CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 32: REVOKING THE GENERAL AGENCY资格

In this world, there exists a type of person.

The whole world believes this person has no worries.

And indeed, this person should be a worry-free existence.

Born ten thousand meters beyond the finish line of others, possessing wealth that "ordinary families" can’t accumulate in several generations.

Possessing the capability if needed. Having the looks if needed. Having the physique if needed.

If such a person still has worries, then what about all those ordinary, average people left behind? Should they just stop living?

Money makes people happy.

For most people, the happiness that wealth brings is undeniable.

Because the vast majority have never owned it, or haven’t owned it enough.

The joy or sorrow of having no money is something anyone can understand.

However, when money cannot make a person happy.

Happiness becomes, like health, a luxury you can’t buy even with money.

Leo Vaughn’s unhappiness is baffling to the world.

Even he himself only vaguely understands it.

The conditions for being the Nation’s Gentleman, no matter how listed, evoke envy.

Rich, handsome.

A natural-born manager, skilled at finding the key to problem-solving amidst complex data.

If Leo Vaughn wishes, no one can make him turn a blind eye.

At eighteen, he single-handedly supported the entire Winters Spirits Group.

Harmless to both humans and animals, always smiling.

If such a person is depressed, can there still be non-depressed people in this world?

This is what everyone thinks, and Leo Vaughn acts this way too.

But appearances are often for others to see.

That vague feeling is hidden inside Leo Vaughn’s heart.

The more crowded the place, the lonelier he feels.

The lonelier, the more he smiles.

The more he smiles, the less he sees the real world and faces his true self.

Leo Vaughn gives everyone a smile, just not to his own heart.

If Leo Vaughn tells his friends he’s depressed, they would likely respond incredulously, "You, depressed my ass."

So Leo Vaughn won’t tell anyone.

Not that outsiders can’t understand, even Leo Vaughn didn’t think so initially.

How could a proper chairman of a liquor group lack a sense of security?

How can a proper smile be linked to depression?

This is why Leo Vaughn thinks the psychologist Miles Emerson is a quack.

Miles Emerson starts to unravel Leo Vaughn’s confusion with an unusually mundane question.

Miles Emerson asks Leo Vaughn to recall: "Do you have any habitual actions when using escalators?"

"Escalators in malls?" Leo Vaughn confirms the somewhat abrupt question.

"Yes. Do you naturally step on them like walking on flat ground, or do you have to look carefully where you step?" Miles Emerson refines his question.

Leo Vaughn recalls and isn’t sure what Miles Emerson is trying to indicate, he looks at his psychologist with a hint of doubt and says, "I think you’d always take a look, right?"

"When there’s a yellow safety line on the escalator, are you able to step directly onto it and then adjust your footing, or do you have to avoid the yellow line before taking the first step?"

"Avoid it." Leo Vaughn confirms his answer.

"Do you have a habit of always holding the handrail before stepping on the escalator, or do you unconsciously place your hand on the railing once you’re on?"

"..."

Escalators are a standard fixture in shopping centers and large stations.

Having used them often, most people are skillful enough to step on them without watching their feet.

The escalator is the "appliance" Leo Vaughn encounters most often.

Not just in outside malls, even inside the Winters Spirits Building, there is an extra-long escalator connecting the first floor directly to the third-floor employee cafeteria.

If Miles Emerson doesn’t ask, Leo Vaughn wouldn’t think about it specifically.

Under the step-by-step guidance of Miles Emerson, Leo Vaughn then realizes he’s indeed the type who has to see clearly before stepping on, and his hand often unconsciously rests on the railing.

Leo Vaughn knows even if he steps on the yellow line, he can make small adjustments to his stance while the escalator ascends.

Yet his eye and hand movements are instinctual.

A sense of security is something elusive, not obtainable just by seeking.

"If you find this everyday question unconvincing, you can observe the same question in the people around you, whom you consider to have the most security," Miles Emerson notices the doubts in Leo Vaughn’s heart.

Miles Emerson’s question immediately brings Leo Vaughn to think of his sister, who often pulls him shopping, frequently hops onto the escalator by stepping backwards without a second thought, making him frightened every time.