Afternoon, back to the rental room.
Nathan came out from President Liu's house, initially excited and ready to scratch a few more scratch-off lottery tickets to make some money.
However, he checked the model of the phone President Liu gave him, and then he was not feeling well.
"A phone costs around thirty thousand, almost as much as my total cash assets now."
Nathan lay on the bed sighing, "To think I was secretly proud of my cash assets approaching thirty thousand before, only to realize that in the eyes of the truly wealthy, it's just like casually giving someone a phone."
Most importantly, after searching for information on Vertu phones just now, he realized that the price was secondary.
The 24-hour global personal concierge service of Vertu phones showed him the huge gap between ordinary people and the truly wealthy.
For example, if you want to go to the Cannes Film Festival with no seat, the personal concierge can help you sort it out.
Or if you want to buy a limited edition brand-name handbag and don't have the time, the personal concierge can arrange it for you.
Even if you encounter danger and need protection, the personal concierge can resolve it.
Of course, Nathan's Vertu phone, given to him by President Liu as a "second-hand machine," had no personal concierge.
Such high-end services are customized for high-end clients like the wealthy and celebrities by Vertu.
Nathan remembered the phone President Liu took out before was also a Vertu, but it was covered in diamonds and might cost hundreds of thousands.
A phone for hundreds of thousands?
This was a bit stimulating for him.
Can't do.
I have to make more money.
Nathan's eyes rolled around, constantly pondering in his mind, "With scratch-off tickets, I can indeed make a small fortune in a short period. If I am a bit bolder, making ten thousand or eight thousand a day is like playing. If cautious, making a thousand or two a day is as easy as eating and drinking."
Never mind that playing scratch-off tickets all the time might attract attention, the upper limit is very low.
If I can't hit the jackpot, even if I spend all day in a lottery shop, maybe by the end of the year, I'll only make a few million at best.
"Stone gambling is not worth considering unless you can go to Myanmar to select raw stones. Otherwise, the domestic auctions, mostly blind bids, there's no way to get rich quick through them."
Nathan thought that relying on his x-ray vision for gambling might be a way to earn money.
But then again, gambling is illegal in the mainland, so to rely on gambling to earn money, you must go to places like Macau, Atlantic City, or Las Vegas.
This doesn't fit my current situation for the time being.
In one or two months, when I go to the Ugly Country to participate in the Nathan's Hot Dog Championship, maybe I could check out Atlantic City or Las Vegas.
But distant water can't quench present thirst; after being stimulated, Nathan just wanted to make more money in a short time.
Not to mention living a luxurious life like top-class wealthy people like President Liu, but at least better than ordinary people.
Actually, using x-ray vision to make money can go far beyond playing scratch-off tickets, stone gambling, and gambling; it can be used in surveying, medical, security, commerce, and other fields.
"What's more suitable for my current situation is probably business."
Nathan pondered that if he became a high-end corporate spy using x-ray vision, it could have miraculous effects.
Just as he was thinking, his ears perked up.
Nathan heard the woman next door talking on the phone about something steamy.
The key point was that the conversation content seemed to have fantasies about himself.
As a single young man who has been single for many years and has hardly been with anyone, Nathan has always been unable to refuse eavesdropping on such exciting conversation content.
He immediately shifted his focus from thinking about how to make money to listening intently.
Unfortunately, it was exactly during the rush hour when the outside traffic was honking loudly.
Even though Nathan's hearing was much better than ordinary people's, he still couldn't hear clearly.
He could only vaguely hear words like "big" and "fierce."
"Damn, can't hear the key content."
For the first time, Nathan hated that his hearing wasn't strong enough.
If only my hearing were a little stronger, I'd be able to hear more explosive content.
Nathan anxiously scratched his head, but there was nothing he could do to hear clearly in such a noisy environment.
"Sigh, I really wish my hearing could be stronger, like a bat's."
Harboring such an obsession, Nathan somehow fell asleep on the blanket.
...
In the dream.
When the body fell into a deep sleep, the Little Golden Man inside seemed to wake up at the same time.
Nathan saw clearly that the Little Golden Man once again mobilized energy rays, directing them toward his ears.
