[Notice Before Reading: The first chapter or two were written while the author was in a strange phase, so the writing style is different from the rest of the story. It's recommended to treat them as completely separate from the later chapters. If you can't stand it, feel free to skip to Chapter 3... The "artsy-fartsy youth" disease is limited to these two chapters... To be honest, I don't even know how I could have been so stupid back then.*]
"I say, Old Hong, are you sure there's nothing wrong with these lights?" In the dimly lit general store, Mr. Lee tapped a light bulb on the shelf, then called out to the white-haired young man outside who was sitting with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper and wearing blind man's glasses.
"Of course there's no problem. Nothing from 'Hong Knows-It-All' is of poor quality," the young man said, grabbing a handful of peanuts from the table and tossing them into his mouth to chew.
Hmm, a little sour... Hiss... and it has the chewiness of a gummy candy? Rope's cheap goods really are no good... Next time she comes here to restock... maybe I won't turn a blind eye?
Meanwhile, in the back warehouse, as Mr. Lee's finger tapped on the light bulb, it made a "ping" sound and a crack appeared on it.
Mr. Lee withdrew his hand and silently moved on to the next light bulb.
"What was that sound?" The young man's ears twitched as he looked towards the warehouse.
Mr. Lee's figure froze for a moment, but having been tempered in the rough-and-tumble world of the marketplace for so long, he immediately responded, "Nothing, just a Zalak's little beast cousin scurrying out."
"A mouse? Hmm... looks like I need to clean the warehouse," the young man said, leisurely getting up from his rocking chair and walking over to Mr. Lee, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "By the way, why did you suddenly come to buy lights?"
"Isn't it because of that brat Aak? He insisted on opening a clinic in the lower districts to perform surgery. In the end, because he didn't have a proper light source, he cut off a patient's ** and then secretly put it back on. It led to the patient constantly asking Aak why his ** couldn't fight anymore," Mr. Lee said, covering his forehead, his tone quite helpless.
"Originally, I was going to teach Aak a lesson, but who would have thought that the guy who got his ** cut off was a notorious rapist from the slums. After being 'remolded' by Aak, he lost all hope and turned himself in..."
"Pfft!" The young man chuckled and gestured for Mr. Lee to continue.
"Well, I couldn't say much after that, so I could only come here to buy him a light," Mr. Lee said, not minding the young man's laugh, his tone just becoming a few shades more helpless.
A light? For surgery?
"What do you mean, buy a light?! Mr. Lee, you don't know what's good!" The young man slapped Mr. Lee on the back, causing him to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.
"What's gotten into you?!" Mr. Lee stood up and patted the dust off his clothes. To be fair, the young man's warehouse was quite messy, and Mr. Lee didn't want to get dirty.
But the young man completely ignored Mr. Lee's grumbling and simply ran into the depths of the warehouse on his own to pull out a "big guy."
"Look! A Master Hong recommendation for surgery—the Shadowless Lamp!"
Mr. Lee was stunned. "The what?"
"A shadowless lamp! Haven't you ever been to a hospital for a delivery?" Hong Yu smiled. "It's the kind of lamp that doesn't cast a shadow when it shines."
"Get out of here, I'm not having any delivery. I know this is a shadowless lamp, but where did you get it? This thing isn't cheap, is it?"
"None of your business. I, the great immortal Hong, have my ways. This one is quite expensive, but since you're an old acquaintance, I'll sell it to you for one thousand five hundred Lungmen Dollars!" Hong Yu patted his chest magnanimously.
"One thousand five hundred? Too expensive. How about one thousand?" Mr. Lee said, looking at Hong Yu, whose eyes had turned into dollar signs.
Come on, can't you manage your expression when you're trying to rip me off?
"Deal!" Hong Yu slammed the table.
Damn, did I say too much...
Seeing Hong Yu's "I've made a huge profit" expression, Mr. Lee deeply suspected he had still been ripped off.
Looking at Mr. Lee's constipated face, Hong Yu quickly packed up the shadowless lamp, placed it in Mr. Lee's hands, pushed him out, and then swiftly shut the roller door.
After Mr. Lee was pushed out, Hong Yu's voice came from inside the door. "Small shop, small business, no refunds once sold, thank you for your patronage!"
