APLTWFMV 1
by starlightxel“What kind of things did you pick?! They are all f*cking worthless trash!”
Accompanied by a fierce and angry shout, a thin and frail young man was violently pushed and slammed against the cold, hard wall of the hall.
Immediately followed by a deafening heavy thud, the smooth and polished floor was ruthlessly smashed.
“Bang!!“
Several pieces of cut rough jade materials were forcefully smashed and thrown by the young man’s feet; the flying debris scratched across the side of Shu Baiqiu’s leg.
Due to the angry shoving from the person in front of him, Shu Baiqiu’s lower back was also heavily pressed against the hard window sill.
Severe pain descended suddenly, without any buffer.
“…”
Shu Baiqiu lowered his head, his spine trembling slightly, without making a sound.
However, the person in front of him had absolutely no intention of stopping; instead, his anger burned even hotter.
“Eight hundred thousand! So much of laozi’s1An arrogant way of referring to oneself, often used by aggressive or dominant men. It literally means “your father,” implying the speaker thinks of himself as vastly superior to the listener. money was completely wasted and lost by you, this fool!”
Gu Yifeng got angrier the more he spoke, his young and arrogant face full of violent intent.
He didn’t lower his voice in the slightest, plus the heavy bang of the rough materials smashing the floor just now, the commotion here quickly attracted a large number of gazes from the surroundings.
After all, in this spacious and imposing hall, people were currently coming and going.
Inside the Biyu Garden, a new session of rough jade material2Uncut stones that are mined but not yet processed. In Chinese fiction, the buying and selling of these stones is called “Stone Gambling” (赌石). Buyers wager massive amounts of money based on how the outside looks, hoping high-quality jade is inside. trading activities was currently taking place. There were already numerous guests to begin with, and the several outdoor open-air areas displaying large batches of jade materials were packed with people.
Coupled with the fact that among Biyu Garden’s recent batch of raw stones from a special source, a million-level massive steal3“捡漏” (picking up a leak) is a term in the antique and jade trades for unexpectedly finding something incredibly valuable for a very cheap price. was unexpectedly opened.
Therefore, compared to usual, the number of participants attending this activity had multiplied by an unknown number of times.
The strange noises on this side of the hall attracted a lot of attention, and the passing guests were all watching and discussing.
Although the specific cause of the matter was not yet very clear, by listening to those few words from Gu Yifeng, bystanders could mostly guess a thing or two.
“Eight hundred thousand, heh—another guy who lost his pants in a single cut4In stone gambling, “一刀穷，一刀富” (one cut to poverty, one cut to wealth) is a famous saying. It means the moment the jeweler saws the rock open (“a single cut”), the buyer either becomes an instant millionaire or goes completely bankrupt..”
“Isn’t it normal to have gains and losses doing this line of work? Why is he making a scene here?”
“This is too much of a sore loser, yelling in public…”
The several assistants behind Gu Yifeng also knew they shouldn’t make a racket in this kind of public venue, but what they knew better was this rich young master’s temper.
Towards the currently furious boss—there wasn’t a single person who dared to persuade him.
Moreover, the person bearing the brunt of all Gu Yifeng’s anger head-on at this moment was exactly the scolded Shu Baiqiu.
Shu Baiqiu’s appearance was born extremely good. It was the kind of good-looking that in a bustling crowd, it could still catch the eye at a glance.
Yet at this moment, because of the severe pain in his back, his spine could no longer stay straight, and his beautiful, lean face also drooped low.
Shu Baiqiu curled up slightly. The somewhat long, soft tips of his hair hung down, trembling very lightly together with his curled long eyelashes, shaking silently.
The young man’s skin color was nearly as pale as paper, and the person was severely thin. Even a soft fleece-lined hoodie was worn by him with an obvious sense of emptiness.
Moreover, at this moment, by Shu Baiqiu’s side, stood two tall and burly brawny men—one on the left and one on the right.
These two people, however, were obviously not to protect Shu Baiqiu’s safety. They were only to ensure he would obediently follow Gu Yifeng’s commands.
Being surrounded by these few people, the originally thin and lean Shu Baiqiu was contrasted to look even more fragile. Falling into the eyes of bystanders, he looked exactly like a frail fledgling with thin and sparse feathers.
