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Chapter 21: Being Too Beautiful is Trouble
“Huh?” An Jin froze and subconsciously touched his face.
When the waiter saw his puzzled and surprised look, he laughed and said, “Is this your first time to enter the holographic world?”
An Jin nodded. “Yes.”
The waiter saw that his eyes were clear and his speech was unclear, so he suspected that he was underage and that his adult appearance was kryptonite. He kindly reminded him, “You are too high profile. The holographic world’s face pinching price is so expensive, and for you to pinch such a good-looking face, is it not the equivalent of writing on your face ‘I am a tycoon, kill me’? Since you have money, go directly to the city, where the environment is good, but where they also dare not easily rip off customers. You are in the newcomer district town, and are a fat sheep. Everyone will want to cut meat from you.”
“
” AnJin was really not fat; he did not have even a tael of meat. He received the waiter’s kindness and politely said, “Thank you.” Then he asked, “Downtown. How do you get there?”
The waiter had thought he was embarrassed by his poor speech before, but now he found out he wasn’t very good at talking. He was shocked. “You’re not even three years old, are you? How can your parents let you go into the holographic world alone?! You’ll get ripped off even in the city!”
The price of body modification was more expensive than face pinching.
Downtown was full of savvy people. Disguised adults were useless and could be recognized by saying a couple of words. Children who were too young to have fun and eat to their heart’s content, not caring about the price, were too easily ripped off.
No, I won’t be ripped off, I’m too poor to be ripped off.
“I’m twenty,” he corrected, and then added, “I really don’t have money.”
The waiter didn’t believe a word of it. “It’s rare that you remember not to show your wealth, but next time remember to change your face.” He raised a smile. “Our chef is very good, want to come in and try?”
An Jin blinked. “
You can pay?”
“You’re too dedicated to pretending to be poor, right? Don’t worry, the real world and the holographic world are interchangeable, you can pay with your real world account.”
An Jin shook his head in silence. In the real world, he was also penniless.
The waiter suspected that the child had used up all the money his parents had given him by pinching his face and changing his body type, and gave him a sympathetic look. “Get off and get ready to be beaten.”
An Jin: ???
At this time, four more customers came, and the waiter did not answer An Jin’s doubts. He rushed to welcome them. “Please come inside, what do you want to eat?”
An Jin did not stop and continued to walk forward, smelling the aroma of various foods along the way. Although they all had a faint bitter smell, he still craved it. He hadn’t eaten cooked food in over two years, and the bitter stench in the sweet, sour, salty and spicy aroma wasn’t unbearable compared to the apocalypse’s terrible scent.
“Handsome, how about having a meal together?” A man stopped An Jin with a look of amazement in his eyes.
An Jin was stunned. “No, thanks.”
The man’s right eye winked, “Don’t be so heartless, anyway, it’s a holographic world, we don’t know each other. If we’re playing around, no one will know.”
An Jin’s eyes were slightly open. This was not what he thought!
The man laughed at this. “Why are you so surprised? You made this face, don’t you want to attract attention?”
The man reached out towards An Jin, who dodged sideways, and the man stepped forward to chase after him. An Jin frowned slightly, moved a step to the side, and quickly used his water ability. A puddle of water suddenly appeared at the man’s feet.
The man moved fast, slipped on the water and fell face first to the ground. An Jin glared at the man and ignored him, walking quickly forward, all the way to the front of the food street.
Across the road, there was a row of pubs, and the crowd was very lively. An Jin’s eyes fell on the LED screen at the entrance of the first tavern, on which there was a huge word: Recruitment.
An Jin’s eyes lit up. He could buy food by working for money! He crossed the road to the entrance of the tavern and read the job requirements carefully.
The working hours were 12:00 to 2:00pm and 5:30am to 12:00 pm.
He thought about it. When Norman was at home, he usually delivered his food at seven in the morning and six in the afternoon, and the robot delivered at noon.
It was impossible for him to stay in the holographic world at these points in time.
In his case, if he wanted to make money, he could only find hourly jobs. In addition to working hours, he was also required to be articulate, good at chatting, and knowledgeable about sales, and he didn’t fit the bill.
An Jin was disappointed as he began to  leave, but before he could take two steps, he heard a shout from behind him, “Boy, are you looking for a job?”
An Jin turned his head and saw a smiling middle-aged man who was waving at him.
An Jin shook his head. “Me, don’t fit.”
The man smiled and walked up to him, his eyes darting over his face. “It’s okay, that’s all random, you’re here to experience life, right? I’m also looking for hourly workers for my store, for twenty stars an hour and five percent of the drinks sold. Want to try?”
An Jin hesitated for a moment. Thinking that the holographic world could be disconnected at any time, and there would be no security problems, he nodded. “What is your name?”
“Just call me boss.” The man led him towards the tavern. “It’s lunch break in reality, and there are quite a lot of people, so if you work well, you can earn a hundred star coins an hour for sure.”
An Jin followed him, and when the door opened, the noise came out in an instant. It was the sound of people mixing. An Jin walked into the store, and his eyes swept around. The two sides of the store had leather sofas, forming small private rooms. In the middle of the store, there were round tables and chairs, where men gathered in twos and threes, chatting and drinking, and the atmosphere was lively.
The owner handed An Jin a black apron with white trim and pointed to the bar. “There are descriptions of various wines on the screen inside, take a look at them so you can introduce them to people and sell more.”
An Jin walked into the bar and saw the introduction of various wines, however, he didn’t understand it very well, but he could understand the sweet and spicy taste and the degree.
The owner pointed to the small glass in the corner. “You can also taste it before you recommend it.”
