Trembling At A High Altitude

"That was the last time he appeared by my side during a thunderstorm," the director's voice grew somewhat desolate.

"He... What happened to him?" Li Teng could see that the director was very vulnerable at the moment, revealing to him the deepest and most fragile part of her.

This also indicated her trust in him at this time.

"His affair was exposed. My mother made a scene with him, and he never came home again. Three years later, they divorced. I went with my mother, who also changed and would hide in the laboratory and not come home. Since then, whenever there's lightning and thunder outside, I have to cope alone." The director truly started crying this time.

"It's all in the past; you've grown up and are no longer that helpless little girl," Li Teng reached out and held the director's down jacket, continuing to comfort her.

The director cried for a while before calming down.

"Thank you for helping me deal with my emotional trash," the director pushed away Li Teng's arms that were holding her.

"Don't mention it. Speaking out when you're feeling aggrieved can make you feel a lot better," Li Teng smiled.

"I shouldn't have doubted what you said," the director apologized to Li Teng, although she still firmly believed that things like flight attendants' infidelity were nonsense.

...

The rain was getting lighter.

After Li Teng caught the last handful of rainwater to drink, the rain gradually stopped.

"You're drinking rainwater?" the director asked Li Teng.

"Yes, who knows, there might be no water to drink for several days. Besides, I can't call for special rescue," Li Teng patted his belly filled with water, feeling very satisfied.

The water-resistant down jumpsuit had a scaled outer layer, and the inner insulation layer was completely nonabsorbent; it simply didn't give him any opportunity to store water, so he could only rely on his stomach for storage.

"Anna said she won't be in the same crew with you next time?" The director changed the subject.

"Maybe she got scared? Two times in Hell Mode, that would be too much for anyone," Li Teng considered for a moment before answering the director.

"She's leaving, and you won't be sad? I thought you two seemed..." the director probed.

"Sad? Why should I be sad? She and I are just ordinary friends," Li Teng said with an indifferent expression.

"Impossible, right? I think the two of you had real feelings," the director didn't believe him.

"No, we are both intelligent people who know this is not the place for romance," Li Teng shook his head.

"True, feelings, after all, are false. Especially the feelings between men and women, they're not worthy of trust!" the director shared her view.

"Have you been hurt in love?"

"No," the director shook her head.

"If you've never experienced it, why talk so cynically?"

"My mother is a biologist, specializing in genetics. She analyzed many of my father's promiscuous behaviors from an evolutionary perspective, eventually proving from a scientific standpoint that feelings between men and women are nothing but a scam," the director explained a few words to Li Teng.

"Genetic evolution? Feelings? How can those be related?" It was the first time Li Teng had heard such a thing.

"Yes, and what's even more terrifying is that she didn't just prove that feelings between men and women are a scam; she also demonstrated that there is no such thing as maternal affection between mother and child, that the relationship between them is one of life-and-death hostility... she really went mad..." the director sighed.

As the director talked briefly about her parents, Li Teng began to understand why she didn't trust the feelings between men and women.

It wasn't her who experienced emotional trauma, it was her mother.

Of course, she undoubtedly also suffered significant damage throughout this process—the kind that scarred the soul.

The divorce of her parents was too cruel for a little child, impossible to understand and powerless to prevent.

The director must have been greatly influenced by her mother, but although she was affected by her mother, she seemed to evade matters of romance on the surface, while deep down, she still yearned for it, which could be sensed from the plot of her "Lurking War Wolf".

The character of Donna she created was mostly modeled after her perception of her father.

Handsome, talented, but fickle.

She hated him, yet she still harbored a profound attachment to him in her heart.

That special attachment a daughter has for her father.

But also, due to the betrayal and abandonment by her father towards her and her mother, she severely lacked a sense of security, which is why she liked to wear masks in front of others and hide herself.

Her feelings for Li Teng were mixed with her feelings for her father.

She imagined Li Teng as her father when he was younger.

She hated her father, so in some scenes, she tormented Li Teng.

Yet, she couldn't let him go, so when he suffered too much, she would offer him help.

When someone bullied him, she would even take action herself, ready to break the rules to stand up for him.

All of this became reasonable.

It wasn't because he had successfully flattered her that she treated him well.

She simply transferred her love and hate for her father onto him.

"I'll tell you something, but you must not tell anyone, absolutely do not mention it to anyone. If it's known, you and I could both die!" After a while, the director spoke again.

"Okay, I promise I won't tell, even if I'm tortured," Li Teng nodded.

"In this regard, you are indeed trustworthy," the director gave Li Teng a thumbs-up.

Li Teng didn't speak anymore, the director had made the situation sound so grave, he guessed it might involve some secrets related to Film and Television City.

"I think Film and Television City might be connected to my mother's laboratory in some way, I've already collected some clues about this." The director started to speak, indeed about matters concerning Film and Television City.

"Oh? A laboratory that researches genetics?" Of course, Li Teng was very interested in the origins of Film and Television City.

After being kidnapped here, Li Teng's primary goal was to advance and improve his own living environment, and when possible, he also wanted to understand the whole truth behind everything.

"Yes, my mother works at a key national biotechnology lab, studying genetic technology, but ever since my dad had an affair, my mother's research started to deviate. She attempted to use genetic experimentation theory to prove human emotions, leading to some shocking conclusions," the director nodded.

"She stated that human emotions are manipulated by genetics?" Li Teng didn't quite understand.

"Yes, her research suggests that human emotions—so-called romantic feelings—are merely the result of genetic evolution. All emotions in the world, kinship, love, are just tricks used by genetics to control human behavior; humans are slaves to their genes."

"And this Film and Television City, I speculate, is a gigantic laboratory studying human behavior patterns... in short 'memetics'. The purpose of studying 'memetics' in this laboratory is to counteract the enslavement of humans by genes."