Chapter 3

The two days of the college entrance exam passed in a flash.

Even a student with particularly good grades like Yang Tian couldn't help but heave a deep sigh of relief. From the first grade of elementary school to now, over ten years, all for these two days of the college entrance exam—it was truly not easy!

"Mom, I'm going out!" On the first day after the exam, Yang Tian got up early, had breakfast, and said to his mother, Shen Xinlan. As for his younger sister, Yang Shan, she was still sound asleep in bed.

"Come back early. Here's 20 yuan, take it, and go online with your classmates!" Mother Shen Xinlan looked at her son with a smile, fumbled in her pocket for a long time, and finally took out a crumpled 20-yuan note, which she shoved into Yang Tian's hand without hesitation.

"Mom, no need, I'm just going out for a bit, I'll be back at noon! I don't need money," Yang Tian hurriedly declined, pushing the money back into his mother's hand and quickly walking out.

"Hey, Xiaotian, walk slowly, be careful not to get out of breath," Shen Xinlan called out anxiously, seeing Yang Tian leave in a hurry.

Yang Tian waved his hand casually, and soon disappeared from Shen Xinlan's sight.

Shen Xinlan tightly clutched the crumpled 20-yuan note in her hand, her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"If your child's weight isn't controlled, his heart won't be able to bear the weight, leading to paralysis in all four limbs, and he might have to spend his whole life in bed," an old expert from a large hospital had told Shen Xinlan and Yang Jianguo three months ago.

"Breath, breath!" Yang Tian took several deep breaths, feeling a tightness in his chest, but his steps continued to move forward. His gaze was resolute, determined to use the two months of summer vacation to improve his health a bit.

With a body like this, how could he make money? Sometimes, Yang Tian wished he could cut off the fat on his body with a knife—it was too painful.

After more than an hour, Yang Tian finally couldn't hold on and collapsed on the ground, his face pale, gasping for breath.

In the distance, the sound of children playing could be heard. Yang Tian looked up and realized he had unknowingly arrived at the seaside of County A.

County A, a typical land of fish and rice, is characterized by its abundant water. Whether it's rivers, lakes, or the sea, they can all be found in County A.

At this moment, Yang Tian's eyes lit up. He thought about the treasures in the sea.

Yang Tian, with his good academic performance and extensive reading, knew that the sea contained many treasures. For example, someone found a seashell on the beach and sold it for 150,000 yuan. There were also well-known pearls from clams and precious seafood.

Yang Tian struggled to stand up and slowly walked towards the beach. This area of the sea was not large, but it was connected to the ocean, and standing there, one could still feel one's own insignificance.

This was a public beach, and the children playing there were startled by Yang Tian, this "big monster," and ran around laughing and shouting on the beach.

Yang Tian slowly walked along the beach, occasionally flipping over small stones at the edge of the sea, hoping to find something valuable. However, apart from occasionally finding small crabs, he found nothing else.

Yang Tian knew that he was just daydreaming. If it were that easy to get rich, everyone could find treasures here.

After searching the beach for more than two hours with no success, Yang Tian could only rest against a rock by the sea. Looking at the vast, surging ocean, his heavy heart seemed to become more open.

"Ouch..."

Yang Tian was about to stand up when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left palm. He quickly looked at his palm and found that he had accidentally pressed his hand on a sharp pebble, which had pierced his skin.

Yang Tian shook his head with a bitter smile and tried to stand up, but suddenly felt dizzy, lost his balance, and fell down again. His left palm felt another sharp pain, as if the same sharp pebble had pierced it again.

"Damn!" Yang Tian couldn't help but curse softly, picked up the sharp pebble, and threw it into the sea.

"Huh? That's not right?" Yang Tian suddenly felt a sharp itch in his eyes, as if he saw something inside the sharp pebble, deeply calling to him. He felt a sense of reluctance, as if he would definitely regret not getting it.

"Whoosh!" Yang Tian's obese body jumped directly into the sea. He always trusted his intuition, just like during exams, when he sometimes guessed multiple-choice questions by instinct, and the accuracy rate could even exceed 50%.

The water in the nearby ten meters was shallow, no more than two meters deep. Yang Tian soaked in the seawater, feeling around for a long time. As if fate had destined it, he really found the sharp pebble.

"Hehe." Yang Tian laughed foolishly, put the pebble in his pocket, and slowly walked back home.

It was a hot summer day, and by the time Yang Tian got home, his clothes were almost dry, but after being soaked in seawater, the salt made him feel uncomfortable, so he took a hot shower.

"Mom, where's Shanshan?" After showering, Yang Tian didn't see his younger sister and asked his mother, Shen Xinlan.

Yang Tian actually loved his younger sister a lot, but Shanshan, being young and naive, always complained about her fat big brother, making her the target of ridicule by her playmates. She usually didn't call Yang Tian "brother."

"That girl went to Xiaojia's house to play," Shen Xinlan said with a smile.

"Oh, then I'll go read a book," Yang Tian nodded and said to his mother with a smile.

Back in his room, Yang Tian took out the pebble from his pocket.

The pebble was roughly conical, about 4 centimeters long and 3 centimeters wide at the base. From the outside, it looked no different from an ordinary pebble.

Yang Tian observed it for a long time, then took a small knife from his schoolbag and began to slowly cut the pebble.

Perhaps because the pebble was too hard, the knife only left a faint mark after a long time of carving.

Yang Tian then found a hammer and a steel chisel at home and began to pry at the pebble.

The pebble was only slightly harder than ordinary stones. As he pried with the hammer and chisel, pieces of the pebble kept falling off, making it smaller and smaller.

Suddenly, Yang Tian's eyes lit up. He seemed to see something inside the pebble. He took a basin of water and began to remove the pebble fragments while cleaning.

Finally, what appeared before Yang Tian was a small, 2-centimeter-diameter sphere, with a mix of blue and red colors, like a child's marble, but a bit uglier.

What is this? Yang Tian looked at it for a long time, completely at a loss.