Haigang City, the old town area
The old town area used to be the outskirts, not the old town area. However, in just a few decades, the population of Haigang City increased to over twenty million. The former outskirts became urban areas, and then new urban areas appeared, turning into the old town area.
It was still early in the morning when Li Chang was practicing boxing in the park, just like other retired old men. He practiced a soft Tai Chi routine. When it was completely bright, he went home and bought breakfast on the way.
Upon returning home, Li Chang noticed someone in the house. He casually picked up a clothes rack outside the door. Although it looked like an ordinary stainless steel clothes rack, in his hands, it could turn into a deadly weapon.
"Sir."
Upon opening the door and seeing the visitor, Li Chang exclaimed and then put down the clothes rack.
"Li Chang, I’ve come to see you."
"If the teacher isn’t coming here, is there a problem with the organization?"
"There’s no problem at all. Eight out of the top ten assassins in the assassin world are your apprentices and grandapprentices. Come see for yourself."
Lin Jiang smiled and said. Li Chang was once the most skilled assassin under him, ranking first in the underworld assassin list for thirty years before retiring. But his apprentices and grandapprentices have also been in the top three of the assassin list for over ten years."Do you want breakfast, sir?"
"I’m not hungry, not interested. You go ahead and eat."
"Okay."
Li Chang, not saying much, sat in front of Lin Jiang and quickly finished his breakfast neatly.
"Li Chang, how’s life treating you?"
"My son and daughter are gone, and my grandson is helping his great-grandson in Jingdu City, just getting by."
"Oh, I can stay with you for some time, like a grandson."
"Please don’t say that, it disrespects our difference in rank."
Li Chang became serious and angry immediately. Lin Jiang was like a teacher and father to him. He started following Lin Jiang when he was eleven. How could he pretend to be a grandson, even if just pretending.
"Don’t be so tense. We’re at this age, and I don’t like how serious things are between us."
"Sir, there are boundaries between respect and disrespect. Many people lack this sense of boundaries, and that’s the root of trouble. Like Little Guo some time ago, if it were up to me, I would’ve put an end to them, breaking the hierarchy, they deserve punishment."
"·····"
Lin Jiang felt speechless in an instant. Li Chang’s childhood brainwashing still affected him deeply, making things dull for Lin Jiang. He still wished for more close friends.
"Alright, alright, Li Chang, can’t you rent out this old house you live in?"
Lin Jiang quickly changed the subject, not wanting to argue with the stubborn old man.
"They give me thirty thousand Huaxia coins as my pension every month, which is more than enough for me. Why bother renting out to those restless young ones?"
"Sure, how about I become your tenant?"
"Sir, what exactly do you want to do?"
"Living under a different identity for a few years, Li Chang, you must know, living for too long is tiring. I need to constantly change identities to keep my youthful mindset, otherwise, I will slowly turn into a heartless monster."
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, Li Chang deeply resonated. He too was a hundred years old, with almost all his friends gone or immobile. The next generation, including his son, were also reaching their end. This is the loneliness of a long-liver.
"Thank you, I will move in a while."
Lin Jiang nodded. He wanted to adopt a new identity again. The high position was cold and not as appealing as imagined, plus he had been existing for too long.
In the past, being an emperor lasted for decades, with elderly people around to talk to. Now, as the elderly depart one by one, the loneliness deepens.
········
In the Xia calendar year 5972, in June
Lin Jiang moved to Li Chang’s old house, which had over 100 square meters and four rooms. Lin Jiang took two rooms, one with internet connection where he set up his computer to control things remotely, and the other room was for living.
"Little Lin, so early!"
It only took Lin Jiang a few days to get to know Li Chang’s neighbors. When he walked out in the morning, people greeted him.
Li Chang didn’t have good relations with the neighbors, mainly to avoid trouble. Li Chang was the first Martial Saint expert Lin Jiang cultivated after awakening this time. He had a lifespan several decades longer than ordinary people, so even though he was over a hundred years old, he didn’t look very old.
Although his lifespan wasn’t extremely long, Li Chang didn’t want any trouble.
Lin Jiang, holding a digital camera, started his work for the day. His public identity now was a documentary director, a recent college graduate.
The era was changing rapidly, with technology growing explosively. People’s lives were also changing quickly. Recording things with technology was a very interesting activity.
"Lin Ge, Lin Ge, I’m here."
