In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

"Why are you suddenly getting all sentimental? I'm perfectly fine."

"It's getting late, and I've finished bragging. Let's go back to sleep." Zhang Yong picked up the cloth bag and patted the dirt off his backside.

"I have to go to the police station again tomorrow."

Sun Lei swayed as he stood up, leaning on the bench. He felt a little dizzy from the sudden movement and had to stand against the wall for a while.

"Zhang Yong, what will happen to those five people...?"

Zhang Yong took a broom from the wall, swept up the incense ash and residue on the ground, and piled it aside.

"Xiao Li told me that these five people are temporarily classified as intentional injury, but we still need to ask them if they have done anything else. After the interrogation, they will definitely be transferred to the criminal investigation department."

Sun Lei leaned against the wall, watching Zhang Yong put the stool back in its place, tidy up the leftover food, and walk back to the building entrance. For some inexplicable reason, he opened his mouth again.

"Zhang Yong! I'm telling you the truth. I don't care if you live or die. Even if someone hits and kills you... I won't care."

"You drove my mother to such a state, my family is almost falling apart, why should I be nice to you...?"

"But I want to be a good teacher in the future... I can't bear this in my heart, I can't... I still have to teach children in the future, if something really happens to you, I'll be in my heart, I won't be able to bear it, I can't let myself down..."

"sorry......"

As he spoke, he suddenly buried his face in his hands and began to cry.

Zhang Yong walked towards the building entrance without turning his head.

"It's alright, see you tomorrow, Teacher Sun!"

The lights were dim, and several moths fluttered towards the streetlights.

The moonlight shone on the cement road in Jinsong Community, making it appear as a dazzling white expanse.

Zhang Yong went into the bedroom and locked the door.

After the steel plate was removed, I realized that I couldn't touch either side of my ribs at all; it hurt terribly.

I need to be careful these next few days, and not let Li Guilan see that I'm injured.

However, after glancing at the system panel in the corner, he felt it was still worth it.

[Fighting Lv.4: Progress 5% (AFK... 30x speed)]

It's at level 4.

A multiplayer battle, progressing directly from Lv.3 to Lv.4.

Zhang Yong clenched his fist, feeling the unique power between his knuckles.

Level 4 in combat is already at the level of a professional combat athlete.

If I could do this a couple more times, I'd be level 6 in five days.

At that point, when he's fighting, he really will be able to stand still.

……

at the same time.

A residential compound for employees of a large state-owned factory in Baoding.

Mr. Chen sat on the sofa in the living room, with the ashtray in front of him piled high with cigarette butts.

The phone rang several times, but no one answered.

He dialed it again.

"The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable."

Mr. Chen slammed the receiver back down, his face turning ashen.

Five people. None of them came back.

......

5:40 a.m.

The first thing Zhang Yong did when he opened his eyes wasn't to turn over; he was woken up by the pain.

The bruise on the right side of my ribs, after fermenting overnight, changed color from bluish-purple to dark purple, and the area also increased in size. When I breathe, my chest heaves and contracts, as if someone is slowly cutting inside with a dull knife.

He turned to his side, propped himself up on the edge of the bed with his left hand, and immediately a layer of fine sweat appeared on his forehead.

No, I have to press it.

He quietly opened the bedroom door. The hallway was dark, and Zhang Defa's snoring came from the master bedroom, even and loud.

There was a bottle of safflower oil on the bottom shelf of the shoe cabinet.

Zhang Yong unscrewed the bottle cap, poured the contents into his palm, gritted his teeth, and rubbed it onto his ribs.

Ugh, it's both spicy and painful.

He applied three layers of lint, then rummaged through the wardrobe and pulled out an old vest, tore it into two long strips, wrapped them around his chest and abdomen twice, and tightened them.

After getting dressed, Zhang Yong stretched his shoulders in front of the mirror to make sure there was nothing wrong with his appearance before opening the door and going out.

There was already some noise coming from the kitchen.

