Chapter 32: This Is Free Of Charge, Right?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
He recalled that he had two hours of free activity time the last time he had been here. Was the reason why he only had half an hour this time because he wasn't a newbie entering the island for the first time anymore?
Li Teng allowed himself a limit of only two points for his meal today.
Of course, he didn't have that many points in his account at the moment, either.
Things like shopping on credit were too risky. Li Teng wasn't someone who liked to spend beyond his limit.
He had bought a bowl of hot noodles, a bowl of thin gruel, a steamed dumpling, three steamed buns, and a small plate of preserved vegetables with five points the last time.
The noodles had cost two points, while the thin gruel, dumpling, and set of three buns had cost one point each. The preserved vegetables had been on the house. Every point spent entitled him to about three shreds of preserved carrot free of charge. Li Teng had spent a total of five points the last time, so he had been given more than ten preserved carrot shreds.
After he computed the price-performance ratio over and over again, Li Teng spent two points and bought six steamed buns, which entitled him to six preserved carrot shreds on the house.
As for the thin gruel… There might be free coffee again, so he decided to pass on it.
Perfect, he had a preserved carrot shred for every bun now. This was practically a supreme delicacy.
Six steamed buns and six preserved carrot shreds later, Li Teng still hadn't had his fill yet.
However, he was someone who had very good self-control, so he made himself leave the cafeteria and went back to the streets outside.
He turned on the terminal and did a check.
He only had a pitiful number of points in his account.
There wasn't any newbie mission that he could take on. It looked like his luck was certainly not that great.
Then, he went into the clothing store, which had all sorts of thick clothing for sale.
Unfortunately, even the cheapest down jacket cost 20 points.
The store also had raincoats and waterproof trousers for sale, but a set would also cost him at least more than 10 points.
Forget it. I can't afford it. I'll just endure it.
When Li Teng passed by the bathing center, he cast a glance inside, though he didn't enter.
There wasn't a need to bathe.
It might just rain again at the stone pillar. When that happened, wouldn't taking a shower with the rainwater be even better?
It seemed like he kinda stunk at the moment, but he wasn't the one that would suffer from the stench but other people instead, anyway.
He checked the terminal again. There still weren't any newbie orientation missions.
Li Teng entered the Waxwork Museum.
It felt somewhat scary to enter a waxwork museum in the middle of the night, but he had to go in for a look, nevertheless.
Compared to the last time he was here, it seemed like there were a few more people. However, Li Teng didn't really have a clear recollection.
Guo Zhipeng wasn't there. This particular waxwork museum stored only wax statues of people that had died in disaster films.
Li Teng went back out and made a trip to the restroom.
After he left the restroom, with the experience he gained the other time, Li Teng easily found the sign for the film set he would be going to this time.
The actors' assembly point was also the same as the last time. In other words, it was outside that cafe.
When Li Teng arrived at the cafe, it was only 22:43.
There wasn't anyone at the table outside the cafe.
Only two expressionless film set crew members stood outside the cafe.
Li Teng dashed over to the coffee machine and took a cup, ready to dispense coffee.
"This doesn't cost any points, right?" asked Li Teng to the crew members, in case he landed in their consumer trap.
The crew members didn't speak but only nodded.
It was only then that Li Teng dispensed the coffee and returned to the table with the cup in his hand. Then, to his surprise, he discovered that there were actually three plates of snacks on the table!
They were a plate of fries, a plate of cookies, and a plate of cashew nuts.
Li Teng hurriedly asked for verification from the crew members again, "Are these free of charge too?"
They nodded once more.
"Damn! I must have been too late the last time and ended up with only coffee, while that bunch of assh*les had finished all the snacks! Looks like I'll need to rush over to the film set as soon as possible from now on."
As Li Teng griped, he reached out and grabbed all the fries on the plate, before stuffing them all into his mouth and swallowing them into his stomach like a whirlwind.
Next was the plate of cookies.
