According to the prompts from the wristwatch system, the watch face was a kind of progress bar reflecting the wearer's current condition.
Once that half-golden zero turned entirely gold, he should be able to achieve the breakthrough from nothing to something and become an official Celestial Chosen—from zero to one... Though that phrasing sounded a little gay, as if something were off about it.
Either way, it definitely wasn't him!
Who knew where this so-called Celestial Rail Group had come from to manufacture something so bizarre. Aside from system reports, it never made a sound, yet whenever Ji Jue felt his spiritus running dry and unsustainable, a fresh surge of spiritus would silently well up to supply his consumption.
Compared to Ji Jue's capacity, which was like half a bottle of water, that little wristwatch seemed to hold a giant water vat—no, even more exaggerated than that, like a bottomless reservoir. It was just that the portion he could actually mobilize and use was utterly negligible.
He wondered if there would be new changes once he transitioned to an official employee. As for the present stage... forget it. For an off-the-books temp, just being allowed to freeload a bit was already generous enough. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?
"What gift horse?"
A curious voice chimed in.
Right beside him.
Ji Jue started violently. Whirling around, he finally noticed the long hair already resting against his shoulder at some point, along with the face that perpetually wore a sly smile.
Her eyes were slightly narrowed, studying him closely.
"Senior Ye?" Ji Jue was shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"Shopping, of course." Ye Chun gave the plastic bag in her hand a shake, giggling. "I was waving at you through the window for ages just now, and you didn't even notice. But seeing you out here drinking tea is a rare sight... I thought you couldn't kick your tryhard habits and would keep grinding away even through summer break."
*Who are you calling a rare sight?!*
Ji Jue grew flustered. "Can't I take a break and drink some tea?"
He picked up the nearly cold black tea from the table, took a sip, and sat up with pretense. "I haven't touched my thesis all day today. I'm thoroughly enjoying life, okay!"
"Oh? If only that were true." Ye Chun pulled over a plastic stool without the slightest hesitation and sat down right beside him. Without caring for her bag—the logo alone was enough to make a poor guy like Ji Jue suffocate—she tossed it onto the grimy table, then picked up chopsticks and dug into his oat bun. Her movements were remarkably practiced, just like when she used to snatch drumsticks from him in the Second Cafeteria.
"I was thinking of asking you to hang out yesterday, but my aunt said you were still busy with your thesis and told me not to interrupt... How much have you written? Can you finish before break ends?"
"Barely hanging on." Remembering that thesis, Ji Jue felt a headache coming on.
"Wow, that face again... Every time you say you 'know a little,' you're about to turn into a total tryhard dog and abandon your humanity." Ye Chun shot him a sideways glance, not believing him in the slightest. "Acting like that just makes me look like an idiot."
"It's for real this time! I only just passed my proposal defense. I haven't even touched the rest!" Ji Jue raised his hands in surrender. He couldn't very well say: *Don't worry, big sister, I'm busy hunting down the accomplices of a bloodthirsty geezer, so I genuinely haven't had time to rush my paper lately.*
Ye Chun's face instantly lit up. "If we're slacking, we slack together! Whoever submits their thesis first is a dog—deal?"
Ji Jue was already numb.
*Big sister, Professor Ye is your aunt, not mine!*
*Besides, once the semester starts, I'll be a junior and you'll still be in grad school. We aren't even on the same level—what competition is there?!*
Yet Ye Chun always seemed to delight in seeing him squirm, making it her personal entertainment. Even though she had consistently looked out for him, she always loved teasing him, leaving him completely helpless.
Poor Tom, dancing entirely in the palm of her hand.
*Damn it, I've been played.*
*Is she manipulating me?*
Just as Ji Jue's mind was wandering, he heard a teasing voice beside him: "Mm... so that's the type you're into, huh?"
"Huh?" Ji Jue blinked blankly. "Which type? What?"
"That type over there. Big chest, big hips, loose wavy locks, glossy sheer black stockings with a miniskirt, and red-bottom stilettos. Quite the eye you've got." Ye Chun followed the direction Ji Jue had been staring in, clucking her tongue in admiration.
"Where? Where?"
Ji Jue looked along her gaze—and the smile vanished from his face.
He froze on the spot.
Just by the roadside, behind that white minivan, the trunk was open. Two burly men bowed and scraped as they took a heavy trunk from the woman standing beside them.
Her slender, lithe figure and expressive large eyes possessed an intoxicating glamour that made it impossible to look away.
That woman...
Ji Jue felt as though he had plunged into an icy cavern.
It was clearly the woman from yesterday afternoon who had relentlessly tried to hook up with him at the auto repair shop!
She had even flirtatiously told him to check out her headlights!
While she had seemed undeniably alluring yesterday, looking at her today only filled him with disgust. Behind those pale blue polarized lenses, beneath long, fluttering lashes, her eyes were distinctly steeped in a deep crimson!
So, not just Big Master Ji... even Little Master Ji was on her menu?
In the literal, culinary sense.
He remained frozen in shock until Ye Chun waved a hand before his eyes. "Hey, hey, snap out of it. She's already gone. How much longer are you going to stare?"
"Huh?" Ji Jue woke as if from a dream.
"Junior, take it from your senior—women in the real world have deep tricks, and you're just a kid. You can't handle her," Ye Chun advised with earnest gravity. "An inexperienced boy like you, once she lures you into her house, she'll lock you in the basement and chain you up like a rich woman's plaything. From then on, it'll be steel wool pads on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and leather whips on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. You have to be careful!"
