Chapter 3

**Bang—Bang—Bang—Bang—Bang—Bang—**

Li Er took off his noise-canceling headphones and pulled the target towards him. At a shooting distance of thirty meters, Li Er fired six shots. One hit the six-ring, two hit the seven-ring, and the other three completely missed the target, who knows where they went.

"Wow! Not bad!" Chen Jiaju couldn't help but tease when he saw Li Er's abysmal performance.

Chen Jiaju also fired a full magazine, with one shot hitting the six-ring, three hitting the seven-ring, and two hitting the eight-ring. Although his score wasn't particularly impressive, it was much better than Li Er's poor shooting skills.

The Hong Kong police force was uniformly equipped with the Type 38 pistol, an old firearm with an effective range of about fifty meters. The firepower of this weapon was limited, but the recoil was small, allowing even women to hold it with one hand.

However, the quality of this firearm was inconsistent. Li Er had strictly followed the police's three-point aiming method, but the bullets still went astray.

It had been a month since the last robbery case. Li Er, Chen Jiaju, and Zhang Dazui were all commended. Chen Jiaju and Zhang Dazui had successfully joined the Wan Chai CID department, but Li Er was still a patrol officer in Tsim Sha Tsui.

These were minor issues. Li Er was happy to be a nine-to-five patrol officer. What truly saddened him was that the "system activation" voice he heard in his head a month ago had never sounded again. Li Er almost thought he had hallucinated.

"Officer Chen Jiaju, what big cases is your CID department working on? You have so much time to practice shooting." Li Er handed the gun back to the armory and asked Chen Jiaju with a smile.

Zhang Dazui, hearing Li Er's words, interjected dejectedly, "We're still investigating last month's manhole cover theft case. Jiaju and I have been staking out the streets for over ten all-nighters. If this continues, we'll be bitten anemic by mosquitoes."

Li Er put on a sympathetic face and patted Zhang Dazui's shoulder, but inside, he was secretly gloating.

"I wish I had stuck to patrolling!" Zhang Dazui said resentfully.

Chen Jiaju glared at Zhang Dazui. He had wanted to boast to Li Er, but Zhang Dazui had blurted it out.

"Li Er, what about you? What have you been up to these days?" Chen Jiaju quickly changed the subject to avoid Zhang Dazui's complaints.

"Yesterday, a cat belonging to Councilor Liu went missing, and all the patrol officers in the jurisdiction were mobilized to help his wife find the cat!" Li Er said seriously.

Chen Jiaju and Zhang Dazui felt a bit more balanced after hearing Li Er's words.

"And the day before, I was borrowed to assist the detective unit in a raid on the sex industry." Li Er said nonchalantly, "The rest is just routine patrols."

Chen Jiaju patted Li Er's shoulder and said listlessly, "Ah! We're all the same. Just keep enduring. One day, we'll make it."

"Maybe."

Li Er shrugged. He was still thinking about the missing system prompt. As a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者," which can be translated as "time traveler" or "穿越者"), Li Er was most afraid of standing out, at least until he had the ability to protect himself.

You need to be strong to forge iron, and once you're strong, you won't be a nobody.

"Let's go! I'll treat you to a meal!" Chen Jiaju said generously, waving his hand.

Li Er's eyes narrowed. Chen Jiaju, the tightwad, being so generous was very suspicious. There must be a plot. Li Er glanced at Zhang Dazui but saw nothing amiss.

"Sure!" Li Er said with a smile.

A fool is someone who doesn't take advantage of a good deal. Li Er had already decided to eat as much as possible and not speak a word, foiling Chen Jiaju's plot.

Yunlai Teahouse.

"A basket of shrimp dumplings, a basket of crystal cakes, a plate of chicken feet, and a signature goose intestine! And a plate of steamed buns!" Li Er flipped through the menu as soon as he sat down.

"Would you like a bowl of seafood porridge? It's a specialty of our restaurant." The waiter suggested.

"Sure!" Li Er looked at the attentive waiter with satisfaction.

Hearing Li Er order so many dishes, Chen Jiaju's face turned green. He said irritably, "Are you a pig? Ordering so much, can you finish it all?"

"I can take the leftovers home!" Li Er said firmly, putting on a frugal and thrifty expression.

Chen Jiaju: "..."

"Li Er, I have some good news for you!" Chen Jiaju finally got to the point halfway through the meal.

"Mm-hmm!" Li Er shook his finger without looking up, "We can talk after the meal!"

Li Er didn't believe Chen Jiaju had any good news for him. Unless he was a fool, a normal person would keep the good deals for themselves. Chen Jiaju was clearly not a fool.

Worried that Li Er would run away after the meal, Chen Jiaju snatched the chopsticks from Li Er's hand.

"Are you a reincarnated glutton? Listen to me first!" Chen Jiaju huffed, vowing never to treat Li Er to a meal again. His wallet was hurting.

"Hey! Dazui, you said your manhole cover theft case. Why do you have to stake out and wait for the thief? Why not investigate the black market channels? They can't be taking the manhole covers home to exercise, right?" Li Er, not wanting to hear Chen Jiaju's "good news," turned to Zhang Dazui to change the topic.

