Fortunately, the passenger hadn’t left. Instead, suppressing their curiosity, they had stayed to watch over the car and the belongings inside for him.
“Hahaha, driver, that was amazing! You dove right in without a second thought! If that were me, my legs would’ve cramped up before I could even submerge!”
Not angry in the slightest, the passenger even went out of their way to pay ten times the fare before leaving:
“You acted bravely for a good cause, and I don't have much money to spare, so consider this a token of gratitude on behalf of that girl's parents. It’s not freezing today, but wearing wet clothes will give you a chill. Hurry on home!”
“Alright, alright! Thank you so much!”
Zhou Hai was overwhelmed by the unexpected generosity. He didn't consider himself any sort of “hero,” but hearing the word always gave a person a warm glow.
With ten times the fare in his pocket, he was full of joy. For once, he headed home early, stopping to buy the Sichuan pepper chicken Wang Xiumei loved, the braised duck necks their daughter enjoyed, and after a moment's consideration, half a jin of pig's head meat for himself.
Who would have guessed that when he got home to change clothes, sharp-eyed Wang Xiumei hooked her fingernail under an object hanging from his belt, asking in complete bewilderment:
“What on earth is this—”
Hanging from his soaking wet belt was a gleaming, lustrous white jade plaque.
Zhou Hai scratched his cheek.
...
This was already Rupert’s twelfth consecutive hour working at the fast-food restaurant.
For eighteen-year-old Rupert Otto, life was an endless loop of overtime and part-time shifts.
That was how he kept himself and his two younger sisters fed on minimum wage.
After finishing his shift at the restaurant, he still had to catch the last subway train.
Hopefully, this time he wouldn't run into workers protesting, marching, or striking over the Spiritual Resurgence.
Last month, the transit union had gone on strike, shutting down the New York City subway for three days.
During those three days, he couldn't earn his part-time wages and had to rely on ghostwriting essays for classmates in exchange for cash.
Of Rupert’s parents, one was an addict forcibly placed into a rehab facility by the government, and the other was an alcoholic deadbeat who drank all day.
Besides him, the household had two twin sisters who were under ten years old.
Rupert carried the burden of his own college loans. After his fast-food shift ended, he had to take the last subway home, scrape together barely three hours of sleep, get up at 3:00 AM to deliver newspapers in the neighborhood, and only then could he head to class.
Inside the fast-food restaurant, customers were puffing away on cigarettes, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
High-calorie cheeseburgers and sugar-loaded sodas were almost enough to fulfill an ordinary person's daily caloric requirement.
The television was broadcasting today’s breaking news. A white female anchor in professional attire wore a polished, practiced smile of excitement:
[“Oh, my god! Just moments ago, just moments ago! We received breaking news! The ninety-fifth ‘Ascension Token’ has appeared in Rio de Janeiro!”]
[“This lucky ‘Chosen One’ is a lady of Chinese descent named Shan Lu! Following this discovery, Rio de Janeiro has become a massive hot spot for treasure hunters!”]
[“Countless seekers are swarming there, hoping to become the next lucky winner!”]
[“This truly is thrilling news, isn’t it?”]
The words “Immortal-Seeking Token” sounded somewhat strange when pronounced by the white anchor, but no one cared about that.
Inside the fast-food restaurant, every customer who heard the broadcast burst into curses:
“Damn it! What a lucky bastard!”
“I won! You owe me fifty bucks!”
“Hey, am I the only one who noticed that most of the people qualifying for these are Chinese faces?!”
“WTF! This is discrimination! This is racial discrimination! We should protest!”
Protest?
Protest to whom?
To the Huaxia government, or to those monsters who could obliterate giant beasts with a wave of their hands and wielded destructive power comparable to missiles?
Rupert turned a deaf ear to it all, focusing entirely on wiping down tables.
He cleaned with immense care.
A teenager's self-esteem made him avoid everyone's gaze as he wrapped clean leftovers in tin foil, carefully tucking them into his pocket out of sight.
The fast-food joint had plenty of customers.
Sometimes, he could scavenge half a burger patty.
Sometimes, a large serving of fries.
If he was lucky enough, he might even come across a nearly whole burger with only a single bite taken out of it.
He could take it to school for lunch, giving him the energy he needed to get through the day.
Rupert had even taught himself how to smuggle cheese and cream home, adding them to pancakes to fill his sisters’ bellies.
