CS: K9 GF | Chapter 4 – I Dont Want to Live Another Ordinary Life

Outside Apartment 828, a large crowd of curious onlookers had already gathered.

Veteran officers Zhang Dayou and Liu Haiquan from the Songxin Town Police Station, along with trainee officers Zhao Le and Wu Wei, had set up a police cordon and were busy maintaining order.

Inside the apartment, members of the Criminal Investigation Division were working nonstop.

Some were documenting evidence, some were excavating the corpse buried beneath the balcony flower bed, while others were collecting forensic evidence from the bedroom.

As for Gu Youguo, he had been taken away for questioning as soon as the detectives arrived.

In the living room, Zhang Haiyang was briefing Criminal Investigation Captain Zhao Donglai and Police Station Chief Zhou Weimin on the details of the case. Luo Fei stood nearby, quietly assisting whenever needed.

About ten minutes later, Zhang Haiyang finished recounting the events.

When both Zhou Weimin and Zhao Donglai learned that it had been Luo Fei—a trainee officer on only his third day of work—who had first noticed something suspicious and ultimately led them to uncover the homicide case, they were visibly surprised.

Naturally, they didn't hesitate to praise him.

At seven o'clock that evening, Luo Fei clocked out and headed home.

Since he didn't own a vehicle, he walked.

His family lived near Longxing Street's Cement Factory district, roughly three kilometers from Xingfu Residential Community.

The distance wasn't particularly far.

Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the courtyard beneath the old cement factory dormitory building.

The dormitory was in terrible condition.

The building was dilapidated, filthy, and poorly maintained. Nobody even knew exactly how long it had been standing.

The factory workers had long since moved elsewhere.

Most of the current residents were elderly people from rural areas who had come to the county town to care for their grandchildren while they attended school.

Only those struggling financially could afford to live there.

Compared to other rentals in Ningjiang County, the rent was significantly cheaper.

Luo Fei's family lived there for one simple reason:

They couldn't afford anywhere else.

When he had first transmigrated into this world, Luo Fei had considered finding ways to improve the family's situation.

Unfortunately, aside from writing mystery novels—which he wasn't particularly successful at—he had no special skills.

Even in his previous life, he had only been a mediocre novelist.

Making serious money through writing was unrealistic.

Eventually, he placed all of his hopes on the Gene Fusion System.

Everything else became secondary.

For months, his sole focus had been passing the civil service examination and becoming a police officer.

His family's apartment was on the third floor.

Just as he was about to head upstairs, he spotted his younger brother, Luo Hao, coming down the staircase with a basketball tucked under his arm.

Luo Hao had recently entered high school.

His grades weren't outstanding, but with some effort, he still had a decent chance of getting into a respectable university.

"Finished your homework?" Luo Fei asked.

Half a year had passed since his transmigration.

During that time, the former orphan who had never experienced family warmth in his previous life had completely integrated into this household.

He genuinely regarded himself as the family's eldest son.

He wanted Luo Hao to study hard, attend a good university, and secure a stable future.

"Yeah, it's all done."

Luo Hao nodded immediately.

Ever since the day Luo Fei had caught him secretly learning to smoke with his classmates in an alley near the factory—and thoroughly disciplined him afterward—he had developed a healthy fear of his older brother.

Now that Luo Fei had become a police officer, that fear had only grown stronger.

"Good."

Luo Fei nodded.

"Go play basketball then, but be home before nine. Don't make Mom worry."

"I got it."

Only after Luo Hao hurried away did Luo Fei continue upstairs.

"Back from work, Luo Fei?"

"Just got off duty?"

"This kid's got a bright future. Becoming a police officer at such a young age—he'll definitely make something of himself."

Several elderly residents sitting in the hallway greeted him warmly.

The people who lived here were all ordinary folk struggling to make ends meet.

Most had few relatives or friends nearby and little entertainment in their daily lives.

Gathering together to chat and exchange gossip had become their favorite pastime.

As Luo Fei approached his family's door, he immediately spotted his mother.

Wu Yan sat on a small stool stringing pearl bracelets.

