

After the people dispersed, Lu Mingqiu didn’t let go of her hand, she was still holding her hand, she said, “Do you like a simple style or a complex style?”

“I’ll listen to you.” Yan Xianchuan said.

“The Yan family values tradition, it’s best to wear a modified ancient dress, it won’t go wrong.” Lu Mingqiu thought for a moment, “Then let’s go to Qiushi first.”

Qiushi wasn’t a big brand, it was a small studio, the designer was also very young, she was a rising star, but she was very talented, she was very good at matching clothes, she always had new ideas that would catch your eye.

Lu Mingqiu had a keen sense of fashion, and she didn’t have to be bound by the high and low, expensive and cheap brands. With her status and fame in the entertainment industry, she no longer needed to use big brands to enhance her image.

So her vision was broader.

She also liked to use the works of new designers, giving these talented and capable people a chance to develop.

This was also Lu Mingqiu’s vision, she wanted a world where everyone had a chance to climb up, not a prison trapped by a concrete ceiling.

There was an area in the city center square that was specifically for major clothing brands and studios. As soon as you entered, the windows on both sides of the street were filled with all kinds of eye-catching ready-to-wear clothes worn by plastic mannequins.

Some were very design-oriented, with large silhouettes, as if they were wearing planets on their bodies, they were styles that couldn’t be worn on the street at all. Some were like gardens spread out on the hem of the skirt, the flowers were layered and complex, beautiful beyond words. Some had extremely simple lines, two straps, a plain skirt, but the color of the fabric was amazing, like a handful of flowing light.

The studios that could open here were no ordinary people.

The Qiushi studio wasn’t very big, only a hundred or so square meters, but the location was good, on the first floor of the main street. The front part was for selling ready-to-wear clothes, there were many customers, and the back part was the workroom, those ingenious ideas were born from this small space of only a dozen square meters.

When they entered the store, there were several customers looking at clothes. Lu Mingqiu didn’t call anyone, she didn’t make a fuss, she went straight to the small door leading to the workroom and knocked twice.

The door opened, a woman wearing a few pieces of scrap fabric poked her head out, she silently gasped. After the two of them went in, she shouted, “Qiuqiu! Why are you here?”

“Miss Yan, hello, please have a seat, please have a seat!”

She spun around, she pulled out a chair from under a pile of fabric that had been piled into a small mountain, then she went around to the back of the sewing machine and pulled out another one, when she pushed the chair back, she also kicked away the pile of fabric strips on the way.

“Qiuqiu, it’s been over a year since we last saw each other!”

“It’s been a year and a half.” Lu Mingqiu said with a smile, “The last time we saw each other was at the Golden Hummingbird Film Festival, I asked you to design a dress.”

“Achuan, this is Nianzhong, she’s also the founder of the Qiushi studio.”

The designer named Nianzhong had her messy hair tied up, she didn’t use a hairpin, but a pen. When she saw her up close, Yan Xianchuan realized that she wasn’t wearing scrap fabric, but a casual white T-shirt, with many small pieces of sample fabric stuck on it, all kinds of greens, blues from dark to light, bright yellows and light pinks, both strong and faint.

She was dressed like a peacock.

“Hello.” Yan Xianchuan greeted her.

Lu Mingqiu said again, “I’m here to ask you to design a dress this time, for the two of us, for a banquet. Don’t make it too grand, just simple and elegant.”

The two of them didn’t have the same style of looks, but their looks and body proportions were flawless, they were natural walking clothes racks.

Designer Nianzhong circled the two of them, her eyes were like they were tempered with fire, they were so bright that they were scary, she muttered to herself.

She mumbled for a while, then suddenly jumped up, she rushed out of the door in a flurry.

“Er Shazi went to find Da Shazi!”

Yan Xianchuan was startled, she looked around, and finally found the source of the sound behind a mannequin—a parrot locked in a cage, it was pacing on the crossbeam, its curved beak tapped a few times, it said, “What are you looking at, talk!”

“It’s a parrot.” She was a little surprised.

Yan Xianchuan had once wanted to raise a parrot when she was a child, because this kind of bird can learn to speak. In her imagination, she couldn’t say some things because of social etiquette, so she could let the parrot say them for her.

Even if it was a curse word, it wouldn’t be a big deal if it came out of a bird’s mouth. If someone argued with the bird, she could say: It’s an animal’s words, it doesn’t even know what it means.

This was a great solution she came up with after she couldn’t let herself go and do whatever she wanted, and she couldn’t do anything that violated the rules.

Later, she didn’t raise one, because her parents found out the real reason she wanted to raise a parrot, they told her that she didn’t have to be so wronged.

They taught her those social norms, ostensibly to prevent her from hurting others, but in reality, they were afraid that if she hurt others, she would be ostracized and hurt in return.

The essence was to protect her, not to make her wronged, this was putting the cart before the horse.

“Its name is Bread.” Lu Mingqiu walked over and said, “It’s very smart.”

“I’ve changed my name!” The parrot with a white head crest flapped its wings and tilted its head, “My name is King!”

Yan Xianchuan said “Wow” in surprise, her eyes became more lively, “You’re so cool.”

The parrot lowered its head and tapped its food bowl, “Hurry up and offer tribute to King!”

“What do you want to eat?” Yan Xianchuan asked, looking at the empty food bowl.

“I want to eat hot pot!” The parrot tilted its head and shouted.

“This parrot has a low IQ, it actually wants to eat hot pot.” Yan Xianchuan said seriously, “I’m leaving, my mom told me not to talk to stupid people.”

“Stop! Stop!” The parrot flapped its wings wildly in the cage, “I want to eat peanuts!”

A secret smile curled up at the corner of Yan Xianchuan’s mouth, she said in a drawn-out voice, “Oh, peanuts. But I don’t have any.”

“Call Er Shazi over! Er Shazi!” The parrot shouted, “You’re useless!”

Yan Xianchuan turned her head and shamelessly complained, “It said I’m useless.”

Lu Mingqiu couldn’t stop laughing, she pretended to think for a moment and said, “Then we won’t give it peanuts.”

The parrot was dumbfounded.

Yan Xianchuan was smug.