Chapter 153: What to Do Without Money [Zhou Yi Achieves Three Stars—A Great Cause for Celebration!]

Sophia paused, as if she had truly never experienced anything like this before.

Normally, after leaving a task world, that task world would continue to loop along its own timeline, and any information related to awakened individuals would be wiped clean when cleared out.

However, Cheng Zhi had not been cleared out; he had simply followed Zhou Yi and become a slave, which made things entirely different.

"This is the first time I've encountered a situation like this. Normally, once the awakened ones are cleared, the world shuts down. It only opens up a second time if the base detects an awakened person or discovers hunters operating within. We need to check what point this world's operations have reached and whether it has been rebooted."

Understanding the situation, Zhou Yi quickly looked over at Cheng Zhi.

"Then let's not waste any time. We need to leave immediately and figure out what time it is right now. Cheng Zhi should know when this world usually refreshes, right?"

Cheng Zhi nodded.

"It's usually July 2001. There are still seven or eight months left from the time we left, but I don't know what exact date it is right now."

The fatty hurried over, trying hard to make his presence felt since he didn't have much say in this world.

"Let's not talk anymore, let's just get going. You can tell by this temperature that it's winter—deep winter, right at the beginning or the end of the year. What's there to study?"

"Fatty is right. Let's find a place to ask around, at least secure some transportation. Jumping around like this in a modern world, if anyone sees us, it'll spell trouble."

With that, Sophia directly picked up Cheng Zhi. Zhou Yi sighed, walked up to the fatty, and grabbed him by the belt.

"Fatty, you've put on weight recently!"

The fatty wore an aggrieved expression. He was always the scapegoat; his weight had constantly hovered around two hundred and fifty or sixty catties with less than two catties of fluctuation. Could he really be blamed for that?

"Boss, don't hold it against me. I'll just act as your dumbbell. You've worked hard!"

Zhou Yi said nothing, hoisted the fatty up, and bolted toward the cave entrance. Once outside, Cheng Zhi had already grabbed the branches at the mouth of the cave and camouflaged it once more. This time, the branches were even denser; even if someone actually fell onto it, they would easily crawl back out, likely assuming there was nothing below except a layer of rotting, withered leaves.

Without another word, the four of them sprinted down the mountain. Before long, they spotted a tiny grocery store at a fork in the road, with a village not far away. Dropping straight down, they hurried over. There were no vehicles or bus stops to be seen here.

The fatty picked up a branch, put on a pair of sunglasses, and volunteered to go inside first. After all, when it came to scavenging, none of them had any currency used in this world. They did have silver, but that stuff wasn't of any immediate use right now.

Before leaving, he struck a pose for Cheng Zhi, leaving one foot off the ground with his pants leg folded and tied up to look as miserable as possible, resting his arm on Zhou Yi's shoulder as if he had just stepped off a battlefield. Before Zhou Yi could glare at him, he darted inside in a flash.

Stepping into the grocery store, they found a middle-aged woman. Business seemed slow, and she was sitting in a corner, nodding off as she dozed.

The sound of the fatty's footsteps caused the woman to open her eyes. Seeing someone enter, she eagerly stood up and wrapped her cotton-padded jacket tighter around herself.

"What can I get you, brother?"

The fatty took off his sunglasses and smiled.

"Big sister, sorry to disturb your rest. We were hiking and got a bit lost. We just wanted to ask how far it is to the urban area from here, and which direction we should head?"

The woman didn't suspect anything; possessing the natural simplicity characteristic of farmers, she smiled, walked out from behind the counter, and stood by the doorway. Seeing the other three people outside dressed just like the fatty, she completely believed his story and pointed toward the northeast along the national highway.

"See that? Just head northeast, get on that national highway, and follow the main road straight ahead. It's about twenty minutes by car to the town, and from the town, there are vehicles going into the city."

The fatty felt around in his pockets, looking somewhat strapped for cash, and a slight look of awkwardness crossed his face.

"We got trapped in the mountains for quite a while, and a lot of our supplies fell down a cliff. We don't really have any money to give you, but thank you so much, big sister. I wanted to ask you one more thing—what date is it today?"

"Today is the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, January seventh on the solar calendar..."

As she spoke, the woman paused, looking the fatty and the others up and down.

Indeed, they didn't seem to have any backpacks or anything; they were just leaning on tree branches as walking sticks. One of the tall, thin fellows even seemed to be injured, with his legs curled up as he leaned against someone else. Walking a long way like this would be rather difficult. The woman slapped her thigh.

