Chapter 2

It was still early, and there weren't many tourists on Wenshu Street. Only a few vendors selling cold noodles, pulled noodles, and skewers were setting up their stalls, and a few fair-skinned foreign tourists were taking pictures with their cameras and phones, clicking away non-stop.

It was already past the beginning of autumn, and the weather had turned cold, but Chen Dasheng knew that in a little while, this place would be bustling with activity.

"Hey? Isn't that Big Brother Dasheng?" Just as he reached the front of Sisterhood Workshop, an 18- or 19-year-old girl walked over to Chen Dasheng with a smile, her eyes filled with a hint of curiosity.

The girl had two large braids, was not very tall, about 1.6 meters, and had an average appearance. Her sleepy eyes made her look quite shrewd. Chen Dasheng recognized her; she was a small follower of Chen Xiaoli named Lu Qiao'er. She had a low level of education, having finished junior high school before coming to the city to look for work. Chen Xiaoli had recruited her, and since then, she had been working as a fortune-teller.

"Qiao'er, is my sister here?" Chen Dasheng walked over, feeling somewhat awkward for some reason.

Looking up at the sign of Sisterhood Workshop, Chen Dasheng couldn't help but feel that it sounded more like a brothel. He imagined that many men had entered Sisterhood Workshop because of this name and had been taken advantage of by his dear sister.

Lu Qiao'er nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, she's here. A big boss, a big fat sheep, just left, and Sister Xiaoli is very happy. She's in the prayer hall now. I'll take you there!"

"No need, you go about your business. I'll find her myself!" Seeing Lu Qiao'er's excited look, Chen Dasheng couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. What a good girl, ruined by his sister.

"Oh!" Lu Qiao'er stuck out her tongue and ran off with a smile.

---

"Sis!"

Walking into the prayer hall, Chen Dasheng saw Chen Xiaoli standing in front of the altar, holding something and smiling to herself.

Hearing his voice, Chen Xiaoli's smile vanished, and she turned around, her eyes filled with curiosity, "Dasheng? Why are you here?"

Chen Xiaoli was about 1.65 meters tall, somewhat slim, but very sharp and capable. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she wasn't ugly either. She had short hair, a flat chest, and was wearing a tight-fitting light blue outfit, giving her a somewhat androgynous look.

"It's the National Day holiday, and the school is on break. I had nowhere to go, so I came to see you. What, not welcome?" Chen Dasheng rolled his eyes and walked over, sitting down on a bench next to the donation box.

"Hmm?" Chen Xiaoli seemed to understand, then walked over to Chen Dasheng, looking puzzled, "Didn't you usually go on dates with Xiao Lan? Why are you free to come here this time? That's not like you!"

Xiao Lan was Chen Dasheng's girlfriend of five years, whose full name was Li Lan. Hearing Chen Xiaoli mention her, Chen Dasheng took a deep breath and said, "Don't mention it, we broke up!"

"Broken up?" Chen Xiaoli was surprised and immediately leaned in, "Why did you break up? Weren't you two always getting along well?"

Chen Dasheng let out a bitter laugh, "What else? She said I'm poor and that I'll make her suffer in the future!"

Chen Xiaoli's face twitched, and after a moment, she patted Chen Dasheng and sat down next to him, "Don't blame your sister for being nosy, but the first time I met that girl, I thought she was very vain. But since you liked her, I didn't say anything. It's better that you broke up. What kind of person is my brother? She'll regret it. Poor? That's a joke. With your sister here, how could you ever be poor?"

"Forget it, sis. I know you've made a lot of money, but I'm grown up now. I'll graduate in a year, and I don't want to spend your money anymore!" Chen Dasheng looked at Chen Xiaoli, his eyes filled with helplessness.

Although he rarely saw Chen Xiaoli, he knew that with her ability to swindle, she had managed to open Sisterhood Workshop in the heart of Rongcheng, a city where land was extremely valuable. She must have made a lot of money over the years. He really didn't want to spend money that made him feel uneasy.

"What are you talking about?" Chen Xiaili's voice suddenly rose a few decibels, and she glared at Chen Dasheng, "What? Do you think your sister's money is dirty? Do you remember who raised you with great hardship?"

"Sis, that's not what I meant!" Chen Dasheng knew that Chen Xiaoli was about to start telling the old stories again. This wasn't the first time; almost every time he came here, Chen Xiaoli would pull him aside and recount those tear-jerking tales.

"Hey? Sis, what's that in your hand?" Seeing Chen Xiaoli's expression, Chen Dasheng quickly changed the subject, pointing to a red pendant in her hand.

"Hmm?" Chen Xiaoli fell for it, looked at the pendant, and said, "It's a piece of jade that Mr. Liu from Rongfa Real Estate just brought over for me to consecrate!"

"The big fat sheep Qiao'er mentioned must be him. You were smiling so brightly just now; you must have made a lot!" Chen Dasheng said. Rongfa Real Estate was one of the three major real estate companies in Rongcheng, and his sister was doing well indeed.

