Chapter 2: Seeing Through the Value of All Things, Gaining a Modest Profit of 32,000

"Dr. Li, is my eye really alright now?"

Three days later, in an ophthalmology office at the First People's Hospital of Qingzhou City, Jiang Cheng looked at the middle-aged doctor before him, unable to suppress his nervousness. This was his first follow-up checkup since his vision had been restored.

"It’s no problem at all. You’ve recovered well. Just be mindful of eye hygiene and come back for regular checkups, and you’ll be fine!"

"But I keep seeing a bunch of numbers. Doctor, do I have floaters?"

"Haha! Young man, I feel like you're insulting my profession. Does your type of floater fly in the form of numbers?" the middle-aged doctor joked. "It’s nothing; it should be temporary. Your eyes just recovered, so it’s normal to have some minor lingering effects."

Walking out to the hospital entrance, Jiang Cheng remained preoccupied. *Is it really just temporary?* Although his right eye had recovered, for the past three days, a bunch of numbers had been appearing before his eyes for no reason. Whenever he stared at an object for more than three seconds, a string of inexplicable numbers would appear on it. But as long as he didn't fix his gaze on any one thing, the numbers would quickly vanish. It was no different from normal life otherwise.

At first, Jiang Cheng thought he was hallucinating. But later, he discovered that wasn't the case. Not only had his vision recovered, but he seemed to have developed long-distance sight—and the clarity was absurd! For instance, right now, he could clearly see a cold, beautiful woman standing by a window on the 18th floor of a building two kilometers away. He could even read the text on the name tag pinned to her chest: "Tiansheng Group, Murong Xue."

It was as if he were looking through a 32x military scope! No, even a 32x scope probably wouldn't be this exaggerated. How did his eyes become like this?

"Huh? What is that black mist?" Jiang Cheng frowned. He was astonished to see a wisp of black mist swirling around the center of Murong Xue’s forehead as he stared at her. It gave him an unsettling feeling. He pondered for a long time, but couldn't make sense of it, nor could he understand why his eyes had undergone such a change.

Somehow, Jiang Cheng remembered the woman in red who had pulled him from his car after the accident. He remembered her seemingly shoving something into his mouth. Could his restored vision, the mysterious numbers, and this long-distance ability be related to that woman in red?

But having lost his job and with his pickup truck still sitting at the repair shop, Jiang Cheng was in such a chaotic state of mind that he had no energy to consider those strange possibilities. He drifted into a small street-side shop, wanting to buy a soda. When he picked up a bottle, a number "3" suddenly appeared on it. He subconsciously picked up a bottle of "Wahaha" mineral water, and a "2" quickly appeared on the bottle.

Jiang Cheng froze, a flash of insight striking him. "Could these numbers represent the value of the objects?"

He couldn't help but test other goods. Without exception, all the numbers that appeared were identical to the prices on the price tags.

"It's real! It's actually real!" Jiang Cheng realized with pleasant surprise that those inexplicable numbers he saw were the values of the objects. Emerging from the shop with the 3-dragon-coin soda in his hand, his eyes were filled with excitement.

***

Jiang Cheng had previously worked as a driver for a stone-cutting workshop owner, dealing with jade raw stones most of the time. With eyes that could discern value, his first thought turned to "stone gambling."

There was a saying in the jade gambling circles: "One cut for poverty, one cut for wealth, one cut for wearing sackcloth." He had seen too many people strike it rich overnight through gambling, and too many others go bankrupt and jump to their deaths in despair. The waters in the jade gambling world were too deep; one cut might reveal green, while the second could leave you penniless. Everyone in the circle knew that stone gambling was purely a game of luck.

Jiang Cheng had never touched it before. But now, if his eyes could see the value of the raw stones, wouldn't gambling be like picking up money? The thought made him tremble with excitement. If he could really make a fortune with these eyes, he could give his younger sister, Jiang Ling, a good life. It would also mean he hadn't failed his foster parents in the afterlife.

However, raw stones were expensive—some cost thousands or tens of thousands, while others could run into the hundreds of thousands, millions, or even hundreds of millions. After some thought, he took a taxi to a lottery shop. He wanted to gamble on stones, but he needed starting capital, didn't he?

