Chapter 4: Not Another Mediocre Life

Outside of unit 828, a sizable crowd had gathered, drawn by the commotion within.

Senior police officers Zhang Dayou and Liu Haiquan, from the Songxi town police station, were busy managing the scene, while trainees Zhao Le and Wu Wei cordoned off the area to maintain order.

Inside the unit, the criminal investigation team was in a flurry of activity. Some members were busy storing evidence, others were digging up the corpse on the balcony, while the remainder meticulously collected evidence in the bedroom.

As for the culprit, Gu Youguo, he was swiftly apprehended and taken away upon the arrival of the criminal investigation team.

In the living room, Zhang Haiyang briefed Zhao Donglai, the captain of the criminal investigation team, and Zhou Weimin, the police station chief, on the situation, while Luo Fei waited nearby.

After nearly ten minutes, Zhang Haiyang concluded his report.

Upon hearing from Zhang Haiyang that it was Luo Fei, a police trainee, who first noticed something amiss, leading to the discovery of the murder case, both Chief Zhou Weimin and Zhao Donglai exchanged surprised looks before breaking into heartfelt praise for Luo Fei.

At 7 p.m., Luo Fei headed home from work.

Since Luo Fei did not have a car, he walked back.

His home, nestled in the Longxing Street cement factory area, was about three kilometres from the Blissful district—a distance he found manageable on foot.

Twenty minutes later, Luo Fei arrived at the yard of the cement factory’s staff dormitory building.

The factory’s staff dormitory building stood raggedly, with particularly poor environmental and sanitation conditions. Dilapidated and misshapen, it seemed to have been forgotten by time. Once bustling with cement factory employees, it now primarily housed elderly individuals from the countryside who had moved in to care for their grandchildren attending school.

Only impoverished individuals resorted to renting here, given the significantly more affordable rental prices compared to other locations. Luo Fei’s family had no choice but to rent here as well due to their own financial constraints.

When Luo Fei first became a traverser, he harbored aspirations of improving his family’s situation. However, aside from writing suspense novels, he possessed no other marketable skills. Despite his efforts, his novels had seen limited success in the past and were unlikely to generate much income.

Luo Fei then pinned all his hopes on the Gold Finger, solely focusing on preparing for the civil service exam in exchange for being bound to it. He pushed aside all other distractions, devoting himself entirely to this singular goal.

As he approached his home on the third floor, he spotted his younger brother, Luo Hao, descending the stairs with a basketball in hand.

Luo Hao had just entered high school this year, and while his academic results were not stellar, with more effort, he still held hope of entering a decent college.

“Have you finished today’s homework?” Luo Fei asked, his words tinged with the weight of his newfound responsibilities. Half a year had passed since his arrival in this world, where he was born an orphan and had never experienced the warmth of family in his previous life. Yet he had seamlessly integrated into his newfound family, embracing his role as an elder brother. He harboured hopes that Luo Hao would excel academically, gain admission to a reputable college, and ultimately find fulfilment in a successful career after graduation.

“Yes,” Luo Hao quickly answered, nodding his head.

Ever since he and his classmates were caught smoking in the alley beneath the cement factory and subsequently harshly disciplined by his older brother, Luo Hao has a deep fear of Luo Fei. With Luo Fei’s newfound status as a police officer, Luo Hao became even more apprehensive around him.

“Well, then go ahead and play ball. Come back before 9 p.m.; don’t make Mom worry,” Luo Fei said, and Luo Hao nodded again. After giving him a few more instructions, Luo Fei waited for him to leave before heading upstairs.

“Luo Fei’s back.”

“You’re back from work.”

“Your kid has potential. Being in the police force, he’ll surely have a promising future.”

On the third-floor corridor, a group of elderly men and women, engaged in lively chatter and gossip, greeted Luo Fei as he passed by. These residents, who lived at the bottom of society, had no relatives or friends in the county. With limited entertainment options, it was only natural for them to gather and engage in gossip to pass the time.

