Chapter 238 : Cluck Cluck and Baa Baa, Please Don't Die!!

(Translator's Note: "Cluck cluck" and "baa baa" refer to the zodiac animals Rooster/Chicken and Sheep. "Chicken" is Chinese slang for prostitute. "Please don't" is written with a homophone meaning "tonic" in the raw text, a common internet slang).

Lin Li left just like that, without stopping at all.

Baffling.

Did they really think of themselves as god-like customers?

Lin Li was unhappy hearing the commanding tone, so he blew up, it was that simple.

It wasn't a situation where he needed to look ahead and behind. If you're not arrogant, can you still be called a young person?

Indeed, exchanging twenty-something grams of gold for carrying a hundred chocolate bars was a guaranteed profit in reality. If this happened in reality, people would usually start fiercely competing until it was unprofitable. But now, both parties to the transaction were in the apocalyptic world, so why calculate it like that?

Your gold coin dropped, pick up the coin.

*(Translator's Note: "Pick up the coin" (jian bi) is a homophone for a Chinese derogatory term meaning "cheap bitch").*

In this world, gold was trash. Joking aside, just the box of food he had given Ye Jing earlier would not be an overpayment even if exchanged for a hundred catties of gold.

Not demanding that was already Master Lin not being able to bear seeing human suffering.

If they wouldn't give the gold, then forget it. At worst, he would slowly collect it himself in Yunguang City, a few grams or dozens of grams at a time. Anyway, Lin Li didn't need this thirty million right now.

Seventeen was the age where one could not suffer any grievances. The last time Lin Li was this aggrieved was the last time.

"Wait, don't go."

"Little Brother Lin!"

Lin Li ignored the shouts from behind. Then footsteps approached; it was Ye Jing.

She walked in front of Lin Li: "Lin Li, wait."

Lin Li lifted his steel ball bow, his expression indifferent: "Miss Ye, my impression of you isn't very good right now either. I won't take back that box of chocolates, but if you share it with others in the shelter, remember to tell them to be careful, because dogs can't eat chocolate."

"No, Lin Li, you definitely misunderstood. Don't mind Hu Fei's tone, that guy's brain has always had problems. It's not an exaggeration, he really has problems.

"Before the zombies appeared, he worked out so much he made himself a bit stupid. He's actually a good person. If he offended you, I apologize to you on his behalf first!"

Ye Jing stopped Lin Li, rubbing her brow with one hand and pressing the other on Lin Li's shoulder, speaking seriously.

Lin Li: "?"

*Did bad news come from the alternate world's bodybuilding circle?*

Lin Li frowned slightly but stopped walking. He materialized the "Flask of Hidden Passions" to let the two bros next to him, whose hand speed had slowed down a bit, continue at full firepower, and then turned around.

Hu Fei was still standing there, looking at Lin Li in confusion, while Shi Dongchen next to him was knocking him on the head.

Although he was being scolded, Hu Fei indeed had no reaction.

Noticing Lin Li turn around, Shi Dongchen immediately said apologetically: "I'm older, so I'll take the liberty of calling you Little Brother Lin. Little Brother Lin, please don't be angry. We absolutely didn't mean to think too highly of ourselves."

Then he knocked heavily on Hu Fei's head again and shouted angrily:

"Hu Fei, didn't I tell you before we came? When asking someone to do something, you must have basic politeness, you have to use the word 'please'!"

Hu Fei frowned, but nodded and pointed at Lin Li:

"Now you go to your world, before night falls, please bring another hundred bars of the chocolate you gave Ye Jing over here, we will wait for you here."

Lin Li: "?"

He did say please, and he was polite, but the 'please' and politeness seemed to be in the wrong place.

Lin Li now somewhat believed that this guy had brain problems.

Shi Dongchen's eyes widened: "Who the fuck told you to respect the chocolate!?"

"Hu Fei, kneel down right now. I need to beg Little Brother Lin for something."

"Oh." Although Hu Fei looked completely uncomprehending, he nodded and knelt down.

"Kowtow two more times!"

*Bang! Bang!*

Whether Hu Fei's brain was good or not was unknown, but it was definitely very hard.

"Little Brother Lin, we didn't bring Hu Fei out to make a fool of himself. Despite his brain problems, his ability is good; he's one of the top fighters in our shelter. We brought him out to ensure the safety of our transaction." Shi Dongchen bowed ninety degrees. "I apologize again! Please don't be angry!"

Lin Li's frown hadn't relaxed since the beginning.

To be honest, his previous displeasure and anger had mostly dissipated. This bro did look a bit dense; compared to him, Bai Bufan could be considered exceptionally intelligent.

However, Lin Li didn't think Ye Jing and Shi Dongchen were that innocent either. He leaned more towards this being a way for them to test him.

If he appeared easy to boss around, the situation would probably be different now.

