The owner of the small inn was a burly man with tattoos all over his body, giving off a strong scent of the streets, and he seemed unfazed by such occurrences.
He handed Long Fei the key to the room and casually took out a condom from the drawer, cautioning Long Fei, "Brother, drunk women can be troublesome, so be careful!"
Long Fei was caught between laughter and tears but didn't bother to explain.
He didn't take the thing, and instead carried the woman upstairs to the room.
The innkeeper shook his head and even sighed, "Collectors of recyclables are really rich these days, able to hook up with such stunning women. Maybe one day I'll go collecting too!"
In the room, Long Fei laid the woman on the bed.
He closed the door, took off his T-shirt, and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror.
The wound on his head had scabbed over, but the Jade Pendant on his neck was broken.
According to his grandfather, the Jade Pendant was something his parents had been holding in their hands when they died.
That day, his parents went out to sea to fish.
They were caught in a storm and both perished.
His grandfather had it appraised, and the Jade Pendant was not of any special material, just an ordinary stone.
A blue Crystal Stone, with a hint of red in the center.
Long Fei examined the broken pieces of the Jade Pendant closely and noticed that the red heart was gone; just like the other parts, it was transparent.
He furrowed his brow, puffed out his chest, and took another look in the mirror.
He had clearly been stabbed earlier, but now, aside from the surrounding bloodstains, there was no sign of any injury.
When he touched it with his hand, the skin was smooth and unblemished.
"Weird, what's going on here?"
Long Fei was completely baffled, and before he could figure anything out, there was a sudden thump from outside.
He put away the pieces of the Jade Pendant and went out to see the woman had rolled off the bed onto the floor, scratching her body back and forth, crying out in agony, "I'm so hot, help me!"
"What's wrong with you?"
Seeing her in that state, Long Fei had no idea what was happening, but he first lifted her back onto the bed.
The woman didn't speak, but wrapped her arms around his neck and sealed his mouth with her red lips.
Long Fei intended to struggle free, but the woman held him tightly.
He spent the night dizzy and disoriented.
By the time he woke up, the woman had already left.
The fragrance of her perfume lingered on the bed, and a bright red rose dazzled Long Fei's "dog eyes".
He inwardly exclaimed, "No way, is she a...?"
There was a stack of money on the dresser, underneath which was a note, "Thank you for saving me, let's not meet again!"
Long Fei rubbed his temples, utterly dumbfounded.
He counted the money on the table.
Sure enough, it was over two thousand yuan.
"What the hell is this!"
He was mystified, feeling as though he had been prostituted.
"You can insult my body, but you can't insult my Spirit Soul!"
Long Fei grumbled indignantly, grabbed the money, and left with his plastic bag.
Now was exactly when he was strapped for cash, and there was no point in turning it down.
In the waste collection station at the edge of the city, an old man dumped Long Fei's plastic bottles onto the ground.
After counting, there were over three hundred of them.
There were also a dozen or so glass bottles, all shattered, worthless.
He counted out thirty yuan and handed it to Long Fei.
Long Fei shook his head with a smile, "Old Man Mu, I don't need this money, consider it a gift I bought for you!"
He only knew the old man's last name was Mu, nothing else.
"What happened?"
Old Man Mu furrowed his brow.
Long Fei said, "I'm thinking of changing my way of life!"
People reach for higher places, as water flows to lower grounds.
Long Fei didn't want to spend his life picking up bottles, always dirty and shunned by everyone, not even daring to flirt with a girl.
Old Man Mu looked at him with admiration and patted his shoulder, "It's good to have ambition. Picking up trash is indeed not a decent job. Do well, and I have faith in you!"
"Thank you!"
Long Fei turned and left, feeling exceptionally good.
It had been twenty years, and he had finally shed the label of being single last night.
Although he did not even know the name of the beauty, he felt it was enough.
These days, he had already learned the skills to survive.
In Binhai City, there is a Binhai University.
Around the university town, there are urban villages, which are the cheapest places to rent in Binhai City.
While eating at a street stall, he asked several people, and they all rented places there.
After leaving the dump, Long Fei boarded the bus, planning to rent a place there first and then look for a job with peace of mind.
He had strength and could endure hardship.
The city folks were not as he had imagined, all working in offices and playing with computers.
There were still the dirty and exhausting jobs that he could do.
The bus was crowded, but Long Fei was not worried about not having a place to stand.
These city dwellers thought he was dirty.
Upon seeing him, they all moved aside, faces showing disgust.
Long Fei did not mind; he had gotten used to it while collecting bottles.
He found a spot by the rear door and stood there, next to him a high school girl gave him a faint smile as she looked up.
She did not show any disgust towards Long Fei, which was quite surprising to him.
The girl was young, with fair skin, a melon seed-shaped face, big eyes, and long eyelashes, very pure-looking.
Long Fei avoided eye contact, fearing she would mistake him for a hoodlum, and dared not look too much.
At the next stop, a young man got on.
He looked like a street tough, with yellow hair, earrings, tattoos on his arm, and wearing tight clothes.
He took a spot in the back, and upon seeing the girl, his eyes lit up and he whistled as he stood behind her.
There were many places available to stand, but he chose not to stand there, instead getting very close to the girl.
The girl's face turned red, and she moved aside.
He whistled and followed her, moving closer.
As the bus moved, he kept rubbing against the girl with the bus's rocking motion.
The girl bit her lip, looked on the brink of tears, glancing left and right, wishing someone would help her.
The people nearby saw what was happening, but none wanted to meddle and averted their gazes.
Yellow Hair grew bolder and his right hand moved up to the girl's shoulder.
The girl looked at Long Fei, attempting to seek his help.
Long Fei understood her plea, shifted behind her, and forcefully pushed Yellow Hair away.
Yellow Hair nearly fell, his face contorting with anger as he looked up at him and cursed, "Fuck your mother, who are you bumping into?"
Long Fei glared at him and said coldly, "Didn't your mother teach you how to behave?"
Yellow Hair was only about 1.7 meters tall, a head shorter than him.
Pressured by Long Fei's imposing manner, he pointed at Long Fei and scoffed, "Fine, you wait, don't let me see you again!"
The bus reached the next stop, and Yellow Hair glared at Long Fei as he disembarked.
Just as one foot stepped out of the door, Long Fei's right leg flew out, kicking Yellow Hair in the back.
With his small frame, Yellow Hair was sent flying out and landed heavily on the ground, blood gushing from his nose.
Before he could get up, the bus had driven off.
The people on the bus all laughed, casting admiring glances at Long Fei.
The girl stood in front of Long Fei, releasing her pent-up emotions with a chuckle, full of gratitude she said, "Thank you, big brother!"
"No need to be polite!"
Long Fei smiled faintly, standing with the girl all the way.
When there were seats available, they both just stood there foolishly, neither taking a seat.
The bus announced, "Next stop, Binhai Eighth Middle School, please make your way to the rear door if you are alighting."
Upon hearing this, the girl raised an eyebrow, quickly taking out paper and pen from her backpack.
As the bus came to a stop at the station, she tore off a page from her notebook, stuffed it into Long Fei's hand, blushed, and hurried off the bus.
The paper read, "My name is Su Yiyi, I'm in the ninth grade at Eighth Middle School, this is my WeChat ID, remember to add me!"