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¹ "Bringing your buddy into the city, eating hotpot and singing songs" (带着兄弟进了城，吃着火锅唱着歌)
This is an iconic reference to Jiang Wen's 2010 blockbuster film Let the Bullets Fly (让子弹飞). The phrase "吃着火锅还唱着歌" (eating hotpot and singing songs) comes from a famous speech by Ge You's character Tang Shiye (汤师爷), which spawned an internet phenomenon called "Ge You Style" (葛优体) in January 2011.
The full quote from the film is: "大风起兮云飞扬，安得猛士兮走四方，麻匪，任何时候都要剿，不剿不行，你们想想，你带着老婆，出了城，吃着火锅还唱着歌，突然就被麻匪劫了！" ("The great wind rises, clouds fly away; where can I find brave warriors to guard the four corners! Bandits must be eliminated at all times—no exceptions! Think about it: you take your wife, leave the city, eating hotpot and singing songs, then suddenly you get robbed by bandits!")
The line became so viral that it spawned a nationwide "sentence-making contest," with over 4 million related web pages by January 2011. People adapted the format to express frustrations about everyday annoyances—work overtime, exam stress, Spring Festival travel rush—all following the pattern of "you're happily eating hotpot and singing songs, then suddenly [bad thing happens]."
The film itself was a massive commercial success, earning 659 million yuan at the Chinese box office, and remains one of the most quotable Chinese films of the 21st century.
In this context, the author playfully inverts the meme: instead of something going wrong while eating hotpot, Chen Shu and Zhang Dali are genuinely having a good time—the reference highlights their carefree moment of friendship.
² "Palm-leaf fan" (蒲扇)
A traditional Chinese fan made from cattail or palm leaves, strongly associated with elderly people and old-fashioned summer cooling. The image of an old man in a tank top (背心) lounging on a wicker chair (藤椅) while fanning himself with a 蒲扇 is the quintessential picture of a laid-back, unhurried Chinese government worker—satirizing bureaucratic inefficiency.
³ "What's that got to do with me?" (关我屁事！)
⁴ "What I do with my own points has got nothing to do with you!" (关你屁事！)These two phrases form the chapter's title and punchline. "关我屁事" (What's it to me?) and "关你屁事" (What's it to you?) became viral internet expressions, often cited together as a philosophy for avoiding unnecessary stress.
The literal translation of both phrases is quite vulgar—"屁事" literally means "fart matter" or "ass business"—roughly equivalent to "What the hell does it have to do with me/you?" or "None of my/your damn business!"
Writer Feng Tang (冯唐) popularized this pairing on the talk show Qipa Dahui (奇葩大会), saying: "人生有两个很重要的问题，一个是关我屁事，另外一个问题是关你屁事" ("Life has two very important questions: one is 'What's it to me?' and the other is 'What's it to you?'").
This philosophy has been summarized as: "These eight characters can solve 80% of life's troubles" (这八个字起码能为自己节省掉80%的无用时间). In psychological terms, this concept aligns with "课题分离" (separation of tasks) from Adlerian psychology—the idea of clearly distinguishing between what is your business and what is someone else's.
The comedic structure here is a classic setup-and-reversal:
After sending Li Hua on his way, the two headed to a hotpot restaurant.
They were living the dream—bringing your buddy into the city, eating hotpot and singing songs.¹ Life couldn't get much better.
"Hey Dali, I need to swing by Nanjiang City's Beast Resource Bureau this afternoon. You up for it?"
Chen Shu grabbed some tripe with his chopsticks and asked casually.
He still had fifty Huaxia Points burning a hole in his pocket. If he didn't spend them, he'd probably toss and turn all night.
Zhang Dali shook his head. "Can't do it, man. Got culinary training this afternoon."
"Fair enough. Study hard—someday you'll be cooking exclusively for my slime."
Half an hour later, both guys were stuffed.
Then suddenly, the mood shifted.
They stared at each other across the table, neither saying a word. You could cut the tension with a knife.
Zhang Dali finally broke the silence. "Chen Pi... someone's gotta pay the bill..."
"Hello?"
Chen Shu smoothly whipped out his phone. "Yeah, yeah, it's me! What's up? I'll be right there!"
Zhang Dali rolled his eyes. "Chen Pi..."
"Shh!" Chen Shu held up a finger and whispered, "I'm taking a call here—we're talking millions!"
"Chen Pi..." Zhang Dali's eye started twitching.
Chen Shu waved him off. "Mr. Liu! Have that contract ready—I'll sign the moment I walk in!"
With that, Chen Shu stood up, preparing to make his grand exit.
"CHEN PI!"
Zhang Dali slammed his hand on the table. "Your phone is upside down, you moron!"
Seriously? If you're going to put on a show, at least make it convincing! Do you really take me for a complete moron?
Chen Shu froze like a deer in headlights. Then he grinned sheepishly. "Huh, no wonder I couldn't hear anything."
"Were you seriously about to dine and dash?" Zhang Dali gave him the stink eye.
"Do I look like that kind of guy?"
