Chapter One: Xiao Yu

  This is a low and dilapidated wooden shed, desolate and shattered, with no better words to describe it, just like an old dwarf who has experienced the vicissitudes of life, struggling to survive in the cold years. In front of the shed, there are stone slabs paved streets, dirty and turbid water flowing freely on them, even some stray dogs looking for food have to retreat from it.

  The low wooden door of the thatched cottage creaked open and shut in the smelly wind, making a squeaking sound. Half of the red brick wall was tilted and on the verge of collapse, but fortunately it didn't fall down.

  A place where even dogs don't come, doesn't necessarily mean there are no people living there.

  The door creaked open, and a girl in a white silk dress came out. She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with black hair falling down her back, emitting a lustrous sheen like black pearls. Perhaps because her hair blocked her view, the girl used her hand to sweep it aside, pulling it back behind her head, then used her hand to lift up the hem of her white silk dress, which had faded slightly from washing, and stepped forward onto a relatively clean stone slab. She then anxiously called out towards the wooden gate: "Brother, hurry up! You're going to be late!"

  The girl's voice was crisp and clear, just like a yellow oriole coming out of the valley, very pleasant to listen to.

  A tall boy, about twenty-one or two years old, walked out of the low wooden door. Due to the low height of the wooden shed's door, the boy had to lower his head when passing through the door.

  The girl pulled up her skirt and jumped onto another stone slab, yielding the one she was originally standing on to the boy.

  The boy was wearing a wrinkled old suit, and from his back, he appeared to be about 1.8 meters tall, slightly thin but with a very straight back, looking very handsome.

  "Remember to work hard, no more fighting, or else... humph! No dinner tonight." The girl waved her small fist, wrinkled her nose cutely, and then smiled sweetly, revealing a pair of shallow dimples. She was extremely lovely and charming. If someone saw her, they would definitely be surprised - in this dirty and chaotic slum, there was actually such a beautiful and outstanding girl.

  Work? A hint of embarrassment flashed in the boy's eyes, this was just an excuse to deceive his sister, what work did he have, could someone like him find a job?

  "Hmm." The boy responded, his right hand involuntarily touching the black but somewhat faded cuff of his suit, making his hand stand out starkly. It was a very pale hand, with long fingers and no scars, as white as a piece of jade, not inferior to those pampered girls' hands at all. Such a hand shouldn't be on a boy's body.

  "Brother, your hands are really beautiful." The girl said with a smile, bending down to take a closer look. She was also curious why her brother had such beautiful hands. The girl looked down at her own hands and felt a bit ashamed, quickly hiding them behind her back. Her hands had some scars and looked a bit rough.

  Seeing the girl's movements, the boy's nose slightly turned sour. All the clothes at home were washed by the girl, regardless of the cold winter or hot summer. When it was winter, the ground was frozen and iron blocks could be cracked, even the most beautiful hands became rough. The boy wanted to help the girl wash clothes, but she refused no matter what.

  "Uh-huh." The boy didn't refute, responding in a low voice, but his heart was deeply moved. Your hands are the most beautiful pair of hands in the world. The boy affectionately scratched the girl's small nose and said, "I'm going to work, you should study hard too."

  "Got it." The girl sniffled her nose and pouted her mouth, showing dissatisfaction with the boy's actions.

  "Remember to eat lunch at noon, okay? And also remember to come back early tonight." The boy reminded with concern.

  "Alright, alright, I know. Otherwise, you'll become the Wu Dama of the Red Cross Hospital." The girl pushed the boy's back and walked a few steps forward.

  The boy smiled wryly and shook his head, trampling on a piece of raised stone slab towards the end of the street.

  "Brother, wait a minute." The girl hastily called out.

  "What's wrong?" The boy turned back and asked.

  The girl caught up with the boy in small steps, walked to the front of the boy, pouted her mouth, and said in a somewhat resentful tone: "Look at you, going to work without even turning up your collar." She raised her hand to tidy up the boy's collar, looked him up and down carefully, and showed a satisfied smile, saying happily: "Okay, brother, you are always the most handsome, come on!"

  The boy gently touched the girl's little head and smiled faintly. The girl's smile could always make him forget all his troubles.

  "I'm leaving," said the boy, and walked towards the end of the street.

  After passing through the stone slab street, and then walking through several narrow and crowded alleys with few people coming and going, suddenly the scene opens up before one's eyes. In front of one's eyes are rows of brand new high-rise buildings, with people coming and going, cars flowing like water, and everything is completely different from what was seen earlier, as if it were the difference between heaven and hell.

  Looking at the red lanterns and green wine in front of me, it's so far away from myself.

  The boy's gaze swept over every passerby, and every tiny detail on their bodies, every small movement, did not escape the boy's sharp eyes. The boy looked at these passersby coming and going like a flowing stream, slightly dazed, walking aimlessly.

