“We’ve been tricked?”
Li Jiu looked at Cao Shi in astonishment, disbelieving. Cao Shi nodded his confirmation.
“How did you figure it out? Do you have any evidence?”
Cao Shi had no answer for Li Jiu; without proof, he couldn't convince him. Cao Shi thought for a moment: “Old Man Wen De said there’s a ‘demon’ in the Forbidden City who knows the past and future. Although Zhu Guang isn’t that ‘demon,’ he’s incredibly resourceful, with many ingenious schemes that no one could unravel. This only proves one thing: Zhu Guang is not reckless. If you can’t win, don’t fight. I once heard Old Man Wen De mention this strategy, called ‘the theory of victory or defeat.’” Kuai Shu Ge.
Li Jiu was even more puzzled: “Master taught us lessons together every time. How come I never heard him mention this ‘theory of victory or defeat’?”
“You weren’t there when we played chess, were you?”
“Scheming is like a chess game. I often play chess with Master. He doesn’t teach me on purpose; he just mutters things. Through osmosis, I learned it without realizing it.”
A special tutoring session?
Li Jiu understood. He wasn't jealous; he’d had his own special sessions. The household chores were done by the eldest senior brother, but Master often asked him to help find and return books. In over a year, Li Jiu knew the books on Master’s shelves by heart and had read most of them.
“If victory and defeat are seen as a rational cognition, then everything Zhu Guang has done is instrumentalism. Instrumentalism, also known as ‘rationalism,’ is a school of thought in epistemology within older philosophy, contrasting with ‘empiricism.’ It only acknowledges the reliability of rational knowledge, belittles the significance of sensory knowledge, and denies that rational knowledge depends on sensory experience. Little Shi, the ‘theory of victory or defeat’ you mentioned is even more extreme than instrumentalism. The desire for victory is a more singular, purer rationality; one can abandon everything for the sake of winning.”
Li Jiu spoke of abstruse theories, and Cao Shi listened, bewildered. He didn’t understand.
“Senior Brother, what do you mean?”
“If Zhu Guang wants to perfect his theory of victory or defeat, he must complete a certain task.”
“What task?”
“Situationalism. Situationalists believe that all human behavior is caused by external stimuli. Humans can never grasp control or self-determination. In their view, humans are essentially no different from animals, ultimately only able to react to their environment. Like a precise and complex robot. In our daily lives, external stimuli are always complex and varied. However, through rigorous and meticulous research, the complexity of daily life can be simplified, thus breaking down complex humans into simple behavioral chains.”
In the vast ocean of Li Jiu’s knowledge, Cao Shi felt like a drop of water, insignificant and dispensable.
“You don’t get it?” Li Jiu asked, looking into Cao Shi’s eyes.
“Mm.”
“Then let me put it simply. If you throw a piece of poisoned meat at a starving dog, it will eat it without hesitation. Understand?”
Cao Shi nodded repeatedly: “Understood.”
“We consider Zhu Guang a gunman, but in reality, in Zhu Guang’s eyes, we are just starving dogs.”
“What do we do now?” Cao Shi asked. Though he didn't fully grasp Li Jiu's arguments, he knew Li Jiu had realized they were now on a treacherous path with Zhu Guang. This meant Zhu Guang was colluding with Gao Ji, and Zhu Guang had known about this event before Gao Ji even appeared.
At a recent family meeting, Zhu Guang knew that by using Gao Xiaojuan as bait, Cao Shi would surely fall for it. Li Jiu was confident he could defeat Zhu Guang completely and make him pay for everything he had done. Zhu Guang knew Li Jiu had this capability, but he wasn’t afraid because he stood on higher ground. Now, Gao Ji had handed over his daughter, Gao Xiaojuan, and grandson, Gao Ziming, to Zhu Guang.
“If a man doesn’t live for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him,’ that’s what Zhu Guang said, right?”
Li Jiu asked Cao Shi, who nodded: “Mm.”
“He’s not wrong. The principle of human behavior is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, colloquially speaking, selfishness. Under this theory, all actions humans take are merely in pursuit of rewards and avoidance of punishment.”
“Is this also the theory of victory or defeat?”
“Yes. In this game, the first thing we are given is a reward, and what we need to do is win that reward. Psychologists call this behavior reinforcement, which is divided into positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is obtaining a result through a corresponding reaction. For example, a dog gets more food than other dogs, meaning it runs faster than them at the very least. There is also negative reinforcement, which is a corresponding reaction made to avoid certain undesirable outcomes. For instance, you used to not want to go to school and would pretend to be sick because you didn’t want me to get the ‘Outstanding Student’ award.”
Cao Shi had always known Li Jiu’s theories were brilliant, but he never expected Li Jiu could combine these complex theories with practical application.
“I know you have a way to win?” Cao Shi said.
