Happy Every Day

In the early morning, dew condensed on the bow, leaving streaks of moisture on the cello's body.

In weather this humid, they should have been carefully maintained, but Huai Shi was in no mood for that now.

After following his usual routine of practicing for two hours and meditating, he sat on the garden steps in a daze.

Then, naturally, his butt got cold.

"Maybe I should put a cushion here someday."

Unable to sit any longer, he stood up, dusted off his pants, and wandered aimlessly around the bare garden.

The stitched wound on his arm still ached faintly with every swing of his arm.

Once again, it reminded him just how dangerous he had been last night.

No, rather, it drove home just what kind of predicament he was in now... He was still far from being able to ensure his own safety.

Though he often felt that such a poor and difficult life had no meaning in continuing, no one who could live would think death was better.

Besides, Huai Shi's life had not truly begun yet.

Living was wonderful.

He wanted to cling to it a little longer.

"Spacing out in the garden again?"

He suddenly heard Crow land on the fence. "Can't you find somewhere else?"

"What if I like it here?"

"Then put in some effort, Huai Shi. Your Sublimation is almost complete." She sighed in exasperation and raised a wing to gesture. "You're just this little bit away."

Huai Shi could not muster any enthusiasm. "What good will finishing Sublimation do? Will I be able to sprinkle more chili powder or something?

No matter how impressive it is, it can't compare to what happened last night, can it?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Tribulation Ash is merely a byproduct of your soul's attributes. Once Sublimation is complete, the power of your soul will undergo a breakthrough. Besides, do you think that monkey yesterday was truly relying on his own ability?"

"Hm?"

"Nue, a Stigmata from Yingzhou's Mythic Genealogy. It was the result of the third stage: Etherification."

Crow gave him a meaningful look. "Sublimation is only the beginning, Huai Shi. Sublimators with tremendous potential usually awaken at eleven or twelve. You're already behind, so don't slack off.

Perhaps you hope to return to a peaceful life after this is over, but you must first understand one thing—the owner of the Book of Destiny is destined to walk the path to the pinnacle of this world. Power, wealth, and beautiful women will all be within reach then, but a calm and peaceful life will be the one thing you can never have."

Huai Shi fell silent for a long while, holding the notebook in his hand.

"...Is it too late to throw this thing away now?"

Crow thought about it, then suddenly became excited. "Though I don't recommend it, nothing like this has ever happened in history. I'm very curious what would happen. Why don't you give it a try?"

Huai Shi rolled his eyes.

"So, since you can't resist, you might as well enjoy it." Crow sympathetically stretched out a wing and patted his shoulder. "At least, in a certain sense, you still have a fairly peaceful life."

Right—if he ignored being so poor he was nearly starving to death and having to work at a host club, coming across a corpse on the road and somehow getting chased down and murdered, now living with a bald host, and being used as bait...

For some reason, when he thought of that, the girl he had only met twice suddenly came to mind: the wheelchair-bound girl who seemed only two or three years older than him.

Ai Qing.

It seemed like he had seen her somewhere before, but when he thought carefully, there was no such memory in the short and empty first half of his life.

No matter what, a pretty young lady in a wheelchair was not someone anyone would simply forget after seeing her, right?

He scratched his head, but no matter how hard he thought, he could not remember.

It was not until a car horn sounded at the entrance, reminding him it was time for work, that he reluctantly hoisted his cello case and shuffled out.

Half-baked host Huai Shi welcomed another torturous new day...

And naturally, he got into trouble.

"Isn't working here the same as selling yourself? Who are you trying to act all high and mighty for?"

In front of Liu Dongli, a wiry woman old enough to nearly be Huai Shi's mother angrily pointed at Huai Shi behind him, then splashed a glass of wine at him.

"I've opened more than a dozen champagne towers at your place! Can't I have him come sit with me and drink a few glasses? Does he think he's some heavenly beauty? Get your manager out here. I fucking refuse to believe it today..."

Amid the chaos, Huai Shi gave an awkward laugh in the back, not knowing what to say. In the end, he was hurriedly pushed outside.

After quite a while, Liu Dongli finally settled the trouble. After searching for ages, he found Huai Shi waiting for lunch in front of a pancake stall behind the club.

Ever since getting an eight-hundred-a-day allowance, this guy had gotten cocky. He even dared to add two sausage sticks to his pancake, looking happier than anything. Liu Dongli, already frustrated beyond measure, could not help clicking his tongue in amazement. "Six complaints on your second day at work. How did you manage that?"

Huai Shi thought seriously for a long time, then asked tentatively, "Maybe because I'm good-looking?"

"Huai Shi..." Liu Dongli sighed. "You got wine splashed all over your face, and your face was scratched up like this. How can you act like nothing happened?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

Huai Shi looked at him blankly. "Go back and kick her in the ass, then tell her that thirty years the river runs east, thirty years it runs west, so don't look down on the poor young man?

Besides, it was all expected. What is there to get angry about? If I got angry over this sort of thing, I would have died of rage four or five years ago."

"..."

Liu Dongli was speechless. He could only admit that this guy always had unexpected strengths in strange areas.

Ever since he had half-deliberately made things difficult for Huai Shi by bringing him to work, there had been no end of aggravating incidents. Yet he had never seen the guy lose his temper or flip a table. Even after getting wine splashed on him, he only smiled and moved aside, neither striking back nor talking back.

Though he never stopped making dirty jokes in private, his patience was so good it left people speechless.

To be this optimistic, he had to wonder whether the guy was an idiot or something else entirely.

Watching him grin as he waited for his pancake, Liu Dongli somehow felt irritated. He always felt as though he was forcing a decent man into prostitution, bullying an honest person, and thoroughly corrupting his own conscience.

"Stop waiting. Let's go."

Liu Dongli dragged him back to change clothes. "No work this afternoon. Big brother's taking you out for something good."

"Really? You finally found your conscience?" Huai Shi was delighted. "Then when are you paying the electric bill too?"

Liu Dongli was climbing the stairs and nearly threw out his back. He turned around and glared fiercely. "Fine, I'm your bodyguard for free, but why do I have to pay your electric bill too?"

"You're the one who wants to use the water heater."

Huai Shi said, "Can't you just wash with cold water?"

"Hey, do you have any conscience? I got hurt saving you yesterday! Besides, cold showers are terrible for your skin, okay?"

"...Yeah, and terrible for your hair too," Huai Shi added from behind him.

Visibly, Liu Dongli stumbled on the stairs and nearly rolled back down.

When changing clothes, Huai Shi deliberately put on sunglasses and an enormous mask, covering his face. He looked exactly like some criminal ready to cause trouble at any moment.

He had no choice. Working at a host club was one thing, but being seen and photographed by his classmates would be another matter entirely.

He had barely managed to bluff his way through last time. This time, he could not let anyone recognize him.

Unfortunately... things did not operate according to Human Will. Huai Shi, who had always had rotten luck, had barely stepped outside when he heard someone call from behind him.

"Is that Little Shi? It is Little Shi, right?"