In the scorching heat of J City in August, it felt like being in a steamer, making it hard to catch one's breath. The air seemed to have solidified. Jake fanned himself to catch a slight breeze while clumsily handling the food on the barbecue grill in front of him - flipping and seasoning. His movements revealed that he wasn't an expert.
In fact, Jake was far from being a barbecue master. He had only been in the barbecue business for less than a month. Not only was he inexperienced, but his equipment was also extremely simple - just a barbecue grill, two tables, and a dozen chairs. As for business, it was lukewarm at best. Only one of the tables was occupied by three people, while the other remained empty.
Jake envied the three individuals sitting at the table. From their conversation, Jake knew they were students from nearby schools. A year ago, Jake was in the same position as them. However, a year later, he could only stand behind this rather crude barbecue grill.
"What a cruel society!" Jake sighed softly, continuing to flip the ingredients in his hands. Just as he lamented the harshness of society, a strong and energetic voice reached his ears. "Boss, give me ten skewers of small kebabs, ten skewers of chicken wings, and ten skewers of pork belly..."
Jake's heart leaped with joy. This order was a big deal for his small stall. "Sure," Jake replied with delight, then looked up at the person. However, his actions came to a halt, and his brows unconsciously furrowed. Before him stood a person with disheveled hair, dirt smudges on the face, tattered clothes with several patches, and half-broken flip-flops. If he were holding a bowl in their hand, he would look exactly like a beggar.
"Hurry up, I'm starving," the person urged when they noticed Jake's hesitation.
"Okay, I'll get right to it," Jake said, verbally complying but not moving his hands.
The person seemed to sense Jake's concerns and said, "What's wrong? Afraid I don't have money?"
"No need to say it. With your appearance, anyone would have such concerns," Jake silently complained in his mind. Of course, he couldn't say that aloud. He didn't want to offend anyone. "No, not at all."
"That's good," the person said, then murmured quietly to themselves, "I really don't have any money." However, Jake clearly didn't hear the latter part of the sentence. "With his confident speech and dirty face, although he appears disheveled, his aura is extraordinary. He shouldn't be a beggar," Jake pondered, busying himself with the food. A customer is a customer, especially when there are many onlookers around. He couldn't judge someone solely by their appearance and drive them away.
After a while, Jake finished preparing all the items ordered by the person. He handed everything over and said, "Here are all the items you ordered, totaling $360." The person took the food from Jake without immediately paying. Instead, they started eating. Jake didn't rush he and simply watched. As long as he didn't leave, it was fine for them to finish eating here.
"Boss, bring three more bottles of beer!" At this moment, the only table with customers called out to Jake.
"Coming!" Jake took three bottles of beer and walked toward the three people, while still keeping an eye on the person dressed as a beggar. "Here's your beer." He placed the beer on the table and prepared to leave.
However, when Jake turned around, he was stunned because the beggar he had just seen eating there had disappeared without a trace. Jake could swear that his gaze had only left the person for two seconds, just the two seconds he put down his beer, and during those two seconds, the person vanished! It was truly bizarre!
Jake quickly ran to his own stall, looking around, but on the slightly empty street, he couldn't see the person's figure at all. It was as if the person had vanished into thin air. It was really bizarre!
Jake complained once again, searching multiple times but couldn't find the person. He reluctantly returned to his own stall. the person turned out to be a freeloader. All that confidence and presence were just his own illusion!
"Oh, what's this?" When Jake walked back to his stall, he discovered a gray ring next to his barbecue grill. Jake picked up the ring and examined it. He couldn't tell what material it was made of, but its surface was smooth and polished.
"Could it be from that person just now? Maybe he didn't have money to pay and left this ring as compensation?" Jake thought to himself. During this time, apart from the person he saw earlier, there were no other customers around his stall. Clearly, the owner of this ring should be that person.
"A worthless ring can compensate me for $360? No wonder he felt embarrassed and left something behind." Jake muttered to himself.
He initially thought about throwing the ring away, but upon feeling it, he thought it was not bad, so he didn't discard it. Instead, he put it on and was surprised to find that it fit perfectly.
"Forget it, having something is better than nothing. I'll consider it as a charity for the freeloader earlier." Jake consoled himself. The situation had already unfolded this way, and there was no point in dwelling on it.
Around 1 am, there weren't many people left in the market. Jake packed up his things and headed back to his rented room, a small ten-square-meter space.
After arranging his belongings, there was hardly any space left in Jake's room. He lay on his bed, reflecting on his experiences over the past year since his graduation, feeling somewhat disheartened.
Jake also graduated from college, but his school was only a third-tier university, and he didn't study a popular major. As a result, the job he found after graduation wasn't great. Moreover, he was fired the next day because he saw something he shouldn't have seen in the manager's office and accidentally entered . Due to his lack of a good education and work experience, finding a job became difficult. In order to survive in the city, Jake had to search for jobs and do part-time work simultaneously. He was willing to do anything legal that could earn him money. He worked as a bricklayer on construction sites, played the role of a mannequin in a shopping mall, and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. In short, as long as it could make money without breaking the law, he was willing to do it.
However, Jake's luck seemed to have been bad all along. While working as a bricklayer, he accidentally injured his foot and was told not to come back the next day. When he worked as a mascot, he tried to help a child who had fallen, but the child's parent misunderstood and caused a scene at the store. As a result, he was dismissed the following day. When he worked as a waiter at a restaurant, a chef made a mistake with an order, and the customer blamed Jake and complained about him. Consequently, he lost his job as a waiter as well. Finally, just over a month ago, with his limited savings, he started working as a barbecue vendor, hoping to make some money during the summer.
However, running a barbecue business wasn't as easy as he thought. There were several barbecue restaurants near Jake's stall, with larger spaces and better environments. His cooking skills were average at best. As a result, even though he had been doing it for a month, business hadn't been too good. This made Jake, who was eager to earn money, somewhat anxious.
"What's even more annoying is that today I was taken advantage of by someone who eat a free meal," Jake thought angrily as he looked at the ring on his hand. The events of the evening weighed on his mind, and he felt a bit depressed. Earning a little money was not easy for him, and today's freeloader meant that he had essentially worked for nothing the whole evening and even had to pay some money. Was his streak of bad luck going to continue? Was he going to fail at his barbecue business too?
Furious, Jake wanted to take off the ring. However, it was easy to put on but difficult to remove. Jake tried turning the ring for a while, but he couldn't take it off. Instead, he ended up rubbing his finger, causing it to turn red, and a few strands of blood appeared.
At this moment, something surprising happened that astonished Jake. The strands of blood that had appeared were actually absorbed by the ring. The previously dull ring suddenly became bright, shining like the midday sun.
"Host detected, binding in progress..." A mechanical voice sounded in Jake's ear.