All these debates and dialogues about gender—what were they really for?
Rights and responsibilities.
For every right one inherited by birth, nature demanded a corresponding responsibility: to reciprocate that gift and contribute to the well-being of others, so that civilization could thrive. Those who failed to do so—and hurt innocents in the process—were scum by nature. Be it emotional harm, physical harm, or manipulation, the damage was all the same.
The philosophy was simple. But people preferred to stand on the moral high ground while enjoying unearned benefits, exploiting others through social, emotional, or political means for their own gain.
Ling Qingyu exhaled and remembered—she hadn't yet asked what Xiao Yue and Tang Ziyi thought about it all.
After all, these two women had long surpassed the definitions she once held of "what a woman is supposed to be." Since coming to this world, her views had changed, evolved, even sublimated.
