The fringe area of Hongye City, a market town in the southwest.
Life began to bustle as soon as the sun rose.
Mercenaries who went out to hunt, staff working at nearby farms and plantations, residents of the fringe areas… People came to the town early in the morning to buy daily necessities.
The mercenaries who go out to hunt have the loosest pockets, and the most expensive shops in the town are basically selling to them.
Farm and plantation workers have average income, but their jobs are stable, so they are generous when shopping. To save trouble, they usually buy several days’ worth of food at once.
The people who are most stubborn are those who are struggling to survive in the fringe area. Many only buy food a day at a time, and choose whatever is cheapest.
“Cheap turkey meat!”
“Mashed potatoes, 2 yuan per pound!”
“Multigrain rice, 4 yuan per serving!”
…
In the bedroom on the second floor of a small two-story building on the street, Xie Yunnan was woken up by the sounds outside his window. Opening the window, he saw the street in front of his house filled with stalls as always.
The rich aroma of the food rushed to his face, Xie Yunnan shouted to an old grandmother who set up a stall on the left side of his house: “Grandma Wang, make me a pancake and add two eggs!”
The elderly Grandma Wang responded with a smile: “Okay!”
After shouting, he turned to an old grandfather who set up a stall on the right side of his house: “Grandpa Zhou, fry me a chicken chop.”
Grandpa Zhou also replied with a smile, “Okay!”
After ordering, Xie Yunnan closed the window, and began to get dressed.
“Woof woof woof.” The dog’s bark came from the bed. A snow-white puppy that looked a bit like a fox got out of the quilt and wagged its tail happily at Xie Yunnan.
“Morning, silly!” Xie Yunnan grabbed the puppy, kissed it first, and then hugged it into his arms. The puppy disappeared into his arms, or was taken back by him.
This adorable puppy is his companion animal.
Everyone has a companion beast, and some people’s companion beasts have very good combat strength. Unfortunately his companion beast has zero combat power, so he usually doesn’t release it, lest the little guy is injured accidentally.
Even if it doesn’t get hurt… it’s troublesome when the little guy’s white hair gets dirty.
He doesn’t want to wash a dog at all!
After packing, Xie Yunnan went downstairs.
The building of his house has two floors, The second floor is where he lives, and the first floor is where he does business – he inherited the car repair shop left to him by his grandfather.
Xie Yunnan was an orphan, but he was lucky. He was thrown into the water when he was young, but did not drown. He floated along the current to the nearby riverbank, where he was picked up and adopted by his grandfather.
He grew up in this town, learned how to repair cars from his grandfather, and taught himself how to modify cars.
Although the cars he can modify are limited, with these skills in hand, he can earn a lot of money. In this town in the fringe area, he is considered a wealthy person.
Xie Yunnan’s house is not big, covering an area of 90 square meters.
The second floor is the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and two bedrooms. As for the downstairs, there are two large rooms facing south. A large car can be parked inside, allowing him to repair and refit vehicles.
The upstairs is okay, but the downstairs is actually a bit small. There is often no place to put various auto parts. Both sides of the stairs are filled with car parts, and there’s only a narrow aisle in the middle for people to pass.
Xie Yunnan went downstairs, shuffling around several piles of parts. He finally arrived at the food and pulled up the door.1
He let out a long breath in the shining sunlight.
The garage smelled of oil, and he could fresh air after opening the door.
Xie Yunnan first went to Grandma Wang to get his pancakes, and went to get the fried chicken chop from Grandpa Zhou.
Grandpa Zhou’s companion animal is a dog just like him.
This dog is very thin, and a large part of its back is bald. One can easily count the bones on its back. At this moment, it lay at Grandpa Zhou’s feet, panting for breath with its tongue sticking out.
As soon as Xie Yunnan neared, it approached Xie Yunnan’s feet, wagged its tail, and kept rubbing its head against Xie Yunnan’s leg.
