Chapter 1: Tragic Rebirth

"You little street rat, don't run!"

"You bastard, stand still for me!"

On the seaside Rocky Beach, amid the cursing of two fishing guys, a young man with disheveled hair was clutching a fish and fleeing madly.

Don't look at the young man wearing flip-flops, yet he was running so fast among the rocks that he slipped and fell.

He didn't even utter a miserable cry, he just face-planted on the spot.

The two fishing guys initially gloated with loud laughter, but after a while there was no movement, so they panicked and ran over, only to see the person lying face up on the rocks, blood flowing down the rocks.

"Rotten... rotten... Wu An."

"Don't pretend to be dead!"

The two fishing guys shouted tentatively; one carefully stretched out his finger, found no breath, and scared, let out an "Aow!" sound, plopping onto the ground: "He's... dead!"

The other fishing guy's face changed, he turned his head left and right, saw no one nearby, kicked the straw-hat fishing guy, and shouted: "Lin Bin, hurry up and pack up!"

"Anyway, there's no one around; as long as we don't say anything, no one will know how he died."

"Who let him steal fish; dying is what he deserved."

Lin Bin straightened the straw hat on his head, panicked, got up and ran.

The two had just run into the village not long.

Wu An, who had already lost consciousness, slowly sat up, reached to touch the wound on the back of his head, pain making him grimace, looked at his hand, which was covered in fresh blood.

But fortunately, the wound had stopped bleeding.

In an instant, a flood of memories burst forth in his mind.

Wu An not only felt his head hurt, but also felt his balls ache: "I've been reborn... or have I returned to the moment when I slipped while stealing a fish and almost got killed?"

Why not be reborn further ahead?

Currently it is 2012.

He was a half-baked college student, hadn't finished his studies, and for brotherly loyalty got into a fight and was expelled from school.

Then he returned to his hometown, a small fishing village, where his family complained and the villagers gossiped about him; as a result he gave up, smoked, drank, stole chickens and dogs, roamed the streets and alleys, fought and brawled—basically he did whatever was bad.

This isn't today... he tried to steal a fish and almost got killed by falling.

He still remembers that although he didn't die from the fall, lying here for half a day gave him heatstroke and almost killed him; after being rescued, he not only caused an uproar throughout the village, later the whole island knew, making him a big joke, and besides that, it brought shame to his relatives.

Since I've been reborn, no matter what, I can't let these dirty things happen again!

By the way... how did he get reborn?

In his previous life, after this incident he couldn't get by in the village, went far away to work in factories screwing screws, in restaurants carrying plates, as a security guard, delivering takeout—he did all kinds of dirty and tough jobs, none lasting long, drifting until his thirties, without even a wife, not even a girlfriend.

Just then his childhood friend A Qing came to find him; the two drank a lot of liquor, talked more and drank more, then his vision went black…

Wu An quickly stood up, his head still a bit dizzy, he looked down at the blood scattered among the stones, thinking although he hadn't been reborn to the time when he fought with classmates in college, but since he was reborn, what more could he want?

No matter what, this life still has hope.

In his previous life, after causing trouble he just brushed it off and ran away; his father, a civil servant, was criticized everywhere, and when running for village chief, he lost because of him, and after a few years he fell ill from accumulated depression!

Before his death, he asked him to come back, saying he wanted to see him one last time, but... but he had run too far, then encountered a typhoon, and still didn't make it in time for the last meeting.

His older brother and sister-in-law also thus became completely disappointed in him; after handling their father's funeral, they never had any contact again.

There was no place for him in the village, so he returned to the city to work, but being away from home, he was like drifting duckweed, superfluous wherever he went.

Heaven let him be reborn; he will never let these things happen again!

Just then his stomach growled.

So hungry.

Wu An was about to leave when he suddenly remembered he had stolen a fish, had almost died, and wondered where the fish went.

"Look for it, this is a fish obtained at the risk of my life."

Wu An bent over, butt up, and searched around the rocks.

While searching, he heard someone shout, looked up and saw a black, thin, short guy wearing big shorts and a flowered T-shirt running over.

While running, he also shouted, "Brother, brother!"

The person was A Qing.

In his previous life, it was drinking with him that led to his rebirth.

He was a bit dazed.

After dropping out of middle school, he just did odd jobs at the village dock to get by; after he returned to the village, the two naturally hung out together.

A Qing ran up and let out a strange "ao" cry: "Your head and body are covered in blood!"

"It's just stealing a fish!"

"How could you beat him up so badly!"

Wu An didn't think much of it: "No problem."

"When you're out there messing around, seeing blood is normal."

"Hurry up and help me find the fish."

A Qing threw away the stone and asked: "Brother, are you really okay?"

"How could there be fish in this little puddle?"

"At most there could be a few small crabs."

"That's not even enough to fill our teeth gaps."

Wu An lifted a rock, revealing a sea bass about a catty in weight, lying still in the little puddle.

Seeing the fish, A Qing suddenly realized, quickly grabbed the fish, then threw it onto the stone to knock it out, shouting: "Turns out you were using blood to bait the spot!"

