Chapter 1: Can You Believe It? At a Blind Date, He Publicly Defeated His Future Mother-in-Law

The heat of July blazed down, the scorched earth shimmering with waves of rising heat.

Changning Town bustled with life; merchants and vendors lined the streets, their cries filling the air.

“Crisp pears! Sweet and big, crisp pears!”

The little girl selling pears shouted with vigor, her voice far more spirited and pleasant than the young women enticing customers at the street-side salons.

Qin Chuan stepped out from the police station beside the town government, braving the scorching sun, threading through the crowd, and entering the town’s only café, the Red Romance.

Today was a day of celebration.

His distant second aunt, upon hearing of his recent breakup, insisted on introducing him to a new girlfriend. In her words, the best way to get over one romance was to step into another.

Damn, thought Qin Chuan, unable to argue, and even found a certain philosophical truth in her words.

But today was not just a joyful day—it was an important one.

Because Qin Chuan had been reborn, or perhaps transported.

He had traveled from the year 2030, twenty years in the future, sent back by a runaway dump truck to 2010, the very year he had just started his career.

It was hard to say whether it was rebirth or transmigration, for the name of the country had changed. His homeland was now called the Dragon Country. Otherwise, most things remained the same: the people he knew were still there, and his “starter village” was still the Changning Town Police Station.

As he entered the café, Qin Chuan, tall and handsome, instantly drew every eye.

Changning was merely a small, remote town, its people weather-beaten and rugged, the young men mostly dark-skinned and sturdy.

Someone like Qin Chuan—fair-skinned, tall, strikingly handsome—was a rare sight indeed.

He, too, surveyed the patrons. In 2010, anyone in Changning who could afford a ten-yuan cup of coffee was someone with status, taste, and ambition.

“Activate the Eye of Sin!”

Qin Chuan silently intoned the command, and it seemed a red gleam flashed across his eyes. Instantly, a string of information floated above each person’s head.

Liang Guodong, Sin Value: 1, once stole a neighbor’s chicken at fifteen.

Lu Xiaoguo, Sin Value: 0.

Zhang Miaomiao, Sin Value: 2, aborted a baby girl three years ago.

...

Reborn, Qin Chuan came with a system; his newbie gift was this very Eye of Sin. When activated, it could distinguish loyalty from treachery, good from evil.

But the Eye of Sin could not remain on indefinitely, lest it drain his energy.

It was merely the system’s first reward. Later abilities could be unlocked by capturing criminals and accumulating Virtue Points—every hundred points would earn a spin on the system’s reward wheel.

In his previous life, Qin Chuan’s police career had been far from smooth.

He had joined the police academy in hopes of searching for his missing father, only to find himself assigned as a policeman in a remote rural outpost.

Despite graduating at the top of his class.

Yet he was posted to a tiny town police station.

Worse still, after languishing in Changning for ten years, he was dismissed from the force—and spent the next decade behind bars.

On the very day he was released, a dump truck running a red light ended his life.

Who was pulling the strings behind the scenes?

He’d been unable to uncover the truth in his previous life. But now, armed with this system, Qin Chuan was determined to see who could stand in the way of his rise.

This time, he swore, all would see him!

Wherever he went, he would shine like the midday sun, leaving no place for evil to hide.

Damn, what’s that saying? I am sworn against evil! I am sworn against gambling and drugs!

Suppressing his surging emotions, Qin Chuan headed for table number three, the spot arranged for today’s meeting.

Zhang Jinlian had already spotted Qin Chuan when he entered, immediately taken in by his looks.

If his circumstances were decent, he might just be a good match for her daughter.

They had exchanged photos beforehand, so Qin Chuan recognized them at once.

But the girl...

His distant aunt had described the girl as plump and prosperous, but hadn’t mentioned she weighed nearly two hundred pounds.

“Xiao Qin, come and sit!”

The woman who beckoned Qin Chuan was in her forties, but her skin was smooth, her figure graceful, her eyes tender—she was the very picture of mature charm.

With just a gesture and a smile, she seemed worth at least three hundred yuan.

“Auntie, hello.”

This woman was the girl’s mother—should the match succeed, she would become his mother-in-law.

Truth be told, in terms of looks alone, the “mother-in-law” outshone her daughter by far.

“So you’re Xiao Qin. Your second aunt said you were quite a catch. I didn’t believe it at first, but you’re even more handsome in person than in your photos.”

Politeness begets politeness. Qin Chuan greeted her and sat down.

“Xiao Qin, let’s not waste time. Auntie is satisfied with your looks, so let’s discuss the rest.”

“Let’s be direct—tell me about your circumstances. What kind of car do you drive? What kind of house do you own? How much do you have in savings?”

The charming woman, clutching her two-hundred-pound daughter, raised her brows and eagerly interrogated Qin Chuan about his assets.

Qin Chuan finally relaxed. This was a matchmaking meeting—of course they’d ask about cars, houses, and money. There was no point in focusing on looks.

He stifled the urge to say his “car” was a golden chariot and his “house” the envy of the moon.

“My circumstances are all right,” Qin Chuan replied slowly. “I come and go escorted by million-yuan luxury vehicles. My family home sits by the water and against the mountains. But truthfully, our fortunes have declined and savings are few.”

He had never lied. The subway, worth millions, delivered him punctually every day. His ancestral home in Wangjiagou Village, though modest, sat before a brook and backed by green hills.

Grandfather claimed that an ancestor once topped the imperial exams, but now someone named Xiao Man owed him 7,239.80 yuan—a true fall from grace.

The woman’s face lit up with expectation. “Really? What brand is your car? Where is your house exactly?”

Qin Chuan gave a shy, honest smile. “Subway Line 1, comes whenever I call. My house is in Wangjiagou Village, second from the west, with a view of the green hills.”

The woman was speechless.

“Are you out of your mind, mocking me like this? Come on, daughter, we’re leaving!”

Though it wasn’t the first time he’d been looked down on for his lack of money, Qin Chuan felt it would be a shame to let them leave so easily, given his identity as a policeman.

“Auntie, isn’t it a bit late to leave now?”

She sneered. “What, you think being a cop makes you special? Going to force us to stay now?”

She had thought a policeman would have some perks, but it turned out he was just a pauper.

Qin Chuan shook his head. He had no interest in further conversation. Stepping forward, he slapped the woman hard, sending the “mother-in-law” sprawling to the ground.

“Zhang Jinlian! Hands on your head! You are under arrest!”

With the Eye of Sin:

Zhang Jinlian, Sin Value: 49, organizer of three cases of child trafficking.

“Help!” The woman shrieked like a slaughtered pig. “Help! The policeman can’t get a date so he’s arresting people! Someone help!”

All eyes in the café turned to table three.

Wasn’t this a blind date? How had things escalated so quickly?

But no one intervened. After all, few people meddle in others’ business.

Especially not in police business.

Though a town policeman might not seem like much to some, he was still an officer.

Seeing no one coming to her aid, the woman bellowed,

“Let me tell you, I’m not easily bullied! My cousin is the head of the county’s public security team!”

“If you dare arrest me, I’ll make sure you regret it!”