OBS Chapter 4338 Body of Steel (43)
Chapter 4338 Body of Steel (43)
Chapter 4338 Body of Steel (Forty-Three)
Clark looked at Louise. Louise only gave him a slightly apologetic smile. The reflection of the light in his pupils grew brighter and brighter.
Her entire face was bathed in the light of the computer screen. Her fingers typed a line on the keyboard: "Who are you?"
"A businessman and collector. If you're interested in me, we might as well meet. Perhaps I can help you solve your problems."
Louise's fingers paused for a moment, but she eventually replied in the email: "Okay. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., at the coffee shop at 9 Missouri Avenue."
At 10 a.m. the next day, Louise appeared at the café as promised. As soon as she opened the door, she keenly noticed a man sitting in the corner. As an independent journalist, she had seen countless people, and the instant she saw that man, she knew he was no ordinary person.
Louise, however, went over and sat down opposite him, nodding and saying, "Hello, Mr. Rodriguez. I invited you here today mainly to express my gratitude. The leads you provided regarding the royal artifact swapping scandal have brought me considerable fame and profit. Of course, rather than just verbal thanks, I'd prefer to offer others what they want as a reward. Although I'm not an internationally renowned journalist, there are still plenty of things I can do. If you encounter any trouble, feel free to come to me."
“Thank you, ma’am.” Schiller put down his phone, smiled at her, and said, “Don’t thank me yet. We all know the repercussions of this are far from over. Have you been having any trouble lately?”
"I couldn't have fooled you." After ordering, Louise handed the menu to the waiter, placed her hands on the table, and said, "Do you know anything about Superman?"
"Have heard a little bit."
"I'm a journalist, and I know it might sound hypocritical for me to say this. After all, it's hard for journalists to have a good reputation. But I have to say, the world needs superheroes. I want to help them."
“We all agree,” Schiller nodded. “The world needs strong, good people to pull humanity back from the brink. But how exactly do you intend to help them?”
“His good qualities don’t need to be emphasized anymore,” Louise said after taking a sip of her coffee. “I want to help him make up for his shortcomings. To be precise, I want to eliminate some of the hidden dangers in him.”
"for example?"
“It’s an identity issue,” Lois said. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but Superman isn’t from Earth. I once chased him onto an alien spaceship; he must be from another planet.”
"That's quite novel. If he's an alien, why is he so firmly on the side of humanity?"
"I suspect he was sent to Earth when he was just a baby, and his adoptive parents treated him very well and raised him to be an outstanding individual. He considers Earth his home and naturally wants to protect it. But as you know, this will inevitably arouse suspicion among some people."
“I understand,” Schiller nodded and said. “If he were a human being, people would praise him for being righteous and powerful; but if he were not, no matter how well he did, people would still feel dissatisfied and even think that he had ulterior motives.”
“That’s right. People are always afraid. But we can’t say that fear is wrong. In fact, I’m a very suspicious person, and logically, I shouldn’t trust him either. But my intuition tells me that Superman is trustworthy.”
“I won’t impose my ideas on others. I understand their concerns. I hope to resolve this issue in a gentler way.”
“It seems you already have a plan,” Schiller said.
"I only have a general idea. But without help, I'm afraid I can't make it happen. After all, I'm just a journalist, not a well-connected businessman like you. There are many things I can't get my hands on."
"Could you tell me about your plan?" Schiller asked, then added, "Of course, I'm on your side, and I will not reveal any information before the plan succeeds."
“I believe you,” Louise said, looking into Schiller’s eyes. “Someone like you always acts like an enemy in front of a friend and a friend in front of an enemy.”
Schiller smiled, his eyes slightly narrowed.
"It is difficult for someone to be valued. They need to do very well, have a suitable opportunity to be recognized, demonstrate their value, and continuously strive to achieve a significant position."
Louise began to explain her plans.
"But it's very simple to make someone lose importance. Just make that person an appendage of someone else."
"For example, if a woman gets married, she will inevitably be seen as 'so-and-so's wife' among another group of people. The same is true for men. This is the identity they play in life. But if this identity is overemphasized, people will start to despise him, not ask for his opinion, not care about what he thinks, and not even care about anything related to him. Because appendages are not important enough."
