In a tiny rented room, just over a hundred square feet in Shanghai, Lin Feng stared at the Token in his hand. It was made of some unknown material, cool to the touch, and could even be absorbed into his body.
He’d received it unexpectedly yesterday while visiting the City God Temple and praying to the Earth God. The information it conveyed to him was simple: Village Construction Order.
"Can this thing really build a village?" Lin Feng was skeptical.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Who is it?"
"It’s me. Open up!"
No need to guess. That aggressive voice could only belong to his landlady.
He opened the door to see his landlady standing there, looking thoroughly annoyed. She wore slippers and held a large ring of keys.
"Can I help you?"
"Time to pay the rent. I have to chase you down every single time. Can’t you ever be proactive?" ’Young people are so easy to push around,’ the landlady thought, looking at Lin Feng. ’Collecting the rent five days early will net me a nice bit of interest.’
Lin Feng was taken aback for a moment before replying, "But there are still five days until the end of the month, aren’t there?"
"Five days, five days! You young people, don’t you know you’re supposed to pay early?"
Faced with his landlady’s hostile tone, Lin Feng’s own anger flared. "Why should I pay early? Why don’t you ever consider letting us pay five days late? Don’t bother me again. I’ll transfer you the rent when it’s due."
The corner of the landlady’s mouth curled into a sneer, her eyes cold. "Well, well, aren’t we feisty. Living in a dump like this and you still dare to throw a tantrum? Plenty of people are waiting to rent this place. If you don’t want to live here, then get the hell out!"
’I have the Village Construction Order now,’ Lin Feng thought. ’I’ve had a stroke of miraculous luck; why should I put up with this kind of humiliation?’
"Fine, I won’t rent it anymore! I’ll be out by the end of the month. Now *you* can get lost."
The landlady’s expression flickered, clearly not expecting Lin Feng to fight back. She shot him a glare. "You be out of here by the end of the month. Not one second longer."
SLAM
Lin Feng slammed the door shut. Whatever good mood he’d been in was now completely ruined by the landlady’s visit.
The Village Construction Order reappeared in his hand. He stroked it thoughtfully as he pondered a problem.
’The instructions said it had to be used on territory that belonged to him. Was there any unclaimed land left in the world?’
Antarctica!
The Arctic!
The high seas!
’Those three places seemed to exist, but if he had to go all the way out there to build a village, he might as well just keep his job in the country.’
Lin Feng subconsciously tapped the Village Construction Order.
"Space is limited. Confirm use of Village Construction Order to build a village?"
Before him appeared the virtual silhouette of a village, with various buildings arranged harmoniously amidst shady green trees and thousands of acres of fertile fields.
"No, no, no!"
’Fuck! So that’s what it meant by "territory that belonged to him"! As long as I’m renting a piece of land, or own it, it counts.
Also, it seems that to create functional buildings with special effects, I have to actually construct them in the real world.’
A sudden ring from his phone interrupted his thoughts.
"Hearing you say the sun rises and falls..."
"Hello, Manager Liu. What’s up?"
"Lin Feng, I sent you a file. Take a look and get the data processed. I need it first thing tomorrow morning."
"Manager, it’s Sunday today."
"So what if it’s Sunday? This is an urgent task. I need it tomorrow morning. That’s all."
Staring at the disconnected call, Lin Feng felt a wave of exhaustion. His work schedule was already brutal, and now he had to work unpaid overtime on a Sunday.
There was no choice. Life’s pressures forced him to work himself to the bone for a meager salary.
He turned on his computer, logged into his work WeChat, and looked at the file that had been sent. His frustration grew.
’It’s always like this. This is Manager Liu’s own work again. The nerve of him, making me do it for him.’
This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Lin Feng couldn’t fight back. After all, the man was his boss.
He compared the documents and began to skillfully fill in the various data points.
He was so busy that before he knew it, it was nine o’clock at night. His stomach growling, Lin Feng finally stretched, rubbing his sore lower back. He stood up and got a pack of instant noodles to cook.
Proper cooking was out of the question. The tiny apartment didn’t even have a kitchen; he could only use a rice cooker to boil things.
After eating and cleaning up, he played on his phone for a while before bed, trying to find information online about the Village Construction Order.
The next morning, on the crowded subway, Lin Feng was packed in like a sardine, looking at the numb-faced commuters around him.
’Life was a flat, endless repetition. He did the same things every day. Maybe one day he would get married, have children, and live out the rest of his unremarkable life.’
"Now arriving at Jiangsu Road. The doors will open on the left..."
Lin Feng’s pointless musings were instantly broken. He followed the flow of the crowd off the train.
Arriving at the office, he dropped off his bag and headed straight for the printer to print out all the documents.
At 8:10, when Manager Liu arrived, Lin Feng smoothly handed him the documents.
"Manager Liu, the documents."
