Urban Gaowu: I Am Lu Chen, a Poor Student

Rainwater pelted down rusty drainpipes. The stagnant water in the alley shone with oil, reflecting the poorly connected neon sign above. "Just you?" The woman held a slender lady's cigarette, and her red skirt looked particularly dazzling in the cold night wind. She looked up and down at the young man in front of her, as if looking at a bag of wet garbage about to be thrown into the incinerator. "If those old-timers in school knew that the 'model poor student' in their eyes was doing such dirty work in private, they would probably stuff that certificate into your stomach." Lu Chen didn't answer. He was wearing jeans that had been washed white, and the trousers were stained with mud. The cheap canvas shoes were soaked in dirty water, but he seemed unconscious. "Money." Lu Chen's voice was very soft, like two pieces of rough sandpaper rubbing together. He didn't look up, just stretched out his hand. The palms were covered with calluses, and the knuckles looked a little deformed from holding pens—or other things—all year round. "It's so boring." The woman curled her lips, took out a stack of rain-soaked banknotes from her handbag, and patted it on Lu Chen's palm. This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.