Chapter Three: Hyacinth

[Permission Load Successful]

Scanable text appeared before Su Wen’s eyes.

Shortly after, he stepped out of his comfortable, air-conditioned room and into the sweltering heat of late summer. Beneath the dappled light filtering through the lush leaves of the trees in the courtyard, and amidst the persistent drone of cicadas, Su Wen latched the wooden door of his old, creaking house. He climbed onto his battered bicycle and set off toward the destination marked on the map.

"The area around the old bookstore on Yulin West Street—what a familiar name."

He had attended middle school in that neighborhood, so the scenery along the way was far from foreign to him. Compared to the cyber-apocalyptic ruins of the "Space-Time Shuttle" game, these old houses in the coastal district’s old town felt much more endearing to him.

He reached his destination. Following the analysis of the map left behind by Qin Mingyuan three thousand years in the future, Su Wen propped his broken bicycle against the curb near the old bookstore. He began to search for something resembling the "Giant Tree" from the game’s visuals.

"Professor Qin, I hope your data is accurate. If I’m off by a kilometer or two, I’m absolutely doomed."

He activated his [Appraisal] authority and began checking his surroundings one by one. He started with the most obvious targets: the street trees. One could never be sure which one might undergo a genetic mutation in the future.

[Appraisal: Camphor tree, large evergreen, age 25 years]
[Appraisal: Camphor tree, large evergreen, age 28 years]
[Appraisal: Camphor tree, large evergreen, age 28 years]
...
"Are all the street trees in this coastal city camphor trees? How convenient."

After scanning the entire area, he found nothing out of the ordinary. With no other choice, he squatted on the ground, checking every single blade of grass.

"Young man, what are you doing here? Did you lose something?" asked an old man sitting at the entrance of the bookstore.

Su Wen knew him well—Old Man Lin, the bookstore owner, who had been running his shop there for a long time. Back in middle school, Old Man Lin had swindled him out of three yuan—his hard-earned orange soda money—by selling him useless "answer keys for after-school assignments," which had eventually led to him and his desk-mate receiving zeros from their teacher.

The old man was a cheat who sold expensive, tattered books. Why hadn't he gone out of business yet?

Though he thought this to himself, in reality, Su Wen waved his hand with a bright, sunny smile. "I’m a community service volunteer, here to help clean up some trash and do whatever I can."

"Heh, today’s youngsters are really something," the old man praised him.

"You're too kind." While being humble, Su Wen took the opportunity to cast an [Appraisal] on the old man.

[Appraisal: Lin Yunwen, Tier 3 Transcendent, Director of the Yulin West Street Night Watch Office. Runs an old bookstore; due to poor management, he is often on the verge of bankruptcy, even with the steady stream of students buying study materials.]

???
Well played, Old Man Lin. A Tier 3 Transcendent? You certainly hide it well.

No wonder you have a monopoly on the local study materials. I’d better play this part well.

He pulled a trash bag from his backpack, squatted by the curb, and began picking up litter while inspecting the lawn.

"What is he doing over there?" a curious female voice drifted out from the bookstore.

"Helping clean up trash. Xiao Qing, look at him. You’re both young people; he’s doing community service in this sweltering summer heat, while you don’t even know how to clean your own room, let alone help your old man tidy up the bookstore."

"Grandpa, stop it. What if someone hears you?" the girl replied, sounding coy.

As Su Wen continued his [Appraisal], he nodded silently to himself, his attitude toward Old Man Lin softening slightly. The girl was just a bit spoiled, but he was different—he was the model of a fine, upstanding youth of the new era.

[Appraisal: Bermuda grass, Poaceae family, Cynodon genus, perennial low-growing herb, weed, unremarkable.]
[Appraisal: Goosegrass, annual herb, highly developed root system, weed, unremarkable.]
...

An hour passed. Su Wen wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued his systematic appraisal.

[Appraisal: Goosegrass, annual herb, highly developed root system, weed, unremarkable.]
[Appraisal: Old fountain pen, trash discarded by someone.]