Maybe because of the combination of reasons that Li Teng had stuffed them into his mouth too quickly, the cookies were a little dry, and he hadn't had any water since he arrived at the film studio, he choked on the cookies in a moment of carelessness.
A large number of cookies were stuck in his throat. Without any water for lubrication, he could neither spit them out nor swallow them.
Li Teng wanted to take a sip of coffee to lubricate his throat, but the coffee was steaming hot. There was no way he could drink that.
What the hell! I survived the stone pillar and even the filming, but am I going to choke to death now?!
"Help!" With his mouth opened wide and pointing at his throat, Li Teng had no choice but to seek help from the crew members standing beside the cafe.
Upon realizing the urgency of the situation, the crew members hastily went into the cafe to get him some iced water.
At this point, Li Teng heard footsteps coming from nearby. When he turned around for a look, he realized that the spectacled man was walking over from the opposite side of the road.
Perhaps because his eyesight was better due to the spectacles he was wearing, the spectacled man had discovered the three plates on the table even before he reached. Out of the three plates, the plate of cashew nuts was still untouched. He hurriedly sped up his pace.
No sooner said than done, Li Teng couldn't care less about dying from asphyxiation anymore and took the opportunity to rush over to the plate of cashew nuts before the spectacled man reached. He picked up the plate, poured all the cashew nuts on it into his pocket, and placed the plate back on the table.
"Tsk, tsk… Who's this?" Upon realizing that he was a step too late and that the table was only left with three empty plates, the extremely displeased spectacled man glared at Li Teng.
Li Teng didn't even spare him a glance. He rushed back to the cafe entrance instead. The crew members happened to walk out with a glass of iced water at this point.
Li Teng hurriedly grabbed the water and took a huge gulp. At last, he managed to swallow the cookies stuck in his throat.
Something occurred to Li Teng, and he asked the crew members, "This glass of water is free too, right?"
They nodded and stood expressionless beside the entrance again.
Li Teng took an empty cup and returned to the table. He alternated pouring the coffee between the two cups in an attempt to cool it.
"The plates had contained snacks that were prepared for everyone, right? How can you be so shameless to hog it all? Take out the things in your pocket and give me half of them, and I'll keep quiet about this," said the spectacled man.
There hadn't been any snacks on the table when he was here the last time. He didn't expect that there would be snacks this time.
Yet in the end, he could only watch helplessly as Li Teng had kept the one remaining plate of cashew nuts for himself and poured the nuts into his pocket right before his eyes.
Li Teng reached into his pocket, grabbed half of the nuts, and held them up in his hand.
The spectacled man reached over.
However, Li Teng didn't give him the nuts. Instead, he stuffed them all into his mouth and chewed on them right in front of him, before swallowing them into his gut.
"The standard of your upbringing… Tsk, tsk… What can I say?" The spectacled man swallowed, shook his head, and went to get himself a cup of coffee.
After he came back to the table, the spectacled man stared at the three empty plates in front of him. He still felt rather displeased. As such, he picked up the plates, walked over to the crew members, and told them about how Li Teng had eaten everything. He hoped that the crew members could replenish the snacks.
However, they shook their heads and rejected his request.
From the looks of it, unlike the coffee, refills for the snacks weren't free.
The spectacled man returned to the table dejectedly and glared at Li Teng with extreme displeasure.
Li Teng also glared at him. Then, he stuffed the remaining cashew nuts into his mouth one by one.
At this point, footsteps could be heard coming from afar again. As though reinforcements had arrived, the spectacled man hurriedly turned around, intending to complain about Li Teng's despicable actions just now to the person coming over.
However, upon seeing that it was Gao Fei, he became completely disheartened again.
"Bro! You're early!" When Gao Fei spotted Li Teng, he walked over briskly and greeted him. Then, he took a seat next to him.
"I was a step too late. He has already finished all three plates of snacks. I only managed to snatch a few cashew nuts. Here, I'll give you half of them," said Li Teng as he gave the last few cashew nuts to Gao Fei.
-- Gift
received