Before long, the main characters of the documentary appeared. They were a group of street vendors from Haigang City who had come from a distant rural area to work in Haigang City. After working for a few years and saving some money, they were dissatisfied with the life of a laborer and decided to become street vendors.
Lin Jiang warmly greeted them and then went with them to the night market. Some of them sold cheap clothes, some sold snacks, and others sold daily necessities.
Lin Jiang stood behind them, using a camera to record their lives. Lin Jiang thought they were all very clever people. After all, in this era, people who can leave the factory to start a business are courageous. Many successful business people started by selling things on the street.
There were many people at the night market because the rent in the old city area was much cheaper. So many migrant workers rented here, especially in some self-built houses that were seven or eight stories high, divided into small single rooms. The population density was extremely high.
Even though these workers don’t earn high wages, even screwing screws for twelve hours only brings them a little over a thousand. They still have strong buying power because compared to their rural life, everything in Haigang City is novel to them, so they need to consume to make up for what’s missing.
"Sis, business is good today. I see that you’ve almost sold out of your ingredients."
"Yes, Little Lin, we’ve already sold over a hundred today. My husband is getting more supplies, I’ll save you some for supper later."
"Thank you, Sis."
Lin Jiang smiled. The lady was selling fried rice for two dollars a portion. Many people liked to add extra ingredients like ham or sausage, making it popular at the night market.
After taking some photos, Lin Jiang turned his camera to the nearby stall selling fried food. It wasn’t exactly barbecue, but deep-fried. Lin Jiang wasn’t sure if it counted as barbecue.
There weren’t many people at the barbecue stall. Barbecue was a bit expensive because even though the individual prices weren’t high, people tended to eat a lot. Even if it was just a few cents for a skewer of meat, laborers easily ordered a dozen skewers each, along with beer, making it a costly meal.
"These guys are something else, five people ordered eight skewers and three bottles of beer, they’ve been sitting here for an hour."
The barbecue stall owner whispered to Lin Jiang, saying that one group at a table seemed like troublemakers with an edgy look, but even though there were five of them, they only ordered eight skewers, just bragging around.
"Boss, don’t be fooled by them. Even though they can’t put together ten bucks, they can easily call over three girls with just a word. Do you believe it?"
"I do. Those girls would get their legs broken where I come from."
The boss said. Of course, I believe it. These wild girls need to be taught a lesson. In my hometown, such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated, they would definitely face consequences.
"Oh, a fight? I need to go check it out."
In no time, there was a big fight at a nearby stall. It was very intense, with shouting that could be heard from far away. Lin Jiang quickly found a good spot to watch.
More than ten people were fighting. The stall owner, a married couple, were scared and had moved to the side. Tables, chairs, and beer bottles were flying around. The scene was messy, but the onlookers were not afraid and were enjoying the spectacle.
After a while, the sound of motorcycles roared closer. Three motorcycles pulled up, with six people coming down from them, rushing at the group of more than ten and beating them up wildly. The six men all looked like thugs, with tattoos on their bodies and gold chains around their necks that glittered like they could float in a bath.
As the six men attacked, they also boasted about their gang affiliations. This made the beaten people too scared to fight back, as these thugs were collecting protection money in the area and had a powerful leader backing them.
After the group of people had been beaten up, their money was stolen. This money was meant for the stall owners to compensate for their losses. Then, the troublemakers were chased away.
The modern-day thugs followed certain rules. They took protection money but also did some work without demanding too much money.
"Kid, what’s your deal?"
As they were leaving, the thugs noticed Lin Jiang and immediately surrounded him.
"Hey, I was just kidding around."
"Are you a journalist, kid?"
"No, I’m just a recent college graduate majoring in photography. Our teacher asked us to take some everyday life materials."
"Just delete the one we just took."
"Alright, buddy, um, buddy, can I follow you guys to take some materials? Maybe it will go viral on the internet someday, and then you will become a star."
"Really?"
"Of course, our teacher is a leader in the school. Our excellent work can be submitted for awards, and if we win awards, it can be broadcasted. Then you will become popular. You’ll be the big shot in Haigang City."
Lin Jiang forced a smile and said. In recent years, gangster movies have been quite popular. He didn’t believe he couldn’t be successful with a little deception.
Indeed, upon hearing the opportunity to play the main character in a movie, several people agreed and started to treat Lin Jiang as a brother.