A Disaster from the Start! Grandpa Was an Old Hero?

[Handsome guys, tap here]

[Beautiful ladies, post your photos here]

[Leave your brains at the door]

"Yue Xiaofei, congratulations! You scored 735 and topped this year's science-track college entrance exam in Jiangbei Province!"

"Why are you hauling bricks in this heat?"

"This is Principal Li, and that's Director Ma from the Education Bureau. They came especially to recognize you!"

Jiangcheng, at a construction site.

A young man carried two sacks on his shoulders, sweat pouring off him.

His sun-darkened yet slightly boyish face looked out of place amid the surroundings.

His name was Yue Xiaofei. He had once been an elite special forces soldier.

Half a month earlier, he had been ambushed by enemy troops during a mission and unexpectedly crossed into this world.

The original owner of this body shared his name. He was a student at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School and had just turned eighteen.

Yue Xiaofei quickly learned about his new identity from the original owner's diary, but what he found left him stunned...

A father in prison!

A mother who had died young!

A grandfather with dementia!

An older brother who had disappeared!

It was a disastrous hand to be dealt, but Yue Xiaofei refused to lose heart.

Since heaven had given him another chance at life, he would make the most of it and leave no regrets!

Freshly eighteen and unable to find decent work, he had chosen to haul sacks at a construction site.

Three hundred yuan a day, paid weekly, with meals included!

He could earn money and build his strength at the same time.

In just half a month, Yue Xiaofei's abs had become clearly defined. He was nowhere near as formidable as he had been in his previous life, but he was beginning to look strong again.

Today was the day college entrance exam results came out. He had not thought much of it.

But just minutes ago!

An Audi A6 had pulled up at the site. Several balding older men had climbed out and surrounded him.

"Teacher Wang, you're not joking? I really topped the college entrance exam?"

Yue Xiaofei looked at Teacher Wang, his homeroom teacher.

"Of course!"

Teacher Wang beamed, then asked, "By the way, you haven't submitted your school choices yet. Are you going to Qingbei or Jingda?"

"I'm not going to Qingbei or Jingda. I'm going to a military academy!!!"

Yue Xiaofei's voice rang out, firm and clear.

What?!

Everyone present froze.

Principal Li's and Director Ma's faces, in particular, darkened visibly with displeasure.

"Xiaofei, don't be foolish. How could a military academy compare with Qingbei or Jingda?"

Teacher Wang grew anxious and hurried to remind him, "Besides, under school rules, you can only get the scholarship if you're admitted to Qingbei or Jingda!"

"Even if you topped the exam, you won't qualify if you apply somewhere else!"

Teacher Wang knew Yue Xiaofei came from a poor family. With neither parent around, he had to work odd jobs to pay his tuition and support his grandfather, who had dementia...

That made the scholarship especially important to him.

"I don't need it! I'll earn my own tuition and living expenses!"

Yue Xiaofei's resolve was firm.

In another parallel world, he had earned countless honors and should have been promoted to officer long ago.

But after beating up a well-connected brat who had joined the military just to polish his résumé, his dream of wearing stars on his shoulders had ended!

Now he wanted to attend a military academy and make up for that old regret.

"Heh."

Director Ma suddenly laughed.

"That's fine. Since Student Yue is so determined to serve his country, we should encourage him! A local businessman is willing to sponsor you. Just shoot an advertisement and say his products significantly improved your grades, helping you top the exam!"

"Wouldn't that be lying?" Yue Xiaofei asked.

"It's just a few photos and a little publicity. How is that lying?"

Director Ma kept smiling, his respectable manner a thin disguise.

"No!"

Yue Xiaofei shook his head. "I won't do something that dirty, and I don't want your dirty money!"

"Hmph. You don't know a good offer when you see one! You scored a little higher than everyone else, and now you think you're somebody?"

Director Ma stormed off and got into the Audi.

"Director Ma, please don't be angry!"

Principal Li hurried after him like an obedient lapdog.