The dozen or so words were delivered in a single, smooth breath.
His mouth twitching, Mr. Lee had no choice but to pick up the box and leave.
Inside, Hong Yu smiled. Listening to Mr. Lee's fading footsteps, he looked at the sky, which could no longer be called early, and pulled down the shop's door.
The smile that had been on his face vanished without a trace the moment the door was closed.
He took off the blind man's glasses. His gray-blue eyes showed no trace of emotional fluctuation.
Hong Yu pulled at the corners of his mouth in front of a mirror, forcing a not-quite-standard smile, and muttered to himself, "The imitation is already very good."
"To ask someone who can't feel emotions at all to keep smiling... huh?" He rubbed his forehead. "They've really given me a difficult task..."
"I did promise someone... but... who was it?"
Forget it.
Patting his cheeks, he lay down on his rocking chair and picked up the newspaper he hadn't finished reading.
"SHOCKING! Lungmen Chief Executive's Kneeling Washboard Auctioned for a High Price of Seventy Thousand Lungmen Dollars! (Lungmen, July 13)"
Are they not afraid of being censored for reporting this? Seventy thousand Lungmen Dollars... why would anyone have this kind of hobby?
"SHOCKING! Lungmen Chief Executive's Kneeling Washboard Bought by an Unknown Higashi Princess for One Hundred Thousand Lungmen Dollars! (Lungmen, July 13)"
Fumizuki: You might as well just post my ID number.
Still, isn't this airing the family's dirty laundry in public?
"SHOCKING! Lungmen Chief Executive Delivers Speech in a Wheelchair! (Lungmen, July 14)"
Long live Lord Wei! He still insisted on holding a meeting after kneeling on a washboard all night! But with Old Wei's physical constitution, was it really necessary? Could he have been playing pitiful for Lady Fumizuki?
"SHOCKING! Penguin Logistics Breaks Record with 99 Fines in One Month! (Lungmen, July 15)"
I feel like 99 is still too few...
"SHOCKING! Emperor and an Old Zalak Man Hold Rap Battle in Park, Attracting Countless Onlookers! (Lungmen, July 16)"
Emperor really has too much free time... Could it be that he found a worthy opponent?
"SHOCKING! Thousand-Year-Old Nation of Ursus Renamed People's Republic of Ursus a Few Days Ago and Issued New Proclamation! President Talulah of the People's Republic of Ursus Changed Ursus's Oppressive National Policy Towards the Infected Yesterday! (Lungmen, July 17)"
What?
Just as Hong Yu was still engrossed in his old-man newspaper, a soft "click" sound came from the back door of the general store. It made Hong Yu put down the newspaper in his hand and walk towards the back door.
"Again?" Hong Yu muttered as he reached into the mailbox and pulled out a letter. The sender's name was—Talulah.
However, this letter was clearly not written to Hong Yu by the current leader of Ursus, Talulah, because the date on it was clearly... Terran Calendar Year 1089.
Hong Yu blinked, then put the letter away, considering whether to reply. This kind of thing wasn't a first, but the third time.
The first time was a letter from 16 years ago. The second time wasn't a letter, but... a notice? He didn't know what it said because he hadn't read it yet.
And the only letter Hong Yu had ever replied to was the first one. The sender's name on it was—Ch'en Hui-chieh.
...
...
...
"Mr. Lee, that Hong Yu guy... he didn't really lie to you, did he?"
Aak asked, pointing at the so-called "shadowless lamp" in his operating room, which was intermittently emitting a rainbow of lights.
"Maybe...?" Mr. Lee stroked his chin, beginning to doubt the white-haired young man with the slightly wicked smile who often went fishing with him by the river in Lungmen.
Looking at the operating room that had turned into a disco, Mr. Lee fell into deep thought.
"How about... I go return it?" Mr. Lee asked Aak tentatively.
Aak replied with a tone of contempt, "Didn't that Hong Yu guy say something like 'Small shop, small business, no refunds once sold, thank you for your patronage' when he was kicking you out?"
Mr. Lee was stunned for a moment, then slapped his forehead. "Damn it, I got scammed by that kid."
I'll probably write some extras when I feel like it, or I might post some content that would get censored by the review system here when I have to.
Feel free to come chat and mess around.