The "Chance to Turn Over a New Leaf" in the Golden Lock: A Small Note, Sister Lin's Entire Life

Hospital corridor.

Tang Yuyao squatted on the ground, covering her face in pain, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. It hurt so much that she was crying.

"Sob... it hurts so much..."

As to why things turned out this way.

Let's rewind the time to a bit earlier.

After Ye Cheng successfully pulled a "million-dollar evacuation" by doing a hundred-meter hurdle sprint out of the school, he scanned a yellow shared bike by the roadside and headed towards a certain direction in Dahai City.

Many people who saw Ye Cheng on the road couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow... what a huge rabbit!"

He was wearing the same rabbit onesie pajamas as the little secretary. This morning, Ye Cheng didn't even have time to change. He just ran straight out of the dear President's house looking like a total clown.

To the weird stares from the surroundings, Ye Cheng automatically activated his shielding function, even automatically converting those weird stares into positive evaluations like "admiration," "praise," and "awe."

Ye Cheng was not only a master at feeding himself false hopes, but he was also a master at hypnotizing himself. When it came to playing dumb, he was the master among masters!

Even a master advisor would have to give Ye Cheng a thumbs up and say... The young man is promising, tall, and tough!

Of course, this refers to Ye Cheng's physique.

Riding the yellow shared bike all the way, Ye Cheng finally arrived at the second-hand mobile phone city outside the central district of Dahai City. Many people could be seen shuttling back and forth inside, most of whom were food delivery drivers.

After parking the yellow shared bike in the designated spot, Ye Cheng walked inside.

It was very big inside, yet also very small.

What was big was the overall space of the entire second-hand city, while what was small were the passing alleys. It still retained the atmosphere of the 1970s and 1980s: noisy, chaotic, with all kinds of shouting mixed together, but for some reason, it didn't make people feel annoyed.

Also small were the various second-hand mobile phone repair and sales shops, which were only a few square meters each. There was no gap between the shops; even a "Zhengxin Chicken Steak" stand wouldn't be able to squeeze in.

Although it was very small, it was still enough for two Zhengxin Chicken Steak stands to open together...

"Little Ye is here again?"

"What parts are you looking for this time? I have a batch of newly arrived speakers, do you want to take a look? They are brand-name goods. There is also a batch of dedicated linear motors for Apple, want to get some?"

"Little Cheng, it's been a while since you came over, right? Let big sister see how much you've grown..."

Ye Cheng responded to all these voices one by one. For those who called him, he nodded to show he heard them. For those who said they had new parts, he gave them the middle finger—trying to rip off your own father, huh?

As for the last one, without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Ye Cheng directly took a detour and left.

The old hag was already so old, yet she still called herself big sister. Does she have any shame?

Twisting and turning through the alleys, as long as the people in the surrounding shops had free hands, they would more or less greet Ye Cheng when they saw him. They all greeted him with smiling faces, asking him to come over and sit down, and incidentally taking out the problematic phones they had received recently that they couldn't solve, intending to let Ye Cheng "help" take a look.

Commonly known as... freeloading!

Damn it, a bunch of black-hearted, stingy old geezers!

The reason why Ye Cheng's reputation was so loud here was entirely because of his good craftsmanship. Extreme modifications, applying screen protectors, repairing machines, cleaning... There was nothing he couldn't do.

Others needed one or two minutes to apply a screen protector, and they even needed an auxiliary tool or something, but Ye Cheng got it done in a few seconds, accurately and neatly!

A mobile phone is a very precise thing. Just the screwdrivers used to disassemble the parts inside the phone number in the dozens. A little carelessness could lead to days of wasted effort, but this kind of problem wouldn't happen with Ye Cheng.

The Hand of God!

With the precision of Ye Cheng's hands, if he sprained his ankle, he could feel exactly where the problem was and how many degrees the bone was dislocated. If he could do that through flesh and blood, dealing with the clear mechanical parts on a mobile phone was even simpler.

Ye Cheng had come into contact with various industries a long time ago. For no other reason than having no money, and similarly, driven by interest. This kind of "simple" thing could also make money, so for Ye Cheng, why not do it?

Starting from elementary school, after school, besides lying on the ground playing marbles and winning all the marbles from all the kids his age around him, Ye Cheng would spend his remaining time running to places like the mobile phone city to learn some skills.

Then he would save up some money, help people apply screen protectors, save up another sum of money, and start learning how to assemble and disassemble machines...

The mobile phone is a good thing. The technologies that were blocked by various aristocratic classes, royal families, and countries for thousands of years in the past can now be known and learned with just a simple movement of the fingers, freeloading at zero cost.

And what Ye Cheng liked to do the most was freeloading, so he learned a lot of weird and bizarre things. It was a pity that he couldn't practice law without a lawyer's license, otherwise, Ye Cheng would have considered going directly to a law firm to work.

A lawyer's license wasn't considered too difficult a thing. It would take a few days to read some questions. The main thing was that this required studying a specialized major, and one had to study for a full few years to be eligible for the exam, which was very stupid.

