Zhen Shanhe Extra: Making Jade out of Stone
Ah Shi was an ordinary slave in the mine. Together with all the other children of his age, he mined jade in the dim mine every day.
He didn't know who his parents were. He only knew that his parents owed a loan to the Sky Group and never paid it back until their death. As a result, he was arrested according to legal procedures and became the private property of the Sky Group. He was assigned to the jade mine under this subsidiary to realize his value and repay his parents' debt.
This was said by the supervisor in charge of their affairs, so it was hard to tell whether it was true or false. However, truth or falsehood was not important to a consumable slave like Ah Shi. Facing such a huge entity as the Sky Group, he had no desire to resist. He only needed to work hard every day to survive until the next day.
Surviving to the next day is Ah Shi's daily goal.
I think this goal is short-lived, because their lives are consumables and are also short-lived. There is no need for any long-term plans, just keep it simple. If the goal fails, they don't even have to suffer and can continue living in this world.
For the lower class, death is the easiest thing, while living is such a difficult thing and meaningless. Ah Shi couldn't explain why he didn't die quickly, but continued to live numbly. He had never been to school and didn't understand much, so he couldn't tell whether this was a desire to survive or an aimless expectation.
It all ended on that ordinary day.
During the four hours of sleep a slave had to endure every day, Ah Shi became so hungry that he sneaked out of the hut where they lived with the tacit permission of the guards and went to the river to find some water to fill his stomach.
There was no sun in the early morning sky, just like in the mine. Ah Shi had not seen the sun for a long time, and in his memory there was nothing brighter than the searchlight in the mine. His eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, so he saw a faint blue reflection in the river.
He jumped into the water and found that it was a piece of jade, a jade pendant hanging on a person. The jade was transparent, reflecting the moonlight and being washed by the flowing water. It was completely different from the gray stones at the bottom of the river.
The owner of the jade pendant was a young man with noble clothes and some wounds on his body. He didn't know what had happened to him, and he looked particularly weak. When he saw someone coming, he immediately called out in surprise, "Save me... I am the heir of the Tianji Group. They want to seize power and deliberately told Wu Ci my whereabouts in order to kill me! I have never left the house, and my father died before. Few people know me, and they won't see the difference in our appearance. You put on my clothes and take the jade pendant that proves my identity to lure him away. Do as I say! When I come back, I can give you anything you want!"
Ah Shi didn't quite understand what the boy said, nor did he know who "Wu Ci" was, but he heard the word "Sky Group" clearly.
——He will never forget this word.
Malice and twisted resentment grow in the heart.
Sky Conglomerate, Sky Conglomerate… Sky Conglomerate made him struggle numbly every day like he does now. All his suffering was caused by Sky Conglomerate.
Ah Shi once had an obsessive fantasy: if there was no Sky Group, would he have parents?
Yes, yes.
He might be able to go to school peacefully under the care of his parents, instead of being unable to see the sun, eating poorly, wearing cold clothes, working hard every day, being whipped if he is not careful, and worrying all the time that he will never see the next day if he falls asleep.
How wonderful would that be? How wonderful would that be? Is that a life... something he could possibly have?
Ah Shi began to get angry at the boy.
The boy did nothing wrong. He is now also a victim of the Sky Group. However, his identity is wrong. He relies on this identity to enjoy all the honors of the Sky Group. This identity is rooted in the flesh and blood of the lower class people.
Ah, yes...it was this identity that caused Ah Shi's resentment.
Yes, yes, the boy even used his habitual commanding tone to ask Ah Shi to pretend to be him, to be hunted down in his place, or to die in his place, without even thinking about whether Ah Shi should refuse for the sake of his life. The promise of giving everything was just empty words, and this was the capital that the Sky Group brought to this boy.
Ah Shi suddenly felt very sad. He wanted to beat the boy up to vent his anger, or be even more cruel and kill him, then pretend that he knew nothing and go back to his shed to continue sleeping.
No… there is a better way.
A more greedy, more absurd and bold idea appeared in Ah Shi's mind.
Since... the boy said that few people knew him, then what would happen if... he replaced the boy and became the heir of the Sky Group?
Will he have everything that the boy had? Will he be able to escape from these dark days and no longer have to worry about not seeing the next day?
