Back in the present, Feng Jun glanced at the calendar on the wall; it was already the end of November, and by rights, the temperature should have started to drop.
He opened his phone and checked the weather forecast: today's average temperature was 17°C.
The weather had started to cool, but Feng Jun felt no chill at all, still wearing his summer shorts and tank top.
He only felt cold in the nuclear winter environment of Doomsday; even Song Peng and Song Zhan wore tank tops in Doomsday.
His physical capabilities had indeed evolved.
He opened the IEM on his arm and pulled up his body data.
Name: Feng Jun, Young Man
Physical State: Healthy, Evolving
Muscle Strength: 11
Bone Strength: 12
Nerve Activity: 10
Brain Cell Development: 9
...
All his physical stats had increased by two to three points.
He swung his fists twice and could even feel a slight whooshing sound.
He tried high jumps and long jumps; without wearing a mechanical exoskeleton, Feng Jun could easily leap over two meters from a standing start, and he could do twenty pull-ups with just two fingers.
His originally somewhat thin body had become filled with muscle definition.
He tried on the clothes he had just bought last time, and they were already a bit small.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Feng Jun felt he had grown taller; he remembered measuring his height at one meter eighty-five last time, and now he looked closer to one meter eighty-nine.
He shook his head, somewhat disbelieving that he could still grow taller at his age.
Just then, Feng Jun's phone suddenly rang.
He took it out and saw it was his mother from back home.
After the call connected, it was the familiar nagging.
His parents asked Feng Jun how his business venture was going and if he had lost money.
If he was short on cash, they planned to transfer more to him, their words filled with worry for Feng Jun.
"Don't worry, Mom and Dad, everything is going smoothly here, and the company is on track.
You two can enjoy your retirement from now on.
I'll come home to visit during the New Year," Feng Jun said to his parents on the screen.
"Do you have a girlfriend out there?
Now that you're a boss, many girls should be chasing you, right?
Try to bring one back for the New Year!" his father said in the video.
"It's still early, Dad, I'm not in a hurry."
He hadn't thought carefully about a life partner yet.
Although he had dated someone in Shangqing City, it was a long time ago, and now he didn't want to spend too much effort on this aspect.
His main energy was focused on Doomsday.
"Still early?
You'll be 27 after the New Year.
How long do you plan to wait to get married?
While your mom and I are still healthy, hurry up and let us hold our grandchildren!" Feng Jun's mother started nagging again in the video.
Helpless, Feng Jun could only humorously agree before finding an opportunity to hang up the phone.
Sitting on the sofa, he looked out at the yard through the floor-to-ceiling window; the leaves on the trees had already started to turn yellow.
Looking at his reflection in the glass, he would soon be 27, and he already had considerable assets, even considered a lord in Doomsday, yet he didn't have a girlfriend.
At this thought, Li Lu's face appeared in Feng Jun's mind, but then he shook his head.
That was in Doomsday; he was not, after all, a person of that world.
After resting at home for a few days, Feng Jun booked a flight to Hong Kong.
He planned to convert the gold he held into cash overseas.
After Yunxin Tower, Feng Jun went a few more times, successively exchanging fifty million in gold from it.
Chen Cheng had even been promoted because of his business with Feng Jun.
However, this time Feng Jun planned to make a big move.
Considering the domestic transaction system, he decided to conduct the transaction in Southeast Asia.
He hadn't yet decided which specific country in Southeast Asia, planning to explore Southeast Asia thoroughly these next few days.
He took a direct flight from Shangqing City International Airport and landed at Hong Kong International Airport.
Feng Jun had already booked a sea-view suite at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, with prices starting from 9082 yuan per night.
If you have money, you should live a rich life.
When it came to enjoyment, Feng Jun now only wanted the most expensive, not the right one.
After checking in, Feng Jun stood by the hotel's floor-to-ceiling window.
From there, he could directly see Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, with the excellent sea view fully in sight.
Enjoying delicious Western food while also being able to see the beautiful sea view, the nine thousand plus yuan spent was well worth it.
Feng Jun didn't plan to eat dinner at the hotel.
Although he intended to leave Hong Kong tomorrow, he still wanted to visit Hong Kong's night markets.
Having long heard of the prosperity of Hong Kong's night markets, Feng Jun specifically went to Temple Street Night Market to explore.
It was said that one could taste authentic Michelin street food there.
Although it was already late November, there were still many mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong.
Walking through the night market, you could hear various accents from the mainland, from a big sister with a Northeast accent to an old man with a Shaanxi accent.
It seemed as if mainlanders were even more numerous than Hong Kongers.
Temple Street beef offal, Hing Kee claypot rice, braised large cuttlefish.
All kinds of snacks were dazzling.
Feng Jun ate almost from one end of the street to the other.
Thanks to his evolved physique, his appetite was now exceptionally good; one could even say he was still developing, at the age where he was still growing.
As he walked, Feng Jun came to a relatively deserted street.
He checked the time; it was already 2:30 AM.
Thinking that he had to catch a flight to Singapore tomorrow, Feng Jun decided to head back.
Passing by a small alley, a sound coming from inside made him feel somewhat familiar.
"You good-for-nothing, you have to pay back our boss's money today, or I'll break your dog legs!" Several thugs were surrounding a street food stall, continuously yelling and cursing.
