“Congratulations.” Zhang Heng complimented.
“Thank you.” Xu Qian accepted Zhang Heng’s blessing, took two more sips of tea, and put down the teacup. “As for my competitors, there are a lot of them, and I can give you all their names. All streamers who are almost as popular as me are to be considered competitors of mine. And as for those small-time streamers waiting to get to where I am today, there are countless of them. However, our competition isn’t too fierce. My only fierce competitors are those who adopt the same streaming style and as popular as me. I can give you their names.”
“Hmm?”
Xu Qian tapped her bracelet and quickly selected a few business cards from the address book and sent them to Zhang Heng.
“I considered this possibility before. If one of them decided to stalk me, I figured they would have hired someone to do it. The person could be a private investigator. I bet they are trying to dig up dark stories about my past. Once found, they would post these on the internet to make my popularity drop. Sometimes, those in this line will do whatever it takes to get the upper hand.”
Zhang Heng clicked on the email and looked at it, making no comments.
“Is there anything else you want to ask?”
“That’s it for the time being. I will investigate the list you gave me first,” Zhang Heng said.
Xu Qian widened her eyes. She seemed a little surprised. “In addition to guarding my personal safety, the bodyguards of G7Z are also responsible for investigating my stalker?”
When Zhang Heng was asking the questions previously, some doubts emerged in Xu Qian’s heart. This was her first time meeting a bodyguard that tried to collect such detailed information about her. Instead of looking like a bodyguard, Zhang Heng looked more like a private detective. Initially, she thought that he needed all that information to develop a protection plan for her. She did not expect Zhang Heng to take the lead and investigate this matter.
Zhang Heng’s expression remained unchanged. “Oh, haven’t the people in the company told you about my working style? I prefer to take the initiative to attack instead of sitting back and wait for the enemies to arrive.”
“Uh… I didn’t ask too many questions. All they did was give me a price list and the cost of each service. Anyway…” Xu Qian seemed to think of something, but she did not continue. She added after a pause, “Anyway, I have completed the payment. It’s up to you. You can investigate it if you want, but you can only go out when I’m streaming. And you have to come back at night. When I go out, you have to stay by my side to ensure my safety.”
“No problem,” Zhang Heng said.
Other than wanting to help Xu Qian solve her problem, he also wanted to take this opportunity to find the whereabouts of the shellac records. Although he had 240 days of extra game time, this quest didn’t seem to contain any threats at the moment.
Xu Qian was satisfied with Zhang Heng’s answer, “Very well. I’ll have to ask you to live with me for the coming two weeks. The master bedroom is my room, and the second bedroom is for work. I’m afraid you will need to sleep on the sofa. However, my sofa is a high-end product, more comfortable than the beds on the first and second floors. The sofa can be reassembled, completely flattened, and it can be controlled via your bracelet.”
“Okay.”
Zhang Heng did not care much about where he lived. He had slept in a constantly moving hammock on a ship and the little hut that he built. he wasn’t here for a vacation, after all. All he needed was a place that could shelter him from the wind and rain.
Xu Qian stood up from the sofa and stretched her waist. “I have already ordered some bedding products for you. The express delivery will arrive in a while. You can buy your necessities and a change of clothes for yourself. I will start my streaming later. According to our agreement, you can go out during that time, but you’ll have to be back before midnight. That will be all.”
Xu Qian stretched out her hand after she was done talking. “I hope we can get along for the next two weeks.”
“I will find out who is stalking you.” Zhang Heng and Xu Qian shook hands.
“That’s would be the best.”
The truth was that Xu Qian didn’t believe that Zhang Heng could deliver his promise. “There is still some time left before my next stream. I’m going to take a short nap. Do as you wish.”
Xu Qian walked into the master bedroom, and the door displayed the word, LOCKED.
A quarter of an hour later, a drone carrying a package flew toward the window, and Zhang Heng instantly received an item confirmation on his phone. After Zhang Heng clicked confirm, the upper part of the floor-to-ceiling window opened up, allowing the drone to fly in.
The drone dropped the package by the wall in the living room, played some music, and flew out the window. About twenty minutes later, Xu Qian walked out of the bedroom, yawning. She then looked at the parcel in the corner. “The parcel is here? You can head out now.”
“Well, if you need anything, just call me.” Zhang Heng picked up the Shrouded Sheath and Pestilence Bone Bow at his feet and said goodbye to Xu Qian.
…
On his first day out, Zhang Heng did not immediately start an investigation. He wanted to get himself familiar with the city first. He walked out of the apartment and came to the street outside. Xu Qian’s unit was inside the dome, and the floor-to-ceiling windows were not facing the street. So this was Zhang Heng’s first time seeing the outside world.
The entire third level’s design was technological oriented. With tall buildings at every corner, both the sidewalk and the main roads were very spacious. Unlike the futuristic city in the Blade Runner movie, Zhang Heng saw no flying cars. The cars on the road still ran on four wheels. However, gasoline used to power vehicles had now been replaced by a new energy source.
The air, on the other hand, was reserved for the suspension railway, which was also the main public transport on the third level of this city. It led to every corner of town. Other than that, billboards that could be found in Blade Runner were used here. Its projection technology allowed the billboards to show different advertisements to different people continuously.
From the automatic shaving razor to the chocolate cake, the advertisements tempted the consumers to purchase them. Generally speaking, the weather on the third level of this city was mainly sunny. When Zhang Heng looked at the people that walked on the street, everyone looked quite confident. Striding along with their chests up, they looked like they were in a mighty rush. They appeared very optimistic about the future that was coming at them.
The plants that were planted on both sides of the road were done very well. Coupled with the extremely realistic sky mimicry, residents here did not feel depressed at all.
Dusk was coming soon; hence, the sky’s brightness was dimmed accordingly. Zhang Heng stood at the crossroads, thinking about where to eat later. He had been fiddling with his wristband for a while, and he had figured out all of its functions.
The good news was that although science and technology in this quest were far more advanced than the real world, it wouldn’t be too difficult for Zhang Heng to get the hang of it. It was only the year 2077, after all, and it meant that the criminal investigation methods that Zhang Heng had mastered so far could still come in handy.