Otherwise, why let Hu Fei speak when they knew he had brain problems? They clearly could have explained it beforehand, couldn't they?

But some things didn't need to be laid out completely.

"If that's the case, then we can still talk. Don't waste the gold bar," Lin Li returned to the edge of the wall and pointed at the ground, referring to the gold bar he had just kicked away.

Ye Jing understood, immediately jumped down, picked it up, and handed it to Lin Li.

"We didn't just bring this one piece, there's a bag here."

Shi Dongchen took out an opaque bag from behind Hu Fei. After opening it, it was a glittering expanse of gold.

"There's about two or three kilograms here. A lot of the gold in the shelter has been melted together. Due to weight and time constraints, we couldn't bring it all.

"If you need it, should we go smash a few pieces off now or later?"

"That won't be necessary, I'll just take these for now," Lin Li waved his hand.

Just figuring out how to cash in this gold was enough for Lin Li to ponder over.

"Okay, Ye Jing, take these to the little brother." Shi Dongchen signaled Ye Jing to return to their building.

One trip back and forth, and the bag was in his hands.

Lin Li suddenly felt a bit unreal. He had suddenly gotten his hands on 1.8 million yuan worth of gold.

This money came too fast.

To be honest, 1.8 million and 30 million were the same concept to the current Lin Li—astronomical figures.

The last time Lin Li used "million" to describe something, it was his phone's pixels.

"So what do you guys lack the most right now?" Lin Li unceremoniously stowed this bag of wealth into his backpack, then asked.

"Food, energy-replenishing food, like the chocolate you gave Ye Jing would be great," Shi Dongchen said immediately. "Or the fastest-growing and easiest-to-cultivate plant seeds in your world. These two are what we lack the most right now."

"Okay, I understand. I'll bring some over for you next time I come," Lin Li nodded.

If the previous interlude hadn't happened, Lin Li would have described at least how much he would bring and made a promise.

But now, forget it. Whether he brought more or less would depend on his mood.

"May I ask, when will you be coming back next time, little brother?" Shi Dongchen asked cautiously.

"I don't know."

Lin Li gave a high-quality answer.

Shi Dongchen: "?"

"What time is it in your world right now?" Lin Li asked in return.

"Roughly around 10:35. There's definitely an error because the watches haven't been adjusted for a long time," Shi Dongchen checked his watch and replied.

"I have to wait until..." Lin Li's words suddenly paused.

Because he had just opened the system and suddenly found that the textless interface was no longer blank.

On the button representing "Depart," it clearly displayed [02.33.23].

He hadn't paid attention to this interface before, so he hadn't noticed.

*What is this? A built-in system clock?*

Then, in the next second, it changed to [02.33.22].

It really was a clock, but it looked like it was made in the Middle East.

This wasn't here last week. Obviously, it was just updated this week.

*So this is the time limit for traveling?*

Lin Li felt this was the only way to understand it.

He checked his own watch. Adding the two numbers together, it was exactly 5 hours.

*Is this the maximum time I can stay in the apocalypse?*

It was much shorter than expected, not even eight hours?

As for the other buttons, they didn't even have numbers.

It seemed this was all that was updated.

"Why are you all looking at me? Is there something on my helmet?" Lin Li, snapping back to reality, found Ye Jing and the other two looking at him and asked in confusion.

Ye Jing: "..."

*It's because you stopped talking halfway through your sentence!*

"You still haven't said when you'll be coming back," Ye Jing added softly.

"Oh, oh, forgot. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be back around two or three in the afternoon." Lin Li calculated the time.

It seemed there was no chance for this dinner task. Even if he stayed the full time, he could only stay until 1 PM.

Although he still didn't know the specific ratio of the time flow, if it was like last time, it would still be about an hour.

"You won't be back until the afternoon? Is that the time you need for the round trip?" Shi Dongchen asked.

"No, I just don't plan on going back right now."

Although there was no point in staying, the problem was that if he went back now, the time he came next week would be around 11:30 AM. With a maximum of five hours, he could only stay until 4:30 PM? Lin Li didn't know if the system would recognize that as dinner time.

So this time, Lin Li definitely had to stay until the countdown ended.

Incidentally, Lin Li also didn't know if this was the countdown for the maximum time limit, so he could use this to confirm it.

Seeing Shi Dongchen's expression change slightly, Lin Li's tone remained unchanged: "I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious yet. It's not like you've reached the point where you can't wait a single second just because I'm here, right?"

"Sorry, we were too impatient," Shi Dongchen nodded hastily, then added:

"Little Brother Lin, I'd like to ask, besides gold, is there anything else you need? With cooperation, the broader the better. Perhaps we can reach an agreement to take what we need in other areas as well."

"You guys are already struggling to survive, what else can you offer me?" Lin Li was a bit curious upon hearing this.