He tossed it into the trash bag and continued.

Another hour passed.

[Appraisal: Dandelion, Asteraceae family, Taraxacum genus, perennial herb, weed, unremarkable.]

Even under the shade of the street trees, facing the sweltering Jiangnan summer, Su Wen’s back was soaked through with sweat. But he did not give up. Perhaps it was the shadow of death hanging over him, but more so, it was the words Qin Mingyuan had left behind.

He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "My goal in life was just to find a rich woman and coast through life, but here I am—I can't coast, I haven't found a rich woman, and I'm just waiting to die. I didn't even have time to write tomorrow's research report. Professor Qin, how did you keep going? Can you tell me?"

As an ordinary young man whose physical fitness was rated as "can't even beat the neighbor's hen" and who had faked illness to slack off on the first day of military training, reaching this point was already quite an achievement.

Another hour passed. Most of the block's trash had been cleared away.

[Appraisal: Ricefield flatsedge, Cyperaceae family, Cyperus genus, annual herb, no rhizomes, fibrous roots, weed, unremarkable.]
[Appraisal: Hyacinth, Asparagales order, Hyacinthaceae family, Hyacinthus genus, perennial bulbous herb, [Origin Point]—Starry Sky, [Transcendent Trait]—Natural Selection, Monsoon Evolution, Life Fitness, Evolutionary Source, Status—Dormant.]
[Appraisal: Dandelion, Asteraceae family, Taraxacum genus, perennial herb, weed, unremarkable.]

Wait.

Su Wen wanted to rub his eyes, but remembering his dirty hands, he restrained himself. The hyacinth swayed gently in the summer breeze. After verifying it multiple times, he tremblingly reached out to cradle the delicate, purely azure cluster of flowers.

[Contact with Life Evolutionary Source Point, Initial Origin Mark activated, Life Regeneration +3.]
[Contact with Life Evolutionary Source Point, Initial Origin Mark activated, Stamina Regeneration +1.]
[Contact with Life Evolutionary Source Point, Initial Origin Mark activated, Charisma +5.]

It was the real deal.

He quickly emptied his backpack of all non-essential items and dug up the hyacinth along with the surrounding soil, placing it inside.

For the next ten minutes, Su Wen gathered the last of the trash, intending to toss it into a bin and head home. Behind him, the pleasant voice he had heard earlier spoke up again.

"You’ve worked hard. Take a break; let me get you a glass of water."

Su Wen turned around cautiously. It was a beautiful young woman wearing a light yellow summer dress; her hair was pinned up, and her eyes held a hint of concern.

[Appraisal: Lin Xiqing, ordinary person, potential for transcendent awakening, currently unawakened, single, net worth in the tens of millions.]

"It’s okay, I’m not tired."

It even specifically tagged her as "single" and "net worth in the tens of millions." You really are something.

If it were the old Su Wen, the moment he knew this, he would have clung to this wealthy woman's leg to achieve his life's ambition. But now, not only was he not tired, he actually wanted to run away immediately.

He didn't understand why the girl in front of him was blushing. Did she have heatstroke?

For Lin Xiqing, however, the young man’s selfless contribution to the community—working for four hours without a single rest—was enough to earn her admiration. At the very least, she knew she couldn't do it. Furthermore, the profile of his face as he looked up and smiled in the sunlight was truly handsome. For someone who never chased celebrities or cared for "pretty boys," this was an unprecedented experience.

But the next second, before she could say another word, the handsome volunteer had already hopped onto his battered bicycle and ridden away with decisive speed.

Just like that, he was gone.

...

"The giant tree that will destroy everything three thousand years from now is in my backpack."

The joy of surviving, thoughts about the future, and the effort he had expended in the sweltering summer heat all swirled in Su Wen’s mind, causing him to completely ignore his perfectly executed "oblivious straight guy" performance.

All that remained was a shallow pit by the roadside of the old bookstore on Yulin West Street, signaling that the timeline of future "destruction" and "pollution" had been quietly altered.