"Yue Xiaofei, you were too impulsive. How could you talk back to Director Ma?"

Teacher Wang could not help reproaching him. "It was only an advertisement. Every year's top scorer has done the same thing!"

"Does that make it right?"

Yue Xiaofei's quiet question carried unmistakable force.

Teacher Wang had no answer.

"Ah... I can't tell you what to do anymore, kid. But watch out for Gao Zisheng. His father is a prominent local tycoon, and you offended him before. I doubt he'll let it go!"

With that, Teacher Wang left too.

Gao Zisheng?

Yue Xiaofei searched his memory. The guy was the school's resident thug, using his family's influence to bully other students, and he especially liked picking on Yue Xiaofei.

The original Yue Xiaofei had neither parent around and was an orphan. Add his meek nature, and he had been a natural punching bag!

Whenever Gao Zisheng was in a bad mood, he took it out on him!

But things were different now!

"Hmph!"

"Gao Zisheng, if you come looking for death..."

"I'll make you regret ever being born!"

That evening.

Yue Xiaofei collected a week's wages: 2,100 yuan.

It looked like a decent amount, but not everyone could handle such grueling work.

He bought some vegetables and fruit, then returned to a single-story house in an urban village.

"Grandpa, I'm home!"

"Mm..."

Inside sat a white-haired old man wearing an old military overcoat. It had faded from countless washes and was covered in patches, but he could not bear to throw it away.

"Grandpa, I got paid today. I bought your favorite watermelon and some braised chicken legs!" Yue Xiaofei said with a smile.

His grandfather had dementia, poor hearing, and failing eyesight. Sometimes he even talked in his sleep.

Naturally, Yue Xiaofei had never taken his grandfather's words seriously.

In the Dragon Kingdom, retired military personnel received holiday visits from district officials.

But no one had come to see his grandfather in all these years. Even if he had served when he was young, he could only have been a private first class at most.

Bang!

Suddenly, the drafty wooden door was kicked open.

"Who's there?"

Yue Xiaofei turned at once.

A young man dressed head to toe in designer labels, his hair dyed blond, swaggered inside.

It was Gao Zisheng, the school bully everyone knew!

Behind him came more than a dozen burly men with dragons and tigers tattooed on their arms. They were clearly vicious thugs.

"Gao Zisheng, what are you doing here?"

Yue Xiaofei tensed.

"Yue Xiaofei, you're hard to kill! I pushed you off the rooftop half a month ago, but you still lived to take the exam—and even topped it?!"

Gao Zisheng made no attempt to hide his arrogance.

Half a month ago?

The rooftop?

Yue Xiaofei's expression darkened. When he had arrived in this world, he had indeed been lying in a hospital.

The original owner's memories held only a hazy glimpse of a fall.

He had assumed it was an accident. He had not expected Gao Zisheng to be behind it!

"What? Too shocked to speak?"

Seeing Yue Xiaofei remain silent, Gao Zisheng grew even smugger and launched into a foul-mouthed tirade.

"I've been chasing Pan Tiantian, the school beauty, but she likes guys with good grades! She even held you up as an example, going on about how hard Yue Xiaofei works!"

"Who the hell are you to compete with me for a woman?"

So that was it!

Yue Xiaofei pieced it together at once.

He had barely exchanged a few words with Pan Tiantian, but because his grades were excellent, she had used him to ward Gao Zisheng off.

That had made Gao Zisheng jealous enough to push him off the rooftop.

It had been attempted murder!

Since he had inherited the original owner's body, he would avenge him and settle the blood debt!

Smack!

Gao Zisheng suddenly pulled out a yellowed sheet of paper and slapped it onto the table.

"We'll deal with Pan Tiantian later. Today, I'm here to collect a debt!"

"Your father, Yue Changlong, owes the Gao Family one million yuan. It's right here in black and white, signed and thumbprinted!"

Huh?

Yue Xiaofei looked down. The IOU read, "Borrowed from Mr. Gao Tianxiong today: RMB 1,000,000."

