A cursed lone star meets a lucky koi fish

On a late summer afternoon, the solar energy in Yuncheng made the asphalt roads smell like medium-rare steak.

Yu Jinli rode her secondhand electric scooter, which was "probably noisy everywhere except for the bell"—oh, damn memories, the scooter didn't have a bell, the bell had already been sacrificed along with her bicycle that had been with her for three years, in exchange for this scooter—but her mood was like a blue-chip stock that had just been listed and had hit the daily limit for thirty consecutive days, soaring to the top.

She hummed off-key, "I love going to work, work loves me," while the bottle of iced cola she had just bought bubbled happily in her bicycle basket.

There's no way around it; I just closed a big deal, and that's how my ego gets.

Her personal brand, "The Lucky Koi is Here," successfully saved a lost soul from an upcoming job interview today.

The crisp announcement from the mobile banking app, "Your account ending in xxxx has received 998.00 yuan," is even more beautiful than a symphony in Vienna's Golden Hall.

I haven't been to hear it live yet.

"By believing in me once, I guarantee you'll be safe and sound." This honest promise has garnered rave reviews.

Yu Jinli, a chosen working woman, relies on a special physique bestowed upon her by the gods to struggle through an extreme sport called "survival" in the concrete jungle of Yuncheng. She can see and manipulate that ethereal "luck"—simply put, she's a middleman, profiting from the difference in good fortune.

This 998 yuan was her hard-earned "sunshine bonus" accumulated over three days, plus a little bit of good luck from "the boss is in a good mood today," all packaged together into a "highlighting interview lucky bag."

She had already quickly planned out how to use this huge sum of money in her mind using an Excel spreadsheet: 200 to pay off her Huabei (a Chinese online payment platform), 300 to pay the rent, and the remaining 498 could be used to upgrade her consumption from "single" to "triple" dishes on the pork trotter rice menu downstairs.

Ah, is this the happiness of the rich? Simple, and boring.

As soon as the green light came on, Yu Jinli's little electric scooter sped off like a husky let loose.

Just then, a dark figure gracefully and unhurriedly strolled out from the roadside green belt.

It was a cat, as black as a walking blob of ink, without a single stray hair. It strode with an indifferent gait, ignoring the rolling traffic as if the entire Chang'an Avenue were its runway.

Yu Jinli's DNA instantly stirred.

She may not believe in other things, but she can't lose her core business! A black cat blocking the road is, in the world of metaphysics, a red light warning, a major omen that can be directly written into an accident report.

"Holy crap!"

She slammed on the brakes, the front of the bike drifting at an unbelievable angle. The little electric scooter groaned under the strain, and the lucky cat charm on the handlebars almost flew off.

She barely avoided the black cat that seemed to be trying to scam her, and before she could even praise her superb driving skills.

A black Rolls-Royce Phantom appeared silently and inexplicably right in front of her.

That car was a deep, understated black, so black... it looked like it couldn't afford to pay for repairs.

The world seemed to be playing at 0.25x speed.

She looked at the magnificent front of the car, the glittering Spirit of Ecstasy, and felt as if the other party was beckoning her with a pure gold finger, saying gently, "Come on, little darling, have fun."

Such a sincere invitation is truly impolite to refuse.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang and a violent impact, Yu Jinli felt like a human cannonball being launched, tracing a beautiful parabola in the air.

Before losing consciousness, her only thought was: It's over, I won't even get to drink the soup from the braised pork knuckle rice this month.

...

When Yu Jinli "opened her eyes" again, she found herself floating.

Literally, it means to drift.

She hovered above the intersection like a ghost detached from the world. Below her was a disaster scene worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster: her gloriously retired electric scooter was twisted into a pretzel, and the Rolls-Royce... well, only had a little paint scratched on the front.

She even saw herself lying on the ground in a very peaceful posture, with the blood flowing from her forehead in an artistic way, symmetrical and even.

