He walked straight through the single, slightly rusty iron gate.
As he passed the security room, his gaze quickly swept inside.
Within the room, an industrial floor fan whirred, yet the stuffy air seemed not to diminish in the slightest.
An elderly man in a security uniform sat there, yawning.
Hu Qi entered the community.
Hanlin Garden Community, being an old residential area with over twenty years of history and also a resettlement housing project, appeared somewhat dilapidated.
The roads in the community were riddled with potholes, greenery along the sides was sparse, and various vehicles were haphazardly parked everywhere.
A few crooked old trees, with sparse branches and leaves, swayed weakly in the breeze.
Hu Qi looked around.
Following his memory, he walked towards the path on the right.
After reaching the second row of residential buildings, he turned in and walked until the second to last building before stopping.
A crooked house number sign, "Building 8 Unit 1," hung at the unit entrance.
The dark green unit door, covered in rust, was half-open at the moment.
The entrance was crowded with electric bikes of various colors, and some discarded papers and cigarette butts were scattered on the ground.
The entire building had 33 floors, with five households per floor, but only two elevators.
At that moment, one elevator happened to be on the first floor.
Hu Qi reached out and pressed the button, and the elevator door slowly opened.
He stepped into the elevator; the fan in the upper right corner of the elevator hummed, blowing a slightly cool breeze.
All four sides of the elevator were covered with advertisements, appearing mottled and old, and it jolted as it ascended, clearly having been in use for many years and having some issues.
Moreover, some fellow had smoked in the elevator earlier, and the pungent smell of smoke permeated the small space.
Hu Qi couldn't help but frown slightly, instinctively holding his breath.
Fortunately, no one entered the elevator midway, and soon, he arrived at his floor.
The elevator door opened, and he stepped out, arriving in front of the door directly opposite the elevator, marked "1503."
He took out his key.
Hmm, the group of people who had beaten the original owner earlier had only taken valuable items from his person; the key, however, was left untouched.
Otherwise, Hu Qi would have had to pay a locksmith.
Click!
The key slid into the lock, and with a gentle twist, the door opened.
Immediately, a faint, peculiar smell wafted out from inside the room.
This was a small rental apartment, about forty square meters, consisting of a bathroom and a master bedroom.
It was more than enough for one person to live in.
The room contained a simple single bed, with the bedding appearing slightly disheveled.
Beside the bed was a small white wooden table, piled with various sundries: an unfinished book, half a bottle of water, and some small trinkets.
In the corner was a simple wardrobe.
Its white cabinet door was ajar, revealing a few hanging clothes faintly.
A black chair was placed by the window, with sunlight streaming through the dirty curtain's gap, forming a straight, faint line of light on it.
Several pairs of shoes, including sneakers and slippers, were casually scattered on the floor.
A simple shoe rack was also placed near the entrance.
Hu Qi didn't change his shoes and walked directly inside.
He placed the watermelon he was holding on the nearby table, then walked over, pulled open the curtains, and opened the window.
Sunlight immediately streamed in, and the previously dim room instantly brightened.
Afterward, Hu Qi began to tidy up the items in the room.
He temporarily lacked the money to change his living environment, so he could only try to make it cleaner.
After all, in too dirty an environment, setting aside other things, if one's body isn't robust enough, living there for too long can lead to illness.
He once saw news about a beautiful woman who appeared glamorous on the outside.
However, her rental apartment was filled with trash, rats and cockroaches scurried everywhere, and there were even instances of defecation and urination on the floor; the landlord who came to inspect was even nauseated.
Regarding this, Hu Qi could only say that she was indeed a unique individual; he certainly couldn't do it, as he was a bit of a clean freak in this regard.
Half an hour later, the apartment was completely refreshed.
After eating two pieces of watermelon, Hu Qi walked into the bathroom.
The bathroom consisted of a kitchen and a toilet; on the counter outside, there was a gas stove and an iron pot, which, judging by the accumulated dust on it from when he cleaned earlier, the original owner clearly didn't use much.
Further inside was a sink, with a mirror missing a corner hanging above it.
Hu Qi walked forward, and the mirror reflected a young man with a very ordinary face and physique.
The young man's skin was slightly pale, and his hair was somewhat long, covering his forehead and the corners of his eyes, making him appear a bit gloomy.
To be honest, this was the first time in several days that he had so meticulously examined the appearance of this body.
His appearance was very ordinary, a stark contrast to his own original handsome looks.
But it didn't matter; whether he looked good or not held little significance for him.
Anyway, he couldn't see himself when he wasn't looking in a mirror, so even if he was ugly, at most, it would only disgust others.
—Hiss!
Hu Qi turned on the showerhead, and water streamed down from above his head.
The water beat against his head and shoulders; his hair, once wet, slowly drooped down, covering his eyes.
He reached up and wiped his face, pushing his hair back.
He let out a light breath, closed his eyes, and began to plan his future.
Initially, he just wanted to make some money to improve his life.
But now there was an additional goal: to use the modifier to enhance his own strength.
The Perfection-level Yang Yuan Breathing Method had brought him significant changes.
For example.
His sleep quality had become excellent these past two days; he didn't dream at all, and just six hours of sleep left him incredibly energetic.
His physical senses also became sharper, and so on.
While these underlying improvements were subtle, their benefits were self-evident.
Perhaps it was an imprint deep within human genes, or perhaps it was due to Hu Qi's own personality, but this feeling made him somewhat addicted.
But he also knew.
The improvements brought by the Yang Yuan Breathing Method required accumulation over time; even if he practiced it for a lifetime, the enhancement might only be limited to the level of ordinary people.
This left Hu Qi unsatisfied.
Therefore, he decided to revise his plan. While finding ways to make money, he would also seek more skills that could enhance his own strength.
Regarding skills that could enhance one's strength, he discovered that this world had many Fighting Technique-related competitions.
Even in some good high schools and universities, there were courses specifically dedicated to teaching Fighting Technique.
Of course, the original owner only attended an ordinary vocational high school.
He simply didn't have such opportunities, and now that he was a worker, it was clearly unrealistic to enter a school for free.
Therefore, to learn Fighting Technique methods that could enhance his strength, there was only one simplest path: find a martial arts gym that taught Fighting Technique and enroll in a class.
He already had a target for this.
However, the only thing he needed to worry about was that his money seemed insufficient.
He had checked earlier, and his mobile account balance was only 836.25 yuan.
...
Red Scale Fighting Club
According to the navigation, it was about two to three kilometers from his rental apartment.
Hu Qi chose this club partly because of its proximity, but more importantly, its prices were relatively affordable.
Additionally, its reviews were good, making it quite suitable for a poor person like him.
After taking a shower and a brief rest, Hu Qi went downstairs.
He directly pressed the electronic key on his car key.
Beep beep!
Immediately, a black electric bike parked in the corner responded.
A rectangular food delivery box was installed on the back of the electric bike; that was the original owner's vehicle, and his profession was a delivery driver.
Under normal circumstances, the original owner stopped studying at seventeen.
Even if he earned 150 yuan a day, after four years, and with no bad habits, plus frequent subsidies from his aunt's family, he shouldn't have had so little savings.
Hu Qi knew from memory that the original owner had worked overtime day and night for these past few years and saved over a hundred thousand yuan.
However, all that money had been spent on gifts and pursuing his goddess, which led to Hu Qi's current awkward situation.
"Simps truly don't come to a good end."