"Buying things requires money, stealing doesn't."
"When you see someone chasing you, run."
"You can take things from dogs, no one cares."
The skinny child counted these things on his fingers, when suddenly his stomach growled. He frowned, knowing he was hungry, and began walking through the small alley towards the end of the cobblestone lane.
A light rain fell from the sky, drizzling steadily, accompanied by a misty fog, giving the scene a touch of the smoky rain typical of regions south of the Yangtze River.
The skinny child, however, couldn't appreciate such things. He only knew he was hungry and needed to eat.
The meat bun shop at the end of the cobblestone alley was very good, although every time he went to steal, he would get a severe beating. But the child would recover in a couple of days, so exchanging a beating for meat buns was a fair trade.
He walked barefoot, wearing tattered clothes, squeezing between pedestrians as he headed towards the end of the alley.
On the way, he passed the old tree teahouse, where a chessboard was set up at the entrance.
The child stopped for some reason, putting his hands behind his back, looking at the chess game with interest. Suddenly, he shook his head and said,
"This won't work, you need to move the horse at the beginning."
"Get lost, you little brat, move your own horse!" The chess players waved their hands to shoo the child away, pretending to hit him.
The child naturally ran away, winding his way to the bun shop, looking greedily at the fragrant buns in the steamer.
He had no money, so he naturally had to use other means.
First, going up and taking them directly wouldn't work, because that wasn't stealing, that was robbery, and if caught, he'd be hanged in the marketplace.
He had to steal quietly, unnoticed if possible, and if discovered, it would just mean another beating.
If he could steal meat buns, that would be a win. If he got sugar buns, that would be a loss.
Because even dogs wouldn't eat sugar buns.
Literally, dogs wouldn't eat them.
He hid by the wall, not seen by the bun shop owner, otherwise he'd get a beating right away, as he was a repeat offender.
Waiting for the shop owner to get busy, he would crouch and quickly walk out, preferably using both hands and feet, a technique he learned from dogs.
The key was to be unexpected.
He moved extremely fast, causing a disturbance in the crowded market.
In a nearby luxurious restaurant above, at a table of three, a woman resting her head on her hand looked down with boredom, suddenly tilting her head, her eyes lighting up with curiosity as she gazed with interest.
The child, taking advantage of the bustling market, crawled to the bottom of the bun shop. With no time to choose, he grabbed the entire steamer and ran.
The bun shop owner saw it all and couldn't help but curse,
"Son of a bitch!"
You little bastard, if you're going to steal buns, just steal the buns, why the hell did you take my steamer too, you little shit!
The skinny child, carrying the heavy steamer, obviously couldn't run far and was quickly caught.
The bun shop owner grabbed his head and cursed again,
"You little beast, didn't get enough of a beating last time, huh? No father to teach you, no mother to raise you, you don't even know who you are, can't even say a word when asked, looking like an idiot, but so quick when it comes to stealing!"
The child had his own thoughts. Knowing he couldn't escape, he first stuffed a bun into his mouth.
Hmm, not bad, it had meat.
A win.
He couldn't help but grin.
Smack!
Then he got a hard slap.
What followed was the usual beating in the marketplace. The bun shop owner was used to it, and the passersby were used to watching it.
Mainly because no one really cared about this child. His clothes were picked up from who knows where, he slept under other people's eaves every day, hiding in the straw in winter, and the mischief he did was countless.
Pure selfishness.
The bun shop owner whipped him with a rattan cane for half an hour, perhaps knowing the child had a special constitution, he beat him with particular enthusiasm.
The skinny body was hit by the cane, bruises appearing constantly, even bleeding.
But the child didn't make a sound, even recalling the taste of the meat bun from earlier.
It was delicious.
He couldn't help but smile.
This made the bun shop owner laugh angrily, his hand movements becoming more forceful, putting all his strength into it, sweat flowing out.
The woman in the luxurious restaurant became increasingly curious, her eyes flashing with intrigue as she looked at the child.
The beating ended when the bun shop owner was exhausted.
The child's body was covered in blood, his frame trembling involuntarily.
"Ptui!" The shop owner spat on the ground and cursed again,
"If you dare come again, I'll beat you to death, you little beast. No one cares about you anyway, if you die, you just die!"
The child said nothing.
The passersby dispersed.
It was now dusk.
He dragged his blood-covered body back to the old alley where he usually stayed, sitting blankly in the long-collapsed ruins.
The sun was setting.
This was his home.
A stray dog passed by on the roadside, seeming to carry something in its mouth, glaring at him fiercely.
"What are you looking at?" The child frowned and asked.
He saw what was in the dog's mouth, it looked like a bun, so the dog was protecting its food.
As it happened, he was also protecting his food.
So he fought with the stray dog for a moment, finally winning by a narrow margin, and got half a bun. He took a bite and immediately frowned.
Sugar.
A loss.
This dog had a rebellious bone!
He felt unusually dejected.
Usually, he didn't think about anything. Thinking too much made his head spin, as if something was missing, always feeling like he had forgotten many things.
A nearly dry stream flowed slowly past the collapsed ruins.
An old crow stood on a nearly dead old tree by the road, cawing, singing an unpleasant song.
In all this decay,
Only the child remained young.
"What's your name?" Suddenly, a clear voice rang out.
A woman tilted her head, blocking the sunset, smiling as she asked the child.
The child was stunned for a moment, as if countless things were spinning in his mind. He couldn't understand anything, but suddenly two words surfaced, so he naturally said,
"Chen Xia."
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
