Trembling At A High Altitude

Last time he came here, he had two hours of free time, but this time it was only half an hour. Was it because he was no longer a newbie making his first visit to the island?

Li Teng only allocated himself 2 points for today's extra meal.

Of course, there weren't many points left in his account now.

Borrowing on credit was too risky, and Li Teng was not one to spend beyond his means.

Last time, he spent 5 points on a bowl of hot dry noodles, a bowl of rice porridge, one bun, three steamed buns, and a small dish of pickles.

The hot dry noodles cost 2 points, the rice porridge 1 point, the bun 1 point, three steamed buns 1 point, and the small dish of pickles came free with every point spent, roughly three strips of pickled radish per point. Li Teng spent a total of five points last time, so he got more than a dozen pickle strips.

After repeatedly calculating the cost-benefit ratio in terms of satiety, Li Teng spent two points on six steamed buns, getting six strips of pickled radish in return.

As for rice porridge... there might be free coffee available, so he could save in that area.

Each steamed bun paired with a strip of pickled radish was perfect.

It was an unparalleled delicacy.

After consuming six steamed buns and six strips of pickled radish, Li Teng was still not fully satisfied.

But he was a very self-disciplined person, so he forced himself to leave the cafeteria and headed out onto the street.

He activated his terminal and did a search.

The points in his account were pitifully low.

There were no new tasks to accept; it seemed his luck was not very good.

He stepped into a clothing store, where various types of thick clothing were for sale.

Unfortunately, even the cheapest jacket cost 20 points.

There were also raincoats and rain pants for sale, costing at least a dozen points for a set.

Forget it, he couldn't afford it. He'd just have to endure.

When he passed by the bathhouse, Li Teng glanced inside but didn't go in.

There was no need to bathe.

Who knows when it might rain again atop the stone pillar, and taking a shower in the rainwater from the heavens would be better by then, wouldn't it?

He stank a bit now.

But the stink didn't bother him as much as it might others.

He checked the terminal again.

Still no tasks available for helping newbies.

Li Teng made his way into the wax museum.

Entering the wax museum in the middle of the night felt somewhat creepy.

But he still had to check it out.

Inside, compared to last time, there seemed to be a few more figures, but Li Teng couldn't remember clearly.

Guo Zhipeng was not in this wax museum; it only stored figures of characters who had died in disaster movies.

Back out on the street, Li Teng made a trip to the restroom.

After leaving the restroom, with the experience from last time, Li Teng easily found the sign pointing the way to the set, in the same direction as before.

The gathering place for the actors was the same as last time as well, right outside the same cafe.

When Li Teng arrived at the entrance of the cafe, it was just 10:43 a.m.

Not a soul was at the tables outside the cafe.

Only two expressionless crew members stood by the cafe's door.

Li Teng sprinted to the coffee machine, cup in hand, ready to pour himself some coffee.

"This doesn't deduct points, right?" Li Teng confirmed with the crew, just to avoid falling into any consumption traps.

The staff member didn't say anything, just nodded.

Only then did Li Teng grab a coffee and return to the table, where he was surprised to find three plates of snacks!

There was a plate of fries, a plate of cookies, and a plate of cashews.

"Are these for free too?" Li Teng quickly asked the staff member again for confirmation.

The staff member nodded again.

"Damn it! Last time I must've come too late, ended up with only coffee to drink, and all the snacks had been scoffed by those bastards! Looks like I need to hurry to the set as soon as possible every time."

As Li Teng muttered to himself, he reached for the plate of fries and grabbed all of them, stuffing them into his mouth as if a gust of wind were sweeping away dead leaves.

Then came the plate of cookies.

Perhaps Li Teng had stuffed his mouth too quickly, and the cookies, being rather dry, coupled with not having drunk any water since arriving at the Film and Television City, caused him to choke.

A large quantity of cookies stuck in his throat, with no moisture to help, he couldn't spit them out or swallow them.

Li Teng wanted to take a sip of coffee to soothe his throat, but the coffee was scalding hot and couldn't be drunk at all.

Fuck! I didn't die on the stone pillar, didn't die acting, am I going to die from choking?

"Help!" Li Teng had no choice but to open his mouth wide and gesture to his throat, seeking help from the nearby staff member.

The staff member realized it was an emergency and quickly went into the café to find some cold water for Li Teng.

Just then, Li Teng heard footsteps nearby and turned to see Glasses Man coming from across the street.

Perhaps because his vision was better with glasses, Glasses Man spotted the three plates on the table before he even got close, including the untouched plate of cashews, so he quickened his pace.

In a split second, without worrying about the potential consequences of choking to death, Li Teng rushed over before Glasses Man got close and took the plate with the cashews, pouring all of them into his pocket, then put the empty plate back on the table.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... What kind of person is this?" Gao Fei saw he was one step too late; only three empty plates remained on the table, glared at Li Teng with utmost annoyance.

Li Teng didn't even glance at him, but once again rushed back to the front of the café, just as the staff member came out with a cup of cold water.

Li Teng quickly grabbed the cold water and took a big gulp, finally managing to swallow the cookies that were stuck in his throat.

"This water is free too, right?" Li Teng suddenly remembered to ask for confirmation from the staff member.

The staff member nodded, standing expressionless by the door.

Li Teng took an empty cup back to the table and poured the coffee back and forth between the two cups, trying to cool down the coffee in his cup.

"Weren't the snacks on the plates prepared for everyone? Do you have no shame in hoarding them all to yourself? Take out what's in your pocket and give me half, and I won't tell anyone about this," Glasses Man reminded Li Teng.

Last time Glasses Man came, there were also no snacks on the table, and he didn't expect there to be any this time either.

He watched helplessly as Li Teng pocketed the last plate of cashews right in front of him.

Li Teng reached into his pocket, grabbed half of the cashews, and held them in his hand.

Glasses Man stretched out his hand to take some.

But instead of giving any to Glasses Man, Li Teng stuffed all the cashews in his hand into his mouth, chewed them up, and swallowed them in front of Glasses Man.

"Such manners... Tsk, tsk... What can I say?" Glasses Man swallowed his saliva, shook his head, and got up to pour himself a coffee.

After returning to the table, Glasses Man, still feeling annoyed, took the empty plates to the staff member, telling them about Li Teng eating all the snacks from three plates, hoping the staff would replenish them with more snacks.

The staff member shook their head and refused Glasses Man's request.

It seemed that unlike coffee, the snacks could not be freely refilled.

Glasses Man returned to the table, dejected and glaring at Li Teng with extreme dissatisfaction.

Li Teng also glared back at Glasses Man, then slowly ate the cashews one by one.

Just then, footsteps were heard from afar, and Glasses Man, as if seeing reinforcements, quickly turned his head to complain to the newcomer about Li Teng's misdeeds.

But when he saw it was Gao Fei, his spirit deflated completely.

"Hey brother, morning!" Upon seeing Li Teng, Gao Fei walked over briskly and greeted him, then sat down next to Li Teng.

"I was a step late; he gobbled up all three plates of snacks. I managed to snag a few cashews, here's half for you, bro." Li Teng took out the last few cashews and handed them to Gao Fei.