Bounty

Chen Feng remembered that he had muted his high school class group chat.

At the same time, he recalled that the original owner of this body had added the class monitor, Wang Hanwen, on WeiChat.

"Something came up. I can't make it."

Expressionless, he quickly typed his reply.

During four years of college, they had rarely kept in touch, and their relationship had long since faded.

Besides, he was not the original owner. Going would only make things more awkward. Why bother making himself uncomfortable?

Buzz buzz!

Two minutes later, the message received a reply, and his phone vibrated again.

Wang Hanwen: Damn, this isn't like you, Chen Feng.

I heard Han Yue will be there too. Are you sure you're not coming?

"Not coming."

Chen Feng replied briefly.

Han Yue?

That was a familiar name to the original owner—or, more accurately, his high school crush.

But—

I'm not the original owner.

Expressionless, Chen Feng saw that the other party had sent two more messages. He decisively tapped Settings and chose to mute this person's notifications.

The world became peaceful again. He quickly locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket.

Time quietly passed once more, and midnight arrived.

With a clatter!

The rolling shutter was pulled down and locked. Chen Feng waved goodbye to Aunt Zhang.

"I'm heading out, Aunt Zhang."

"Alright, Xiaofeng. Take it slow."

Tap tap!

His footsteps echoed through the silent street.

The scent of barbecue stalls filled the air as Chen Feng crunched through an Energy Bar.

The abundant protein was continuously absorbed by his body, and the barely sufficient fullness made him feel much more satisfied.

"I'm just a little mentally exhausted."

After swallowing the last bite of the Energy Bar, Chen Feng felt the heaviness in his mind.

This was an aftereffect of the mental drain caused by his right arm fracturing in the Dream Realm after he woke up that morning.

Now, with the night growing later and the exhaustion from the day piling up, his mind felt increasingly tired.

He quickened his pace, wanting only to get home, sleep, and restore his energy as soon as possible.

More than ten minutes later, his familiar front door appeared before him. He pushed it open, quickly washed up, and collapsed onto the bed.

Not even a minute passed.

Snores rose as his consciousness sank.

Chen Feng slept deeply.

It was not until dawn the next day that his eyelids trembled and he instinctively opened his eyes.

The familiar ceiling came into view, with a ray of sunlight spilling through a gap in the curtains.

In an instant, he was fully awake, and Chen Feng noticed something unusual.

"I actually didn't enter the Dream Realm last night?"

Surprise flashed through his eyes. He quickly reached beneath his pillow for his phone, turned on the screen, and checked the time.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

It was nearly a full hour later than the usual 7:05 when he woke from the Dream Realm.

Moreover, he clearly remembered seeming to fall asleep the moment he lay down. He had not even dreamed during that time.

He had slept so soundly that it felt as if hardly any time had passed.

"No."

Quickly noticing something unusual about himself, Chen Feng got up and came to his senses.

He strode into the bathroom and looked at the square mirror on the wall.

The young man in the reflection was tall, a full 1.8 meters.

His physique was robust. His deltoids and trapezius muscles bulged, while his triceps and biceps were also quite strong.

Looking higher—

That tough, masculine face.

The pallor from yesterday had disappeared, replaced by a healthy flush. He looked refreshed and full of energy.

"Just as I thought."

Raising an eyebrow, Chen Feng fell into thought.

Clearly, he had slept extremely well last night, which was why he had recovered so thoroughly.

His head was no longer heavy, and his eyes were bright and alert.

"So, the reason I Could Not enter the Dream Realm last night was most likely that my mind needed to recover?"

"Or rather, my mental exhaustion was too severe, so I couldn't enter the Dream Realm."

Having roughly formed a hypothesis, Chen Feng felt that he would need to test it again when he went to sleep that night.

His mental condition was now the same as usual. As long as he could enter the Dream Realm normally, he would know the answer.

He did not dwell on it any further.

Chen Feng quickly washed up, got himself ready, and ate breakfast.

At the same time, he sent a message to Liu Fang, the supermarket manager.

He had already roughly mentioned taking a compensatory day off today, so that he could keep his dinner appointment with Chen Yun that evening.

Buzz buzz!

Liu Fang: OK, no problem, Xiaofeng.

"Alright, thank you, Sister Liu."

Chen Feng replied. Since he had nothing to do that morning, he worked out with his body weight at home and practiced Judo.

He found that his talent in Judo was close to his talent in Sanshou.

Practicing for two hours every day could increase his progress a little.

Drops of water eventually filled a bucket, so naturally he would not give up his daily training.

Then—

Progress +1

Judo: Proficient (9%)

"Whew, not bad."

Near noon, Chen Feng stood in the living room bare-chested and drenched in sweat, nodding to himself.

The muscles across his chest and abdomen were sharply defined, as if carved from stone.

Compared to more than ten days ago, his strong physique was practically unrecognizable.

Gulp!

Gulp!

Feeling thirsty, Chen Feng picked up a cup from home and drank two mouthfuls of plain water.

While resting, he opened his phone on a whim and casually searched for the Gold Shop robbery he had encountered yesterday.

Security Bureau bulletin: The robbers in this case are the same group responsible for the Gold Shop robbery three days ago. More personnel have been assigned to the investigation.

The robbers wore masks, but based on assessments and deductions, the following Composite Sketches have been produced. Residents who discover them and provide clues can receive a reward of 200,000 yuan.

"So it really was the same group. The reward has doubled too."

After reading the bulletin, Chen Feng held his cup and studied the Composite Sketches for a while longer.

On white paper were portraits sketched in black pencil.

They Looked lifelike. There were five drawings in total, including fat and thin men and women.

One of them was especially unforgettable, because one of the men had a vertical knife scar on his left cheek, close to his eye.

Seeing this, Chen Feng suddenly thought of Li Hongxia's daughter, Xu Yao.

She was quite good at drawing too and had some talent for it.

The drawing she had given him that day was still in his drawer, carefully preserved.

"Too bad the cost of learning to draw is so high."

"Tuition, drawing paper, paint... Sister Hongxia probably can't afford it."

Chen Feng silently shook his head. He remembered that many of his former classmates had wanted to learn drawing, but their family circumstances had not allowed it.

Thinking of this, he put down his phone and cup, shaking his head quietly.

He was still living in rather straitened circumstances himself. Where would he find the spare time to think so much about others?

Then hunger struck.

He took a bag of frozen beef from the refrigerator, hurriedly cooked two dishes, and made do with a meal.

After downing three or four bowls of rice, he also ate two bags of bread and an Energy Bar.

Chen Feng keenly noticed that his appetite had grown again.

"The higher my physical attributes, the bigger my appetite."

"At this rate, I really might have to find another way to make money."

His gaze flickered as Chen Feng formed a few ideas.

His current savings were still enough for the time being. He had kept the thousand yuan Chen Yun later transferred to him instead of using it to buy gifts for the coach.

On top of that, the supermarket had given him a two-thousand-yuan reward, as well as a separate thirty-percent shopping discount.

So, he did not need to rush for the moment.

"Let's wait a little longer."