Half My Savings Spent, My Heart Aches

"Rest assured, sir. Old Third Liu's Spirit Stone Shop has been open for business in Rong City for thirty years. Every spirit stone we sell is guaranteed for quality. Every customer who's shopped here once gives us a thumbs-up."

The pretty salesgirl chattered on endlessly, boasting about her shop. Lin Li listened quietly, nodding and responding politely from time to time.

Actually, though this was Lin Li's first time buying spirit stones at a shop, he'd done his homework, looking up plenty of information online about Old Third Liu's Spirit Stone Shop.

After some research, he found the shop had a really good reputation, which was why he chose to buy here.

"Alright, fifty thousand it is. Give me ten spirit stones." This pretty salesgirl sure had a silver tongue! Lin Li thought that if he didn't interrupt her, she'd probably keep talking for another ten-plus minutes.

"Ten?" The pretty salesgirl, who'd been practically praising her shop to the heavens, immediately shut her mouth when she heard Lin Li's words.

She'd assumed a young customer like him would buy at most one or two spirit stones. She never expected him to ask for ten—this was the biggest order she'd landed in the past two months.

"Sir, please wait a moment. I'll process the order for you right away."

The pretty salesgirl was very efficient. In no time, she'd prepared the order slip, then led Lin Li to the cashier counter.

"Sister Li, please handle this gentleman's payment." The pretty salesgirl handed the slip to a cashier auntie in her early forties.

"Sir, will you be paying by card or mobile?" The cashier auntie took the slip from the pretty salesgirl, glanced at it, then asked Lin Li.

"Card, please." Lin Li pulled a bank card from his pocket and handed it over. The cashier auntie took it, quickly processed the transaction, and passed the card machine to Lin Li to enter his PIN.

"Sigh, half of my entire net worth, gone just like that."

Lin Li entered his bank card PIN on the machine, pressed the confirm button, and watched as the receipt slowly printed out. His heart clenched.

A few days ago, Lin Li had been thinking he could coast through the rest of his life on his million in savings and the rent from the apartment he'd leased out.

But now? Who'd have thought a single purchase would blow half his life savings? Truly, fate was unpredictable.

Heartache!!!

After paying, Lin Li followed the pretty salesgirl back to her counter.

He watched as she took out an elegant gift box, unlocked the glass cabinet with a key, and reached in to retrieve spirit stones the size of pigeon eggs, crystal clear, placing them into the box.

In no time, all ten spirit stones were packed. Lin Li took the box with a blank expression and, under the girl's enthusiastic farewell, left the shop called Old Third Liu's Spirit Stone Shop.

After the pretty salesgirl saw Lin Li off, her colleagues immediately crowded around, eyes full of envy as they congratulated her on landing the big order.

"Five hundred thousand! Never thought I, Lin, would spend five hundred thousand in one go in my life."

Walking out of the spirit stone shop, Lin Li muttered to himself, looking at the elegant gift box in his hand.

Then he hugged the box tightly to his chest, glanced around to make sure no one was following, and hurried toward the street corner, hailing a taxi to go home.

Click.

Thud.

The door opened and closed. Lin Li kicked off his shoes at the entrance, slipped into his indoor slippers, and walked into the living room. He gently set the gift box with the ten spirit stones on the coffee table, then leaned back and flopped heavily onto the soft sofa.

Whoosh...

He let out a long breath, feeling much more relaxed.

Though Rong City had pretty good public security, spending five hundred thousand on something so valuable for the first time in his life still made him a bit anxious, afraid of getting robbed.

Now that he was home, the tension that had been building along the way finally eased.

Ring ring ring...

Since he'd barely slept last night, Lin Li was feeling drowsy. Just as he lay down on the sofa to take a nap, his phone rang in his pocket.

He pulled it out and saw the caller ID: his college classmate Zhang Dawei.

"Hey..."

"Lin Li, what are you up to?"

"Nothing much."

"You're gaming, aren't you?" This college buddy knew him well—he knew Lin Li hadn't planned to look for a job after graduation, intending to be a total salted fish, basically holed up at home gaming.

"Not gaming. Didn't sleep well last night, about to catch up on some rest. What's up? If nothing, I'll hang up—I'm really tired."

Zhang Dawei could hear the sleepiness in Lin Li's voice and quickly got to the point. "Next week's my birthday. I've called the other classmates still in Rong City to get together. You'd better show up too..."

It had been half a month since graduation. Though many classmates had chosen to leave Rong City—going back to their hometowns or to other cities to hustle—some had stayed to work locally.

Among them was Zhang Dawei, who'd been pretty close to Lin Li during college.

"Sure, send me the time and address on WeChat later." Lin Li had no reason to refuse Zhang Dawei's invitation.

"Alright, see you next week... Don't stay up late gaming at night—it's bad for your health." Zhang Dawei reminded his friend before hanging up.

Sigh, it wasn't gaming that kept me up last night... Lin Li muttered inwardly, staring at the ended call.

Then, too tired to stay awake, he closed his eyes and drifted off on the sofa.

It was already July. The arrival of midsummer was gradually raising the city's temperature.

The noisy chirping of cicadas was about to become the city's main soundtrack.

A gentle breeze blew through the balcony into the living room, brushing the tips of Lin Li's hair as he slept soundly on the sofa, brushing the elegant gift box on the coffee table holding the spirit stones.

The gears of fate slowly turned. This ordinary young man, who had planned to live out his life quietly in this parallel world called Blue Star, was about to begin his path of cultivation.