Chapter 5

After lunch, Song Shuhang went to a nearby rental bookstore to read books for free.

He enjoyed reading books for free, not because he wanted to save the few dollars for renting books, but because it was his personal hobby—Shuhang felt that squatting in the corner of the bookshelf in the rental bookstore to read was incredibly refreshing!

Of course, to avoid the owner's disgust, after reading for half a day, he would rent one or two books to take home—after all, one shouldn't be too greedy; it's better to maintain a good relationship for the long term! This way, he could avoid the owner disliking him and kicking him out.

After all, large rental bookstores like this one, which offer a wide variety of books beyond just novels, are not easy to find.

If he were to be blacklisted, he might not find a better bookstore near Jiangnan University.

They say a person's name is important, and as the saying goes, "a person is like their name." Song Shuhang really enjoyed reading and was open to all kinds of books.

Whether it was novels, literary works, classical collections, or even various dry theoretical knowledge that made people's heads spin, he liked them all.

Recently, he had been mainly reading books on driving techniques and safety tips at the bookstore, as he planned to take the driving test during his first year of college when the courses were relatively light. Taking the test at school was much cheaper, saving him about 7,000 to 8,000 yuan compared to taking it outside.

...

...

Time always passed quickly when he was reading for free.

Before he knew it, it was already around 3 PM.

"Wow, so fast... I need to prepare to go back. I still need to go to the nearby supermarket to get some snacks for the night. I can stay up all night on Saturday," Song Shuhang chuckled.

With that, he casually picked a book and headed to the counter to handle the rental procedures.

The counter was at the exit of the rental bookstore. Today, the sunshade outside was pretending to be broken, so the bookstore owner was hiding in a cool spot to avoid the direct sunlight.

"The sun is so strong, it already feels like midsummer," Song Shuhang shielded his eyes with one hand and looked up at the cloudless sky, handing the book he wanted to rent to the owner.

The owner was a typical Jiangnan beauty, as delicate as water.

Her hobby was also reading, and she could spend a whole day with a book in hand. From her attire, it was clear that her quality of life was high, and running this rental bookstore was just a personal interest.

When she sat quietly reading, she was a beautiful sight, a feast for the eyes. Many ordinary young men, just to see this beautiful scene often, would forcibly change their interests, transforming from silly youths into literary youths.

However, it was said that this beautiful scene was just the owner's peaceful mode...

If there was a peaceful mode, there must be a PK mode or a berserk mode. However, in the six months Shuhang had been coming here, he had never seen it.

"Alright, remember to return it within two days. An extra day will cost one yuan in rent," the owner finished the rental procedures and waved for Shuhang to leave quickly.

Although they had only known each other for half a semester, this young man who loved to read for free and would stay for half a day had left a deep impression on the owner. If it weren't for the fact that he would always rent one or two books to support her business, she would have chased him away long ago.

"Hehe," Shuhang smiled, took the book, and stepped out of the bookstore.

Boom!!!

At that moment, a deafening explosion-like sound rang out.

Everyone in the rental bookstore was startled, and Shuhang, who had just taken a step, almost lost his balance and fell flat on his face!

"Damn!"

"Oh, my God!"

"Thunderbolt on a clear day?"

"Scared to death." Various cries of alarm echoed in the rental bookstore.

Shuhang looked up at the sky and noticed that the previously cloudless sky had changed. A patch of dark clouds had quietly gathered at the horizon, quickly covering the edge of the sky, looking like a storm was about to come.

"It looks like it might rain? Tsk tsk, they say that weather forecasts are unreliable, and you should do the opposite of what they say. If they predict clear skies, you should definitely bring an umbrella. I thought after so many years, the weather forecasts had improved, but it seems they're still unreliable," Shuhang sighed.

This was even worse than before, when you just had to do the opposite of what the weather forecast said; now, you have to guess whether it's accurate or not?

While lost in thought, he picked up the rented book and prepared to head back to the dorm before the rain started.

Before Shuhang could take his second step,

Boom...

Another thunderclap roared, making his ears ring.

Shuhang retracted his raised leg.

At the horizon, the dark cloud area began to twist abnormally. Lightning snakes emerged from the clouds, rumbling and forming a web of lightning.

Shuhang had seen lightning before, but he had never seen it so dense and intense—like the end of the world, with lightning not flashing one by one but falling in sheets.

The sound of rolling thunder was also different.

In the past, thunder in the Jiangnan area would start with a loud boom followed by a series of rolling echoes. Now, the thunder sounded like a firecracker with a lot of gunpowder. Boom, crack, boom, loud and noisy, even the echoes were drowned out.

If this was someone being punished by lightning, what kind of sin could have caused such a massive lightning storm?

What Shuhang found even more concerning was that the black cloud of lightning did not spread; it remained at the horizon, continuously thundering without spreading.

The rolling thunder lasted for about ten breaths, not stopping.

This gave the impression that a more intense storm was coming.

"Truly unfortunate!" Shuhang sighed, thinking to himself, "Should I read a bit more?"

Generally, even if it was a thunderstorm, it would come and go quickly. But if the rain lasted longer, he might be able to read another book?

With this thought, he turned back to the bookstore, preparing to squat for a while longer.

It seemed as if the heavens were playing a joke on Shuhang.

As he turned and stepped back into the bookstore, the thundering in his ears suddenly stopped!

The dark clouds and violent lightning snakes at the horizon also disappeared at the same time! It was as if a giant hand had erased the clouds and lightning from the sky, as if it were a painting that the artist found unsatisfactory and casually erased.

The sky returned to its cloudless state, with the sun shining brightly! It was as if the explosive thunder and the lightning snakes had been mere illusions.

Someone in the rental bookstore muttered, "What's going on?"

"Could someone really have committed a sin and been struck by lightning?"

"Superstition! Lightning is just a natural phenomenon..."

At this moment, a little kid next to Shuhang looked up. He held a children's comic in his left hand and raised his right hand to the sky, shouting in a bold voice, "Ah, I want this sky to no longer blind my eyes, I want this earth to no longer bury my heart! I want these dark clouds to vanish without a trace!"

Shuhang's lips twitched. He was sure that when this little kid grew up, he would be so embarrassed by today's scene that he would roll on the ground. This embarrassing memory would haunt him for life. Even when he thought he had forgotten it, it might suddenly resurface in his mind, making him want to shout, "Die, how embarrassing!" and wish he could go back in time to beat up his younger self.

He knew this from personal experience.

For some reason, seeing this funny little kid made Shuhang suddenly think of the group of xianxia middle schoolers in the Nine Provinces Number One Group.

'h City, after the third level, the heavenly thunder.'

The chat record from the group flashed in his mind.

He estimated the position of the horizon again, and the area of the thunderstorm seemed to be... in h City?

Even with Shuhang's strong heart, his heartbeat skipped a beat.

It couldn't be... real, could it?

The weather forecast showed clear skies, but suddenly there was a strange thunderstorm with thousands of lightning bolts.

"Ha ha ha, how could that be! How could there be such a thing as heavenly thunder in this world? It must be a coincidence!" Shuhang thought to himself.

However, once the thought entered his mind, it wouldn't leave: Could there really be such a coincidence in the world? The lightning snakes looked so strange, not like a natural phenomenon at all.

The words "h City" and "heavenly thunder" kept echoing in his mind.

Shuhang shook his head hard, trying to shake this possibility out of his mind.

Eighteen years of established worldview told him to believe in science and reject superstition. The dark clouds were just an unusual natural phenomenon, not a heavenly thunder!

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