The surrounding noise seemed to be shut out, and her only feeling now was heartache.

The pain wasn't in her head, but in the "assets" she had painstakingly accumulated.

In her soul's vision, her body lying on the ground was radiating a dazzling golden light. That light coalesced into a lifelike, plump, and succulent golden koi carp—clearly overfed. That was all her possessions, her "lucky KPI," her only hope for a life of comfort and security in her later years!

But now, an evil force from Rolls-Royce is carrying out a brutal forced liquidation of her "assets".

She "looked" into the car, and the man in the driver's seat seemed to belong to a different dimension.

He was so handsome it was as if an AI model had forgotten to turn on the "realism" filter; every line was flawlessly perfect. But that's not the point.

The key point is that, in her vision, the man was enveloped in a thick, impenetrable black mist. That mist was viscous, icy, and filled with an atmosphere of utter despair, like "stepping in dog poop, getting water stuck in your teeth, investing in P2P lending, or being cheated on in a relationship."

Good heavens, this isn't just a jinx, this is a jinxed shark – a shark that will hunt down and kill anyone it catches!

Yu Jinli was horrified to discover that her koi-shaped phantom was being uncontrollably sucked into the black mist.

"Shut up! That's mine! Give me back my hard-earned money!"

She roared in her mind, screaming herself hoarse, but it was no use.

The golden luck seemed to be free, and the man absorbed it all without a second thought. Her koi fish visibly transformed from "plump" to "slender," then from "slender" to "bone-like," until finally only a thin layer of golden light remained, like a malnourished canary.

Her "bank account" was instantly emptied.

Just as Yu Jinli was filled with grief and indignation and was about to bang her head on the ground (although she had no ground to bang on now), a cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang in her mind, like a heartless customer service representative.

[A high-purity agglomeration of vital energy has been detected, clashing with an extremely yin and unlucky destiny...]

Congratulations! You have triggered the hidden condition; the 'Symbiotic Fate' mode is now activated!

[Binding in progress... Ding!]

[Binding successful! New user protection period: 365 days. Have a pleasant life!]

joy?

You big idiot!

Yu Jinli's vision went black, and she completely lost consciousness.

...

Inside the Rolls-Royce, the airbags deploy instantly and then slowly depress, exuding a simple and somewhat austere atmosphere.

The driver in the driver's seat was already pale with fright, and turned around tremblingly: "Mr. Feng... are you alright? I'll call an ambulance right away!"

The man in the back seat ignored him.

Feng Jinxuan didn't even glance at the girl lying on the ground outside the window, seemingly lifeless. His deep gaze was fixed only on the black metal ring on his left wrist that looked like a watch.

The surface of the metal ring was as smooth as ink, and a holographic light screen was now appearing on it. On the light screen, a pointer resembling a dashboard was trembling violently.

For many years, this pointer has stubbornly and firmly remained in the deep red area on the far right, with three cold, large words marked above it: [Extremely Dangerous].

But now, at the very moment of the impact, for the first time ever, the pointer suddenly veered to the left, crossing the bright red "high alert" zone, and finally came to a shaky stop in the orange-yellow "moderate alert" zone.

This is the [Misfortune Monitor], meticulously crafted for him by Feng's top-tier laboratory; it never lies.

There was no relief or joy in Feng Jinxuan's eyes, only a moment of astonishment, which was then replaced by a sharp glint like a hungry wolf spotting its prey.

He finally raised his eyes, his gaze piercing through the car window and landing precisely on the unconscious girl.

It was as if they were admiring a priceless, unearthed treasure.

"Assistant Wang," he pressed the communicator, his voice steady yet carrying an undeniable command, "locate my position. Immediately send people to seal off the scene and ensure that the girl receives the highest level of medical care. At the same time, find out all her family history, every single detail, within ten minutes."

He paused, then added, "In addition, have the Ministry of Justice prepare a... top-level cooperation agreement overnight."

