Chapter 1

"Listen, the scaffolding has collapsed, everyone run quickly ~~~~~~~" A shrill voice suddenly echoed across the vast construction site, and everyone instinctively fled as quickly as possible.

Those who worked in construction knew that safety accidents were the most terrifying, even more so than quality issues. Not only was it difficult to sell properties where fatalities had occurred, but even without considering the insurance, the compensation for the families of the deceased would be a significant amount.

Zhang Jian, a site construction worker for this project, originally studied budgeting. However, since the project had already started, what was needed was simple settlement, and the salary was too low. He had to switch to construction work, which allowed him to earn more each month.

Hearing the workers' cries, Zhang Jian, who was at the bottom of the scaffolding, was shocked. This was bad; the project manager was inspecting today and was also under the scaffolding! The project manager had been quite good to him, and he had a wife and children to support. If he were crushed to death, how would his family survive?

Looking around, he saw that the scaffolding was already tilting, and the workers had already run out. The other quality inspectors, safety officers, and supervisors had all fled outside, with no one paying attention to him.

Zhang Jian quickly took a stance, using both hands to support the scaffolding, which was about to collapse. Although the scaffolding was not very high, its large area and overall weight definitely exceeded ten tons, yet Zhang Jian managed to hold it up with just his two hands.

"Manager Du, Manager Du, run quickly." Zhang Jian saw the person far away, who was covering his neck, and recognized him as the project manager, Du Guanghui.

Du Guanghui had thought he was doomed today, regretting not agreeing to the insurance sales pitch last time. If he had bought more insurance, even if he died, his wife, children, parents, and in-laws would still have a good life.

Just as he was in despair, he heard someone shouting for him to run. Run? The scaffolding had already collapsed; could he still run out? It was still dozens of meters to the outside, and even if it were just a few meters, he wouldn't have time.

But with a glimmer of hope, he opened his eyes and saw the newly hired construction worker, Xiao Zhang, using both hands to support the scaffolding and shouting for him to run.

In the midst of despair, Du Guanghui suddenly felt his legs stop trembling, and he gained strength. He immediately lowered his head and quickly left the area.

Just as Du Guanghui ran out, the safety officer had already directed several excavators and loaders to prop up the scaffolding. Du Guanghui quickly shouted for Zhang Jian to run out. Zhang Jian ran out in less than a minute, and as the machinery moved back, the scaffolding collapsed with a loud noise.

"Those responsible for quality and safety, come with me. Xiao Zhang, you organize the workers to clean up the site. In half an hour, come to my office." Du Guanghui, furious, called the quality and safety officers to his office, clearly intending to severely punish these two responsible individuals.

Zhang Jian directed dozens of workers to begin safely dismantling the collapsed scaffolding. However, many of the couplings had broken and needed to be repurchased, and some of the steel pipes were bent and needed to be straightened before they could be used again.

Half an hour later, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, and Zhang Jian went to the project manager's office.

"Manager, you called me." Zhang Jian gently knocked on the open door and asked.

"Xiao Zhang, you're here. Sit down, try the West Lake Longjing tea I just bought. Although it's not pre-rain tea, this box still costs several thousand yuan."

Du Guanghui was very热情, possibly because Zhang Jian had saved his life, and he personally made a cup of tea for Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian took it with both hands and sat opposite Du Guanghui.

"Thanks to you today, otherwise I would have met Marx."

"I was just lucky. A few steel pipes were already supporting it, and they were just sliding out. I just gave a little help." Zhang Jian wouldn't admit that he had supported a ten-ton scaffolding with his hands, as that would be too shocking and might even get him taken away for experiments.

"You, regardless of whether it was your doing or not, you were the only one who stayed to save me. No question, I'll talk to the company tomorrow and promote you to my assistant, with the same benefits as a deputy manager. Don't refuse; I heard you're still renting and are short of money, right? You don't even have a car. So, you can use the project department's Great Wall pickup truck for now. When the next project starts, we'll buy a new batch of vehicles, and then we'll get you a new one. Alright, you can leave early today. Go home. You're on leave tomorrow, and come to my office the day after tomorrow morning with your old work card and a one-inch photo for a new one."

Zhang Jian didn't say a word, and Du Guanghui had already considered everything for him, not allowing him to refuse. Only a fool would refuse such a good opportunity, so he naturally agreed.

After thanking the manager for his cultivation, Zhang Jian took the key he had just received, drove the pickup truck, and hummed a song as he went home.

Home, in this case, was a small house he rented. An eight-story brick building from the 1980s, on the sixth floor, a two-bedroom apartment with a dark living room, kitchen, bathroom, and balcony, totaling about fifty square meters. The furniture and appliances were complete, including a refrigerator, water heater, washing machine, TV, sofa, wardrobe, and table and chairs. Although they were all old, they were enough for a single man like him.