Ji Jue stayed silent for a long moment, hesitating. "Senior..."
"What?"
"Uh, I'm already nineteen."
"Nominal age doesn't count!" Ye Chun pinched his cheek irritably. "Is that the point? You didn't object to the steel wool or the leather whip at all! Besides, if you run off with her, what am I and the two kids supposed to do?! Waaaah!"
Under the shocked stares of the bystanders, Ji Jue let out a weary sigh. "...Senior, next time you decide to play the drama queen, could you at least try to keep a straight face?"
"Oh, I was just worried you'd take a wrong turn and stray from the path!" Ye Chun patted his shoulder with a grin, seemingly about to say more, but glancing at the time on her phone, she sighed softly. "Alright, no more teasing. I still need to buy groceries. I'm off. Take your time eating."
Ji Jue felt an instant sense of relief. If this went on, he truly didn't know how much longer he could keep up appearances without her noticing anything amiss.
Watching her walk away, he finally let out a long breath.
"Check, please."
"Already taken care of, handsome."
Behind the counter, the owner puffing on a cigarette glanced at him, his gaze carrying a hint of wistfulness, as though seeing his own dazzling youth in Ji Jue. He flicked off the cigarette ash and let out a soft sigh. "Ah, back in my day..."
Baffled, Ji Jue turned back toward the direction Ye Chun had gone, but her figure was already nowhere to be seen.
Only his phone buzzed, delivering an emoji.
*[Doge pointing finger.jpg]*
*[Remember our deal—no tryhard grinding!]*
Ji Jue stared at it for a long while before letting out a soft chuckle: *[Understood.]*
The screen went dark, reflecting his smile.
To be fair, it looked pretty silly.
Yet he felt immensely relieved.
It was as if all the panic and unease had suddenly receded like a tide, even if it would eventually return.
First being struck by a truck, then the strange abilities, the Celestial Chosen, the temp job... Whether it was the bloodthirsty geezers, the malicious seductions, or those inexplicable assaults—too much awful crap had piled up all of a sudden.
He had been dragged dizzy and disoriented into these bewildering vortexes, unsure of where he was headed.
Yet for a brief moment, he suddenly felt that he was still standing on solid ground, still living his own life.
He was still alive and well, just as he wished, and even if he was plagued by rotten luck, a bright future still awaited him.
So he had to hurry up—
Ji Jue rubbed his hands together and followed the direction the woman had left in.
Wrap this up early, then head home to write his thesis!
That's right, the grinder was him!
***
*Crap, this might not be so easy to handle after all.*
Ten minutes later, Ji Jue suddenly realized he might not get to be an academic grinder today.
Standing at the intersection, he peered toward where the woman had vanished according to the street monitors...
An exquisite building stood out like a crane among chickens, flanked by an enormous parking lot, beneath neon lights blazing brightly in the early twilight.
It was a nightclub Ji Jue had never set foot in since the day he was born!
The faint, heavy beat of dance music was already thumping from inside. A long queue had formed before the entrance, with all sorts of scantily clad young women leaning against their companions, while luxury cars streamed into the front lot, each one radiating a sheen that made Ji Jue's heart tremble...
Scratched paint on this one would cost twenty grand; on that one, forty-eight grand. This one was truly terrifying—a full repaint required sending it back to the original factory in the Federation capital of Midtown, running eight hundred and sixteen thousand, and that other one might even have to be shipped to the Empire on the Southern Continent... There was also one with a slightly noisy brake pad; taking it to Dalu Auto Repair Shop for aftermarket replacements would still run at least thirty-six grand, right?
*Smack!*
Ji Jue slapped his forehead, cutting off the runaway train of thought.
Standing in the shadows untouched by neon and streetlamps, he stared blankly at the lights, just like any broke young passerby with not a single coin to his name.
While he was hesitating, he spotted the white minivan he had staked out during the day rounding the front and heading toward the back of the building.
By the time Ji Jue circled around, the vehicle had already parked in the club's employee lot, its license plates swapped for brand-new ones, completely empty inside.
Even the back entrance offered no openings. Through the half-open wrought-iron gate, several burly security guards could be seen pacing the lot, all equipped with walkie-talkies and swinging ominous-looking rubber truncheons.
The moment Ji Jue approached, one of them stopped and stared straight at him.
Ji Jue could only lower his head and hurry away.
Returning to the front, he watched the bouncers at the entrance.
Everyone lining up to get in had to hand something over—it looked like a VIP card of some sort. Those with cards handed them over; those without paid cash. Others didn't wait in line at all, escorted directly inside by floor managers while wrapping their arms around pretty girls, or directly draping their arms around the floor managers themselves...
Watching this gave Ji Jue a massive headache.
The occasional person trying to sneak in without a card was promptly steered aside by the hefty bouncers, though at least no beating was visible.
*Damn it, does it really have to be this tight?*
*Not even a drop of water could leak through, huh?*
Ji Jue felt at his wit's end. Unless he suddenly conjured a fortune out of thin air or grew wings to fly over, getting inside tonight would be harder than dreaming.
He couldn't possibly rely on his face to latch onto some wealthy sugar mommy and slip inside, could he?
Wouldn't that make him a gigolo?!
Ji Jue watched the young ladies, older ladies, and mature matrons stepping out of luxury cars dressed in haute couture with designer handbags... How should he put it? He suddenly felt a little tempted.
Grit his teeth and push through, right? Who knows, maybe he could even earn a little pocket money.
Chapter 8