Honestly, with this 1.8 million in hand, once the task was completed, this world's attraction to him would be quite low.

"Perhaps there really is something."

Shi Dongchen's eyes lit up, and then he signaled Ye Jing, the file transfer assistant for both sides, to come over.

When Ye Jing jumped to Lin Li's side again, she was already holding a stack of photos.

Lin Li took them and looked. They were all photos of women.

Seductive poses, revealing clothes.

Lin Li: "..."

*Why does this feel so familiar?*

*Where the hell am I? Isn't this Tianhong or Qingjue?*

"This is..." Lin Li looked across and confirmed.

"What else could it be? Dirty business," Ye Jing curled her lip, clicked her tongue, and looked slightly disdainful. "But it is indeed consensual, so there's still a bit of humanity."

"As long as there's someone you fancy, little brother, you can choose them for entertainment. Here, no laws can restrain you; you can do whatever you want," the pimp Shi Dongchen said while rubbing his hands together like a fly. "Having them play zombies to entertain you is also completely fine."

Lin Li: "?"

"Wait a minute, Ye Jing, what the fuck did you tell them?" Lin Li stared straight at Ye Jing.

Ye Jing turned her head away, looking guilty.

Lin Li didn't answer immediately. Instead, he took out his phone, opened a locked file, and handed it to Ye Jing: "Assistant, help me transfer this over."

Ye Jing, who had already jumped many times in a short period: "..."

"Why do you guys insist on talking across buildings!" Ye Jing said through gritted teeth.

*Jumping back and forth between two buildings is also very tiring, okay!*

The phone still ended up in Shi Dongchen's hands.

He also finished looking at what Lin Li wanted to show him.

"Do you understand what I mean?" Seeing the other party look up, Lin Li asked.

"Yes," Shi Dongchen nodded bitterly.

The file he had just looked at was the "Xiling Chicken Raising Map" personally produced by Song Luping. Its richness and the number of videos needed no further explanation, and it also contained other videos Lin Li had collected.

The quality of those compared to the quality in their shelter was like heaven and earth.

After watching these videos, Shi Dongchen felt that of his twelve zodiac animals, only ten were left.

Because his chicken and sheep were dead.

*(Translator's Note: "Chicken" is Chinese slang for prostitute. "Sheep" is likely added to complete the zodiac joke, meaning his girls pale in comparison).*

Having survived in the apocalypse for two years, he had indeed somewhat forgotten what women who lived in a normal world, were well-nourished, bathed every day, and constantly did skincare looked like.

How could Lin Li, from another world, possibly take a fancy to the withered flowers and ruined willows on their side?

He had overestimated himself.

Ye Jing brought the phone back to Lin Li.

While signaling to return the photos, Lin Li asked casually: "By the way, is there anyone here with the stage name Xiao Jing?"

"Yes, Ye Jing, point her out." Shi Dongchen was still feeling a sense of loss, his reaction half a beat slow, his voice sounding somewhat hollow.

"This is her," Ye Jing pointed her out.

"Give her one bar from the box of chocolates I gave you earlier. Is that okay?" Lin Li looked at Shi Dongchen and asked, or rather, demanded.

Shi Dongchen was slightly taken aback at first, then nodded: "N-no problem, we will definitely respect your allocation, but may I ask why?"

"No reason, this name has an affinity with me," Lin Li said.

*Protecting the world's best Qingjue Xiao Jing, Tianhong Xiao Jing, and Apocalypse Xiao Jing.*

"Lin Li, I've changed my name to Hu Xiao Jing, give me a chocolate bar too!" Hu Fei, who had been kneeling to the side, shouted loudly upon hearing this.

Lin Li: "?"

"Hu Fei! Quiet, now is not the time for you to speak." Hearing this, Shi Dongchen slapped Hu Fei on the forehead.

"You be quiet, Shi Dongchen, I am Hu Xiao Jing, I am not Hu Fei!" Hu Fei turned his head and glared at Shi Dongchen.

Shi Dongchen: "?"

Lin Li now completely believed that this bro wasn't doing it on purpose earlier.

*When others play a fool, it doesn't look real. Hu Fei doesn't look like he's playing.*

"Sorry to make you laugh, Little Brother Lin. Just ignore him," Shi Dongchen could only say to Lin Li.

"No," Lin Li smiled and shook his head. He unzipped his backpack and took out the portion of food he had originally saved for himself. Since there was no need for a "next meal" anyway, he threw it directly to Hu Fei: "Hu Xiao Jing, it's yours."

Hu Fei reached out and caught it, immediately tore it open, poured it all into his mouth, and chewed heartily, his eyes lighting up.

Shi Dongchen's eyes went straight, his swallowing motion very obvious.

