really makes me wonder wetherr Zandik grew up in a big or small family, was he an only child? does he have siblings? it can at least give the impression of the way his perception of family is so different. Since he's from Sumeru I think his family is most likely like the way family is in south and west asia (collectivist, family honor and basically destroying every single trait of individuality you had at least within my experience LOL). He said he lost his compassion at 8, wonder if it has something to do with his family..home is the first grave after all.
Assuming 35’s story held any grain of truth (he’s an unreliable narrator), we do have to take into consideration Genshin’s love of three’s.
My personal headcanons based on what’s available (and what I’m familiar with because I’m pretty out of the loop):
The youngest or middle (“spare” to the heir) of three children. Either would allow him the freedom to attend the Akademiya and be away from family affairs. The “spare” still needed to be well-educated and represent the family but as long as the heir was pulling their weight, could probably fly under the radar. Youngest has the most freedom because of the lack of expectation; he could study whatever he wanted to, in that case, rather than whatever would serve his family best.
I am not versed in global trade history. However, I’m on an Assassin’s Creed kick so we’ll be going with an Ezio parallel from AC2. Merchant families are well-connected but cutthroat. Piss off the wrong people and your whole lineage could be wiped out. I can absolutely see Zandik being framed for something in a conspiracy against his bloodline and him being left as the sole survivor with nowhere to turn. Similar to Ezio’s rise as an assassin. Idk, having everyone you know killed at a young age and learning the truth about human nature would definitely do it as far as compassion loss.
Without a lineage to worry about, he can then attend the Akademiya without pressure but still carries those lessons with him.
The ends justify the means and his transactional worldview would have come from this background and be reinforced by his situation.
See also: his family probably did a lot of business with the Eremites.
Aaaaand that’s all I’ve got for now 🤔