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Strict Warning: Chapter 8 Spoilers As a young child, Baoyu was a boy rich in emotion and kindness. He played with his cousins, flew kites, and enjoyed the simple passing of days. However, his jade-colored left eye was actually a prosthetic implanted so that the "Elders" who rule the Grand View Garden could peer into the outside world. Everything Baoyu saw and heard was transmitted to the Tielan Temple, where the Elders consumed it as entertainment. His grandmother, Jia Mu, treated Baoyu specially as the "Jewel of the Grand View Garden," but this affection was tied to the fact that he was the "Precious Jade" meant to amuse the Elders. Eventually, Jia Mu collaborated on the research of the "Pills" to destroy the Kong family. Baoyu was forced to witness the horrific human experimentation conducted during that research through his prosthetic eye. Then, under the guise of announcing research results, the Pills—which create "Outskirts" entities—were used on the Kong family. Having touched upon a City Taboo, the Kong family met their end on the Day of Extinction. In that tragedy, the cousins Baoyu was close to lost their lives. Yet, Baoyu was forbidden from speaking of what he saw. Unable to tell the truth to anyone, a rift slowly formed between him and those around him. He was blamed for letting his cousins die and for being favored by Jia Mu. Ultimately, he shut down his emotions. Sadness, anger, the sheer injustice of it all—he laughs it all off and simply watches the world. For him, that became the only way to protect himself.