Chapter 1

......

It was half past three in the afternoon.

The scorching sun of August baked the earth, and the heat island effect turned the entire city into a boiling steamer.

Wang Yan pedaled a tricycle with a listless effort, sweat droplets rolling down his cheeks and splashing onto the asphalt, evaporating within seconds, leaving no trace.

His grass-green vest had been wet and dry, dry and wet, emitting a pungent sour smell.

He lowered his head, his eyes somewhat unfocused, numbly staring at the asphalt road that seemed to be melting, moving backward repeatedly, endlessly. It was like his monotonous and arduous life, with no end in sight.

After graduating from university, Wang Yan found himself unemployed and had even broken up with his girlfriend. In just a few months, he had thoroughly experienced the harsh reality of society. These days, ordinary college graduates were truly not worth much.

The job he had been doing for more than two months sounded impressive. He was a regional sales manager for an international medical device company, equipped with a company car.

But in reality, he was just a delivery person for pharmacies in this area, delivering a third-rate brand of condoms. The so-called company car was this rickety tricycle that creaked with every pedal.

A few minutes later, Wang Yan lifted his head to look at the intersection ahead. Just one more turn past the market, and he would reach the last pharmacy in the area.

After finishing work and going home, he could take a refreshing cold shower and then reward himself with a bottle of chilled beer.

Thinking about the refreshing coolness of the ice-cold beer, Wang Yan's spirits lifted a bit, and the heat in his heart dissipated. He pedaled the tricycle faster.

At the same time, in the vast expanse of space, invisible to the naked eye, a small, fiery red meteorite, no larger than a millstone, silently entered the Earth's atmosphere. It collided with the extremely thin air, creating a faint red glow. Under the influence of Earth's gravity, it began to accelerate towards the ground.

......

"Old Lady Zhang, it's been a while since you've been out working," said a middle-aged man in a small grocery store by the market, bare-chested and wearing only a pair of shorts, fanning himself with a broken palm fan and teasing, "The neighbors thought you had died on the job."

"Big Mouth Cao, you're always flirting with young girls and women. Are you a good person?" Old Lady Zhang, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and with a scholarly air, tapped the counter glass with her cane and said with a strong voice, "Give me two pounds of sugar and a bottle of soy sauce. Don't make me angry, or one day I'll roll your broken Jinbei van's wheels down the hill."

"Alright, alright, just a joke. Calm down, Old Lady," Cao said, taking the money and the goods, and helping her put them in her basket with a grin, "You can't keep causing trouble like this. I suggest you aim for a luxury car and crash into it. Whether you live or die, your gambling-addicted son can get a hundred thousand for your retirement."

"Who cares about that gambler's life? I'm worried about my grandson who can't afford tuition for university," Old Lady Zhang said, picking up her basket and walking to the roadside advertisement board, sighing deeply. She had an unambitious son who only knew how to drink, gamble, and borrow money, and now even relatives and friends avoided her.

But her grandson was about to start school again, and they were still short of several thousand for tuition...

Old Lady Zhang clenched her teeth and looked around.

......

Wang Yan turned the handlebars, and the tricycle jolted a few times, creaking as it headed towards the market. At that moment, a white Maserati sped past him.

The cool breeze made Wang Yan feel refreshed, and he stared enviously at the sleek sports car.

Suddenly, an old lady walked out from under an advertisement board, running towards the middle of the road with her cane.

Wang Yan's heart tightened, but before he could shout, the Maserati made a sharp turn to avoid the old lady, then accelerated and roared away.

Perhaps startled, the old lady let out a "Ouch!" and fell to the ground, the bag of sugar in her basket spilling onto the ground, and a few tomatoes rolling far away.

"Someone's been hit, someone's been hit."

People from the market and nearby shops gathered around, and within ten seconds, there were already more than a dozen onlookers. But the problem was that no one dared to help the old lady up.

"Ouch, ouch!" The old lady groaned and struggled a few times but couldn't get up.

The onlookers scattered like they had seen a bomb, standing seven or eight meters away. Some people started to comment, "Isn't that Old Lady Zhang from the opposite neighborhood? I heard she was hit by a car last month and extorted over five thousand yuan."

"Speaking of which, I remember she's done this a few times in the past couple of years. Tsk, tsk, she's making good money from this."

"Old Lady Zhang, the car is long gone. Get up, the asphalt is scorching hot, you'll get cooked."

"Old Lady, next time you want to extort someone, don't pick a fast sports car. You might lose your life."

"Dad, should we call the police?"

"What police? Do you want the police to catch a scammer? Ha, Old Lady Zhang's acting is getting better."

The old lady lay alone in the middle of the road, vehicles carefully avoiding her. No one was willing to help her up.

Seeing this, Wang Yan couldn't help but shake his head and mutter, "Turns out she's a scammer. I was worried for nothing. She deserves to be left there. These days, people are so restless." He turned the handlebars and decided to go around her, planning to finish his last delivery and go home to rest.

"Smash!"

A tomato was crushed by a passing taxi's wheel, red juice splattering everywhere.