An invisible threshold was placed here just like that. Even if you had the ability, you couldn't get people's "recognition." This was called... rules.

He could get it, but it wasn't necessary. Ye Cheng planned to consider studying law when he had nothing to do in the future, so that he could legally and reasonably "flame" people in the real world.

Woohoo!

Who could refuse an opportunity to evolve from an internet troll into a real-life troll?

Scrolling through brain-dead short videos, stealing vegetables in Ant Forest, and beating up other people's virtual chicks... this is what most people use their mobile phones for.

At this time, someone might ask, Brother Cheng, Brother Cheng, why are you introducing yourself here?

Ye Cheng: Hahaha... Is it funny? Damn it, believe it or not, I'll elbow you!

Alright, the above is all bullshit. A mobile phone can be used however you want, as long as you're happy. Like the brain-dead short videos Ye Cheng likes to watch when he's free, the methods the little secretary firmly believes can make her smarter, the idiotic short dramas Mrs. Du likes...

Do I need you to teach me how to use my phone? Damn it, do you think you're some kind of "expert"?

Bro, if you're acting this condescending, I'm really going to elbow you.

After "politely declining" a bunch of freeloading monsters, Ye Cheng finally successfully arrived at the destination of this trip.

"Old Gong Mobile Phone Repair Shop!"

Compared to other shops, Old Gong's business was a bit more dismal. It wasn't a problem of poor craftsmanship, but the location was too bad. It could be said to be the innermost part of the mobile phone city. Most of the customers who could walk here were not easy to deal with, and the order completion rate was very low.

Coupled with the neighboring deceitful competitors frequently starting price wars, it made the already unprosperous situation even worse... Tell me loudly, what is more hateful than a capitalist?

Although business was dismal, Old Gong still faced life with a smile. Yes... a smile, the kind where drool was about to flow down, because he was currently scrolling through short videos of beautiful women dancing.

Looks good, loves to watch.

"Eh, Duoduo, why are you here?" Ye Cheng's confused voice came from the side.

Old Gong, who had just been swiping through videos of beautiful women with a lecherous look on his face, sprang up like he had been launched from a catapult. He tossed his phone behind him, hurriedly stood up with a face full of smiles, and opened his arms wide, ready to hug his daughter.

But...

There was no daughter at all; he only saw Ye Cheng blinking at him.

Old Gong: "..."

"Is this fun for you?" Old Gong asked, his face darkening.

"Isn't that a stupid question? Why would I say it if it wasn't fun?" Ye Cheng replied righteously.

Old Gong: "..."

Amazing. He almost forgot that the kid standing in front of him wasn't an ordinary person...

"Sigh... Take a seat. There's still some unfinished drinking water from last week in the water dispenser, you..." Old Gong sighed, skillfully getting up and running to the back into a massive pile of data cables to look for the phone he had just tossed away.

Ye Cheng nodded, then grabbed a bottle of Guofu Spring from the bottled water nearby, twisted off the cap, and started drinking.

"As expected of water that costs two bucks a bottle, it's so sweet!" Ye Cheng smacked his lips a couple of times, feeling somewhat emotional.

Old Gong: "..."

"What have you been up to lately, kid? I haven't seen you around." Old Gong sat back in his seat and also grabbed a two-dollar bottle of Guofu Spring. He asked Ye Cheng while taking a sip... Hmm, it really was sweet.

As to whether it was just a psychological effect, that wasn't very clear.

"I went to experience the aristocratic life, Old Gong. You should be jealous. Every day I woke up on a hundred-and-eighty-meter-wide bed, with over a hundred maids and bodyguards at my command, eating exotic delicacies every day like crabs, abalones, lobsters..." Ye Cheng started to brag.

Old Gong just watched cheerfully as Ye Cheng kept bragging.

If he remembered correctly... the first time they met, Ye Cheng had been watching people fix phones from the outside, and when he finally ran over to brag to him, he had said pretty much the same things, right?

Except back then, he wasn't talking about abalones and lobsters, but rather having Dada bubblegum every day and endless bottles of iced black tea...

Did his bragging get a version upgrade now?

Old Gong didn't take any of what Ye Cheng was saying seriously; he just treated it as Ye Cheng shooting the breeze, because Ye Cheng used to be exactly like this, talking nonsense and jumping randomly from one topic to another.

The two of them had known each other for over ten years. Back then, Ye Cheng was just starting elementary school, while Old Gong was a high school dropout who had scraped together some money to apply screen protectors and use the skills he had learned to make a living.

Over the course of more than ten years, Ye Cheng had witnessed the entire process of Old Gong turning from an idle youth in society into a middle-aged man. This period was also sprinkled with a few minor interludes, such as the time Old Gong fixed a customer's phone and thought he had met true love, only to find out she just wanted a free repair. Old Gong had stubbornly insisted that her zodiac sign just didn't like replying to messages...

And then there was the time Old Gong realized the truth in the middle of the night, got his heart broken, and was so devastated he said he didn't want to live anymore. Ye Cheng had thoughtfully brought over an insurance policy, asking to put his own name as the beneficiary, saying it could serve as Old Gong's final contribution to society...

