Chapter 3

Some people are the directors of life, some are the cameramen, some are the scriptwriters, and some are the actors who are manipulated by life's unwritten rules.

Fang Tianfeng walked down the stairs, looking at the setting sun, his heart filled with anger and deep frustration. He took one last look back and then took a firm step forward.

Fang Tianfeng walked towards the bus stop for route 12, turned a corner, and before him appeared an old market. People were coming and going, bustling and lively, with stalls selling old clothes, hats, furniture, and various ancient coins and artworks.

In the past, Fang Tianfeng would have stopped to look around, but now he had no such inclination. He moved numbly with the crowd, and no matter how exquisite the items on the stalls were, they failed to spark any interest in him.

Just as he was about to leave the old market, a burly man came towards him on a bicycle, shouting, "Move, move!"

People nearby dodged the bicycle and bumped into Fang Tianfeng. Fang Tianfeng was just about to step forward when he stumbled.

"Damn!" Fang Tianfeng thought to himself, quickly lifting his foot and noticing a few tattered old books with faint shoe prints on them. He knew that the antiques in such old markets were usually fakes and not worth much, but he was afraid of being extorted.

Fang Tianfeng looked around, but the crowd was so dense that he couldn't tell who had bumped into him.

Suddenly, the stall owner, a man in his sixties, shouted angrily, "Can't you watch where you're going? My ancient books! You've just stepped on them and ruined them! Do you know how much these books are worth? You have to compensate me!"

The people around Fang Tianfeng scattered like dust in the wind, and the nearby stall owners all looked over. Most of them seemed indifferent, but the stall owner selling wooden carvings said sarcastically, "You always put your stuff so close to the edge. Look, you've got another customer. He's just a young guy with no money, so be gentle with him."

The ancient book stall owner glared at him angrily, then picked up the yellowed books and said with a pained expression, "Look at this, this is a Qing Dynasty ancient book, a rare edition of the 'Siku Quanshu'! Even though it's not well-preserved, it has great collection and research value. Someone offered me three thousand yuan yesterday, and I didn't sell it! Look what you've done to my books!"

Fang Tianfeng examined the books closely. They were already very tattered, and the shoe prints didn't make much difference.

Fang Tianfeng usually would have tried to reason with the stall owner, but he was in no mood for it. He said impatiently, "I was bumped by someone else, and the things you put here aren't worth much. Don't think you can fool me! What do you want? Give me a straight answer."

The stall owner glared at Fang Tianfeng and finally said, "Fine, I'll take my loss! Give me two thousand yuan, and you can take the books!"

Fang Tianfeng sneered, "Do I look like I have two thousand yuan? If you're going to extort me, there's no point in talking. Stepping on your books was my fault, I'm sorry!" With that, Fang Tianfeng started to walk away.

The stall owner suddenly lunged at him, grabbing his leg and shouting, "Murder! Murder! You stepped on my ancient books and want to walk away! There's no such thing as a free lunch! I'll fight you to the death!"

Fang Tianfeng looked down at the stall owner and said, "I won't argue with you because you're old. Today is my unlucky day, so I'll give you one hundred yuan, and we'll call it even. Let go!"

The stall owner hesitated for a moment and shook his head.

Fang Tianfeng suddenly smiled, but it looked more menacing than usual. "Fine! I just broke up with my girlfriend and feel like life has no meaning. You picked the wrong person to mess with. I'll stick it out with you until the end! I'll call the police right now and see which is worse: stepping on your books or extorting two thousand yuan!"

Fang Tianfeng was about to take out his phone, and the stall owner cursed and said, "Give me two hundred, and you can go!"

Fang Tianfeng gave the stall owner a cold look and was about to call 110.

The stall owner quickly shouted, "Don't call the police! Give me one hundred yuan, and you can go!" He then released Fang Tianfeng's leg and stood up awkwardly.

Fang Tianfeng bent down to pick up three ancient books, then slowly took fifty yuan from his wallet and threw it on the stall, saying, "You didn't want one hundred just now, so now you only get fifty!" With that, he took the books and walked away.

The stall owner quickly picked up the money, jumping and shouting, "Little thug! Rotten scoundrel! If I see you again, I'll break your legs! Do you know who dares to mess with me in the old market? Don't let me see you again!"

The surrounding stall owners laughed, and others realized that the stall owner was a bully who only picked on the weak. They all left.

The stall owner selling wooden carvings mocked, "Serves you right! You asked for two thousand and got fifty. If it were me, I would have packed up and left, too. I can't afford to lose face."

The ancient book stall owner proudly shook the fifty yuan note, saying, "You know nothing! I bought these broken books for four cents per pound and sold them for fifty, making a hundredfold profit!"

The wooden carving stall owner muttered, "Those three books are genuine Qing Dynasty ancient books. Even though they're not well-preserved, he might sell them and make a few hundred yuan."

"Ha! I can't even sell them, let alone him!"

