Blackstone Code

Chapter 1: Beginning

"Have you found a job?"

Lynch, who had just returned home, turned around and looked at his girlfriend and shook his head guiltily. 

His girlfriend was neither disappointed nor excessively emotional. It was as if... being unable to find work was normal. 

Lynch avoided verbal communication as much as possible. He was afraid that the woman who slept next to him every day would see his abnormality.

the girlfriend walked to the shaky wooden table with a deformed frying pan, put a fried egg on a plate of minced meat, and sat down.

"Don't think too much, I still have some money here. Maybe you can find a job tomorrow, eat first!"

Lynch nodded and began to enjoy the not-so-savory dinner.

The fork pierces the slightly solidified outer layer of the egg. The thick yolk flowed on the minced meat, like a natural seasoning or a certain sauce, making this meat more attractive.

He was eating mechanically, but was thinking about other things in his mind.

He had crossed over, he didn't know what scientific principle it implicated, or other reasons, but in short, he transmigrated. [1]

Before crossing over, he had done a lot of work as a courier, an insurance salesman, a waiter, a vice-chef...

He has done a lot of small jobs in his first thirty years. But after reaching 30, great changes have taken place.

According to what he later said, he used the previous three decades to accumulate experience, and knowledge to finally speak out, and his moving speech successfully impressed the judge...

Then after he slept in that small room for the first time, he planned to publish an autobiography to recall his legendary life in the future, and gradually fell into a sleepy dream. He transmigrated.

As soon as he crossed, he appeared in this home. The owner of this body happened to be called Lynch [2], but this was already another world that had nothing to do with his "previous life".

Besides his girlfriend, he had nothing. 

Now he is like the most failed kind of social scum, eating and living with his girlfriend. Except for the fact that he can help his girlfriend solve some problems at night, he is like a parasite.

In the past few days, he has been going out with the excuse of looking for a job. This world gave him a novel feeling that is beyond words.

It was likely in the 40s to the 50s or the 50s to the 60s. Technology was not yet too developed, yet it was in the period of technological explosion. 

(Meaning between 1940-1950 or 1950-1960)

Many products constantly appeared in front of the people, making people dizzy. He saw the slogan on the poster on the street-"Every day is a new day."

In his opinion, this world, this society is full of money and he only needs to bend over to pick it up.

His blood is boiling slightly, and his heart is beating faster and faster. There is a longing deep in his heart. He firmly believes that there is a reason for his crossing.

Perhaps, something made me come here just to let me leave my legend here!

"Go and put in the hot water, let's take a bath today...", his girlfriend ordered while packing the dishes.

Lynch nodded and stood up. He walked towards the bathroom not far away. As he walked, he asked casually, "But we just washed yesterday..."

During this period of time, he found that he and his girlfriend had a very clear life plan, which was not completely messy.

The weather is neither hot nor cold. As long as you don't exercise vigorously or don't sweat easily, you basically don't need to bathe every day. 

This is not because people are unwilling to clean their bodies every day, but because they have to pay for changing clothes and hot water.

Rich people don't care about this small change, they will even install a boiler in their house to provide a heating system, and buy a washing machine to wash clothes anytime, anywhere.

But for the poor, these are unnecessary and unaffordable expenses, so their lives must become regular.

Carefully calculate every expenditure, and stick to a regular life like a monk to save every penny, this is their life.

It's not that they want regularity, it's more because they are poor. 

His girlfriend turned around and walked to the side of the sink, turning on the valve to wash the tableware, "After 12 o'clock in the evening, our hot water will stop, and we will pay the bill next week, so we can save some."

Lynch shrugged and walked into the bathroom. He unscrewed the valve, and let off the cold water at the front, and the hot water and steam flowed out of the pipe.

After taking a bath, the two lay on a small bed and soon fell asleep.

Lynch’s girlfriend works in a supermarket as a cashier for ten hours a day, including a one-hour break.

She often picks up some expired or near-expired food or cheap daily necessities from the supermarket. This is why only one of the two works and can survive.

The two were high school classmates, and neither was able to enter the university. Lynch worked as a worker for a period of time but later gave up because of exhaustion.

Catherine, his girlfriend, got a job in the supermarket and has maintained it since.

This is a typical family of losers. Whether it is Lynch or Catherine, they don't know how long this kind of life can last.

Maybe it can survive until the day they enter the marriage hall, and then continue to barely continue for a lifetime.

But it is also possible for this fragile relationship to end anytime and anywhere because of the sudden outburst. 

Early the next morning, Lynch freshened up. Catherine had left, leaving a box of wheat circles and a bottle of milk on the table.

He walked to the side of the cupboard and poured the milk into the pot to heat it, and took a look at the expiration date. It was not surprising to see that it had expired for two days.

This kind of milk is directly handled in the supermarket to be thrown into the trash. However, many supermarket employees are willing to endure the long working hours and the low salary to work in the supermarket.

What they fancy are these things that can be obtained for free.

The rich milk scent is a bit intoxicating. Lynch is used to using hot milk to soak something, while Catherine and others are used to soaking directly, which feels very bad.

After eating breakfast, he simply took care of his image and stopped at a street not far from where they were renting.

He hadn't been idle in the past few days. Of course, this does not mean that he was looking for a job. He was just considering where his first pot of money should be obtained.

Although this world is completely different from another world, some things can still be traced.

For example, you know that, a hundred years from now, every inch of land under your feet is worth an inch of gold. For example, you know that the price of artworks will skyrocket every year. For example, you know...

Everyone would have a sense of ambition when standing in Lynch’s place because most of them can grasp the pulse of the future.

But the problem is that most people's ambitions can stay as ambitions, never to be realized. That is because now is not the future, and everything requires capital.

Where does the capital come from?

This thing will not fall from the sky, nor will it float on the water. In fact, even if many people are given the opportunity to go back in time, they still have no ability to change their lives.

Maybe there are, but some are limited. They may buy one or two more houses, and then wait until they are old and look at their assets doubled in a daze. This is different from what they thought at the beginning.

Some people are destined to make a splash, and some people can't do anything even if they are given a chance.

Obviously, Lynch is the former, he already has all the qualities. He succeeded. This is what made the difference.

He stood there staring at a laundry shop across the road for most of the morning and was writing and drawing on a notebook. He was making his first pot of gold.

At about noon, when the traffic on the street began to drop, two guys in windbreakers blocked him. One of them had a hand inside the windbreaker, seeming to hold something.

"Mr. Fox wants to see you, friend!"

At first glance, these two people are not good people. Of course, it was also possible that Lynch was thinking too much. Instead of fear, a smile appears on his face, "I have been waiting for you for several days. What are you waiting for, lead the way!"

[1]: Crossed over is slang for describing the action of transmigration. 

[2]: Can also be construed as Lin Qi, but it doesn't fit the story's background in any way.