Grandpa Zhou cut open the fried chicken chop and said, “Ah Huang likes you very much.” This dog is khaki-colored, so he is called Ah Huang.2
“That’s right, I’m very popular.” Xie Yunnan laughed and paid for the fried chicken.
People naturally have companion beasts after they are born. The beasts have the mind as their owners, or rather their emotions represent the emotions of their owners.
So it’s not Ah Huang that likes him, it’s clearly Grandpa Zhou who likes him.
Who made him the most popular young man in town!
Xie Yunnan returned to his shop, and ate his own breakfast of pancakes and fried chicken in front of the shop.
Not long after sitting down to eat, he saw a few skinny kids run up to him with their companion animals, salivating at the fried chicken in his hand.
Xie Yunnan took a piece of fried chicken chop in his mouth, and then gave them the rest of the fried chicken chop together with the paper bag. “You can share it yourself.”
“Thank you brother.” The children held the paper bag and went to the side to split it up.
After Xie Yunnan finished breakfast, he was about to change into his overalls and start his day’s work when several motorcycles suddenly drove towards the market town.
These vehicles sped by kicking up lots of dust, and the violent roar seemed comparable to the wind and waves in nature.
The last bike in the convoy braked suddenly and stopped at the door of Xie Yunnan’s shop.
The roads in the town are not asphalt. They are made of mud, and quite wide. Even two small trucks can easily drive side by side, let alone a small car.
But these motorcycles were way too fast!
Some people were frightened and hid on both sides, and some people’s companion animals were too frightened to move, shivering on the side of the road.
Even the fried chicken chop in the hands of the children were covered with a layer of dust from the motorcycles.
Xie Yunnan was a little unhappy, but quickly suppressed his unhappiness.
He likes cars very much, and could tell at a glance that each motorcycle cost millions.
He can’t afford to offend anyone who can afford such a motorcycle.
At this time, the man on the red motorcycle got off.
He took off his helmet and threw it on the motorcycle rearview mirror. Grabbing a handful of his slightly longer hair, he revealed a young and handsome face.
This handsome young man in his twenties sneered at Xie Yunnan with his brows furrowed. “It’s nothing special! So ugly!”
Xie Yunnan felt like he was being stared at by a viper. “Who are you?”
The young man narrowed his eyes slightly. “My name is Yan Yuge, and I am Liao Muye’s fiancé. I warn you, don’t pester Liao Muye again, otherwise…”
Before he could finish his words, a leopard suddenly appeared in front of Xie Yunnan and opened its mouth about to bite Xie Yunnan’s neck.
This is a companion beast. This person wants to kill him with a companion beast?
Xie Yunnan was taken aback and stepped back, feeling that he was about to die in the leopard’s mouth.
Fortunately, the leopard didn’t bite down at the last moment, but only pressed his claws on his shoulders and threw him to the ground.
There were many small parts scattered in front of his house. Xie Yunnan was suddenly thrown down, and felt a sudden pain behind him. In addition, the leopard’s sharp claws easily cut through his clothes and pierced his shoulder.
A bloody flower bloomed on his shoulders in an instant.
Xie Yunnan screamed in pain.
The motorcycle riders behind Yan Yuge laughed at his embarrassing appearance.
Yan Yuge stared at him, and the corner of his mouth tickled upwards.
The leopard retracted his claws slowly, and after looking at Xie Yunnan disdainfully, he flicked his tail back to squat beside Yan Yuge.
“Liao Muye is mine, you’d better behave.” Yan Yuge patted the leopard’s head. Putting away his companion beast, he put on his helmet again, and rode his motorcycle away. The rest of the riders all drove off laughing and joking.
These people whistled and whizzed away, as if to warn him… Xie Yunnan got up from the ground and clutched his shoulders, only to feel pain all over his body.
This man is simply mental!
When did he pester Liao Muye?
“What kind of person was that?”
“Yunnan, you are injured, you need to take medicine.”
“I have some medicine for the wound.”
“Liao Muye’s fiance is sick!”