"Ah!" Chen Jiaju's eyes lit up. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Right! Why didn't I think of that? There must be someone recycling the manhole covers. Investigating the black market workshops will definitely yield results!"

Li Er sincerely gave Chen Jiaju a thumbs up.

"Great!"

Chen Jiaju grinned proudly.

Li Er discreetly signaled a passing waiter and whispered, "Pack these dim sum for me."

"Wait, I haven't finished talking!" Chen Jiaju suddenly realized and waved the waiter away.

"Let me be clear! Dazui and I are working in Wan Chai now. It's inconvenient to commute back to Tsim Sha Tsui after work, and we have to catch the early bus. We plan to rent a place together in Wan Chai. I can rent my Tsim Sha Tsui apartment to you at a lower price. You don't want to share a room with your brother, right?" Chen Jiaju said straightforwardly.

Li Er was delighted. Living with his family was inconvenient, but the main issue was the heat on the top floor. Chen Jiaju's apartment was on the sixth floor, and Li Er had been to his place. It was much cooler without a fan compared to the seventh-floor oven.

Li Er's home was a one-bedroom, one-living room apartment, about thirty square meters. When the siblings were young, sharing a room was fine, but as Li Yi grew up, he moved to the living room. Later, when Li Shiyi became a young lady, sharing a room with Li Er and Li Shan was inappropriate. Li Yi partitioned the bedroom into two small rooms, one for Li Shiyi and one for Li Er and Li Shan, which was very cramped.

"Sounds good, but I don't have the money!" Li Er said firmly, spreading his hands. He knew a bit about negotiation.

"Three hundred a month!" Chen Jiaju held up three fingers.

"Are you kidding? No way!" Li Er immediately shook his head. In an era where saving three dollars could buy a meal, Li Er wasn't about to spend his monthly food allowance on rent.

"Li Er, Jiaju's apartment can rent for at least four hundred a month." Zhang Dazui tried to persuade him.

"Then I can't take advantage of Jiaju!" Li Er said righteously. He could guess Chen Jiaju's thoughts. The one-bedroom, one-living room apartment in Chen Jiaju's housing estate might rent for four hundred a month, but it had many nostalgic old pieces of furniture. Moving them would be a hassle, and renting to strangers risked damage. Renting to Li Er would avoid these issues.

Most importantly, if Chen Jiaju rented to Li Er, he could stay in Tsim Sha Tsui on weekends and save on meals and accommodation.

Amei worked at a school in Tsim Sha Tsui, and Chen Jiaju would often return on weekends.

"Two hundred! That's the lowest!" Chen Jiaju said reluctantly, but his poor acting skills revealed that this wasn't his bottom line.

"I only have one hundred!" Li Er forced a pained expression.

"One hundred fifty, or I'll rent it out!" Chen Jiaju gritted his teeth and lowered the price.

"Deal!" Li Er grinned.

Chen Jiaju's face fell. Li Er had driven the price down.

"Fine! Three months' deposit, one month's rent, total six hundred!" Chen Jiaju extended his hand.

Li Er smiled sheepishly, "I said, I only have one hundred!"

"What a joke, one hundred isn't even a month's rent!" Chen Jiaju's face turned green as he saw Li Er take out one hundred dollars.

"So I owe you fifty, and I'll pay you next month!" Li Er said with a smile.

Chen Jiaju, of course, wasn't willing.

"Jiaju!" A beautiful woman waved and walked over.

Chen Jiaju quickly took the one hundred dollars from Li Er to avoid losing it.

"Amei, you're off work!" Chen Jiaju stood up and waved.

"Dazui, Li Er, you've already eaten. Didn't you say you'd wait for us?" Amei glared at Chen Jiaju.

"We haven't eaten, only Li Er, the glutton, had two buns!" Chen Jiaju explained, defaming Li Er.

Well, it wasn't entirely defamation. Li Er had eaten more than two buns; he had finished a basket of shrimp dumplings and a bottle of Vitasoy.

Li Er had met Amei a few times and recognized her, but when he saw the female teacher with her, he was stunned.

"Cough, cough!" Chen Jiaju coughed loudly, snapping Li Er out of his daze.

"Li Er?" He Min said in surprise.

"Hi!" Li Er awkwardly touched his nose and picked up the empty Vitasoy bottle to drink, hiding his nervousness.

Seeing He Min, Li Er was flooded with memories. He Min was the ex-girlfriend Chen Jiaju often teased him about, introduced by Amei. Unfortunately, after spending some time together, He Min didn't find Li Er suitable.

"Isn't this Zhang Min? Oh my, so beautiful! So beautiful, really too beautiful!" Li Er was inwardly excited but maintained a calm expression, a trait of introverted men like him.

He Min looked at Li Er curiously, wondering why he seemed so different.

Li Er was indeed cautious. His personality was completely different from the original Li Er, but to avoid being noticed, he had slowly and gradually changed, allowing those around him to gradually adapt to his new self.

After a month, neither his colleagues at the police station nor his family had noticed anything unusual about Li Er. They only felt he had improved, attributing it to natural growth.

He Min, however, hadn't seen Li Er for two months. The cumulative changes had a significant impact on her. Li Er's demeanor was entirely different, and if they met on the street, He Min might not recognize him.

Women's intuition, it seemed, was uncannily accurate.