Li Guilan was busy at the stove wearing an apron, with millet porridge cooking in the pot and ham sausages and salted green beans being chopped on the cutting board.

"Up so early?" Li Guilan asked without turning her head.

"Yeah, I have something to do today."

Hearing the forced calmness in his voice, Li Guilan paused in her porridge-scooping hand and turned to look at him.

Why do you walk like an old man? You limp around like that.

"I have a stiff neck from sleeping in," Zhang Yong said casually as he carried the jar outside.

"Did you put your pillow on your back?" Li Guilan's eyes swept over his back. "Why don't you wait a moment, I'll rub it for you."

"No need, no need, a little exercise will do the trick."

Zhang Yong walked into the kitchen in two steps, inwardly cursing himself for his poor acting skills. Li Guilan's eyes were sharper than an X-ray.

As he went downstairs, he held onto the handrail with one hand and stepped down one step at a time.

He stopped to listen as he passed Sun Lei's house on the fourth floor, but there was no sound from inside.

That kid cried his eyes out last night, he's probably still crying in his dreams.

The door to the gatehouse was half open, and Grandpa Chen was already inside, with a strong cup of tea brewing in an enamel mug and the morning news playing on a radio.

"Good morning, sir."

"Hey, Zhang Yong! You got back pretty late last night. I was asleep and you were still waiting for me." Grandpa Chen looked at him over his reading glasses. "How was the tasting event?"

"Great! Director Wei is overjoyed; a lot of people have come."

Zhang Yong had just sat down on the steps outside the gatehouse when the phone rang.

Grandpa Chen answered the phone, listened for a couple of minutes, and then handed it to me. "It's for you, young lady."

Zhang Yong took the receiver. "Feeding? Wei Shuyun?"

"Zhang Yong!" Wei Shuyun's voice was a little dry, but she spoke quickly. "Are you home? Are you alright?"

"We're here, we're here, everything's fine." Zhang Yong leaned against the doorframe, his tone relaxed. "Not a single hair is missing."

"You're lying! My dad said you were surrounded by people when you got home tonight! It scared me to death!"

"It's nothing, I just punctured my tire again. The police station arrived quickly; they were here as soon as my tire was punctured."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a long exhale.

"I'm fine here." Zhang Yong changed his posture, trying to avoid putting pressure on his lower back.

"Let's talk about something else. How did the tasting event go?"

Wei Shuyun's tone suddenly brightened.

"Zhang Yong! Guess what!"

"Your idea—the small, custom-made bottles of Maotai-flavor liquor, the half-jin kind—was very popular. Several young logistics staff took a liking to it! They ordered over sixty cases in one go!"

Zhang Yong raised an eyebrow. "Sixty-odd cases, that's three hundred and sixty bottles?"

"Yes! And it wasn't just one unit, it was the logistics chiefs of three units who got together to discuss it! They said it was for Mid-Autumn Festival welfare, and this kind of wine that can be branded with the unit's name is good for visiting relatives. My dad even gave it a 15% discount."

"Has your dad done the math?"

"Forget it! He was typing away on his abacus half the night!" Wei Shuyun's voice laced with laughter. "All the losses from the first three months have been made up for in this one deal, plus a profit of over two thousand yuan!"

Zhang Yong nodded, the tasting event had gotten off to a good start.

"There's something else," Wei Shuyun said, her tone turning serious. "At yesterday's tasting event, there was a coal mine manager surnamed Meng, a local. He heard from my dad that you're a mechanical engineering student at Peking University, and he insisted on getting your phone number. I didn't dare give it to him, so I asked you first."

"A coal mine? What coal mine?"

"That one in the eastern suburbs of Tongxian, what's it called... Dongsheng Coal Mine or Dongxing Coal Mine, I think. Anyway, it's quite large, with over two hundred workers. He said their equipment keeps breaking down, and their production capacity is low, so he'd like you to take a look."

Zhang Yong narrowed his eyes.

The coal plant in 1990.

"Did you write down his number?"

"I've got it, I'll read it to you."

......