Amidst the murmurs of the surrounding passersby, there was clearly a lot of sympathy for Shu Baiqiu.
“Even if he lost money, he shouldn’t lay hands on a child.”
“Oh my, that pitiful kid’s hands are also red. Could he be injured?”
“Look at these smashed on the ground—you can tell they are waste materials just by looking at the outer shell. This guy is obviously a layman at a glance, yet he has the nerve to take his anger out on others…”
The thin and frail young man was wearing a pure, solid-colored hooded sweatshirt and a pair of faded, washed-out jeans; his attire was obviously still very green5Literally “raw and tender.” Used to describe someone who looks very young, inexperienced, and out of place in a sophisticated adult environment., forming a sharp contrast with the glamorous clothing of the passing guests.
Standing in this magnificent hall, Shu Baiqiu looked more like a schoolboy who had wandered into a business conference hall by mistake.
By contrast, Gu Yifeng, who was still harshly questioning him, appeared even more domineering and ferocious.
“Everyone knows there are good materials here, yet I let you pick from inside and you still couldn’t pick any out! What’s the use of feeding you?!”
Under his agitation, Gu Yifeng’s arm involuntarily raised. The originally silently curled up Shu Baiqiu shivered slightly, subconsciously lowering his eyelids and turning his head away.
However, it was unknown whether his reaction was sluggish, or if there were injuries on his hands. At this time, the young man actually didn’t even think to raise his hands to protect himself.
In the face of the incoming harm, he looked even more completely defenseless.
However, exactly at this moment, Gu Yifeng’s cell phone suddenly rang.
Gu Yifeng forcefully suppressed his anger. He irritably ran a hand through the stiff, scattered hair on his forehead, the two cartilage studs on his right ear flashing with a cold, harsh light.
He took out his cell phone and glanced at it. After finishing reading the newly sent text message, Gu Yifeng still had his brows tightly furrowed, and in a bad mood, he threw down a sentence to the two bodyguards.
“Take him away.”
After speaking, Gu Yifeng left behind the numerous onlookers with strange gazes and the staff members who hurried over to check, and strode away with a cold face.
After coming out of the Biyu Garden’s hall, Gu Yifeng directly got into the car.
The car started, and Gu Yifeng also spoke coldly, saying to Shu Baiqiu who had been stuffed into the back seat.
“I told you, didn’t I, that today was your last chance.”
Shu Baiqiu remained very quiet; even though his spine could not straighten due to the previous pain, and his hands were still hidden under his sleeves, he still did not cry out in pain.
After Gu Yifeng finished speaking, a beat too late, Shu Baiqiu finally looked over following the sound. His gaze appeared slightly dazed, his curled, long, and wet eyelashes fluttering slightly.
It was as if he didn’t understand.
Gu Yifeng sneered.
“Playing dumb is useless.”
Right in front of Shu Baiqiu, Gu Yifeng directly dialed a phone call.
“Hello? Boss Fu, I saw the message sent just now.”
If there was still hesitation before, after losing a six-figure sum of money at such a critical moment today, Gu Yifeng directly made a decision.
“The matter we discussed before, I agree to it. Yeah, when does your family have free time?”
Although he was on the phone, Gu Yifeng kept his line of sight fixed on Shu Baiqiu’s slightly lowered, pale face.
In this already low-pressure car cabin, it unnecessarily added an even heavier pressure on a person.
“Alright then.” The corner of Gu Yifeng’s lips pulled up l in a smile. “I’ll bring him over tomorrow.”
Hanging up the phone, Gu Yifeng had a smile on his lips, but his tone was even colder.
“That’s enough, little fool.”
“Since you can’t feel out the jade material to save your life, tomorrow, just wait to marry that good-for-nothing from the Fu family.”
***
Returning from the Biyu Garden, as soon as Shu Baiqiu got out of the car, he was locked back into that small room in the side courtyard.
Outside the room’s door, a tall and burly bodyguard still remained.
Ever since that rumor about the Shu family members leaked out back then, Shu Baiqiu had almost never been able to possess freedom again.
He was adopted multiple times, and changed hands several times; every single adopter would guard him exceptionally strictly.
