Chapter One: Not a Dime to My Name

t more time browsing the jade artifacts. When her finger touched something, her entire arm felt like it was burning. Startled, her heart pounded wildly out of control. She quickly retracted her hand w...There are 38 days left until the college entrance examination;

There are 56 days left until the ideal is realized.

April 30, 2016

On the plastic whiteboard, three lines of regular script characters, each stroke precise and meticulous, were as standard as printed text. The four characters "College Entrance Exam," "Ideal" stood out larger than the rest, adding a touch of life and interest to the otherwise rigid layout.

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A clean hand, holding a damp cloth, wiped away the Arabic numerals on the board. The hand was delicate and refined, with a thick palm that suggested good fortune. Its five fingers were white and tender like young bamboo shoots, their tips sharp and pointed like spring shoots carved from jade. The nails were trimmed neatly and shone with a polished sheen, rounded and cute in their rosy hue.

A stretch of snow-white wrist, linked to slender hands, was exposed to the air. The arm, like a pink lotus root, was delicate and pure, without a single blemish.

That hand, if it starred in a hand cream commercial, would surely attract a horde of fans with hand fetishism. Just looking at it makes you want to be the cloth in its palm, held by such delicate and beautiful hands. It must be incredibly blissful.

The owner of the hands was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl. She had a round, oval face with delicate, rosy skin that glowed from within. Under her slender eyebrows were bright eyes that sparkled like stars. Her black pupils were like precious jewels freshly retrieved from ice water, shining brilliantly.

A girl who looks like a junior high school student has a neat and tidy short haircut. She wears a white short-sleeved shirt, seven-point denim pants, and sneakers. She is full of energy and youthful and beautiful.

Simply dressed, the girl's liveliness is undiminished. Her bare face is as fresh as a water lily, possessing a natural beauty that radiates from within. It is an ethereal charm that can be seen in her very bones. Looking at her is like seeing the first rays of sunshine on a winter morning or the gentle breeze of a summer dawn; it invigorates and delights the soul.

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The girl's rosy lips were slightly upturned, showing that she was in a good mood. She intently erased the Arabic numerals on the whiteboard, wiping the empty space clean and dry. With her other hand, she picked up a water-based pen and added characters to the blank space. The words on the whiteboard became:

"35 days left until the college entrance examination;"

There are 53 days left until the ideal is realized.

May 2, 2016

"There are still thirty-five days left, come on, Le Yun, climb towards the peak of your ideals!" After correcting the date, Le Yun happily put down her pen, clenched her fist, her eyes full of confidence.

An ideal is a beautiful imagination and hope about future things.

Every person has an ideal, Yue Yun's ideal is to become the most outstanding doctor in China. Ideals are great, and the road to success may be bumpy. She firmly believes that as long as she persists, her hard work will pay off.

Sunlight slanted through the window into the dormitory, the light was dazzling. Lèyùn pulled up the curtains and hung the whiteboard on the head of her bed.

Fangxian County is located in the northwest of Province E, adjacent to Shennong Nature Reserve, the largest and most magical scenic spot in Province E. It belongs to a tourist city.

Yueyun attended County No. 3 Middle School and still lived in the old dormitory building. Each floor had a dozen or so dormitories, shared bathrooms and shower rooms, the kind of old building where eight to twelve people lived in one dormitory.

Her dormitory was smaller, with eight beds. The beds were arranged along the wall, leaving a space in the middle. One end opened onto a corridor, and the other end had a window. Her bed was on the top bunk of a bed by the window.

Yueyun's home was in a village near the Shennong Nature Reserve, a county far from the city center. There were only two buses to the city each day, and she usually went back in the morning. This time was no exception; the others hadn't returned yet.

Today is the first day back to school after the May Day holiday. In 2016, May Day fell on a Sunday and was rescheduled. Monday, May 2nd, was also originally a holiday. It was a public holiday, but for senior high school students, all holidays are clouds in the sky. While others were still enjoying their last day of vacation, senior high school students trudged their way back to school.

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In fact, Yueyin had just returned to the dormitory. The first thing she did after putting down her backpack was to change the numbers on the whiteboard. That board had accompanied her from elementary school to now; the edges of the whiteboard were worn smooth.

The whiteboard, also her self-motivation and encouragement monument, urged her to accomplish one goal after another. It was previously placed at home, but when she went to high school, she moved it to her dorm room and hung it above her bed. Every morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, she could see it, making her feel like a well-oiled machine, studying diligently and striving for progress every day.

Hang up the notice board, Le Yùn tidied her luggage and went downstairs to look for food. The cafeteria wouldn't be serving dinner until later that day, and the school convenience store had food, but it was more expensive. Buying snacks wouldn't fill her up either. She couldn't bear to spend extra money, so she always found cheap and affordable stores to solve her hunger problem.

It was almost noon, and there were few people on the way to school. Le Yun walked out of school leisurely, took the bus to Xincheng Street, and walked towards the pedestrian street. She wanted to find something to eat, but more importantly, she needed to buy some things that girls like her must have. It was a good opportunity to buy them on the way back.

There are still three days until the summer solstice, but Fangxian's weather has already entered summer. The past few days have been hot, and people on the streets are all wearing summer clothes, looking refreshing and energetic.

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It's rare to have a holiday, and the street is crowded.

