Chapter 002: The Calamity of Unforeseen Misfortune

Drowsily sleeping until evening, the other three classmates from the same class gradually returned to the dormitory. Upon seeing Yang Tang sprawled on the bed, seemingly wrapped in bandages around the chest, they were all taken aback.

"Yes, Third Brother, what exactly is going on with you?" The youngest in the dormitory, Chen Song, also inquired.

Fortunately, after the proprietress and the female customer learned of this news, each compensated Yang Tang with 1,000 yuan as medical expenses; otherwise, the cost of changing the dressing would indeed have been a significant hassle for Yang Tang. The key point is that this matter must not be known to the school, as once the school finds out, his parents will definitely be informed.

He never expected that skipping class to go out would lead to such an unforeseen disaster, and moreover, Da Fei arrived too "timely," just in time to prevent the landlady and the female customer from coming to his rescue, causing him to be burned by the iron for several more seconds

The boss casually pulled a black garbage bag from the leg of the stool and tossed it to Yang Tang, then picked up the money on the stall one by one, sorted it out, and slowly put it away.

Well, there is a hole on this thangka, which should be used for threading a string. It seems I will have to spend a little more money

Unfortunately, along the way, nothing of good value was found. However, when they reached the end of the street, Yang Tang discovered several antique stalls nearby, which were advertising a clearance sale of their inventory.

The female customer holding the leather jacket, upon hearing the shop owner's words, displayed a flicker of anger on her face. She immediately pulled the leather jacket back from the counter and exclaimed, "Since you cannot dry clean it here, I will go ask at another store."

I haven't forgotten, but that kid Dafei is quite capable, has learned martial arts, fights fiercely, and isn't even eighteen yet. When the time comes and he finds out that we have set him up, will you take the blame or will I?

Unfortunately, the iron usually hangs there unplugged, but today, the boss's wife first received a piece of clothing from a female customer that needed ironing, so she casually plugged it in. Little did she know that the dry cleaning business for leather jackets had gone under, inadvertently turning the iron into a deadly weapon

The yellow-haired smoker felt very uncomfortable under the gaze of the tall figure, and he averted his eyes, saying: "The money belongs to Big Brother Bi, how could it not accrue interest..."

The boss did not scrutinize the items selected by Yang Tang in detail; he merely glanced at the quantity and shape. With his dead fish eyes squinting at Yang Tang, he held his gaze for a full two seconds before shifting his focus. After taking another puff of his cigarette, he extended the hand that had been resting beneath him and raised his thumb in approval: "It's only sixty, or you could take one less!"

Fortunately, Yang Tang was already in his thirties, approaching forty, before he was reborn and crossed over. He possessed a certain level of psychological resilience, or rather, the social experiences from his previous life made him understand a principle: whatever the heavens decide is fine, one should do their best and leave the rest to fate

After a while, Yang Tang, who had basically assessed the items, pushed several small pieces in front of him: "Boss, just these six items, give me a discount, how about fifty?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Tang immediately realized that the items being sold by the boss were not antiques at all; otherwise, a fixed price would not have been set. Therefore, he lost interest in examining them closely. He merely glanced over the items, noting down in his mind those that caught his fancy, but he refrained from handling them to avoid giving the stall owner the impression that he was interested, which might lead to a price hike.

Yang Tang has always felt a sense of guilt towards his parents from his past life to this life, who endured hardships to support him in his studies for over ten years, only for him to ultimately fail to gain admission to a regular undergraduate program

In the dormitory, Duan Yibin, who ranked second in age and was usually the most taciturn, frowned and said, "Should I help you request another leave?"

The section chief, Tang Xun, was the most exaggerated, looking utterly astonished: "Old Three, no way, am I really that accurate with my curses? I just asked Cat Li for leave this afternoon, saying you were sick, and you actually stayed in bed?"

One hour later, inside the dormitory building for full-time students.

Yang Tang displayed a pained expression, picked out one of the most poorly made items, and counted out fifty to throw on the stall: "Please give me a bag to pack this up."

Faced with such a blow, Yang Tang felt uneasy. It was not a big deal if he missed an opportunity, but the key concern was whether this also meant that his wife was gone

The iron glided through a straight arc, unerringly heading towards Yang Tang, and it was the face of the iron that was directed at him, which frightened Yang Tang greatly. As the iron approached him, his first reaction was not to dodge, but to cover his face with both hands and lean his entire upper body backward.

When the stall's shadow became invisible, he pursed his lips and chuckled to himself. He took out the five small items from the garbage bag and examined them closely, leaving only one piece that resembled a thangka. The remaining four rough items were wrapped in the garbage bag and thrown into the back compartment of the roadside garbage truck.

Do you need me to lend you money

The results were serious. Upon examination at the hospital, the doctor solemnly informed Yang Tang that he had sustained a burn to his dermis, requiring daily dressing changes and strict precautions against infection; otherwise, it would lead to significant complications.

Four earrings

The proprietress, who was pretending to search for the red string, immediately became displeased upon hearing this: "Who are you saying is incapable?" As she spoke, she swiftly rushed over and grabbed the hem of the female customer's leather jacket.

Xiong Mao Li, the female homeroom teacher of their class, Cen Li, is just over forty years old, not considered old, and her appearance is still quite decent. However, she has a penchant for makeup, especially around her eyes. The long-term use of makeup has led to pigmentation, making her look like a panda. As a result, the boys in the class who do not favor her privately refer to her as Panda Li.

The guy next to him, who was wearing four earrings, couldn't help but curse upon seeing this situation: "Er Huang, have you forgotten what Bi Ge instructed? Are you just going to fly away like this?"

