Chapter 3: The Old Ship

Old Yu snorted, “You’re not dead, but you’ve become quite talkative.”

He blew a smoke ring, and his expression became more serious. “Speak, what brings you to me?”

Lin Ran didn’t mince words: “Help me check how much my ship can be sold for. I’m out of money and need it for a living. The ship is docked at Pier 231.”

Old Yu nodded. “Okay, you wait here; I’ll go take a look.”

His motorcycle was parked at the entrance. He got on it, revved the engine, and zoomed away.

Lin Ran waited for over an hour, and finally, Old Yu returned.

As soon as he entered, he roared, “What did you do to this ship? Did you use it to ram glaciers? Why is it in such a sorry state?”

Lin Ran scratched her head, a bit embarrassed, and chuckled. “I thought I was about to die at that time, so… wasn’t very patient. Uncle Yu, is there a possibility that if you fix it, it can still be sold for two or three million?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Xze Zw oyp kdqwakyvle, tzyakdt, “Wkdl, kv’p rsppkczl, cwv vbl alryka nspv kp qkhl xkzzksd. Ekzz usw qkm kv?”

“Bb… qsatlv kv.” Nkd Syd jdlo kv oswze nsxl vs vbkp: “Tlzr xl qkde psxlsdl vs plzz kv yp pnayr xlvyz vbld…”

Xze Zw pyv cynj sd vbl psqy, zkv ydsvbla nktyalvvl, zssjle swv yv vbl hkhke pwdplv, yde ypjle, “Ebyv’p uswa rzyd? Qskdt cynj vs uswa ldvlavykdxldv nsxrydu?”

“Lsv tskdt cynj,” Nkd Syd pbawttle. “R’hl yzalyeu vlaxkdyvle vbl nsdvaynv zsdt yts. Ohld kq R byed’v, R oswzed’v oydv vs ts cynj.”

Xze Zw pktble. “Mbyv’p y rkvu. Zswa nkanzl xyjlp xsdlu ralvvu iwknjzu. Fsxlsdl zkjl usw, lhld yp y pxyzz nlzlcakvu, nswze lyad yaswde y xkzzksd y ulya, aktbv?”

Nkd Syd eked’v xkde. “Elzz, bso ycswv vyjkdt xl kd? R nyd blzr usw okvb pbkr alrykap. Rp kv ekqqknwzv?”

Xze Zw tzyale yv bla. “Zsw? Ohld okvbswv vbl pbkr usw caswtbv xl, R pbswze cl tayvlqwz!?”

Nkd Syd pbyxlzlppzu pxkzle. “Mbld yv zlypv qkde xl y rzynl vs pvyu. R byhl dsoblal lzpl vs ts.”

Old Yu pointed upstairs and said, “I’m not married; I didn’t buy a house. I put a wooden board upstairs as a bed. It’s not big up there; there’s nowhere for you to stay. Find a place yourself.”

Lin Ran sighed. “Really heartless…”

After thinking for a moment, Old Yu said, “Although you haven’t been to university, your navigation skills are impressive, and you even have certification. Finding a job as a ship captain shouldn’t be difficult, and the pay won’t be bad.”

Lin Ran blinked, “A job… forget it. I’ve been used to freedom these years; no rules; I can’t stand restrictions.”

Old Yu gave her a look. “So what do you want to do? Be a boss? Let others make money for you while you count it at home?”

“Sounds not bad.”

“You’re beautiful! But… your face is indeed pretty. Just relying on your looks, you can easily be a streamer or something to earn some money.” Old Yu blew out a puff of smoke and said, “I don’t really care much.”

Lin Ran looked at two sparrows flying by outside the window and said, “I’ll probably work as a freelancer in the future. I’ve figured out some things in these years. Looking back at my past self, I was… quite foolish.”

“People change after experiencing life and death,” Old Yu gazed out with Lin Ran. “It’s not a bad thing. The way you feel now… is completely different from before.”

At this moment, someone walked in from outside. Old Yu went out to greet him, and upon seeing the newcomer, he laughed heartily. “Old Zhang, what brings you here?”

“Oh, don’t mention it. The magic troupe hasn’t been doing well recently. I came to have a drink with you.” Old Zhang sighed and shook his head. “How’s your business? Are you free?”

“Coincidentally, I’m not doing business right now, but I have a guest.” Old Yu pointed to Lin Ran sitting on the sofa and said, “My niece is here. I have to treat her to a meal at least. This is Old Zhang.”

Lin Ran politely stood up and said, “Hello, Uncle Zhang.”

Old Zhang saw Lin Ran, and his gaze suddenly became fixed. He patted Old Yu, “Is this niece of yours… a real niece?”

“No… what’s the matter?” Old Yu asked.

“I knew it. She doesn’t look like a real niece at all.” Old Zhang nodded thoughtfully.

“Hey… what do you mean?”

Old Zhang ran towards Lin Ran with a quick trot, smiling, “Uh… niece, where do you work?”

Lin Ran replied truthfully, “I don’t have a job.”

Old Zhang became even happier, “Well, how about joining my magic troupe?”

“Magic troupe?” Lin Ran shook her head, “I don’t know magic.”

Old Zhang quickly said, “No need to perform magic, just be the host. It’s easy, memorize some lines.”

Old Yu followed and pulled Old Zhang, “Hey, Old Zhang… why are you suddenly looking for a host for your magic troupe? You’ve been running it for so many years without one.”