"Don't rush, come inside and sit down. You little fatty, why didn't you just say so? Hurry up and sit here for a moment. I'll get you some hot water to drink, and then I'll go call my husband to drive you all to town. We have a hand tractor at home."

Sophia had no idea what a hand tractor was, but she didn't ask; having someone give them a ride for part of the way was naturally a good thing.

Zhou Yi supported Cheng Zhi and gave the woman a slight, grateful nod.

"We're causing you trouble. My friend slipped from the mountain, and all our supplies fell down the cliff. We didn't even dare to go back down to retrieve them."

The woman waved her hand dismissively.

"Judging by your accents, you aren't locals. What's money compared to that? Keeping people safe is more important than anything. Hurry up and come inside to warm up."

With that, she stepped forward to help Zhou Yi support Cheng Zhi, and together they entered the small grocery store. No sooner had they sat down than four porcelain bowls filled with steaming hot water were brought over. The rims of the bowls were somewhat chipped, and there was a bit of dark, grimy dirt on the outside.

The fatty figured that Zhou Yi's severe germophobia would definitely make him find it filthy, and he was just about to step forward when he saw Zhou Yi take the bowl and take two sips.

Looking utterly astonished, the fatty quickly took a bowl of water for himself and slurped it all down noisily while blowing on it.

"You guys wait here for a moment!"

Leaving the shop unattended, the woman hastily hopped onto a battered bicycle and pedaled off toward the village. There were plenty of goods inside the grocery store, and the cash box sat right in plain sight underneath the counter.

The fatty let out a sentimental sigh.

"So pure and honest. Not a single trace of defense or caution."

Zhou Yi nodded. Opening his storage box, he pulled out several rechargeable flashlights and placed them on the counter.

"Leave these for her. We don't have anything else on us to give as a gift."

Naturally understanding the gesture, the fatty broke into a wide grin.

"I think that's fine. As long as someone drops us off at the edge of the city, that's enough. Today is the Lesser New Year, which means according to the time Cheng Zhi mentioned, the world hasn't refreshed yet. That's better than anything else."

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement.

"Fatty is right. Dropping us off near the city limits is plenty. Although there aren't many people here, the villages are dense, and walking all the way would be far too cold."

Just as they were talking, the woman hurried back like a whirlwind, lifted the doorway curtain, and waved at them.

"Hurry up and come out. My husband will take you to town."

Following the woman outside, Sophia finally learned what a hand tractor was: a brand-new tractor with a flatbed trailer attached to the back, completely open with no cabin.

The fatty bowed to the woman, expressed his gratitude, and then taught her how to use the flashlights before hurriedly departing.

The vehicle chugged noisily all the way to the town. The driver, an older brother wrapped in a cotton-padded jacket and wearing a cotton hat, dropped them off while the four of them were already so cold their hands and feet were entirely numb.

Jumping off the vehicle, they showered the driver with yet another round of thanks. Cheng Zhi looked around and noticed there actually seemed to be minibuses here, but the lack of money posed a bit of a problem.

They couldn't possibly resort to stealing, could they?

The fatty looked around, his small eyes lighting up as he pointed to a jewelry repair shop and nudged Zhou Yi.

"Boss, give me one of the silver ingots. I'll go exchange it for cash. This shop should take it, I reckon."

The four of them huddled together, shielding Zhou Yi's movements as he produced a silver ingot. Of course, the red cloth wrapped around it was snatched away by the fatty, who folded it neatly and strode off quickly.

Barely five minutes later, the fatty came jogging back out, waving his wrist at them. The palm of his hand now held four fifty-yuan bills.

"Done deal. Let's flag down a taxi and go!"

Zhou Yi had no objections to this arrangement. Taking a minibus would mean a long, bumpy ride; getting to the city sooner would also help them figure out their next steps. Taxis were indeed available, hovering around the station looking for fares.

The four of them hopped into a cab and rattled along for over an hour before finally arriving in the city.

The car drove straight to the residential complex where Cheng Zhi lived. Seeing several cars parked side by side downstairs, including a blue Santana, Cheng Zhi gave a slight cough and then looked over at Zhou Yi and the others.

Yes, Zhou Yi saw it too. A health bureau parking permit rested behind the windshield of the car, but it was caked in a thick layer of dust, clearly having been left untouched for a long time. Ever since he left, he had no idea how Li 梅 had handled things, especially since her father was no saint either.

Cheng Zhi scratched his head.

"Should I go up and check things out first?"