The Sky

"You say you want to go practice qigong?"

Shen Jianping took the flyer, glanced at it a few times, and set it aside.

After all, he was the one who had brought this flyer home a few days ago.

"It's learning boxing."

Chen Chong replied.

"Same thing."

Shen Jianping's brows furrowed tightly.

So-called qigong was a term favored by his generation.

Nowadays, it was more commonly called combat arts, or more traditionally, martial arts.

Thanks to the development of biotechnology in this life, as well as the inherent strangeness of the world itself, accomplished martial artists could display a might comparable to the "qigong masters" of his previous life—

The only difference was that most of those in his previous life were frauds, while here, it was different.

The renowned martial arts universities, the combat and striking majors at higher institutions, the martial arts gyms and boxing clubs visible everywhere, the martial arts stars on television, and the gang enforcers capable of smashing cars with their bare hands.

All of this proved that the fighters of this world possessed some genuine substance that Chen Chong did not yet understand.

If fake goods could make people internet celebrities and fill their pockets, then real skills were even more valuable.

For an accomplished fighter here, whether opening a gym to take on students, becoming a teacher at a university, or becoming a combat star, any of these paths was a viable option—and a quite excellent one at that.

Of course, that was assuming one could actually make it out.

Chen Chong had not originally considered this path. After all, compared to studying literature, practicing martial arts required a significant amount of money just for the most basic necessity of food, not to mention other expenses like classes, tutoring, equipment, supplements, and so on. "Literature for the poor, martial arts for the rich"—his situation was not suitable.

It was just that the social stratification in this world was even more pronounced than in his previous life, and even channels like the college entrance examination had become a mere formality.

Even with the extra few decades of academic knowledge he possessed, Chen Chong still found that he could not break through these shackles.

The son of a laborer, no matter how good his grades were, still had to enter the factory.

But just a moment ago, he had received a gift.

Shen Jianping hesitated for a moment, then said slowly:

"Chen Chong, I brought this flyer back just to tease Dongzi."

A few days ago, on his way home from work, he passed a street corner where a new boxing gym had opened and was handing out flyers for "free room and board for the first ten apprentices."

Shen Jianping had taken one on a whim and used it to scare Shen Dong when he got home, telling him that if he didn't study hard, he would be sent to the boxing gym to be an apprentice and get beaten up. It scared Shen Dong into studying hard for one night—but only for one night.

Chen Chong nodded:

"I know, Uncle. But I want to try. It's free anyway."

"The first ten spots were definitely filled long ago. Besides, look at your build..."

Shen Jianping frowned as he looked at his nephew.

His complexion was fair, taking after the Chen family. His face was ordinary, but his eyes were bright and calm, showing a sense of composure that set him apart from his peers.

He was indeed precocious and sensible. Although the couple had never skimped on his rations, he would never eat more than his younger brother and sister.

Especially during the time when Shen Dong was just born, he would give any nutritious food to his younger siblings and his aunt. He was only seven years old back then.

This also made him appear somewhat thin, and he hadn't grown very tall, but the lines of his chin were very distinct.

This frail nephew wanted to practice boxing...

Shen Jianping lowered his eyelids and picked up his cigarette case again.

"I don't think—"

Click.

Chen Chong took the flint lighter and lit his uncle's cigarette.

He put the lighter down and said calmly:

"Uncle, you didn't let me take the entrance exam, and I listened to your advice because I thought the same way.

"But, this is my own business after all. You should at least talk to me about it first.

"Just as you said, I am an adult now, and I should be the one to make decisions about my future."

Shen Jianping looked up instantly.

Through the swirling blue smoke, Chen Chong's face was somewhat blurred.

Only those eyes were bright and piercing.

Shen Jianping slowly raised his hand and took a deep drag of his cigarette.

Chen Chong smiled and said:

"I'll go take a look in a bit. The winter break is still long, so trying won't hurt. Uncle, you wouldn't kick me out now, would you?"

Shen Jianping kept a straight face and said:

"That's fine then. But let's be clear: if there are no free spots left, the family won't be paying your tuition."

"Mm."

Chen Chong responded with a grunt, went straight to his room, threw on a gray cotton coat, called out to Chen Liping in the kitchen, and pushed the door open to leave.