—After all, a rumor like “being able to directly feel out the jade material’s quality from a rough stone” was truly too tempting.
It was just that Shu Baiqiu had already become a fool, and the content of the rumor had never been able to come true from beginning to end. Now that it reached Gu Yifeng’s hands, he was exasperated and wanted to change hands and pass Shu Baiqiu off, yet he still hadn’t completely relaxed the final guard.
Mingcheng’s climate was pleasant, and always had the reputation of being like spring all year round. However, even here, it was impossible for every corner to be warm and suitable.
The room Shu Baiqiu was locked in was quite damp and dark.
Inside the narrow and long room, there was only a bed and an old wooden shelf, the air permeated with obvious moisture. The four walls didn’t even have a single window, and there were patches of mildew in the corners, making the interior, which already had no sunlight, appear even more dim.
At the foot of the bed, a massive black spider crawled quickly by, its densely paddling long legs quite terrifying.
The young man sitting on the edge of the bed, however, remained peaceful and silent throughout. It was as if he had long been accustomed to this kind of life in this room.
His only movement was to lower his eyes and look at his own hands covered in red marks.
After looking for a while, Shu Baiqiu gently curled his fingers. He hid his lean hands even deeper into the slightly long hoodie sleeves.
Earlier in the Biyu Garden’s hall, even though Shu Baiqiu was standing by the wall and making no movements, there were still many onlookers who noticed his hands.
Shu Baiqiu’s two thin hands both carried large patches of red—there was widespread red swelling, as well as long, raised bloody welts.6“棱” refers to a ridge or a raised edge. “血棱” vividly describes the long, red, raised scratch marks left on the skin when something sharp scrapes across it.
Those were produced when Shu Baiqiu was forced to touch the stone materials. A part of it was due to allergies, and a part of it was from scratches.
Gu Yifeng was a rich second-generation heir7A very common cultural term referring to the children of China’s nouveau riche. It often carries a slightly derogatory connotation of someone who is spoiled, arrogant, flaunts their wealth, and relies purely on their parents’ money rather than their own merits. who never knew what a low profile meant; when he was in the rough stone material area holding Shu Baiqiu down to touch them, because the commotion he made was too big, it similarly attracted the attention of quite a few passersby.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Shu Baiqiu’s hands turned red right on the spot.
His skin color was also white, making those wounds appear excessively eye-catching and shocking.
Up until now, the condition of Shu Baiqiu’s hands had not improved much.
However, he seemed similarly accustomed to it, never having any further reactions from beginning to end.
Unlike the silent stillness inside the small room in the side courtyard, it was noisy everywhere outside. The faint noises of a lot of commotion came through the door, as if they had been busy all along.
Until it got dark, no one came to pay attention to Shu Baiqiu in the small room.
As the night deepened, and the moon rose to the tips of the branches8A poetic and classic Chinese literary phrase to indicate that it has gotten quite late in the evening., only then did one of Gu Yifeng’s assistants walk into the side courtyard.
The assistant looked at the small room and asked the bodyguard guarding the door.
“No situations, right?”
“No.”
The bodyguards had already changed shifts, only that little fool in the room was always alone from beginning to end.
The assistant asked again, “Has Xiao Mi been here?”
Xiao Mi was another assistant responsible for ordering food.
The bodyguard shook his head. “No, before I changed shifts, I saw him get called away by the boss.”
The assistant furrowed his brows, and looked towards the inside of the room.
The night light set to a timer inside the room was already lit. Looking in through the square glass on the door, the not-so-large room could be taken in at a glance.
Shu Baiqiu was sitting quietly by the bed. Set off against the lamplight, the young man’s profile was tranquil and beautiful, like a pale, precious porcelain doll.
Delicate, obedient.
And lacking in vitality.
The assistant sighed softly, turned around, and left.
After ten or so minutes passed, the door of the small room was knocked on.
“Knock knock.“
The assistant twisted open the door lock, pushed the door, and walked in.
With someone suddenly visiting, Shu Baiqiu still had no reaction. It was as if his reception of outside information was always much slower than a normal person.
It wasn’t until the assistant walked closer that Shu Baiqiu seemed to see the newcomer, slowly standing up from the edge of the bed.
