"Sister, I'm back! Are you there?" Ye Xiu bellowed, raising his voice even further. "Sister, Ye Xiu is back!" Even after calling out so many times, there was no reply. Who could fathom what that silence signified?

What was going on? Ye Xiu began to feel that something was seriously wrong. Ji Jiang never went out at this hour, and she rarely went out at all.

He dropped his backpack and rushed straight into Ji Jiang's room. There was no sign of anyone, but one object immediately snagged his attention: the pendant, "Azure Phoenix," that Sister Ji Jiang always wore around her neck. When would she ever discard something so important? That was a secret in itself.

Ye Xiu walked over and carefully picked it up. In that instant, he thought he heard two crisp pheasant calls from outside the window.

He shook his head, drawing his focus back to the object. He had never examined the "Azure Phoenix" so closely. It was exquisite, so delicate, yet Ji Jiang had never once taken it off. Why this time? On the surface, it seemed ordinary, but what did it truly symbolize?

Could something have happened to Sister Ji Jiang! A vague fear began to grip Ye Xiu—the fear of losing something vital. For him, the most terrifying prospect in life was being without Ji Jiang, the woman he called sister.

"Ding-dong..." The sound of the doorbell interrupted Ye Xiu's spiraling thoughts. The ring was unusually urgent, instantly snapping his attention back to the present.

Could Sister Ji Jiang have returned? Excitedly, he bolted to the door and pulled it open.

But standing outside was not the elegant and serene Sister Ji Jiang, but an elderly man dressed in strikingly archaic clothing. The elder seemed impossibly old, his every strand of hair bleached stark white.

"Hey, you there, beggar, who are you looking for?" Ye Xiu dismissed him as a vagrant, pulling a ten-yuan note from his pocket, intending to send him packing immediately. "If you're begging, here's ten dollars. Don't bother me here."

"Your name is Ye Xiu, isn't it?" the old man spoke, his voice raspy to the extreme. "You're twenty years old this year. I haven't guessed wrong, have I?"

"How could you..." Ye Xiu could barely trust his own ears. For a complete stranger, a beggar no less, to know his name and age with such precision would shock anyone, especially someone as naturally suspicious as him.

"Am I not right, child?" The elder’s beard was entirely white, and the faint, smug smile he managed could barely pull at the corners of his mouth. "I just brought a gift. A token to congratulate you on your birthday."

"Your gift?" Ye Xiu was completely bewildered. A strange old man knowing his name and birthday was odd enough; now he brought a gift? This had to be a joke. Surely this fellow was some kind of charlatan running a con.

Saying this, the old man produced a small box from within his sleeve. The box was deep crimson, feeling rather fine, starkly contrasting with his tattered rags. The object screamed of nobility.

"Hold on, old man, I think you're mistaken. Why would I accept anything from you?" Ye Xiu was naturally distrustful and extremely guarded. He wouldn't carelessly accept such an item. What would accepting something like this imply for him?

"You are the chosen child! This item is destined to be yours. Though I don't know why you were chosen, I know the significance of this choice lies here." The elder sounded certain. He placed the box directly at the doorway and turned to leave. "Take it. It is your destiny."

"Chosen for what, damn it! This is nonsense!" Ye Xiu was thoroughly irritated by such vague answers, reminding him of those cliché ancient plots in movies.

Back in the day, in a Stephen Chow film, what could an aging beggar possibly possess? The Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, the Nine Yin Manual, the Buddha’s Illusory Palm, The Golden Lotus! Fine, master them all, and then you're tasked with maintaining the peace of the universe! Damn it, this is cosmic balance, curse it.

But at this moment, Ye Xiu didn't have the luxury of worrying about a red box or a chosen child. Scornfully, he kicked the box away and slammed the door shut. Still feeling intensely disgruntled, when he turned back to open the door again to yell at the annoying old man, he was stunned to find the entryway completely empty.

"What the hell!" he cursed fiercely, then spun around, intending to return to the sofa to organize his thoughts regarding Sister Ji Jiang's whereabouts. To his utter shock, the pinkish box from moments before was now resting neatly on the coffee table beside him.

"Holy..." he muttered in self-defeat. What kind of nonsense was this? Could this be some supernatural occurrence?

Ye Xiu’s already chaotic thoughts gained an edge of real terror. He had clearly kicked it away, so why was the object immediately back in front of him? What had the old man said? "This item is destined to be yours, you cannot discard it." Ye Xiu strongly felt he had encountered a ghost. Thinking of the simply dressed old man and this impossible event, he knew if this had happened at night, he would have been terrified senseless. Regardless, the box was persistently presenting itself to him now. He had no other option. Since Sister Ji Jiang hadn't returned, the only thing he could do was wait—though now he had to wait alongside this mysterious box.

Ye Xiu slowly reached out a hand to pick up the box. What the hell did this have to do with his fate? Why did this crap have to happen now?

"Holy crap, it's a pencil!" Ye Xiu couldn't help but exclaim. He simply couldn't believe his eyes. Disappointment, disgust, and rage flooded his mind in an instant. What use was a pencil other than for writing!

Indeed, resting perfectly inside the delicate pink box was a single, sharpened brown pencil. Clearly visible on its side, written in bold letters, were the words "2B Pencil."

Anyone who has been through school probably has a deep-seated connection to the term "2B." You might not know this feeling, but I do. Think about all the optical answer sheets you've filled in, how many "2B" pencils you've used up, how many "2B" people you've encountered.

"Snap..." In a fit of fury, Ye Xiu broke the pencil in half and tossed the pieces carelessly around the room. What use was this damned thing!