And also the time Old Gong met another woman who came to get her phone fixed the very next day, claiming once again that he had found true love and declaring that he absolutely wouldn't be fooled this time, only to end up crying his heart out after being used for a free repair once more...

With things like this, in a certain sense, Ye Cheng could be considered to have watched Old Gong grow up.

It was just a pity that while he grew up, he didn't completely mature. He was in his thirties and his daughter was already so big, yet he was still like this, always watching borderline suggestive videos when he had nothing to do, but still terrified of his wife... What a hopeless guy.

However, having known him for so many years, Ye Cheng did give Old Gong a gift when he got married in his twenties, as a token of his appreciation.

Of course, it wasn't money. It was a small card, a simple, handwritten little card that could be used to ask Ye Cheng for one favor, anything within his power to do.

Remember, absolutely anything!

As time passed, Ye Cheng's abilities grew, and the weight of this card multiplied as well...

Old Gong still hadn't used this card. Now, it was wrapped in a plastic bag and hung inside his daughter's golden lock amulet.

If anyone else gave something like this, it might be a joke. But since Ye Cheng gave it, Old Gong felt he wasn't worthy of using something so valuable. He decided to leave this opportunity for his daughter.

Having interacted with him for so long, Old Gong wasn't an idiot. At a glance, anyone could tell Ye Cheng was a dragon among men. His IQ was exceptionally high; it was just that his behavior was a bit eccentric. But as a person, he was absolutely flawless.

For a mediocre and ordinary person like him, this might be the only real opportunity he could grasp in his entire life. So it was better to save it for his daughter. He was too useless, and this was probably the greatest fortune a mediocre person like him would ever encounter in his lifetime.

Old Gong's reminiscence ended, his thoughts pulling back to the present, just as Ye Cheng's bragging was also coming to a close.

"Hiss... So, according to what you're saying, this latest model Apple phone in front of me was given to you completely for free, with no strings attached, by the eldest daughter of a wealthy, powerful family, who is beautiful but as fierce as a rabid dog?"

"Is that right?"

Old Gong blinked and looked at Ye Cheng, and Ye Cheng similarly blinked and looked back at Old Gong. The two of them just stared at each other in a staring contest.

"Yeah, is there a problem?" Ye Cheng said with a look of pure innocence.

"Pfft... Hahaha, you kid, hahahaha, you're really something, hahaha... Why don't you also say there are a few other aristocratic heiresses pining for you and wanting to buy you phones too?"

Old Gong laughed so hard he couldn't stand straight. He kept clutching his stomach, laughing while pounding the table in front of him.

"I originally wanted to interact with you as an ordinary person, but now it seems..." Ye Cheng put on a look that said he wasn't pretending anymore and was laying his cards on the table.

"Alright, alright, stop. If you make me die of laughter, the next time you go to borrow someone else's equipment, they're going to charge you. Tell me, kid, where did you really get this phone?" Old Gong picked himself up from the table, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, out of breath from laughing.

"I got it exactly the way I just told you." Ye Cheng spread his hands somewhat helplessly.

Old Gong: "..."

"Keeping your lips sealed, huh? Fine, I know the rules. I won't ask where it came from, and you don't need me to remind you what you can and can't do. How about this, let me take a look to make sure there's no problem with this phone?" Old Gong just assumed the phone's origins weren't exactly clean, so he didn't pry too much.

He picked up the phone Ye Cheng had placed on the table and started examining it.

"How could it explode?"

"You're not a rookie anymore, there's no way you'd make such a rookie mistake, right?"

"Hiss... Strange, really strange..."

As Old Gong spoke, he took out another phone, preparing to try out the method Ye Cheng had mentioned earlier.

Smack!

Ye Cheng grabbed Old Gong's hand. "Old Gong, I advise you to be kind!"

Old Gong: "Bullshit. If this phone can explode, I'll eat it!!!"

Old Gong confidently patted his chest to guarantee it, and then started transferring the data... The whole process was very successful, and the only thing that happened was the two phones getting slightly warm.

Old Gong looked incredibly smug. Holding up the phone that had just finished its data transfer, he flaunted it in front of Ye Cheng. "How about that? What did I tell you?"

"Is there a chance I was talking about my phone?" Ye Cheng pulled out his heavily modded budget phone and placed it in front of Old Gong.

Old Gong, completely blinded by his recent victory, wasn't about to listen to anything else. Without another word, he snatched Ye Cheng's phone and started messing with it, grumbling something under his breath...

"Your phone will be fine too! If this thing explodes, I will literally eat it!"

A few minutes later...

Old Gong cautiously kept his guard up against the two phones transferring data in front of him. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the words "Transfer Complete" popped up on the screen. He hurriedly yanked the cable out and held the phone up to show off to Ye Cheng.

"How about that, what did I..."

"Bang!"

"Holy crap! Old Gong!!!"

"Wee-woo, wee-woo..."

Before long, an ambulance pulled away from the electronics mall and headed straight for the hospital...