"What's good to introduce?!" Su Zijing entered the wood carving shop with an air of arrogance.
"... "
Liu Fei and Chen Chen were in the middle of exchanging a wooden doll carving. Both of them were taken aback when Su Zijing walked in.
"Miss Su, take a look for yourself. If there's anything you like, we can offer you a discount. This store is about to close down, and you won't be able to buy anything here in the future," Chen Chen said softly, with a touch of sadness in his tone.
"Close down... Who cares? Hmph! What kind of junk is this? Twenty thousand Zhuo'er coins? So expensive..." Su Zijing lifted her head high, as if she hadn't even seen Liu Fei, and walked over to a wooden carving of nine dragons.
"Sorry, Miss Su, it's two hundred thousand Zhuo'er coins."
"What? Two hundred thousand Zhuo'er coins! Are you robbing people?!" Su Zijing widened her eyes, looking at the string of zeros on the price tag with an incredulous expression.
"... Miss Su, we have some cheaper options."
"What cheaper options? Are you trying to bully me because I don't have money?" Su Zijing snapped.
"No, Miss Su..."
"How much is this?" Su Zijing's eyes lit up as she saw the wooden doll carving in Chen Chen's hands, which was Liu Fei's work.
"One hundred and thirty thousand Zhuo'er coins."
"One hundred and thirty thousand Zhuo'er coins... This was just carved randomly, yet you still want one hundred and thirty thousand? And he himself said it was only a hundred thousand!"
"Sorry, this is the price set by my grandfather. I can give you a twenty percent discount, one hundred and four thousand. That's the lowest."
"Pah! A piece of worthless wood, and you want over a hundred thousand for it? Do you really think I'm a fool?" Su Zijing exclaimed.
"If you're not a fool, then what are you?" Suddenly, a gentle male voice came from behind Su Zijing.
"Ah... Brother, why are you here..." Su Zijing turned around abruptly, only to see a tall and upright young man walking in slowly. He was dressed plainly and neatly, with a gentle and friendly smile on his face, giving people a refreshing feeling.
"I couldn't not come. Our Su family's face would be completely lost if I didn't. This is Cheng's Wood Carving Shop. Its history is even longer than our Su family's. In the Zhuo'er Star Domain, families or celebrities with a little bit of status are proud to own a piece of Cheng's work. How dare you say it's worthless!"
"I... I... I didn't know..." Su Zijing suddenly blushed, wishing she could find a hole to hide in, lowering her head and not daring to look at Su Ziyun.
"Sorry, I'm Su Ziyun. This is my little sister, Su Zijing. She's devoted to the study of Opto-brains and knows little about wood carving art. If she said anything offensive, please forgive her." Su Ziyun bowed slightly to Liu Fei, with a sincere expression on his face.
Su Ziyun's words were quite deliberate. They were not only an apology but also an excuse for Su Zijing, sparing her embarrassment. Moreover, they subtly indicated to others that Su Zijing was not an ignorant and arrogant rich girl.
"I'm not the boss." Liu Fei stepped back and distanced himself from Su Ziyun. He didn't like to keep too close to strangers, and this Su Ziyun, although he seemed gentle and refined, exuded a suffocating pressure in his every move, which made Liu Fei uncomfortable. He had immediately classified him as a dangerous person.
"Oh... May I ask about Mr. Cheng..."
Su Ziyun's gaze fell on Chen Chen, and his eyes lit up, as if a hundred flowers were blooming and the spring breeze was blowing.
Chen Chen, with his raised eyebrows, bright eyes, rosy cheeks, aquiline nose, cherry lips slightly parted, fine teeth revealed, and his delicate black hair falling behind his shoulders, his bright and shiny eyes flashing with sadness and seemingly some joy. His pure and elegant face looked a bit tired, which made him even more lovable.
Su Ziyun naturally didn't know that Chen Chen was sad because of his grandfather's death and happy because of Liu Fei's arrival.
