Chapter 161
“We can do it, but in the short term, Corsona’s dimension probably won’t have extra spatial capsules to trade,” Zhou Qi said.
Moreover, they’d need to deliver the remaining 9,990 cubic meters of water before any new trades could begin.
Hearing Zhou Qi’s analysis, Tang Yu’an nodded. “That’s true. Collecting void stones might be easier for now.”
Easier?
Considering how void stones showed up during every seven-day special sale, it might seem that way—if you were as lucky as Tang Yu’an, that is.
Zhou Qi, having accepted this reality, said, “Let’s keep fishing for drifting bottles. We can still do it twice more today.”
“Okay!” Tang Yu’an eagerly agreed and reached into the pile of bright drifting bottles, pulling one out.
When the bottle opened, a glowing orb floated to the ceiling, and Xiao Risheng’s voice echoed in the attic.
It seemed they could trade for more Lanhu leaves today!
Earlier, they had used 200 dried Lanhu leaves to produce 100 sheets of 2.4m x 2m low-temperature fabric. Now Round Head was working on producing 1.2m x 1m regular-temperature fabric, with materials prepared for 100 sheets, consuming another 300 Lanhu leaves.
Regular-temperature fabric had broader applications, such as clothing and protecting plants at night. They would certainly need more Lanhu leaves in the future, so stocking up now was a priority.
“Risheng, are you trading for coarse rice again today?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“Yes, I need rice!” Xiao Risheng replied confidently, but then hesitated. “And… something else…”
“What else?” Tang Yu’an prompted.
“I… I need to think about it…” Xiao Risheng’s voice wavered. “Maybe… medicine?”
*
Lanhu Town, the Lord’s Residence
Lan Yunqing looked at the sleeping boy on the bed, his brows furrowed with lingering worry.
After demonstrating his ability to trade through dreams, Xiao Risheng had officially been renamed Lan Risheng and now slept in the lord’s house. Beside him was a stack of 6,000 Lanhu leaves prepared for today’s trade.
Such a number would have been unthinkable in the past.
Lanhu Town had never traded this many leaves at once. Even with Qingmu Fortress, their annual trade quota was only 1,000 leaves.
Lanhu leaves were their lifeline, sourced from the Lanhu Forest, which also provided water and even a salt mine.
While they traded with salt merchants to maintain appearances, the Lanhu people never truly lacked salt. A mere 1,000 leaves sufficed to exchange for essential goods from Qingmu Fortress.
Excess leaves were typically stored, as they were seen as gifts from the sacred Lanhu trees.
This restraint was key to their survival in the harsh wastelands. The Lanhu Forest’s unparalleled resources could easily attract powerful predators if they weren’t cautious and insular.
Trading so many leaves now placed immense pressure on Lan Yunqing. But he knew it was the only viable path for Lanhu Town.
Thanks to six healing potions left behind by Chi Hao, the Lanhu Mother Tree had partially recovered, regaining about 60% of its vitality.
While its condition continued to deteriorate, the temporary reprieve bought them valuable time.
However, as the tree’s vitality improved, it shed fewer leaves, reducing the supply of fresh Lanhu leaves that residents could gather.
Over time, this imbalance would inevitably lead to problems.
Some residents had already noticed the issue and were willing to trade their stored leaves for brown rice. Instead of eating the rice, they joined Lan Yunqing in attempting to cultivate it.
Having grown up on Lanhu leaves, many Lanhu people had high rates of ability awakening, particularly wood-element abilities.
However, the forest’s exclusivity rendered these abilities almost useless within its bounds, leaving most ability users with low levels and no success in farming.
Now, these wood-element users were experimenting with brown rice cultivation. Progress was slow due to the forest’s strong exclusivity, but efforts were underway.
Of course, not everyone shared this foresight. Some traded for brown rice simply to eat it.
Through old pre-apocalypse books, they discovered that coarse rice was actually unhulled rice. After processing it into white rice, they found it yielded fragrant, fluffy grains with a hint of sweetness.
Compared to the Lanhu leaves they’d eaten for decades, everyone agreed the white rice was far tastier.
Even Lan Yunqing, despite his reluctance to admit it, preferred white rice.
Since white rice debuted yesterday, coarse rice sales had surged again. Out of the 7,000 kilos they had exchanged so far, only about 500 kilos remained.
Until they found an effective way to cultivate rice, Lan Yunqing had no choice but to increase the trade volume.
