Qin He was a little surprised, glancing at the instant noodles in the bowl, which were already more than half eaten.
"I saw instant noodles in the freezer, so I just ate some."
"Oh no!" the girl said, appearing annoyed. "I owed this to the production team for it! You'll have to pay me back tomorrow after you've eaten it!"
Owed?
Qin He's eyes widened. "Why would you owe for it? Doesn't the production team provide food?"
The girl looked at Qin He curiously. "Didn't you hear the broadcast in the villa earlier?"
Qin He thought for a moment. "I must have been out collecting materials then, so I didn't hear any broadcast."
"Will you pay me back for the noodles then?"
"I will," Qin He promised.
The girl looked relieved and sat down opposite Qin He.
"The broadcast said that during this period of closed management, all food for everyone has to be exchanged with the production team."
Qin He frowned. "How do we exchange it?"
The girl explained, "They said we have to earn rewards through equivalent labor. The production team has prepared a kind of gold coin to act as currency. You can then use these gold coins to purchase various items from the production team."
Qin He was utterly speechless. Was this still a competition? How had it turned into this?
What would she do without food?
Qin He frowned at the bowl of instant noodles.
She had already eaten about seventy percent full, but thinking about it being borrowed and needing to be repaid later—
She carefully drank even the broth.
After finishing, Qin He looked at the girl. "How did you get the gold coins to exchange for the noodles? Can you tell me?"
"Everyone can owe the production team fifty gold coins initially, but they still have to be repaid. I owed fifty and saw that the instant noodles were the cheapest, so I bought a few extra, thinking I'd last a few days with one pack a day. After all, the competition is more important right now," the girl said.
Qin He frowned and thought for a moment. "Could you lend me another pack of instant noodles? My assistant hasn't eaten yet, and she'll be back soon."
The girl's eyes widened as she looked at Qin He. After a few seconds of hesitation, she asked, "Are you sure you'll pay me back tomorrow?"
Qin He let out a wry smile. "There are cameras all over this room; any guarantee I make here will be honored."
The girl finally relaxed. "There are still some in the refrigerator. You and your assistant can get one when she gets back later."
Before long, Di Shishi returned from the director's team.
Entering the living room, she exclaimed excitedly, "The items have been delivered. Delivered safely. How was it?"
Qin He's smile faded as she praised, "Very good."
It was already half-past ten. Di Shishi sat on a nearby sofa.
"I'm starving after running this errand. What are we eating for lunch today?"
Qin He gave a helpless, wry smile. "Instant noodles."
Di Shishi's eyes widened. "He'er, I worked hard for you, and you're only going to let me eat instant noodles? You're not that stingy, are you? The director's team's boxed meals aren't just instant noodles, are they!"
Qin He chuckled with helplessness. "I just ate instant noodles, and the director's team doesn't have boxed meals."
"What's going on?" Di Shishi frowned.
Qin He had no choice but to repeat what the girl had told her to Di Shishi.
She looked at Di Shishi with a touch of helplessness. "When they made the announcement, I might have been out collecting materials. You were probably asleep then, so you didn't hear it."
Di Shishi pondered for a moment. "Since everyone can owe fifty gold coins, why don't we owe fifty gold coins first and have a proper lunch? Tomorrow, if there's a task or some kind of equivalent exchange, I'll handle it."
Qin He thought about it and nodded in agreement. With Di Shishi around, she wasn't too worried about what the production team could do. Di Shishi was the manager of Qingyan Mansion; what difficult tasks hadn't she endured?
The two chatted as they left the villa and walked towards the bungalows not far away. The bungalows were a good seven to eight hundred meters from the villa, and by the time they reached them, Di Shishi was already clutching her stomach.
"I feel like I'm starving to death."
Upon entering the production team's office, a staff member seemed to have anticipated their arrival and was waiting at the door.
Qin He stated their purpose directly.
"So, you're here to borrow gold coins, right?"
The staff member smiled and handed them a bag of gold coins that had been prepared earlier. "There are fifty in here. Do you want to count them?"
"No, thank you."
Qin He picked up the gold coins. "Where can we go to exchange for items now?"
"Next to the material warehouse, there's a small supermarket. They have all the delicacies the production team has prepared for you. Meat, eggs, poultry – everything you can think of. The kitchen in the villa is also fully equipped, of course, provided you have enough money to exchange for them."
The staff member's smile was cunning.
Qin He, carrying the small bag of gold coins, left the bungalow with Di Shishi.
To the right of the material room, they indeed found a small supermarket. She hadn't noticed it when she came over in the morning; she had only seen it from afar and assumed it was some kind of electrical room.
The two pushed the door open and went inside.
The supermarket wasn't large, only about fifty square meters, but the goods were displayed in a dazzling array. Furthermore, behind each price tag, the currency was no longer the original gold coins.
"What do you want to eat?" Qin He asked.
She browsed the shelves, item by item, looking at what could be exchanged with gold coins, and had a rough idea.
One gold coin could be used like one yuan in reality, meaning she and Di Shishi currently had the equivalent of fifty yuan!
However, some of the other items in this supermarket were outrageously expensive.
A bag of biscuits cost twenty gold coins.
The instant noodles were cheaper. It was clear that the prices of leisure snacks had been set very high by the production team.
Qin He counted on her fingers. If they only bought instant noodles, they could only get twenty-five packs, which wouldn't be enough for one person for half a month. This almost forced everyone to do some tasks.
Di Shishi was currently clutching a self-heating hot pot and refused to let go. "Qin He, exchange this for me. I promise I'll earn you a lot of money later!"
Qin He narrowed her eyes. "How much does this self-heating hot pot cost?"
Di Shishi smiled brightly. "Twenty gold coins."
Qin He hesitated. "Twenty gold coins for one self-heating hot pot isn't a good deal."
Twenty gold coins could buy ten packs of instant noodles. At this time of scarcity, fifty gold coins were all they had borrowed; they should be as frugal as possible.
Di Shishi, seeing Qin He's hesitation, held onto the hot pot and refused to let go. "I'm telling you, Qin He, if you don't exchange this hot pot for me, I'll go on strike!"
Qin He was a bit helpless and took the self-heating hot pot.
At the counter, they paid the staff member in charge of exchanges twenty coins, and then they walked out with a bowl of self-heating hot pot.
When Qin He and Di Shishi returned to the villa's dining room, the villa was bustling with activity.