Did Maomao really say it is easier to get along by feigning ignorance?

True as Maomao’s internal monologue. On printed page 38 of the Square Enix English manga’s official preview, her thought reads: “IT’S EASIER TO GET ALONG IN THE WORLD BY FEIGNING IGNORANCE.” It follows another thought about refusing to admit something to Jinshi. She is thinking the sentence, not saying it aloud to him.

The page places her thought beside an evasive exchange about her ability to read. Later in the preview, Jinshi connects her to a written warning about poisonous face powder, and her thoughts turn toward admitting what he has worked out. The concealment has a specific pressure behind it: another person is investigating knowledge she would prefer to keep from him.

Page 12 makes the stakes more concrete. Maomao thinks that extra wages would benefit her abductors and that displaying literacy would bring more work. Her wish to remain unnoticed belongs to a situation of coercion, rather than a comfortable decision to avoid recognition.

A tactic, rather than a universal instruction

One reading is that the sentence separates competence from the public display of competence. A person can know an answer while deciding that announcing it will create unwanted obligations. Feigned ignorance offers a way to avoid being drawn further into a situation. On that reading, the line is a calculation about visibility.

That calculation does not make ignorance itself valuable. The difference matters: pretending not to know requires knowledge to conceal. Nor does the line say that knowledge is harmless so long as it remains private. It suggests that the social consequences of being recognized as knowledgeable may be different from the practical benefits of understanding a problem.

A serious counter-reading is that this strategy also protects avoidance. Concealment can keep someone out of an unwanted role while preventing others from receiving needed help. There is no general rule that a knowledgeable person must always announce everything they know, but there is also no general permission to disappear behind modesty. The moral question concerns who bears the cost.

Why the thought-balloon detail matters

Internal narration reveals a judgment that another character may never hear. Treating it as advice spoken to Jinshi changes its function: a private tactic becomes an openly stated philosophy. Preserve the distinction when sharing it. A concise attribution should identify Maomao’s thought in the licensed English manga and the printed page.

The preview supports this particular text and this particular form of presentation. It does not establish whether an anime release retains the wording, turns it into narration, or uses another translation. A claim about that adaptation needs its own evidence. The manga attribution can stand without attaching unverified anime details.

For interpretation, ask what she gains by seeming less capable and what she might lose by becoming visible. Those questions keep the sentence tied to the risk it is assessing. Turning it into a slogan about hiding intelligence discards the hesitation and responsibility that make such a tactic worth examining.