Chapter Two: Brother Lei Feng

"Sky, what are you doing?!"

The next morning, Sky was dozing off at his desk when someone patted him on the back—not too hard, but enough to startle him awake. He jolted upright, convinced for a moment that his boss had caught him napping. But when he turned, it was only Zhang from his department. Annoyed, he snapped, "You nearly scared me to death! Cover for me while I catch some shut-eye..."

"What's up with you these days? You either look like a zombie or someone who hasn't slept all night," Zhang asked curiously. "Did you break up with your girlfriend?"

"Get lost," Sky grumbled, his face stiffening as his real troubles were touched upon. He quickly put on a show of impatience, "I was gaming till three or four in the morning, I'm dead tired!"

"Bah, I thought it was some juicy gossip. Boring!" With that, Zhang wandered off, losing interest.

Once Zhang was gone, Sky slumped over his desk again, but this time he wasn't trying to nap. His mind was preoccupied with the strange crystal.

After unearthing the crystal the night before, he'd spent hours examining it, searching the internet, but he couldn't match this diamond-shaped, semi-translucent object to any known crystal. The force it took to pierce an iron security door and burrow more than half a meter into the ground was unimaginable. With a door that thick, even firing a handgun at close range probably wouldn't leave a mark.

All night, he tried everything to elicit a reaction from the crystal, but nothing happened. In frustration, he'd even hammered at it for ages—only stopping when an upstairs neighbor yelled at him for making a racket. Defeated, he'd finally gone to bed.

Still, one thing was certain: this mysterious crystal was extraordinary.

Not wanting to draw attention, Sky decided not to inform his landlord. He took the afternoon off, went to a furniture market, and shelled out over a thousand yuan for a replacement security door. To his surprise, they were so expensive—he'd thought a few hundred would suffice, but even the cheapest set him back over a thousand! After arranging for installation, he headed to a building materials shop and bought a marble floor tile like the one in his rental.

By the time the new door was fitted and the marble set into place—after much trouble—it was already past seven in the evening.

Sky rubbed his empty stomach, then patted his equally empty pockets, emotions churning. "Crystal, please let me down easy. If you turn out to be worthless, all my money will be for nothing..."

He'd made up his mind: tonight he'd study the crystal one last time. If there was still no breakthrough, he'd take it to a professional appraiser tomorrow. Judging by its astonishing hardness alone, it had to be worth at least the cost of that door.

Trying not to dwell on it, Sky grabbed what little cash he had and left. Food was the first priority—after all, he'd drunk so much last night and thrown up everything he'd eaten. Today, he'd been so engrossed with the crystal that he'd barely eaten at all. At this point, he felt like he could devour an entire ox.

First things first—fill his stomach.

Although Sky's rented garage was cheap, the neighborhood bordered University Town, so food stalls and eateries were everywhere. The street was thick with tantalizing aromas.

"I'll worry about tomorrow when it comes," he thought, feeling his shriveled stomach, guilt gnawing at him. "If things get really bad, I can always swallow my pride and ask my parents to send some money." With that, he walked into a busy outdoor eatery.

He found a seat and was about to call the owner when he noticed a beautiful young woman at a nearby table. At first, he only admired her looks, but something about her seemed familiar. The more he looked, the more certain he became. Her features stirred a memory.

He narrowed his eyes, searching his mind until the image in his memory overlapped with the girl before him.

It was her—the same girl he'd carried to the twenty-four-hour diner last night. He'd been drunk himself then, so her face was only a blur, but now, in the clear light, she was every bit as stunning as his ex-girlfriend, Li Mei—perhaps even more so.

What a coincidence!

Unsure, Sky looked at her again, more closely.

After a while, the girl noticed his gaze. She looked up, puzzled at first, then dazed, and finally broke into a bright, delighted smile.

To Sky's surprise, she stood up and walked straight over to him.

"Hi! Hello," she said, sitting across from him with a smile.

"Uh... hello," Sky replied, momentarily stunned but polite. He remembered clearly—last night, when he picked her up, she’d already been unconscious. She shouldn't know him at all.

"Do you know why I came over?" The girl smiled again.

"Uh... because I'm handsome?" Sky joked, guessing she must have figured out who he was by some means.

To be fair, Sky was quite good-looking—that’s how he’d won the campus beauty Li Mei back in the day. His features were clear-cut, his lips red and teeth white, with a certain pretty-boy charm. He kept fit, too, so his body was lean and athletic. Since his breakup, his handsome face had acquired a hint of melancholy, making his presence even more striking.

"Ha, you really are full of yourself!" She hadn't expected that answer and was taken aback, but soon she burst out laughing.

"So, what brings you looking for me?" Sky grinned. "Just so you know, I'm short on cash today—if you want me to treat you to dinner, it’ll have to wait."

"You’re funny! I’m not here for a free meal," the girl teased. "I just want to ask you..." She paused, her bright eyes sizing him up mischievously. "Is your name Lei Feng?"

Sky's lips twitched. Of course, now he knew she recognized him. He laughed. "What a coincidence. I remember... at that time, you probably didn’t even know who you were."

Seeing his teasing expression, the girl rolled her eyes and protested, "Ugh, Brother Lei Feng, don’t get the wrong idea! That was the only time, okay? I never expected the drinks at that bar to be so strong—they tasted just like soda! I walked out and blacked out right away!"

In truth, she was still shaken. When she woke that morning and found herself sprawled across a diner bench, she broke out in a cold sweat. Only after asking a staff member did she learn that, after she’d passed out, a young man had brought her in and told them to look after her.

The diner had security cameras everywhere, and when she watched the footage, she realized just how much danger she’d been in the night before.

The outside cameras had clearly recorded her collapsing on the ground and the moment when a few sleazy-looking men almost dragged her away—only for the young man to intervene, help her up, and bring her inside, instructing the staff to take care of her.

After watching the footage, her already pale face turned even whiter, goosebumps prickling her skin. Gratitude flooded her heart, but so did fear. She couldn’t imagine what might have happened if that young man hadn’t stepped in—or if he’d had ill intentions and taken her to a hotel instead. The consequences would have been unthinkable.

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became. It was simply too awful to contemplate.