Chapter Five: The Virgin Chicken

Although Liu Yunfei had already acquired the indestructible body of Vajra and could do without sleep, he still sometimes needed to replenish his energy and wasn’t ready to abandon the habit of sleeping just yet. So, that night, he lay in bed and slept soundly.

The next morning, after brushing his teeth and washing his face, he felt that life had a purpose, and his days became more positive. After breakfast, Liu Yunfei sat at the table, picked up his English dictionary, and began studying. Even though he now possessed a photographic memory, it was still a tedious and flavorless task, but he forced himself to go through page after page. It took him an entire week to memorize the whole English dictionary.

When bored, he looked up cooking methods online and prepared meals before his parents came home. His mother and father were delighted to find that their son had suddenly become so sensible, and they even gave up their usual bickering out of happiness. In the meantime, Yu Xiaowei called a few times, inviting him out, but Liu Yunfei refused. When bored, he would turn himself into a fly or a small bird to check on the girl living on the third floor across the street. But he wasn’t sure if she had left, as she hadn’t been home in days.

Having finished memorizing the dictionary, Liu Yunfei was eager to test his learning. After all, memorizing words in isolation is not enough; to form sentences, you need grammar, structure, and knowledge of how words are used in different contexts. For example, he’d heard that some larger restaurants had translated their menus into English to keep up with international standards. There was a dish called “crispy young chicken,” and someone had translated it as “netce” (a chicken with no sexual experience). It sounded accurate at first glance, but who would want to eat such a dish when reading that on a menu? Besides, isn’t a chicken with no sexual experience still just a chicken?

So, he decided to go to America to practice. As for using the Somersault Cloud, he had made his plans: the world was full of prying eyes, surveillance cameras, and smartphones everywhere. But once he was up in the sky, he needn’t fear being seen; the Somersault Cloud would shield him, and with his speed, even if a plane happened to pass by, no one would notice him. The riskiest moments were takeoff and landing, and he didn’t want to make headlines as “China’s Superman” in some sensationalistic American tabloid. That would only bring him endless trouble.

His solution was to transform into a small bird, head to the roof, and then summon the Somersault Cloud. Once he arrived, he would find a deserted spot to land and, only after making sure no one was around, would he return to his original form. Liu Yunfei thought that if he could have a house in every major city, it would be even more convenient. The size didn’t matter, as long as he could transform in peace.

After his parents went to bed that night, Liu Yunfei adjusted his height to 182 centimeters. He’d planned to grow two centimeters a month to reach 182 within half a year; he couldn’t risk startling his parents by growing twelve centimeters overnight. He changed into clean clothes—after all, it was his first time abroad, and he couldn’t embarrass his countrymen. He didn’t bring any fake designer brands; he never cared for such things, unlike many high schoolers who, despite being broke, insisted on buying piles of counterfeit labels.

He also considered the risk of carrying his phone. Roaming between cities too quickly might arouse suspicion or even allow for tracking, so he decided to leave his phone behind. In truth, he had nothing to fear now, but he still preferred to stay low-key.

Once everything was ready, Liu Yunfei followed his plan. With a single somersault, he arrived on the other side of the world—in New York.

New York City, the largest city and the main port of the United States, is located at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York State, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided into five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, with a total area of 1,214 square kilometers. Manhattan is the heart of New York and the financial center of the United States, concentrating the world’s financial, securities, futures, and insurance industries. The southern tip of Manhattan is Wall Street, the very core of the core, where every inch of land is precious. This narrow street, only 540 meters long, is flanked by nearly 3,000 financial and foreign trade institutions.

It was just after 10 a.m. Eastern Time. As a small bird, Liu Yunfei descended into a secluded corner of Central Park, right in the heart of Manhattan, and returned to his original form after confirming nobody was around.

At this hour, the park was almost empty. Central Park didn’t require an entry fee, so Liu Yunfei wandered out, looking around at the city’s landmarks: the Empire State Building, the United Nations Headquarters… He decided to do some sightseeing first. Soon, he found himself on Broadway. Perhaps in bigger cities, people always seem to be in a hurry. Liu Yunfei strolled through this unfamiliar metropolis, watching the streams of people passing by, unsure whom to approach, and nobody spoke to him. He gazed at the shops and cafes lining the street, but, having no money, he couldn’t go in. So, he wandered aimlessly forward.

After a while, he arrived at the gates of New York University’s Manhattan campus. He thought, since it was summer break, perhaps he could still find someone to talk to. Founded in 1831, New York University has 14 colleges and is one of the largest private universities in the United States. Its most renowned school, the Tisch School of the Arts, established in 1965, is one of the nation’s top art schools, offering programs in film, television, drama, dance, and photography. The famous Taiwanese director Ang Lee is an alumnus. Curiously, the university’s gender ratio has long favored women, who typically make up over sixty percent of the student body. Although NYU’s tuition isn’t particularly high, living in central Manhattan is extremely expensive. Still, with Chinatown nearby, many Chinese students choose to study there.

Like in China, American schools are deserted during summer vacation. The vast campus was so empty that you could fire a machine gun and not hit a single soul. While wandering, Liu Yunfei admired the lush greenery and the classic red-brick buildings, mostly three stories high, with Baroque-style windows. The whole campus exuded a serene, classical, and rigorous atmosphere.

“Hey, excuse me, could you help me with something?” Just as Liu Yunfei was about to turn back, he heard a girl’s voice—clear, yet cautious.

Having memorized an entire English dictionary, Liu Yunfei easily understood these simple words; even an ordinary high schooler would have no trouble with them.

He turned to see a beautiful girl with black hair and yellow skin standing on the steps of a three-story building, speaking to him. She had an oval face, delicate eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a small, upturned nose, and slightly curved, cherry lips. She wore a beige cotton T-shirt that hugged her figure and a pair of jeans that accentuated her long, slender legs. She looked the very picture of youthful vitality. In terms of both figure and face, she was the most beautiful woman Liu Yunfei had ever seen, especially with the hint of tenderness in her eyes that made a man instinctively want to embrace and protect her.

Liu Yunfei thought, “I must really have luck with the ladies. Who would have imagined that, coming to America, I’d run into a Chinese fairy—and she even called out to me first? Maybe she finds me handsome and charismatic and wants to strike up a conversation with me.”