Chen Shu's eyes went wide with mock innocence as he quickly and graciously paid the bill.
The two parted ways outside the restaurant.
An hour later, Chen Shu found himself at the Beast Resource Bureau in the east district.
This was where you spent Huaxia Points. They had everything you could want, but hardly anyone came here—Huaxia Points weren't exactly pocket change for regular folks.
Staring up at the shabby, low-rise building, Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. For a government office, this place looked pretty sketchy.
He walked into the lobby and spotted an old guy in a tank top sprawled across a wicker chair, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan² and half-asleep.
"Excuse me, sir!"
Chen Shu crouched down and spoke softly near the old man's ear.
"Zzz..." The old guy kept his eyes barely cracked, showing zero signs of life.
"SIR!" Chen Shu tried again, louder this time.
"Zzz..."
Chen Shu shook his head, stood up, and muttered under his breath: "Fire..."
The old man practically jumped out of his skin, eyes darting around in panic.
"What the hell, kid? You trying to mess with me?"
The old guy yawned and pointed his fan at Chen Shu. "This is a government building, you know! You can't just waltz in here! I could have the Spirit Bureau boys arrest you!"
I'm here to legitimately use my points—what would they arrest me for?
Chen Shu shook his head. "Sir, I'm here to exchange Huaxia Points!"
"Exchange what?"
"Huaxia Points!"
"Huaxia what?"
"Points!"
"What kind of points?"
"Ugh, forget it. Go on back to your nap, old-timer."
"Don't mind if I do!" The old guy stretched and settled back into his chair.
Chen Shu was at a loss. Talking to this guy was like pulling teeth. Were his ears broken or what?
He headed deeper into the lobby where a young woman stood behind the service counter.
"Hi there, I'm here to use my Huaxia Points."
"I'll need to see some ID!"
The clerk looked him up and down with surprise. After checking his ID, her mouth dropped open a little.
A student with Huaxia Points? How'd he manage that?
"Here's your exchange catalog."
She handed him a small green booklet.
Chen Shu eagerly flipped it open to see what goodies were available.
Beast Orb Section:
【Low-grade Beast Orb: 1 Point】
【Mid-grade Beast Orb: 3 Points】
【High-grade Beast Orb: 6 Points】
【Basic Beast Pearl: 5 Points】
【Black Iron Beast Pearl: 20 Points】
Potion Section:
【Low-grade Strength Potion: 0.5 Points】
【Mid-grade Strength Potion: 1 Point】
【High-grade Strength Potion: 3 Points】
【Basic Size Potion: 3 Points】
Materials Section:
【Strength Flower: 3 Points】
【Level 1 Gigantification Fruit: 4 Points】
Chen Shu browsed through the options—they had pretty much everything. But since he was just an intern beast tamer, nothing above Black Iron rank showed up.
What caught his eye was the exchange rate: Huaxia Points could be converted straight to cash at 20,000 yuan per point.
That meant his Ice Rabbit Lord bounty was worth a cool million!
But Chen Shu wasn't interested in cashing out. After some thinking, he decided to go for medicinal materials instead.
Herbs from Alternate Dimensions were getting harder and harder to find. Even 666 Potion Company was out of Strength Flowers, Zhou Xiaoming's family shop hadn't seen new stock in weeks, and even the black market was running dry.
Growing these things took forever, so they were only going to get scarcer.
The writing was on the wall—big companies would start dealing directly with beast tamer groups. Little independent shops would lose their suppliers and go under, while official stores would stop selling to just anyone.
"I'll take five Level 1 Gigantification Fruits and seven Level 1 Iron Core Fruits."
"That'll be forty-eight points total." The clerk smiled.
Iron Core Fruits were worth about the same as Gigantification Fruits—both cost four points. By market price, they definitely weren't worth nearly a million yuan.
But here's the thing—you couldn't find them anywhere else! Chen Shu didn't have time to hunt around. He needed results, and he needed them now.
His golden slime could still handle another twenty Size potions and twenty-five Defense potions, so maxing out those stats was the obvious move.
The clerk disappeared into the back and returned with his order.
That was the beauty of Huaxia Points—no purchase limits whatsoever. If the local office was out of stock, they'd ship it in from anywhere in the country.
"I don't need a bag—just toss them in here."
Chen Shu pulled a blue fertilizer sack out of his backpack.
"Uh..."
The clerk's eye twitched. Who the hell carries around fertilizer bags?
Chen Shu stuffed everything into his pack and whistled as he headed for the exit.
"Hey kid, what're you planning to do with all those herbs? Start your own garden?"
The old man by the door was still lazily fanning himself. "Don't think you understand how valuable Huaxia Points are. Those points of yours... they're legit, right?"
Chen Shu smiled. "Sir, did you know the stray dog near the black market just had puppies? You heard about that?"
"And what's that got to do with me?"³
The old guy looked confused. Is this kid nuts? Talk about a non-sequitur.
"Right. So what I do with my own points has got nothing to do with you!"⁴
"..." The old man was struck speechless.