Chapter 1: 01 Man-made disaster
"We can break up, but you have to return the 380,000 yuan dowry to me!"
Li Dongxu held his phone, his expression twisted, his hoarse voice suppressing a hysterical rage.
He was about to go crazy!
Two months ago, by chance, he met a girl named Hu Diehua. Beautiful with long legs, pure yet desiring, he fell in love at first sight and actively pursued her.
Unbelievably, Hu Diehua fancied him too.
After a few dates, they quickly established a relationship, and within less than a month, they were discussing marriage. Everything was going smoothly.
Li Dongxu thought he could soon marry and settle down for a happy life.
But Hu Diehua, righteous in her speech, demanded a dowry of 500,000 yuan if he wanted to marry her!
Li Dongxu was just a white-collar worker; where could he find so much money? After much coaxing and haggling, he managed to bring it down to 380,000 yuan.
He withdrew all the savings he had accumulated over seven years of work, and borrowed some from his aunts, and somehow gathered the dowry.
Afterward, he happily started preparing for the wedding.
But last night, when he returned from a business trip early, he bought flowers and went to Hu Diehua's home to surprise her.
Then, at the entrance of the residential complex, he saw Hu Diehua in another man's arms, walking home demurely like a little bird nestling close.
Li Dongxu, in disbelief, angrily asked Hu Diehua who that man was.
Without a word, that man turned his back and, with a mockery in his eyes, coldly said to Li Dongxu that he and Hu Diehua were the real lovers, and that Li Dongxu was just a spare tire.
Hu Diehua said nothing, didn't even glance at Li Dongxu, obviously consenting.
Li Dongxu, humiliated and enraged, charged at the man but was knocked down with a punch, seeing stars and bleeding from his mouth and nose.
"You little rat, chasing after my woman?"
"Haha, you've been dating her for two months, just held hands a few times, haven't even kissed once, have you?"
"Idiot, we sleep together every day!"
The man mocked cruelly, walking away with Hu Diehua in his arms.
Li Dongxu returned home in a daze, not knowing how he made it through the night. By the next day, he had finally calmed down and immediately made a call to Hu Diehua. He didn't ask for much, he just wanted his 380,000 yuan dowry back.
"What dowry? When did you ever give me a dowry?"
On the other end of the phone, Hu Diehua's cold laugh came through, "I was just playing with you, I don't owe you anything, don't contact me again."
She hung up the phone.
"You bitch, why did you deceive me?" Li Dongxu panicked and called again, but the phone was turned off.
Li Dongxu, unable to contain his anger, exploded. He grabbed a kitchen knife and stormed out.
...
...
The night was enchanting, and the barbecue stand was bustling.
Four good buddies were sitting around a table, gulping down beer, devouring skewers, and shooting the breeze.
They were childhood friends and had sworn brotherhood to each other.
Whenever they had time, they would gather to have fun.
"Come on, it's rare for us to get together, let's drink a few more rounds."
The friends urged each other to drink more, chatting about everything under the sun.
Fang Zhixing looked at Zhang Changji, who was covered in tattoos and had the air of a street urchin and laughed, "How's life treating you, huh? I heard you've got yourself another girlfriend?"
"Hahaha, what do you mean 'again'? Am I that kind of person?"
Zhang Changji lifted his hand, waving his wrist with a diamond-studded watch, his face brimming with self-satisfied delight.
Fang Zhixing clicked his tongue incessantly and quickly asked, "What does that woman look like, have you slept with her?"
Zhang Changji immediately started making suggestive gestures with his eyebrows, all without saying a word.
But suddenly, Zhang Changji's head jerked up, his eyes widened in shock.
A man wielding a kitchen knife, his face twisted with rage and ferocity, charged over like a madman and swung his blade.
...
...
Great Zhou, Dan State, Qinghe County!
The golden ginkgo leaves of autumn are yellow, the beaded curtains are not rolled up as the frost comes overnight.
"Cluck-cluck-cluck~"
Outside, the chickens crowed.
Just as dawn was faintly breaking, Fang Zhixing woke from a nightmare, glanced at his dilapidated thatch hut that let the wind whistle through from all sides, and felt as if he had crossed into another world.
Listening to the now-silenced crowing of the chickens, this primitive and simple alarm clock made Fang Zhixing believe once more that he had truly traveled through time.
The original owner was named Daniu, and he was eighteen years old this year, living in a mountain village nestled among the Funiu Mountain range in Qinghe County.
Having lost his mother in early childhood and his father in his teenage years, Daniu was left with a thatched hut (fenced in, cool in winter, warm in summer), half an acre of meager farmland, a young dog, a bow, eighteen arrows, and an arrow bag.
Three days ago, Daniu had taken his family dog to hunt in the mountains when they unexpectedly encountered a black bear, scaring him so much that he fell into a ravine and hit his head on a rock.
And just like that when he awoke again, he had become Fang Zhixing.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~"
As soon as Fang Zhixing woke up, his stomach began growling immediately, waves of hunger pangs hitting him. He got out of bed, looked around his meager dwelling finding nothing to eat.
With no other choice, he pushed open the door, walked over to a large, chipped jar, scooped up some water with a gourd ladle, and drank it to stave off his hunger.
"Woof woof!"
A small, patchy-colored dog ran up behind him, looking seven parts like a Husky and three parts like a mutt.
"I'm hungry, so hungry, I'm about to starve to death!"
A string of complaints entered Fang Zhixing's mind, "Fang Zhixing, hurry up and find something to eat, or I'll starve to death!"
Fang Zhixing turned around, glaring at the young puppy lying on the ground with drooping ears, who appeared to be only months old, frustration venting from him as he barked:
"You still have the nerve to say that? If it weren't for you flirting with someone else's fiancée, would I have been killed by that madman?"
"Why are you so fierce!"
The little puppy looked pitifully contrite, knowing it was at fault, and sent a whimpering thought, "Can't I just admit I was wrong? Who would have thought that madman would use a knife to hack at people? And when that madman was hacking at you, why didn't you know to dodge?"
"Dodge? Like you're the only one who knows how to dodge!"
Fang Zhixing picked up a stick and swung it at the puppy.
"Awoof~"
The puppy bolted, and Fang Zhixing chased after it.
But they didn't run in circles for long before both stopped, collapsing to the ground exhausted.
Forced together by their difficult circumstances, the two were simply too starved to keep up the chase!