THE REJECT SYSTEM

CHAPTER 2

Lingtian woke up to the sound of banging and things breaking.

"Please, we will pay, don't beat my husband!"

"Where is your good-for-nothing son?"

Lingtian forced his body off the broken bed. The first thing he noticed was a strange number floating above everything in his room. The broken wooden bed had a 2,500 yuan price tag.

"What the heck," he exclaimed.

His gaze moved around the room as he realized everything seemed to have a price tag — the cup, the wooden desk, everything.

"You bastard, I'm asking you a question. Where the hell is your good-for-nothing son?" he heard the shout again.

He rushed out of the room to find the whole living room scattered, his dad on the floor with thugs surrounding him and his mother.

The thugs didn't notice him; they were about to hit his mother again.

"Mom!" he shouted as he pushed his way through and grabbed one thug's leg.

"Oh, what do we have here?" the man who was about to hit his mother smiled.

"Take a look at this — your grandfather borrowed fifty thousand yuan from us, and as of now it's one million yuan," the man said, smiling, producing an IOU that looked suspiciously clean, as though it had just been written.

"This is just bullying. There's no signature or anything — you're taking advantage of us," Lingtian shouted with anger.

The man pulled out a knife and pointed it at Lingtian.

"So what? What will you do, call the police?" the man laughed.

"By tomorrow, if the money isn't ready, you can say goodbye to your own house," he said, signaling to the others. They left the house, kicking Lingtian on their way out before finally exiting.

Lingtian helped his mother up, and together they helped his father.

"What can we do? The house is all we have," Qin Yuyan cried out.

"Mom, don't worry, I'll find a way. We can't lose the house. I won't let us," Lingtian said with a determined look.

He went back inside, threw on his clothes, and left the house.

He was wandering around when he came across the auction market — a large stone auction he'd heard about many days ago but never paid much attention to, since he'd never participated or gone before.

He walked in, and his Eye of the God activated. Every single stone now bore a price tag. The auction house was already packed — the poorest and the richest alike, small-time buyers hoping to strike it big, experts brought along to appraise stones for jewelry or rings, and even representatives from jewelry companies.

He wandered around, lost. He didn't have a single cent to buy any of the stones.

Then his eyes caught a pile of stones in the farthest corner, where nobody stood.

"Excuse me, sir," he called when he reached the pile.

"Oh, dear boy, what are you doing here?" the man asked, looking Lingtian's clothes over.

"What are these stones for?" he asked.

"Oh, they're the rejects and remnants of some cut stones."

"Can I pick through them? I don't have money to buy stones, but I want to try my luck," Lingtian asked, barely concealing his excitement.

"Sure, they'll be discarded anyway. Go ahead and pick some. Good luck," the man said as he walked away.

Lingtian was excited. He quickly began sorting through the stones. Most weren't worth anything, but his Eye of the God quickly spotted a rough-looking stone with a price tag of five hundred thousand yuan.

Surprised, he dug through the pile with delight and soon found ten more, each with a different price tag. If the tags were accurate, the whole pile was worth at least five million yuan. His excitement was plain on his face. He dragged the sack, walking excitedly toward the cutting center.

Unfortunately, he was spotted by Chu Junmo.

"Hey, isn't this the loser from South High Academy?" Chu Junmo shouted.

"Let me pass," Lingtian said, but Junmo wasn't having it.

"Do you know who I came with?" Junmo asked smugly.

"I don't want to know," Lingtian said, trying to walk past him.

"Lingtian, you're here too?"

Lingtian recognized the voice — his girlfriend, Su Wanqing.

"What are you doing here?" Lingtian asked, surprised.

"Oh, maybe you don't know, but I'm dating Chu Junmo now."

"But we didn't break up. How could you?"

"And so what if I am breaking up with you now? You're good for nothing — if not for needing your help with my studies, and keeping up the pure image of a girl dating a loser out of pity, do you think you'd be worth enough to date me?" Su Wanqing sneered.

"Do you hear that, loser?" Chu Junmo said with a condescending look.

"We have nothing to do with each other from now on, Su Wanqing," Lingtian said, looking straight into her eyes.

"As if I'd want anything to do with a loser."

"Security, this guy came here to steal stones!" Chu Junmo shouted.

"I didn't steal anything," Lingtian shouted.

"Sir, we'll have to check the bag you're holding," the security guard said, moving closer to Lingtian.

The bag was snatched from him and its contents poured onto the ground. The guard inspected it, then stood up, looking at Lingtian as if he were an idiot.

"There's nothing worth looking at here — just piles of junk and cut materials that were thrown away," the guard said smugly, looking at Lingtian like he was trash.

Su Wanqing burst into laughter, pointing at Lingtian.

"Are you going to use these stones to build your dead grandfather a tomb?"

"Su Wanqing, you've gone too far. Don't drag my grandfather into this," Lingtian shouted, looking at her with disgust, wondering why he'd ever dated her in the first place.

"This piece of junk really suits you perfectly," Junmo said with pride.

"And you're blind not to see real treasure right in front of you," Lingtian sneered.

"What real treasure?" a man answered, stepping forward.

"They're just junk — no fine lines, just rough patches. And this," the man said, picking up one of the stones, "is just granite."

"What do you know?" Lingtian shouted.

"I'm a top expert in the jewelry design industry — Lin Mohan," he said with pride.

"Oh, it's Mister Lin — I've heard of him. He's a top expert, makes five million yuan a year," someone said from the crowd.

"Do you hear that, Lingtian? You're just being delusional," Su Wanqing said, finding her nerve.

"Let's make a bet, then," Lingtian said.

"What?"

"You pick any stone. If it produces something worth more than my trash stone, I'll kneel and apologize to you. But if my trash is worth more than yours, you pay double what I earn."

"Deal," Chu Junmo said hurriedly, as if afraid Lingtian would change his mind.

"Young Master Chu, allow me the honor of helping you pick a stone," Lin Mohan said, quickly moving to Junmo's side.

Lingtian sneered, looking at the money-grubbing man. He shook his head and looked at them with contempt.