February 2nd.
Xuanhuang Star, Dongning Province, Hua Empire, City of Dongning.
The city has just endured three days of snowfall as substantial as goose feathers. Following the snow, the temperature sharply plummeted, providing the harshest February the Empire had experienced in hundreds of years.
At seven in the evening, outside the entrance of the municipal government's housing complex, there stood a man huddled in a tattered, earthy-colored military coat.
Opposite him, two guards dressed in bright-green military cloaks were standing unmoving in the cold wind, contrasting starkly with the shivering man.
Occasionally, the man would lift the hat covering his head, looking inside the gates as if waiting for something.
Underneath the padded hat was a rather young-looking man, likely seventeen or eighteen years old. With his strikingly clear brows and bright eyes against his wind-blasted reddened face, he looked much like a shy young boy.
Not long after, a young man hurried out from within the gates.
This man, in his thirties, had firm and consistent strides. From the way he walked, one could tell that he was indeed a very particular person.
He approached the young boy, handing over an envelope with a trace of aloofness on his face.
"A-Shen," He started, "Mayor Jiang said that from next term, you could report directly to Class 7 Senior High School as a student, finding Teacher Fang as the headteacher for the class schedule."
The boy took the envelope, and from a quick touch, he could feel that it was filled with money.
He would have been fine if he hadn’t touched it. But when he felt the amount of money in his hand, he felt an icy coldness overcoming him, as though he was submerged in Dongning’s icy February river.
“My father—he -- Mayor Jiang—," the first two words were whispered by A-Shen so softly, it was nearly audible. As the word 'dad' finally came out, he felt a sense of humiliation.
Because he knew very well, Jiang Fengmin no longer acknowledged him.
"If he acknowledged you as his son, he wouldn't send this secretary and give you this huge amount of money," said the man, addressing Jiang Shen, "You're not a kid anymore, already turned 18 this year I presume, Mr. Mayor Jiang has gone through great lengths to transfer you from the rural Jiangnan Province to Dongning Province No. 1 Middle School. This money should last you until high school graduation. Once you've gotten into a university, Mayor Jiang will help you further."
The male secretary Xie Changqing is the top assistant to the mayor of Dongning, Jiang Fengmin. It's been rumored that Jiang Fengmin may soon be promoted to the position of Deputy Governor, and Xie Changqing may be assigned by Jiang Fengmin to a full-time principal position, or even a Deputy Department position.
At this critical junction, not to mention Jiang Fengmin, even Xie Changqing does not want to see this illegitimate son of Jiang Fengmin.
Jiang Shen, a child from a woman Jiang Fengmin knew back when he had just entered the imperial government many years ago in rural Jiangnan Province.
Jiang Fengmin was born into a poor family. He relied on his own abilities to become a civil servant. Since there was no one at home, Jiang Fengmin from Dongning Province was assigned to Jiangnan Province thousands of kilometers away.
Jiang Fengmin, dispirited, planned to spend his life toiling hard in Jiangnan Province.
At that time, he did intend to marry Jiang Shen's mother, but just as Jiang Shen's mother got pregnant with Jiang Shen and Jiang Fengmin wanted to marry her, a chance encounter led him to meet the daughter of the then Deputy Governor of Dongning Province, his current wife Tang Hairong.
Afterwards, just as it happens in novels, Jiang Fengmin, with a hard heart, abandoned his wife and child and married Tang Hairong. Using his father-in-law's influence, he rapidly moved up, advancing step by step until he held the position of Deputy Mayor of Dongning.
Being a provincial city, if Jiang Fengmin further ascends to become Mayor or Council Chairman of Dongning City, he can be considered a top leader in the empire.
At this critical junction, suddenly Jiang Shen appeared.
Xie Changqing coldly looked at Jiang Shen. "Your arrival couldn't be more ill-timed. Mayor Jiang is at the height of his power, almost ready to ascend further. He wouldn't want any hiccups at this crucial moment. But even if you had come at any other time, it would've been useless," he thought to himself, patting Jiang Shen's shoulder. "Take care of yourself," he said, then turned around and left without looking back.
Watching Xie Changqing walk away, the biting cold wind blew across Jiang Shen's body, yet it was less chilling than the coldness in his heart.
Stunned, standing there in the bone-chilling wind, his mind was filled with his mother's last words.
"Take my ring and look for your father in Dongning Province. You were named by your father, who hopes you become a man of integrity, a gentleman. Your father is also a gentleman and a man of integrity..."
Is this the upright and steady man that my mother remembered until the very end?
He didn't even ask about my mother?
Jiang Shen squeezes the envelope in his hand forcefully, his teeth gritting. "One day, I'll make you regret today's deeds."
He turns around and walks away, tossing a huge envelope filled with Hua currency into the trash can as he passes by.
Jiang Shen didn’t come to find Jiang Fengmin for recognition, nor to find his biological father. He was fulfilling his mother's final wish - that she could glance at Jiang Fengmin once again. But Jiang Fengmin dodged the meeting under the excuse of being abroad.
Jiang Shen was supposed to question Jiang Fengmin - since he was abroad during that time, could he return now and pay his respects at least once? But Xie Dami didn't mention this at all.
Jiang Shen didn't ask. To do so, would be only to embarrass himself. If Jiang Fengmin could really be so ungrateful, then one day, I'll make you kneel in front of our mother's grave and repent for your life.
The cold wind howls in the night sky, and Jiang Shen suddenly feels hot. He throws off his winter hat and looks up at the stars.
From now on, I, Jiang Shen, will live alone in this world. No family, no friends, but I won't give up. I hold my own fate, and one day, I can be like Jiang Fengmin, crushing an entire city under my feet.
