David Thompson didn’t need rest; he needed to explore.

After saying goodbye to Hannah, he returned to his room. Just like before, he thought of “using the little bug’s vision.” As soon as he had this thought, his perspective immediately shifted, and he once again saw the scene inside the drainage ditch.

When he wanted to return to his own perspective, his vision shifted again, and he saw the NBA all-star poster on the wall of his room.

After successfully switching perspectives twice in a row, David Thompson more or less understood what was going on.

This bug, whose origin was unknown, had originally been trapped inside a crystal. He had broken the crystal, the bug had crawled into his hand, and then started sharing its vision with him.

In other words, he now possessed a pair of eyes that could leave his body.

What was amazing was that it seemed no one else could see this bug—only he could.

And after a few more experiments, he discovered that not only could he see through the bug, but after switching perspectives, he could also control the bug’s body, as if he had gained a bug avatar.

During one of the experiments, he saw four or five one-dollar coins in the drainage ditch.

Later, he opened the grate over the drainage ditch and saw the little bug still on the bottle cap, some KFC wrappers, and a rusty table knife—just as he had seen through the bug’s eyes.

He also lifted up the trash underneath and quickly found five one-dollar coins.

Holding these five real coins in his hand, David Thompson burst out laughing.

He realized that having the bug’s vision was actually pretty useful. Even if it had no other purpose, if he ever ran out of money, he could just take the bug to scour the drainage ditches for coins and still get by.

After gathering up the coins, he reached out his hand in front of the bug.

The bug’s two legs were very nimble. With a strong jump, it landed in his palm, then burrowed back in, turning into a small purple-black bug tattoo on his palm.

After putting away the bug, David Thompson felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He struggled to make it back to the bedroom, collapsed onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep without thinking about anything.

When he woke up again, he opened his eyes to find a man’s face right in front of him.

“Fuck!” The face was almost pressed up against his, giving him a fright.

His reaction startled the owner of the face as well—a handsome white guy in his thirties, with clear green eyes and sharp facial features.

Shivering, the white guy grumbled, “Hey, hey, hey, Chinese boy, don’t react so intensely. I’m Henry. You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”

Of course David Thompson remembered him. This was Henry Fox, Hannah’s brother. They had met a few times.

Seeing Henry, he snapped, “Hey man, why are you in my room? And why are you staring at me like that? You’re invading my privacy!”

Americans take personal privacy very seriously. This kind of thing can be a big deal or a small one, but every year countless people end up in court over privacy rights.

Hearing this, Henry said, “First of all, this is my room. If anyone’s privacy is being invaded, it’s mine!”

“Second, I bet you anything, Chinese boy, you were having a nightmare while you slept. Haha, your eyeballs kept twitching—it was hilarious!”

David Thompson calmed himself and first looked at the center of his right palm. The bug tattoo was still there.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Hannah pushed the door open and walked in, asking, “I heard someone shout. Is there a problem?”

Henry exclaimed, “Of course there’s a problem, my dear sister. For the sake of our dead parents, could you please show me some respect? Can you stop randomly putting people in my bedroom?”

Hannah ignored her brother’s complaints and instead asked David Thompson with concern, “Li, are you feeling any better mentally? Damn, you’ve been asleep for almost fifteen hours. What’s going on?”

David Thompson was stunned. Had he really slept that long?

Seeing himself being ignored, Henry started shouting again, “Come on, can you show me some respect? I’m making a request here!”

Hannah said, “I heard you. I’m not deaf. But what’s the point of your request? You’re out partying all year, and when you come back, you just eat pizza and drink beer. Sorry, my dear brother, if David Thompson hadn’t rented your room, I wouldn’t have money for pizza or beer.”

“And besides, do you really have the nerve to call this a bedroom? If David Thompson hadn’t cleaned it up, I would have thought our family had a garbage room!”

Hannah was a feisty white girl, and her retort made Henry roll his eyes.

“Finally, tell me—how many hours are you staying this time?”

Hearing this, Henry looked a bit dejected. He said, “I might have to stay here for a while. My business, um, my big business ran into a little problem…”

“What about the place you rented with Diana?”

Henry froze. “Who? Who’s Diana?”

Hannah’s eyes widened in anger, and Henry quickly put on a big smile. “OK, OK, I remember now—Diana, the long-legged Irish girl. But we broke up a while ago. As for the apartment, the lease is up.”

“You don’t even have money for rent anymore?”

Henry gave a wry smile. “I told you, my business ran into a little problem. Damn it, I got screwed by a pimp, lost all my money, and now I can only come back and rely on my dear sister.”