Fang Tianfeng took the three ancient books onto the bus for route 12, feeling increasingly unlucky. Since he got the books, he felt as if something bad was always happening to him, like walking through a pile of stinking garbage, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

Soon, the bus arrived at his stop. He walked home, entering a dilapidated building that could be demolished at any time. The walls were peeling, revealing dark red bricks. When he reached the ground floor, he saw some garbage bags and looked at the books in his hand, thinking about throwing them away.

But remembering the thousand yuan he had spent on skincare products and tea, he felt a pang of regret and couldn't bring himself to throw them away.

Some people are the directors of life, some are the cameramen, some are the scriptwriters, and some are the actors who are manipulated by life's unwritten rules.

Some people, after being manipulated by life, never recover and never have a chance to rise again.

But some people seize fleeting opportunities and rise to the top!

Fang Tianfeng quickly returned to his rented apartment on the seventh floor. The apartment was only twenty square meters, with a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, a standard one-and-a-half room. The rent was originally seven hundred yuan per month, but a few days ago, the landlord called and raised it by fifty yuan. He had to pay the rent for the next six months, which would be three hundred yuan more than before.

It was already late, and Fang Tianfeng didn't even turn on his computer. He threw the books on the floor and lay down on the bed.

His phone buzzed, and he saw a message from Jiang Feifei. He stared at her name for a long time and then turned off the phone.

Lying on the bed, Fang Tianfeng thought about everything he had experienced, his emotions surging.

He had almost devoted all his thoughts to Jiang Feifei, but the result was unbearable. If it weren't for his sister, he would have left Yunhai City and gone to a strange place to work hard. Once he had a solid economic foundation, he would return to marry Jiang Feifei.

Fang Tianfeng's father died in a car accident when he was seven, and the family's debts were not yet paid off. His mother was also pregnant. In the end, the child was given to his childless aunt, and his biological sister became his cousin, Fang Shishi, who became Su Shishi.

A year ago, his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and, on her deathbed, wanted to hear her daughter call her "Mom." Su Shishi, who had been kept in the dark, finally learned the truth, called her "Mom," and then watched her mother close her eyes, crying and running away.

For the next six months, Su Shishi avoided Fang Tianfeng and didn't say a word to him.

But a few months later, Su Shishi had a change of heart, apologized to Fang Tianfeng, and acknowledged him as her brother. She became closer to him than before and increasingly liked to stick by him.

Fang Tianfeng thought of his sister's cute appearance and then of Jiang Feifei, unable to resist a light sigh.

Her smile always appeared in his mind, and her voice echoed in his ears. He tried to shake off these thoughts, thinking about his school days, the events at the company, his sister, and the future, but the more he thought, the more painful it became.

It was late at night before he finally fell into a deep sleep, but the resentment, anger, frustration, and helplessness in his heart could not be resolved.

At midnight, a full moon hung in the sky, and the bright moonlight shone on Fang Tianfeng's face and the three ancient books. Soon, the books seemed to be blown by the wind, flipping pages rapidly and making a rustling sound, then turning to ashes.

Three pure white light points flew out from the books, and under their illumination, smoke columns of various lengths, thicknesses, and colors appeared above Fang Tianfeng's head. The three light points, like fireflies, circled in the air and then rushed straight to Fang Tianfeng's forehead.

Fang Tianfeng suddenly convulsed, his face contorted in extreme pain. This lasted for five minutes, and then his forehead relaxed, his facial expression becoming softer, as if he were having a pleasant dream, with a faint smile on his face.

As the moon set and the sun rose, the day and night alternated. Three days later, in the early morning, Fang Tianfeng slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around in confusion.

"Yesterday's dream was really strange. I dreamed of an odd old man who said that the Tianyun Sect was not tolerated by heaven and earth, and its lineage would be cut off. He used great supernatural powers to reverse fate and had the outer disciples take away some basic scriptures. He hoped that future generations would obtain these teachings, use great supernatural powers to trace their origins, and obtain the complete Tianyun Dao Canon. In the dream, I obtained part of the Tianyun inheritance and practiced the Tianyun Decree for a while, learning about the basic situation of the Tianyun Sect."

"The core of the Tianyun Sect is 'Qi.' They call themselves ancient Qi practitioners. They believe that everything, from flowers, birds, fish, and insects to plants and humans, is evolved from a substance called 'Yuan Qi.' Subsequently, many types of Qi were born, such as longevity Qi, noble Qi, wealth Qi, disaster Qi, illness Qi, and killing Qi, among dozens of types. The Qi practitioners of the Tianyun Sect can absorb Yuan Qi to strengthen themselves and then use Yuan Qi as a foundation to mobilize other types of Qi to accomplish various incredible things, even influencing the rise and fall of a nation."

At first, Fang Tianfeng thought the dream was unreliable, but upon careful consideration, he found it quite reasonable, as life is full of things related to 'Qi.'

Encountering good things, one is filled with joy; encountering bad things, one is filled with gloom; when someone wants to kill, they are filled with killing intent; talented people have talent, and when they are unhappy, they are dejected; when they are angry, they have anger, and when they are determined, they have courage. There are too many things related to 'Qi.'

As he turned the page, an ad appeared.

As he turned the page, the ad disappeared.