...

I woke up again to a strong smell of disinfectant.

Yu Jinli sat up with a swift movement, almost knocking over the medical equipment by the bedside.

Looking around, she saw a pure white, upscale hospital room, so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat. She looked down at her wrists, which were as smooth as ever.

"Phew...it was just a dream." She patted her chest, still shaken.

The next second, a line of blood-red numbers slowly appeared under the skin of her wrist.

[364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 42 seconds]

The numbers jumped one second at a time, with absolute precision, embodying both the rigor of technology and the ruthlessness of fate.

Yu Jinli: "..."

Okay, it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare that came true.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. The bizarre "out-of-body experience," the system notification in her mind, and the sci-fi-like countdown on her wrist all pointed to one conclusion—her luck had truly been "stolen" by that cursed lone star.

To verify, she tried to mobilize the remaining good fortune within her dantian. In the past, she could feel a warm energy flowing through her limbs and bones with just a thought. But now, her dantian was empty, like a ransacked warehouse, with only a pitiful few scraps left.

What follows is a deep-seated weakness, as if the body has been hollowed out.

Her life, which started as a struggling B trying to pay off debts, has turned into a shared power bank about to expire.

No, we have to run! The farther away from that moving black hole, the better!

She threw off the covers and was about to get out of bed when the ward door was pushed open.

A well-dressed, elite man walked in, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, his expression as serious as if he were going to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony.

"Ms. Yu, hello. I am Mr. Feng's assistant, my surname is Wang."

Yu Jinli quickly shrank back under the covers, revealing a pair of bright, darting eyes as she looked at him warily: "I only have a mild concussion and some minor injuries. I'll pay for my own medical expenses. Let's just pretend nothing happened. See you later!"

Assistant Wang ignored her quick response, took a document from his briefcase, and carefully placed it on the bedside table.

“Ms. Yu, our boss does not intend to hold you responsible in any way.” He adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting a cold light. “On the contrary, President Feng believes that you might be able to provide him with some… special assistance.”

Yu Jinli's heart skipped a beat.

She looked at the document; the large, gold-embossed characters on the cover shimmered ridiculously brightly under the light.

"Agreement on Coexistence of Qi and Joyful Celebration".

Yu Jinli fell silent.

My brain is working at lightning speed.

A marriage to bring good luck? It sounds like feudal outdated ideas. But considering what she witnessed firsthand—the "stealing of one's luck"—it's probably not that simple. The other party clearly knows about her special abilities and wants to keep this "portable power bank" by their side long-term.

Refuse? The countdown on her wrist was no joke. She dared not imagine what would happen when her luck ran out.

Agree? Wouldn't that mean selling yourself off, turning from a freelance individual into a mascot for a wealthy family?

She stared at the agreement for a full three minutes without saying a word. Assistant Wang was also extremely patient, standing there quietly, like an emotionless statue.

Finally, Yu Jinli raised her head.

The panic and fear in her eyes had faded, replaced by a calmness and sharpness typical of businesspeople.

Since fate has thrust her to the negotiating table, she cannot be a lamb to the slaughter. Being passively drained is one thing, but being actively and openly "sold" is another.

She cleared her throat, pointed to the agreement, and gave Assistant Wang a professional smile.

"Assistant Wang, right?" she said, her voice soft but firm, "I don't think this agreement is quite fair."

Assistant Wang was slightly taken aback: "Miss Yu, do you have any questions?"

“This is very suspicious.” Yu Jinli sat up straight, exuding an aura of authority. “This agreement only talks about my obligations—being on call 24 hours a day and cooperating unconditionally. But it doesn’t mention my rights at all.”

She paused, then said, word by word, "I can be your boss's 'lucky charm,' but not this one-sided 'good fortune' agreement. I want a new one—"

"An annual strategic cooperation framework agreement on air transport based on the principles of equality and voluntariness between the two parties."