Perhaps it was because she had been lost in thought for too long, or perhaps her strange expression was too obvious, but Guan Xia suddenly heard the police officer calling her, "Miss? Miss Guan?"
Guan Xia quickly snapped back to reality and turned her attention back to the officer in front of her.
The officer frowned, his expression still stern, but there was a faint glint of excitent in his dark, bright eyes as he asked, "Miss Guan, did you rember sothing?"
Guan Xia hesitated for a mont. Though her encounter with the repairman didn’t quite match the description on the interface, she gritted her teeth and answered, trusting the system, "Officer, yesterday when I was coming ho, I ran into a repairman in the hallway. I’m not sure if he counts as suspicious, but when he asked if I needed help, I noticed there was a stain on his sleeve."
She raised her arm and pointed to the spot highlighted in red on the interface earlier. "Right here—a small brown patch. I think it might have been blood."
The officer’s excitent beca even more apparent as he pressed urgently, "What did he look like?"
Guan Xia tried her best to recall and describe him. "He wasn’t very tall, maybe half a head taller than —probably just over 170 cm. He had a square face, sparse and ssy eyebrows, narrow eyes with single eyelids, but his nose was high and straight. His lips were a bit thick, and oh—he had a mole on the right corner of his mouth."
Perhaps because her description was so detailed, the officer gave her a surprised glance as he took notes.
Guan Xia couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. Truthfully, her mory wasn’t that great, but the interface had gone above and beyond. The mont the officer asked what the man looked like, the video rewound and paused perfectly on the mont she had faced the repairman directly. It even zood in on his face, as if afraid she wouldn’t see clearly, making Guan Xia feel slightly dizzy from staring at it.
Suppressing the urge to sigh, she explained seriously, "Officer, I graduated from art school. It might be a professional habit—I’m pretty good at rembering faces."
She paused, then took another careful look at the enlarged face in her mind before adding, "That repairman’s face… maybe it’s just my imagination, but sothing felt off. His nose didn’t look very… real."
She tried to phrase it diplomatically. In truth, it wasn’t just "not real"—it looked downright fake, completely defying anatomy, like a skyscraper built on flat ground. She had no idea which costic clinic could have produced such a result.
Guan Xia thought she had said all she needed to, assuming the routine questioning was over. But then the officer cleared his throat awkwardly and gave her an almost sheepish look. "So, Miss Guan… since you said you graduated from art school, would you mind drawing a sketch of the suspect for us?"
Guan Xia stared at him for a long mont. She couldn’t refuse a request from the police, but a sinking feeling told her that the peaceful, leisurely life she had worked so hard to achieve was about to slip away.
After exchanging WeChat contacts with the officer and watching him leave, she shut the door with a sharp click.
Dragging herself to the study where she usually painted, she pulled out an A4 sheet and clipped it to her drawing board. As she sketched, she tried reasoning with the system that had suddenly appeared.
Considering it had taken twenty-five years after her transmigration for this so-called "cheat" to show up, Guan Xia couldn’t help but grumble, "Why don’t you co a little later? Maybe wait until I’m on my deathbed."
The interface vanished with a whoosh, as if it had never existed in the first place.
Guan Xia only grew angrier.
Before transmigrating, her life hadn’t been great—her parents divorced, neither had ti for her—but the monthly alimony paynts had at least gotten her through college. Her job was dull and often required overti, but the pay was decent enough to support herself and fund her hobbies.
But after transmigrating? Not only was she reborn as a baby, but she also woke up in an orphanage. From the mont she could speak, she was forced into the ruthless competition for survival. She had to relearn the social skills she’d barely grasped in her past life and refine them just to stand out among the other orphans—to eat enough, stay warm, and avoid being bullied. It was only by honing her artistic talent that she earned a benefactor’s sponsorship, got into art school, and eventually beca a comic artist, finally achieving the comfortable life she’d dread of.
If this "informant system" had co earlier, she might have eagerly chosen a path as a police officer. But now? Even if she had the chance to join the force, she couldn’t bear to give up the life she’d fought so hard for. She wasn’t lacking money or free ti—why would she willingly dive into sothing as dangerous as this?
Just thinking about the lives of police officers in cri dramas made her shudder. She tried negotiating with the system as calmly as possible. "Look, System, I had it rough before, but I’m doing fine now. I don’t really need a cheat. Why not bind to soone else? I’m sure there are plenty of people out there willing to dedicate their lives to protecting others—like that officer earlier?"
The interface remained indifferent, as if everything that had happened was just Guan Xia’s imagination.
Pursing her lips, she persisted. "Honestly, System, if you’d bound to twenty years ago, I would’ve used you to fight cri with everything I had. But you’re way too late. I’m just an ordinary office worker now—no strength, no combat skills, and I barely leave the house when I’m drawing comics. Soone like would just waste your potential. I’m saying this for your sake—find soone else."
Still, no response.
