Chapter 3: A Bad Start
Thirty-some thousand yuan was enough for Su Ruizhe to buy several thousand jin of fresh meat. He wondered whether the space could raise chickens or ducks—if he bought a dozen or so and raised them, he’d be guaranteed eggs every day, and could occasionally slaughter one for a proper meat meal.
In his previous life, his spatial ability had initially only been able to store inanimate objects. Later, even after it leveled up and could be used for farming, animals had almost all mutated. Wanting to eat even a bit of meat had been as hard as climbing to the heavens, let alone live chickens or ducks. This time around, no matter what, he had to stockpile more meat. He also needed to prepare daily necessities—oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and the like—as well as some extra clothes and shoes.
When he added it all up, Su Ruizhe felt that thirty-some thousand yuan didn’t actually go very far after all…
Ah, whatever. When the boat reaches the bridge, it will find a way through. For now, he’d just focus on getting the demolition compensation first.
Su Ruizhe closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning, Su Ruizhe got up early. He dug out the somewhat battered little cart his grandfather used to use for collecting recyclables, loaded the bags of vegetables and fruit he’d prepared the day before onto it, and hauled it to the entrance of the East Street produce market.
At the same roadside spot as before, Su Ruizhe squatted down, laid out the fresh vegetables and fruit, and began calling out, “Home-grown fresh produce! Cheap and tasty!”
Sure enough, quite a few aunties and grannies who’d come to buy groceries were drawn over. Some of them had even bought cherries from him yesterday, and when they saw him today, they immediately came up.
“Young man, do you still have the potatoes and cucumbers you sold yesterday?” an elderly woman with graying hair asked with a smile. “My little grandson usually doesn’t like vegetables, but he really loved the ones I bought from you yesterday. He even ate an extra bowl of rice.”
“Yes, I do, Granny. How much would you like?”
“Give me five potatoes and two cucumbers.”
“Alright—twenty yuan, Granny.”
“Here you go!” The price actually wasn’t cheap, but since this young man’s vegetables were home-grown, that was that. Produce this fresh and good was hard to come by—what did it matter if it was a little more expensive?
The bag Su Ruizhe had brought today was especially large and opaque. He quietly replenished it twice. After selling all morning, his earnings were considerable.
He neatly stacked the bills and stuffed them into his tracksuit pocket, then packed up the bags and the cart and headed home.
As he walked, he suddenly felt as though someone was following him. Passing by a shop, he discreetly checked his reflection in the display window and indeed saw two shifty-looking men trailing close behind him. A poor student like him shouldn’t have attracted any attention—most likely they’d seen him counting money earlier.
So careless.
Su Ruizhe immediately quickened his pace, trying to shake them off. But the two men followed even more closely, clearly unwilling to give up halfway.
“This kid’s pretty fast!”
“Cut the crap—keep up. It’s not easy to run into such a scrawny, easy mark! We have to take his money!”
“Got it!”
Hearing the footsteps behind him grow clearer and clearer, Su Ruizhe panicked. Without thinking, he ran into a narrow alley.
The two shifty men sneered and chased after him into the alley. Meanwhile, at a corner not far away, Zhan Yun’s tall figure slowly appeared. In his hand was a small bag containing several cups of instant noodles he’d just bought from the supermarket.
If he wasn’t mistaken, that kid was the same boy who’d sold him cherries yesterday. From the looks of it, he’d clearly been targeted. Zhan Yun lived nearby, and if he remembered correctly, that alley was a dead end. Thinking of the boy’s slender frame, Zhan Yun’s thick, dark brows knitted tightly together.
Tsk. Those two punks had some nerve—robbing someone on his turf?
Radiating menace, Zhan Yun strode toward the alley with long, quick steps.
After only a few steps, he heard the two men’s malicious laughter.
“Little bastard, you still dare to resist? I’ve got a knife!”
“Ah!”
“Little bastard—take this!”
Zhan Yun’s heart clenched. He tossed the bag in his hand to the ground and rushed in, afraid that if he was even a moment too late, he’d see the obedient, adorable boy covered in blood.
However, the scene before him was very different from what he’d imagined.
One of the robbers raised his knife and stabbed toward Su Ruizhe, only for the boy to grab his wrist, twist it, and send the knife clattering to the ground. Then came a swift, precise kick straight to the man’s stomach, knocking him down so hard he couldn’t get up for a long while. The youth planted one impressive foot on the man’s chest and said in a clear voice to the other robber, “Drop your weapon! Or else I—”
Su Ruizhe was just about to deliver a harsh threat when he suddenly spotted Zhan Yun standing not far away.
Zhan Yun: …
This… wasn’t quite what he’d imagined.
