After My Girlfriend Dumped Me, I Awakened the Dao System

Chapter 5 : Small Kiosk, Big Dream

"Adrian, run! He's not an ordinary human! Get out of here right now!" Xiao Yu shrieked inside Adrian's head, his usually arrogant tone now filled with fear.

Adrian was still transfixed on the roadside, staring at the silver business card in his hand that felt ice-cold. His heart pounded so hard he felt his chest would explode.

The black sedan had already disappeared around the corner, but the air pressure around him still felt heavy.

"Who is he, Xiao Yu? Why are you so scared?" Adrian asked with trembling lips.

"Don't ask so many questions! Get into a crowded place, now!" Xiao Yu commanded again.

Adrian took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. He didn't run. Instead, he stared at the old shophouse he had been eyeing. A small kiosk three by four meters in size with a rusted iron door.

"I won't run, Xiao Yu," Adrian said quietly but firmly.

"Are you crazy? That man was Victor Liang! He has an aura that can destroy your energy circuits instantly if he wants to!"

"If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it just now. He just wanted to intimidate me. If I run now, I'll be running forever. I need this place. I need money for Mom," Adrian countered. He walked steadily towards the shophouse management office at the end of the alley.

After tough negotiations with the owner, Mr. Gao, an old man who constantly complained about declining property prices, Adrian finally handed over almost all his remaining money.

"Here's the key to kiosk number twelve. Don't cause trouble, don't bring women in, and don't be late paying the electricity bill," Mr. Gao grumbled while tossing over a faded plastic keychain.

"Thank you, sir. I'll take care of the place," Adrian replied sincerely.

The kiosk was dusty and smelled musty. Adrian spent the entire day cleaning the floor, wiping the showcase glass that was cracked in the corner, and installing a simple wooden sign in front of the door. He wrote the name of his business in black paint: "Azure Tech Service".

"This place looks more like a rat's nest than a technology workshop," commented Xiao Yu, who finally reappeared as a small hologram after feeling safe.

"This is a new beginning, Xiao Yu. Help me focus on the energy sensors, don't just complain," Adrian said while placing his simple tool bag on the wooden table.

For the first two days, not a single customer came. People preferred to go into the large store across the street, "Giant Electronics," which was brightly lit and whose employees wore neat uniforms. Adrian just sat in his chair, watching the flow of people from behind the glass.

"Look at that, the owner of that big store has been looking this way all along," Xiao Yu whispered.

Sure enough, a fat man in a shirt that was too small stood in front of "Giant Electronics." His name was Boss Wu. He spat in the direction of Adrian's kiosk and then laughed mockingly with his employees.

"Hey, snot-nosed kid! You think you can make money here? You should go home and help your mom do laundry!" Boss Wu shouted from across the street.

Adrian clenched his fists under the table. He didn't respond. He knew that in this world, words were worthless without proof.

A miracle arrived on the third day. A female student ran into his kiosk with a pale face and puffy eyes. She carried a laptop with a cracked screen and a dented body.

"Please save the data on this.

All my thesis files are on it, and my defense presentation is scheduled for tomorrow. The shop across the street said it's completely dead and needs a new machine that costs five thousand Yuan. I don't have that kind of money," the girl said, her voice breaking with sobs.

Adrian took the laptop. "Xiao Yu, activate Insight."

["Scanning in progress. Damage detected in the main power line and corrosion on the memory module. Actual repair cost: fifty Yuan for parts, ten minutes of labor."]

"Sit down for a moment. Don't cry, I'll take a look first," Adrian said reassuringly.

He got to work. His hands moved deftly. With the aid of Qi flowing through his fingertips, he could sense exactly where the heat buildup was occurring. He reconnected the broken circuit lines without needing complex schematics.

"It just needed a small cleaning of the power circuit," Adrian said after ten minutes. He pressed the power button, and the laptop screen lit up.

The girl stared blankly. She checked her thesis folder and immediately started crying again, this time out of pure relief. "Thank you! Oh God, thank you so much! How much do I owe you?"

"Just one hundred Yuan. That includes the service fee," Adrian replied.

"Only one hundred? But across the street, they asked for five thousand!"

Adrian gave a faint smile. "They wanted to sell you a new machine; I just wanted to fix the broken one. That's the difference."

Word of the cheap and miraculous repairs at "Azure Tech Service" spread like wildfire across the campus area. Within two weeks, Adrian's little kiosk was never empty. He started fixing all kinds of items, ranging from water-damaged phones and jammed cameras to old medical devices belonging to local residents.

One afternoon, Boss Wu from the shop across the street marched into Adrian's kiosk. His face was flushed crimson with rage.

"Hey, kid! Who do you think you are, huh? You're ruining the market prices here! All my customers are running to you because you're charging garbage prices!" Boss Wu yelled, slamming his hand down on Adrian's counter.

Adrian remained calm. He was in the middle of soldering a circuit board. "I'm not ruining prices. I'm offering fair prices. If you're losing money, perhaps you should stop deceiving customers with the excuse of replacing their machines."

"Impudent child! Do you know who's backing me? You won't last long here!" Boss Wu threatened before storming out in a fit of rage.

"Be careful, Adrian. People like that often resort to dirty tactics," Xiao Yu warned.

"I know. But I have principles, Xiao Yu. Integrity is what will make this place last, not just money," Adrian replied.

That night, as Adrian was getting ready to close his kiosk, his phone vibrated violently. It wasn't a call from a customer. The name on the screen made his heart sink. Professor Zhang Weiguo.

"Hello, Professor?" Adrian asked.

"Adrian, thank goodness you picked up," Professor Zhang's voice sounded hoarse and full of fear. There were sounds of smashing and a commotion in the background of the call.

"Professor, what's wrong? Why do you sound like that?"

"They're here, Adrian! That black energy... they destroyed my apartment's security system! They're looking for the manuscript! You have to run, don't come here!"

"Who's coming, Prof? Explain!" Adrian shouted in panic.

"Master Huang... he sent his men! Adrian, our digital research data on Qi frequency... they already took it! Argh!"

The phone call suddenly cut off, replaced by a sharp static hiss. Adrian recognized the cold laughter that echoed from outside, a sound he knew all too well from that night in the warehouse.

"Little host...so you've been hiding in this dumpy little kiosk," the voice echoed, not from the phone, but from outside his partially closed kiosk door.

Adrian turned toward the door. A thick black shadow began to creep in from the gap beneath the iron door, extinguishing all the neon lights in the kiosk one by one until the space became pitch dark.

"Xiao Yu! Give me sight!" Adrian yelled.

"Too late, Adrian! They've locked down this area! Someone planted an energy trap around your kiosk!"

The kiosk's iron door suddenly exploded inward, thrown clear across the room and shattering Adrian's workbench.

Standing in the doorway were three men in long black robes, their eyes glowing with a horrifying red light in the dark night.

"Surrender, Young One. Hand over the pendant, or we will make sure your mother never sees the sun tomorrow morning," one of them said, his voice sounding like metal grinding against metal.

Adrian's blood boiled. His mother's name had been mentioned. His fear instantly evaporated, replaced by overwhelming rage. He could feel the Qi within him circulating at a speed he had never experienced before.

"You can destroy my kiosk," Adrian said in a low, menacing tone. "But if you touch my mother, I will ensure your souls never reach reincarnation."