-----
-----
Early September.Linjing City.6 PM.Still scorching hot.
Yingcai High School was dead quiet, not a soul in sight. Only one lonely figure was stuck on the huge sports field, furiously sweeping leaves with a broom.
"These damn trees… Can they just grow fewer leaves or what?" muttered Alex as he glared at the trees by the edge of the field. He kept sweeping as he grumbled under his breath.
During self-study class, Alex had been texting his girlfriend, Hana, who was studying at a nearby vocational school. He was trying to ask her out for some grilled skewers after school—bad luck that the dean caught him red-handed. As punishment, he got the glorious job of cleaning the entire field.
"Riiing riiing!"Suddenly, his cheerful ringtone echoed across the empty field.
Alex pulled out his phone, grinning like a fool."Hey, Hana! Missed me already, huh?"
"Alex, where are you?" a crisp voice came through the phone.
"I'm in… the classroom. Doing the bulletin board. What's up?" he said, leaning on the broom.
"…Hmm…" Hana hesitated for a second, then said,"Alex, let's break up."
Boom. Alex's mind went blank, his heart clenched. His voice trembled,"Hana, didn't we agree? 'Alex, see you every day,' remember?"
"I've seen enough. Don't want to anymore."
"Why?"
"I'm sorry, Alex…" Hana paused for two seconds and continued,"You're a nice guy, but we're just not right for each other."
"Hana, just listen to me—"
"Listen to what, huh?"A raspy, duck-like male voice suddenly cut in rudely.
"Who the hell are you?" Alex snapped.
"I'm Blake Ye. Hana's boyfriend now!" The raspy voice yelled, "Alex, I'm warning you—stay away from Hana. Or I won't be so nice next time!"
"…What the hell do you mean?" Alex was beyond pissed. It was bad enough this guy stole his girlfriend, now he was threatening him too? The hell?
"I don't like wasting words. Do what you want, but think twice before messing with me. I've got a hundred ways to make your life miserable. Got it?"
"Oh no, I'm so scared!" Alex mocked.
"Don't make me come to your school and find you! If you think you've got the guts to play games with me, I, Blake, don't mind going all in! I'll make sure you understand—I never talk big. Remember my name: Blake!"
"Go screw yourself! What, will you die if you stop showing off for five seconds?" Alex was furious. He cursed and hung up.
Thinking about the past three years with Hana, the memories hit him hard—those sweet, silly moments, the street food dates, the popcorn fights… and now she was gone. Worse, she dumped him for some show-off punk like Blake.
"Screw this!" Alex shouted. He picked up a chunk of broken brick from the ground and hurled it outside the field.
"Whoosh… Clink!"
Something shiny fell from a tree nearby.
Alex's eyes lit up. A small, golden gourd lay not far away, gleaming in the sunset. It looked weirdly cool.
He walked over and picked it up for a closer look.
The little gourd was palm-sized, yellow-orange, and kind of cute. It felt hard and smooth. When he knocked on it with his knuckle, it gave off a hollow echo.
"Nice. I could hollow this out and use it as a water bottle. Bet it'd look sick hanging on my belt," Alex thought proudly, holding it up to his waist like he was already posing for a photo.
The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He pulled a box cutter out of his backpack and gently scored a circle around the top of the gourd. Then he sliced down with force.
"Fwoosh!"
A puff of milky white mist burst out of the cut, shooting straight into his face.
"Whoa!" Alex yelped, caught completely off guard. His mouth was wide open.
The mist rushed straight in. Immediately, he felt his body heat up, his head spin, and everything around him started swirling. He stood there, dazed.
"Alex! What the hell are you standing there spacing out for?"The dean suddenly appeared out of nowhere, like a damn ghost, yelling from the edge of the field.
This was Dean Davis—early forties, completely bald like a shiny butt cheek, always frowning like everyone owed him ten grand.
What the hell did I ever do to this guy? Always riding my ass. Alex cursed silently. Out loud, he forced a smile and said,"Almost done sweeping, Director Davis!"
"Hurry it up and get lost when you're done," Davis shot him a cold glare and stormed into the office building.
What a pain. You think I'm the kind of guy who slacks off? Please. If I do something, I do it right.
Alex stuffed the gourd into his backpack, turned his frustration into sweeping power, and quickly cleaned up the whole field. Then he bolted out of the school like a rocket.
"Forget Hana and Blake! I'll just focus on studying, get into a good university, land a decent job, and make sure my parents live a good life. Now that's what really matters!"
On his way home, Alex was fuming and muttering to himself, trying to shake off the bad vibes. He even started humming a little tune—except it was totally off-key and kind of painful to hear.
"Well, well… Look who's all happy after talking shit."
As Alex bounced along the sidewalk, humming away, four guys suddenly stepped out of a dark alley and blocked his path.
The one leading them had a face full of pimples. Behind him were a short fat guy and a really tall dude—none of them looked familiar.
But then Alex saw Hana standing behind them, and everything clicked. The pimple-faced punk had to be that Blake jerk from the phone call. Dude actually showed up in person, and with backup, no less.
"Well, Hana," Alex said with a sneer, "we've already broken up, so what do you want now?"
"I told you—I never bluff," said the pimple-faced guy, looking super smug.
"Who the hell are you again? Never heard of you," Alex rolled his eyes.
"Hah! Figures," the guy snorted, then turned to the chubby guy next to him. "Sam, tell him who I am."
The chubby kid took a step forward, raised his hand like a game show host, and announced dramatically:"This here is the sole heir of Mingliu Group, the one and only Blake of Linjing City—Blake!"
"Mingliu Group? Blake?" Alex frowned.He had heard of Mingliu Group before. Big local private company. Not sure if the boss's last name was Ye, though. Still, if this show-off really was the boss's son, best not to stir the pot too much.
"....."