"Lin Li, I'm sorry, I lied to you again. I missed a word when I told you. Actually... my real name is Ye Xiao Jing." Ye Jing pressed her hands on Lin Li's shoulders, staring expectantly at Lin Li... or rather, the backpack behind him.

Lin Li: "?"

"Ye Jing, I acknowledge your shamelessness." Lin Li gave a thumbs up and rummaged in his bag, but only a few pieces of candy were left.

Fortunately, Ye Jing didn't mind at all and happily took them.

"Just call me Xiao Jing from now on."

"You're much older than me, I'm afraid calling you that will shorten my lifespan," Lin Li waved his hand.

"Lin Li, you are really bold."

Watching the two converse, Shi Dongchen laughed heartily: "Haha, I suddenly remembered, my name is actually also Shi Xiao..."

Lin Li shook his bag: "All gone."

Shi Dongchen: "..."

*Fuck! Changed my name too late!*

Shi Dongchen smiled awkwardly, then added:

"I heard from Ye Jing that the technological development of our two worlds has different focuses. We still have some conventional weapons and tools that might be of considerable value to you, perhaps they could be used as bargaining chips? Also..."

Shi Dongchen knew that relying solely on gold was useless. To keep Lin Li, this "Two-World Door," they needed to open up more lasting and stable relationships in other areas.

As for the things in the shelter that should be more precious, he was still hesitating whether to mention them now.

"If they are completely different from my world, I might need them? But without seeing the items with my own eyes, I can't just say they're useful to me," Lin Li said casually upon hearing this.

Things from another world would definitely have their value, and it would be very high.

But for a seventeen-year-old boy with no grand ambitions, it was hard to say.

"That's perfect! We sincerely invite you to visit our shelter. Don't worry, Ye Jing has already told us your concerns, but there's absolutely no need to think like that.

"We will absolutely not hurt you, much less have any ill intentions towards you. I swear on my life, we will treat you as our most honored guest..." Shi Dongchen said immediately.

"I also swear on Xiao Jing's name!" Hu Fei, who was still eating, replied.

Although one was "life" (xing ming) and the other was "name" (xing ming), the weight should be about the same.

"Let's talk about it when I come back," Lin Li simply said.

Until he had suitable items or abilities, Lin Li had to avoid being discovered that his arrival and departure points were fixed.

"...Okay," Shi Dongchen nodded, swallowing his words: "Ye Jing, give this to Little Brother Lin."

So the file transfer assistant handed a disc-shaped object to Lin Li.

"What is this?"

"This is a pair of signal devices. As long as the distance doesn't exceed three thousand meters, if one is pressed, the other will ring. We can contact each other this way," Shi Dongchen said.

"I see," Lin Li nodded and accepted it. "Then this afternoon, if yours rings, or if it still hasn't rung by three or four o'clock, come wait for me here."

"Okay," Shi Dongchen nodded.

"You guys continue gathering your supplies. I'm losing control of these two zombies on my end, so I'll take them away from you first," Lin Li said lightly.

*Responsible for the kill and the burial.* Since he brought the zombies, he had to deal with them himself.

The lust in the flask was already empty. Although they wouldn't attack him after they stopped David Tao-ing (edging), they would immediately rush over upon seeing Ye Jing and the other two opposite them.

*(Translator's Note: "David Tao" (Tao Zhe) is a homophone for "digging" (tao zhe), referring to the zombies digging at their crotches).*

"Thank you."

Seeing that Lin Li really didn't want to chat anymore, Shi Dongchen didn't try to keep him.

"Then I'm leaving. You won't send anyone to follow me, right?" Lin Li hooked his arms around the two David Taos' shoulders and looked back to ask.

"Of course not."

"It doesn't matter. If you do follow me, it's best not to let me find out, otherwise you know the consequences." Lin Li waved his hand as a farewell.

"There won't be any following."

Lin Li left with the beautiful lady and the self-defense men.

Actually, he didn't go far, just over a hundred meters away.

After hiding in a building and letting the two zombies wander off on their own, Lin Li began to organize his things.

Returning to reality this time, there were many things he didn't need to bring back at all.

Since he was going to bring them over anyway, the backpack, bulletproof vest, crossbow... he might as well just leave them in this world.

Only an hour or two would pass, so no one would touch them.

It would also make it easier to bring them more food, at least Lin Li was satisfied with their attitude later on.

So Lin Li found a building and placed all the things he didn't need to bring back, along with the beautiful lady, in a relatively hidden, high place where zombies were almost impossible to wander to.

As for the signal device, Lin Li deliberately placed it in a different building.

Then it was just waiting for time to pass, resting in place.

He had maintained a high mental state for over two hours today, so he was still a bit tired.

[0.00.00]

The countdown ended, a white light flashed, and Lin Li was sitting in the bathroom in reality.

*(End of Chapter)*