"No, if you suck it again, there won't be a drop left!"
The girl's cheeks bulged from sucking: "Isn't there still so much stored in it?"
Seeing how confident she was, Cheng An said angrily: "It's okay to breathe again. I'll give you two more buns, no, three...four!"
"Deal! The steamed buns are two yuan each, the steamed buns are three yuan, and the soy milk is three yuan. You are a good boy. Your total is twenty yuan. Let me suck three liters."
She wiped the stains from the corners of her mouth, finally collected two plastic bottles, and pushed the cart away with satisfaction.
Through conversation, Cheng An learned that the common currency here is standard gold, silver and copper coins issued by the federal government. They are the size of a bottle cap. One gold coin is equivalent to one hundred silver coins, and the silver coins can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins.
The colloquial "one dollar" refers to a copper coin.
And because of the gradual improvement of the Federal Republic Bank system, corresponding banknotes are issued here.
The face value of banknotes is higher because there is gold thread inside. The minimum denomination of a banknote is one silver coin, and the maximum denomination is one hundred silver coins, which is equivalent to one gold coin.
This is enough to show that gold is an absolute hard currency in this world.
In an ordinary family, a female worker's daily income is about thirty copper coins, while a male worker's income is relatively higher, reaching more than fifty yuan.
“The monthly income is only over 1,000 yuan, but a steamed bun costs only 3 yuan. The price can be said to be ridiculously expensive, which shows that either there is severe inflation here, or the Engel coefficient is too high.” (Note 1)
Cheng An smacked his lips, thinking that it was most likely the latter.
Of course, there is also a possibility that he was slaughtered because the other party was specifically killing pigs like them who had come a long way and had no food to eat.
Then you can only admit it.
At this time, the city gate slowly opened, and many business travelers who had been waiting at the door began to spontaneously line up to enter the city, forming four long queues.
It's very much like passing a toll booth on a highway.
Entering the city required a stamped pass, which he did not have. Fortunately, he had a naturalization recommendation letter written by an intermediate priest of the Mechanicus, so he quickly took it out.
The two heavily armed city defense soldiers had read the letter of introduction and had no doubt about its authenticity. No one dared to counterfeit the emblem of the Mechanicus Church.
But they looked at Cheng An's appearance and said without changing their tone: "You can choose to register at the household registration office after entering the city, and then go to the Transportation Bureau to apply for a pass."
Cheng An quickly thanked him: "Okay, I'll do it right away."
As a result, the two soldiers had no intention of giving way: "No, you must have a pass to enter the city."
Cheng An: "...But I don't have a pass."
"Then you go and do it."
"But if I don't go into the city, how can I apply for a pass? Sir, you see I have a letter of guarantee from the Mechanicus Church. Can you be accommodating and let me go in and apply for a pass first?"
"No, household registration is a household registration, and a pass is a pass. Anyway, you can't enter the city without a pass, unless you pay a temporary toll of 1,000 yuan. This is the rule."
The expression on Cheng An's face froze.
It turns out I want money!
But he was so poor that he had to pay for gasoline in exchange for breakfast, so how could he have the money to pay for it?
The two sides were in a stalemate, and the people behind began to urge.
"Friend, if you don't have money or a pass and can't enter the city, you can go back." The soldier replied. His attitude was sincere and he didn't look like he was deliberately making things difficult.
"..."
Cheng An looked at the other party's strong figure and the black submachine gun on his back, and chose to silently step aside to the side of the road.
After a while, he took out the only valuable thermostatic suit from the cab and carved a few words on the sand with a stone: "One thermostatic suit for sale, 99 new."
Then he just sat on the stone and waited.
From time to time, people looked over, probably because they thought it was a bit strange, but no one came to ask.
Cheng An was not in a hurry.
The thermostatic suit is worth a lot of money, and if it were like the people in the caravan he met, they would definitely not be willing to buy it.
Ten minutes later, in a caravan with several cars entering the city, a middle-aged man with a big belly finally walked over.
He was dressed more decently, which was obviously different from most travelers who were dressed in shabby and plain clothes.
After standing in front of Cheng An and hesitating for a while, the middle-aged man looked back at the young woman sitting in the cab waving to him, then raised his eyebrows and asked: "Hey, buddy, are you short of money?"
Cheng An glanced at the face of the young girl in his motorcade, she looked somewhat similar to this man, and he felt confident.
Then he looked at the middle-aged man's beaming expression.
Hey, want to bargain?
There are no doors.