Mentioning money, Chen Xiaoli's eyes lit up, and she secretly showed Chen Dasheng a number, "This much!"

"Is it worth it?" Chen Dasheng pouted and snatched the jade from Chen Xiaoli's hand. He wasn't sure if she meant 5,000 or 50,000; any more, and he wouldn't dare to think.

"Be careful, if you drop it, you won't be able to pay for it even if you sold yourself!" Seeing Chen Dasheng's rough handling, Chen Xiaoli looked nervous, "Mr. Liu said this jade is a bit strange. His family members who wore it all fell seriously ill, probably because it was contaminated with something dirty. I think it's a recently unearthed funerary object, maybe from some tomb!"

"Are you sure you should take it?" Hearing Chen Xiaoli's explanation, Chen Dasheng rolled his eyes.

"A fat sheep that comes to the door, not taking it would be a waste of the country's resources!" Chen Xiaoli said with a sense of righteousness.

"I heard Mr. Liu has a lot of people under him. If he finds out you're cheating him, you'll be in for a rough time!" Chen Dasheng looked at Chen Xiaoli helplessly.

"What's there to be afraid of? Your sister isn't a pushover!" Chen Xiaoli clenched her fist, making a cracking sound.

Chen Dasheng couldn't help but shrink back. He knew Chen Xiaoli was very strong; he had once seen her fight five men and take them all down in a few moves.

"Sis, you've made enough money now, and I'm grown up. Why don't we quit this business?" After a while, Chen Dasheng tentatively suggested.

"Master Chen!"

Just as Chen Xiaoli was about to say something, a middle-aged couple walked in. Chen Xiaoli immediately stood up, her face beaming with a smile.

"Are you here to pray?"

"Yes, are you Master Chen? We heard that the Manjushri Bodhisattva at Sisterhood Workshop is very powerful. We came to pray for a child!"

"Praying for a child? You've come to the right place! Come, come, come, add some incense oil first. The more incense oil, the more powerful the Bodhisattva will be!"

Chen Xiaoli pushed Chen Dasheng aside and led the couple to the donation box with a smile. Chen Dasheng sighed, knowing that another customer had arrived.

"Sis, your thing!" Chen Dasheng held up the jade and waved it at Chen Xiaoli.

"Keep it for now, I'll take it later!" Chen Xiaoli said without turning around, then continued chatting with the couple, making them smile and nod, and they involuntarily took out their wallets.

"Two fools!" Chen Dasheng muttered, holding the jade and walking to the back yard.

---

The back yard was where the sisters of Sisterhood Workshop lived. Chen Dasheng also had a room here, but he rarely stayed.

Sitting on the bed, he felt the soft mattress and the neatly folded quilt. It seemed that even when he didn't come, his sister often came to clean the place. Thinking of this, Chen Dasheng felt a warm feeling in his heart.

"Jade, jade, why is my life so hard? My mother died when I was born, my father died when I was five, my girlfriend dumped me, and my sister is a fraud, almost thirty and still not married... sigh..." Chen Dasheng held the jade, feeling almost on the verge of tears.

"Hey? This jade seems much redder than before?" He carefully examined the oval-shaped jade, about the size of half a palm. Originally, there was only a drop of blood-like red in the center, with the rest being light red, but now it was clearly much redder.

"Is it really that strange?" Thinking of Chen Xiaoli's words about the jade being a recently unearthed funerary object, Chen Dasheng felt a chill run down his spine.

Chen Dasheng didn't notice that the blood from the cut on his palm, caused by a flower pot fragment, had dripped onto the jade and was mysteriously absorbed into it.

"Ah, it's so hot!"

Just as he was about to throw the jade away, Chen Dasheng suddenly felt an intense heat from the jade, like a slippery eel, quickly traveling up his right arm and into his body.

It was so hot that Chen Dasheng wanted to scream!

Almost instantly, he felt the heat spread throughout his body, burning like a raging fire, as if every cell and drop of blood was boiling.

The unbearable pain made Chen Dasheng unable to even cry out. He fell back onto the bed, his skin red and hot like a monkey's bottom, burning like a branding iron.

---

"Giants?"

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Dasheng finally came to, mumbling to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had just had a strange dream, a dream of a gray, primitive world. In this world, there were humans of terrifying size, some fighting powerful beasts, their every move shaking the heavens and the earth, others wielding massive stone axes, splitting the sky and the earth, making the gray world gradually become clear and bright.

"Was that a dream?"

The dream was so real that Chen Dasheng was breathing heavily, his body covered in sweat and a layer of black, smelly dirt. A message from deep within his blood appeared in his mind, filling him with countless questions and disbelief.

The Giants! The strongest race at the beginning of the world, they had split the sky and the earth, created the vast world, standing under the sky and on the earth, possessing god-like powers.

The jade he had just held contained a drop of giant's blood. By luck, Chen Dasheng had absorbed it, becoming the only descendant of the Giants on Earth.

Is all of this real? Chen Dasheng pinched his face hard, the intense pain making him even more confused about the boundary between dream and reality.