In the late afternoon, a whole day's worth of rain had shown no sign of stopping. There were few pedestrians on the street, and those that passed by hurried along, unwilling to linger outside in this weather. However, there are always exceptions to the rule. At this time, a young man stood at a street corner, a three-wheeled cart piled high with magazines and newspapers beside him. He was clearly a newspaper and magazine vendor.

Xiao Ping covered his three-wheeled bicycle with his raincoat to keep the newspapers and magazines dry, but he got drenched in the rain himself. However, he didn't mind. After all, it was summer now, so even if he got completely soaked, it wasn't a big deal. Xiao Ping had always been an optimist and wouldn't worry about such small things. Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

However, under such weather, no one would come to patronize Xiao Ping's business. Instead, they looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and contempt. It was no wonder they looked at Xiao Ping this way. After all, he was only in his early twenties. At this age, there were so many other things he could be doing. Why did he have to sell newspapers? It seemed like he had no ambition at all.

But Xiao Ping remained calm and composed, appearing indifferent. Six years ago, his grandfather, who had been his sole support, suddenly suffered a stroke and became paralyzed in bed. At that time, Xiao Ping, who already had a college acceptance letter, gave up his chance to continue his studies and started selling newspapers for a living. Initially, he did this to earn some money for his grandfather's medical expenses. After his grandfather passed away, he continued to sell newspapers to support himself. Over the years, Xiao Ping had grown accustomed to people's strange looks and didn't really care about it.

Knowing that waiting any longer would result in no business, Xiao Ping started skillfully packing up the newspaper stand and preparing to go home. When Xiao Ping stood still, there was nothing unusual about him. However, as he became busy around his tricycle, one could notice that his movements were half a beat slower than usual. Even so, after a while of busying himself, Xiao Ping's breathing would start to become rapid, and he needed a short rest before he could continue working. He had been sickly since childhood due to a congenital heart condition, making it difficult for him to even do ordinary work, and no employer dared to hire him. It was precisely because of this that Xiao Ping couldn't find any other job and could only rely on selling newspapers to earn money to support himself.

Xiao Ping put all the newspapers and magazines under a plastic sheet, without hesitation, he also covered them with his raincoat. At the same time, he murmured to himself: "People can be dried when they get wet, but books lose their value if they get wet."

After tidying up his small newspaper stand, Xiao Ping pedaled his tricycle against the wind and rain all the way back home. These days, cities were developing rapidly, and many villages that used to be on the outskirts had been incorporated into the urban area. Only a few villages remained due to various reasons. These villages, surrounded by high-rise buildings, had a very fitting name – "chengcun" or urban village.

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Xiao Ping pedaled his tricycle through the wind and rain, humming a tune under his breath. A sports car roared up behind him, splashing water that almost hit him.

"Audi TT, hey, I'll buy a sports car even if I have money in the future. With a beautiful girl sitting next to me, wow... awesome!" Looking at the blurry taillights of the sports car, Xiao Ping felt envious.

Xiao Ping, who had been accustomed to a hard life since childhood, longed for the luxurious life of the wealthy and never gave up on his efforts. While selling newspapers on the streets during the day, he would take any spare time to learn university courses, and in the evening, he would study various seemingly useful and useless knowledge online, even more diligently than regular college students. Xiao Ping knew that opportunities only favor those who are prepared, and all he had to do was be ready at all times, firmly grasping the opportunity when it came.

More than an hour later, the heavy rain finally stopped completely, and Xiao Ping arrived at the village entrance. As long as he crossed the small river ahead, he would officially enter the urban village area. There was a narrow concrete bridge over the river, and villagers went back and forth on this bridge. Xiao Ping parked his tricycle before the bridge and was about to pull it onto the bridge when he was blocked by a few shady-looking young men.

"Bad luck!" Xiao Ping looked up at these people and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. These people were all hooligans from the village. The leader was called Zhao Yong, who relied on his uncle being a policeman at the police station to run wild in this area. He liked to extort small merchants and hawkers nearby, tease passing young women and daughters-in-law, of course, bullying Xiao Ping was also one of their "entertainment activities".

Zhao Yong deliberately opened his collar, revealing a thick gold chain around his neck and a wolf head tattoo on his chest. He looked at Xiao Ping with a smirk and said, "You're out doing business even in this heavy rain. You must have made a good profit, right? My brothers and I are just looking to buy some cigarettes. Hand over the money!"

Xiao Ping didn't want to confront Zhao Yong head-on. He calmly took out a few crumpled bills from his pocket and said, "It's raining today, I only made this much..."

Zhao Yong took the money and said unhappily, "Only this much? Let me see what's in the car!"

Zhao Yong, while speaking, pulled open the raincoat and plastic sheet from his tricycle. He casually flipped through the magazines and newspapers on the vehicle, tossing them onto the ground at random. The ground was still wet from the recent rain, and the brand new magazines, as soon as they landed, became soaked and could no longer be sold.

This scene made Xiao Ping feel a deep pang of sympathy. He didn't know where he got the strength, but he managed to break free from the two thugs and pushed Zhao Yong away with force, shouting, "Don't touch my stuff!"