This scene made Wang Yan's heart tremble, touching a soft spot deep inside him. He braked the tricycle.

The old lady seemed to be in pain, still lying on the ground.

"Ah, it seems this harsh reality hasn't tortured me enough yet. I can't pass the test of compassion," Wang Yan thought, remembering his own grandmother, who was about the same age. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, jumped off the tricycle, and took out his phone, turning on the camera mode. "I'm a poor guy, not a rich man. I need to record evidence first. The old lady falling has nothing to do with me. I just want to help her to the side of the road."

"Don't go over, young man. If you want to help, just call the police. Be careful, her son is a gambling scoundrel," someone warned kindly.

"Thank you for the warning, but even if I call the police, they won't arrive for at least ten minutes," Wang Yan said, continuing to record evidence as he walked over. "It's too hot. The old lady might get sick even if she's not injured. Besides, with all the traffic, lying in the middle of the road is dangerous."

"Anyway, I'm a poor guy who just graduated from university. I don't have much money to be extorted." Wang Yan smiled indifferently. "If I really get extorted, it might be a good thing. It will make me more selfish and indifferent in the future."

Determined, Wang Yan wouldn't back down. He had always been like this, but in today's restless society, he didn't know if it was good or bad.

"Old lady, where did you fall?" Wang Yan squatted down with his phone. "Move a bit to see if you've broken any bones. I'm afraid I might hurt you more if I lift you wrong."

The crowd that was dispersing stopped, moved by Wang Yan's words, perhaps to be witnesses if anything went wrong, or just to watch the drama. Old Lady Zhang was not someone to be trifled with.

"Young man, I hurt my back and feel dizzy," Old Lady Zhang said, her face pale, looking guilty and in pain. "Just help me up. If I extort you, may I die a terrible death."

Almost simultaneously, in the sky, the small red meteorite that had entered the Earth's atmosphere was now burning fiercely, its outer rock layer rapidly decomposing, leaving a small ball of fiery red liquid that plummeted diagonally downward.

The summer sun was too bright, and no one noticed the small meteor streaking across the sky. The fiery red liquid was heading straight for the market roadside.

On the scorching crosswalk, Old Lady Zhang, with Wang Yan's help, suddenly stumbled.

Instinctively, Wang Yan grabbed her arm, stabilizing her while being lightly hit by her elbow.

"Ah~"

Wang Yan felt as if he had been punched by a strong man, stumbling backward a few steps. A burning sensation exploded in his chest, spreading throughout his body in an instant.

"Thud!"

Wang Yan's eyes tightly closed, and he fell onto the sidewalk, his face contorted in pain.

In the brief two or three seconds, everything happened so quickly. The onlookers stared in disbelief.

What was going on!?

The plot didn't make sense. Shouldn't Old Lady Zhang have taken the opportunity to fall again and extort some medical fees? Why did the young man fall instead?

Could Old Lady Zhang be a legendary master? How could a strong young man be knocked down by a light elbow?

Cao, who was watching from a distance with a cigarette in his mouth, dropped half of it to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief, sweat trickling down his forehead.

Old Lady Zhang was also shocked, her eyes wide with fear. "Young man, don't scare me. Don't you dare extort an old lady like this..."

At this moment, Wang Yan's consciousness was fading, his body burning as if on fire, his blood boiling, his face contorted in pain, and his limbs convulsing.

"Young man, are you okay? Get up," Old Lady Zhang said, her face pale with guilt, poking Wang Yan with her cane, but he didn't move, making her almost cry. "Young man, I give up. Make a sound if you're okay. I'll give you two hundred yuan for cigarettes, okay?"

The onlookers burst into laughter. These days, it was common to hear about old people extorting young people, but not the other way around. This was news.

"Good acting, young man. Well done, you should teach people like Old Lady Zhang a lesson."

"Old Lady Zhang, you've been tricked by your own tricks."

"This is karma, you can't escape it."

"This young man is too shameless, even extorting an old lady."

Old Lady Zhang's heart trembled. This was serious! She quickly picked up her basket, leaving the spilled sugar behind, and started to run away.

But she didn't get far before turning back. Looking at Wang Yan, who was only a few years older than her grandson, his words before helping her echoed in her mind, cutting into her heart. She felt ashamed and red-faced. People like her were the ones who shattered trust between people.

Old Lady Zhang bit her lip, hesitantly squatting down and touching his forehead, exclaiming, "He's burning up. He's really sick. Cao, stop watching and get your broken Jinbei van to take this young man to the hospital."

"Old Lady Zhang, are you and this young man putting on a show? Planning to extort me?" Cao took a step back, his eyes darting around.

"What's most important between people?" Old Lady Zhang stood up slowly, adjusting her glasses, and stared coldly at Cao. "Trust!"

"But..." Cao felt guilty under her gaze, cursing inwardly, "Trust you, my foot."

"What?" Old Lady Zhang poked him with her cane, furious. "This young man is seriously ill. If you dare to stand by and do nothing, I'll tell your wife all your dirty secrets."

"Old Lady Zhang, you're right," Cao said with a righteous face, "Human life is precious, I can't stand by and do nothing!"

......

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