บท 4: Chapter 4

'Eh? Where did that brat go?' Zhang Qin Feng's uncle came down from his room upstairs with a towel in his hand. Noticing that a piece of receipt is taken out from the book, he turned the book around to check what was printed on its carbon copy.

"His handwriting is not bad. It is indeed a waste keeping him here in my small establishment...' his uncle takes a look at his shabby-looking store. Although it was a profitable business, the way he operates is not preferable by the younger generation.

Perhaps that's the reason why those youngster working with him does not stay for too long, even if the pay is good.

...

"System!"

"Open status panel!"

"Inventory!"

"Tutorial!"

Zhang Qin Feng was speaking to himself as he pushed the trolley full of products along the way. It was about a few hundred meters away because the shop was located at the end of the business street.

'Nothing works... Do I really have a superpower or no?' Zhang Qin Feng sighed.

"Young un, can you bring this recyclable stuff on my behalf to the nearest collecting point? You can keep what they pay as your tips." the business owner said as he pointed at the stack of folded cardboard, glass bottles, and aluminum cans.

Based on Zhang Qin Feng's familiarity with the recyclable rates, the stuff here worth less than ten dollars at most.

It was a question of willing or not. As his uncle was not with him in this delivery, he has the right to decide whether to help or not.

"Alright. I'll do it." Zhang Qin Feng nodded. There's nothing to complain about from pocketing ten dollars extra as he returns to the shop. Furthermore, he'll eventually walk past the collecting point anyway.

Using the two elastic bands with hooks attached to the trolley, Zhang Qin Feng tightened the recycling materials before leaving.

"Are you the brat helping Old Chen? On your way to the recycling point?" the head chef of a restaurant few stores beside store 99 greets Zhang Qin Feng as he noticed the content on his trolley.

"Hello, head chef. Yes, I'm the one that came with my uncle yesterday." Zhang Qin Feng replied with a friendly tone.

"Can you help me as well? Just a few boxes, ok?" the head chef quickly stuff a few more folded boxes into the trolley.

"Thank you, youngster. I'll treat you some good food next time you're here," he added before heading back into the kitchen.

The same thing repeated along his way. The load on his way back ended up become heavier than when he left his uncle's store. Although he eventually got close to twenty dollars from selling all the recyclables, it was quite a tiring journey back to his uncle's store.

"Huh... I'm so tired today," Zhang Qin Feng opened a bottle of chilled soda kept inside the fridge.

"Got conned by that damn business owner to move their shit, I assumed?" Zhang Qin Feng's uncle came with a smile on his face.

"How do you know, uncle?" Zhang Qin Feng turned around and asked how his uncle manage to guess it correctly.

"That's because he always does it with those delivering his order using a trolley. This is also why I often make his order the last one before we finished for the day." Zhang Qin Feng's uncle chuckled as he patted his back.

"Ah, no wonder..." Zhang Qin Feng finally realized that he was conned by the business owner. Although there's twenty dollars reward for doing so, it was more tiring than doing a delivery.

"We're finished for today. Go home earlier and rest. I'm sure you're exhausted today." Zhang Qin Feng's uncle stuffed a hundred dollars note into Zhang Qin Feng's hand before telling him to go home.

"Thank you, uncle!" Zhang Qin Feng stuffed the note into his pocket and tidied whatever was left outside before he left. Although his uncle did mention that he can get them done by himself, Zhang Qin Feng was reluctant to let his uncle do it on his own.

'It was only proper that I clear them up before leaving.' Zhang Qin Feng tells himself.

...

Although it was tiring, going back home with two bags worth of food and beverages was something to be happy about. Stuffing all the items into the fridge and storage boxes, Zhang Qin Feng was whistling as he went for a shower.

**Ding - Ling**

The mobile phone that was shut for the whole day finally seen its light again when Zhang Qin Feng switched it open.

**Dururu - Dururu...**

It keeps vibrating for a few minutes after the phone completely booted. There are a total of fifteen miss calls and six text messages shown on display.

'Four trash messages. Two from Fatty Xie.' Zhang Qin Feng deleted the four advert messages and tapped into Fatty Xie's message folder.

'Sleeping? Come down and eat.' the message was delivered at 10:31pm yesterday.

'Why are your phone still off?' this message came at 6:00am in the morning.

As for the missed call, almost all of them are from Fatty Xie.

"I thought you're dead!" Fatty Xie screamed from the other side of the phone the moment the call is connected.

"Hahaha, I was resurrected. Luckily, not as a zombie, but as a human. Let eat tonight. My treat." Zhang Qin Feng said.

"Alright. I'll see you tonight at 9pm. I'll get back to work first." the line was disconnected afterward.

'Three hours to go... Should I take a nap?" Zhang Qin Feng tucked himself under his blanket as he fiddle with his phone. But then, a very disappointing notice came from his mobile phone.

**Low Battery**

'What the...**

Zhang Qin Feng stares at the mobile phone in his hand.

'Is something is wrong with the battery? Or else, how can it get out of juice in less than half an hour?' Zhang Qin Feng quickly plugs the charger cable to keep the phone going.

Unsure that he can keep using this phone until night, he sent another text to Fatty Xie.

'My phone battery is not working. Just come straight to the stall downstairs when it's 9pm.'

After sending the text to Fatty Xie, Zhang Qin Feng fiddles with the phone again. But the battery on the phone is still decreasing even while it was on charge.

"No! Don't die on me! I haven't even earned enough for my rental this month!" Zhang Qin Feng slapped the table and the mobile phone as the battery is draining faster than charging.

Close to three minutes later, the phone was automatically off due to out of battery.

'I'm finished...' Zhang Qin Feng went on a daze as he believes that the phone is officially broken. But it also comes with another surprise.

[Toot!]

[System is in Power Saving Mode]

[Greetings, User]

'Huh? - Huh???' Zhang Qin Feng closed both of his ears as the sweet voice came directly into his head. Out of a sudden, he was in confusion for being unable to clarify what is actually happening to him.

[S.T.E.I.N]

[I am a collective of a system created from an alternate world with the same timeline as your universe]

'A system? Is this a prank? How can something appear out of nowhere without reason?' Zhang Qin Feng wanted to believe what the voice in his head said, but he had difficulty trusting it completely.

[I can assure you it was not a prank]

'Then... Show me what you can do!' Zhang Qin Feng challenged the system.

[Running scan]

[Ten porno magazines are found below the bed. If the user took the third book out, there's a ten dollars note hidden there]

[There's a bunch of dead mice behind the fridge. By removing them from the spot, it would make the air inside the room fresher. This way, the user can recover 17% of your stamina used today. Not removing them will make your nap efficiency drop by 4%]

'You must be joking... Dead mice my head.' Zhang Qin Feng pulled the fridge about half of his height out to check things out.

His jaw was unable to close the moment he spotted five dead mice hidden under the fridge's fan compartment.

'For - For real?' Zhang Qin Feng fell to the ground.