  "Xiao Yu." A crisp voice sounded from behind, with a hint of surprise in his tone.

  The boy turned his head, and his eyes fell on the person who had come. The person was a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a tattered sweatshirt and a pair of torn jeans that looked like they had been picked up from somewhere, but were washed very clean.

  "It's you." Xiao Yu said lightly, his gaze shifting back to the street.

  "Looking for sheep?" The young man's gaze fell on these pedestrians coming and going, asking.

  Xiao Yu shook his head and then nodded, even Xiao Yu himself was very contradictory.

  Looking at the young man's face, Xiao Yu thought of when he first met the young man. The young man was beaten half to death for stealing on the street and was taken to the Red Cross Hospital by Xiao Yu. From then on, the two became familiar with each other, but only familiar.

  "You have all the skills, but you never take action. What are you waiting for? Why don't you teach me instead? If you can teach me, I'll give you half of everything I get in the future." The young man said with a pleading tone.

  Xiao Yu shook his head and said, "Monkey, even if I were willing to teach you, you wouldn't be able to learn it."

  "Why?" The boy nicknamed Monkey asked with a hint of discontent, his eyes falling on Xiao Yu's slender and fair hands. It was hard to imagine that someone like them, who mixed around on the streets, would have such a pair of hands. These hands would be very suitable for playing the piano, Monkey thought, as if he had understood something.

  " Forget it, if he doesn't want to learn then so be it." The monkey sighed and said, if someone else had this skill, the monkey would definitely go all out to get his hands on it. But Xiao Yu was different, Xiao Yu was his friend, even though Xiao Yu didn't consider him a friend, he still considered Xiao Yu a friend, and one that he could stake his life on.

  The monkey's gaze shifted from Xiao Yu's body to a slender woman in her thirties who had just walked by. The woman was tall and wore an ultra-short skirt, with jade-colored silk stockings on her long legs that emitted a fatal temptation. However, what caught the monkey's eye was not her beautiful legs, but a fashionable black backpack on her back.

  "Sorry." The monkey said in a low voice, then walked towards the direction of the woman.

  The monkey is a thief, and what he's going to do next is take out of the backpack what he wants without the girl noticing.

  It's just for a living, nothing to apologize for. Xiao Yu's eyes flashed with a hint of melancholy, and he smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking that he was no different, also making a living from others' pockets.

  Xiao Yu is also a thief! Similarly, stealing and monkeys are no different, but Xiao Yu thinks that his own theft is different from others.

  Xiao Yu walked forward with some disappointment, taking three or four hours to cross half of the city. A rabbit doesn't eat grass near its nest, Xiao Yu didn't dare to steal near his home either.

  He would crouch in a corner for a while, and then walk a short distance, but he never found a sheep that met his requirements. Xiao Yu was used to it; sometimes he wouldn't even be able to catch one sheep in half a month. In fact, with Xiao Yu's skills, he could catch many sheep just by walking down a street, but he wouldn't do that.

  Xiao Yu's right hand moved, and between two fingers as white as jade, a cold gleam flashed, but then disappeared, as if it had never appeared at all.

  Xiao Yu raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers apart. The sunlight shone through the gaps between his fingers, casting a perfect shadow on the ground. What a perfect pair of hands! But these hands were used for stealing. Xiao Yu looked up at the sun-kissed fingers, which had a reddish glow, and suddenly felt some disgust towards them.

  Xiao Yu walked back and forth on the main street for over an hour. Sometimes, he could walk like this for a whole day, then return home with empty hands.

  When Xiao Yu walked past a street corner, two men in their thirties with an air of villainy approached him head-on. One had dyed his hair white, while the other wore a suit on top and a pair of tattered jeans that resembled those worn by a monkey on the bottom.

  These people are mostly on the streets, as a thief, it's better not to mess with them. Because stealing from ordinary people, even if they're caught, will only result in being scolded at most. Stealing from these people, if caught, will definitely be beaten badly, sometimes even to the point of being half-killed.

  "That chick was really something else, tried to steal a chicken but ended up getting caught and embarrassed instead." White Hair spat and said.

  "Shut up! The more you talk, the angrier I get. Next time, I'll make those women cry out for their dads and moms!" Broken Cowboy Pants cursed.

  The two of them came over, cursing and swearing, and the pedestrians on the road didn't dare to look at them more than once, hastily passing by, fearing that they would provoke these guys.

  Xiao Yu's gaze swept over the two people, but only stayed on them for a few seconds before lowering his head and walking towards them.

  "What are you looking at, little rabbit?" Bai Mao scolded, his eyes falling on Xiao Yu's wrinkled old suit, and a sneer rising to the corner of his mouth. This kid looked decent enough, but he probably wasn't doing well for himself.

  Xiao Yu had no words, and hastily went on his way.