The hem of the leather jacket suddenly slipped from the boss's hand, drawing a beautiful arc that precisely struck the iron hanging above next to the counter

Yes, let me find it for you! The proprietress clearly has a haphazard personality. After figuring out what Yang Tang wanted, she actually left the leather-clad female customer aside and turned back to the cabinet, saying, "The cleaning plan I just mentioned to you is already the best one. Please think it over again!"

In the arcade, a blonde-haired individual smoking a cigarette asked the tall figure: "Hey, Da Fei, are you still playing?"

"Boss, you mentioned a clearance sale; how are these items being sold?" Yang Tang asked, lifting a bracelet.

The owner of the dry cleaning shop, in her early forties, still exuded charm. At that moment, she was discussing a cleaning plan for a leather jacket with a female customer when she instinctively responded to Yang Tang's question, "What red?"

"It's too expensive," Yang Tang muttered, yet still reached into his pocket to take out money

No. The boss refused very decisively, saying, "In any case, that pile is ten yuan each, no bargaining!"

Then it's settled. Just wait, I will go borrow some money from my brother and come back to play!" Saying this, the tall figure no longer paid attention to the blonde's pleas and left the arcade directly

... ...

As the excitement faded, Yang Tang, slightly disheartened yet undeterred, still made his way to the old street. As expected, he hardly saw any antique stalls. Upon inquiring, he learned that starting from March 1st, street vendors would be completely banned in this area, which meant that since the beginning of the year, very few antique dealers had come to set up their stalls.

It's nothing, just a slight burn on my chest; I'll be fine after resting for two days

At this moment, Yang Tang had already entered the dry cleaning shop: "Madam boss, do you have any red string?"

Yang Tang fumbled and took out a handful of money, which included five and ten yuan notes, but there were no larger denominations of the Chinese currency (1 yuan ≈ 1 dollar ≈ 1 pound). He counted the money, his expression revealing his difficulty, and said: "Boss, I only have about seventy yuan here, and I haven't secured this week's meal money yet, so how about six items for fifty yuan?"

No matter where you are, you must not apply heat to the face

"So, what do you want to eat tonight? I can go buy it for you!" Duan Yibin said again. Although he did not speak much, among the three in the dormitory, Yang Tang had the best relationship with him, having met during their first year of high school while playing basketball.

The red string is used for this purpose. Saying this, Yang Tang briefly displayed the Thangka before tucking it back into the pocket of her inner garment.

The thangka has a texture that resembles gold but is not gold; at first glance, it looks like jade, and upon closer inspection, it appears to be plastic. The craftsmanship is quite exquisite, measuring less than half the size of a palm. It features numerous peculiar patterns that seem to form some kind of design, yet Yang Tang stared at it for a long time without being able to discern what the image actually was. However, she did not feel that spending fifty yuan on such an item was a loss; instead, she felt a small thrill as if she had stumbled upon a good find.

Yang Tang naturally did not expect to stumble upon the legendary great opportunity from her past life, yet she still moved closer, sifting through the items alongside a few scattered individuals in front of the stall, unsure if they were also part of the scheme.

Yang Tang lay on the dormitory bed, covering her subtly aching heart and cursing incessantly

Yang Tang crossed the street directly towards the dry cleaning shop at the corner, not noticing a tall figure at the entrance of the arcade waving at him

The iron was evenly pressed onto Yang Tang's chest, releasing a fragrant aroma, which caused the landlady and the female guest to scream in terror

I have no money left, what a joke!

... ...

The boss with dead fish eyes was smoking a cigarette while reading the newspaper. Upon hearing the question, he glanced at Yang Tang indifferently and pointed to the largest pile of small items, saying: "This pile is ten, the slightly smaller pile in the middle is fifty, and the remaining pile over there is one hundred each!"

Yang Tang took the opportunity to put all five selected items into a garbage bag, lifted it in hand, glanced at the stall twice before turning around and leaving

Yang Tang was somewhat speechless upon witnessing this scene, thinking to himself, "These two old women won't actually start tearing into each other, will they?" Before he could finish this thought, the female guest on the other end gave a hard tug.

Seeing this, the boss's lips curled into a faint smile, yet he remained silent, simply watching Yang Tang's actions

On Xin Street, there is an abundance of noodle shops, restaurants, hot pot establishments, and stir-fry restaurants. Pool halls, rental bookstores, and arcade rooms are also the most numerous in the nearby streets. At the street corner, there are dry cleaners, small supermarkets, and vegetable markets. In short, everything can be purchased here on Xin Street, except for items that are exceedingly rare.

What is even more alarming is that Da Fei, who came chasing after to borrow money, is somewhat foolish. Upon seeing Yang Tang being burned by the iron, his first reaction was not to help move the iron away, but to grab the landlady and a female customer, angrily shouting: "My brother was burned in your shop, compensate us!"

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However, since he was already in the old street, Yang Tang still planned to stroll around and even buy some inexpensive goods. This was a habit he had developed over the years as a homemaker, and it was not something he could change in a short time

Please do not ... ... I got burned off campus, and I cannot let the school know. If Panda Li asks tomorrow, just say that I have a fever and am sweating in the dormitory

After Yang Tang left the old street, he turned a few corners and arrived at the new street, which is the area with the highest concentration of various small shops near the Experimental High School. If the boarding students at the Experimental High School do not eat at school, they will definitely dine at the new street.

The tall figure glared at Huang Mao and said: "Er Huang, don't give me that nonsense, unless you don't count my interest."

... ...