He walked straight through the single, somewhat rusty iron gate.
As he passed the guardhouse, his gaze swept over it quickly.
Inside, an industrial standing fan was whirring noisily, but the stuffy, hot air didn't seem to lessen in the slightest.
An old man in a security guard uniform sat there, yawning.
Hu Qi entered the district.
As a residential area over twenty years old, and a resettlement housing project to boot, Hanlin Garden District looked rather dilapidated.
The roads in the district were riddled with potholes, greenery along the sides was sparse, and haphazardly parked vehicles were everywhere.
A few crooked old trees with sparse leaves swayed limply in the breeze.
Hu Qi glanced around.
Following his memory, he headed down the road to his right.
After reaching the second row of residential buildings, he turned in and walked until he reached the second-to-last building before stopping.
A crooked sign hung by the entrance to the unit: "Building 8, Unit 1."
The unit's door was dark green, mottled with rust, and currently ajar.
The entrance was crowded with electric scooters of various colors, and the ground was littered with waste paper and cigarette butts.
The entire building was 33 stories tall, with five households per floor, but there were only two elevators.
Just then, one of the elevators happened to be on the first floor.
Hu Qi reached out and pressed the button, and the elevator doors slowly opened.
He stepped into the elevator. The fan in the upper-right corner was humming, blowing out a faintly cool breeze.
All four walls of the elevator were plastered with ads, looking mottled and old. It ascended in fits and starts, clearly having seen many years of use and suffering from some issues.
Furthermore, some idiot had apparently smoked in the elevator earlier, and the acrid smell of smoke filled the small space.
Hu Qi couldn't help but frown slightly, instinctively holding his breath.
Fortunately, no one else got on, and he soon arrived at his floor.
The elevator doors opened. He stepped out and walked to the apartment door directly opposite, which was marked "1503."
He took out his key.
'Hmm, the guys who beat up the original owner only looted his valuables; they didn't take the key.'
'Otherwise, I would've had to pay a locksmith to get in.'
CLICK!
He inserted the key into the lock, gave it a light twist, and the door opened.
A faint, strange smell immediately wafted out from inside.
It was a small rental apartment, about forty square meters, consisting of a bathroom and a main bedroom.
More than enough space for one person.
In the room was a simple single bed with a slightly messy quilt.
Next to the bed was a small, white wooden desk piled with all sorts of clutter: an unfinished book, a half-empty bottle of water, and some other small odds and ends.
A simple wardrobe stood in the corner.
Its white door was half-open, revealing a few articles of clothing hanging inside.
A black chair was placed by the window. Sunlight streamed through a gap in the grimy curtains, casting a faint, straight line of light onto it.
Several pairs of shoes—sneakers and slippers among them—were strewn carelessly on the floor.
There was also a simple shoe rack near the door.
Hu Qi didn't bother changing his shoes and walked straight in.
He placed the watermelon he was holding on the desk, then walked over, pulled back the curtains, and opened the window.
Sunlight instantly flooded in, and the once-dim room brightened.
Afterward, Hu Qi began to tidy up the room.
He didn't have the money to change his living environment for now, so he could only try to make it cleaner.
After all, living in a filthy environment for too long could easily make you sick if you weren't physically robust, not to mention other issues.
He once saw a news story about a beautiful, glamorous woman whose rental apartment was filled with trash, with rats and cockroaches running rampant. She had even been relieving herself anywhere she pleased. The landlord who came to inspect the place was so overwhelmed by the stench that he threw up.
'What a special talent,' Hu Qi could only think. 'I could never do that. I'm a bit of a clean freak in that regard.'
Half an hour later, the apartment looked brand new.
After eating two slices of watermelon, Hu Qi went into the bathroom.
The bathroom was a combined kitchen and toilet. On a counter outside was a gas stove and an iron wok. Judging by the dust that had accumulated on them, which he noticed while cleaning, the original owner clearly hadn't used them much.
Farther in was a sink, with a mirror missing a corner hanging above it.
Hu Qi walked over. The mirror reflected a young man with a very ordinary face and build.
The Young Man's skin was somewhat pale, and his hair was a bit long, covering his forehead and the corners of his eyes, which made him look a little gloomy.
'To be honest, this is the first time in days I've gotten such a close look at this body.'
'It's very plain, a far cry from my own handsome face.'
'But it doesn't matter. Whether I'm good-looking or not is meaningless to me.'
'I can't see it when I'm not looking in a mirror anyway. So even if I'm ugly, at worst it'll just disgust other people.'
HSSS—!
Hu Qi turned on the showerhead, and a stream of water cascaded down from above.
The water beat down on his head and shoulders. His soaked hair slowly drooped, covering his eyes.
He wiped his face with his hand and pushed his hair back.
He let out a soft breath, closed his eyes, and began to map out his future.
'At first, I just wanted to make some money and improve my life.'
'But now there's something else: using the Modifier to increase my own strength.'
'The Perfection Level Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique has brought about significant changes.'
'For example.'
'Over the past two days, my sleep quality has become excellent. I don't dream at all, and just six hours of sleep leaves me feeling incredibly energetic.'
'My physical senses have also become sharper, and so on.'
'Though these latent improvements are subtle, the benefits are self-evident.'
Perhaps it was an imprint deep within human genes, or maybe it was just Hu Qi's own personality, but the feeling was somewhat addictive.
But he was also well aware.
The improvements from the Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique required long-term accumulation. Even if he practiced it for a lifetime, the enhancements would likely be limited to the level of an ordinary person.
This left Hu Qi feeling unsatisfied.
Therefore, he prepared to change his plan. While figuring out how to make money, he would also search for more Skills that could increase his strength.
As for Skills that could increase his strength, he had discovered that this world had a huge number of fighting competitions.
Some of the better high schools and universities even offered courses that specifically taught Fighting Techniques.
Of course, the original owner had only attended an ordinary vocational high school.
He never had such an opportunity, and now that he was a working stiff, trying to mooch free training from a school was clearly unrealistic.
Thus, to learn a fighting method that could increase his strength, the simplest path was to find a martial arts gym that offered classes and sign up.
He already had a target in mind for this.
The only worry, however, was that he seemed to be a bit short on cash.
He had just checked; his mobile account balance was only 836.25 yuan.
...
「Red Scale Fighting Club」
According to his navigation app, it was about two or three kilometers from his rental apartment.
Hu Qi chose this club partly because it was close, but the key reason was that its prices were relatively affordable.
Plus, its reviews were good, making it quite suitable for a poor guy like him.
After his shower and a short rest, Hu Qi went downstairs.
He pressed the button on his electronic key fob.
BEEP! BEEP!
Instantly, a black electric scooter parked in a corner responded.
A rectangular delivery box was mounted on the back of the scooter. It was the original owner's vehicle; his job had been a food delivery driver.
The original owner had dropped out of school at seventeen. Even earning 150 yuan a day for four years, with no bad habits and occasional financial support from his aunt's family, he shouldn't have been left with so little savings.
From his memories, Hu Qi knew that the original owner had worked day and night for the past few years, saving up over a hundred thousand yuan.
However, he had spent all that money on buying gifts to pursue the "goddess" of his affections, which led to Hu Qi's current awkward situation.
'Simps really do die miserable deaths.'