“Zhu Guang’s theory of victory or defeat doesn’t mean he will definitely win. He is human, not a god. Between victory and defeat, he must make a choice. What we choose will be crucial.”
Cao Shi had also thought about this. He sighed, “Zhu Guang will definitely make us choose between Gao Xiaojuan and the child.”
“What will you choose?” Li Jiu asked Cao Shi.
“I choose the child,” Cao Shi answered without hesitation.
“This is the choice Zhu Guang wants you to make. This competition project is that whoever gets Gao Xiaojuan will receive a hundred million. You agreed to Zhu Guang’s plan for my sake. And I, I will avoid the child and go to save Gao Xiaojuan. I dare not face that child. No Chinese man wants to become a father before getting married. Especially for someone as proud as me, this is simply a disgrace. I can’t get past this hurdle.”
“Is there anything wrong with choosing this way?”
“Hmph, Cao Shi, you’ve become wicked. This is your ‘everything in the world is for my use,’ isn’t it? You’re using me?”
Hearing Li Jiu say this, Cao Shi chuckled awkwardly. Li Jiu was a smart person. Once he figured it out, he would absolutely not act according to the enemy’s plan.
“Cao Shi, act according to your true intentions. I will go save the child, and you will save Gao Xiaojuan.”
“Alright, then we’ll wait for Zhu Guang’s trick.”
…
What happened was exactly as Cao Shi and Li Jiu had predicted. Not long after, Wang Zeyu and his assistant Xiao Zhou arrived on bicycles. After dismounting, Wang Zeyu entered without knocking and saw the light on in the east wing.
“Wang Zeyu, how’s it going on your end?”
“We can’t stay there anymore. Gao Ji called the police. Gao Xiaojuan and her son Gao Ziming are missing.”
Wang Zeyu said angrily.
“When did this happen?” Cao Shi pressed.
“Just tonight! Damn it, I was watching that hotel the whole time, and I didn’t see any suspicious people.”
Xiao Zhou added from the side: “Brother Wang and I took turns going to the restroom. This perpetrator took Gao Xiaojuan and her son right under our noses.”
Cao Shi sighed: “You weren’t there for more than ten or twenty minutes. I was on guard there for nearly an hour. That means Gao Xiaojuan and her son were already abducted before we arrived.”
“This Gao Ji is crazy. They were abducted long ago, so why call the police so late?”
Cao Shi didn’t speak. Wang Zeyu wasn’t foolish; he suddenly remembered what Cao Shi had said: there was someone behind Zhu Guang.
In previous cases, Zhu Guang had spared no effort in creating situations for those people and studying human behavior to prove his experiments had strong operability. Cao Shi believed Zhu Guang must have had a purpose for doing this, just as Li Jiu had analyzed: the reason for all human actions was simply to pursue rewards and avoid punishment.
For Zhu Guang to gain more rewards, he needed to venture into a broader world. Similarly, to avoid Teacher Wen De’s punishment, he needed someone of status to mediate. In Cao Shi’s memory, almost all of Teacher Wen De’s friends had passed away. He rarely mentioned old friends in his life. Only Gao Ji, the son of an old friend, was praised by Teacher Wen De with a stroke of his beard whenever mentioned.
Everything Zhu Guang had done was likely to prove that he was capable of becoming Gao Ji’s strategist.
“The person behind Zhu Guang is Gao Ji. These two scoundrels planned this.”
Li Jiu was curious how Wang Zeyu knew so much. He looked at Cao Shi, who pursed his lips, silent.
“I’ll go arrest Gao Ji right now.”
Wang Zeyu declared and was about to leave. Xiao Zhou quickly stopped him: “Brother Wang, where’s our evidence?”
“What do we do without evidence? Are we just going to watch them harm a mother and son?”
“Wang Zeyu, Zhu Guang isn’t trying to harm them. We still have a chance tomorrow.”
Li Jiu said loudly. Wang Zeyu still didn’t want to stop. He looked at Cao Shi: “Say something!”
“Senior Brother is right. We still have a chance tomorrow.”
Hearing Cao Shi agree, Wang Zeyu was so angry he almost slammed the table. Just then, the door creaked open, and the eldest senior brother, Zhang Si, walked in. Everyone looked at the strangely behaving Zhang Si in surprise.
“Eldest Senior Brother, did we disturb Master’s sleep?” Cao Shi asked.
Zhang Si still didn’t speak. He looked at everyone with unfamiliar eyes, remained silent, and turned to leave.
“Eldest Senior Brother seems a bit off,” Li Jiu said.
Cao Shi nodded: “It’s like he doesn’t recognize us.”
Wang Zeyu interrupted them: “Don’t worry about your eldest senior brother. He might be delirious. How do we deal with Gao Ji and Zhu Guang tomorrow?”