"Mm, not bad. Keep up the good work. I’ll give you a bonus at the end of the month." ’Young people are so gullible,’ Manager Liu thought. ’They’ll do whatever you tell them.’
Lin Feng knew he was full of shit. He always said that, but the bonus never materialized.
Half an hour later, Liu Yongjian emerged from the General Manager’s office with a grim expression and called Lin Feng into his own office.
WHAP
Manager Liu glared at Lin Feng with dead eyes. "This is the document you gave me? What is this bullshit?"
The documents hit Lin Feng’s chest, stinging slightly.
He picked up the documents, ignoring Manager Liu’s shouting, and began to read them seriously.
"Can you even do this job? If you can’t, then get out! I ask you to do one little thing and you can’t even get it right."
"Still looking? What is there to look at?"
Lin Feng calmly placed the documents on the desk and pointed at them. "Manager Liu, this was originally your job, wasn’t it? I followed the file you gave me and filled everything out according to the company’s parameters. I don’t understand what’s wrong. Why don’t you point it out to me?"
"What’s wrong? Nothing is right! This is data from the last period."
"It is from the last period. But the file you sent me was about the problems from the last period."
Hearing Lin Feng’s words, Liu Yongjian’s momentum faltered for a second before he abruptly became aggressive again.
"If you found out it was last period’s data, didn’t you think to ask me? Why would I need last period’s data? Don’t you have a brain? Can’t you think for yourself for a second?"
Lin Feng clenched his jaw. He thought of yesterday’s landlady, of the exhausting overtime he’d worked until nine, and of the Village Construction Order. The final straw landed on the camel’s back.
Perhaps without that Village Construction Order, he would have had to endure it all for the sake of his livelihood, not daring to resist in the slightest.
But now, he had an ace up his sleeve. And so, all his suppressed emotions erupted in that single moment.
"I’ve been at this company for three years! In three years, I’ve gotten one 500-yuan raise, bringing my salary to 6,500. You’re working me like a beast of burden.
You say I don’t have a brain? Then what the hell are you? This was your damn job, you piece of shit! I worked unpaid overtime on a Sunday to do it for you. You’re the dumbass who sent the wrong file, and now you’re blaming me for not asking? Why don’t you go blame the Earth for spinning or the sun for shining!
Have you ever once delivered on the bonuses you promised? You’re just a two-faced liar!
With trash like you in management, this company is bound to go bankrupt sooner or later. I quit!"
The documents flew into Liu Yongjian’s face.
"You... you... how dare you..."
"Dumbass!"
Lin Feng turned and yanked open the door, catching a glimpse of his eavesdropping colleagues hastily scurrying back to their desks.
Back at his desk, Lin Feng casually wrote out a resignation letter and began to pack his things.
At that moment, he suddenly felt incredibly relieved, as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart.
He suddenly broke into a smile. ’This isn’t so bad, actually.’
He packed his things with a light heart, completely ignoring the strange looks from his colleagues. Weren’t they just a reflection of his former self?
Once he finished packing, he saw Liu Yongjian rushing towards the General Manager’s office.
’After something like this, that bastard is definitely in for it, especially once the General Manager finds out.’
Lin Feng didn’t spare another thought for what would happen to his garbage boss. He went to the HR department and handed his resignation letter to Sister Wang.
"Xiaofeng, it’s hard to find a job right now. Why don’t you reconsider? Liu Yongjian probably won’t be a manager for much longer."
When this kind of thing happens, if it’s kept under wraps, the General Manager doesn’t ask questions; it shows you’re a capable leader.
But now that it’s all out in the open and caused such a commotion, it just proves your management skills are lacking.
"Thanks, Sister Wang, but after causing a scene like this, I’d be too embarrassed to stay. Besides, management doesn’t like troublemakers like me."
"As long as you’ve thought it through. If you can’t find a job, give me a call. I’ll help you find something.
Wait a moment. I need to ask the leadership about this."
Normally, you have to give a month’s notice for resignation, but Lin Feng’s situation was a bit special.
"Alright, the General Manager has approved it. They’ll compensate you with three months’ salary."
"Thanks, Sister Wang."
’The General Manager really knows how to handle people. This was clearly a move to show the other employees, a way to put a definitive end to the matter. Otherwise, company morale would have collapsed.’
Lin Feng walked out of the company building, bag in hand, toying with the Village Construction Order as he wondered where he should go to use it.
His hometown, the Gobi Desert in the northwest, or just any desert.
On his way back to his rented room, Lin Feng did some research and decisively gave up on the last two options. The environments were too harsh.
His hometown was still the best option. He was very familiar with the place.
Actually, there was an even better option: Africa. Unfortunately, he had neither the money nor the power. If he went there, he was afraid he’d just become prey for others.
Having made his decision, Lin Feng opened his phone and booked a train ticket. Once he got back to his room, he started packing.
He didn’t want to stay in this dazzling but heartless metropolis for a second longer.
The next day, he grabbed his suitcase and strode briskly downstairs.