Guan Xia massaged her temples, exasperated. Admittedly, she still had a bit of that teenage idealism left in her, but the mont she imagined facing real-life criminals, any heroic fantasies evaporated.
She knew her limits—she wasn’t strong, wasn’t fast, and had no talent for martial arts. Even if she abandoned her career to train, she doubted she’d last more than a few seconds against actual criminals.
As for cooperating with the police… the thought alone made her shake her head. She knew that if she revealed everything, they’d trust her—after verification—but that trust would co with constant surveillance, protection, and relentless demands to maximize her usefulness.
She understood the reasoning, but as an ordinary person, she knew she couldn’t handle that kind of life. After much deliberation, Guan Xia sighed in resignation and decided to ignore the system.
She’d contribute where she could, but she wouldn’t go out of her way to seek danger.
After spending over half an hour sketching and refining the repairman’s portrait, she wasted no ti sending it to the officer.
After receiving a simple "thank you" in reply, Guan Xia tucked her phone into her bag, hung up the freshly washed laundry, and prepared to change her shoes to leave.
Just as she reached the entryway, her phone rang.
Without even guessing, Guan Xia knew it was her unreliable best friend. Pulling out her phone, she confird it was indeed Pang Le.
Answering the call, Pang Le’s carefree voice chid in her ear, "Bestie, I heard there was a murder in your neighborhood?"
Recalling Pang Le’s vast and intricate network of connections, Guan Xia wasn’t surprised and simply replied, "Yeah, it happened right above my apartnt. The police are still at the scene."
Pang Le gasped dramatically. "I’m coming to get you. Stay put." Without waiting for a response, she hung up.
Knowing her friend’s temperant all too well, Guan Xia didn’t dare disobey and obediently sat on the couch.
After scrolling through short videos for over ten minutes, a set of light, hurried footsteps stopped outside her door, followed imdiately by a rapid series of knocks.
Guan Xia opened the door, and Pang Le glanced at her legs, grinning. "It’s been three days, and you’re still not healed? You really should listen to and exercise properly. How are you supposed to keep up with when we’re in our fifties otherwise?"
Guan Xia rolled her eyes and used her hiking pole to hook the handle of her suitcase, pushing it toward Pang Le. "Keep up with you? More like survive you. What kind of sane person climbs three mountains in five days? I’m just glad I made it back alive. Stop lecturing and carry this for ."
Pang Le swept aside the hair that had fallen annoyingly over her chest and obediently picked up the suitcase, even extending a hand toward Guan Xia. "Need to hold you? Or I could carry you if you prefer."
Guan Xia glanced at Pang Le’s figure-hugging rmaid dress and scoffed, then strode ahead with her hiking pole, leaving her friend behind.
After locking the door, Guan Xia had barely taken a step down the stairs when Pang Le casually set the suitcase against the wall, craned her neck to look upstairs, and winked at Guan Xia. "I’ve never really seen a homicide detective up close. Wait here—I’m going to take a peek."
Without waiting for a response, she bounded up the stairs in a few quick strides.
Guan Xia watched Pang Le’s retreating figure with a headache, recalling the photo of the detective team she’d once seen on her phone. She already knew exactly what Pang Le was about to say.
Two or three minutes later, Pang Le ca clattering back down, her expression practically glowing. Her eyes sparkled with excitent as she looked at Guan Xia. "Have you seen the captain of that detective team? He’s seriously good-looking."
Guan Xia continued descending the stairs without turning around, replying dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, sure. Handso, whatever."
Pang Le followed, carrying the suitcase, and laughed before sighing regretfully. "Handso, sure, but he’s clearly the difficult type. What a sha."
Guan Xia glanced back at her, skeptical. "I bet you’re just saying he’s difficult because you secretly want the challenge."
Pang Le fell silent for a few seconds before clicking her tongue. "Nah, not this one. Too much effort. I’ll stick with toying with that lawyer for now."
Guan Xia raised an eyebrow. "Giving up already? That’s not like you."
She recalled the photo of the young man—though slightly blurred, his sharp jawline and towering height compared to the crowd were undeniable. His broad shoulders and narrow waist suggested regular workouts, likely due to his profession. Compared to Pang Le’s usual dating pool, his aura was far more composed and restrained. But still, Guan Xia couldn’t see why he’d be so unapproachable that Pang Le wouldn’t even try.
As she pondered, Pang Le added, "He’s different from the guys I’ve t before. Clearly the type who’s driven by ambition and works relentlessly for it. I wouldn’t mind chasing him, but it’d take way too much energy. Not worth it for . There are plenty of other good-looking guys out there—no need to climb mountains for one."
Guan Xia let out a dry laugh. "You keep telling to fix my lazy habits, but maybe you should work on your collector’s ntality first."
Ignoring the jab, Pang Le tossed her long hair over her shoulder and gracefully strode past Guan Xia, leading the way downstairs.
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