Chapter 1: Gift

 ~SYNOPSIS~

Throughout the ages, there have been rumors of a spiritual realm that transcends time. Regarding this spiritual realm, famous scholars and literati from various dynasties have different interpretations. Poems recount: "From the Qi Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, this mountain remains desolate, and the spiritual realm is silent, rarely visited by people." "The spiritual realm is indescribable, and it is difficult to find the work of ghosts.

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The city of Songhai, 999.

Once, at the airport, I had an encounter with a newspaper seller. His charisma was undeniable! I called out to him, "Hey, newspaper boy!" He nodded and said, "Hi, long time no see!" Tears welled up in my eyes; I couldn't believe that this small fan from a few years ago still remembered me. He continued, "Oops, sorry, I mistook you for someone else. I thought you were Peng Yuyan~"

At seven-thirty in the morning, in a dimly lit room, on a soft and large bed, Zhang Yuanqing abruptly woke up, holding his head and curling up like a shrimp.

The headache was so intense, as if his head was about to split open. His brain felt like it had steel needles embedded in it, causing his scalp to twitch. He experienced hallucinations and chaotic images flashed through his mind, accompanied by meaningless noises ringing in his ears.

Zhang Yuanqing knew that his old illness had relapsed.

Trembling, he crawled out of bed and opened the drawer of the bedside table, fumbling to find the medicine bottle. In a hurry, he unscrewed the cap and swallowed five or six small blue pills in one go.

Then, he threw himself back onto the bed, gasping heavily, enduring the excruciating pain.

After about ten seconds, the soul-tearing headache gradually eased and then subsided.

"Phew..." Zhang Yuanqing let out a sigh of relief, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

During his high school days, he suffered from a strange illness. The symptoms included uncontrollable recollection of all memories, even forgotten trivial information; uncontrollable collection and analysis of external information; and an incredible degree of control his brain had over his body.

Fortunately, this state couldn't last for too long and would interrupt due to the strain on his body.

It was precisely because of this ability that he effortlessly got admitted to Songhai University, a prestigious institution ranked among the top in the country.

Zhang Yuanqing referred to this condition as "brain overload." He believed that he might be evolving into a superhuman, but his body couldn't support such an evolution, leading to frequent interruptions.

When he shared this conjecture with a doctor, the doctor seemed puzzled but also impressed, suggesting that he should visit the psychiatry department downstairs..

In the end, the hospital couldn't determine the cause of his illness. Later, his mother brought back a special medicine from abroad, which helped control the condition as long as he took it regularly.

"It's probably because I didn't rest well last night. I blame Jiang Yuyu for insisting on playing games in my room in the middle of the night..." he muttered.

Although he said that on the surface, his heart felt heavy because he knew that the efficacy of the medicine was starting to weaken, and his illness was getting worse.

"I'll have to increase the dosage from now on..." Zhang Yuanqing put on his cotton slippers and walked to the window, swishing the curtains open.

The sunlight rushed in, filling the room.

In the beautiful April of Songhai, the spring was radiant, and the morning breeze was refreshing and comfortable.

"Knock, knock!" At this moment, a knocking sound came, and Grandma shouted from outside the door.

"Yuanzi, get up!".

"No, I won't!" Zhang Yuanqing coldly refused, wanting to go back to sleep

With such beautiful spring weather, and it being the weekend, wouldn't it be a waste of life not to sleep in?

"Three minutes, if you don't get up, I'll splash water on you!" Grandma's tone became even more stern.

"I got it, I got it..." Zhang Yuanqing immediately gave in, knowing that his hot-tempered grandma was capable of doing that.

When Zhang Yuanqing was still in elementary school, his father passed away in a car accident. His strong-willed mother chose not to remarry and settled in Songhai, leaving him to be cared for by his grandparents.

As for himself, he buried himself in his career and became a successful woman admired by relatives.

Later, his mother bought her own house, but Zhang Yuanqing didn't like the empty and spacious apartment, so he continued living with his grandparents.

Anyway, his mother was busy every day, leaving early and coming back late. She was fully devoted to her career, and even on weekends, if not working overtime, she would order takeout for meals.

The most frequent thing she said to him was, "If you don't have enough money, tell Mom." With a financially fulfilling superwoman as a mother, it sounded great.

But Zhang Yuanqing always smiled and told his mother that the pocket money from his grandma, aunt, and aunt was enough.

Well, and also from his aunt.

Last night, the woman who insisted on coming to his room to play games was his aunt—242.

Yawning, Zhang Yuanqing turned the doorknob and entered the living room—22.

This set of houses at Grandma's place was around 150 square meters, and he remembered that when they sold the old house to buy this new one, it was priced at over 40,000 yuan per square meter—80.

Six or seven years had passed, and now the property prices in this neighborhood had skyrocketed to 110,000 yuan per square meter, nearly doubling—130.

Fortunately, his grandpa had been foresighted; otherwise, with the previous old house, Zhang Yuanqing would only have been able to sleep in the living room. After all, he was all grown up now, and he couldn't share a bed with his aunt anymore—155.

At the long table in the living room, the culprit responsible for his headache was sipping porridge. Her rosy slippers dangled under the table—43.

She had exquisite and beautiful features, and her round, egg-shaped face had a sweet charm. There was a teardrop mole at the corner of her right eye—286.

With her tousled and messy wavy hair due to just waking up, she exuded a bit of lazy charm—72.

His aunt was called Jiang Yuyu, four years older than him—201.