"..." Wu An's mouth twitched, thinking you're really a clever little devil, he said: "Don't pull that nonsense."

"Such a fish isn't worth much money; take it home and cook it up to eat."

I feel a bit dizzy, quickly help me go home.

A Qing asked, "Which home should we go back to?"

Wu An froze, then after a brief recollection, in his previous life, when he was in college, there was a girl named Xiao Fang in the village who actively sought him out to date.

Later.

He was expelled from school, returned to the village, and Xiao Fang gave him the cold shoulder, unilaterally announcing the end of their relationship; this is also one of the reasons he has sunk into depravity.

Not long ago, he bumped into Xiao Fang meeting a man from the neighboring village late at night at the dock.

He's a hotheaded youth, went up and gave the guy a beating.

The person ended up in the hospital, and the family demanded compensation!

He was not thinking clearly, didn't tell his family, and secretly took out a high-interest loan to pay the compensation.

As a result, given his qualifications, the loan shark only lent him ten thousand yuan; the family was unhappy, caused a scene at home, becoming the final straw that broke the camel's back—though the other family hadn't even lifted a hand, his father almost beat him to death.

Finally, his father, a village cadre, abused his position, using the village loudspeaker to announce the severing of their father-son relationship and drove him out of the house.

So, he currently lives in the old house that has long been abandoned.

Wu An gave a bitter laugh and said, "The old house."

Returning to the old house, it was built of stone, just a bare structure; previously there was a courtyard enclosed by a fence. In his memory, as a child he loved running around in the courtyard, which was a sandy mud floor where falling didn't hurt, and childhood memories kept flashing.

But now there's nothing left.

Actually, that's not right—he still carries the high-interest loan on his back.

Interest compounds, and it keeps growing.

In his previous life, he ran away, but in the end his father settled the debt.

Wu An shook his head, not wanting to dwell on this mess; since he has been reborn, the debt naturally falls to him to repay.

Looking back, the old house isn't far from the sea; if he stood on the roof, he could probably still see the beach—what a wonderful place, facing the ocean with spring warmth and blooming flowers, a dwelling many dream of, and it's within his grasp.

In his previous life he didn't cherish it—what a fool!

He opened the door and entered the house.

The house is small; just inside the door is the eating area, but there's no table or chairs, nothing at all. Beside it is a cloth curtain; lifting it reveals a bed placed in the corner.

On the bed there's no blanket, just a straw mat.

But the house is very clean.

Of course, he didn't clean it; his older brother and sister-in-law secretly came over to tidy up.

His brother and sister-in-law are decent people, and his father actually treats him well too; it's just that he's too worthless—mud that can't support a wall—and his father, frustrated that he can't make something of him, drove him out.

In his previous life, even on his deathbed he still worried about him… sigh…

Okay.

Since we're here, let's first set a small goal.

The prodigal's return is priceless; let's strive to return to the family as soon as possible.

A Qing at this moment pulled out several cigarette butts from under the mat and said, "Brother, if I had known stealing fish would cause you such a nasty fall, I should have told you—I actually hid a few cigarette butts."

"This smoke is good, you smoke this."

Wu An didn't take it, pursed his lips and said, "Thanks, but no thanks."

A Qing said, "At this point, just don't put on airs."

"How painful it is when the nicotine cravings hit."

"I think smoking cigarette butts gives more of a kick."

Hearing this, Wu An felt awful; he had already sunk to this state himself, and he was dragging his not-so-bright younger brother along, becoming a despised good-for-nothing in the village.

A Qing saw Wu An still refusing the cigarette butt, swallowed, and put it back under the mat.

This is their last "property"—he and An Ge—so they need to conserve it.

Wu An sighed and said, "A Qing, following me has been hard on you."

"Next, I'll figure out how to make money."

"Let me think about how to earn my first pot of gold."

Speaking, he tore a piece of ragged cloth and first wrapped the wound.

After wrapping it, he took a mirror made from a motorcycle rear-view mirror and checked himself.

Young as he was, he was handsome and refined; fortunately the wound was on his head and didn't scar his face, otherwise it would definitely affect the audience's immersion.

His stomach growled again.

It's already afternoon; there's no clock at home, and he has no watch or phone, so he can't tell the exact time.

A Qing heard the movement and said, "Brother, you're hungry, right?"

"Even one fish wouldn't be enough to eat."

"Morning was your responsibility."

"I'll handle lunch."

"I'll go and be back soon."

Having said that, he turned and ran off.

Wu An said nothing, feeling sticky all over, likely from dried blood on his body, very uncomfortable, and planned to take a rinse.

Stepping out the door, a few dozen meters away there was a water press.

The water press was old-fashioned.

Wu An grabbed the handle of the water press, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and then several lines of flickering text appeared before his eyes.

Luck Value: 11 (10)

Target: Manual water press (+)

Introduction: This is a manual pressure water pump that needs to be primed with water to produce water; after being blessed with luck, there is a certain probability to directly push out water; the more luck blessed, the higher the probability of water output.

Holy shit!

Is this a cheat or a hallucination?