The healing potion was something Lan Yunqing also hoped to acquire, so he asked Xiao Risheng to inquire about it. However, he wasn’t sure if the child would remember after falling asleep—last time, when trading 5,000 kilos of coarse rice, Xiao Risheng had forgotten to ask while dreaming.
Facing such a young child, Lan Yunqing couldn’t bear to blame him. Xiao Risheng had already been incredibly brave, handling negotiations with the mysterious merchant and bringing hope to Lanhu Town. If he could, Lan Yunqing wished he could face the mysterious merchant himself in the dream world.
Looking at the sleeping child, Lan Yunqing sighed again, his heart heavy with worry for Lanhu Town’s uncertain future.
Soon, the 6,000 Lanhu leaves stacked on the floor vanished without a trace, replaced by 10,000 kilos of coarse rice.
Each bag, vacuum-sealed and weighing 50 kilos, formed a total of 200 bags stacked in the storage room. If Lan Yunqing hadn’t specifically arranged for Xiao Risheng’s bed to be in the storeroom, there wouldn’t have been enough space for all the rice.
On the bed, Xiao Risheng stirred, rubbing his eyes as he woke from his dream.
Lan Yunqing quickly composed himself.
When the boy opened his eyes, he saw the dignified and kind lord smiling at him. He grinned back.
Sitting up, Xiao Risheng exclaimed, “Lord, I got the rice!”
“Wow, so much!”
Seeing the towering stacks of rice, Xiao Risheng was astonished. Compared to the 6,000 Lanhu leaves they traded, the 10,000 kilos of coarse rice were much more impressive. Knowing he was the one who made the exchange filled him with a strong sense of accomplishment.
He really was amazing!
Lan Yunqing patted his head and said with a smile, “You’ve worked hard, Risheng.”
“Not hard at all!” Xiao Risheng replied with a cheerful laugh.
Even though he now lived with the lord, he could still visit his family during the day, and communicating with the mysterious merchant felt effortless. He didn’t feel burdened at all.
Lan Yunqing smiled and then asked, “Did you ask about the healing potion?”
“I did!” Xiao Risheng replied, recalling, “The mysterious merchant said it’s possible to trade for it, but… but…”
“But what?” Lan Yunqing pressed eagerly.
“He said you have to agree to become his employee,” Xiao Risheng said.
“Me? His employee?”
“Yes!”
At that moment, a strange glowing screen appeared in front of Lan Yunqing.
[The Mysterious Merchant would like to recruit you as a sales assistant at “Peace Grocery Store.”]
[Job Description: Assist the store owner in selling goods, managing the store, etc.]
[Salary: 10 points per month.]
[Benefits: Access to the store’s exchange panel, among others.]
[ACCEPT] [DECLINE]
Lan Yunqing stared at the glowing text in stunned silence.
*
Peace Grocery Store, Attic
“I wonder if the lord of Lanhu Town will agree to become our employee?”
After sending the recruitment message, Tang Yu’an anxiously waited for a response.
Since they had already recruited Old Mo, it seemed reasonable to try recruiting someone from Lanhu Town. Especially after upgrading the “bigger is better” directive, the store could now hire even more employees—up to nine in the main store alone. With Chi Hao, Hai Jing, and Old Mo already on board, six slots remained.
The idea to recruit Lan Yunqing came from a conversation with Chi Hao. While boasting on the message board about leveling up seven times in one day, Chi Hao had let slip how Xiao Risheng obtained so many Lanhu leaves. This explained why the proportion of dried leaves in their trades was so high, which greatly tempted Tang Yu’an.
However, despite waiting, there was no response from Lan Yunqing—neither acceptance nor rejection of the job offer.
It reminded Tang Yu’an of recruiting Chi Hao, who had also approached unknown situations with caution. For someone like Lan Yunqing, the leader of an entire town, his wariness was even more understandable.
Though slightly disappointed, Tang Yu’an quickly let it go.
After all, today had already been a huge success. Thanks to the 40,000 points earned from trading with Corsona, they managed to afford the cost of exchanging 10,000 kilos of coarse rice, which required a whopping 100,000 points. Without a decent reserve, such a deal would have been impossible.
Even so, they had only delivered 9,900 kilos, with the remaining 100 kilos to be completed in the next trade.
This transaction had brought them a net increase of 42,000 points, pushing Tang Yu’an’s total balance to 141,000 points!
