Chapter 12 - Fifteen Thousand Dollars Worth of Buns
Original by Bro Got a Gun, Translated by James
Liu Mang’s did not know that his leave have caused Lu Bu and Chen Gong to be unable to sleep at night!
Liu Mang is currently at a loss as to how to get three days worth of food for some two thousand people. He was not afraid of the military order. If worst comes to worst, he could just not go back. It’s not like Lu Bu could chase over! However, he was scared of the massacre! It’s over three hundred lives! If he was unable to accomplish his task, then based on the ways warlords acted during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Lu Bu really would massacre the whole Zhouzhuang!
Liu Mang was not some saint but neither was he a villain, he could not just sit there and watch as three hundred lives are lost before his eyes, even if these lives are from over a thousand years in the past!
When all is said and done, Liu Mang only have a thousand or so dollars total! And that was this month’s living expenses! After spending all of that thousand dollars, he’ll could drink the northwest wind! Even so, could this thousand dollars really be enough to feed over two thousand people for three days?!
[TL: drinking northwest wind = a chinese phrase basically mean that you ain’t got jack to eat, since eating wind will only cause you to get cold and not be full.]
Even if his brain was in his ass, he’d still knew that it was impossible!
“Must I go and borrow money?!” With this kind of situation, it was the only solution! Liu Mang began to take his cell phone out when he noticed a major issue.
The clothes he was wearing was not his own! He already changed his clothes before they even began the break through due to there being too much blood on it. He was currently wearing was a clean ancient outfit!
“My wallet! My ID! My cellphone! My bank card!” Now, not to mention a thousand dollars, he didn’t even have a single cent!
Only now did Liu mang noticed that he was currently at the same location where he was beaten up at. Fortunately, the cosplay contest last for three days. Thus, even though Liu Mang came back wearing ancient outfit, no one was really concerned.
“That’s it! Find Chen Yi!” Their school’s booth was to be there for several days and Chen Yi, as the person in charge, will certainly be there!
Liu Mang grabbed his long gown and started running toward the school’s booth. As expected, Chen Yi was there commanding the underclassmen, teaching them how to hold props all the while fixing a wig.
“Chen Yi!” Liu Mang ran up to Chen Yi.
“Don’t bother me! I’m busy!” Chen Yi did not even bothered to pay attention to who was calling her. She was teaching how to put on makeup.
The hell! You accounted for more than half of why I crossed through time and almost died! And now I called you and you just ignore me?!
“Chen Yi, it’s me, Liu Mang!” Liu Mang reluctantly pulled Chen Yi a couple times. Only then did she noticed him.
“Liu Mang?!” Having seen Liu Mang, her voice suddenly got louder.
“My great aunt!” Liu Mang rushed to cover Chen Yi’s mouth. He didn’t want to get beat up again. Last time he was mistaken as a molester and was almost unable to get back. He didn’t want to be mistaken as a molester again!
“It’s you. So you finally decided to appear!” Chen Yi removed Liu Mang’s hand. She too knew why he was being so cautious. “Where did you die off to yesterday?! Can’t reach you on the phone, can’t find you and you’re not even in your dorms. I thought you died yesterday! I was even planning to report you as a missing individual later today!”
“Great Aunt Chen Yi, it’s a long story!” Liu Mang did not know how to explain. He can’t just go off and tell Chen Yi that he cross through time, went to Xiapi, saved Lu Bu and then killed some people!
“Where did you get the clothes you’re wearing?! Where is my Aries Gold Cloth?!” Only now did Chen Yi noticed Liu Mang’s outfit. Mainly black with dark but majestic patterns. “Ohho, it’s even made out of silk!” Just by touching the clothes, Chen Yi was able to tell the material it was made out of. “Hmmm, this is…?” There was a faint line on the patterns. Chen Yi placed her hand on it and pulled. “Golden Thread?!” stunned Chen Yi.
Liu Mang was still thinking about how to explain himself. First he left her precious Aries Gold Cloth with Lu Bu and now he wanted to borrow money from her! Really, all his misfortunes just piled up!
“What?!” Liu Mang was distracted. “Golden Thread?!” He immediately turned his sight to his clothes.
“That’s right, it’s golden thread!” Chen Yi looked at that Han gown with admiring eyes! She wondered who had such an elegant taste, that gown should be a general’s garment! General’s garment should have golden thread embroideries! But that was during the ancient times! How could modern cosplayers use golden thread!?
Chen Yi thought that she was already someone who could be considered as one who seek for perfection, having used aluminum alloy to construct her Aries Gold Cloth just to show the beauty of real metal armor!
Now, having seen the clothes, she cannot help but pale into insignificance by comparison.
Money! Money! The Liu Mang who was still worried about how to get money suddenly came to a revelation - isn’t this money?! Miserly, Liu Mang asked “If we take apart the golden thread, how much could they sell for?!”
“Take apart and sell?” Chen Yi was confused. Selling such a great golden embroidered general garment? Did Liu Mang go crazy?! “Taking into consideration of the designs, you should be able to get fifty grams of gold! With the current cost of gold being around three hundred, you’re able to sell it for fifteen thousand!”
“Fifteen thousand?!” Liu Mang smiled. Fifteen thousand divided by two thousand people will give each one of them seven fifty. For three days, this should be enough!
“Are you really planning to sell it?!” Chen Yi think that Liu Mang went crazy. With such a beautiful gold embroidered general gown, it’s a work of art! To take apart the golden threads to sell, it’s a major waste!