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing come out, his aunt licked her lips after having a sip of porridge and said in surprise, "Hey, why are you up so early? That's not like you"—21.

"It's all because of your mom," he replied—44.

"Why are you cursing people like that?" she asked—23.

"I'm just speaking the truth," he said—11.

Zhang Yuanqing scrutinized his aunt's beautiful face, full of energy, bright and charming. They said that the night wouldn't be unkind to those who stayed up late, as it would give them dark circles. But this law seemed to not apply to the woman in front of him—64.

In the kitchen, Grandma heard the commotion, peeked out, and after a moment, came out holding a bowl of porridge. With black and white hair and a sharp gaze, she had the air of an irritable old lady. Although the relaxed skin and faint wrinkles took away some of her former beauty, traces of her past good looks were still visible—

Zhang Yuanqing took the porridge Grandma handed him and gulped down a mouthful before asking, "Where's Grandpa?"—

"He's out for a walk," Grandma replied.

Grandpa was a retired veteran detective, and even though he was getting older, he still had a regular routine: sleep at 10 pm, wake up at 6 am.

As she sipped her porridge, the beautiful aunt smiled and said, "After breakfast, I'll take you shopping at the mall"—13.

"You have such a kind heart?" Zhang Yuanqing was about to agree, but his Grandma shot him a deadly look—15.

"If you dare to go, I'll break your legs," she threatened—44.

"Aww, why are you like this, Mom?" His aunt pouted and said with a sly smile, "I just want to buy some spring clothes for Yuanzi. Aren't I allowed to do that for my dear nephew~?"—91.

With an iron will, Grandma said, "You also want to get your legs broken?"—61.

His aunt rolled her eyes and lowered her head to continue eating her porridge—15.

Listening to the back-and-forth between mother and daughter, Zhang Yuanqing knew that his Grandma had most likely set up another blind date for his aunt. The playful aunt wanted to involve him in the mix—42.

In the past, they did this often: taking her nephew along on blind dates. After a few minutes, his nephew, a social genius, would have charmed the prospective partner, engaging in deep conversations from daily life to global affairs, with his aunt having no involvement whatsoever—79.

She would just sip her drink and play with her phone, and the date would think he had displayed enough social experience and knowledge in front of a beautiful woman, leaving him feeling happy and satisfied with himself—45.

From a young age, Jiang Yuyu had been exquisite and adorable, praised by neighbors for her good looks and sweetness, making her likable to elders—57.

With such a beautiful daughter, Grandma naturally guarded her strictly, forbidding early romance and going out with male classmates during middle school—45.

The youngest daughter didn't disappoint her; even after graduating from university, she never had a boyfriend. However, once she entered society, especially after passing her 25th birthday, Grandma started to become a little impatient—145.

She thought, "I only forbade you from dating early, not from being left on the shelf. How many youthful years does a woman have?"—84.

So she gathered her old sisters, searching far and wide for talented young men, arranging blind dates for her daughter—15.

"Auntie, she obviously doesn't want to date yet, so forcing her won't bring any sweetness," Zhang Yuanqing joked while munching on a bun, offering to help, "How about you arrange a blind date for me? I'm a sweet fruit."—121.

Grandma retorted angrily,"You're still young, what's the rush? Aren't there plenty of female classmates in college? Can't you find one yourself? If you mess around, I'll beat you."—90.

Grandma was a woman from the southern region, but her temper was far from gentle, especially fiery—157.

Even Zhang Yuanqing's mother, a career-oriented strong woman, wouldn't dare to argue with Grandma—21.

"I'm already grown-up, and I've been working as a craftsman for several years..." Zhang Yuanqing grumbled in his heart—615.

After breakfast, his aunt, under Grandma's firm demand, went back to her room to change clothes and put on makeup for her blind date. She was going out to meet potential partners—15.

His aunt applied light makeup, making her look even more vibrant and charming. She wore a loose collar knit sweater with a long coat, paired with light-colored slim-fit jeans that showcased her well-proportioned legs. Her narrow pants cuffs were tucked into black Martin boots.

Her outfit had a simple and natural style, not glamorous or extravagant, yet especially delicate.

His aunt gave him a teasing look, carrying her bag and swaying her waist as she left, saying, "Mom, I'm going on a blind date now".

Zhang Yuanqing returned to his room and leisurely changed into a black T-shirt and a windbreaker, putting on running shoes.

After a few minutes, he opened the bedroom door.

Grandma was cleaning the living room. Seeing him come out, she paused and silently watched him.

Imitating his aunt's tone, Zhang Yuanqing said, "Mom, I'm also going on a blind date now".

"Get back here!" Grandma raised her broom, threatening, "If you dare to step out of this door, I'll break your legs".

"Sure!" Zhang Yuanqing immediately complied and returned to the bedroom.

He returned to his room and found a paper cutter in the desk drawer, then opened the package.

Inside was a shockproof air cushion wrapped around a black card and a yellowish envelope.

Zhang Yuanqing picked up the black card, about the size of an ID card. The material seemed like metal, but it felt incredibly smooth to the touch. The card was exquisitely made, with light silver cloud patterns on the edges and a black moon in the center.

The black moon imprint was delicate, with distinct irregular patterns visible on its surface.

What was this? With a curious mind, he opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

"Yuanzi, I've obtained something very interesting, which I thought could change my life. However, my abilities are limited, and I can't control it properly. I believe that if it's you, it shouldn't be a problem.

"It's a brotherly gift from me to you.

"Lei Yibing!"

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