This situation didn't last long.
About ten minutes later.
It seemed the energy rays were exhausted.
The Little Golden Man once again fell into slumber.
...
Entering deep sleep usually doesn't get interrupted, as Nathan experienced a few days ago.
Although he used to wake up exhausted due to lack of energy, the quality of his sleep was top-notch, hardly ever disturbed midway.
However, today was strangely different. Around midnight, Nathan was jolted awake by a lot of noise near his ears.
Before opening his eyes, Nathan thought it must be morning, but when he groggily opened his eyes, he found it was pitch dark outside.
"Why is it so noisy?"
Nathan couldn't bear it and sat up abruptly in bed.
He felt extremely hungry, his stomach signaling as if urging him to eat something high in calories.
He glanced at his phone; it was past 2 AM. Logically, it should be silent in the dead of night, but all he heard was a rustling noise, like mice gnawing on things or small animals' footsteps.
Nathan almost thought he was hallucinating.
But he knew it wasn't a hallucination because he heard the woman next door talking on the phone.
"...Tonight was so fun. I sang a song called 'Love Song,' and a boss thought my voice sounded like his favorite singer Liang Jingru, so he tipped me a thousand bucks!"
It was indeed the woman's voice.
Nathan sensed that she wasn't in the room across the way.
The sound seemed to be coming from near the entrance of the community.
At the same time, he also heard another fainter female voice coming from that direction, though not very clearly, "…Wow, a thousand…"
The other voice didn't sound like normal human speech; it was more like it was coming from an electronic device.
Nathan was a bit puzzled, unsure whether he was hearing it correctly.
He hesitated for a moment.
Then stood up.
He walked over to the window to look down.
For an average person, the chaotic night lights, plus the fact that the gate of the community was over two hundred meters away, would make it hard to see clearly.
But Nathan was different. Ever since the genetic lock in his body was unlocked, his vision had greatly improved.
Additionally, he had developed night vision, further enhancing his sight.
So even though it was late at night, and the gate was quite far from his vantage point, he could vaguely see.
This wasn't due to night vision, but rather because there was a light near the gate. His vision had improved so much that he could clearly see the general situation there.
Sure enough, Nathan saw the woman across from him squatting by the flower bed at the community gate, talking on the phone.
This meant he was indeed hearing the woman's voice, and the other woman's voice seemed to be coming from the phone of the woman across the way.
Nathan was taken aback, wondering, "Since when did my hearing become this freakish?"
More than two hundred meters away!
Not only did he hear the woman opposite him talking on the phone clearly,
he even heard the other woman's voice in the call clearly?
This, even if not comparable to Downwind Ear, was as good as a pigeon's hearing!
Nathan liked to watch educational videos, otherwise he wouldn't have come across that young blogger's video on unlocking genetic locks.
He remembered a blogger once explaining that pigeons can hear up to about three hundred meters, and the frequency range they can detect is from 0.05 to 120,000 Hz.
Human hearing is far inferior to pigeons, with a frequency range from 20 to 20,000 Hz. As for the hearing range, humans can clearly hear a 25-decibel sound at a distance of five meters.
"Now that I can hear a phone conversation from over two hundred meters away, my hearing is probably not much different from a pigeon's," Nathan suddenly realized.
The rustling sounds he heard earlier were probably really small animals active at night.
Additionally, he might have heard infrasound or ultrasound.
He was a bit bewildered; he hadn't deliberately evolved his hearing...
Wait!
That's not right!
Nathan remembered that before he fell asleep, he was eager to hear how exciting the conversation between the woman across the way and her friend was.
Due to the noise outside at the time, he couldn't hear clearly, which created some obsession in his heart, hoping his hearing could improve.
He then recalled seeing the Little Golden Man mobilizing energy to gather at his ears in his dream.
"Looks like I've evolved super hearing like a pigeon," Nathan mused.
But now a new problem arose.
As a human, possessing such powerful hearing like a pigeon, what could he use it for?
Could it really only be used for the mischievous act of eavesdropping on others' risqué conversations?
Well, that might not be so bad either.