“That’s right, I need money!” said Liu Mang
“Need money?! How much do you need?!” Chen Yi asked. “A thousand? Two thousand?” Chen Yi’s family was rich. This was shown by the fact that they allowed her to be in the anime and manga club - the school did not sponsor the club, thus all the props and costumes had to be made by themselves, not a small expense!
Liu Mang shook his head. “Fifteen thousand!”
Chen Yi could tell that Liu Mang was set to sell this golden embroidered gown! “Well, Liu Mang, seeing as you’re so set on selling it, then let’s keep the goodies within the family, you could save horrific behavior of taking apart the garment for the thread and sell me the gown instead! I’ll pay you twenty thousand!” Apart from the golden embroideries, there were also other unique characteristic on the gown enough to make Chen Yi like it!
“Twenty thousand?!” Happiness came like the wind! For a DiaoSi like Liu Mang, he have never once seen money that numbered more than ten thousand!
[TL: In case you forgot, DiaoSi is a chinese slang meaning that the guy is of mediocre appearance, humble family, no car, no house and no connection. Basically a loser.]
“Yep!” said Chen Yi.
“Okay okay okay! I will go back to the dorms and take it off for you right away!”
“Return quickly!” Chen Yi shook her head. What a waste for such a nice gown to be in the hands of a brat like this! Due to her being so concerned for the gown, she actually forgot about her Aries Gold Cloth!
“Twenty thousand! Hehe!” When one have money, one’s worries flies away! With twenty thousand dollars in his pocket, Liu Mang’s confidence was flying off the shelf!
Three days worth of food for two thousand people?! Maybe not luxury food but certainly he could get food enough to fill the stomach of these people!
And where would one find food that’s filling but not good? Obviously that would be the school cafeteria!
In this wide cafeteria, there was a magical food, the big meat bun! The bun was as big as one’s palm! Although it barely have any meat, it had a lot of bread! Although it tastes bad, it’s very filling!
When fifteen thousand dollars was placed in front of the cafeteria lady, the cafeteria lady was dumbfounded!
“Child, do you have a fever?!” That cafeteria lady placed her hand on top of Liu Mang’s forehead.
“Aunty, I don’t have any fever! This fifteen thousand dollars was for buying buns! As for the buns, I want that big meat bun that cost a dollar each!” In fact, Liu Mang too was at a loss. Had he had more money, he’d be buying better food already instead of coming to the cafeteria!
“Did that dude went nuts?! Fifteen thousand dollars! Buying buns?!”
Liu Mang came at the wrong time, right at the lunch period. The cafeteria was filled with people. Seeing Liu Mang place his bills on the ordering table, everyone began to murmor.
“A vulgarian! That’s a vulgarian for sure!” A man nodded his head, certain that Liu Mang was a vulgarian.
“Even if he’s a vulgarian, to spend his money buying buns?! With this many buns, how could he possibly finish it! What a bumpkin!”
“Did that man went crazy?! To spend all that money buying buns!”
“I know right?! Did he received some kind of trauma?! Did his girlfriend left him for ‘Mr. Perfect?! Even if you are to vent, you can’t do it like this! This is a waste of your family’s money!” Great! Currently student Liu Mang was seen as a bumpkin by the guys and a pitiful child who was just dumped by his girlfriend by the girls.
“So what if you’re dumped, if they don’t want you, I want you! Lil handsome guy, if you use the money you’re buying the buns to buy me bags, I’d be yours tonight!”
“That’s enough, stop being so lecherous!” said two girls, teasingly.
Red with embarrassment, Liu Mang packed the bucketloads of buns onto the car! The school cafeteria was nice enough to provide Liu Mang a minivan to help him transport the buns.
This damn cafeteria really had over a ten thousand buns! Might these all be expired leftovers?! Forget it, at least I got food now!
Some ten thousand buns filled the whole minivan. With nowhere to put these buns, Liu Mang moved them to the anime and manga club’s clubroom.
Having obtained food, it was about time for him to go back.
Liu Mang composed himself. The time crossing CD still had a couple minutes left on it. With nothing to do, Liu Mang started checking the props in the clubroom.
In the innermost section was all trophies! This Red Univeristy’s anime and manga club was famous in the anime and manga community! Whether the quality of the girls, the props or even the amount of money they have, they’re all top rated!
“That is?!” Liu Mang’s sight was attracted by a golden armor.
Covered densely with scales, with a crown on top of it, and patterns like the ocean’s waves! On the side, there was a matching weapon - a golden trident!
[TL: that’s the Poseidon Scale from Saint Seiya. http://www.nerdgasmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/poseidon1.jpg]
Liu Mang walked over, he wanted to play around with that trident.
Suddenly, he found an embarrassing problem - he cannot lift the trident with a single hand and had to use both hands!
Although Liu Mang wasn’t very strong, he had the physique! Thus, lifting fifty or sixty pounds with a single hand was no problem for him. However, right now, he was having difficulties holding this weapon with two hands!
“Is this thing made of steel?!” Liu Mang guessed correctly, it was a steel halberd! The weapon was constructed with alloy steel and Its exterior was covered with a gold coating! This was without a doubt another one of Boss Chen’s masterpiece.
This weapon?! This armor?! Liu Mang remembered that Boss Lu lost his Sky Piercer! Maybe he’d be even even more stunning with this one!
Finished cooling down!
Liu Mang pressed confirm, golden light once again lit up. It wrapped all the buns in the clubroom. Liu Mang smoothly pulled the armor and trident into the golden light.
“Woosh!” The anime and manga club room suddenly got quiet, there was not a single person! Buns, armor and the trident have all disappeared!