"Lele, Lele -"

Yue Yun walked leisurely, hearing a familiar voice. She immediately turned her head and saw an old man setting up his stall in front of a shop. She sheepishly stuck out her tongue and hurried over, "Grandpa Li, you're here again today"

Li Danye was from the same hometown as Le Yun. He had a stubborn personality when he was young and was nicknamed Li Daniu. The old man used to be a minor official in his hometown, that is, a civil servant. His son ran a business in the county town. After retirement, the old man couldn't sit still and, as a lover of traditional culture, came to set up a stall selling small antiques.

The elderly man was over sixty years old, his hair was gray, but he was in good spirits. His stall was set up next to his son's store, not taking up anyone else's space. He had a small table with copper coins and antique jewelry on it. The old man sat behind the table, chatting with people when they came by. When there were no customers, he would occasionally take out his long pipe and take a few puffs. Basically, there weren't many chances to chat, and most of the time he was alone in silence.

Seeing Xiaoleyun, who could chat with himself, Li Daniu proudly pointed at the things on the table and introduced: "I went to find some new goods a few days ago and put them out for display. Look-see, Xiaolele, isn't it very flavorful"

Yue Yun and Li Daniu met not because they were from the same hometown. After all, there are many hometowns in the county town, and it's unlikely that everyone would become friends, let alone close friends. The reason why an elder and a younger person became acquainted was purely due to a chance encounter on public transportation. A pickpocket had tried to take advantage of an elderly person because of their age, but Yue Yun bravely intervened. It was after this incident that the two, young and old, got to know each other.

"Hmm, I'll come and broaden my horizons." Le Yun was very gracious, trying her best to open her titanium alloy dog eyes wide, appreciating Grandpa Li's new goods. After scanning them with her gaze, she finally found the "new goods" - a snuff bottle, an old jade carving, and three or four silver ornaments.

Isn't this something common in the countryside

Yueyun wanted to cover her eyes, she had been deceived again!

Feeling deceived, Le classmate didn't expose the other person. After all, it's not good to be too harsh on someone who's struggling. He pretended to be amazed and picked up a few new items to admire, praising their craftsmanship with exaggerated enthusiasm. He even went as far as saying the old man had good taste. What a talent for lying! He should really be a salesman.

Li Daniu was praised and smiled happily. Look, this child is very shrewd, and he said it right.

Le Yun praised each new item, admiring the other trinkets again. Grandpa Li was sometimes unreliable, bringing back only cheap knick-knacks, but sometimes he got incredibly lucky and found real treasures. Once, he found a Republic of China Yuan Datou coin and sold it for ten thousand yuan.

She had a particular fondness for jade, so she deliberately spent more time browsing the jade artifacts. When her finger touched something, her entire arm felt like it was burning. Startled, her heart pounded wildly out of control. She quickly retracted her hand without leaving a trace.

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...My right arm felt hot, burning hot.

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Strange.

The burning sensation also made Le Yun uneasy. In recent days, her arms had often inexplicably felt feverish. Since it only happened occasionally and there were no other adverse reactions, she didn't pay much attention to it.

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On her way back from shopping, she felt a burning sensation in her arm again. This time, it was even worse; her entire arm felt like it was on fire, the scorching pain spreading throughout her whole body.

Drawing her hand back, she used her left hand to pick up what she had touched before. It was a small stone, like a circle with a piece taken out of it, shaped like a semi-circle. It was mottled brown and white.

To be honest, ordinary stones like this are abundant by the riverbank. Anyone who takes the time to search could find hundreds of them.

It was just such a simple stone. When Yueyun held it, her right hand burned even hotter, giving her the feeling that her right hand was incredibly eager to be close to the stone.

"Grandpa Li, where did you find this piece of trash rock to throw among the antiques One rotten apple spoils the whole bunch. This oddity mixed in with all these exquisite antiques will lower their value. You're not afraid it will affect your business" Holding the small stone, she unceremoniously belittled it as worthless.

"Well, you're talking about that one... Oh, that one, let me think, oh, I remember now. A few days ago when I was out looking for bargains, I got tired and rested on the road. I saw it by the roadside, thought it looked pretty good so I picked it up. These days people love collecting strange rocks, you never know, maybe I could make some money from it."

Li Daniu took a look and thought for a while before remembering where that thing came from. To be honest, he just picked it up because he found it pleasing to the eye. If it weren't for Lele finding it, he wouldn't have remembered its existence at all.

"Mister Li, I happen to need a paperweight. I'll take this one. No charge for the trouble, just a pack of cigarettes." Yue Yun nimbly reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, handing it to the old man. "Here you go, evens things up. This is mine now."

"Oh, oh, how can this be You're buying something that someone else is forcing on you. Is this really right" Li Daniu grumbled and complained, but he smoothly slipped the "pack of cigarettes money" into his pocket.

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He just complained, he wouldn't give a ten-dollar cigarette money, let alone a single penny, because the shop hadn't opened yet today and he didn't want to give it away for free, so he took it.

"I feel great," Le Yun laughed, her eyes crinkled at the corners. She tucked the small stone into the front pocket of her jeans so she wouldn't lose it.

The two continued to discuss how much silver Lord Li's newly acquired goods were worth, enjoying their conversation immensely. Just then, a cool female voice came from somewhere: "You don't even have one hundred yuan on you, what kind of antiques are you buying It's embarrassing."nong Nature Reserve, a county far from the city center. There were only two buses to the city each day, and she usually went back in the morning. This time was no exception; the others hadn't returne...