In a somewhat remote location—atop a small mountain peak accessible only by a single winding road—a trendy "influencer swing" hung suspended over the mountainside, where a scattered handful of people waited their turn.
"Hey! You up front—could you hurry it up a little?"
"Yeah! We've been waiting back here forever! Are you actually going to ride it or not? If you've chickened out, just step aside!"
Up front sat a stout man, standing about 1.7 meters tall, perched on the swing with his legs trembling slightly.
"Who chickened out?! You guys come try it! This is a matter of life and death—how could I *not* be nervous?"
As he spoke, he released the attendant's hand and slowly tightened his grip on the swing itself.
"Bro... wait, just wait a second. Let me get myself ready."
"Alright, sir. It's perfectly normal to be a little nervous your first time."
Although the attendant offered words of comfort, the look of disdain in his eyes was completely undisguised; the stout man, however—too consumed by his own anxiety—failed to notice the attendant's contempt.
The stout man's name was Du Xin—nicknamed "Thousand-Catty"—and he was a recent college graduate, having finished his studies just a year prior. Due to the difficulty of finding work, and despite holding a degree in Civil Engineering, he had taken a job in sales—specifically, selling insurance. Du Xin was not a man of many words, yet insurance sales rely entirely on the gift of gab; consequently, his monthly salary barely scraped past two thousand. His girlfriend dumped him because his wages were too low, and his boss fired him for being dead weight. Now unencumbered by either work or romance, Du Xin decided to get out and clear his head. Famous tourist attractions were too expensive, which is how he ended up at this remote spot—seeking a thrill—and how the scene unfolding before us came to pass.
"Hoo... hoo... Alright, I'm ready. You... go ahead!"
With those words, Du Xin squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the ropes even tighter, adopting a posture so timid and submissive that it sent a shiver of revulsion down the attendant's spine.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
After the attendant exerted himself to give Du Xin a mighty shove outward, echoes of his screams reverberated through the mountain ravine.
As the swing soared away from its launch point, the steel support frame swayed precariously; having arced out to its furthest extent, the swing then came hurtling back with violent momentum. "Ah... ah-haha... I quit! Pull me back up!"
Screams echoed through the mountain ravine as Du Xin cried out in desperation; however, the swing had to come to a complete stop before he could be hauled back up.
Gradually, the momentum of the swing dissipated. It merely swayed back and forth slowly near the bottom of its arc, the movement now minimal. Du Xin sat there in a state of utter exhaustion, drenched in sweat, wearing an expression of total resignation—as if he had lost all will to live.
Suddenly, with a sharp *snap*, the two rust-eaten steel cables on the left side of the swing snapped simultaneously. The left side of the swing instantly plummeted, sending Du Xin tumbling off his seat; he was left dangling in mid-air, suspended solely by a single safety tether.
"Ah... Oh God! I'm really going to die! Help! Someone save me! You damn unscrupulous merchants! Argh!"
Because the remaining rope was still swaying, Du Xin—having fallen—accelerated backward on the pendulum arc, hurtling straight toward the cliff face.
"Ah... Why am I so unlucky? My girlfriend left me, I lost my job, and now I'm about to lose my life, too! Who the hell is going to save me? God! I swear—if I make it out of this alive, I'll never jerk off again!"
Perhaps Heaven truly heard Du Xin's prayer, for at that very moment, the final rope snapped as well. Du Xin plummeted downward. Since he had already been swinging toward the cliff face, he was quite close to the rock wall to begin with; after the rope broke, he fell a short distance before suddenly—as if by a miracle—a cave entrance appeared. Du Xin tumbled right inside.
"Ah..."
A single, sharp shriek rang out, and then Du Xin lost consciousness.
...
"Holy crap!"
Du Xin suddenly jolted awake, drenched in sweat. He opened his eyes to see nothing but a white ceiling. Glancing around the room, he realized he was wearing a blue-and-white striped hospital gown, lying in a hospital bed.
Only after taking all this in did Du Xin become aware of a faint, throbbing pain radiating from his body—a pain... coming from his backside. "Hiss... Damn it! I'm not dead yet, you unscrupulous merchant! You're a dead man walking—if I don't fleece you for a good million or so, I'd be doing a disservice to my own ass!"
Just as he was spouting these threats, footsteps sounded from outside the hospital room. A man walked in through the door, a smile playing on his lips.
"Holy crap, Big Li! What are you smiling at? I'm injured—how can you still find something to laugh about? You could at least show a little concern for me!"