This idea is like a wildfire that cannot be extinguished once a spark appears. It will only grow stronger and stronger and cannot be suppressed.
Yes, yes, you can try... as long as there is a slight chance of success, you can try it. After all, there is nothing worse than dying in a mine.
This is just a bet that does not require any chips. Ah Shi's life is too light to be considered as a chip.
Replace, replace the identity of the heir to the Sky Group!
Ah Shi's heart, which had been numb for a long time, began to beat violently at this moment. He almost went crazy for what he was about to do. His dark excitement made his dark eyes look terrifyingly cruel in the darkness. However, he tried hard to turn the smile on his face into worry. "So that's how it is... Young Master, I'm a slave of the Sky Group, and I don't know much about your information. What if they ask me? How should I answer?"
I mean, what's your name? Who should I call when I get out so that they can come and rescue you?"
The young master obviously didn't expect that a slave in his own company would have the idea of taking over the company. He didn't have much precautionary awareness and blurted out everything at once. "Well, it is indeed a problem... Remember, my name is Yuhe, and I am the eldest son of the Sky Group. I have been raised outside by my father since I was a child... If you need help, you can go to my grandfather's old subordinates, the faction of the chairman of the Sky Group... They will protect me and inherit the Sky Group..."
He thought about it and was afraid that Ah Shi would die before he could find his grandfather's old subordinates to save him. He repeatedly emphasized anxiously, "Remember to avoid the guy with the blue eyes named Wu Ci. He is an incurable lunatic, the most vicious criminal and anti-human element in the history of Dark Star! He instigated a prison riot after he was finally caught and imprisoned. He can also kill people without limit with a pencil. A pencil thrown casually can even cause a volcanic eruption or a tsunami! It's incredible! Don't fall into his hands, or you will definitely die miserably!"
"I remember that." Ah Shi changed into the young master's clothes and hung the jade pendant proving his identity on his chest. "I will try my best to live with your identity."
"What?" The young master didn't understand what he meant. Before he could react, he saw Ah Shi's two knotted hands, one of which was pinching his neck, and the other one was covering his mouth and nose with irresistible force.
"Mmm! Mmm—!"
The young master died in the river, and the stone replaced the jade.
In fact, the young master was desperate and was trying all sorts of methods to cure his illness. Ah Shi was not as tall as the young master due to years of malnutrition and heavy labor. The expensive clothes looked out of place on him. His rough skin, the old hair on his hands, and his dry and messy hair almost exposed his identity at a glance.
However, Ah Shi did not feel inferior when he saw himself in the river. He turned around, picked up a stone from the river, and smashed it hard on the face of the dead body, smashing the face into a bloody mess. Then he washed his face and hands, dragged the corpse and threw it into the pit where the corpses of their slaves were usually thrown.
There were many corpses in the pit, and they were cleaned out every two days and used to make soap or fertilizer, so no one would notice there was an extra corpse.
Ah Shi is not very smart, but he is ruthless and always gambles with his life, otherwise he would not have been able to survive in the mine for so long.
He remembered that the young master said that few people had seen him and his father was dead, so... as long as the real young master disappeared and he had the token, then, if he made up a lie carefully, he would have a certain chance of successfully replacing this identity.
Now, all we have to do is escape from this sealed mine and find the chairman of the Sky Group.
It looked like the young master had drifted down from upstream, which meant there must be a chance for him to escape upstream.
Ah Shi went upstream along the stream. His body was very weak due to years of malnutrition and lack of sleep, but his willpower seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. The rush of the river water and this difficult journey were like the steps of polishing stone into jade, giving him an increasingly real sense.
He is heading towards freedom and a new life, so he is not afraid of being tired.
Ah Shi swam to the end of the upstream, climbed up the Gobi Desert, and finally saw the outline of the city's edge.
It was a city that was about to be destroyed by dawn. Every building was like a giant saber stuck in the ground, majestic and solemn. It was the Sky City controlled by the Sky Consortium.
A ray of blue light was approaching from the horizon, breaking the dawn. For the first time, Ah Shi saw the blurry sun in his memory.
"You are very good at escaping. I have been looking for you for a long time."
