"Li…"
"Li Fan…"
"Huh? Who is it? Who is calling my name?" Li Fan's eyelids flicker as he awakens from his sleep. The scent of cherry blossoms fills his nose.
"Li… Fan… you…"
"A jade beauty? Coming to me?" His eyes suddenly open wide as he comes face to face with a palm.
"Wait…"
SMACK
"Ah!" Li Fan falls back, with tears pooling in his eyes.
"Li Fan, brat, clean yourself up, it's gonna be a long day. Today." Li Fan rubs his eyes, clearing up his vision.
In front of him stands Tian Bo, his boss. Not only is he bald, he weighs around 250 catties, with an obnoxiously red face. His eyebrow is raised as he stares at Li Fan.
"B-boss!" Li Fan hurriedly stands from the bed to kneel. "Boss, what do you mean by 'It's gonna be a long day'?" He then gasps. "Don't tell me we have to work for that smug bastard again!"
"Heh." Tian Bo grins ear-to-ear. "We?" He leans forwards, belly protruding, as he clicks his tongue. "It's just you, brat… and who're you calling a bastard! That's 'Young Master' to you!"
"Ah, right, right, Young Master—Young Master Fang Xian!" Li Fan stands up, bowing once again to his boss before leaving for the washrooms.
Tian Bo watches as Li Fan exits, sighing to himself. "What a lazy kid… he's lucky I picked him up, otherwise he would've been butchered by that Wen Qing!"
….….
"I can't believe it! That fat old fart really wants me to work for the arrogant prick, damn it!" Li Fan curses as he washes himself, shaking his head in disbelief. "You would catch me dead before I clean his horse's shit again!"
His eyes burn with a noble fury. "I deserve to be up in the sky, riding golden swords and chanting incredible spells, not this… this lowly life!" Tears nearly fall from his eyes as he bangs the wooden tub he lays in.
As the water swirls from his impact, he suddenly gets an idea. "Wait. why not escape?" He mutters to himself. Pounding his fist against his palm. "That's right, I'll be free of this slave life, maybe I'll even join one of those sects!"
"W—wait no, that's too much of a crazy idea…" He bites his fingernails as he weighs the possibilities. "But, how would I even begin to escape? I mean that old fart owns Blacksilk Wolves!"
"Yeah, they'd sniff me out from at least thirty miles away, it'd be best if I just keep these thoughts in my head." He nods to himself, laying back to relax in the hot tub.
Until…
Gasp!
From the door, Li Fan hears a soft voice, which he would normally disregard… but in this context, his face is about as red as a tomato.
Turning his head, he lays his eyes upon a nosy little child… Kang Ling!
"Y-you wish to escape…?" Kang Ling stutters, already turning around to dash away, presumably to tell his boss, Tian Bo.
"N-no, you heard it wrong!" Without any clothing, Li Fan abruptly sits up from his wooden tub, water dripping off of him while steam hovers in the air. "Bastard! Don't run!"
"Ahhhh! Boss! Boss!" Kang Ling runs, fear in his eyes as he stumbles forwards.
"You! Fucktard! Hold on!" Li Fan reaches for his towel, which results in him losing his footing.
"W-wait!"
OUCH!
He falls face first onto the wooden floorboards, alone and stark naked as Kang Ling escapes.
"No… I didn't mean it!" Li Fan's last, pathetic words before he gives up. "That's it. I'm done. He's gonna feed me to the Blacksilk wolves, those big mutts could chew someone up in… s-seconds!"
Suddenly, he starts sobbing. "Damn it, I'm no prey…"
Gritting his teeth, he stands up, wrapping a coarse straw towel around his waist. "Wait." He stops.
"I may still have time. Kang Ling is no slower than a turtle!"
Bracing himself, he runs out of the bathroom, running straight towards his boss's office. But as he passes by his room, he notices Kang Ling standing with wide eyes, hands reaching towards… something.
"Hey, hands off!" Li Fan dashes inside, reaching to intercept the overly-curious Kang Ling.
But with a flash of red light, he is pushed away, falling to the floor.
"W-what could this be?" Kang Ling's eyes shine as he appraises the strange object, a glowing red orb.
As his vision clears up, Li Fan spots what Kang Ling reached for. "Hey, hands off my pillow!" Li Fan stands up, stomping towards his number 1 enemy.
Kang Ling turns towards Li Fan, confusion evident on his face. "You… you sleep on something this hard… and bright?" He knocks on the red orb, it is evident that it's harder than stone.
"Y-yes." A blush flushes Li Fan's face as he awkwardly responds. "So what if I sleep on something hard.. And bright? Huh?" He walks over and grabs it off of Kang Ling.
"First you make plans to escape… and now you're telling me you sleep on—" Kang Ling gets interrupted by Li Fan.
"Escape? W-what are you talking about?" Li Fan shouts, panic in his voice.
"In the washrooms…" Kang Ling tilts his head.
"Haha, nope, that was a play I had organised, not some stupid escape plan." Li Fan quickly thinks of a lie, a quirk of his.
"A play?" Kang Ling's eyes shine. "Yes, a play." Li Fan nods in satisfaction at his lie being successful.
"I wish to take part!" With those words, Li Fan's satisfaction is absolutely crushed with despair.
"You? Take part? Why? This is for adults, you stupid kid!" Li Fan yells.
"Adults? You yourself aren't an—" Kang Ling is cut off as Li Fan shoos him out.
...
With Kang Ling out of the picture, Li Fan lets out a breath.
"Damn it, could this day get any worse?" He complains as he appraises the red orb.
"So what if I sleep on something hard… At least it's comfortable." He smirks, spinning it around.
"It's not like this orb has any meaning." Li Fan laughs, tossing it aside.
Schhhh…
Suddenly, the orb makes a whirring sound and shines bright as it comes into contact with Li Fan's clothing.
"Huh?" Li Fan's face freezes as he witnesses the impossible.
The clothes… they were absorbed into the red orb… and out popped…
A silver coin!
"What the hell?" Li Fan whispers.
The orb hums for a second longer, before silencing and dimming.
He walks over to the orb, before picking up the completely ordinary silver coin. He starts appraising it very closely with his right eye.
"This… this is an actual Fenxuan Coin! Haha, I'm gonna be rich!" He grins ear-to-ear as he rubs his hands together.
Looking around the room, he quickly searches for other items of clothing, to the point of throwing his stuff around in search of even a singular piece of underwear.
"What? Where…" Li Fan's eyes land on a wardrobe.
"Aha, there!" With a gleeful hop in his steps, he walks towards the wardrobe.
"Riches, power, status, here I come!" Li Fan shouts.