In Jiangzhou, August was as hot as a steamer, leaving people gasping for breath, as if the air itself had solidified.
Wu Fan was clumsily handling the food on his barbeque grill while fanning himself, attempting to get a slight breeze. Moving food around, flipping it, sprinkling seasoning, his actions made it clear that he was not an expert.
In fact, Wu Fan was indeed not a barbeque master. He had been in the barbeque business for barely a month. Not only were his skills beginner-level, but his equipment was also extremely simple: a barbeque grill, two tables, and over a dozen stools.
His business was lukewarm – of the two tables, only one was occupied by three people, with the other table empty.
Wu Fan couldn't help but envy the three customers. From their conversation, he knew they were students from nearby schools. A year ago, he was just like them. Now, a year later, however, he only had his modest grill.
"This cruel society!" Wu Fan sighed softly, continuing to turn over the ingredients in his hand.
"Boss, give me ten skewers of meat, ten chicken wings, and ten skewers of pork belly..." As Wu Fan lamented the cruelty of society, a robust voice reached his ears.
Wu Fan was ecstatic inside. For his modest stall, this order was a big deal.
"Okay!" While quickly agreeing, Wu Fan looked up and his actions froze as he looked at the person who ordered. His brows wrinkled without thinking.
The customer in front of him had disheveled hair, some dirt on his face, and dressed in rags that were patched in many places. He was wearing a pair of ragged sandals half torn at the toes. This appearance, with a bowl would make him indistinguishable from a beggar.
"Quick, I'm very hungry now," The man noticed Wu Fan's pause and urged.
"Sure, I will get right on it." Wu Fan replied, but he didn't move.
Seeing Wu Fan's hesitation, the man asked, "What, you're afraid I don't have money?"
"No shit, looking at the way you're dressed, anyone would have this concern," Wu Fan silently snarked in his mind. Of course, he didn't dare say it out loud – that would be offensive, "No, no."
"That's good," the man sighed in relief, then said under his breath, "I really don't have any money."
However, Wu Fan apparently did not hear the latter sentence.
"Judging from his confident speech, even though his face is dirty, his aura is still extraordinary. He couldn't possibly be a beggar," Wu Fan mumbled to himself, busying his hands with impending matters.
A guest is a guest. Besides, many people were watching. He couldn't possibly judge a book by its cover and chase the other person away.
After being engrossed in work for a while, Wu Fan finally finished preparing the orders of the other party. He handed over all the items, saying, "Your order is ready, the total is 360 yuan."
The man took the food from Wu Fan's hands, did not hurry to pay but began eating directly. Wu Fan did not rush him and just watched him eat. As long as the other didn't leave, it was okay for him to finish eating here.
"Boss, bring three more bottles of beer!" At this moment, the only table of customers yelled in Wu Fan's direction.
"Coming!"
Wu Fan, holding three bottles of beer, headed towards the three people, yet the corner of his eyes was still watching the man dressed like a beggar.
"Your beer." Arriving at the table, Wu Fan put down the beer and then turned to go back.
However, when he turned around, he was stunned. The man, who was just eating there in ragged clothes, had disappeared without a trace.
Wu Fan could swear that he had only taken his eyes off the man for two seconds. Those were the two seconds when he put down the beer. In those two seconds, the man had vanished!
What a spooky occurrence!
Wu Fan hurriedly ran to his own stall, looking left and right. However, the slightly open street was nowhere to be seen that man's figure. It was as if the other party had just disappeared out of thin air.
This is really spooky!
Wu Fan grumbled one more time. Seeing that he searched several times without finding the person, he had to return to his stall reluctantly.
What a freeloader! All that supposed confidence and bravado, was nothing but my own delusion!
"Huh, what's this?"
When Wu Fan came to his stall, he found a gray ring next to his barbecue grill. Picking it up, Wu Fan examined the ring. He couldn't tell what material it was made of, but it was smooth and round on the surface.
"Could it be that man's? He didn't have the money to pay the bill, so he left this ring as compensation?" Wu Fan thought silently.
In this period, apart from that man, there were no customers on his end. It was clear that the real owner of this ring was likely that man.
"A shabby ring to make up for my 360 yuan? No wonder he left it quietly and left," Wu Fan mumbled to himself.
Originally, he was going to throw the ring right away, but it felt decent in his hand, so he didn't. He even put it on. Surprisingly, it fit perfectly.
"Well, having something is better than nothing. Consider the food I served as an act of charity," Wu Fan comforted himself. Things have reached this point, and he had to make the best out of it.
By around 1 am, there was hardly anyone on the streets. Wu Fan then packed up his things and returned to his small rented room of about ten square meters.
After putting away his things, there wasn't much space left in Wu Fan's room. He lay down on his bed, thinking about his experiences in the year since he graduated, feeling a bit depressed.
Wu Fan had an undergraduate degree, but his college was considered third-tier, and his major wasn't in any popular field. This meant the jobs he found after graduation were not great. To make things worse, he saw something in his manager's office he shouldn't have, and was fired the next day for entering the office with his left foot forward.
After that, with a mediocre degree and no work experience, job hunting became difficult. To stay afloat in the city, Wu Fan took up part-time jobs while continuing his job search. He took on any job to make money as long as it was legal.
However, his luck never seemed to improve. He injured his foot while working construction, and the foreman asked him not to come back. As a mascot, he tried to help a fallen child, but the parents thought he'd scared their child, causing a scene in the store, and he was fired again. As a waiter, a mix-up from the kitchen resulted in a customer berating him for serving the wrong dish and then filing a complaint.
Finally, a little over a month ago, he started a barbecue business with his meager savings, hoping to earn some money during the summer months.
Even this was not easy. Close to Wu Fan's stall were several barbecue shops, with larger premises and better environments. His stand didn't compare. Combined with his average cooking skills, despite being in business for a month, the business wasn't really good, which worried Wu Fan, who was eager to make money.
"Even more infuriating is that someone dined and dashed today," Wu Fan thought bitterly. He looked at the ring on his hand and thought about the situation tonight, feeling a little depressed.
Was it easy for him to earn a little money? But a dine and dash today meant he had worked for nothing. Plus, he even increasingly lost money.
Could it be that his bad luck was about to strike again? Was his barbecue stand going to fail now?
An angry Wu Fan wanted to take off the ring. However, it was easy to put it on, but it turned out to be challenging to remove it. Wu Fan rotated the ring for a while. Still, he couldn't take it off and instead rubbed his finger red, with a few bloody traces even flowing out.
At this point, something surprising happened to Wu Fan. The blood traces that flowed out were absorbed by the ring. The originally lackluster ring suddenly brightened, as dazzling like the midday sun.
"Host detected, binding in progress..."
A mechanical voice echoed in Wu Fan's ear.