It seemed the stall owner owed them money and was being chased for debt, quite like the Hong Kong gangster hooligans seen in movies.
What attracted Feng Jun was not the real-life drama before him, but the stall owner surrounded by them.
This person's face made Feng Jun feel somewhat familiar.
After observing for a while, Feng Jun recognized this person as his high school classmate, a good friend who shared a bunk bed with him, Han Wenbo.
Feng Jun hadn't seen him for eight years.
Unlike Feng Jun's poor academic intelligence, Han Wenbo had been gifted from a young age.
In high school, he always achieved the top score in the entire county and represented the school multiple times in city and provincial competitions.
If the average person's IQ is usually between 85 and 115, then Han Wenbo's IQ was at least over 120.
He remembered that after graduating from high school, Han Wenbo did not go to university but went to the United States to join a relative.
It was said that he was admitted to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business there, and after that, Feng Jun hadn't heard from him.
He never expected to see him here.
Although Han Wenbo's IQ was surprisingly high, his thinking was simple; he just liked to hang out with Feng Jun and his group of academic underachievers.
Among them, Feng Jun and a few others were his best friends.
The four people in the dormitory got along very well.
"Hey, you mainland old man over there, what are you looking at!
Haven't you seen debt collection?
Go play somewhere else, or we'll beat you up too!" A lookout on the roadside saw Feng Jun stop to watch and immediately yelled at him.
Feng Jun ignored the yelling thug and took two steps forward, tentatively calling out, "Han Wenbo?"
Hearing someone call his name, Han Wenbo looked over in the direction of the voice, seeing a somewhat familiar, blurry figure standing to the side.
After observing for a minute, Han Wenbo tentatively called out, "Feng Jun."
Upon recognizing Feng Jun, Han Wenbo smiled in surprise.
He hadn't expected to run into his good high school friend here, which genuinely surprised him.
"Are you treating me like air?
Beat them both up!" The hooligans who were collecting debt immediately became displeased.
The yellow-haired leader gave an order, and they were about to lay hands on Feng Jun and Han Wenbo.
"Wait a minute.
Feng Jun, hurry and leave!" Han Wenbo immediately reached out to stop the two people and turned back to motion to Feng Jun.
He hadn't expected that after so many years, their reunion would be in such a situation.
Han Wenbo's thin build simply couldn't stop these hooligans.
Two of them had already rushed towards Feng Jun, but the fists and kicks these hooligans threw seemed as ridiculous as a baby moving in slow motion in Feng Jun's eyes.
The two thugs who rushed over were sent flying without even seeing how Feng Jun made his move.
With Feng Jun's current physique, he truly didn't take these people seriously.
In a short while, several thugs were all lying on the ground, groaning incessantly.
"Scram."
Feng Jun didn't use his full strength; he was afraid that he might accidentally land himself in jail, so he held back his power just now.
Upon hearing Feng Jun tell them to scram, the thugs immediately scrambled to their feet and rushed out of the alley in a frenzy.
It was only then that two patrol officers slowly ambled over from one side of the alley, but they merely passed by.
Han Wenbo had been knocked down by several thugs at the very beginning, and his food stall was also overturned on the ground.
Feng Jun stepped forward and helped him up.
"What are you doing here!" Both of them said almost in unison.
Then they looked at each other for a second, and then burst into laughter.
After tidying up the stall, Feng Jun and Han Wenbo sat at the stall and chatted.
It turned out that after going abroad, Han Wenbo had indeed been admitted to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and his studies were initially good.
However, he later found that Chinese people were not popular in economics in Europe and America, so he later went on to study programming.
Upon graduation, he found a job at a company in Silicon Valley, but good times didn't last.
Due to the economic crisis, the company laid off employees in 2021, and Han Wenbo was unfortunately among those laid off.
After that, the employment situation in the United States took a sharp turn for the worse.
Unable to make a living in the US, Han Wenbo brought his wife to Hong Kong to develop, but when a person is unlucky, even drinking cold water can choke them.
After arriving in Hong Kong, his wife suffered from kidney failure, and Han Wenbo was laid off once again.
At a loss for what to do, he could only choose to set up a stall in the alley to supplement the household income.
Moreover, to treat his wife's illness, Han Wenbo had no choice but to borrow from local triads in Hong Kong.
The thugs just now were the gang members who came to collect debts.
If he hadn't accidentally run into Feng Jun, Han Wenbo would have certainly taken a beating today.
"I've been so busy talking about my troubles, what about you?
You're here in Hong Kong for tourism, right?" After finishing his own story, Han Wenbo began to inquire about Feng Jun's situation.
"I've also had a lot of troubling things recently, and it could even be quite dangerous.
So, I plan to travel abroad to relax these past few days," Feng Jun said.
Han Wenbo smiled.
"By rights, I should treat you to a meal, but I'm afraid it's not possible today.
I need to go back and cook medicine for my wife; she has to take her medicine on time every morning.
Are you free tomorrow?
I'll come find you."
Originally, Feng Jun had planned to take a flight from Hong Kong City directly to Singapore tomorrow, but since he had met a good friend, he naturally wanted to stay a few more days.
So, he readily agreed and exchanged phone numbers, planning to contact each other first thing in the morning.