This was a place he had rented with the help of a classmate when he first returned to Bingcheng. They had originally planned to share the rent, but his classmate had moved to another city for work, leaving Zhang Jian to live alone.

His neighbors and the people across the hall were all from the same landlord, including the three households on the seventh floor. So, this landlord basically did nothing, spending his days eating, drinking, and playing. Zhang Jian had more than once dreamed of the day when he could live such a "happy little landlord" life.

In the quiet of the night, Zhang Jian lay on the double bed, recalling the events of the day. He had supported a ten-ton scaffolding with his hands, not lifting it entirely, but just supporting a part of it, which was not something an ordinary person, well, not a human, could do.

All of this had to be traced back to more than four months ago.

More than four months ago, in January 2012, Zhang Jian resigned from a state-owned enterprise that many people envied, due to conflicts with colleagues. Specifically, he refused to take the blame for a foolish leader, which led to his marginalization, reduced salary and bonuses, and a sense of injustice, causing him to resign in anger.

Returning from the distant border between Sichuan and Yunnan to the familiar yet strange Bingcheng, he passed by a stone shop selling various jade, raw stones, and odd stones. Zhang Jian was attracted to a yellow gourd, and everything changed from there.

The shop owner said the pendant was made of yellow jade, which was very precious, and despite being no larger than a thumb, it was priced at 88,800 yuan. Zhang Jian saw that the shop owner clearly mistook him for a wealthy boss, someone who was foolish and had money to burn. Many construction site foremen came to buy stones, often spending tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan to give as gifts. He put down the pendant and asked the price of the yellow gourd he truly wanted.

The yellow gourd had no patterns, and the craftsmanship was not very clear. The color was not very bright, and there were no inscriptions, possibly the work of an apprentice.

Zhang Jian thought the gourd, which sounded like "fu lu" (blessing and prosperity), would be a good gift for his mother, but if it was too expensive, not only would he not be able to afford it, but his mother would also think he was a wasteful son.

Moreover, this was not yellow jade, nor was it yellow quartz. Yellow jade has vertical stripes on its prismatic crystal faces, while quartz has horizontal stripes. When held, yellow jade feels "heavy," while quartz feels lighter. Of course, the luster of yellow jade is soft, while that of quartz is "cold" and sharp.

None of the methods he found online to distinguish between the two applied. It was probably just an ordinary yellow stone, not even a jade, and the unscrupulous shop owner was selling it for money.

Sure enough, this time the shop owner did not overprice it, perhaps seeing that Zhang Jian didn't have much money and wanting to quickly sell this "defective product." Since they were "buy and leave," there were no invoices or credit cards, and returns were not allowed.

From 3,000 yuan, he haggled down to 688 yuan, a lucky number, and paid for it.

He hung the gourd on a rope around his neck, but by the next morning, part of it had turned white. What a swindler, a complete swindler! It was clearly colored, and the sweat had caused the color to fade, indicating that the dye used was also defective.

Unfortunately, he was not even a half-decent expert and couldn't tell the difference. This broken stone might only be worth 6.8 yuan, and he had bought it for 688 yuan, a huge loss.

Zhang Jian used his hands to wipe off the paint on the gourd, only to find that not only was the color fake, but the craftsmanship was also terrible, with sharp edges at the gourd's mouth, which cut his left thumb.

Zhang Jian quickly put his finger in his mouth, and the gourd was left on the table in the hotel.

After Zhang Jian fell asleep, the gourd emitted a golden light, but he was unaware of it.

"Bloodline matched, host bound, activating gourd space."

The night before he returned home, he had a dream. In the dream, he entered a magical space with a wooden table, and on the table was a gourd.

This gourd was similar to the one he bought (aren't all gourds the same?), but it was much larger and purple, with a shiny surface.

Zhang Jian didn't know what it was and tried to pick it up, but it wouldn't budge. Was the gourd stuck to the table?

"Hello, host, welcome to the Spirit Gourd Space. As this is your first time entering, you will be rewarded with three draws. Please start your draws."

"Draws? What kind of draws? Who is speaking, and what is a host?" Zhang Jian was confused, but since it was a dream, he didn't feel any fear.

The alarm on his phone rang, and Zhang Jian woke up. When he rubbed his eyes, he noticed a thumb-sized gourd mark on the back of his left wrist, like a tattoo.

This seemed familiar, similar to the pendant he had bought. Looking at the table, he saw only his laptop, nothing else.

It couldn't be a theft; otherwise, the thief would have taken his laptop, phone, and wallet, not his broken stone, which was neither attractive nor valuable. But where did the gourd go? It couldn't have moved to his wrist, could it? Zhang Jian stared at his left wrist, his eyes wide.

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