At the bottom were the three characters of Yue Changlong's name, with a red thumbprint beside them.

"My father couldn't possibly have borrowed money. This IOU is forged!"

Yue Xiaofei saw through it immediately.

His father had gone to prison five years ago. How could he have borrowed the money?

"Hmph!"

Gao Zisheng sneered and planted a foot on a chair, glaring down at Yue Xiaofei.

"Then get your jailbird father out here to deny it to my face! Oh, right, he's still in prison working a sewing machine. Guess he can't, can he?"

"Here's the deal. I'll give you two choices—"

"Pay back the million within three days, or kneel and Kowtow right now, then give me your place as the top scorer. Do that, and we'll call it even!"

Gao Zisheng wore a nasty grin.

"In your dreams!"

Yue Xiaofei understood at once.

This bastard never studied. He skipped class and went to bars all day, and his scores across several subjects combined would not even reach three digits!

This whole performance was clearly about stealing Yue Xiaofei's place as the top scorer and passing himself off as him!

"What, you don't want to?"

Gao Zisheng pressed on, as arrogant as ever. "Then I'll have this dump bulldozed and leave you homeless. I'll throw your senile grandfather out on the street to beg, too! Hahaha!"

"You—"

Yue Xiaofei clenched his fists in fury. He was not afraid for himself, but his grandfather had trouble getting around!

Ring, ring!

Gao Zisheng's phone suddenly rang. One of his lowlife friends spoke from the other end.

"Young Master Gao, a few foreign girls just arrived at Caesar Club! Hurry over!"

"Sure. I'll come practice my foreign languages!"

Gao Zisheng gave a leering grin, then ordered his men:

"Bulldoze this dump and teach the kid a lesson! Even if it blows up, my dad can handle it!"

With that, Gao Zisheng left the house, climbed into a Porsche 911, and sped away.

"Do it!"

Scarface, the thug in charge, gave the order. A yellow bulldozer drove up outside.

"Stop! Touch this place, and I'll fight you!"

Yue Xiaofei had gotten plenty of exercise at the construction site over the past half month. His strength and reflexes far exceeded those of an ordinary person.

He lashed out with a kick to the nearest thug's stomach. The man doubled over in pain, collapsed to the ground, and screamed.

But there were too many of them. They quickly closed in, and seven or eight men pinned Yue Xiaofei down so he could not move.

"Kid, stop wasting your strength!"

"Young Master Gao said to bulldoze this house, then hang you up here for three days in the sun. That'll teach you what happens when you cross the Gao Family!"

"Bulldozer, go!"

Scarface waved a hand.

"Grandpa! Grandpa, get out of there!"

Yue Xiaofei's eyes were bloodshot, his heart in his throat.

His grandfather was still in the back room!

"Heh! Your senile grandpa can die for all I care. He's just some nobody at the bottom of the heap. No one will give a damn!"

Scarface grinned viciously.

Rumble!

The bulldozer roared like a beast as it bore down on the rundown house.

Bang!

At that critical instant, a sound like thunder cracked through the air!

A gunshot!

Everyone froze. Even the bulldozer driver slammed on the brakes.

"Damn it! Who brought a gun?"

Scarface Dong looked around wildly, sweat pouring down his face. All his earlier swagger was gone.

Step!

Step!

Step!

Then footsteps sounded from inside the house.

Before everyone's eyes, an unbelievable sight appeared—

Old Master Yue came out, leaning on a cane.

He still wore that dark green coat, and his hair was streaked with white, but his gaze was piercing.

"Grandpa!"

Yue Xiaofei stared in shock.

He had never seen his grandfather like this!

Old Master Yue stood straight as a pine, his eyes radiating a killing intent so intense it was almost tangible. He looked like a warrior who could face ten thousand men on the battlefield!

In that moment,

A daring thought flashed through Yue Xiaofei's mind—

Could Grandpa be more than an ordinary veteran?

Could he be an old war hero who had charged through battlefields and shaken the world?