An Jin nodded. His apron was still on and he was tying the strap with his backhand when a customer came in. “Handsome, experiencing life?”
The customer’s companion whistled to An Jin and gave him a thumbs up. “You have good taste and a nice face.”
An Jin blushed slightly, only he knew that he did not pinch his face at all. He asked, “Want something to drink?”
His voice at this point was not quite the same as when he was a mermaid, with the clarity of a teenager, but still very soft, and he spoke slowly, as if pampered.
“Oh,” the customer shouted exaggeratedly, propping himself up on the counter, “how old are you, kid?”
His companion joked, “A young male in a rich family out to experience adult working life? With your voice, be careful of attracting bad uncles.”
An Jin pursed his lips and did not answer. He took out two bottles and put them on the counter, then seriously recommended, “These two degrees are not high, with a little sweetness. Want to try?”
At that moment, a hand reached over and grabbed An Jin’s hand directly. An Jin reacted quickly, let go of the bottle, and frowned at the person. The man had an ordinary system face and his eyes looked straight at An Jin. “Brother wants to try. Recommend some more ah.”
An Jin strained his face and took two more bottles of wine to the counter, and the man’s hand reached out again. An Jin’s hand slipped down, and he was holding the bottom of the bottle. He lifted the bottle and smashed it heavily into the man’s hand.
“Ah!” The man cried out in pain, withdrew his hand, and shouted angrily, “What kind of attitude is that! Boss!”
The boss came over quickly and looked at An Jin, his smiling face was fierce now. “Apologize to the customer.”
An Jin’s cheeks bulged with anger and did not speak.
After the apocalypse, because of his good looks, there were people who had thoughts about him, and he was lucky to be saved by the base boss. Since he had an ability and learned financial management, he became the base’s warehouse manager and did not suffer any aggression. He hated people who took advantage of people!
The other two customers couldn’t stand it. “This man wanted to take advantage of the waiter, he just fought back.”
The owner sneered, “If he didn’t have this face, would I let him work in the tavern? What’s wrong with being touched in the holographic world? If he really cared, why would he make such a face?”
An Jin’s eyes opened slightly and he looked at him incredulously. How could there be such a fickle person?! He was smiling before, like a nice guy.
The boss hummed lightly. “Why are you looking at me? I know you’re rich, so what if you are? You don’t know who I am in reality. Since you want to work, don’t act like a young master. If you don’t want to work, leave.”
An Jin took off his apron, threw it on the counter, and walked out in a huff.
“Don’t go.” A customer sitting by the aisle reached out and grabbed An Jin with a smile. “I’ll buy you a drink.”
An Jin hurriedly dodged and ran out.
Someone passing by, seeing him with a flash of amazement in his eyes, invited, “Handsome guy, want to join us for a drink?”
An Jin was so angry that he went straight offline.
He took off his helmet, put it back in the small box, and left the utility room. He didn’t feel like walking around the villa, so he went straight to his room and soaked in the water to calm down. After a while, he swam to the edge of the pool, braced his hand, sat on the bank of the pool, and looked down at the pool.
The pool and the mirror could not be compared, but he could see if he looked clearly—ignoring the cheeks with fish scales and the fins on his ears—that to human aesthetics, he was very beautiful indeed.
An Jin sighed. Being too beautiful was troublesome. His hand lifted the water, breaking the calmness of the water, and the reflection followed the swaying, making it more difficult to see clearly. The risk of entering the holographic world with this face was too high! Not to mention finding a job, walking down the road would make it easy to get into trouble.
In the holographic world, without the constraints of reality, and not knowing each other, those people did not have any scruples. An Jin jumped into the water, lamenting in his heart, if only he had money, he could change his system face.
He sank into the water, and suddenly, sensing something, surfaced and swam to the shore to look at the door. Not long after, the door was pushed open and Norman, in a straight military uniform, stood at the door.
An Jin’s eyes immediately lit up. He made a happy ah sound, with his hands on the shore, and his upper body unconsciously leaned forward, his tail in the water swinging lightly.
Norman took off his military cap and handed it to the robot, walked to the edge of the pool, and squatted down, “An An.”
An Jin blinked. “Ah!”
Norman looked into his bright aquamarine eyes and reached out to rub his long hair. “Not happy these days?”
He asked about the little mermaid on the way and learned that the little mermaid hadn’t sung for a few days and hadn’t even gone to the garden today. An Jin cocked his head in confusion, he had been quite happy except for the unpleasantness of the holographic world just now.
Norman saw that he was confused and didn’t expect him to understand.
An Jin rubbed his hand and measured his spiritual sea, which was still in good condition, but the spiritual power was depleted. An Jin saw the situation, and his eyes curved into crescent moons. If he helped his master recover his spiritual power and then applied for food, it should not be too much!
His tail wagged happily, and he thought again of the feeling of having feet on the ground when he had them. He looked at Norman, and he could feel that Norman was getting better and better to him, and caring for him more.
Listening to the people of the holographic world talk, Norman was an amazing person, and after spending these days with Norman, he also felt that Norman was trustworthy. Perhaps, if Norman knew he could talk, he would not do anything to hurt him.
When he thought of this, An Jin’s heart moved, and he pulled Norman’s sleeve and pointed to the door.
Norman looked towards the door. “Want to go out?”
An Jin hesitated and did not nod, still pointing at the door. He reminded himself that he had to proceed step by step and not be impatient. Norman understood his gesture, bent down to pick him up, and followed his directions all the way to the utility room.
An Jin reached out, pushed the door open, and pointed at the holographic helmet.