Should he be grateful to his parents for not being despicable enough to sell the house too?
A wave of hunger hit him, the cramping pain jolting Rupert's stomach.
He felt light-headed, the whole world spinning around him.
Rupert took a deep breath, walked familiar paths to the back door of the kitchen, and unwrapped the half patty hidden against his chest, feeling a twinge of regret.
Damn it, this was supposed to be tomorrow’s lunch.
But considering he still had to mow Mrs. Maggie’s lawn tomorrow, Rupert decided to indulge in a small luxury.
New York City was bustling and glamorous. Everyone was used to dazzling neon lights and soaring skyscrapers, but few had ever seen the overflowing dumpsters in the alleys, the greasy crawling rats, and the filthy, muddy backstreets.
Yet this was Rupert’s sanctuary.
He opened his mouth and bit down eagerly into the meat patty, only for his teeth to suddenly strike something icy cold.
Rupert spat out the burger meat, revealing a pure white, exquisitely crafted Huaxia-style jade plaque.
Almost instantly, panic seized him.
Dropping everything, Rupert bolted from the fast-food restaurant, completely ignoring the furious shouts of the cook behind him:
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Rupert! Where the hell are you going?! Damn it! Your shift isn't even over yet!!”
He ran like the wind.
With this item as his ticket, he could take his sisters to Huaxia.
A country without demon beasts, without psychotic killers, and without the constant terror of being slaughtered by a monster just walking down the street.
That night, he had a rare good night's sleep.
His two little sisters were very thoughtful. Before leaving home, they left Rupert a serving of instant pancakes for breakfast.
—Because social services strictly required Rupert to enroll them in a public school to prove he was capable of supporting the household.
Otherwise, the two sisters would be separated and sent to foster families.
“Oh, damn it, damn it, damn it, seriously damn it! I forgot I still have to deliver newspapers today!”
Rupert drew a heavy breath, but right at that moment, the doorbell suddenly rang.
He opened the door. Two shadows loomed over him, and a man in a sharp suit handed over a business card with a shrewd smile:
“Mr. Rupert Otto.”
“I am Frank Hank, the attorney retained by the Beto family. Entrusted by Mr. Jaris Beto, I would like to speak with you regarding the item you brought home yesterday.”
Leaving no room for refusal, the man spread out a stack of photos before Rupert’s eyes—they were high-definition snapshots of Rupert sitting in a corner of the subway, unable to resist pulling out the Ascension Token to inspect it.
“You’re invading my privacy!!”
Rupert felt a chill run through him. He had certainly heard all about the Beto family, but he had never imagined they could go to such lengths.
“Oh, Mr. Otto, you really are endearing.”
The attorney to the side smiled and stepped aside, gesturing for him to look behind him:
Parked on the street of the dilapidated neighborhood was a red supercar that Rupert had only ever seen in his dreams.
—It was the limited-edition luxury supercar with over one hundred million likes on Twitter, with only a hundred units in existence worldwide.
A butler in a tailored suit stood with two coded briefcases at his feet, while fully armed bodyguards waited nearby, exuding an imposing aura of danger.
A luxury stretch Lincoln was parked right along the curb.
“If you are willing to hand that item over to me.”
The car door swung wide open. A blond, blue-eyed young man in a bespoke suit sat inside, gazing at Rupert as he spoke slowly:
“All expenses for you and your family for the next one hundred years will be fully covered by the Beto family. As for the university you wish to attend—NYU, MIT, Columbia, Duke... take your pick.”
“If you wish to immigrate to Huaxia, that’s no problem either. The Beto family can sponsor three billion US dollars for you as your personal trust fund.”
“As for your parents, the Beto family has the nation’s top legal team. They will resolve everything for you.”
“Regarding your sister’s congenital heart defect, the hospital funded by the Beto family possesses the world’s top medical team and can search for a donor heart worldwide.”
“Right now, this Pagani Huayra, along with a golf estate in New Zealand, a ten-thousand-acre ranch in Australia, a skyscraper in Chicago, a shopping mall in New York...”
The young man paused, gesturing toward the building behind Rupert:
“Even this very building behind you. As long as you are willing, all of them can belong to you right now.”
The gates to an entirely different world slowly opened before Rupert.
He parted his lips, only to find he couldn't make a sound.
After a long pause, Rupert licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with excitement:
“I accept.”
Rate on N.U.
