Chapter 237 : My Name is Pinocchio, It's Very Normal for My Surname to be Pi

Short videos often feature those dilemma-inducing multiple-choice questions.

For example, if you have 3 yuan, how would you choose your life from the following options?

Perfect social life: 40 yuan; Excellent education: 50 yuan.

Dream job: 60 yuan; A special skill: 20 yuan.

A chair that can be easily kicked away: 2 yuan; A rope sturdy enough to support your weight: 1 yuan.

This kind of multiple-choice question is always very agonizing; after all, you can't have it all.

You always think, *if only I had 173 yuan.*

And now, it wasn't 173 yuan, not even 1.73 million, but a full 30 million yuan worth of gold right in front of him.

This wasn't Wu Min's "ten million happy, ten million glad, and ten million remember to open your eyes when you sleep," this was a genuine 30 million.

*(Translator's Note: A pun on the Chinese word "qian wan," which means both "ten million" and "be sure to").*

Although this amount and level of gold couldn't be recycled as easily and unscrupulously as the bracelet from last time—not to mention whether a single store had a cash flow of 30 million, if Lin Li dared to take it out without proof of origin, he could be saying "hi hi, uncle" to the police that very night.

But that wasn't something to consider right now.

Get it first, then talk.

Small amounts, multiple times, multiple stores—slowly recycling it was no problem. Lin Li wasn't in urgent need of money anyway; just possessing this amount of gold felt great.

Experts say that gold can be classified as a medicinal material, because research shows that gold has a good therapeutic effect in alleviating trypophobia, anxiety, and reducing life stress.

Just thinking about having a hundred catties of gold under his bed made Lin Li feel that life was beautiful.

At this moment, facing Lin Li's undisguised purpose and desire, Su Dan blinked, withdrew her hand, and then took the opportunity to ask a question she had actually always wanted to ask but hesitated on:

"Mr. Bai, when you travel between the two worlds, you can bring things from one world to the other, right?"

"Yes, almost everything on me, including the steel rod in your hand, was brought from my world. Perhaps you can also see some clues." There was no need to hide it, so Lin Li nodded.

At this moment, he was still fully armed and wearing a helmet, but this time because he was willing to spend money, his field of vision was much better than last time.

Seeing a hint of expectation in Su Dan's eyes, Lin Li immediately added:

"I probably need to clarify, I can only carry dead objects. And if I'm returning from your world to my world, even dead zombies, even flesh and blood stripped from them, I cannot bring back from this world.

"I personally believe this is a protective screening of my traveling ability. That is to say, I can't even take dead creatures from this world. If you have the idea of going to my world through me, I don't think you'll get the result you want."

When returning, Lin Li would re-test it with the ant corpse in his pocket.

"So... that's how it is." Su Dan nodded, looking slightly dejected.

There was nothing to be embarrassed about having her "purpose" seen through.

After all, if there was a good place to go, who would want to continue struggling to survive in this world?

"Also, I apologize to you, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Lin Li, nice to meet you, Miss Su Dan."

Lin Li reintroduced himself, this time extending a hand for a handshake, and said somewhat apologetically:

"When traveling in another world, I'm not quite used to using my own name."

Su Dan: "..."

"Lin Li... hello, this name sounds better than Bai Bufan. Also, no need to add the 'Miss' suffix, just call me Ye Jing." Su Dan shook Lin Li's hand and said politely.

Lin Li readily agreed: "Okay, Su..."

Lin Li: "?"

Wait.

Why did "Miss Su Dan" become Ye Jing after dropping the "Miss" suffix? This subtraction is wrong!

Wait.

You motherfucker.

You were using a fake name too.

"Reasonable, reasonable, understood, understood." Lin Li's apology vanished instantly, and instead he found it somewhat amusing.

"Is Ye Jing really your real name?" Lin Li felt he still needed to double-check with this bad woman.

"...It really is."

"...Okay, let's get back to the main topic. I am equivalent to a 'Two-World Door'. I believe I can undoubtedly help you improve your lives. For example... let me ask, are you guys still short of food?"

Lin Li reached into his backpack, took out a box, and opened it. Inside were neatly arranged Dove chocolates, Snickers, Shark wafers, and even a piece of tiramisu.

Although the most suitable and efficient food for wilderness survival should be compressed biscuits.

