Jiangnan region, Jianghai City.
It was just evening when Fang Yu stepped out of the train station. Passing by a market, he bought a prepared chicken and two cans of beer, then slowly walked home.
His home was in a run-down urban village, a house with a small courtyard and two floors. Fang Yu lived on the second floor, while a mother and daughter lived on the first floor.
The rent here was very cheap, only five hundred yuan per month.
When he got home, Fang Yu set up a grill in the courtyard and started roasting the chicken.
Just as he was brushing sauce onto the chicken, a girl with a school bag ran into the courtyard.
"It smells so good, Brother Fang Yu! I could smell it from far away," the girl said, her big eyes gleaming as she looked at the chicken on the grill.
"Don't worry, there's definitely some for you," Fang Yu replied.
"Brother Fang Yu, you're the best!" the girl said happily, then walked into her house.
This girl was the first-floor resident, Yu Yueyue, who was in her first year of high school.
A moment later, Yu Yueyue came out again, carrying a small stool and sat next to Fang Yu.
"Brother Fang Yu, where have you been these past few days? My mom went back to her hometown recently, so I've been home alone and it's so boring," Yu Yueyue said, resting her chin in her hands.
"An old friend passed away. I went to see him," Fang Yu answered honestly.
"...I'm sorry, my condolences," Yu Yueyue said softly, as if she had done something wrong.
Fang Yu's friend was probably around the same age as Fang Yu, and they must have been close. Dying so young was tragic.
But Yu Yueyue noticed that there wasn't a hint of sadness on Fang Yu's face; he was just staring at the sizzling chicken, swallowing his saliva.
"It's done!"
A few minutes later, Fang Yu picked up the roasted chicken with his hands, seemingly not bothered by the heat.
Fang Yu tore off a drumstick and handed it to Yu Yueyue, then started eating the rest of the chicken himself.
It was delicious!
Speaking of which, for someone who had been cultivating for nearly five thousand years, it was quite absurd that he still couldn't achieve the state of not needing to eat and still had to rely on food to fill his stomach.
But Fang Yu had no choice. He could go without eating, but he would feel hungry.
A long time ago, he had become very disillusioned with life and tried to starve himself to death.
But even after two months without food or water, he was still alive and well. Although his bodily functions were fine, he felt an unbearable hunger and thirst.
As long as he felt hungry or thirsty, Fang Yu had to eat and drink, or he would feel miserable.
That night, Fang Yu sat on his bed, flipping through the prescriptions that Xia Xiuzhi had spent nearly twenty years writing.
These prescriptions were the result of Xia Xiuzhi's lifelong research and effort.
Even a single prescription was a priceless treasure, and if leaked, would undoubtedly cause a sensation in the medical world.
"This kid even researched prescriptions for enhancing male vitality... truly surpassing the master," Fang Yu muttered to himself.
"Bang bang bang..."
Just as Fang Yu was looking at the prescriptions, there was a loud banging on the door downstairs.
"Yu Laogou, come out! You still owe us fifty thousand in gambling debts, and you think hiding will get you out of it?" A rough voice shouted.
With Fang Yu's hearing, he could hear Yu Yueyue crying inside the first-floor apartment.
This girl had mentioned that her mom had gone back to her hometown, so she was home alone these days.
"Open the door right now! If you don't, we'll break it down! And if I catch you, I'll crush your balls!" Another voice roared.
"Bang!"
As they spoke, they began to kick the door.
"Yu, Yu Chengye has already divorced my mom. He has nothing to do with us, and he's not here..." Yu Yueyue said, sobbing.
"You think we'll just take your word for it? You're his daughter, aren't you going to save him?" The two men continued kicking the door.
"If you keep kicking, I... I'll call the police!" Yu Yueyue cried out.
"Go ahead, call the cops. If you do, I'll deal with you first when I break in!" One of the men threatened.
"Bang, bang, crack!"
The door was broken down.
The two men, who had come to collect the debt, stormed into the house and saw Yu Yueyue sitting on the floor, trembling with fear.
They looked around and saw that there was no one else in the house, just Yu Yueyue alone.
"Wow, this old dog Yu can actually have such a beautiful daughter?" One of the men said, his eyes burning as he stared at Yu Yueyue, who was sitting on the floor.
"Well, I have an idea. Since we can't find the old dog Yu, we'll take her and sell her. The money we get will be used to pay off Yu's debt," the other man suggested.
"Hold on, before that, we can have some fun first... heh heh." The man squatted down, reaching out with a leering smile toward the trembling Yu Yueyue.
But before he could touch her, he felt a tremendous force lift him into the air.
"Who are you!?" The other man yelled, trying to attack Fang Yu.
"Bang!"
In the next second, the man screamed as Fang Yu kicked him, sending him flying into the courtyard.
The man Fang Yu was holding didn't even have a chance to speak before Fang Yu slapped him several times, then threw him into the courtyard as well.
"Whoever owes you money, you go find them. You have three seconds to get out of here," Fang Yu said calmly.
