Prologue

My name is Song Nianqiang. I just graduated from junior high. My biological father is a mystery, and I'm the only child in the family, taking my mother’s surname.

I have a best friend, Feng Yingcai, nicknamed Fat Pig. For the four years of junior high, the two of us were the talk of the school—not because of our studies, but because we were always getting into trouble. Every Monday, during the principal’s speech at the flag-raising ceremony, we were inevitably singled out as negative examples. Over time, our reputation spread far and wide.

Of course, my mother had no idea about any of this. She still believed I was a model student. Whenever I landed in trouble and the homeroom teacher was about to call my mom, I’d head straight for the rooftop on the third floor. Why? Simple—threats. If the teacher dared summon my mother, I’d threaten to jump. The trick worked every single time.

So, for all four years of junior high, I sat alone at my desk. Our system was five years of elementary school and four years of junior high. To top it off, my homeroom teacher gave me a “prime” seat—right next to the trash pile. Thankfully, it was inside the classroom, so the stench wasn’t overwhelming, but falling asleep to a medley of shifting odors each day was a unique experience, not one everyone could claim.

They say that girls just discovering love are the least discerning, so someone like me—a notorious troublemaker—became the so-called Prince Charming in the eyes of those foolish girls. I received a mountain of love letters, but I always maintained an air of aloofness. I never so much as glanced at those letters, tossing them straight into my “back garden”—the trash heap.

Don’t say I was being arrogant. Everything I did was for one girl—the goddess in my heart, Jiang Ningzhi. What a beautiful name—Ningzhi! Sadly, she was the school’s top student. Someone like me, with neither family background nor academic achievements, could only admire her from afar and be content with that.

When I graduated, I scored a miserable 180 points. Even the worst school in our county wouldn’t take me, claiming I’d hurt their graduation rate. What nonsense! As if a school that bad had any graduation rate worth protecting. If anything, I’d affect their birth rate. As for my buddy Feng Yingcai, he did even worse than me, but his family was rich enough to buy him a place at the most prestigious school in the county.

But Feng Yingcai was a true friend. He absolutely refused to go without me, insisting he’d go wherever I went in this life. Stubborn as a mule, if you ask me—either kicked by a donkey or slammed by a door. But I liked that about him. His old man nearly skinned me alive over it, but thankfully, in this age of law and order, there wasn’t much he could do! Ha!

I’d long since accepted that I wasn’t cut out for academics. My plan was to enjoy this summer to the fullest, then go find a job. Sure, I was quite handsome, but in this world, good looks alone won’t get you a wife if you’re broke. For the sake of my goddess, I was ready to embark on the noble and arduous career of a waiter.

That summer, I spent three whole nights writing a love letter that spanned tens of thousands of words. When I finally finished, even I was shocked by my perseverance—I’d sat at my desk for three hours straight, when usually I couldn’t last forty-five minutes in class without needing the restroom three times.

I had someone wrap up my epic love letter in a fancy box and, taking advantage of the market day in our little town, I handed it to Jiang Ningzhi. In truth, I’d already scoped out her address, so I waited at her doorstep for her to come out. I endured all sorts of strange looks during that wait, but for the sake of my goddess, a few dirty glances were nothing.

But my love letter was like a stone tossed into a lake—no response at all. I was dejected, so I called up Fat Pig to go out drinking, naturally at his expense. I didn’t expect that night of drinking would change my life forever, leading me into an entirely new world.