Su Ruizhe’s eyes widened at once. Realizing that his current pose was extremely undignified, he cautiously lifted his foot off the man’s chest. A flush bloomed across his fair cheeks—it was hard to tell whether it was from embarrassment or anxiety.
“I… I can explain…” Su Ruizhe stammered.
Zhan Yun frowned deeply. He rushed forward in a few strides, yanked Su Ruizhe aside, and then, in one swift motion, delivered a brutal kick to the other robber who’d been trying to sneak an attack while Su Ruizhe wasn’t paying attention. The man was sent crashing into the wall. Zhan Yun’s strength was on an entirely different level from Su Ruizhe’s; that single kick knocked the man unconscious.
Only after the threat was neutralized did Zhan Yun cast a cold glance at Su Ruizhe and say, “Go. Now.”
Making such a big commotion in broad daylight, it wouldn’t be long before the police showed up. Even though they’d acted in self-defense, there would still be statements to make and formalities to deal with. As a street thug who made his living collecting protection money, Zhan Yun wanted nothing to do with the police.
Zhan Yun’s presence was overwhelming. Su Ruizhe didn’t dare say anything and could only jog after him.
When Zhan Yun reached the mouth of the alley, he picked up the bag of instant noodles he’d dropped earlier and prepared to leave.
“W-wait!” Su Ruizhe didn’t want to miss such a good opportunity to get to know Zhan Yun and hurriedly called out to stop him.
“What is it?” Zhan Yun frowned, asking impatiently.
Su Ruizhe bit his lip. “Thank you for saving me.”
Zhan Yun narrowed his eyes slightly. “No. I just didn’t want those scum causing trouble on my turf. Besides, you didn’t look like you needed saving.”
The boy’s movements earlier had been crisp and decisive, flowing without the slightest hesitation. He was clearly trained, which made Zhan Yun feel that Su Ruizhe was far from as harmless as he appeared.
“No matter what, I still have to thank you.” Sensing Zhan Yun’s faint rejection, Su Ruizhe bit his lip again and forced a smile. “I—I’m Su Ruizhe. I’m seventeen, and I study at No. 1 High School. What’s your name?”
Zhan Yun was silent for a long moment before tossing out two words. “Zhan Yun.”
Watching Zhan Yun’s retreating back, Su Ruizhe let out a heavy sigh. What an inauspicious start…
In truth, all of his fighting skills had been taught to him hand-in-hand by Zhan Yun in his previous life. He hadn’t expected them to become the very reason Zhan Yun was now wary of him. Still, he completely understood Zhan Yun’s reaction—after all, he wasn’t just an ordinary street thug.
Sigh. If he’d known he’d run into Zhan Yun so coincidentally, he wouldn’t have fought back at all. It might’ve been better to obediently let himself be robbed—at least then he could’ve gained a life-saving favor or something.
But at least this time they’d exchanged names. That counted as taking the first step, right?
Carrying his bags and pushing his cart, Su Ruizhe also left the alley. Having earned money, he’d originally been in a great mood and planned to go home and cook himself a nice meal as a reward, but now he had no appetite for it at all.
“Uncle Wu! Ten lamb skewers, five beef tendons, two pork tenderloin skewers, and one grilled corn! And a bowl of white rice!” Arriving at the familiar barbecue shop and breathing in the rich aroma, Su Ruizhe ordered a generous spread with practiced ease.
“No problem, no problem!” Wu Qi agreed readily. After taking the loose change Su Ruizhe handed over, he lowered his voice and asked, “Little Zhe, do you still have more of those vegetables from your place? I made skewers with the ones you sold me, and they were all gone in one night. The customers all said they were delicious. Can you sell me some more?”
“Of course!” Su Ruizhe quickly took several bags down from his cart. In truth, everything inside had been sold out over the course of the morning, but using the bags as cover, he discreetly transferred more produce out of his space without drawing attention. He then handed Wu Qi a bag stuffed full of vegetables, even throwing in a few big, bright-red cherries for free.
Wu Qi didn’t want to take advantage of the kid and immediately handed him two crisp red bills. Unable to refuse, Su Ruizhe accepted them.
“Uncle Wu, do you know where I can buy chicks or ducklings? I want to get some to raise at home.” Live poultry sales were prohibited these days, so it wasn’t easy to buy live chickens or ducks. Wu Qi had been running this shop for over a decade and surely knew the channels for buying poultry, fish, and meat.
“Then you’ve asked the right person,” Wu Qi said with a grin. He casually grabbed a piece of paper, wrote down a phone number, and handed it to him. “Old Zhang and I go way back. He’s excellent at raising chickens and ducks. Tell him I sent you—he’ll definitely give you a cheaper price.”
“Thank you, Uncle Wu!” Su Ruizhe happily tucked the slip of paper away.
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