"A genuine thermostatic suit. If I hadn't gone out in a hurry and didn't bring any money, you wouldn't have been able to buy it even if you begged."
Cheng An cleared his throat, and seeing that the other party was obviously unhappy, he changed the topic and said, "But you want your daughter to not have to suffer so much on her next business trip, right? It's also a pity for the parents in the world, I would rather
Even if you endure some hardships, you should also let your children enjoy some blessings."
The middle-aged man's expression froze for a moment, and he said with a smile: "Man, what you said is really deep in my heart. Forget it, I don't think you can be raised by a poor family, so let's not leave any traces.
Here we go, fixed price, 110,000, how about."
The market price is 100,000, and in fact there must be a premium. The fact that he spoke so readily means that if I wait a little longer, I should be able to sell it for more than 120,000... If it were me, I would definitely rather wait for an update.
Come out at a high price...
But my current personality is that I am not willing to be an ordinary person, so I came all the way from Kowloon to the Federation, joined the church, and wanted to become an extraordinary person...
When doing a show, you have to do a complete set, just in case someone wants to check it out in the future, the details determine success or failure...
After a while, Cheng An said without hesitation: "Deal."
Seeing how readily he agreed, the middle-aged man first showed a painful smile, then gritted his teeth and paid for the goods.
He originally took out eleven federal banknotes with a face value of 100 silver coins, but at Cheng An's request, he replaced one of the 100-dollar bills with ten with a face value of 10 silver coins.
During this period, he tried on and carefully checked the thermostatic suit, confirming it several times.
"One hundred and ten thousand, I am considered quite wealthy. Ordinary people in this world cannot save fifty thousand even if they work hard all their lives."
There were many eyes on the roadside, which became a little heated, and they kept scanning Cheng An, the lonely outsider.
However, under the eyes of several city defense soldiers at the city gate, no one dared to put this idea into reality.
After queuing up and returning to the city gate, the same two city defense soldiers were in charge of checking the gate.
This time, Cheng An happily took out a ten silver coin bill as the toll.
Afterwards, he successfully entered this huge city famous on the mainland without sarcasm or stopping too much.
The realm of hanging heaven.
Driving the car, we slowly passed through the city wall that was more than thirty meters deep, and a majestic mountain city with a modern atmosphere appeared in front of us.
The road was very wide, and there were dump trucks like him driving slowly on it everywhere, and the road was very dusty.
Along both sides of the street, there are mainly five- to ten-story buildings, which are quite European-style buildings.
In the distance, on the mountain in the center of the city, there is a skyscraper that reaches straight into the sky. With an independent style that transcends the technology of this era, the city radiates around them and is divided into regions one after another.
This is exactly the outline of the building that Cheng An had seen from a distance last night.
"Maybe the Chuitian Realm got its name because of this exaggeratedly tall building."
Cheng An sighed inwardly. Even in his previous life, he had never seen such a towering building. Its height, judged by the naked eye, was more than a thousand meters. In addition, it was built on the top of a mountain, making this building visually impressive.
More impactful.
"There is no comparison between the poor and dilapidated suburbs outside and the situation in the city. The gap between urban and rural areas is also too big.
"What's over there? Are the homeless people being driven away? It feels like the city is not as prosperous as it seems."
Cheng An complained silently, and then bought a city map of Chuitian Realm from a nearby store.
His task this morning was mainly to cancel the household registration first, which was a top priority.
Secondly, find a place to stay as soon as possible. The best option is to rent an apartment that you can move in with your bags.
Before that, he could choose to stay in the hotel first. He would return to the present at three o'clock in the afternoon. He urgently needed an independent and private space where no one could disturb him.
The household registration office is also located in the urban population management center.
Cheng An found the building and saw that it had not opened yet, and there was already a long queue in front of the door.
There were people holding banners nearby and a lot of people gathered. Cheng An took a quick look and saw that they seemed to be protesting because they couldn't get their salary.
"God of Machinery bless you, I hope everything goes well."
Cheng An prayed silently.
It is said that there is a true god in this world, so he tries to be more pious.
Because of the recommendation guarantee given to him by Simon, Cheng An was able to go through the legal procedures without any difficulty.
But even so, by the time I completed the household registration procedures and received my federal citizenship certificate, it was already past one in the afternoon.
Among them, Cheng An went back and forth between various complicated departments, constantly queuing, knocking in stamps, queuing up, knocking in stamps, and wasted a lot of time on the complicated procedures.
How complicated is it?