But Lin Li wasn't doing wilderness survival; he went to another world to have an encounter with the beautiful lady.

Dating a zombie was miserable enough. If he still had to bitterly eat compressed biscuits, wouldn't he be living his life like Bai Bufan?

Moreover, Lin Li came here with a full stomach, and chocolate is high in calories. The food in this box, if used sparingly, would be no problem to last for two days.

For a time travel that could be refreshed once a week, Lin Li believed the maximum duration of a single stay wouldn't be too long. Lin Li speculated it might be 24 hours or 8 hours—the reason being that the refresh times for the active abilities granted by the system were basically this long.

As for the answer to his question "are you guys still short of food," Lin Li had already gotten it when Ye Jing's eyes began to change and she stared fixedly at the contents of the box.

"Do you want..." Lin Li picked up a chocolate and handed it to Ye Jing. Before he could finish his sentence, his hand felt light; the chocolate was already in Ye Jing's hand.

"Gurgle—" An untimely sound came from Ye Jing's stomach.

Starving.

"Can I eat it?" Ye Jing looked up at Lin Li, but her gaze remained locked on the chocolate, she said.

"Kitty, you can have a cheeseburger." Lin Li nodded.

Ye Jing didn't know this meme, but she only knew that Lin Li nodded.

Slightly trembling fingers hooked the edge of her mask, hesitated for a moment, and finally pulled it down.

Ye Jing's facial features indeed had a bit of maturity, and one could vaguely see her former elegance between her brows, but several hideous scars ruined it all, looking like ugly centipedes crawling on her face.

Her lips were chapped. She was clearly starving, but she forcefully controlled herself, slowly tearing open the packaging. Facing the bar of chocolate, she only carefully took a very small bite. The moment it melted on the tip of her tongue, her eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a faint smile.

Unfortunately, those scars twisted and deformed with the movement of her facial muscles, appearing even more glaring.

It seemed that although she had an ability, the survival situation of Ye Jing's shelter was still not very good.

"Not afraid I poisoned it?" Lin Li joked.

"Don't care, even if I die, it's worth it," Ye Jing said with a slightly hoarse voice while continuing to experience the beauty of the food.

Lin Li didn't expect chocolate to have this level of power.

But it was probably a case of "let them eat cake" on his part.

If he really lived in the apocalypse for two years, he'd probably be even worse off than Ye Jing.

She probably hadn't eaten this kind of food for a very, very long time, and who knows what they were eating now.

"Ye Jing, let me tell you another life hack. Don't eat things given by strangers, because they might be drugged. But you can actively ask for or snatch food from strangers, so the stranger won't have time to drug it," Lin Li said with a smile.

*Whoosh*, Lin Li's box was "snatched" in front of Ye Jing.

"Thank you."

She learned really fast.

But Lin Li didn't mind. He still had a little bit in his bag, and it was something of little value to him. He also took out a bottle of electrolyte drink from his bag and gave it to her.

"Your world is so happy..." She took the drink and sighed softly.

"By the way, Ye Jing, later Miss Beautiful and I plan to make a piping hot din... what time is it now? Anyway, in the evening, I'm going to cook a dish. If you want, you can share it with us," Lin Li asked upon hearing this.

"Miss Beautiful is..." Ye Jing's confused voice abruptly stopped as she looked up. She looked at the zombie head on the snakeskin bag and paused her words.

She still couldn't get used to calling a zombie of indistinguishable gender "beautiful lady."

But then Ye Jing's voice became even more confused: "You're making it with her? How is she going to make it? Do you also have the ability to resurrect zombies?"

"Of course not, but I've already thought it through," Lin Li immediately introduced his idea to Ye Jing. "Do you have a recipe for meat stew in this world? I plan to make a pork stew later. Look, this is the pork I brought."

Lin Li took out the fresh pork from his bag, showed it to Ye Jing, and continued to explain:

"This is currently intact pork, but pork stew requires minced meat, so I need to pound it into a paste. This is where the beautiful lady can make her entrance. After her bone is cleaned, it can perfectly take on the role of a wooden mallet, and I'll use it to pound the meat."

The system task required him and the beautiful lady to make and enjoy a dish together. If this didn't count as making it together, Lin Li didn't know what would. He really couldn't do it without the beautiful lady.