“Wow, I feel like we’ll hit 200,000 in no time!” Tang Yu’an said happily, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the balance.
Seeing his excited, money-loving expression, Zhou Qi chuckled. “Do you want to use one of the Seven-Day Special Refresh cards?”
They still had three refresh cards left. Since their leveling-up pace had slowed, using one or two now wouldn’t be a problem.
Tang Yu’an hesitated, clearly torn.
“How many more magical furniture items do we need to level up the shop?”
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and replied, “Two, I think.”
Currently, they owned three Level 2 pieces of furniture: an automatic water-storing thermal cup, the Southern Garden cabinet, and a super cargo cabinet that was still being upgraded.
So they still needed two more pieces. However…
“Maybe we could refresh and get a smart housekeeping robot?” Zhou Qi suggested.
The round-headed bot they already had was extremely useful. For instance, while they were preparing to go to bed, it was still tirelessly working downstairs at the printer. It kept loading materials, waiting, and unloading materials in an endless cycle, never showing any fatigue.
Tang Yu’an was tempted by the suggestion.
Indeed, they now had plenty of points, which they could easily use to buy another robot. With enough robots, they could even station one at the swimming pool to handle tasks like collecting eggs and feeding animals. These would be easy to teach for a smart robot with basic learning capabilities.
This way, Grandpa Li wouldn’t have to work so hard, and the swimming pool base wouldn’t have to attract too much attention.
Tang Yu’an finally made up his mind and used a seven-day special sale refresh card.
The sale interface refreshed quickly.
[Seven-Day Special Sale (Remaining Refresh Time: 6 Days)]
- Intermediate Healing Potion (5/5): 400 points per bottle
- Special Cold Medicine (3/3): 100 points for 3 pills
- Glowing Green Light Strip (3/3): 288 points per strip
- Advanced Smart Housekeeping Robot (1/1): 16,688 points per unit
Description: Level Lv0, high-tech advanced product.
Function: Masters all housekeeping skills, executes commands well, has basic intelligence for simple conversations, and features basic learning capabilities. Compared to the standard version, this one includes solar charging, allowing it to absorb sunlight during the day for energy, with charging efficiency depending on light intensity. - Fluorescent Stone (1/1): 38,888 points per piece
Description: A rare material used for crafting light-related equipment and furniture upgrades.
“Great! It really refreshed with a new robot!” Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up as he read the interface details.
Not only was it a new robot, but it also came with solar charging! It perfectly fit their needs.
“In that case, we won’t need to worry about charging it at the swimming pool,” Tang Yu’an said excitedly. With a flourish, he purchased everything on the list.
The first two items needed no explanation. The glowing green light strip was also something they needed.
At Store No. 1, good lighting significantly improved both safety and convenience. The fluorescent stone was essential for upgrading the light strip. Once upgraded, it would become even more functional.
[Glowing Green Light Strip]
Control Function
Lv2 Upgrade Effect: Extends to 50 meters, can be divided into segments with a minimum length of 5 meters. The upgraded version includes a power switch and can store absorbed wood-based spiritual energy, using it only when turned on. This makes it much more durable than the original version that relied on spiritual grass switches.
However, since the super cargo cabinet was still being upgraded and Ya Ya wasn’t taking orders, they couldn’t proceed with the upgrades for now.
“Should we use another refresh card?” Tang Yu’an asked enthusiastically.
Though he was usually frugal, spending points was undeniably satisfying—especially when it bought such useful items.
Money only has value when it flows!
Seeing Tang Yu’an’s flushed cheeks from excitement, Zhou Qi smiled and asked, “How many points do we have left now?”
“Still 82,000!” Tang Yu’an replied confidently.
“Then maybe hold off for now,” Zhou Qi suggested. “If Lanhu Town needs more coarse rice tomorrow, we’ll need enough funds to stock up.”
With tomorrow’s earnings from Hai Jing, they could probably reach 100,000 points again.
“Alright then,” Tang Yu’an reluctantly agreed, putting away the refresh card. He then reached into the Dream Sea to grab a bottle, though this time, he avoided the particularly bright ones to see if he could grab something further away.
This dream’s wisher was a girl, judging by her voice, who seemed to be in her teens or early twenties. Unfortunately, the dream wasn’t very stable and broke apart just seconds after Tang Yu’an spoke.
Although it was a bit of a shame, there wasn’t much he could do—it was normal for the first attempts to be like this.
Later, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi went downstairs to the warehouse to check on their new solar-powered smart housekeeping robot.
