Uh...
Deeply crushed, Jiang Youtian stood rooted to the spot, watching Lan Shengxue walk away. At that moment, he did not even have the courage to chase after her.
Yi Hong, the girl beside Lan Shengxue, smacked her lips. "Shengxue, you were so heartless just now. Look at how crushed he is. Poor guy."
"I was telling the truth," Lan Shengxue said expressionlessly.
Yi Hong continued, "He's actually pretty handsome, and he's one of the big names at our No. 9 Middle School. He may not be as dazzlingly talented as you, but he still stands head and shoulders above the crowd. Don't you feel even a little tempted?"
Without even thinking, Lan Shengxue answered, "All I want is to break through to Martial Artist as soon as possible, then keep training hard."
As her friend, Yi Hong could tell that Lan Shengxue meant every word. "Uh, fine. With that attitude, you're destined to be forever alone."
"Isn't being forever alone pretty nice?"
Yi Hong: "..."
Jiang Fan and Tang Fugui walked out through the school gates together. Father and son remained silent the whole way.
Only when they reached the roadside did Jiang Fan finally give in and speak.
"Dad, stop worrying about things between me and the Jiang Family. I've already said I'm not going back to the Jiang Family."
Tang Fugui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, it turned into a sigh.
He thought to himself, Xiao Fan, you're still young. Some things can't be decided on impulse. This is all your dad is capable of in this life. I can't give you a carefree future, so... I'm sorry. Forgive me. I can't stand by and watch you keep living in the slums.
After collecting his thoughts, Tang Fugui smiled and said, "Xiao Fan, go home first. I'll sell this load of trash. I picked up quite a few drink bottles today. Selling this load should earn me at least seventy or eighty yuan."
Jiang Fan looked toward the electric tricycle parked by the road. Its small cargo bed was piled with cardboard and drink bottles.
From the time he had first begun to remember things, Tang Fugui had been unable to find an employer willing to hire him because of his lame leg, so he had started collecting scrap day and night.
"Xiao Fan, hurry home and do your homework. I'm off." After getting onto the tricycle, Tang Fugui gave him another reminder, still worried.
"Okay, I'll head home now."
After watching the electric tricycle disappear, Jiang Fan opened the system panel.
Points: 0 Vitality: 30N Psychic Power: 1000P
His points were back to zero. He urgently needed points now to exchange for vitality and improve his strength as soon as possible.
Otherwise, whenever something like today happened, he could not keep using Psychic Power over every little problem.
As the saying went, if you kept standing by the river, how could your shoes never get wet?
Just as he was thinking this, a male student in a school uniform casually tossed away a water bottle, nearly hitting his foot.
"Hey! Who told you to stand beside the trash can? You asked for it!"
Jiang Fan looked down at the water bottle by his feet, then at the boy who remained so haughty despite nearly hitting someone. He crouched and picked it up. Just as he was about to throw it back, a system notification sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! Picking up trash, beautifying the city, and doing a good deed. Points +1]
Jiang Fan stopped mid-throw. The boy who had been talking tough had thought Jiang Fan was picking up the bottle to throw it at him. Seeing him stop, he scoffed.
"Coward!"
Jiang Fan had no time to pay attention to what the boy said. He was pondering something.
Picking up bottles and trash might not earn many points, but even a mosquito was still meat, however small. Besides, he could sell the bottles for money. He thought it would kill two birds with one stone.
Yeah! That's what I'll do.
Jiang Fan scanned his surroundings and spotted a bottle across the road, then looked at the boy who had been so arrogant.
There were not many people on the road now. He controlled his Psychic Power, swept up the bottle across the road, and hurled it at the boy's head.
"Fuck! Who the hell hit me?!"
The boy looked behind him, but there was nobody there.
"What the hell!"
As he withdrew his gaze, he spotted Jiang Fan standing off to the side.
Was it that kid?
The thought was dismissed as soon as it arose.
The bottle had not come from the side at all. It had come from directly behind him, so it could not possibly have been this kid.
"Who was it? If you've got the guts to hit me, come out! Hiding after hitting someone-have you got any balls?"
No matter how much the boy cursed, nobody answered.
Just then, Jiang Fan walked up to him, picked up the bottle, and put it in his schoolbag.
The boy stared wide-eyed at Jiang Fan. "What are you doing?"
"Picking up bottles," Jiang Fan said calmly.
The boy's mouth twitched, and he hurriedly put some distance between himself and Jiang Fan.
A lowlife who picked up trash for a living. What rotten luck!
Having tasted the benefits, Jiang Fan continued picking up bottles.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! Picking up trash, beautifying the city, and doing a good deed. Points +1] [Ding! Congratulations, Master! Picking up trash, beautifying the city, and doing a good deed. Points +1]
System notifications sounded one after another.
Before long, Jiang Fan had thirteen points.
His schoolbag was already full. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to find an intact woven plastic sack in a roadside trash can.
He continued picking up trash.
Not long afterward, a red Ferrari pulled over by the road. A woman in her early thirties stepped out, her dyed hair falling in big waves, wearing a spaghetti-strap, figure-hugging dress.
The woman watched Jiang Fan with interest. "Hey, little brother, with looks like yours, picking up trash is such a waste. Get in. Big sis can save you twenty years of hard work."
Her call drew the attention of passersby.
Among them were Lan Shengxue and Yi Hong, who had just finished buying merchandise at the bookstore.
"Huh? Isn't that Jiang Fan, the trash with the lowest vitality in our No. 9 Middle School?" Yi Hong spotted Jiang Fan in the crowd at once.
Lan Shengxue glanced over and also saw Jiang Fan picking up trash with a woven plastic sack in hand.
"Yi Hong, you'd better stop saying things like that. Nobody wants to be born trash. His naturally low vitality means he can never walk the martial path, and that's not something he wanted either. At least he's supporting himself with his own two hands now. Honestly, that alone already puts him above far too many people."
Yi Hong shrugged, offering no comment on Lan Shengxue's words.
"Let's go," Lan Shengxue said.
"Don't! Look! That rich woman wants to keep Jiang Fan. Let's keep watching." Yi Hong held Lan Shengxue back, refusing to let her leave.
Jiang Fan rejected the rich woman outright. "No, thanks. I prefer supporting myself."
Sure, being kept could save me twenty years of hard work, but I'd also live twenty years less.
The rich woman had not expected to be turned down, but for the sake of Jiang Fan's handsome face, she did not get angry. She took a card from her purse and held it out in front of him.
"There's a hundred thousand on this. Come have some fun with me tonight, and the money is yours."
Without so much as glancing at the card in the rich woman's hand, Jiang Fan turned, walked over to the trash can, and began rummaging through it.