Ye Jing: "o.o? —— o.O? —— O.o? —— O.O?"

*Are these words a human can say?*

*Are people from the other world all this terrifying?*

"I don't think I'd dare to eat it," Ye Jing told the truth.

"Don't worry, I naturally considered this point. I brought plastic wrap. After all, you definitely have to wear gloves when cooking, right? The bone won't touch the food, and the bacteria are microscopic," Lin Li explained.

Lin Li couldn't possibly eat anything related to zombies just for a task.

When the time came, he would just make do and pound it a bit, and that would be enough.

"Let's talk about it when the time comes," Ye Jing left herself a way out.

She slowly and carefully finished the chocolate bar, but she only ate that one, and even folded the chocolate wrapper neatly and put it back in the box.

Then she looked at Lin Li: "Lin Li, you will be our savior."

"You flatter me, we're just taking what we need. I can save time too," Lin Li waved his hand.

Searching for a needle in a haystack here was also very strenuous. How could it be as satisfying as earning a ready-made thirty million?

"Is your shelter far from here?" Lin Li asked.

"Not particularly far. At my speed, I can get back in about half an hour, but I travel across buildings, which is close to a straight line. If we take the ground roads, it will take about an hour," Ye Jing replied, hesitating for a moment before adding:

"By the way, Lin Li, I hope you understand, I can't take you back directly. I need to discuss it with the people in the shelter first. I can't make the decision alone."

"That doesn't matter. And actually, I had no intention of going back with you at all. After all, I don't know the information about the other people in your shelter, much less trust them. I was just thinking of telling you that."

Lin Li hadn't lessened his necessary vigilance. Although there shouldn't be any necessary points of conflict between the shelter people and himself—after all, even if they killed the goose, they couldn't get the golden eggs, and having the ability to leave at any time put him in an invincible position.

But since ability users existed, who knew if any accidents would happen? He couldn't be careless.

Therefore, entering the interior of a completely unfamiliar shelter, a place they understood but he didn't at all, was simply too risky.

Lin Li would absolutely not reveal to Ye Jing that his spawn point every time he came to this world would be the same as where he left last time.

At least he had to wait until they were more familiar, otherwise there were too many ways they could mess with him.

For example, directly building a "prison" around the area.

Moreover, Lin Li didn't know what would happen if there was something at the location he left last time when he returned. He couldn't just be embedded directly into his body, right?

Lin Li continued:

"My plan is this: we can go near your shelter first, then I'll designate a nearby location, and you can have someone bring the gold out.

"Then tell me what supplies you need the most at this stage, because I can't bring too many things over at once, and I can only bring what I can carry and legally buy in my world."

"Okay, without further ado, shall we head over now?" Ye Jing said.

She really didn't want to wait a single moment.

"No problem, point me in a direction. An hour is just right for me," Lin Li nodded. His task of holding hands and shopping with the beautiful lady still needed over half an hour. Anyway, everywhere was a street, and walking anywhere was still walking.

"The direction is roughly this way. I'll lead the way beside you?" Ye Jing pointed southwest and said to Lin Li.

"Sure," Lin Li replied. Then he opened the snakeskin bag, took out one of the beautiful lady's hands, and held it.

Ye Jing's gaze locked onto the white lace glove and black silk sleeve on the beautiful lady's arm.

Then her gaze naturally shifted into the snakeskin bag.

She saw:

The beautiful lady was dressed in one strange piece of clothing after another, black silk on the left leg and white on the right. If it were a normal human, it might actually look quite nice.

But she wasn't.

No matter how strong a mind was, it would become fragile at this moment. Ye Jing's pupils quaked.

Subconsciously glancing at Lin Li, Ye Jing quickly averted her gaze, pretending nothing happened.

*The other world is so scary.*

Lin Li: "?"

Lin Li touched his nose, and said slowly, feeling a bit awkward and amused:

"Ye Jing, if I say this really isn't my fetish, you'd believe me, right?"

"Mhm."

"You say mhm, but look at me when you say it..." Lin Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

...

[Kiss the beautiful lady deeply on the forehead... (3/4)]

Replicating the previous shopping process, after more than half an hour passed, Lin Li saw the system notification.

OK, then the only thing left was the small task of cooking. Lin Li threw the beautiful lady's hand back into the snakeskin bag.