Suddenly, a pair of hands gently rested on his shoulders, and the young man's gentle breathing approached from behind, carrying a slight bloody smell of medicine but very calm, making it impossible to detect any danger.
"Don't be afraid. As long as you cooperate, I won't kill you for now."
The young man with cyan eyes seemed to be seriously injured, but he didn't care about his injuries at all. He hugged Ah Shi from behind, took off the jade pendant from Ah Shi's neck and rubbed it gently as if nothing had happened.
Ah Shi always felt that the slender fingers were confirming the appearance and texture of the jade, and comparing it with this piece of stone pretending to be a gem.
This feeling was very strange. He should have felt fear and inferiority, but he only smelled a faint scent of medicine from the young man's cold skin, and sensed a gentle comfort in that bitter smell.
Ah Shi had taken Chinese medicine. In the mine, they were consumables, but they were still children after all. There was an elderly grandmother who was a guard mother. Sometimes she felt sorry for them and would pick some strange herbs near the mine and boil some Chinese medicine soup for them, not sure if it would be useful.
The feeling this young man gave Ah Shi was like the wisp of smoke when boiling Chinese medicine, the bitter taste seeping into the bones, making the slight warmth seem a bit sour, and going straight from the tailbone into the brain.
This is not too bitter for the lower-class people, and they can fall into a peaceful sleep after drinking it.
"I'm sorry..." The young man put a pencil against Ah Shi's neck. It was a threat, but he held his head in his arms and rubbed his hair like a lamb. "You are kidnapped now."
Ah Shi put his face on the young man's chest and recalled the "witch words" that the young master had described to him before.
So, the one holding him captive now is the "Witch", the most terrifying criminal in the history of the entire Dark Planet?
A man's name is like the shadow of a tree.
As long as the reputation spreads, it means that there is a high probability that he is not an ordinary person. "Wu Ci" has such a reputation in the mouth of the young master, the heir of the Sky Group. No matter how harmless he looks or how gentle his tone is, he must not be resisted.
Ah Shi did not have the absurd idea that he could defeat this "most terrifying criminal in the history of the entire Dark Star". He immediately wanted to reveal his identity, but Wu Ci held his lips against his.
The young man with calm blue eyes smiled and looked down at him. His eyes seemed to contain a devilish temptation. "Hey, don't make excuses. Just listen."
Ah Shi was unable to say anything for some unknown reason. He was so immersed in those blue eyes that he could not think of any resistance. He just wanted to be stared at like this by those eyes forever.
He dazedly forgot about his decision to use this identity to get a new life, and obediently followed the young master, who had warned the terrorists about the dangers before his death, into the car and left.
Wuci is not like a criminal, he is more like an elder. He always speaks gently, behaves properly, and is always restrained in his emotions. He can arrange everything.
He was not the crazy person that the young master described him as. He was mentally very stable, so stable that even Ah Shi felt that he was too rational.
Ah Shi was very sure that Wu Ci saw through that he was a fake substitute, because even though it was nominally a kidnapping, Wu Ci had always been very nice to him.
Wu Ci handled everything with ease. It was not like he was taking him on a journey, but rather like he was taking him on a trip while teasing the pursuers. During the trip, Wu Ci would buy him new clothes, take him to eat delicious food, teach him to read and write, take him out to play, and teach him some skills for survival. He was always generous in praising and caring for him, and never said a harsh word to him or tortured him as he imagined.
In short, Wu Ci has his own way of kidnapping. Reading, writing, and fighting are all teaching. He only rewards but not punishes. If you do well, you will be rewarded, such as toys, bedtime stories, two hours of game time, and other irrelevant things. If you do not do well, Wu Ci will touch his head and chuckle and say that he cannot give him a reward this time, and ask him to work harder next time, and gently teach him what to do next time.
This might be love, or just obedience training, like a shepherd holding a lamb. But Ah Shi didn't care. He liked being with Wu Ci, liked Wu Ci looking at him, liked Wu Ci talking to him, and it would be best if it would be like this forever. In this way, he wouldn't have to fight for the position of the Sky Group.
It was hard to imagine that Wu Ci was only a few years older than him, and it was also hard to imagine that someone like Wu Ci was a poor, vicious and extremely evil criminal.