Old Zhang sighed, “The Dream Magic Troupe next door hired a beautiful host a few months ago. She can sing and do live broadcasts, and ticket sales have been excellent lately. I thought of getting a beautiful host too, but I haven’t found a suitable one. Old Yu, since your niece doesn’t have a job, how about… letting her be the host in my troupe?”

Old Yu looked at Lin Ran, seeking her opinion.

Lin Ran decisively refused, “I don’t want to work.”

“No no no… it’s not considered working,” Old Zhang smiled like an unscrupulous elder fooling a child out of lucky money, “It’s more like… a business collaboration? You come whenever you want, leave whenever you want. It doesn’t count as working, right?”

Old Yu sarcastically remarked, “Isn’t that just a temporary job? It’s better to work.”

But surprisingly, Lin Ran became interested, “How much?”

Old Zhang thought for a moment before saying, “If we split based on our usual ticket sales in the magic troupe… you share the earnings with the magicians. After each show, depending on popularity, you can get between eight thousand to twenty thousand.”

“Eight thousand per show?” Lin Ran looked at Old Zhang with confusion, “No, normal wages wouldn’t be this high. You… have a problem!”

Old Zhang was startled, “Huh?”

“Is it a pyramid scheme… or human trafficking?”

“Huh?”

Old Yu burst into laughter, “See, you’re being suspected, right? Ah Ran, this Old Zhang is a neighbor from childhood, known each other since we were little. He’s not a scammer.”

Lin Ran remained unconvinced, “Scammers nowadays often target acquaintances because it’s harder to scam strangers.”

Old Yu was speechless and even began to cast a skeptical look at Old Zhang.

Old Zhang was on the verge of tears, “This… this is the ticket platform for our magic troupe, a legitimate and large platform. See it? Miracle Magic Troupe! My photo is on the posters! The leader mentioned here, Zhang Yupeng, that’s me! Here are my ID card and driver’s license… didn’t bring anything else, but if you want, I can show you. Old Yu, why are you looking at me with that expression? Do you also suspect that I’m a scammer?”

After looking at the series of proofs provided by Old Zhang, Lin Ran reluctantly believed that he was indeed the owner of the magic troupe.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try,” Lin Ran said.

Zhang Yupeng was so excited that he was about to cry. “Great! With such a beautiful niece as the host, our Miracle Magic Troupe will surely surpass the Dream Magic Troupe! Um… leave your contact information. On Wednesday morning, go to the New Star Theater, and I’ll introduce you to our Miraculous Magic Troupe.”

…

Lin Ran’s ship was sold for a total of over fifty thousand, which was now her entire fortune. After selling the ship, she temporarily had nowhere to stay, so she decided to find a hotel to stay at.

When she tried to check into a hotel, she was rejected because her ID photo didn’t match her appearance.

She had to go to the police station to verify her identity. The staff at the police station were more experienced and soon understood, “Plastic surgery? Hmm, technology nowadays is really amazing. How much did you spend to become this pretty?”

Lin Ran: “Six million.”

The staff sighed, “Rich people…”

Lin Ran shook her head. “It’s all spent; I don’t have money anymore.”

Staff: “…”

In their hearts, they couldn’t help but sigh. Nowadays, these girls really go all out for a face!

The staff checked the information and suddenly asked, “Do you have two household registrations?”

Lin Ran was puzzled; it took her a while to remember, “It seems like it. My parents, at that time… because Grandpa opposed, my mom couldn’t get the household registration book. They didn’t have a marriage certificate, and after my dad arranged the household registration for me, Grandpa also arranged another one on my mom’s side.”

The staff nodded. “The system 27 years ago wasn’t as advanced as it is now. In some places, it wasn’t even connected to the internet. Now, household registrations need to be integrated, and you must cancel one of them. Which one do you choose to keep? You are currently using your mom’s side. If you choose the other one, the ID number will also change, and various information will need proof to be transferred under that ID number.”

Lin Ran hesitated for a while and answered, “Use my dad’s side.”

The staff was somewhat surprised. “Then the integration of your various information will be a bit troublesome. You’ll need to provide a lot of proofs, such as education; you’ll have to go to school…”

She glanced at Lin Ran’s education, realizing it was only a high school certificate, and chuckled helplessly. “Sure about this?”

Lin Ran didn’t hesitate. “Sure.”

Two hours later, Lin Ran got her new ID. She looked at the seemingly retouched photo on the ID, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

Lin Ran placed her luggage in the hotel and went to the hospital for a full-body checkup.

All her indicators were normal, and there was no trace of cancer in her body. It was as if the previous diagnosis was just a dream, and everything disappeared upon waking up.

Exiting the hospital, Lin Ran saw the promotion of a TV drama about to premiere on the electronic billboard across the street.

The drama was titled “Love of the Land,” with exquisite costumes and radiant images of the male and female leads. In the trailer, the male lead was handsome and imposing, while the female lead was delicate and beautiful. Many people passing by would look up for a glimpse.

[Ah, it’s Xu Yiheng’s new work! The trailer looks so cool! Can’t wait!]

[The female lead is Ge Siyu; great! Both of them are actors I like!]

However, Lin Ran’s gaze turned unusually cold when she saw the names of the male and female leads.

“Xu Yiheng… Ge Siyu…” she softly pronounced these two names.

A hint of a cruel smile appeared on her lips.

“I… have found you.”