He took out a rib and used a fruit knife to scrape it to the point where a fly would slip if it stood on it, and Bai Bufan would shake his head if he saw it. Then he frantically began wrapping it in plastic wrap.

After finishing these preliminary preparations, Lin Li stopped.

Because the system task required making a dinner, emphasizing that it was dinner, but the time in this world right now hadn't even reached noon.

"Lin Li, I've already seen the people our shelter sent out to search for supplies."

After walking a bit further, Ye Jing, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped jumping, turned around, and said to Lin Li.

However, her eyes were mainly looking at the few zombies following behind Lin Li, engaged in the edging challenge.

Bringing them over would definitely cause a commotion.

"Okay," Lin Li nodded, then looked around, pointed to a relatively tall building nearby, and said:

"I'll wait for you guys in that building. Just discuss it among yourselves and come over. I'm not in a big hurry, take your time."

"Okay, sorry for the trouble," Ye Jing nodded.

Lin Li then led his few fanboys behind him and walked towards the building he pointed to.

Since he was idle anyway, he might as well make some preparations for the upcoming trade.

...

Although Lin Li said he wasn't in a big hurry, in less than half an hour, Ye Jing arrived at the destination with people.

That was fast.

"Lin Li? Lin Li? Bai Bufan?" However, Ye Jing didn't find Lin Li in the designated building, so she called out in a low voice.

"Oi, I'm over here."

Hearing the voice, Ye Jing looked across the building. Lin Li was standing opposite the building, with two zombies standing next to him.

Still David Tao-ing (edging).

Ye Jing: "?"

Seeing Ye Jing opposite him subconsciously hide, Lin Li waved his hand and said loudly: "You should know that in this state, they won't attack anyone. It's fine if they see you. Just treat them as bodyguards I hired."

This scene was indeed enough to make the people from the shelter wary of acting rashly against him.

"Are you Lin Li?" At this time, two other people appeared beside Ye Jing.

One was a muscle guy, though his physique was a bit worse than Zhai Kai's; he could probably touch his own back.

The other man wasn't as robust and looked a bit older.

"Hello, yes. And you are?" Lin Li said politely.

"I'm Hu Fei, he's Shi Dongchen. We're both from the shelter. We heard about your situation from Ye Jing and came to trade with you." The muscle guy's phrasing was a bit weird when he spoke, and the man named Shi Dongchen next to him also nodded.

"OK," Lin Li nodded. It didn't matter who came to trade. He then reached out his hand, "Where's the gold? Did you bring it?"

Hu Fei took an object out of his pocket and threw it towards the building where Lin Li was, and Lin Li caught it steadily.

A small gold bar. Weighing it in his hand, it was about twenty or thirty grams. Applying pressure to both ends, the gold bar bent slightly. It should indeed be gold.

"Now you go to your world, before night falls, bring another hundred bars of the chocolate you gave Ye Jing over here. That value should be enough. We will wait for you here," Hu Fei opposite him said.

Lin Li, who was still playing with the gold bar, scratched his head in confusion upon hearing this: "Strange."

"What's wrong?" Hu Fei frowned in confusion. "There's no problem with the gold."

"I'm saying what's strange is you." Lin Li looked up at Hu Fei.

"What's wrong with me?"

As everyone knows, Lin Li is a money-grubber who would wipe a one-yuan coin several times before putting it in his pocket if it fell on him.

So for this gold nugget worth tens of thousands, Lin Li wiped it on his bulletproof vest, breathed on it, then tossed it high in the air and kicked it towards the opposite building.

His aim was a bit poor; he kicked it crookedly. It hit the wall and then fell to the ground.

"Ding."

*Sounds good, so it's good gold.*

"Why did you do that?" Seeing this, Hu Fei frowned.

Lin Li raised his middle finger towards Hu Fei:

"There's one thing I don't understand. Am I begging you for business right now? I don't want the gold, you guys go survive on your own."

"What I find strange is, how did an existence like you manage to survive in the apocalypse for two years until now?"

Lin Li also wanted to spit, and even made the wind-up sound.

It wasn't manners that stopped Lin Li.

Spitting while wearing a helmet is an act of self-harm.

Then Lin Li hooked his arms around the shoulders of the two David Taos next to him, turned around, and walked away.

*(End of Chapter)*