According to Wu Ci, he was unlucky and was targeted by the Sky Group. He was falsely accused of murder and was gradually forced to become a criminal.
The "glorious and great" Sky Group is cruel and ruthless, but the "notorious" Wu Ci beside him is so gentle and patient. Ah Shi believes this without a doubt and empathizes with it, often secretly feeling sorry for Wu Ci in his heart.
Therefore, every time when he heard the radio and various news reports repeating Wu Ci's crimes, Ah Shi would always sneer and say that the Sky Group was really messing around. If he were in power, he would definitely not treat Wu Ci like this.
Wu Ci just looked at him and smiled softly at such remarks. "You can't always control people's bad nature of pursuing pleasure and joking. You should understand that if you are not strong enough for society to adapt to you, and you can't adapt to society, then you can only blame your own lack of ability, not society."
Ah Shi understood that Wu Ci was reminding him to recognize his own identity and not to put on a mask that he could not take off. However, he had already regarded the identity of "Yuhe" as his own. This mask had grown on his face and integrated into his greedy bones and blood.
If he didn't have this identity, if he didn't have the jade at the beginning, he would just be a piece of stone that can be seen everywhere in the river, and he would never be treated like this by Wu Ci. He didn't even have the qualifications to be held hostage, he was just a burden. After all, Wu Ci kidnapped the "heir of the Sky Group" just to make it easier to escape, and to damage the reputation of the Sky Group and put pressure on it to delay the Sky Curtain Project.
So every time Wu Ci asked Ah Shi what his name was, Ah Shi would always say, "Yuhe, my name is Yuhe."
Even when Wu Ci died, he answered in the same way.
When Ah Shi followed Wu Ci, Wu Ci had already been a wanted criminal for a long time. He had even been in prison for a period of time and his body was completely ruined.
Wu Ci's wrists and neck were covered with needle holes, his skin was sickly pale, and he would feel weak if there was a little wind, and he kept coughing up blood. He and Ah Shi were mainly fleeing and hiding. His only goal during this time was to stop the Sky Curtain Project, to stop the Sky Group from closing off the entire Dark Star, abandoning most people, and making the sun never rise again.
Occasionally, the crimes that Wu Ci had committed, such as "bank robbery", "stealing nuclear weapons", "starting war", "triggering tsunamis", and "using biological weapons to destroy a country" were heard on the radio, but they all seemed like nonsense made by another person.
Ah Shi thought that Wu Ci was such a good person. He was kind even to a guy like him who was being held hostage and full of lies. How could he do such a thing?
In other words, even if Wu Ci really did such a thing, he must have been forced into it. So how hard was he forced to do such a cruel thing?
What kind of torture could have reduced a wizard who was once capable of such things to the state of being unable to survive like this?
Ah Shi didn't want to recall it.
During their final period, they hid in the abandoned port of Sky City.
The neon lights of the city could not reach here; there were only the burning fires on the beach and the stars in the sky.
Wu Ci was not in a very good mood. He put a pot on the fire and cooked a pot of plain noodles. Ah Shi planned to go to the sea to catch a fish for him.
By chance, a few drunk young people passed by and saw these two stray dogs. They recognized Wu Ci, who had the misfortune of being the Dark Star's public clown on an entertainment show and was now called "the most terrifying criminal in the history of the entire Dark Star."
The young man, after drinking, was filled with passion and, because he had been brainwashed, his head was full of patriotism and personal heroism. He didn't care about the consequences and simply kicked over the pot and took out a knife to kill Wu Ci.
Wu Ci was already very ill at that time.
Maybe he didn't dodge, or maybe he had foreseen his own death, but in any case, he was stabbed.
In fact, the most painful thing was that he was stabbed in the lung. This can be said to be one of the most painful ways to die. When his lungs were filled with blood, he couldn't even breathe. Even so, the first thing he did when he got up was to rescue Ah Shi.
His lung lobe was injured, he had pneumothorax, and a large area of blood had entered his lung, making it impossible for him to breathe.
"There are shooting stars tonight. Let's take one last look at the stars." Wu Ci said as he threw away the corpses of the young men.