The new robot had a bright orange body that looked radiant, compared to the silver-white round-headed bot they already had. Other than the color, the design was largely the same.
“Advanced Smart Housekeeping Robot (DD6868) at your service! Network connection in progress…”
Tang Yu’an turned on the power and went through the setup process, now quite familiar with it thanks to his experience with the previous bot.
Finally, he named this new robot “Golden Head.”
Since it was intended for use at the swimming pool, they decided not to have it start working immediately but let it charge fully first.
After all, the skies had been growing increasingly overcast due to the flooding, making sunlight less reliable for charging. They weren’t sure if the solar energy would be enough for Golden Head.
After bidding goodnight to the two robots, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi went back to the loft to sleep.
The next morning, when they went downstairs, they found a neat stack of 100 sheets of ambient-temperature fabric beside the printer.
Both robots had fully charged.
While Zhou Qi prepared breakfast, Tang Yu’an studied the snacks stored in Round Head’s inventory.
Now that they had two robots, he decided to dedicate one to making delicious food and the other to making clothes.
Since they had installed a gas stove and a gas cylinder in Room 501, Grandpa Li had been preparing meals for the staff himself, so they no longer needed to deliver food to him.
After breakfast, they took Golden Head to the swimming pool.
Once they confirmed that Golden Head could independently navigate up and down the stairs, they cleaned out a room on the second floor and set it up there.
They handed it the 100 sheets of ambient-temperature fabric and programmed the designs for the clothes it needed to make.
Due to malnutrition in the post-apocalyptic world, most people were relatively short and thin, so oversized clothing wasn’t necessary. They chose a loose-fitting style with three sizes—large, medium, and small—producing more of the medium size.
Zhou Qi also removed the room’s window, replacing it with an entire wall of glass, instantly filling the room with natural light. Sunlight shone directly on Golden Head, allowing it to work and charge simultaneously, greatly improving efficiency.
“I wonder if Bobo could fix it if something goes wrong?” Tang Yu’an watched Golden Head, worried it might break down from overwork.
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and shook his head. “It shouldn’t break down so soon.”
Next, they brought Golden Head downstairs and programmed it to collect eggs from the first floor every day at 5 p.m.
This task was categorized as “storage,” which required no teaching—after scanning an egg, Golden Head could locate and collect them on its own.
Feeding the animals was equally simple. They placed soybeans and millet on the second floor, wrapped in low-temperature fabric. Golden Head would follow its learned actions and pathways to complete the feeding process.
To prevent animals on the first floor from creating unhygienic conditions and falling ill, they also programmed Golden Head to clean one designated area each day.
At this point, Grandpa Li arrived to collect eggs.
He showed no surprise at the sight of the new robot, Golden Head. After hearing about its functions, he nodded and made a few suggestions.
First, he asked Tang Yu’an to bring over some fences to separate the living areas of different animals, making management easier.
Next, he set up feeding and drinking troughs for the hens and used dried vines to build nests for them, even creating a small shelter with the fences.
The hens seemed pleased with their new accommodations. One immediately ran into its nest to lay an egg and then happily clucked its way to the feeding trough to eat soybeans.
As for the unruly goats, Grandpa Li caught them, tied them with vine ropes, and led them into their pen. This kept the goats’ droppings confined to one area.
The rabbits were given a fenced-off space but were otherwise left alone for now.
Birds nesting on the walls and ceiling weren’t addressed yet since they caused minimal disruption.
With these adjustments, cleaning and collecting animal waste became easier, though watering the animals would now require more effort.
After inspecting the animals’ water source, Grandpa Li planned to dig a channel to bring in filtered water. He intended to test this system at Store No. 1 first. If successful, they would implement it at the swimming pool as well.
If the channel worked as planned, the residents of Desolate City Haven wouldn’t have to struggle so much for water. Additionally, surrounding the fields with the water channel would solve irrigation issues.
Hearing Grandpa Li’s vision, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi nodded repeatedly.
During the flood season, such a channel would be extremely useful. But Grandpa Li wasn’t done yet.
“Since we can use fences to control floodwater, why not build a reservoir?” he suggested.
For example, they could first enclose an area with fences, then hire residents to build a reservoir, and finally remove the fences.
As long as the reservoir’s height was lower than the water level, the floodwater would automatically fill it. With enough reservoirs, they wouldn’t have to worry about droughts once the flood season ended.
