How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

”Holy shit...”

Xu Huo rubbed his head, a look of astonishment on his face. He sat on the edge of his bed in his slippers, his mind a jumbled mess, like a tangled ball of yarn.

He’d had two dreams last night. He thought he would be observing them from a third-person, god-like perspective.

But Xu Huo never expected...

...it would be a one-hundred-percent immersive experience!

He had experienced all of the other person’s emotions, all of their anger, to the fullest extent.

”Son of a bitch, goddamn.”

Xu Huo cursed under his breath as he got out of bed and sat down in his chair.

He hadn’t slept well all night, and waking up felt even worse.

’This suffering... I can’t be the only one to bear it.’

’I have to share it with my readers.’

Terminal Website, engage!

Soon, the CLACK-CLACK-CLACK of a keyboard filled the room. Unlike usual, Xu Huo’s writing session was a long one; he churned out all of his drafts in one go.

The drafts totaled around thirty thousand characters. Xu Huo even thoughtfully added the sights and sounds from his dream.

The system judged plot quality, and he felt that if his writing couldn’t achieve a seventy-five percent immersion level, it could at least match fifty percent of the original event’s intensity!

’Still, I was hauled into the station for three days... I wonder if my old readers missed me.’

With that thought, Xu Huo moved his mouse and clicked open the comment section.

[Fox_Repays_a_Kindness: First bow. Rest in peace, Author.]

[Speaking_Singing_Joking_Clowning: Second bow. Offering two Point Coins.]

[Chewing_Gum_Blowing_Bubbles: Daily incense offering.]

[GlassCupsGlassCup: +3]

[Nail_Clippers_Dont_Cut_Flesh: The guy above is in the wrong place. Tieba is a left turn and then on your right.]

[Furball_Furball: Waaaah, my dear author, your passing was so tragic! How could you leave so easily, leaving us poor orphans and widows behind...]

Xu Huo: ?

Xu Huo’s hand froze. Staring at the bustling comment section, his brain couldn’t quite process it for a moment.

After a long pause, the corner of his mouth twitched.

’Hot damn. I get sent to the slammer for three days and don’t update, and they’ve already arranged a full funeral procession with music and everything...’

”Tsk.”

Xu Huo chuckled in spite of himself, then scheduled the drafts to be published.

He wasn’t sure if he’d get the reward by publishing the drafts all at once or daily, so he just scheduled them all to be safe.

After scheduling them, he glanced at the time.

Afternoon, 12:27 PM

Xu Huo was just about to get something to eat when the phone on his desk suddenly started vibrating.

”BRRR~”

[Caller ID: Half-a-Beat-Slow]

Xu Huo smiled and answered the call.

”Mr. Xu, the Municipal Bureau has a bonus for you! Are you free right now? Want to come to the station!?”

The voice that burst from the phone had a thick, rustic accent.

The smile vanished from Xu Huo’s face. It took him a long moment to recognize Li Jianye’s voice.

”A bonus? Didn’t I already make two requests?”

He remembered that when the case was solved, he hadn’t made any demands regarding a monetary reward.

”Heh, it’s just the rules in this country. We don’t allow Bounty Hunters, but you can get a decent bonus for helping the police in certain ways.”

Li Jianye, holding Chu Xi’s phone, said cheerfully.

”It’s a considerable amount. A full twenty thousand.”

’Twenty thousand?’

Xu Huo’s eyebrow shot up. ”Alright.”

With that, he hung up, tidied himself up a bit, and headed for the police station.

Twenty thousand yuan was a lot of money, even in the year ’24 of his previous life.

In ’03, the average monthly salary in the city was around 1,000 yuan, while in the countryside it was between 600 and 1,000. Twenty thousand was equivalent to a family’s entire annual income.

As for the officially announced average... that ”average” is skewed by too many high earners. Just like in ’23, when the official average salary was announced as 8,000.

You have to look at the median.

For someone at the median, twenty thousand was a good few months’ income.

Xu Huo left his apartment and boarded a bus.

You still had to buy a ticket on the bus, and there was a conductor standing there—it all felt very much of its time.

Before long, the swaying bus arrived at the police station.

Just as he got off, he saw a somewhat familiar face.

”Hey, it’s you!”

”Huh? It’s you.”

One was getting off, the other was heading in. The two stared at each other, both pointing a finger at the other.

[Your Name]

”Whoa, what a coincidence, buddy! Didn’t expect to see you again!”

The person at the entrance was Wang Chao, the guy from the breakfast stall. His face lit up when he saw Xu Huo, and he said with a grin:

”Tsk, we two really have some fate, huh? Met over a bowl of noodles and now we’re both at the police station.”

He had gone to the intersection earlier to rubberneck, got nabbed by the police, and was brought in to give a statement. Now that the case was closed, he had to come in again, and unexpectedly ran into Xu Huo.