Ah Shi hated Wu Ci the most for not taking his life seriously. "Why are you saying this now? I'm going to find medicine..."
"...Don't look at me, I don't like being seen when I'm in a bad mood...Look up, Yuhe, the stars are beautiful tonight...Remember, always, always look up."
Wu Ci was breathing hard, and was supported by Ah Shi. He curled his eyes and said, "Today is a good day, look up again. There will be no sun tomorrow, and once the Sky Curtain Project is activated, you will no longer be able to see the stars."
Yes, yes, Wu Ci probably had foreseen his own death.
Ah Shi held Wu Ci's bleeding wound with shaking hands, thinking empty thoughts: He knew he couldn't hold on for long, so he chose the most tragic way. He knew that the Sky Group couldn't fight alone, and that everything was just a tragedy of Xiao Chou's struggle.
So...Wu Ci thought of another way.
Sure enough, the next second, Wu Ci asked him softly, "…Tell me your real name, Yuhe."
Ah Shi held back the tears in his eyes and said, "Yuhe, I am Yuhe."
Wu Ci smiled, kissed Ah Shi's forehead, and wiped away his tears with his fingertips. "Since... you have decided, wear this mask firmly and let it... grow on your face."
Fresh, warm blood spread from the floor of the container to the beach outside. The traces of blood followed the footprints all the way to the deserted coast until they were wiped away by the waves, making the rusty smell of the blood mixed with the sea breeze and difficult to smell.
Perhaps all of this was just a calculation, a premeditated calculation.
Wu Ci always plans everything in advance and will not let anything he is not prepared for happen and get out of his control.
Maybe Wu Ci was originally kind, he should have been a saint who loved this world, but he was changed by that ridiculous program, causing him to never do meaningless things.
He respects people, but never cares about them.
Wu Ci hates this world and he wants everyone in this world to suffer.
He knew that he was going to die, he knew that he would die sooner or later, so he tried his best to teach Ah Shi, and in this way, he urged Ah Shi to return to the Sky Group and use the identity of "Yuhe" to avenge the world for him.
Wu Ci was so arrogant that he didn't try to hide it from anyone, so Ah Shi could see it, but he was still willing to follow Wu Ci's arrangements.
This is a conspiracy.
Wu Ci is best at making others become his gentle and obedient lambs because of emotional connections.
Ah Shi knew that he was not smart, not smooth, very useless, just a burden. He knew that this despicable fake was just a stone in any unknown stream.
It was only Wu Ci who taught him, provided him with food and clothing, told him stories, and even kept him believing and thinking that he was a pearl in the dust, a precious jade worthy of being inlaid with pearls and gold.
He also didn't know whether he was what Wu Ci expected him to be, but for Wu Ci, he had to be. No matter if he was polished or unrecognizable, or even if his bones were stripped, he would become that piece of jade.
[The world's most insane terrorist/element is holding the heir of the Sky Group hostage and is still on the run... The Sky Group is not afraid of the threat. While strengthening the intensity of the wanted manhunt, it has decided to implement the Sky Curtain Project as usual...]
In the container that served as a temporary stop, Ah Shi turned on the radio with trembling hands stained with Wu Ci's blood, emitting distorted electric current sounds to help him obtain recent information.
[At the same time, His Majesty the North Star will ascend the throne with the help of Queen Mother Inès...]
Ah Shi thought:
I want to go back, I want to use the identity of "Yuhe" to go to the Sky Group and make those people pay the price. I want to make all those who regard Wu Ci as a joke forget all the things that Wu Ci regards as a shame, and let them all have a taste of the struggle for survival, and let them also have a taste of being oppressed by capital that they cannot resist.
And, and, and those high-ranking people in the Sky Group and the royal family who caused all this to happen, none of them will survive.
Wu Ci taught him: "If you are not strong enough to make society adapt to you, and you cannot adapt to society, then you can only blame yourself for your lack of ability, not society."
Ah Shi was convinced that what Wu Ci said was true.
Well, since witchcraft cannot adapt to the world, let the world adapt to witchcraft.
Yes... this world should be ruled by fear and power. At that time, everyone, everyone should mourn for Wu Ci, everyone should sing elegies for him, and kneel down to beg Wu Ci to come back.