…
The surrounding people all gathered around, and someone helped Xie Yunnan sit down on a chair.
They all lived nearby and knew that Xie Yunnan and Liao Muye were just acquaintances… Even so, someone came to the door to speak harshly and hurt Xie Yunnan.
Xie Yunnan is too miserable!
Xie Yunnan also felt miserable.
It was summer, so he wore short sleeves. The leopard’s sharp claws easily pierced through his clothes, leaving wounds on both shoulders. A lot of blood had bled out by now.
The neighbors cut through his clothes and quickly administered medicine… In addition to the pain, Xie Yunnan felt unlucky.
It was a disaster.
He was not familiar with the Liao Muye in Yan Yuge’s mouth at all. He only knew him!
Xie Yunnan met Liao Muye a month ago.
At that time, a 17- or 18-year-old young master came from the town, with red lips and white clothes. One could tell he had been pampered since childhood at a glance.
The fringe area is completely different from the central district and the general district. There are many kinds of people here. It is common for such a young master to be deceived and kidnapped by someone here.
Xie Yunnan watched Sister Wu, who was in the flesh business, pull the young master into her house. Fearing that something would happen, he went up to relieve the siege and brought the young master to his house.
This young master ran away from home and refused to share any information, so Xie Yunnan could only let him live in his home.
The young master stayed at his house for seven or eight days. He hated this and complained about that all day long, and then Liao Muye came.
The young master was Liao Xingyuan, the fifth master of the Liao family in the central district of Hongye City, and Liao Muye’s cousin.
And Liao Muye… Liao Muye is the most outstanding person in the younger generation of Hongye City. He is already a fourth-level warrior at a young age, and can even be seen on TV from time to time.
Many young people in Hongye City admired Liao Muye, Xie Yunnan included. When he suddenly saw such a person he had only seen on TV before, he couldn’t help getting excited.
But at that time, Liao Muye obviously didn’t want to pay attention to him, so he didn’t he didn’t speak up.
After that, Liao Xingyuan came to visit several times. Liao Muye would pick him up every time, so they met a few more times.
But from the beginning to the end, Liao Muye was very indifferent to him. He didn’t want to treat such a cold person warmly, so the words he exchanged with Liao Muye could not add up to ten sentences.
They had nothing to do with each other, yet he was threatened!
This Yan Yuge has a problem with his brain!
Xie Yunnan does like men, but the partner he wants has always been a gentle and lovely boy. In contrast, Liao Xingyuan is more in line with his requirements than Liao Muye.
Even if Liao Xingyuan isn’t gentle, he can be barely called cute. Liao Muye is different. Liao Muye is tall and muscular… Xie Yunnan wants to be like such a person, but he doesn’t like this type of person.3
Even if he liked Liao Muye… he is the young master of a big family, while he is just an ordinary young man in the fringe area. How could he have the ability to pester Liao Muye?4
The people around continued to complain. Xie Yunnan bandaged the wound with their help and breathed a sigh of relief. The wound was not deep, and the bleeding stopped quickly, so he should be healed in a few days.
People living on the fringes get hurt from time to time, and minor injuries are common.
But he was really angry: “That person is mental!”
“That’s right!”
“He wants to chase after Liao Muye, doesn’t he? Coming here to scare others.”
“Xiao Xie is too miserable.”
“These rich people never take others seriously!”
“Xiao Xie, please bear with it, those motorcycles cost millions, and their helmets cost 50,000 to 60,000… We can’t afford it.”
…
Being surrounded by people and being able to feel their concern, Xie Yunnan was not so angry.
He knew very well that he couldn’t afford to offend Yan Yuge. Even if he was wronged, he could only bear it.
Just as he was about to let everyone go back, Xie Yunnan felt dizzy, and some strange memories appeared in his mind.
He saw his own short life.
imagine a manual garage door; with a mechanism similar to pulling up/down window blinds
Ah = ‘Ah’ sound. Huang = yellow
XY wants to be tall and muscular. But tall & muscular isn’t his type.