Of course, Jiang Yin knew nothing about the Lu Heiress’s family affairs.
That night, she and Qv Si Nan just had a simple drink together and then parted ways.
That night, Qv Si Nan seriously asked her name again.
She didn’t answer.
Qv Si Nan was disappointed, but still smiled and said goodbye, agreeing to drink together next time.
It wasn’t being pretentious, nor did it mean she didn’t consider Qv Si Nan a friend—she simply couldn’t say because of confidentiality regulations.
It was another moment she realized her identity had completely changed.
Marx said ‘man is the sum of social relations’, and David Eagleman said a person dies three times.
But neither of these philosophical masters could describe Jiang Yin’s current strange state.
She existed in a subtle gap.
Socially, the current Jiang Yin and Qv Si Nan were still connected—not completely severed.
Of the three deaths, as long as she wasn’t dead, she herself was the last person to remember the existence of ‘Jiang Yin’, so it couldn’t be considered a complete death.
Even if she died, there would still be people able to read that top-secret file who would remember his/her special existence.
So, the former ‘Jiang Yin’ couldn’t be said to be dead no matter what.
But the current Jiang Yin also had little resemblance to the past.
“Can Magical Girls see souls?”
The morning air was damp, with a light drizzle falling like sorrowful tears soaking the dark clouds.
In the deep cemetery, a white-haired girl reached out to touch her own photo on the tombstone.
Listening to the suppressed sobbing in the distance, smelling the fresh fragrance of flowers in front of the neighboring tombstone, she softly asked the red-haired woman beside her, who was holding a black umbrella.
“According to Magical Girls whose magic involves souls, souls do exist.”
“But aside from their accounts, we have no means of proving souls truly exist, nor whether what their magic interacts with is really that special 21-gram substance in the true sense.”
“Jiang Yin, you are you. Don’t overthink it.”
Ning Rong looked a bit worried.
People in modern times rely on the Internet, so their knowledge is a mix, and netizens often have their own views on life and philosophy.
When thinking deeply, countless wild questions emerge.
For example, if you replaced all of a person’s organs, would they still be themselves?
What is consciousness, really? How can a complex mass of cells give birth to something as absurd as intelligence?
But everyone’s knowledge is incomplete.
While discussing philosophical views, few have seriously read even two philosophy books, so it’s hard to grasp the essence, and the brain inevitably attributes unexplainable problems to mysticism.
—This is precisely the loophole in people’s hearts that certain modern cults exploit in their proselytizing.
Especially with a special individual like Jiang Yin.
Psychologists have also warned to be cautious of her experiencing personality collapse due to self-doubt—after all, waking up to find yourself turned from a thirty-year-old middle-aged man into a cute, white-haired teenage girl would make anyone question, ‘Am I still me?’
But is there an answer to this question?
The answer is no.
Absolutely not.
As mentioned before, by the definitions of ‘man is the sum of social relations’ and ‘a person dies three times,’ the thirty-year-old corporate slave Jiang Yin can be considered dead.
In society’s perception, he is dead too—even his ID card has been canceled.
But she is still alive.
Now, the Trainee Magical Girl Jiang Yin is still alive.
Following this logic, what comes next is inevitably thoughts about consciousness and soul—things for which there is still no evidence, mysterious and elusive.
But with no answer, pondering unanswerable questions can lead to obsessive thinking, extremes, and psychological problems.
“Don’t worry.”
Seeing Ning Rong’s concerned expression, Jiang Yin smiled gently.
Her warm smile gradually turned confident and bright, with a kind of charm that didn’t match her appearance—an androgynous charisma uniquely hers/his.
“Philosophers excel at thinking, at exploring the boundaries of thought, but I’m not one.”
“I’m a complete pragmatist.”
“My memories of the past are incredibly clear, so I’m certain I am me.”
“For questions with no current solution, it’s enough to seek a subjective answer. Cogito, ergo sum.”
Subjective questions never have a single answer.
Jiang Yin always believed that as long as you chose one philosophical school as your spiritual core, that was enough.
Learning too much only leads to endless self-argument and eventually becoming a true madman.
She chose pragmatism—even though she hadn’t seriously studied pragmatism itself…
Just knowing the main idea is enough.
Why should a corporate slave study so much?
Planning to retire in the mountains or something?
Ning Rong was so struck by her confidence that she stayed silent for three seconds before finally nodding.
“Let’s go back. We still need to patrol.”
“By the way, Sister Ning Rong, I was wondering if I could rent a place outside the Bureau.”
Jiang Yin walked alongside her, and in the empty morning cemetery, she could say things that no one else could hear without restraint.
“You can, but why?”
“Weren’t you trying to save up to buy a house? The Bureau provides room and board, which should suit your needs better, right?”
“That’s what you don’t get.”
The girl waved her hand with a smile.
“How can living in a dormitory compare to having your own little nest?”
“In the dorm, I don’t even dare to turn up the volume when it’s…ahem, embarrassing moments.”
“…I remember someone once told me a rental apartment is just a place to live, not a home.”
“Really?”
Jiang Yin blinked, completely forgetting the nonsense she’d spouted before.
But then she immediately laughed again.
“Even if a rental apartment is just a small nest, it’s still my own little nest.”
“You just don’t want to live in the Bureau?”
“Mm!”
The girl nodded cheerfully, then complained.
“I’m always afraid of some pervert eavesdropping at my wall when I watch videos at night.”
“…..”
—Ning Rong, who had indeed seen Si Beili wandering outside Jiang Yin’s dormitory door several times at night, fell silent.
She was too naive—not realizing the risk Jiang Yin faced in the Bureau.
“Members of the Bureau are eligible to apply for Talent Guarantee Housing. The conditions are good—two bedrooms, one living room, 110 square meters, no shared area, and water and electricity bills are at the lowest tier. The monthly rent is 500.”
“As long as you want to keep living there, you get priority renewal, and the rent almost never increases.”
“Such great benefits!?”
Jiang Yin’s eyes sparkled.
With conditions this good, what wage slave renting outside wouldn’t be tempted?
“If you stay for three years, you don’t even need to pay rent—just keep living there.”
“They even assign housing?”
“It’s a special benefit for Magical Girls.”
Ning Rong smiled.
“There are many other benefits—you’ll find out in time.”
As special combat units, Magical Girls receive generous welfare from above.
In fact, it’s almost excessive pampering—full benefits to the point where they barely have to worry about anything other than fighting monsters.
If necessary, they could even have a personal housekeeper assigned.