Ah Shi grabbed the knife that had stabbed Wu Ci and peeled off his own face. He then cut his throat with another knife, destroying his own voice.
It is normal for Yuhe to have spent some time with Wuci when she was "kidnapped" and to have changed her appearance and suffered some abuse.
So, now… even those who have seen the young master before will not recognize any difference between them. All we need to do is… kill all the direct relatives who can be tested to have a blood relationship with the young master.
...Yes...Yes...From now on, "Ashi" is just "Yuhe".
Compared to this, a face and a voice are nothing. In the process of polishing a rough stone into jade, these are far from enough. Ah Shi can give up more for this.
Hands, legs, eyes, including life...
He is a rock in the river, even if his tendons and bones are pulled out, he still wants to become that piece of jade.
The bloodstains on the beach were in the opposite direction of Wu Ci's death. "Yuhe" hung the jade pendant that proved his identity in the most conspicuous place in front of his neck. He walked towards the highest point, stepping on the blood of everyone, with one foot deep and the other shallow.
Well, this is the end. Thank you for your company. I plan to start "I heard that I was a traitor" next time. I will start it next year when I am not so busy in reality. You are welcome to collect it in the column. I will post the copy.
[A powerful and controlling female protagonist x the emperor with Stockholm syndrome]
An Nian traveled into a male-oriented power-plot novel called "The Emperor's Plot". This novel tells the story of how the male protagonist ascended the throne at a time of internal and external troubles, cleaned up treacherous ministers and powerful ministers, overthrew the queen mother, and finally succeeded in ruling the country.
Unfortunately, An Yan just happened to be transformed into the chief treacherous minister who was to be eliminated in the "Nine Clans Elimination Game" - the prime minister who was dressed as a man.
According to the plot, after being found guilty, her identity as a woman will be discovered, she will be humiliated as a military prostitute, and then be executed prematurely.
An Ni looked at the male protagonist who was still hiding his talents and pretending to be a fool emperor, and then looked at his cronies in the court, and decided to go all out and turn the male protagonist into a real puppet.
However……
The Queen Mother and the concubines in the harem: Why didn't Anlang come to the harem to listen to music today?
Civil and military officials: Prime Minister An is the wise leader we want to follow!
The people and the army: They only know how to be kind to An Xiang, but do not know the orders of the king.
Enemy general: If it weren't for An's dislike, Chu would have been able to take advantage of it easily...
The emperors of the enemy countries: What did the emperor of Chu do to make such a great talent like An Ni follow him? No, we must find a way to capture the emperor of Chu and let An Ni use himself as a hostage, so that An Ni can become my man!
By the way, if there is anything good in the country, send it to Mr. An Ni urgently within 800 RMB to cultivate our relationship in advance. I must let him feel how good I am!
The male protagonist who was bullied by An Yan and reborn, ended up with Stockholm syndrome: It turns out that you are the one who secretly supports the Chu State... You punish me, control me, imprison me, and torture me. It must be for me, right? The beating is on my body, but the pain is in your heart! What's wrong with you? You just love me too much!
Initial disgust (dark crawling): I cannot let people think that I am a traitor, I must protect the world!
Later An Ni (with a healthy and confident smile): I am a treacherous minister, and I want to protect my world!
Note:
Stockholm syndrome, also known as hostage identification syndrome, refers to the emotional connection between the victim and the perpetrator (such as sympathy, identification, admiration, love, dependence, etc.), forming a harmonious and friendly relationship, and even helping the perpetrator in return. It includes unhealthy psychological phenomena such as worship of the strong, survival consciousness, and obedience in the face of death threats.
Reading Guide:
*I am a local dog, so I have the delusion that the heroine is the strongest in the world, and everyone wants her but cannot get her.
*A woman who studies literature and is popular with both men and women. Lei's escape.
＊I just like to have the male lead take a sadistic script, and the female lead gets angry and pinches his waist to cripple him, and then orders him not to die. What's wrong with the female lead? She just loves him too much.
* I like the heroine who is in a high position and is both civil and military, vicious, ruthless, autocratic, controlling, aggressive, but mature, reliable, and very charismatic. Even all the protagonists in the column are such villains, so don't have other expectations, and run away if you don't like it.
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