Chapter 2566: Suffering the Loss of Not Being Able to Speak
The Painting Woman had a preference for shiny things, and those fifty watches were mostly colorful gemstones, dazzling and brilliant under the light, every edge and corner radiating the glow of money.
"Come here, come here!" The Painting Woman beckoned him eagerly as soon as she saw him, then walked back a few steps to pull him over, pointing at the shop assistants lined up holding trays. "I want these!"
Stone Breaking Heaven's envious eyes were practically drooling, and he secretly gave the Painting Woman a thumbs up behind her back.
"Having that many watches is useless," Xu Huo said. "Just buy two casually to play with."
He swept a casual glance and picked out a hair clip and a wristwatch.
The Painting Woman shook her head, indicating that she liked all of them and wanted to buy them. "My money is all stored with you."
Xu Huo smiled faintly. "Your money was all spent on eating, drinking, and having fun before. Now you probably owe me instead."
The Painting Woman was shocked; the Painting Woman didn't believe it. She had secretly asked Sima Xiao'er how much money she had last time, and Sima Xiao'er had said that the Special Defense Department had specially approved a budget for her, which she could withdraw at any time.
"That was back home," Xu Huo said flatly. "But if you really want to buy more, that's fine. Pick five first. Every half hour, you have to adjust all the watches you bought to the standard time of Zone 001."
"Ten watches means adjusting them every twenty minutes, twenty watches every ten minutes, thirty watches every five minutes."
He sat down on a chair, tapping the back of his finger against the hair clip. The watch face trembled, and the second hand immediately skipped a beat. "First, figure out how long five minutes is and how much time it takes to adjust one watch."
The Painting Woman often played games, and although she didn't care much about time, she could roughly estimate it. She thought for a moment and asked, "What if I don't finish adjusting them in time?"
"Keep however many you manage to adjust. Each time you fail to finish, one watch will be deducted from the ones you keep, until there are none left."
The Painting Woman's eyes went blank. She quickly calculated the math in her head, and finally obediently picked up the hair clip and wristwatch. "I'll take these two. I won't adjust them."
Xu Huo nodded. "Checkout."
The Painting Woman was still very happy when she came out.
Stone Breaking Heaven couldn't help but say, "She really listens to you."
What he really meant was, she's really easy to fool.
"Don't you need to head to the instance site?" Xu Huo asked him.
"No rush," Stone Breaking Heaven said. "I planned to have some fun first anyway. There are way too many interesting things here."
"I'm going to play here for two days too," Xu Huo said. "We'll head to the Yongxing Hotel later. Where are you staying? Want to come along?"
Stone Breaking Heaven laughed heartily. "I can't afford the Yongxing Hotel. I'll probably walk a bit farther and find a cheaper place."
Xu Huo nodded. "Then we'll part ways here."
Stone Breaking Heaven waved his hand and walked off in another direction with his backpack.
Since time wasn't pressing, Xu Huo strolled around the square for a while, then headed toward the Yongxing Hotel, taking in the city's scenery as he walked.
Besides the various clocks and watches, the craftsmanship of the watchmakers was also a specialty of Zone 001. Workbenches were set up on the streets, where customers could pay to try their hand at assembling parts within a set time to win a prize.
The more popular shops offered tickets to the Clock and Watch Exhibition as prizes. This exhibition would gather all the famous works and unreleased new pieces from every master watchmaker in Zone 001 this year. Many people came specifically for it, but the venue was limited, so not many tickets could be allocated to tourists. This method was used to both boost consumption and let those who truly loved watchmaking get their hands on tickets.
The Painting Woman shoved the snacks in her hands into Xu Huo's arms and squeezed through the crowd to line up.
To be fair, she was quite dexterous. After watching an old master assemble one, she tried it herself and succeeded smoothly. She got a ticket from the shop owner, happily held it up for Xu Huo to see, then dashed off to the next shop to win a second one.
"We'll go see it together." The Painting Woman thought it over well and solemnly put both tickets into her backpack.
But she hadn't gone far before she was targeted. She grabbed a young boy who was reaching into her backpack right there on the street. Suffering the loss of not being able to speak, the boy struck first. "Why are you grabbing me? I don't like people older than me!"
The Painting Woman applied force with her hand, and the boy cried out in pain as he fell to his knees. She grabbed his head and pressed the communicator against his face. "You stole from me!"
This distance was hardly ideal for reading, and the boy struggled and shouted. Soon, an enforcement team arrived. Seeing the situation, the two officers pulled the boy up first, pressed his head down to make him apologize, and said they would take him back for education.
"He stole from me! Cut off his hand!" The Painting Woman raised the communicator again.
The two enforcement officers' expressions shifted slightly. The fat one among them said, "Miss, the crime of theft in Zone 001 doesn't carry such a heavy sentence. Besides, he's a minor. He can only be criticized and educated."
"Please be magnanimous. Don't bother with a child."
The Painting Woman nearly smashed the communicator in frustration, but the drawn-out expression hindered her momentum. The two enforcement officers tried to smooth things over and just leave with the boy.
"You two seem to know him. He's probably a repeat offender," Xu Huo spoke up at this point. "I see that the people of Zone 001 are wealthy and the welfare system is decent, so there's likely no need to steal to survive. Criticism and education don't seem to have worked, or else he wouldn't have turned around and slandered the victim after failing to steal."
"Or is this the enforcement team's attitude toward such incidents? Are you discriminating against outsiders, or deliberately letting locals get away with wrongdoing?"
"It's a small matter, sir. There's no need to blow it out of proportion," the fat officer said. "Zone 001's laws are clearly written. If you're dissatisfied, you can take it up with the government. If the law is amended, I'll immediately arrest him and lock him up."
Xu Huo smiled. "What do Zone 001's laws have to do with me?"
He patted the Painting Woman on the shoulder. "Let's go."
This dismissive, slightly contemptuous attitude made the two enforcement officers' faces darken. In public, his suggestive words inevitably cast doubt on the attitude of Zone 001's enforcement team and tarnished the zone's reputation.
"You little brat!" The fat officer shoved the boy. "Move it! I'm going to give you a good lesson today!"
"They're so annoying," the Painting Woman was still angry even after walking far away. "They bullied me because I can't talk!"
"Haven't you asked Mr. Dong for advice on how to speak?" Xu Huo asked.
"I can't learn it." The Painting Woman puffed up angrily. "Talking is so hard."
"It's okay. Typing works too. Since you can't speak, just make the people who can speak wait for you." Xu Huo paused. "That shop over there looks good. Want to give it a try?"
The Painting Woman's eyes lit up, and she immediately cast all her worries aside. She leaped into the holographic projection and pointed at the roasted bird above. "Eat this!"