After walking out of the underground parking lot and coming to the commercial area around the community, they passed by an exquisitely decorated coffee shop, a Western restaurant, and a women's clothing store. Then the three of them stopped in front of a store. To put it nicely, the store's decoration was simple and rustic; to put it bluntly, it was hardly decorated at all.
This store had no signboard, but there were several big red characters pasted on the French window beside the store door.
All-Knowing Detective Agency!
In addition, there were several small red characters pasted below the big red characters, which were "Search for Lost Items", "Search for Lost Pets", "Emotional Mediation", "Evidence Collection", "Childcare", and "Legal Consultation".
"Wo... cao..." Lei Ting looked at this detective agency as if struck by lightning, with mixed feelings in his heart.
He knew that there was the profession of detective in China, but this profession was not allowed by the policy. It was not a formal industry and was part of the gray area. Therefore, even if someone opened a detective agency, they would often use names like "Investigation Agency" or "Security Consultation Agency" to vaguely refer to it.
And this was the first time Lei Ting had seen a detective agency openly using the name "Detective Agency".
"Let's go." Xu Zhi beckoned to Lei Ting behind him and then pushed open the aluminum alloy anti-theft door in front of him.
"Am I going to become a detective? Will I be detained for breaking into someone's house in the future?" Lei Ting muttered to himself and followed them in.
The interior decoration of the detective agency was the same as its exterior, focusing on simplicity and rusticity. The walls were covered with white tiles, the ceiling was made of lime, and the floor... he didn't know, but there was a layer of pure gray carpet.
In addition to these, there were only four black leather sofas, a stone slab tea table with a tea tray and a complete set of tea utensils, two mahogany bookcases of the same style as those in the reception room on the second floor of Xu Zhi's restaurant, a water dispenser, and two potted plants about half a person's height inside the agency.
At this moment, on one of the sofas, there was a petite girl sitting there, wearing a T-shirt and a plaid short skirt, with her hair in pigtails, a lollipop in her mouth, and scrolling through her phone.
Facing the three people who walked in, the girl just turned her head slightly and glanced at them, said nothing, and continued to scroll through her phone.
"Is this someone's younger sister?" Lei Ting asked curiously when he saw a little girl who seemed to be underage in this stronghold of superpower users.
Liu Wang didn't answer, his mouth tightly closed, as if holding back a laugh. Xu Zhi introduced, "She's not anyone's younger sister. Her name is Tang Xiuxiu, and she's also one of your colleagues..."
"Do you guys hire child labor?" Lei Ting exclaimed when he heard that she was actually his colleague.
This sentence left Xu Zhi speechless, and the words he had prepared got stuck in his throat. The girl on the sofa also turned her gaze over and stared at them quietly.
"She's already twenty-five years old, two years older than you." Liu Wang leaned close to Lei Ting and whispered on Xu Zhi's behalf.
"Twenty-five?!" Lei Ting looked astonished. Obviously, he couldn't associate the age of twenty-five with the girl's delicate face that looked at most fourteen or fifteen years old. Especially since she had her hair in pigtails and was holding a lollipop. She looked like a typical young girl, the kind that could fit perfectly into a junior high school or even a senior primary school class.
Although it was hard to believe, considering that Xu Zhi and Liu Wang wouldn't lie to him about this, he reluctantly accepted the fact that the girl was actually two years older than him.
"Is this a legal loli?" Lei Ting thought to himself. At the same time, he apologized to the girl, "I'm sorry... sister... I was hasty... I shouldn't have judged you by your appearance..."
But at this moment, Tang Xiuxiu, the girl who hadn't been angry when Lei Ting regarded her as a child before, after hearing Lei Ting's apology, her eyes suddenly turned cold, and she gave him a fierce glare, which made the latter's body tremble and he involuntarily took two steps back and stood next to Liu Wang.
"What did I do? Why are you looking at me with such a threatening look?" Lei Ting was completely puzzled. Just as he was confused, Liu Wang beside him patted him on the shoulder and explained in a low voice:
"Xiuxiu has a strange habit. Although she's not young anymore, she likes to act cute. But it seems she doesn't really need to act... She doesn't mind being called a child, but she really doesn't like being called sister. You need to pay attention to this. Just call people by their names in the future, and don't be silly and add the word'sister' at the end. Otherwise... heh heh, you'll experience the feeling of 'transcendence'."
"That's so strange. But it's okay. It was hard for me to call a girl who looks so much younger than me sister anyway." Lei Ting quickly accepted it.
"By the way, Xiuxiu... She's also a superpower user, right? Which realm is she in?" Lei Ting asked curiously.
"I'll tell you myself." Tang Xiuxiu put down her phone, stood up from the sofa, walked in front of Lei Ting, stretched out her hand, and introduced herself:
"My name is Tang Xiuxiu, twenty-five years old. I'm not a local. My hometown is in Anhui Province. My profession is an investigator of the 'Superpower Investigation Team'. My superpowers are 'Charm' and 'Illusion Creation', and I'm in the 'Transformation' realm. I like candies and cute dolls, and I hate cigarettes and alcohol. If you want to smoke or drink, please do it where I can't see you. Then, welcome to join the 'Superpower Investigation Team', new colleague."
"Uh, hello. I'm Lei Ting, twenty-three years old, but I'll be twenty-four in two months. I'm barely a local. My profession... is the same as yours now. My superpower is 'Current Control', and I'm in the 'Novice' realm. I don't have anything I particularly like, but I also hate cigarettes. Then... thank you." Lei Ting replied with his own self-introduction in the same template intermittently and reached out his hand to shake hers.
"So soft... Such small hands..." Lei Ting thought in his heart. But Tang Xiuxiu quickly withdrew her hand, not giving him much time to feel it.
Lei Ting felt a bit reluctant as the soft hand left his, but he didn't show it and began to recall the girl's self-introduction just now.
Then his body trembled.
Because he suddenly realized that her realm was "Transformation", one of the upper five realms, a full four levels higher than his "Novice" realm!
"She's a powerful one... Fortunately, I didn't show any infatuated expression, or I'd be in trouble... Her ability is 'Illusion Creation'. I probably know what Liu Wang meant by the feeling of 'transcendence' when you provoke her..." Lei Ting said to himself with lingering fear in his heart.
Just after the self-introductions of both sides were over, the sound of high-heeled shoes hitting the ground came from upstairs. After a moment, a pair of long legs wearing black high-heeled shoes and black silk appeared on the stairs leading to the second floor of the agency.
"Oh, a new colleague is here. Welcome, welcome." An extremely beautiful female voice reached Lei Ting's ears, making him feel refreshed, as if he had heard the most melodious music in the world.