Clang.

After the door shut, Chen Liping turned around, her brow furrowed into a deep frown.

"Old Shen, are you really going to let Chong'er practice boxing? It's all fighting and killing—what if he gets hurt? My second brother only left this one son behind..."

Shen Jianping didn't speak; he simply picked up the flyer again, staring at it with a knit brow.

"Is there any easier work at the factory? Go ask Old Li about it."

Chen Liping walked over and nudged Shen Jianping's shoulder.

Shen Jianping still didn't react, which infuriated Chen Liping enough to swat him, snapping, "Not talking? Then I'll just have him help out at the shop! Don't give me that 'the shop doesn't need help' nonsense! Feeding one extra mouth doesn't cost that much."

"You'll ruin him if you raise him like that."

Shen Jianping finally responded.

"Then what do you suggest? Are you really going to let him go to a boxing gym and hang out with those hoodlums? What if he gets mixed up with gangs and ends up beaten to death on the street? How am I supposed to face my second brother and sister-in-law? Chong'er is a child you've raised for fourteen years—don't you feel any heartache at all?"

Chen Liping's eyes turned red in an instant.

"Stop making a scene... The ten free spots are definitely gone. In this day and age, who's going to provide room and board for free? If we don't give him the money, where is he going to learn to box? He won't be able to get into the gym."

Shen Jianping felt a headache coming on. He reached to bring his cigarette to his lips, only to realize the one his nephew had lit for him had already burned down to the filter.

He sat in silence for a moment, crushed the butt in the ashtray, and sighed softly.

"They're all grown up now."

Having made up his mind, Shen Jianping stood up, walked over to the sofa, and took a breath.

He finally picked up the telephone receiver and dialed a number.

"Hello, Brother Zhang? It's Shen Jianping. No, nothing much, just wanted to ask about that loan you mentioned last time. Right, a student loan."

Chen Chong stepped out of the tenement building and walked down the street. Old-fashioned buildings, none taller than six stories, stood packed tightly against one another. Tangled, dense power lines crisscrossed the sky above, connecting both sides of the street like a giant web that trapped everyone living here.

The city's landscape was similar to the turn of the century in his previous life, much like the small town where Chen Chong had grown up as a child.

In his past life, Chen Chong had studied his way from a small town into a top-tier university, stayed on for his master's degree, and worked for several years. It was during a visit to a museum that he saw a Hexagonal Beast Pattern Jade Pendant.

It was said to have been forged by the ancestors of the ancient era, engraved with the mythical beast known as the Pao Xiao.

The moment he locked eyes with those vivid, scarlet pupils, Chen Chong's mind had gone completely blank.

When he woke up, he was being held in the tearful embrace of his aunt, Chen Liping, in this current life.

He was four years old that year, and his parents had died in an accident in the Wasteland.

It had taken him some time to accept the reality of his transmigration and this world that felt both familiar and alien compared to his previous life.

The Central City, larger than any metropolitan circle, the Satellite City surrounding it, and the settlements scattered beyond the satellite cities together made up the human world.

And beyond the settlements lay the absolute forbidden zone: the mysterious and bizarre Wasteland.

Radiation, mutated beasts, catastrophic weather, supernatural events... it was said to be filled with all sorts of dangerous and strange phenomena.

As long as one stepped off the main roads between the Central Cities, the Wasteland became a no-man's-land for humanity.

Chen Chong didn't know much about the Wasteland, and truthfully, he didn't know much about the Central City either.

He only knew that the Central City's technology was generations ahead of the outside world; it was like a sanctuary for humanity, a beacon, and the place everyone outside the city dreamed of reaching.

But let alone the Central City, he hadn't stepped a single foot outside of Lichuan City in over a decade, just like most people in the Satellite City.

He had originally thought that living a stable life here was all he could ask for, but now...

Chen Chong narrowed his eyes as he watched the number before him lock in at "17%."

He rubbed his hollow stomach and felt a surge of longing.

Originally, he shouldn't have asked for more.

Chen Chong lifted his head.

The clouds were thin today, and through the gaps in the messy power lines, he caught a glimpse of the vast, distant sky.

On this, his second eighteenth birthday, Chen Chong could feel that something had changed.