”We certainly do.”

Xu Huo smiled. ”My name is Xu Huo.”

”Xu Huo, got it! I’ve got something to take care of, so I gotta head out!”

The buzz-cut young man, Wang Chao, was all smiles, but then he glanced at his phone and suddenly looked rushed.

”I’m starting a business, just about to go check out the seafood market. Next time we meet, I’ll treat you to seafood!”

”See ya around.”

’Starting a business?’

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. He watched the whirlwind of a man go and smiled. ”See you when I see you.”

The early 2000s were indeed the hot period for the demographic dividend. There were tons of entrepreneurs, risks were low and profits were high. There were even people who could fail at a business, take on a new identity, and start over debt-free.

After saying goodbye to Wang Chao, Xu Huo continued deeper into the station.

He walked into the precinct’s cafeteria with practiced ease and saw Li Jianye, Chu Xi, and the others as soon as he entered.

”Mr. Xu!?”

Li Jianye paused, then a keen expression appeared on his face as he quickly stood up.

”Have you eaten, Mr. Xu? Let me treat you!”

Before Xu Huo could answer, he was already moving to get a tray. But then he paused, stopped suddenly, and turned to look at Chu Xi with a resigned, exasperated expression.

”I was wondering why you got two lunch boxes and haven’t touched them, you little rascal. So you were waiting for him.”

Chu Xi was still sitting in her chair. In front of her were two lunch boxes, untouched.

Hearing Li Jianye’s voice, she tilted her head and blinked.

’I don’t understand.’

Xu Huo walked over to her with practiced familiarity, opened the pink lunch box, and revealed a duck leg.

He hadn’t been eating for long when an officer approached Li Jianye’s side. ”Mr. Xu,” he said, handing over an envelope, ”this is the twenty thousand from the Municipal Bureau.”

Xu Huo nodded and took it.

Li Jianye smiled and didn’t make any more small talk. After all, the man was now a special consultant for the squad, had just received his bonus... and there was a young woman with him. ’I shouldn’t be a third wheel, glowing and shining.’

He, Zhao Shui, and the others tactfully took their leave to continue wrapping up the case.

Xu Huo ate in silence while Chu Xi sat beside him, her eyes wide, just watching him eat. As she watched, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Of all the people he knew at the police station, he had known Chu Xi the longest.

He remembered her feeding him like this back in middle school. He was an orphan without much money, and she would always space out and not eat her food, so she’d give it to him and just watch him eat.

’A strange feeding fetish.’

As for the spacing out... it was an illness. Xu Huo knew the root of the problem, which was why he helped her with police matters.

Her police ID number had been reissued.

Three times.

”Here.”

Chu Xi had a small appetite. She pushed her unfinished food over to Xu Huo.

Xu Huo accepted without hesitation, finishing it off in a couple of bites. He thought for a moment, then spoke again:

”I have some spare cash now. I’ll treat you next time. Anything you want to eat?”

Chu Xi thought about it for a long, long time, then shook her head.

”No.”

”Not allowed to have ’no’.”

Chu Xi considered it seriously for a moment, then said, ”Then... grilled fish?”

Without much thought, Xu Huo nodded. ”We’ll eat it!”

He paused, glanced at the time, and added:

”This afternoon. We’ll go as soon as you get off work!”

...

”Ah, to be young. Ah, young love.”

In his office, Li Jianye took a sip of tea and sighed contentedly.

Xu Huo’s face flashed through his mind, and he smiled. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he shot to his feet.

”Hey, Xiao Zhao, what’s the status of Mr. Xu’s manuscript?”

”Since we agreed to the adaptation, we naturally have to notify the website in advance... Did we forget to notify them earlier?”

The manuscript itself wasn’t a huge deal, but if this caused a rift between the two parties, Li Jianye would have to slap himself silly.

Zhao Shui remembered the matter and slapped his forehead.

”Crap! I was so busy wrapping things up last night, I forgot!”

”Hurry up!” Li Jianye urged.

Zhao Shui quickly clicked onto the website. He searched around and saw that the book hadn’t been banned. He let out a sigh of relief and was about to report back when he saw...

The book had suddenly updated with fifteen new Chapters.

Zhao Shui froze and said instinctively, ”Chief, it’s not banned. And he updated with fifteen new Chapters.”

”Fifteen new Chapters? That many? He didn’t write out the entire case, did he?”

Li Jianye paused, then said with great interest.

”Click on it, let’s take a look.”

”Tsk, the case from Xiao Xu’s perspective... It’s gotta be a power fantasy, right? The kind without any tragedies?”

Zhao Shui nodded in agreement. As if guided by a phantom hand, he moved the mouse and clicked [Begin Reading].