The shop was crowded with people. Jiang Cheng didn't linger; his eye ability was useless for things like the double-color ball lottery. The only thing he could use it for was scratch-offs. He walked to the scratch-off area and examined them one by one. Sure enough, numbers appeared on the cards. After a quick scan, he saw that most displayed "0," while some showed 5, 10, or 20. The corners of his mouth curled up. His eyes could indeed see through to hidden value. Since the scratch-off paper itself had no value, the numbers represented the hidden prize amount.

This gave Jiang Cheng more confidence. He didn't hesitate, carefully selecting the four cards with the highest values. In his eyes, only these four showed significant numbers: one at 200, one at 500, and two at 1,000. The rest were mostly 5s, 10s, or zeros. He found it quite a rip-off that an entire shop only had four valuable cards, and the highest was only 1,000.

After cashing out 2,700 dragon coins, Jiang Cheng took a taxi to visit almost every lottery shop in the vicinity. By the end of the morning, his legs were exhausted, and he had only earned 32,000. The lottery business was even deeper than he had imagined. He had thought about getting rich through scratch-offs, but now that idea seemed truly laughable.

Just as he was about to head to the used car market to buy a vehicle, his phone rang. It was his girlfriend, Song Yi. Song Yi was in her fifth year, studying for her second attempt at the postgraduate entrance exam. She had passed the preliminary stage and was currently at Jing University for the final interview. Due to special circumstances this year, national postgraduate interviews had been postponed, and the archaeology program she applied to only resumed interviews in May.

Jiang Cheng felt proud whenever he thought of Song Yi. They had been together since their senior year of high school. Before the college entrance exam, Jiang Cheng’s family suffered a major tragedy, forcing him to drop out and enter the workforce early. Song Yi, however, was admitted to Qingzhou University, into the archaeology department. Jiang Cheng had expected her to break up with him once she received her acceptance letter, but she never did. She never looked down on his lack of a degree, and they had been together for five years. Jiang Cheng believed he had found true love, the one person in his life who truly mattered.

"Xiao Yi, how did the interview go? I'll transfer you five thousand later. Don't be stingy; you should take your mentors or seniors out for a meal to build connections. You have to show some courtesy during the holidays, right?" Jiang Cheng was happy. With this new ability and the 32,000 he had just made, he was feeling generous. Song Yi’s family was poor, and for five years, he had transferred a portion of his monthly salary to her for living expenses. It varied in amount, but he had never stopped. Because he was insecure about his education, he always felt unworthy of her, so he gave her everything he had.

Before he could enjoy his joy for long, Song Yi poured a bucket of cold water over him. Her voice was icy: "Enough, Jiang Cheng. Stop acting like a big shot. Let's break up."

"Break up?" Jiang Cheng was stunned. Why would his girlfriend suddenly suggest that?

"I've heard everything. Your eyes are blind, and you've lost your job. You're a useless person now, with no value left to me. I might as well tell you: I've been admitted to the Jing University archaeology graduate program. We are no longer people of the same social class."

"Useless? No value? Song Yi, what do you mean?" Jiang Cheng’s head buzzed. Was this still the gentle, kind Song Yi he knew? Was this the woman he had loved for over five years? Everything felt suddenly foreign. Was this the legendary "ditching the partner the moment you reach the shore"?

"What do I mean? I'll be honest with you! I've wanted to dump you for a long time. Ever since you dropped out before the college entrance exam, I never respected you. Do you really think I, Song Yi, would ever look up to someone who didn't even graduate from high school?"

"Song Yi, did it take you five years to realize I didn't graduate high school? If you didn't look up to me, why didn't you say so earlier? Why did you accept the money I transferred to you for five years with such peace of mind?" Jiang Cheng’s eyes turned bloodshot, his emotions nearly out of control. Not going to college had always been his deepest pain. Song Yi’s words felt like a dagger to his heart.

"My family has no money. Why wouldn't I accept money from a fool who sends it to me every month?"

"You!" Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened, his liver trembling with rage. To be insulted and toyed with by a woman he had deeply loved for five years... his heart felt as if it were being shredded. An unnamed fury surged in his chest, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists. He had always believed they were in true love, but who would have thought Song Yi was so sinister? She had played him for five years, treating him purely as a mobile wallet.

Jiang Cheng was filled with indignation. Was an honest man destined to be toyed with? Was sincerity always met only with deception and insult?

"Song Yi, you will definitely regret this!"