"Boom!"
At this moment, a thunderous sound suddenly echoes in the February sky.
In the night sky, a streak of light, like lightning, cuts across from the city office yard to the city center. It's as swift as a falling star. Jiang Shen's heart shakes.
Thunder in February, an omen of something extraordinary in the heavens and earth.
What's going on?
He had just reached a corner when he suddenly heard a maniacal laughter inside his head.
"Hahahaha, good for a 'My fate is my own, not created by heaven'. You think you, Huang Zheng-" Whoosh! As the laughter ended, Jiang Shen's vision blackened, as a dark shadow, like a cloud, violently crashed into his mind.
"Ah---" Thud! Jiang Shen fell to the ground.
Boom! Countless mysterious images started appearing in his mind.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect, didn't expect, didn't expect that I, Narlan Unbeaten, who has been successful all my life, would die by my own hand in the end."
"This is the real Xuanmen world, where anyone can be sacrificed for profit. Narlan Unbeaten, you think you have everything-power, wealth, women, but in fact, you have nothing. And I, Huang Zheng, have countless good brothers who can live and die together."
"Tell me, what are your last wishes? For your lifetime heroism, if it's within my power, I, Huang Zheng, will surely fulfil it for you."
"From the chaotic primordial universe, I exist since the epoch. Heaven and earth may change, but only I remain."
The old man was getting closer and closer. When he raised his head slightly as he approached Jiang Shen, an incomparably vicissitudinous face emerged from under his straw hat.
"Ah---" Jiang Shen suddenly sat up.
"What are you doing, what are you doing, stop moving." A burst of fragrance surged, and a little girl in a nurse's uniform appeared in front of Jiang Shen.
She wasn’t exceptionally pretty, but her face was comforting. She hurriedly approached and pushed Jiang Shen back down.
"Hehe, you, you are so tough. Surviving lightning strike, what’s your name, home address --- "The little nurse stared at Jiang Shen without blinking, with an open notebook and a pen in her hand.
Damn it, I was struck by lightning? Jiang Shen was first stunned.
He then looked left and right. It turned out he was in a hospital. He didn't know who was so kind to send him to the hospital.
"Hey, responding to my question, huh? Were you stupefied by a thunderbolt?" The little nurse waved five fingers in front of Jiang Shen with a playful smile, "Teleported? Possessed by a god? Have any special abilities? Can you see my underwear?"
At the last sentence, Jiang Shen couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
"You, you've consumed too much web fiction, hehe," Jiang Shen chuckled, which triggered a severe pain in his chest, "Ah, it really hurts."
"Of course it hurts." The nurse turned serious again, "You fell and hit a brick. Luckily you hit your chest, if it was your head, well..." The nurse laughingly held a pen to her lips.
Only then did Jiang Shen have a chance to look at her. She was probably around twenty, a newbie nurse with a melon-seed face and big eyes. Quite pleasing to the eyes, she was wearing a form-hugging nurse’s uniform that perfectly framed her shapely buttocks. If it was summer, would she be wearing black stockings below?
Suddenly an image of a particular action romance film he had recently watched popped into his head.
"What are you looking at? Can you really see through me?" The nurse didn’t seem shy at all.
It wasn't that this little nurse was particularly familiar with him. Rather, Jiang Shen was rather handsome.
He inherited almost all of Jiang Fengmin's good looks. Jiang Fengmin, in his day, got together with Tang Hairong just based on his face. From the face shape, Jiang Shen was sixty percent similar to Jiang Fengmin.
“Yes, yes, I do have special abilities. It looks like you’re not wearing any underwear,” Jiang Shen's mood was lifted following the nurse’s teasing.
“Ah--” The nurse let out a scream, tightly covering her chest with both hands, her face going completely pale: "You, you can really see?"
No way, Jiang Shen thought, his face turning dark, it was just a casual remark.
"Hahaha," the little nurse also began to laugh, her face full of mischief, did you really think I wasn't wearing any?
Shit, I've been played, Jiang Shen's face darkened even further.
"Hey, I'm asking you, will you call someone from your family to come pick you up?" The young nurse picked up her pen again.
"----" Jiang Shen was momentarily startled, then his expression fell: "I, I just arrived in Dongning City, I don't have any family members."
"No way." The nurse looked a little surprised: "I'm not joking with you, don't joke, there are still 1486 yuan medical fees to be paid."
"----" Just lying down here, and 1400 yuan is gone? Dammit. Jiang Shen picks up his coat from the bedside, rummaging through it for a while before pulling out just over 500 yuan.
"I only have this much with me---" He and his mother relied on each other, his mother spent everything on raising him, on his education. When she passed away, she left him with just tens of thousands of yuan.
Jiang Shen bought the best plot of land for her, the best urn for her ashes. After holding an elaborate funeral for her, he was left with only a thousand yuan. He came to Dongning City with a large suitcase, only to have it stolen while he was sleeping on the bus. Now, besides his clothes, he only has a little over 500 yuan.
"----" The young nurse took a detailed look into Jiang Shen's eyes, the mild sorrow, his tear-filled eyes. Suddenly, her heart softened.
"We happened to be passing there and saved you with the ambulance. We can waive the ambulance fee, but I have to ask for approval. You can rest for a while longer, I will see how much I can save you." said the young nurse in a weak voice, then turned to leave.
Watching the young nurse leave, Jiang Shen let out a wry smile. He lifts his head to look around this standard room. What bad luck. No asking, just straight to a standard room, this place costs probably 200 yuan a day.
Just as the young nurse turned to leave, a voice suddenly rang out.
"A real man doesn't cry at the drop of a hat. So embarrassing."
"Who's there?" Jiang Shen was immediately startled.