Cheng An's impression after running around all morning is this: buy horses in the east market, buy saddles in the west market, buy bridles in the south market, and buy long whips in the north market.
This made him couldn't help but sigh. "Run once at most" is indeed the most convenient invention. Unfortunately, he has died in that world and can never return to that prosperous, democratic and harmonious society.
"Countdown to return: 01:04:37!"
The dream trip was about to end in just one hour. Cheng An had no time to go to church or find a rental house.
After a quick lunch, he found a moderately priced hotel in the XC area and booked a room.
After telling the receptionist that he needed to rest and not to disturb him, Cheng An lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and waited for the time to end while reviewing the experience of this day and night in his mind.
First, he traveled through time and became Daozi, and was hunted down by his own people;
It is not easy to get across the lake, but most of the time is wasted on the road;
Then, I met a hateful caravan. Just because he asked for a bite of food, he was treated as a scapegoat and threw two life-hungry ghost dolls to him.
Cheng An felt that his first dream trip, well, although it was unlucky, it was not bad. He saw with his own eyes the magic of the extraordinary power of this world.
And most importantly, he didn't die here.
Living is everything.
——Time, return to zero!
In an instant, Cheng An felt a strong sense of exhaustion coming over him. His eyelids were so heavy that he couldn't resist the sleepiness and closed them.
"...I made the right choice. Before returning, I must keep myself in a safe state. Otherwise, if I fall asleep in the middle of the fight, it will be a lot of fun..."
This was Cheng An's last thought before falling asleep.
The next second, a burst of intense white light woke him up.
Cheng An rubbed his eyes and looked up:
The bright moon hangs high, the mountain wind howls, and the pavilions sway.
Farther away, the river flows into the sea.
"..."
It took him a long time to react.
Isn’t this at the top of Baichi Mountain?
Hejigang, Wangjiang Pavilion!
There is even a big hole left on the ground from when he was digging to find coordinates that day!
No, there is even a lake full of flesh and blood! A mountaineering pickaxe stained with blood!
"How could this happen... Could it be that I didn't leave Baichi Mountain at all one day, and the memories I had after returning were actually all dreams?
"I have always slept on this mountain and never left?"
At this moment, Cheng An felt like he had fallen into an ice cellar, and his whole body was numb.
He gently called out the coordinates in his heart.
"Countdown: 48:00:00!"
No, there are changes!
First of all, the time displayed on the coordinates is different. The next time the dream world will be opened will be two days later.
Secondly, Cheng An took a look at himself and found that the clothes he was wearing were not the jacket he wore while climbing that day, but the casual clothes he wore before the teleportation that day.
But the scene in front of me was the same as the night when the coordinates were obtained.
"unless……"
An idea came to Cheng An's mind. He immediately picked up the mountaineering bag on the ground and ran quickly down the mountain.
As the saying goes, going up a mountain is easier than going down, but in terms of speed, going down a mountain is still much faster than going up a mountain.
It only took Cheng An more than an hour to reach the mountainside where there was a blockade.
However, it was not the entrance he used to go up the mountain, it was slightly different.
But it didn't matter, there were more than one holes, and Cheng An quickly found another hole.
"If what I think is right, after leaving here, you can return to reality..."
Cheng An took a breath and got out.
In an instant, I felt a strong sense of weightlessness, my vision went dark, and I lost my vision and all other sensory perceptions.
This lasted only a short moment. When his vision returned, Cheng An found himself standing on the side of the road.
Looking back, a quiet mountain village under the moonlight came into view.
On the left side, there was a creek that made him feel particularly friendly.
The phone was still in my pocket and the battery was less than 10%.
Date, September 12th, 1:30 in the morning!
"Baichi Village... Sure enough, you guessed it right, I'm back again!"
"But the location I came back to was the Baichi Mountain Scenic Area that had disappeared several years ago. This was the point in time when I obtained the coordinates!"
"No wonder, no wonder it's called coordinates, instead of other messy names like the portal.
"Its real function is to orient myself! Is this my anchor between the real world and the dream world?
"Every time I come back in the future, will it appear here? This may need to be verified multiple times.
"Sure enough, there are only wrong names in the world, not wrong nicknames!"
At this moment, Cheng An suddenly realized.
Suddenly, he thought of something, and his expression brightened at first, but then froze again.
Because he thought of a problem, that is, after passing through the protective fence, he returned to reality.
This shows that the inside and outside of the guardrail are the interface between reality and history.
What about the part below halfway up the mountain?