Chapter 1: Who Can You Reason With?

Minghu Park. The shimmering surface of the lake reflected the blue sky and white clouds.

It was a rare, beautiful day, yet Chen Feng’s mood had sunk to the bottom of the lake.

The medical report in his hand had been crumpled into a ball, but he hadn't thrown it away.

He was only 29 years old; he didn't want to die. But fate had played a cruel joke on him.

Terminal brain tumor!

Chen Feng still remembered the doctor looking at him with pity, telling him in a gentle tone to go home, eat what he wanted, drink what he wanted, have fun, and relax his mind and body.

The doctor’s sympathy was truly rare.

Chen Feng pulled a bitter smile to the corner of his mouth and looked up at the sky, where he momentarily saw a shooting star streak across the horizon, vanishing in an instant.

"Hallucinations again," Chen Feng laughed at himself.

Lately, he had been suffering from frequent headaches, followed by nausea, vomiting, and hallucinations.

So, he had taken time off today to go to the hospital for a check-up, and this was the result he got.

Just then, his phone rang. It was his wife, Shen Lin.

"What is it?" Chen Feng asked in a flat tone.

"There’s a company dinner tonight, I won't be home for dinner." Shen Lin’s voice was pleasant and soft, but her personality was anything but gentle.

"Oh."

"What’s wrong with you?"

"Nothing. By the way, haven't you always wanted a divorce? I agree."

"What did you say?"

"I said I agree to the divorce. I’ve thought it over; there’s no point in me clinging to you like this."

"Did you... hear something?"

Chen Feng paused, and then a certain green-tinted thought popped into his head. Following her lead, he said coldly, "Yes, I heard. So, let’s part on good terms and go our separate ways."

"You don't trust me?" Shen Lin’s tone also turned cold.

"This isn't about whether I trust you or not, it’s about it being unnecessary, understand? We don't love each other anymore. Tell me, how much time have we actually spent together these past few months? How many times have we eaten dinner at home together? How many times have we been intimate?" Chen Feng asked, his emotions somewhat agitated.

"...Yes. I suppose I really don't love you anymore. You are no longer the vibrant, high-spirited Chen Feng you once were. You’ve become a greasy middle-aged man who complains about everything, just drifting through life without any ambition."

A surge of anger rushed to Chen Feng’s head, and he wanted to scream, but it ultimately turned into a long sigh. He was going to die anyway; why bother complaining about anything?

Chen Feng had let it go.

"Say whatever you want. Take some time off now. I’ll go home, grab our documents, and meet you at the Civil Affairs Bureau," Chen Feng said listlessly.

After a few seconds of silence on the other end, she asked in a low voice, "Have you really thought this through? I can give you two more months. If you just change some of your bad habits, maybe we could still..."

"No need," Chen Feng interrupted her, his tone resolute. "Let’s just divorce. Is there any point in forcing ourselves to stay together when there’s no affection left? Besides, we don't have children or any assets. I’m setting you free to go find your own happiness. A woman like you won't have any trouble finding someone else."

"...Fine. I’ll go ask for time off now."

Two hours later, the two of them stood at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, each holding a divorce certificate, and went their separate ways.

Shen Lin gave him two days to move out of the apartment they were currently living in.

The apartment had been rented by Chen Feng’s parents as their bridal home. They had paid three years of rent upfront, and they had been living there for nearly two years.

Because it was close to Shen Lin’s workplace, it was considered a small form of compensation from Chen Feng. Chen Feng took the initiative to move out of the "home" he had lived in for nearly two years.

He left all the home appliances and furniture for her.

He figured he was going to die anyway, and he couldn't take these things with him, so he might as well leave them for Shen Lin. After all, they had loved each other once.

Besides, back then, Shen Lin had almost broken ties with her parents to marry him. At the end of the day, it was because Chen Feng had no money, no house, and an average job.

He had always felt guilty about that.

Taking the initiative to divorce her this time could be considered a form of compensation; a divorced woman always sounded better than a widow. He didn't want to drag her down with him.

Chen Feng didn't take a car, choosing to walk back to his place. He planned to look for a cheaper place to live tomorrow and move out. After walking for more than half an hour, he reached his street when a sudden gust of wind swept across the flat ground, causing the leaves of the plane trees along the road to fall in droves.

Plastic bags, scraps of paper, and dust were whipped up by the wind, blowing directly into Chen Feng’s face.

Chen Feng instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes, and a scrap of paper happened to blow into his hand. He grabbed it, and upon looking, realized it was a freshly scratched-off lottery ticket, and it even had a picture of a car on it.

Chen Feng was stunned for a moment. He had played scratch-offs before; they were simple—if you won, the prize was printed directly on the ticket.

For example, 10 yuan, 100 yuan, 1,000 yuan.

But the ticket Chen Feng was holding not only had two ￥100s, one ￥500, and one ￥1,000 marked on it, but it also featured a picture of a car.

This was a winning ticket, and a big one at that. And it didn't look like a fake.

But who the hell would scratch off a winning ticket and not want it? Or was it something someone had discarded?

After a brief internal struggle, Chen Feng honestly stood by the side of the road with the ticket.

Chen Feng decided that if someone came looking for it and could correctly state the prize amounts and the car on the ticket, he would return it to them.

As he said before, he was going to die, and he didn't want to lose his integrity before the end. He hadn't been a good man his whole life, but he didn't want to die as a bad one either.

So, he stood by the side of the road and waited obediently. He waited for over half an hour, but no one came looking, let alone asked about it.

After waiting for another ten minutes, Chen Feng couldn't hold it anymore and went to a nearby public restroom. Afterward, he followed the lottery station number printed on the ticket and found one on this very street. Chen Feng had patronized this shop from time to time in the past.

There were quite a few people in the shop buying scratch-offs, but it didn't look like many were winning big.

Chen Feng spent 20 yuan to buy two tickets and scratched them casually. The first one won 1,530 yuan, and the second one won 2,000. It immediately drew envious and jealous looks from everyone in the shop.

"Your luck is truly heaven-defying."

"Yeah. Damn, I spent 2,000 and bought four packs to scratch, my fingers are sore, and I only won a few hundred."

"There’s really no comparison."

"Brother, how about I pay, you scratch for me, and we split the winnings?"

"Yeah, brother, your luck is really good today. Do me a favor, if you scratch a winner, I’ll give you half."

...

Chen Feng had come here originally to see if anyone had lost a lottery ticket, but he hadn't expected to win himself. It really felt like the saying, "Plant flowers with intent, and they may not bloom; plant a willow by chance, and it may grow into a shade."

He used to be a lottery enthusiast and had been buying them for years, but he had only ever won the top prize of 20 yuan once.

He hadn't bought any in the last few months, and he hadn't intended to win this time, yet he had won just by buying one on a whim. Who could he reason with?

(End of chapter)