Chapter 1

In the summer of 2003, the heat seemed to have gone mad. Under the blazing red sun, the ground appeared to be on fire, emitting a kind of heat that was neither cloud nor mist.

In Jiangzhou City, Jiangnan Province, the talent market was as hot as the scorching summer, driving people to the brink of madness. The nearly 10,000 square meter recruitment venue was packed with job seekers. The crowd was so dense that all one could see were black heads, and more people kept pouring in through the gates.

Xia Yunjie, holding a job application in his hand and a single-shoulder bag on his shoulder, glanced at the endless sea of people and couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. He shook his head and walked towards the exit.

Since the expansion of higher education institutions in 1999, college graduates, once called the "sons of heaven," had become as devalued as the RMB. The job market had become increasingly competitive each year, and this year, the first batch of expanded college graduates entered the job market, exposing the sharp employment situation. The issue of college graduates' employment quickly became the hottest social issue.

Xia Yunjie was not a college graduate; he was a vocational high school graduate, so his job prospects were even more challenging.

As he stepped out of the recruitment venue, the air suddenly became fresh. Xia Yunjie couldn't help but take a deep breath and then turned to look at a recruitment booth at the entrance. The booth had a sign listing the number of positions, the job titles, and, of course, the requirements, with the first requirement being "a bachelor's degree or higher from a regular university."

Most of the nearly a thousand recruitment units in the venue had this requirement.

Looking at the first line of the recruitment requirements, Xia Yunjie felt particularly frustrated. He was just a vocational high school graduate, and this simple line of text set a high barrier, coldly and mercilessly blocking him from the job market.

For the entire morning, Xia Yunjie had only submitted three job applications. It wasn't that he didn't want to apply to more places; it was that the moment they saw his vocational high school diploma, they wouldn't accept his application.

Leaving the talent market, Xia Yunjie looked up at the scorching sun and touched his pocket, which contained only 100 yuan. He couldn't help but think about using witchcraft to earn some money to solve his immediate financial crisis, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

"Ah, it seems I have to go back to the construction site and carry bricks for a few days," Xia Yunjie sighed, shaking his head.

Although Xia Yunjie didn't want to return to the dusty, noisy construction site, he didn't want to disappoint his deceased master, an old witch doctor.

With a sense of helplessness, Xia Yunjie walked quickly towards the north of the city, where large-scale construction and development were underway. When he first arrived in Jiangzhou, he had stayed in that area for a while due to the lack of jobs, and he was familiar with it and knew a few foremen. Finding a job like carrying bricks would be easy if he had the strength.

Xia Yunjie's education level was low, but he was incredibly strong!

It was noon, and the scorching sun was baking the earth. The streets were sparsely populated, and the few pedestrians were hurrying, as if afraid that they would be cooked by the sun if they slowed down.

As Xia Yunjie was walking, he saw a young woman approaching, holding an umbrella and a bag. She was wearing a crop top with a floral pattern and a blue denim mini skirt, her long, round legs and the white skin of her waist gleaming in the bright sunlight.

A graceful lady is a gentleman's ideal, and Xia Yunjie, at the age of twenty, was in the prime of his youth, full of desire for the opposite sex. Seeing the woman in her revealing and sexy outfit, he couldn't help but take a second look. However, before he could get a good look, a motorcycle suddenly sped past the woman from behind. As it passed her, the rider reached out and snatched the bag from her arm.

The woman stumbled and almost fell, but she quickly reacted, shouting, "Bag snatcher! Someone is snatching my bag!" and chasing after the thief.

However, she was wearing mid-heel crystal sandals, and after a few steps, she let out a cry and fell to the ground, having twisted her ankle. The thief, having successfully stolen the bag, sped away on the motorcycle, already several dozen meters ahead by the time she fell. The passersby, seeing the motorcycle speeding by, were too busy avoiding it to think of stopping it.

The woman, sitting on the ground, watched helplessly as the motorcycle disappeared. Though she knew her strength was limited and she couldn't hit the thief, she still threw her crystal sandal at the motorcycle in frustration.

