"Brush, ink, paper, inkstone? Mu, you aiming to be a scholar or what?"
"Nah, just learning to read."
Chu Mu waved off the question, eyeing Xu Yuan's baggy patrol armor with a frown. "You're not even fifteen yet, right? Didn't the Patrol Station say you could hold off on starting?"
Xu Yuan's face fell a bit. "You know my uncle, Mu. If I don't take the job, he'll keep scheming to snag it…"
Chu Mu froze, memories clicking into place—a deadbeat gambler… and a drug addict?
This world had that crap too? He raised an eyebrow as more memories flooded in.
His thoughts spun for a second before he reeled them back. Even in his past life, gambling plus drugs equaled a lost cause. A relative like that…
Chu Mu felt a quiet relief that the original owner had no such messy family ties. Otherwise, what a pain.
"By the way, Mu, why haven't you shown up at the Patrol Station?"
"Been busy the last couple days."
"Heading there tomorrow to check in. You off duty now?"
"Yeah, just started two days ago. Nothing big yet…"
Chu Mu nodded, an idea sparking. "Perfect. Come over for dinner later, fill me in on the Patrol Station. I'd like to know what I'm walking into."
"Sweet!"
Xu Yuan grinned, no hesitation, and fell in step beside Chu Mu. They strolled down the street, chatting here and there.
Mostly, Chu Mu asked, and Xu Yuan answered. The original owner had some memories of the Patrol Station, but as a young, loner kid, he didn't know much about the official side of things.
With a buddy who'd been on the job a few days, Chu Mu didn't hold back, peppering him with questions.
Walking and talking, he soon got the full scoop on Xu Yuan's time at the station.
Paired with the original owner's memories, Chu Mu finally had a clear picture of the Nanshan Town Patrol Station.
It was under Qinghe County's Patrol Division, like a local precinct to a city police department in his past life.
Qinghe County had a main Patrol Division, with stations in the city's south, north, west, and east, plus one in each surrounding town, handling local law and order.
Nanshan's station, though, stood out.
It was huge. From memory, most patrol stations had fifty or sixty officers, maybe a hundred in a big town. Nanshan's? Nearly five hundred, led by a deputy thousand-household, not your standard hundred-household officer.
Why so big? The Nanshan iron mine. The station oversaw the corvée laborers in the mines, plus the storage and transport of ore. With duties like that, Nanshan's setup dwarfed the others.
According to Xu Yuan, once you took the patrol job, it was all about guarding and patrolling the mines, two shifts a day. As a rookie, he was on daytime duty…
"Saw a corvée group on my way back," Chu Mu said, pushing open his courtyard gate. "Thought corvée switched every six months. It's not time yet, is it?"
"The prefecture wants the mines to boost output."
"County's calling for more laborers. Mines have been packed lately…"
"Heard they're drafting another batch soon, at least a thousand."
Chu Mu blinked, surprised. "Another draft?"
"That's what the squad leader said. Gotta be true."
Xu Yuan nodded firmly.
Chu Mu frowned, quiet for a moment, but let it go, stepping through the gate.
"Yo, Mu, what's with the silence?"
Xu Yuan scratched his head, tagging along with a carefree grin.
"Nothing, just thinking about dinner."
"Take a break, I'll whip something up."
Chu Mu brushed it off, setting his book bag by the door and heading to the kitchen.
Xu Yuan watched him go, scratching his head again, but teenage attention spans being what they are, he quickly moved on.
"Corvée…"
In the kitchen, Chu Mu mulled it over, then shook it off. If trouble came, bigger players would deal with it. He wasn't even officially on the job—why stress?
He lit the fire, rinsed rice, and started cooking, all in one smooth flow. When he had a moment, he glanced outside. Xu Yuan was out there, broom in hand, picking up where Chu Mu left off with last night's cleanup.
"Not bad having a lifelong pal," Chu Mu thought, smiling to himself. New to this world, still lost in the haze, a trustworthy friend beat going solo.
"Mu, this wall's falling apart. Why not hire a mason to fix it?"
Xu Yuan's voice snapped him out of it. He looked up to see Xu Yuan by the bedroom window, pointing at the cracked, peeling wall.
"It's fine, I'll deal with it later."
Chu Mu waved it off. The house was old, and the original owner's dad wasn't exactly Mr. Fix-It. Some wear was expected.
A quick patch wouldn't do much, and a full repair would cost a fortune. With money tight and only savings to lean on, Chu Mu wasn't about to splurge.
Xu Yuan mumbled a reply and dropped it.
Chu Mu turned back to the stove, grabbing a spatula to start on the dishes.
With a guest, he wasn't going to half-ass it like when he was alone. First up, a vegetable like baby bok choy from his past life, but the taste was totally different—rich and creamy, like tofu. They called it "bean white."
Next, his usual pickled dish, nothing like vegetables he knew, shaped like bamboo shoots and crisp to the bite, called "bamboo vegetable."
Then a meat dish, straight-up pork, same as his old world in taste, look, and name.
Last, a bowl of corn soup, though the corn here was huge—kernels nearly the size of a thumbnail.
Seasonings? Pretty standard. Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy—flavors didn't change much across worlds…
*(End of Chapter)*