Just as his cultivation was starting to show promise, before Zhang Shao could even catch his breath, a more practical and thorny problem hit him hard—his household registration, no, his identity!
This all started because of my craving for food.
That night, Zhang Shaozhong looked at the painfully high prices on the food delivery app and ultimately didn't dare to order spicy hot pot anymore. Instead, he ordered three servings of the cheapest vegetarian stir-fried noodles and two steamed buns.
When the delivery guy knocked on the door to deliver the food, he casually said:
"Dude, the lights on this floor are a bit dim. I almost tripped and fell."
Zhang Shaozhong laughed it off, closed the door, and turned around to see Ling Qingxue and Ye Meier staring at him... at the fried noodles in his hand.
Ye Meier sniffed and frowned:
"What's this smell? It doesn't smell as good as it did at noon."
Although Ling Qingxue didn't say anything, her eyes revealed a hint of...disdain as she looked at the fried noodles, which were noticeably less oily.
Zhang Shaozhong's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly explained:
"Um... let's change things up today, something light and healthy..." "Healthy my ass!"
Ye Meier snatched a serving, opened the lid, and saw only a few stalks of greens and a pitifully small amount of shredded meat inside. She immediately bristled.
"Is this for feeding birds?! What happened to the meat and vegetables you promised? Kid, are you kidding me?"
Zhang Shaozhong broke out in a cold sweat:
"Big sister, calm down! It's just... a bit tight on funds, you know. We need to take it slow and steady..."
"Long flow my ass! I'm starving!"
Ye Meier was so angry she wanted to smash the box, but after smelling the aroma, she held back and fiercely picked up her chopsticks.
"Tomorrow! We have to eat meat tomorrow! Otherwise, I'll go find something to eat myself!"
What was said without malice may have been taken to heart by the listener.
Ling Qingxue suddenly spoke, her voice cold and clear:
"Get out? How do you plan to get out?"
Ye Meier was slurping her noodles when she mumbled:
"How do we get out? We walk out! Do people in later generations have to fly to go out?"
Zhang Shaozhong's expression changed drastically in an instant, and he almost dropped the fried noodles in his hand:
"No! Please don't! Big sister! Dear grandma! Please don't go out by yourself!"
"Um?"
Ye Meier and Ling Qingxue looked at him at the same time, one with a puzzled expression and the other with a scrutinizing one.
Zhang Shaozhong waved his hands anxiously:
"You...you have no identity documents! You're undocumented! You'll get into big trouble if you go out!"
"Unregistered resident? What does that mean?"
"Ling Qingxue pressed for an answer."
"They...they don't have any identification! No ID card! No household registration booklet!"
Zhang Shaozhong gestured, trying to explain clearly.
“Here, everyone is recorded from birth. When you go out, take a bus, stay in a hotel, or even go to an internet cafe... well, in some places, you need to show this certificate! Without it, you can’t move an inch!”
Night Enchantress scoffed:
"What a joke! Under the whole sky, all land belongs to the emperor. I can go wherever I want, why would I need any damn 'certificate'? Who dares to stop me?"
She subconsciously tried to circulate her power, but found it to be pitifully weak, making her words sound somewhat unconvincing.
"Oh dear, that's not what I meant!"
Zhang Shaozhong almost cried.
"It's not like it was back then! Now there are surveillance cameras everywhere... the kind of traps that can see and hear things from afar! And there are police... the government officials!"
"They're specifically in charge of this! If they find out you don't have identification, at best you'll be questioned and detained; at worst... they might arrest you as vagrants or spies!"
He said this half-truths, mainly to intimidate these two lawless individuals.
Sure enough, the words "officers" and "arrest" made the two women's expressions turn serious.
They are now almost powerless and lack the confidence to confront the "dynasty" of this era head-on.
Ling Qingxue pondered for a moment and said:
"Is it really that complicated? It seems no one questioned me when I set up my stall that day."
"That was luck! That day, the urban management officers... uh, you know, the kind of officials who manage street order, were chasing me for illegally operating a business on the street, they didn't check my ID! If they had been strict and asked you for your IDs, we would all be finished!"
Zhang Shaozhong was filled with lingering fear.
Ye Meier put down her chopsticks, losing all appetite for the bland noodles, and frowned, saying:
"That's so complicated? How did you manage to get this 'ID card'?"
Zhang Shaozhong smiled wryly:
"It's difficult! You need a household registration and a birth certificate through legitimate channels, but these... they just fall from the sky. Where am I supposed to get them for you? Making fake documents is quick, but it's too risky. You're likely to get caught, and in many places, you can verify their authenticity with a simple scan. Fake ones are useless."
He slumped onto the sofa, his face filled with despair.
"Oh no, oh no! I was so focused on eating and cultivating that I forgot about this most crucial thing! You can't go out, you can't look for work, you can't take public transportation, you can't do anything! Are you really going to be stuck in this rented room of mine forever? I can barely afford the rent!"
The thought of the bleak future of "raising" animals and the fear of being investigated at any time made Zhang Shaozhong feel that his life was bleak.
Silence fell over the room.
Night Enchantress scratched her hair in frustration:
"What kind of ridiculous rule is this! It's outrageous!" Ling Qingxue, on the other hand, remained relatively calm and asked:
"Would it be safe to stay here?"
Zhang Shaozhong shook his head:
"It's not safe either. The landlord comes by occasionally, and the neighborhood committee ladies sometimes come to register residents. If they find out that I have two unidentified people hiding in my house... I won't be able to explain it!"
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.
"And you two are so eye-catching... Fairy, with your aura, and Big Sister, with your... figure, if you go out and get spotted by some street thug or talent scout, and get into a fuss, it might alert the police... Ouch!"
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