Schiller nodded; he certainly understood what Louise was saying. When one person is strongly bound to another—whether it's a spouse, parent and child, or leader and subordinate—an equal relationship is actually quite rare. Most of the time, one party dominates, and the other follows suit. In a more extreme case, one party completely occupies the master's position, while the other becomes an appendage.
Take the most common parent-child relationship as an example. When children are young, many people see them as appendages of their parents and fail to truly recognize that children have independent personalities. Therefore, when making many decisions, they do not consider the children's opinions but instead ask their parents. Even if the children offer their opinions, they choose to ignore them because they see the children as appendages of their parents.
In this situation, the child's situation is also overlooked. For example, if something happens to a child at school, it may be a huge deal for the child, but the adults don't really care because they are always perceived as "subordinates".
The same applies to sexual relationships. If a person's opinions are consistently ignored, such as regarding travel itineraries, lifestyle habits, hobbies, etc., it indicates that they are not valued and are considered subservient to the other person.
Therefore, it can be inferred that when you want to belittle someone, directly belittling them to their face is not the best choice, because this would expose your malice too obviously. People aren't stupid; even if you phrase it tactfully, some people will still hear that you're being sarcastic or sarcastic, and that would prevent you from gaining the moral high ground.
The correct approach is to treat him as an appendage in the relationship: ignore his opinions, don't pay attention to his situation, or focus excessively on the other person in the relationship to show how much you value him, thus highlighting your disregard for the person you want to belittle.
If you always encounter people who do this—for example, at a family gathering where you're present, they ask your parents for their opinion when discussing your affairs; or when you and your partner are at a gathering, they only focus on your partner's choices when ordering food or planning activities, completely disregarding any opinions you may have—this is a classic example of belittling behavior.
Many people fail to notice this because they fall into self-doubt, thinking their opinions might not be good enough or their knowledge in the area insufficient to express their views, hence the neglect. But this is entirely different. It's a form of social suppression; some people are born with this skill, using it with effortless grace and flawless execution—whoever encounters them is doomed.
Furthermore, this strong bond does not only occur between people, but sometimes also between people and things.
Some people, when addressing others, don't refer to the person themselves. They are very accustomed to binding a person to other things, things that are not part of your identity and are not entirely necessary to you.
When describing someone, some people use physical characteristics like "tall," "long hair," or "round face," or go further and say "from the next class," "from such-and-such department," or "graduated from such-and-such university." These are all normal adjectives, subjective in nature. Physical characteristics and position are naturally associated with you.
However, some people use adjectives like "the one who always carries a white backpack," "the one who always carries a thermos," or "the one who loves ordering takeout" to describe others. This is actually a form of belittling, because it links you to something that is neither natural nor necessary for you.
It's perfectly normal for someone to buy a white backpack and carry it for a while; no one would usually notice. However, if someone constantly refers to you as "the person carrying the white backpack," people will naturally associate you with the white backpack.
Then one day, you stop carrying this white backpack, and many people will wonder and ask you, "Why aren't you carrying the white backpack anymore?"
This sounds like a perfectly normal thing, and many people have probably been asked this question. If you change your hairstyle, people will ask you why; if you usually take the bus to work but suddenly start riding a bicycle, people will ask you why. Most people probably don't mean any harm; they're just curious. But in reality, "explaining" takes effort.
It's often said that when you're out and about, your identity is self-defined, so if someone asks you a question, just give a plausible answer. However, whether you explain based on facts or fabricate a story, it takes effort and requires at least a few words. And such explanations are completely unnecessary and offer no benefit. Even for those skilled in social interaction, it's a waste of energy; not to mention those who are not, who blush and stammer when asked, unsure how to explain, which is emotionally draining.
Ultimately, it's because certain things that aren't inherently tied to you are perceived as strongly connected, even seen as part of your identity. Therefore, when you make changes, you face skepticism. Whether the skepticism is malicious or well-intentioned, it creates social pressure that drains your energy and emotionally.
People who like to use unrelated terms to refer to someone are habitually creating social pressure for others. When you're not associated with that term, they'll inevitably feign surprise and ask questions, wanting an explanation from you.
Although it doesn't bring them any real benefit, for some people, creating social pressure on others is a source of pleasure and a form of entertainment, so they are always happy to do it.
(End of this chapter)