The two men, beaten dizzy in just a few moments, realized how dangerous Fang Yu was and didn't dare stay any longer. They didn't even dare to make any threats and ran off, terrified.
Looking at the still-crying and trembling Yu Yueyue on the floor, Fang Yu squatted down and said, "It's okay, I've chased them away."
Yu Yueyue threw her arms around Fang Yu, crying even louder.
After comforting Yu Yueyue for a while and fixing her door, Fang Yu returned to the second floor.
To be honest, after living for nearly five thousand years, Fang Yu had seen too much, and his emotions had become quite detached.
He often chose to watch people's misfortunes, like Old Master Tang's, with indifference.
He only chose to help those he had some relationship with or found interesting.
It was late at night. Fang Yu lay on his bed, closing his eyes to sleep.
Just like with not eating, Fang Yu wouldn't die if he didn't sleep, but he would feel tired.
So, he still needed to sleep.
But he had only just closed his eyes for a couple of minutes when he heard a knock on the door.
He got up to open it and found Yu Yueyue standing there in her thin nightgown.
"Brother Fang Yu, I... I'm scared to sleep alone... Can I sleep at your place?" Yu Yueyue's pretty eyes were red and swollen from crying, her delicate nose also red, making her look pitiful.
Aside from her mother, the person she trusted most was Fang Yu.
Fang Yu was taken aback for a moment. He only had one bed in his place.
But seeing that Yu Yueyue was still trembling, Fang Yu didn't refuse and agreed to her request.
"You can sleep in my bed tonight," Fang Yu said.
"I... I can sleep on the floor. You sleep on the bed," Yu Yueyue said.
"It's okay. I slept a lot on the train today, so I'm not that tired," Fang Yu replied.
Yu Yueyue didn't say anything more and carefully climbed into Fang Yu's bed.
So this is Brother Fang Yu's bed... It's still warm. He was just lying here...
Lying in bed, watching Fang Yu sitting at his desk, looking at a pile of prescriptions, Yu Yueyue felt her face heat up.
I can't believe I'm really lying in Brother Fang Yu's bed...
What is Brother Fang Yu reading?
How can Brother Fang Yu be so good at fighting? Those two men were so fierce, but Brother Fang Yu threw them out so easily... so cool.
Yu Yueyue's thoughts wandered as she fell asleep.
The next day, Fang Yu arrived at Jianghai High School.
In fact, over the past few thousand years, he had attended school many times.
But there was no choice. Since he had to live, he had to live like a normal person.
Having tried countless professions, Fang Yu still found school the most interesting and the easiest.
Returning to the Class 2 of the third year, Fang Yu sat in the corner seat of the classroom.
In the class, he was just a reclusive, low-key student with no friends, completely unremarkable.
He could bet that at least half the class didn't even know his name.
"I heard the school beauty from the neighboring honors class, Tang Xiaorou, is transferring to our class. Is it true?"
"Yeah, the class monitor overheard her talking to our teacher in the office, and she asked to transfer to our class."
"No way! She's a goddess! Why would she want to transfer to our class? Did she take a fancy to some guy here?"
Fang Yu could hear their chatter, but he only found it noisy.
"Hey, Fang Yu, Tang Xiaorou is transferring to
our class! Don't get any ideas!"
A chubby student in the front row, Xu Xiaozhu, turned his head and said mockingly to Fang Yu.
Fang Yu had no interest in responding.
Though Fang Yu looked just like an ordinary eighteen-year-old high school student, his true age was older than the grandfather of this Xu Xiaozhu.
"Oh, right! Brother Wang called earlier and said he's waiting for us in the alley near the back gate of the school. He got us some good stuff. Are you coming?" Xu Xiaozhu asked again.
"I told you before, I'm not interested in that," Fang Yu replied.
"Tsk, how boring," Xu Xiaozhu muttered, turning away.
A few minutes later, Tang Xiaorou entered the classroom and stood at the podium.
The moment she appeared, the whole classroom fell silent, the air filled with excitement.
"She's even more beautiful up close!"
"Tang Xiaorou is our classmate now? We're so lucky!"
"Tang Xiaorou, is there someone in our class you like?"
The boys around Fang Yu all looked at Tang Xiaorou with eager eyes.
She had fair skin, delicate features, and was tall. She stood there like a star, radiating beauty.
But compared to the beauty that Fang Yu had seen throughout his long life, Tang Xiaorou's looks didn't captivate him.
But even Fang Yu couldn't deny that Tang Xiaorou's looks were indeed outstanding among her peers.
"I'm Tang Xiaorou, and I'm very happy to join Class 2. I hope to make friends with everyone," Tang Xiaorou introduced herself with a smile.
"Fang Yu!"
The next moment, Tang Xiaorou's gaze swept the classroom, stopping at Fang Yu.
"Teacher, I want to sit there!"
What?
The students in the class, as well as the teacher, were stunned.
What was going on?
Tang Xiaorou, the school beauty, wanted to sit with Fang Yu, the most insignificant student in the class?
There must be some mistake!
Even Fang Yu himself was puzzled.