Du Xin directed these words at the newcomer. The man's name was Li Xiao; he was the oldest member of Du Xin's university dorm, which earned him the nickname "Big Li."
"Whoa there, Qianjin—hold on. You have no idea. Do you even know *how* your ass got injured?"
"You—what the hell? Don't tell me... No way! I'm not *that* kind of guy!"
Du Xin feigned an expression of utter horror as he stared at Li Xiao.
Li Xiao instantly shot Du Xin a look of pure disdain, then tossed a small bag containing some objects onto the bed.
"Give me a break, Old Three. I finally managed to carve out some time to come visit you, and *that's* the first thing that pops into your head? The injury on your ass happened back at the cliff. Honestly, what is wrong with you? How can one person be so unlucky? There were vines covering the cave entrance, and it wasn't even that deep a drop—you shouldn't have sustained any serious injuries falling in there. But no, in a stroke of truly spectacular bad luck, you landed *right* on a rock sticking out of the ground in the middle. See? The very one you're holding in your hand right now. We were worried you might bleed out, so we waited until we got back here to have it removed."
Du Xin glanced down at the bag in his hand. Inside lay a sharp, black, diamond-shaped rock—about the size of a human palm. He stared at it for a moment; realizing that *this* was the culprit behind his injured backside, his face darkened. With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the rock onto the cabinet beside the bed.
"Qianjin, while you were still unconscious, that boss—the guy responsible—came to see me. He wants to settle this privately and offered you 200,000."
"What the hell?! I nearly died, and all I get is 200,000?"
Du Xin surged up in a fit of indignation, intending to stand up, but the sudden movement yanked at the wound on his backside. He immediately grimaced in pain, baring his teeth as he winced.
"Well, you *didn't* die. It doesn't even qualify as a 'severe injury.' 200,000 is actually pretty decent. The main thing is that the guy doesn't want to blow this whole thing out of proportion; otherwise, the absolute most you'd get is 50,000."
Du Xin sat on the bed, mulling it over for a moment, before finally replying to Li Xiao. "Alright then, 200,000 it is. Tell him to hand over the money—and fast!"
"Sure thing. You're getting a free 200 grand this time around; you'd better treat me to a meal once you get out of the hospital."
Li Xiao smiled, leaning back against the bed as he spoke to Du Xin.
"Holy hell! I practically traded my life for that money! And you've got the nerve to want a piece of it?"
Du Xin immediately retorted with a laugh and a curse. Despite the rough situation he'd been through, he was actually quite touched that Li Xiao had rushed over to see him so quickly.
"Fine, fine. Once I'm fully recovered, you pick the place—I'm not familiar with this area."
"Deal. We'll have a couple of drinks once you're discharged! Just focus on healing up for now. I've got to get back to work."
With those words, Li Xiao walked out of the hospital room.
...A week later, Du Xin's injuries were about eighty percent healed, so he went ahead and completed his discharge paperwork. It was strange, though; while his injuries hadn't been life-threatening, they had healed *too* fast. The doctors had estimated a recovery period of at least two or three weeks, yet he was basically back to full health in just one.
Walking down the street, Du Xin gave his head a shake. He recalled the look the hospital director had given him when leaving—the kind of look one gives a lab rat—and felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine. Dragging a suitcase behind him—Li Xiao had gone away on a business trip and wouldn't be back for another week—Du Xin realized he was on his own. Li Xiao had planned his return assuming Du Xin would be in the hospital for three weeks; since Du Xin had been discharged so much earlier than expected, he had no choice but to head back to his own city by himself.
He was still clutching a stone in his hand—the very one that had punctured his backside. After thinking it over for a moment, Du Xin casually tossed it into a nearby trash can, then hailed a taxi to the airport. With the 200,000 safely deposited in his account, Du Xin felt a distinct flutter of excitement. Under normal circumstances, he would have been stuck taking the train; who would have thought that a trip taken just to clear his head would end up netting him 200,000—even if he *did* nearly die in the process?
Upon arriving home, Du Xin collapsed onto his bed. After a brush with death followed by a two-hour flight, all he wanted to do was get some solid sleep.
"Huu... huu... huu..."
The steady rhythm of his breathing filled the air, accentuating the silence of the room. Suddenly, a voice rang out, shattering the tranquility.
"System integration: 100%. Initiating startup. Binding to Host... 1%... 2%... ...99%... 100%. Binding successful. Initiating startup sequence... Startup successful..."
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