First Position

Chapter 4 – Luck, Too, Is a Kind of Power

“I might have awakened some kind of ability,” Ren Xiaosu said quietly. Sitting at the threshold of the shack, lifting the curtain to gaze at the starry sky after the rain, Yan Liuyuan was momentarily stunned.“You mean…”“I’m not entirely sure yet. I need to test it,” Ren Xiaosu said as he sat down beside Yan Liuyuan on the ground. “There’s a rumor in town that some people can pull a train from nothingness into reality. I never believed it—until I met you. Now, I think I might have developed a strange power too. It’s a weird feeling.”

Yan Liuyuan’s ability was luck.A strange and inexplicable gift—when Yan Liuyuan wished for Ren Xiaosu to catch prey, even if Ren wandered idly through the wilderness, a sparrow would mysteriously fall dead at his feet.But there was a cost. Each wish would rebound—usually manifesting as a persistent high fever for Yan Liuyuan or some other minor illness or misfortune.That was why Ren Xiaosu had vowed to protect him. He hadn’t believed at first—but disbelief eventually crumbled beneath undeniable evidence.

Suddenly, a meteor streaked across the sky. Instinctively, Yan Liuyuan clasped his hands together to make a wish, only to be stopped by Ren Xiaosu.“Don’t make random wishes,” he said. “It’ll only bring trouble.”

Nowadays, Ren Xiaosu rarely relied on Yan Liuyuan’s luck.He claimed it was because he could now catch prey on his own, that he no longer needed the boy’s ability.Yan Liuyuan never questioned that.

The thin youth stared dazedly at the spot where the meteor had vanished.“Why do meteors fly so fast? What if people don’t have time to make a wish?”Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment, then replied,“Maybe they fly fast because they never intended to listen to our wishes in the first place.”

Yan Liuyuan turned to look at him, dumbfounded.“…”

…

Yan Liuyuan was Ren Xiaosu’s night watchman, but that didn’t mean he had to stay up all night. They took turns, after all—Liuyuan still had to attend school during the day.Even so, the hardship was grueling. Sleep deprivation was a constant struggle, but in this harsh world, neither of them had a choice.

At dawn, Ren Xiaosu led Yan Liuyuan away from the shack. They carried all their valuables with them—even Ren’s large iron pot.As expected, when they returned at night, the shack had been ransacked.

“I heard people don’t even lock their doors inside the refugee barriers,” Yan Liuyuan said, hauling his bedding on his back and glancing at the iron pot Ren Xiaosu carried everywhere. It was practically all they owned.Students, including Yan Liuyuan, always brought their bedding to school—it had become routine.

“Bullshit,” Ren Xiaosu snapped, though he longed for the life within the barriers. Still, he refused to believe such a utopia existed. “Some folks act like even the farts inside those barriers smell like perfume. Even the air’s supposed to be sweet.”

“But you can’t just carry that pot everywhere,” Yan Liuyuan said.“You don’t understand,” Ren Xiaosu explained. “I scavenged this pot with great effort. It cooks food and catches sparrows. Without it, how would we survive?”

One hand balanced the pot on his shoulder; the other gripped the huge sparrow he had caught.As they walked through the streets, many cast envious glances their way.In this new natural order, humans no longer sat at the top of the food chain.

People said that sparrows used to be no bigger than a palm. But now?These creatures could kill a man with a single peck.

Not everyone had the strength—or the patience—to catch one.Not everyone could lie in ambush for an entire day and night.Most hadn’t tasted meat in years.Their envy of Ren Xiaosu was real.

They arrived at the towering city gates of Refuge Barrier 113.The imposing walls loomed overhead, exerting a heavy pressure.The architecture here had changed—brick and stone buildings appeared.The closer to the barrier, the cleaner, neater, and wealthier everything looked.People living here all had ties, one way or another, to those inside—perhaps they were good at flattery, or maybe they had family within.

But to the powers that be, all such outsiders were simply “contaminated”—unworthy of entering the barrier.

Ren Xiaosu stepped into a small building. The sign above the door read: General Store.Inside, the shop sold cigarettes, matches, tools, food, and clothing—but everything was exorbitantly priced.

The old man behind the counter lit up upon seeing Ren Xiaosu.“That’s quite the sparrow you’ve got!”

Ren Xiaosu tossed the bird onto the glass counter.“How much?”

“Hey, careful with that,” Old Wang said with a pained expression. “That glass costs a fortune.”He swiftly weighed the bird on an iron scale.“Three jin and six liang. Not bad, Xiaosu.”

His abacus rattled furiously, his bony fingers flying like clockwork.“Going by today’s rate—200 per jin—that makes it… 700.”

“Nine hundred,” Ren Xiaosu replied flatly. “Winter’s coming, sparrows are scarce. Not a coin less.”

Old Wang scowled, pushing the abacus forward.“These are going to the nobles inside the barrier. Sure, they lack meat—but everything has its price. We follow the rules here.”

Ren Xiaosu turned to leave, sparrow in hand.“Where are you going?” Old Wang asked, grabbing at his tattered sleeve.

“To check the price at Old Li’s shop,” Ren Xiaosu said.

Old Wang’s grip tightened.Word had spread that the powers within the barrier had specifically requested wild game today—he wasn’t the only merchant who knew.

With a forced smile that wrinkled half his face, Old Wang asked,“How much do you want for it?”

Ren Xiaosu kept walking.“I’ll compare prices first.”

Old Wang chuckled with strained warmth.“Don’t make Liuyuan late for school—fine, fine, 900 it is!”

“What did you just say?” Ren Xiaosu asked calmly.

“I said don’t—”“No, the sentence before that.”“How much do you want for it?”“1,200.”

Old Wang: “???”

Moments later, he counted the money with great sorrow, wetting his fingers with spit as he checked the bills again and again, terrified of miscounting.They finally settled on 1,198—Ren Xiaosu’s modest concession.

A sparrow sold for 1,198.Not because of inflated prices alone.Not just because of its size.

It was because Refuge Barrier 113 almost never saw wild game.Rarity brings value.

Old Wang would never make a losing deal.He could flip this bird to someone powerful inside, pocket a tidy profit—and maybe even earn a favor.

Stuffing the coins into Ren Xiaosu’s hand, he suddenly leaned forward and lowered his voice.“Xiaosu, next time you catch a sparrow, don’t kill it right away. The big shots want them alive—it pays better.”

Ren Xiaosu blinked.“Alive? So they can kill it fresh?”

“No,” Old Wang shook his head.“You don’t get it.They want to keep it as a pet.”