The job was simple but tedious.

She threaded pearls onto a cord and tied the ends using a specific knotting method.

Each completed bracelet earned her a processing fee of ten cents.

On average, she could make seventy or eighty bracelets per hour, earning seven or eight yuan.

If enough materials were available, she could complete roughly three hundred bracelets in a day outside of her regular work hours.

For someone in her circumstances, that was already a substantial supplement to the household income.

Unfortunately, the work wasn't available every day.

The only reason she could get orders at all was because Luo Fei's second aunt worked at the county's bracelet factory and occasionally brought unfinished products home.

Out of concern for her sister's struggling family, she often shared some of the work with Wu Yan.

Without personal connections, it was nearly impossible to obtain such jobs.

After all, there was only one bracelet factory in the entire county.

Wu Yan was so focused on her work that she didn't notice Luo Fei until he was almost standing in front of her.

"Xiaoxiao! Your brother's home. Come out and eat!"

She called into the apartment while setting aside her work.

Luo Fei stepped inside.

The apartment was tiny.

Less than thirty square meters in total.

The first room served as both kitchen and bedroom, where Luo Fei and Luo Hao slept.

The inner room contained a worn sofa, a coffee table, and a secondhand television. It functioned as both living room and bedroom for Wu Yan and his younger sister, Xiaoxiao.

There was no private bathroom.

Everyone in the building used a communal restroom on the ground floor.

The cement floor was cracked and uneven.

The walls were stained black with years of grime, scratches, and oil marks that could never be fully cleaned away.

Luo Fei had wanted to move out long ago.

However, before passing the civil service examination, he hadn't earned a single yuan.

The entire family of four had survived solely on his mother's meager income.

Back then, suggesting a move would have been absurd.

But things were different now.

He had a stable government salary.

The first thing he planned to do was improve their living conditions.

Seeing the dishes still covered on the table, Luo Fei frowned.

"Mom, didn't I call and tell you I'd be working late tonight? I told you not to wait for me."

"We didn't do much all day anyway."

Wu Yan smiled.

"We weren't hungry. You've been working since morning, so you must be starving."

Then she turned toward the inner room.

"Xiaoxiao, serve your brother some rice."

Luo Fei couldn't help smiling.

Being cared about like this felt surprisingly wonderful.

Dinner consisted of two dishes and a soup:

Stir-fried potatoes with cured pork, smashed cucumber salad, and a simple bok choy soup.

Ordinary home-cooked food.

Yet to Luo Fei, it tasted better than any feast.

It carried the flavor of home.

He ended up eating three full bowls of rice.

After dinner, Luo Fei offered to help string bracelets.

His mother refused.

"You've worked all day. Go rest and watch some television."

Since she insisted, he didn't argue.

Originally, he planned to lie down for a while.

But after glancing at the cramped room he shared with the kitchen—a room with absolutely no privacy—he quickly gave up on that idea.

After informing his mother, he left the apartment and headed toward a small path behind the cement factory.

Sitting atop a large rock on a hillside overlooking the factory, Luo Fei stared into the distance.

Today's case should count as solving a crime, right?

So why hasn't the system responded?

Does it only reward me after the entire case is officially closed? Maybe after the courts issue a verdict?

The question had been bothering him since noon.

The Gene Fusion System was his greatest reliance.

Without it, he knew exactly what he was worth.

No powerful background.

No elite education.

No extraordinary talents.

At best, he would spend his entire career as an ordinary police officer in Songxin Town.

But he had already lived an ordinary life once.

That life had ended in mediocrity and regret.

Now that fate had given him a second chance, he refused to repeat it.

That was why he had studied himself nearly to death preparing for the police examination.

He didn't want another average life.

He wanted more.

Just as anxiety and anticipation were beginning to overwhelm him—

A familiar mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

Ding! Congratulations, Host!

You have successfully solved a homicide case.

As this is your first solved case, a double reward has been granted.

Reward: 2,000 Gold Coins.

For a moment, Luo Fei froze.

Then a grin slowly spread across his face.

The system hadn't abandoned him after all.

His future had only just begun.