The Fool's Rise to Power

The Rise of a Blockhead: The King Returns from the Dust In Jiangcheng, a city crawling with every sort, Chen Mang, known as “Blockhead,” was once a laughingstock among the downtrodden. Taciturn and slow-witted, he could never think on his feet and took everything at face value. Whatever happened, he believed in “keeping the peace,” earning him mockery from the street crowd as a “toothless tiger” and “a hopeless lump of mud.” Back then, he ran an old hardware store on the verge of closing and lived in subsidized housing. Even street thugs could push him around as they pleased. When someone stole his business, he would quietly make up the losses; when someone humiliated him in public, he would only stand there with red-rimmed eyes, saying nothing. Everyone thought this “blockhead” would spend his whole life curled up in the dust, letting people trample him. But no one knew that Chen Mang’s “stupidity” was the patience of someone who had seen the ways of the world, and the clear judgment of a man who kept his talents hidden. In his youth, he had been the final disciple of a renowned martial artist in Jiangcheng. But after taking the blame for a friend, he was sent to prison. His master died of grief, the school disbanded, and Chen Mang put away his sharp edge, choosing to live as a “fool” and avoid the world. Then evil forces forcibly demolished his hardware store, and his younger sister, the only family he had left, was injured in the chaos. At last, Chen Mang’s patience snapped. The dullness in his eyes faded, replaced by a long-dormant blaze. The road to a comeback is lined with thorns at every step. Chen Mang has no backing and no resources. Armed only with the martial arts he had left forgotten and the grit in his bones, he fights his way through Jiangcheng’s underworld. He knows nothing of schemes and tricks, so he uses his “stupidity” to turn the tables. When an opponent lays a trap, he bluntly exposes the truth and makes the schemer suffer the consequences. When powerful business figures try to bully or bribe him, he stands by his principles, willing to take a loss rather than cross the line, and instead wins