He did not have the willful right to ignore people.
The assistant was holding two steamed buns9Traditional Chinese steamed buns with filling (often meat or vegetables). They are a common, inexpensive staple food. and a cup of rice porridge, when he saw Shu Baiqiu’s lowered gaze fall onto the steamed buns in his hands.
This morning, Gu Yifeng was in a rush to go to the Biyu Garden, and simply didn’t give Shu Baiqiu time to eat; after returning, he angrily and directly locked the person in the room.
Calculating it, Shu Baiqiu had already not been given anything to eat for an entire day.
The assistant turned his head and looked outside the room. Confirming there was no commotion, he immediately handed those foods to the other party.
“Here, eat something.”
Shu Baiqiu seemed surprised, his figure pausing slightly, raising his head to look at the assistant.
It wasn’t until the assistant repeated once more “this is for you to eat,” that the young man, with a slight wariness, slowly reached out his lean hands.
Under the lamplight, the assistant saw that hand was still obviously red.
The assistant secretly sighed again.
Shu Baiqiu having an allergic reaction due to being forced to touch the stone materials, was not the first time.
Before, Gu Yifeng would still give him anti-allergy ointment. Later, he got annoyed and stopped giving it, feeling that it would heal on its own anyway even without applying medicine, and it wouldn’t kill anyone.
However, although it wasn’t fatal, the feeling of an allergy was absolutely not pleasant.
Moreover, the air in this room was so damp and stagnant, which was even more detrimental to the recovery of the allergic symptoms.
Furthermore, although the assistant only saw the slight red swelling and scratches on the back of Shu Baiqiu’s hands, he also knew that the other party’s unexposed slender wrists similarly had bruises.
That was during the day at the Biyu Garden, left behind when Gu Yifeng forcefully pulled his wrists to go touch the stone materials.
The assistant then placed the food on the low wooden shelf-table to the side first, not letting Shu Baiqiu use his injured hands to take them, and even explained a sentence.
“Boss Xiao Gu is in a bad mood today. He encountered some matters and was a bit irritable, he wasn’t intentionally targeting you…”
The assistant didn’t dare reveal too much information about the boss, but thinking about it, he also knew that it was probably all just him talking to himself.
Shu Baiqiu had already become a fool by the time he was taken over by Gu Yifeng. Aside from a few sentences of “I don’t know” forced out when compelled to touch the stone materials, which were so low they couldn’t be any lower, the assistant had almost never heard Shu Baiqiu speak.
However, just like when usually encountering pitiful stray little animals, when kindly feeding them some food, one would always be unable to resist talking to them to oneself.
The assistant still couldn’t resist murmuring these few sentences.
After speaking, the assistant never thought he would receive any response.
However, after pausing for a while, the young man in front of him looked at the meal on the table, and suddenly opened his mouth in a low voice.
“…Thank you.”
Shu Baiqiu’s enunciation was very light, his voice a little slightly hoarse, like the rustiness of rarely speaking.
However, his vocal tone was clear and soft, and would not let anyone mishear it.
That was indeed a sincere word of thanks.
The assistant was obviously taken aback.
This surprise was both for Shu Baiqiu’s initiative to speak, and also because of the content of what he said.
Having been mistreated for so long.
This boy who was always called a little fool, surprisingly could still say thank you to people.
The assistant wanted to smile bitterly, but only sighed silently.
Knowing he couldn’t do much, the assistant could only just pick out two relatively hotter steamed buns for Shu Baiqiu.
“Eat quickly, fill your stomach.”
The assistant still had things to do, and was also afraid of being bumped into by the boss whose anger had gone to his head, so he very quickly left in a hurry.
Shu Baiqiu was still alone. He stood by the low table at the foot of the bed, and slowly used his sleeves to cradle the steamed buns that still had residual warmth.
However, before long, the side courtyard became noisy, as if several people were coming over.
Immediately following that, the room door was heavily pushed open.
Gu Yifeng walked in furiously.
He had just lost his last large sum of savings on hand today, and was also scolded by the old man at home just now over a phone call, cursing him as unable to accomplish anything but more than capable of ruining things.10A classic and highly insulting Chinese idiom. It describes someone who is completely incompetent at making things succeed, but is an expert at screwing things up.