To her surprise, the motorcycle suddenly flipped over, and the thief was pinned under it.

"Did I hit him?" The woman's eyes widened in disbelief. It was at least 40 to 50 meters away.

As the woman was still in disbelief, Xia Yunjie had already walked over, picked up his single-shoulder bag, dusted it off, and then picked up the woman's bag. He then squatted down and casually took a wallet from the thief's pocket.

"Is that all?" Xia Yunjie flipped through the wallet and saw only 50 yuan, rolling his eyes. He had planned to take advantage of the situation, but this guy, despite being a "car owner" and a thief, had less money than he did.

However, even a small amount was better than nothing, and 50 yuan was a significant sum compared to his current financial situation. So, despite his eye-rolling, Xia Yunjie took the money without hesitation.

Who would have thought this guy would rob someone right in front of him!

The thief, seeing that he had been robbed, and that the other person was openly dissatisfied with the amount, felt deeply humiliated and wanted to cry.

If I had a lot of money, would I be risking my life for such a risky business?

However, thieves and robbers fear being caught in broad daylight. The thief, still pinned under the motorcycle, didn't dare to anger Xia Yunjie. Seeing Xia Yunjie take the money from his wallet, the thief reached for the gold necklace around his neck and pleaded, "Brother, I have a gold necklace on my neck, it weighs two taels and is worth some money. Please don't call the police! I promise I won't do this again. I have no choice; I have to support my family."

"Two taels of brass? Worth nothing!" Xia Yunjie had no intention of calling the police but was annoyed that the thief tried to fool him with a "gold necklace," so he hit the thief on the head with his job application.

The thief was stunned. He knew the necklace was fake, but he didn't expect this young man to see through it so easily.

Seeing the thief's stunned expression, Xia Yunjie sneered. He thought to himself, "I am a witch doctor who knows divination, geomancy, medicine, exorcism, and communication with the spirits. If I can't tell the difference between gold and brass, I would have wasted my years of training. Unfortunately, my mental state is far below my current level of skill. My master was worried that if I used witchcraft to gain wealth and power at a young age, I might lose control and cause harm to the country and people. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to work so hard to earn money; I would have already made a fortune."

Thinking about this, Xia Yunjie felt a bit frustrated and hit the thief on the head again with his job application, saying, "If I catch you robbing again, it won't be so easy!"

With that, Xia Yunjie stood up and walked towards the woman who had been robbed, while the thief, seeing this, quickly got up and rode away on the motorcycle.

The woman had already stood up and was bending down to pick up her crystal sandal. Her chest was full, and as she bent over, her top opened, revealing a large portion of her breasts, which made Xia Yunjie, a recent vocational high school graduate, feel his heart race and his mouth dry.

However, the woman quickly picked up her sandal, put it on, and stood up. Xia Yunjie felt a mix of relief and a slight sense of loss.

Seeing Xia Yunjie approaching with her bag, the woman felt a bit excited. She immediately walked towards him, forgetting about her injured ankle. Walking barefoot had been manageable, but now, with the heels of her crystal sandals, the pressure on her ankle was different. As she took a big step, a sharp pain shot from her left foot to her brain, and she let out a cry, falling to the ground again.

When the woman fell, Xia Yunjie, who had been focused on the thief, didn't notice much. But now, with the woman close by, her legs spread, and a white expanse of skin visible, he couldn't help but feel a bit flustered.

The red lace, the sheer fabric, just a glance made Xia Yunjie's blood boil.

"Have you had enough? Help me up!" Just as Xia Yunjie couldn't help but look again, the woman's scolding voice rang in his ears.

Xia Yunjie was startled and saw that the woman was looking at him with a scolding expression.

Feeling a bit awkward, Xia Yunjie coughed and quickly reached out to help her up, saying, "Are you okay? Do you need me to check your ankle?"

"Still not had enough?" The woman, using Xia Yunjie's help to stand up, gave him a glare.