Su Ziyun didn't know that at this moment, his brain had fallen into endless blankness, and his intelligence had dropped to an almost negligible level, just like a lightning bolt striking his heart and brain in the vast night sky...
"My grandfather passed away." Chen Chen didn't care about Su Ziyun's daze. This scene wasn't the first time he had seen it, and it wouldn't be the last.
"I see, I see..." Su Ziyun said absent-mindedly.
"Brother!" Su Zijing saw her usually composed brother acting so out of character, she couldn't help but stomp her foot in anger.
"Ah..." Su Ziyun suddenly woke up, regained his senses, and bowed slightly, "I'm sorry for bringing up your sad memories."
"This store is closing..." Chen Chen issued a faint eviction order.
"Oh... Then we'll leave." Su Ziyun, back to his usual self, exuded an air of superiority in his every move, as if he had forgotten his previous lapse.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Su Ziyun's eyes still fixed on Chen Chen, Su Zijing snorted coldly, picked up her bags, and strode out. Su Ziyun saw his beloved sister leaving, smiled kindly at Chen Chen and Liu Fei, and quickly followed her out.
As soon as Su Ziyun and his sister left, Chen Chen immediately closed the door. The two of them didn't speak, and Liu Fei looked at Mr. Cheng's workbench, thinking of Ironhead.
There was a long silence in the wood carving shop.
Finally, Chen Chen spoke.
"Fei, your tuition..."
"I'll figure it out myself." Liu Fei shook his head. Since he was nine years old, Ironhead had told him to learn to solve his own problems. From childhood to adulthood, Liu Fei had been doing his own laundry, even running around for his three meals a day. Ironhead only provided guidance.
"Fei, the wood carving shop will close tomorrow." Chen Chen said softly.
"What about these wood carvings?" Liu Fei asked.
"My grandfather has a friend who knows about my grandfather's passing. He's willing to buy all the wooden art pieces in the shop."
"Okay, that's good." Liu Fei nodded, looking at this ancient shop, from now on, this shop with hundreds of years of history would disappear forever.
Once again, there was silence in the small shop.
"I'm leaving."
"I'm leaving too."
"I'll walk you home."
"Okay."
The two of them closed the shop door and walked slowly on the pedestrian street. At this time, the pedestrian street was unusually deserted, with almost no one in sight. The holographic advertisements at the entrances of some shops blinked with eerie lights, adding a strange atmosphere.
"Are you cold?" Liu Fei asked as he noticed Chenchens's body trembling slightly.
"Yeah," Chenchens's face flushed slightly as she looked down at her toes, hoping Liu Fei would embrace her.
Instead of hugging her, Liu Fei took off his own coat and draped it over her.
"Thank you," Chenchens said, a hint of disappointment between her brows.
"Sure, what are your plans?" Liu Fei asked.
"I... I plan to go study," Chenchens adjusted her clothes, the snow-white softness hanging down, hoping to touch Liu Fei's fingers.
"Where are you planning to study?"
"At Zuo'er Mecha University, majoring in optical brains."
"Okay," Liu Fei nodded, creating a slight distance between them, and Chenchens's snow-white softness never touched Liu Fei's hand.
...
The two of them chatted half-heartedly as they finally arrived at Chenchen's place.
"Wanna come in for a bit?" Chenchen's invitation was barely audible, her shy blush spreading to her neck and ears. For a girl, uttering such an invitation was almost unimaginable.
"It's late," Liu Fei shook his head.
"Yeah, get some rest. I'll be out for a couple of days. Here's the smart key to my place, I've cleared the password. Set it up yourself, and if you have time, help me take care of things," Chenchen sighed inwardly.
"Why are you going out?" Liu Fei hesitated, taking the smart key. He had promised her grandfather that he had an obligation to look after her.