As he approached his door, Luo Fei noticed his mother crafting string bracelets, meticulously threading pearls onto each strand before tying the two ends together with a specific method. With that, a bracelet was completed, and a well-processed piece would allow her to earn a penny of the handmade fee.

Usually, his mother could make seventy or eighty bracelets in an hour, earning seven or eight dollars. If she had enough pearl bracelets, aside from her usual working hours, she could make around three hundred bracelets in a day, which amounted to a significant income for her.

Unfortunately, the string bracelet job was not available every day. Luo Fei’s second aunt worked in the bracelet factory, so from time to time, she could bring home a certain amount of bracelets for her to work on.

To support Luo Fei’s family, her second aunt usually allocates some work to her mom.

As for others, without any connections, even if they wanted the job, there was no way to obtain the materials. After all, in Ningjiang County, there was only one bracelet factory.

The mother, Wu Yan, immersed in her work, only acknowledged Luo Fei’s presence when he was nearly in front of her.

“Xiao Xiao, your brother is back, come out for dinner,” Wu Yan shouted towards the inner room. She also paused her work, set her things aside, and stood up.

Luo Fei walked into the house, a small abode comprising two interconnected rooms totalling less than thirty square feet in size.

The first room, serving as both a kitchen and a bedroom, was where Luo Fei and Luo Hao lived. In the inner room, a worn sofa, a coffee table, and a second-hand TV filled the space. This room doubled as a bedroom and living room, where Luo Fei’s mother and his younger sister, Xiao Xiao, slept.

There was no bathroom; they relied on the public toilet located on the first floor. Their rooms’ concrete floor bore numerous pits, while the walls, painted black, were marred with stubborn oil stains and marks that defied attempts to clean them.

Luo Fei had long desired to move out, but the pressing priority at that time was to pass the civil service examination to become a police officer. With no income of his own, the family of four relied solely on Wu Yan’s meagre salary to make ends meet. Luo Fei knew better than to broach such a topic, given their financial circumstances.

Now that he had passed his public examination and secured a stable monthly income, the first thing that naturally came to his mind was to move out.

Luo Fei noticed the covered dishes on the table and expressed some frustration: “Mom, didn’t I call to tell you that I’ll be back late tonight, and all of you should eat first? You shouldn’t have waited for me.”

“We didn’t do much all day and stayed at home, so we’re not very hungry. You’ve been working all day and must be hungry. Xiao Xiao, help to serve rice to your brother.”

Truthfully speaking, this feeling of someone missing you is truly comforting.

The meal consisted of two dishes and one soup: bacon-fried shredded potatoes, crushed cucumber, and bok choy ^[1]TL’s note: Bok choy is a kind of Chinese cabbage, with the direct translation being “small cabbage”. soup. Though it was a simple, home-cooked meal, Luo Fei found it extraordinarily flavourful, savouring the comforting taste of home and devouring three bowls of rice with relish.

After dinner, Luo Fei intended to help his mom string bracelets, but Wu Yan refused. She insisted he had been working all day and should rest and watch TV instead, and Luo Fei did not press the issue either.

Luo Fei originally wanted to lie down and rest for a while, but seeing the shared room with the kitchen that offered no privacy, he abandoned the idea.

Saying goodbye to his mom, Luo Fei left the house and walked up the path behind the cement factory.

“Today’s case is considered solved, right? Why didn’t the system react? Do I have to wait for the case to end and the court’s decision for it to be settled?” Luo Fei pondered, his brow furrowed with questions, as he sat on a rock on the hillside behind the cement factory. This question had been gnawing at his mind since noon.

The Gold Finger is his greatest support. Without it, Luo Fei knows he is nothing—no background, no education, and average abilities. He guessed that without it, he would likely spend his entire life at the Songxin town police station.

But he had enough of a mediocre life in his previous existence; Luo Fei was determined not to settle for ordinary again with a new life. That was why he pursued the Gold Finger so fervently, even going to the lengths of desperately entering the police force.

Just as Luo Fei was getting worried about his gains and losses because of the Gold Finger,

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for solving the murder case! In view of the host’s first success in solving the case, you will receive double the reward: 2000 gold coins.”

(End of chapter)