Cheng Daqi walked alone on Red Street in Saint Rodu.
This was the base camp for the homeless.
Simply put, it was the famously known Homeless Central Business District.
Every day, welfare organizations or charities handed out supplies.
For example, at the end of the long queue ahead, there was a distribution point currently handing out clothes.
Styles and sizes were available in abundance.
Each person could choose two items for free.
If there was a special need, one could line up again to receive a second round.
Some particularly determined individuals could spend four to five hours queuing to receive thrice.
Ordinary zero-cost shopping wouldn't target this place.
The goal for zero-cost shopping was stores, not relief points.
Many people didn't realize American zero-cost shopping had a long history.
It's just that over time, with the worsening economy, the scale had expanded after 20 years.
Media played a significant factor in this.
The media's coverage allowed more dream-chasing unemployed youth to see zero-cost shopping videos.
They absorbed the experiences from these videos and then carried out localized implementation in their hometowns.
These latecomer zero-cost shopping entrepreneurs, upon successfully starting their ventures, would also promote their achievements on various social platforms, continuing to draw in new players.
From one came many, and from many, an endless lineage ensued.
The government was very supportive of its citizens' entrepreneurial enthusiasm.
Bai Zuo grandly declared: Theft under 950 US dollars in value is all considered a petty crime.
What is a petty crime?
That meant if there were not enough police officers, such petty theft would be put on hold.
But this postponement turned into an indefinite delay.
As a result, many Black guys entered stores with calculators, adding and subtracting, choosing carefully, and finally walking out with a big package of goods worth 949 dollars.
You ask where the security guards were?
Ah sir, for a few thousand a month, only a fool would risk their life!
It's become a mess.
.......
Now, Cheng Daqi was watching with interest the West Coast boy in front of him.
Curly dreadlocks on top, with four pairs of pants below.
A pair of sunglasses for the cool look, who dares to compete with me?
It was Cheng Daqi's first time in both lifetimes seeing a real West Coast boy.
This guy was clearly a high-tier weirdo among the homeless, broad-shouldered, portly, and robust.
He must have thought that four pairs of pants weren't flashy enough and was lining up to get two more.
Queuing was an utterly dull process.
Many public intellects liked to report that America had free supplies to claim.
But they wouldn't mention that you could spend an hour queuing just to get a meager ten dollars' worth of supplies, which might not even be there when it's your turn.
Frequently, by the time you were halfway through the line, the items were all gone.
With that hour, a random job could have paid more than queuing was worth.
Cheng Daqi had no other choice but dishwashing, solely because he lacked legal status and contacts who could introduce him into a profession.
Otherwise, he would have preferred to find some work.
Surviving ten days, the system task seemed difficult at first glance.
But upon closer thought, it wasn't too challenging.
The main issue was still safety.
For Cheng Daqi, the streets of Saint Rodu were a standard dark forest.
Some blocks looked like they had many homeless residents and seemed like 'Homeless Districts'.
If an ignorant person moved their tent there, they would wake up the next day with their butt cracked open.
Butt cracked open, the kind that happens to both men and women.
Aside from physical injuries, all your valuables had vanished without a trace.
As for who did it?
Don't ask, asking means not knowing.
So, Cheng Daqi now needed to closely follow Sani.
This neighboring girl was essentially his newbie village guide.
"Hi, man, you here to get some pants too?"
Just as Cheng Daqi was lost in his thoughts, a West Coast boy in front of him greeted a black guy coming their way.
"No, no, no, heard they were handing out condoms, you know."
This new black guy was more concerned about hygiene issues, not every black man from the West liked to wear four pairs of pants.
But every black man from the West needed condoms by the dozen.
"F**K, those bitches have like ten diseases each, I'm doubling up now!"
The West Coast bro was clearly also obsessed with condoms.
Cheng Daqi stood behind him, watching wide-eyed as the new black guy cut in line in front of him.
Shivering with anger.
Didn't Yilin say foreigners have high standards?
That they never cut in line?
After all, they were two high-level elite mobs, and Cheng Daqi could only be angry without daring to speak.
If Han Xin could endure the humiliation under his crotch, for Cheng Daqi enduring the insult of queue-jumping was no difficulty at all.
Endured!
Then he was numb with insult.
A twenty-meter queue, and he was cut in line seventeen times.
Han Xin himself would shake his head!
After queuing for an hour and a half, he finally received a gray sports jacket and a pair of black sports pants.
Carrying the hard-earned clothes, Cheng Daqi held them in one hand and the drink he got at noon in the other, planning to first replenish a bit.
First, he would go change into his new clothes, then find a place to take a shower and restore his personal image.
After that, he'd go get another meal, aiming to get his health up to sixty.
Returning to the park where his tent was pitched, Cheng Daqi found Sani had already come back.
She was sitting outside her own tent, playing with her phone on a chair.
"You got no plans today?"
Cheng Daqi asked casually after changing his clothes and coming out.
"Plans? You asking me out on a date?"
The black sister was quite straightforward. She found the word plans strange and mistook her Asian neighbor for asking her out.
"Not asking you out, forget it, I'm about to look for a self-serve car wash or something to take a shower."
"Ha, I thought that after the Asian girl rejected you today, poor Cheng needed the embrace of Mama Sani."
Cheng Daqi was exasperated.
Mama Sani's embrace?
His gaze dropped.
The embrace did look quite inviting.
But he just wanted to survive for now, other things could wait.
And he didn't think he was pathetic.
For someone who had once been in dire straits, just having a healthy body was luck enough.
"Sani, thanks for the offer, but it's not that cold yet, I'll come find you in winter."
Cheng Daqi feigned a move and stealthily made his escape.
The black sister noticed Cheng Daqi's gaze and proudly stuck out her chest.
Watching his hasty retreat, she curled her lips.
Typical Asian man.
Give you an opportunity, and you're still useless.
Too bad the Strongest Vagrant System didn't come with a mind-reading function, otherwise if Cheng Daqi knew what was on Sani's mind, he'd surely educate her thoroughly.