How come his two older brothers were good in every way in the old man’s eyes, but it just had to be him getting cursed out with dog’s blood poured over his head11An incredibly vivid idiom that means to be scolded, berated, and humiliated absolutely mercilessly. In old superstitions, pouring dog’s blood over someone was meant to ward off evil, but culturally it evolved into a metaphor for a devastating, messy verbal thrashing.?!
Gu Yifeng was scolded until his anger flared straight up; seeing Shu Baiqiu, unable to hold back the fury in his chest, he snatched away the steamed bun that hadn’t even been bitten twice. He fiercely dashed it onto the ground and stomped it into mush with one foot.
“Eat—what eat?! Causing me to lose so much money, and yet—you sure know how to enjoy yourself!”
Gu Yifeng throwing the food still didn’t relieve his anger, so he raised his hand and shoved onto Shu Baiqiu’s body again.
The frail and thin Shu Baiqiu was shoved so hard he staggered, his leg tripping on the foot of the bed, his body involuntarily swaying.
His hands still did not protect himself. He just kept it behind his back, completely unable to grab onto anything. In the end, it was his previously pained side-waist bumping into the low table on the side, that barely let him borrow the force to stand steady.
“Pack his things up.” Gu Yifeng said to the several people behind him in a bad mood, “Send him to the Fu family tomorrow!”
The bodyguards and assistants who followed in quickly took action, starting to grab bags and pack things up.
Actually, Shu Baiqiu simply didn’t have many things—at most having a few items of clothing. The entire room was roughly scoured once over quickly, and all the things allowed to be taken away were entirely stuffed into a single backpack.
Waiting until Gu Yifeng angrily took his people and left, only then did the interior quiet down again.
The narrow and long room looked even more empty than before, bare and in a total mess.
With a “grumble,” the muffled, weak sound was quite clear in the silent room.
Shu Baiqiu’s empty stomach was growling, but he did not look at the dirty, flattened, mushy steamed buns on the ground, instead staring blankly in another direction.
On the ground over there, some fragments that had similarly been crushed and stomped on were currently scattered.
Shu Baiqiu slowly walked over. His thin and slender ankles trembled slightly, along with his entire right leg appearing to shake a bit.
Walking up close, Shu Baiqiu lowered his head, and saw those dirty fragments even more clearly.
They were originally an exquisite sculpture no bigger than the size of a finger—a white tiger with bright, piercing eyes and gorgeous striped patterns.
That was something pinched and sculpted purely by hand—a labor of love that lacked all sorts of tools but was still polished until it was glossy and shining, which had always been carefully and cautiously hidden among the neatly folded clothes.
Just now, when the room was being scoured, the sculpture was instead roughly yanked out along with the clothing. It fell onto the ground, breaking into several pieces.
It was then crushed to pieces by the wide, hard soles of shoes coming and going taking turns stomping on it.
Shu Baiqiu quietly looked at it for a good while, and silently lowered his body. He slowly reached out his hand, his pale fingertips curling and bending several times, his movements hesitant and sluggish.
It was as if he wanted to touch it, yet didn’t dare to.
During the day, the young man who had been reprimanded, shoved, locked up, and starved for an entire day had never shown any obvious emotional fluctuations from beginning to end.
It wasn’t until this moment, that he finally revealed a bit of genuine distress.
After a long while, Shu Baiqiu shrank his fingertips back into the hoodie sleeves. Using the somewhat long cuffs as a pad, he carefully goes to pick up the broken pieces on the ground.
His originally slightly trembling right ankle shook even more severely at this time, yet the completely deformed sculpture on the ground couldn’t be picked up at all.
The broken pieces had already been stomped flat and cracked, sticking to the ground; Shu Baiqiu finally managed to pick up a small piece with great difficulty, but then fluttering crumbs fell down from it.
It was scattered into powder.
Completely unable to be pieced back to its original state.
The voices of the guards speaking came from outside the room, one of them speaking with emphasis.
“Lock the door well, and keep a close eye on the person! First thing tomorrow morning, he has to be sent to the Fu family.”
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