Chapter 435: Chao Company

The holes on the target weren't small at all?

Upon hearing the female officer's question, the range manager couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

So that kid didn't just get lucky once—he got lucky more than once?

Skeptical, he grabbed the binoculars hanging around his neck, glanced at the target, and his eyes instantly widened, his face filled with disbelief.

Supersonic shot? Six rounds on target?

That young kid fired only about twenty shots at the five-hundred-meter supersonic target—and somehow achieved a hit rate close to one-third?

This… the Police Department isn't the military. In hand-to-hand combat, maybe the difference isn't great, but someone who can shoot this accurately? Extremely rare.

Add up all the police precincts in the capital—over thirty thousand officers—and the number who can consistently hit supersonic targets? Probably not even two hands' worth! Really… how old was that kid just now? Did he start handling guns in the womb?

"?"

Watching the manager's face shift repeatedly—as if he'd just witnessed Teddy relentlessly pounding a Tibetan mastiff—the female officer furrowed her brow deeply and spoke up:

"Don't worry. I just saw his target and asked out of curiosity. I have no intention of bothering him."

Practicing such dangerous things isn't ideal, but as long as he doesn't use it during official duties, it's none of my business!"

"Ah? Oh, oh!"

Half-listening to the female officer, the range manager snapped out of his shock, remembered his earlier conversation with his colleague, and his dark face instantly flushed crimson.

He dared ask for the five-hundred-meter target because he truly believed he could hit it. But we, seeing he was young, first condescended to pressure him into switching to the half-distance target, then refused to even look at the target afterward, outright declaring he wouldn't hit a single shot. Now thinking back, we've lost all dignity.

Mumbling incoherently, the humiliated manager shuffled off awkwardly and hurried back to change the targets, while the female officer used the time to check the registration log at the range entrance.

"The previous person… Li Ang… Li Ang Lian?"

Seeing that familiar surname, the female officer's already furrowed brow deepened into a delicate little " Chuan " shape.

Lian… why is it always someone from the Lionheart Duke's family?

…

The next morning, as dawn barely broke, the hardworking worker Li Ang walked again to work, braving the autumn chill.

It wasn't that Li Ang insisted on rising so early—it was that from Veteran's Lane, where his family lived, to the Municipal Office where the Cleanup Bureau was located, it was nearly five or six kilometers. Walking there took about an hour, so he had no choice but to get up early.

As for why he didn't take the tram or steam carriage—well, public transport was nominally "public," but its exorbitant fare of one copper wheel per three kilometers had effectively barred over half the capital's residents from riding.

After joining the Cleanup Bureau, Li Ang earned over sixty thousand copper wheels annually—he could afford it. But the "Gao Te" cigarettes he bought for Black Goat were too expensive: one pack cost three silver wheels. He'd spent his entire two-gold-wheel field allowance and nearly emptied his pockets.

Walking an hour in the cold was hard, but compared to the hardship of having no money, it was clearly the happier option. And walking to work wasn't entirely without benefits… at least he could get a hot cup of coffee.

"Boss, one strong coffee, two thin slices of bread."

Huddled against the wind, Li Ang slipped skillfully into the coffee stall's tent, carefully unwound his scarf, and sat down at the spot closest to the stove. After nodding at this "regular customer," the stall owner tightened his apron outwardly but secretly pulled the insulated drawer filled with ham slices outward, letting the meaty aroma drift out, then smiled and asked:

"Got it~ Butter? Extra ham slices?"

"…"

Looking at the stall owner's smug, smiling face, Li Ang hesitated.

Without butter, just coffee, the breakfast cost half a copper wheel. Add butter, one copper wheel. Add ham slices, another copper wheel.

His bus fare from home to the Cleanup Bureau was only two copper wheels total. If he added butter and ham, he'd have walked five kilometers for nothing.

But…

The warm, sweet scent of butter, and the sizzling, melting fat of the ham slices releasing their irresistible oily aroma—"no" suddenly grew lazy, refusing to crawl out of his lips.

"Well, today isn't as cold as yesterday, and fewer customers came. I fried more ham slices than usual… might not sell them all…"

As if seeing through Li Ang's struggle, the seemingly honest but shrewd stall owner chuckled and offered:

"How about this—if you add ham today, I'll charge you half a copper wheel less. Consider it a loyal-customer discount. You help my business, how's that?"

"…"

"Add it! Slather on the butter!"

In the end, he couldn't resist the fat. He patted his empty wallet, glanced at his thin arms, then clenched his teeth and nodded fiercely.

Three days until payday. After treating the red-haired bureau chief to drinks, he'd still have eight or nine gold wheels left. Two copper wheels wouldn't matter.

Also, after getting the new anomaly item from the chief today, he'd have to investigate the Hydro Company. He wouldn't get a free lunch at the Police Department's canteen. If he didn't eat well now, how would he have the energy for fieldwork?

"Got it~"

Smiling, the stall owner pulled out his dwindling supply of ham slices, skillfully drizzled homemade sauce over them, and laid them on the stone slab above the charcoal fire alongside the bread. Watching this, Li Ang—used to years of frugality—felt a pang in his chest.

To ease his guilt, he lifted his gaze away from the two "copper wheels" heating on the slab and made small talk with the owner.

"Boss, what's your name?"

"Chao, like in Chao Department Store."

Anyone running a street stall wouldn't be socially anxious. The shrewd owner grinned:

"Customer, no need for formal titles. Just call me Old Chao."

Chao Department Store… Chao Company?

That name—it's the same as the scumbag Hydro Company that dumps sewage into the public water pipes!

(End of Chapter)