Zhao Yong, pushed stumblingly back, was furious. He glared at Xiao Ping fiercely and said, "Dare you lay a hand on me? Today, I'll make you pay!"

During their conversation, Zhao Yong punched Xiao Ping heavily in the face, causing him to bleed from his nose. Zhao Yong didn't stop there; he rushed forward and beat Xiao Ping mercilessly with punches and kicks. Although Xiao Ping tried his best to resist, his weak heart couldn't withstand Zhao Yong and his gang. He was quickly beaten to the ground. Zhao Yong gave a few signals to the other thugs, and together they tossed Xiao Ping's tricycle into the river before bursting into laughter in triumph.

“This is what happens when you oppose Laozi! From now on, every time I see you, I’ll beat you!” Zhao Yong warned Xiao Ping viciously before leaving triumphantly with his men.

This little river wasn't deep, not even up to the knees. Xiao Ping's tricycle flipped over in the water, newspapers and magazines floated downstream, hundreds of yuan just drifted away like that. Although this was a big loss for Xiao Ping, he didn't get discouraged. The word "give up" simply doesn't exist in Xiao Ping's dictionary. He'd never been defeated by even the most serious difficulties, let alone such a small setback.

“You guys push the car down, and I can pull it up!” With that thought in mind, Xiao Ping took off his shoes and went down to the river. He used all his might to pull the tricycle onto the bank.

Don't look at Xiao Ping's frail body, but his character has a very stubborn side. Once he makes up his mind to do something, he will never give up. Although he needs to rest for a while after moving the tricycle a few inches, he managed to slowly get the car ashore. Just as Xiao Ping was about to go ashore, his foot suddenly stepped on a strange object. This thing is smooth-surfaced and has a flat, round shape that is very regular. It is obviously not formed naturally.

Xiao Ping curiously dug this thing out of the mud. Although it was still covered in mud, Xiao Ping immediately saw that it was a flattened small bottle, with what seemed to be very delicate drawings on it. However, he was still in the river at the moment and didn't have time to look closely at what it was. He simply put the small bottle into his pocket and went ashore.

Xiao Ping slowly walked back to his residence and gently pushed the door open. This was a rented house Xiao Ping lived in, with the landlord being a couple in their fifties who were locals. The husband's name was Liu Jianguo, and the wife's name was Wang Fang. The couple resided on the second floor, while the three rooms on the first floor were rented out to three young people. This couple were kind-hearted individuals. They were always friendly towards the three young tenants and even more so towards Xiao Ping, who wasn't in good health. Their relationship has always been harmonious.

When Xiao Ping entered the door, Wang Fang was busy in the kitchen on the first floor. Seeing his disheveled appearance, she immediately asked with concern: "Xiao Xiao, what's wrong with you? Why are you all wet?"

"It's nothing, I just forgot my raincoat when I left." Xiao Ping didn't want Wang Fang to worry about him, so he made up an excuse.

But Wang Fang was still worried: "Look at you, your clothes are wet. What if you get sick? Aunt Wang didn't say..."

Based on Xiao Ping's past experience, every time Wang Fang started with "It wasn't Aunt Wang who said this to you…", she would talk for at least fifteen minutes before stopping. For Xiao Ping, this kind of nagging could be considered verbal violence, but he knew that Wang Fang was genuinely concerned about him, and he couldn't just walk away and embarrass her.

Seeing Wang Fang bring out the freshly cooked dish, Xiao Ping, who was feeling conflicted left and right, suddenly had an idea. He took a deep breath and said, "This dish smells so good! Aunt Wang, your cooking skills are getting better and better. Uncle Liu is really lucky to have married you!"

Xiao Ping's words made Wang Fang very happy, she smiled and said: "You little rascal are really good at talking, go take a shower quickly, and come over to have dinner with us!"

"Alright!" Xiao Ping wiped his brow secretly and quickly escaped the kitchen.

Xiao Ping took a refreshing shower in the shared bathroom. Just as he came out, he bumped into Li Wanqing, who had just finished work. This girl had just graduated from university this year and was currently interning at a company. She was also one of the tenants living here, making her Xiao Ping's neighbor. Li Wanqing, with her gentle personality, always smiled at everyone she saw. Every time she smiled, her beautiful big eyes would curve into two tiny crescent moons.

Now Li Wanqing is like this, smiling and asking Xiao Ping: "What kind of soup did you give to Aunt Wang again? She praised you for being sensible as soon as she saw me, and now she's praising you to Uncle Liu!"

"What do you mean by 'feeding someone a glass of water'? I never lie!" Xiao Ping defended himself seriously, then deliberately looked up and down at Li Wanqing and said: "Oh, haven't seen you in a few days, you look even more like a white-collar beauty!"

Li Wanqing, after all, had just stepped into society and couldn't bear Xiao Ping's teasing. Her pretty face flushed red as she ran towards her room. Xiao Ping smiled faintly at her slender figure and went straight to have dinner with Wang Fang and his wife.

After dinner, Xiao Ping proactively helped Wang Fang wash the dishes, then returned to his room and carefully examined the small bottle he had retrieved from the river.

(Editor in charge：meaning for novel)