"Just traveling for a while," Chenchen looked up at the vast night sky. "I've grown up in the Cheng's Woodcarving Shop all my life, never left Zuor Star. It's time to see the world."
Chenchen's grandfather had told her that if she liked a man, the best way was to keep her distance. He also said that women should learn to be independent, as that's what attracts men.
"Yeah, exploring sounds good," Liu Fei nodded, his gaze deep into the vast night sky where his dreams lay.
"It's late."
"Yeah, I'm leaving."
Chenchen nodded gently, watching Liu Fei's figure disappear into the darkness, letting out a soft sigh. Her grandfather had said that Liu Fei liked heroic women with a commanding presence. Would she become that kind of woman?
...
As soon as Liu Fei stepped into Fallen Street, he felt a prickling sensation on his back. At this hour, Fallen Street was deserted; there were only a few drug addicts and prostitutes wandering in the darkness, and some of the shops had already closed.
The further he ventured into the depths of Fallen Street, the stronger the feeling of unease became. It was as if a lurking beast in the abyss had awakened and was staring at him, its aura of extreme danger sweeping through the entire street.
Run!
Almost immediately, Liu Fei made a decision.
In the blink of an eye, his body accelerated, heading towards an abandoned metal pillar. Just as he was about to collide with it, Liu Fei leaned sideways, bypassing the pillar. In the split second as his body brushed past the metal pillar, Liu Fei's arm curved, embracing the pillar, using the powerful inertia of his body to make a rapid turn...
It had been a long time since he had run with such intensity. A feeling of exhilaration and excitement filled every fiber of his being. Liu Fei didn't run towards his own house; instead, he entered the labyrinthine streets of the slums.
His speed increased with each turn, his figure ghost-like, leaving a long shadow behind him.
The feeling of running with hot blood coursing through him, as if on the grasslands or in the desert, returned to him once again. But this time, it was more akin to being chased by a pack of wolves.
To train Liu Fei's speed, Ironhead loved nothing more than capturing him being chased by imaginary wolves...
Undoubtedly, this time, it wasn't imaginary wolves chasing him. While wolves were fierce and brutal, the feeling they gave off wasn't as distant as this.
...
Zhang Wen and Zhang Wu were two brothers who grew up together, wore the same clothes, ate the same food, and later, worked the same job: assassins!
Zhang Wen and Zhang Wu had only been in the business for just over two years. In this short time, they had climbed from over two thousand on the Assassin Leaderboard to just over five hundred. Their speed was astonishing. Many assassins, once they entered the leaderboard, remained in the same position for life.
The two brothers were ambitious; they believed that in another two years, they would enter the top one hundred on the Assassin Leaderboard. They had the confidence.
A few days ago, the two brothers took on a job: to kill a teenager in the slums for a reward of two hundred thousand Zuor coins.
Two hundred thousand Zuor coins wasn't particularly high for the two brothers, but it wasn't low either. After all, their ranking was still beyond five hundred, and the going rate for this rank was usually around three hundred thousand Zuor coins.
Usually, the two brothers wouldn't pay much attention to two hundred thousand Zuor coins, as they were capable of commanding a higher price. However, they ultimately took on the job because they happened to be traveling in the Jifeng Great Grasslands on Zuor Star. It was just killing a teenager from the slums, a small profit for their trip.
As night fell, the two brothers lay in wait on Liu Fei's inevitable route. Everything was set. As soon as Liu Fei passed their ambush, they could easily complete the task and return to vacation in the Jifeng Great Grasslands after collecting the bounty from the Assassin Guild...
The target appeared in the holographic sight unexpectedly!
Just as the two were about to pull the triggers of their sniper rifles, the target suddenly started running, performing some incredible maneuvers in the complex terrain, making it impossible for them to aim.
"Chase!"
The two brothers, who were lying in ambush at different positions, instantly put away their sniper rifles, summoned flying skateboards from their spatial rings, and intercepted the target that was crazily weaving through the streets and alleys.