Chapter Bonanza (8/10)

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Before reading the newspaper, Nan Liujing opened the letter.

This was a reply from Milai. Nan Liujing had previously sent two letters asking Pete and Milai about the typhoon. Milai replied the very next day, but Pete hadn’t responded yet.

But then again, that young man had probably been picking persimmons on a Resource Island these past few days, so he likely hadn’t had time to check his mailbox.

Unfolding the letter, Nan Liujing saw that Milai first inquired about his well-being and asked about the recent weather. After the usual pleasantries, he changed the subject, confirming Nan Liujing’s speculation about the typhoon and reassuring him: “If you feel it’s too difficult to weather the typhoon on your own, you can contact me again. Whenever a typhoon strikes, our Island Management Committee organizes relief efforts for residents of smaller islands. I can have you come to my house the day before the typhoon hits, stay with me for a day, and then return once the storm has passed…”

After reading the letter, Nan Liujing fell deep in thought: “Seek help from the Committee… That might actually be a good idea.”

From what he’d seen so far, the Island Management Committee appears to be an Ordered Good or Ordered Neutral organization—at the very least, it hasn’t shown any hostility toward players. If a player is unable to gather enough materials to build a typhoon guardrail before the storm hits, choosing to ask the Committee for help and temporarily leaving the island to seek shelter would be a viable option.

The advantage is that the Committee’s assistance is free, and players can also take this opportunity to visit the indigenous Olive Town Island. Although it’s difficult to go out during a typhoon, spending an entire day in the same room with the Committee’s liaison would surely yield a lot of intelligence.

The downside is that all the structures on one’s own island will be left behind, and once the typhoon passes, the repairs will be a major headache.

But at least, players won’t have to risk their lives alongside their makeshift shelters.

Nan Liujing thought this was a pretty good idea—at the very least, it could serve as a fallback plan. The only problem was that the Committee didn’t seem likely to offer help on its own; players would have to inform their own liaisons about this first.

Milai was just Nan Liujing’s liaison; other players would still have to find a way to contact their own.

That’s where the mailbox comes in.

However, not everyone has a set of these building blueprints; at least two-thirds of the players don’t.

Moreover, sending a letter costs 50 Sol each time, which eliminates a large number of players.

Even now, there are still many players who haven’t established a connection with the indigenous people, let alone have a way to obtain their currency.

After giving it some thought, Nan Liujing decided to post this news in the group chat first, along with a message.

Nan Liujing: I think we could mention this in the post—at least to give players another option. As for how to contact the liaison, I can help. Players who need this, please send me a private message, and I’ll handle the mailing for you. If you can cover the postage yourself, I won’t charge you anything; if you can’t, just give me 1 Basic Material to cover the cost.

This task is a bit of a hassle for him, but when he really thinks about it, it won’t take up too much time in a day.

All he needs to do is, after finishing his own work each day, collect all the letters piled up in the trading area, then drop them in the mailbox. The next morning, he’d retrieve all the replies and send them back to the respective recipients.

As long as there aren’t too many people asking for his help, he can easily finish this task during breakfast.

As for the 50 Sol postage fee, since he’s just received a large sum of money, it’s acceptable to spend a little of it. Besides, in a few days, there would inevitably be many more players unwilling to give up on developing their islands who would come to him to have typhoon guardrails crafted—he charged 3,000 Sol per piece—so this mere 50 Sol would be recouped in no time.

After sending the message, Nan Liujing closed the group chat. At this hour, everyone else in the group was surely asleep, so any replies would have to wait until tomorrow.

Everyone in the group owned one of the wooden single beds sold by Li Shechu. For players like them who lacked the “Half Stamina Consumption” talent, the 50-stamina cap provided by the “Full 8 Hours of Sleep” effect—which restored their energy—was far more important. Therefore, even Zhang Zihan, a high school student who called himself the “King of All-Nighters,” dutifully crawled into bed before 10 p.m. every day.

Since it wasn’t exactly a matter of life and death, Nan Liujing set down his tablet and finally pulled out the newspaper, unfolding it with a swish.

【Heart of the Rising Sun Daily】

Year 213 of the Age of Catastrophe, Ping’an City.

Heart of the Rising Sun Publishing House.

Issue No. 63.

【Weather Forecast】

Today’s Weather: Sunny.

Temperature: 20°C–24°C.

Gentle breeze.

Tomorrow’s Weather: Sunny.

Temperature: 22°C–26°C.

No wind.

【Today’s Top News】

The 100th-anniversary celebration for Mrs. Liz’s Salon is about to begin! During the event, all customers who make a purchase at the store will enjoy a 20% discount! Customers visiting the Goldfinch City flagship store from this Wednesday through Saturday will also receive an additional anniversary gift package.

The Steam Association’s exploration and excavation of Lava Island are gaining momentum. Currently, excavation work is proceeding in an orderly manner. According to the person in charge, the number of magic crystals on Lava Island far exceeds their initial expectations; the Alchemy Association will not be leaving Lava Island for at least the next fifteen days.

Yesterday, Olive Town on Olive Island held a grand Olive Festival celebration. Participation in the festival was limited to Olive Town residents and “honorary citizens” recognized by the town. According to one honorary citizen who was fortunate enough to attend, they not only enjoyed a sumptuous dinner, but also sang and danced around a bonfire; every participant received one chance to enter a raffle, and the luckiest one won a seed from “a certain” olive tree.

【Limited-Time Offer】 

Earth’s Breath Agricultural Association: Premium Farmland 100,000 Sol 

Bountiful Harvest Association: Orange Tree Sapling 2,000 Sol 

Church of the Holy Light: Diluted Holy Water—10,000 Sol

(This newspaper’s members enjoy a 20% discount)

【Shadow Postcard Raffle】

First Prize (1 winner): Storm Horn (provided by the Storm Business Alliance)³

Second Prize (10 winners): Lucky Rabbit’s Foot (provided by the Witches’ Roundtable) 

Third Prize (100 winners): Mysterious Flavored Beans (provided by Dina’s Confectionery) 

Participation Prize (unlimited): Automatic Cat Teaser (provided by the Magical Creatures Protection Association) 

The Shadow Postcard Raffle is open to members only.

Simply fill out the Shadow Postcard included with this issue correctly to enter the drawing.

There is no cost to mail back the Shadow Postcard.

Thank you to all the associations for their generous sponsorship of this newspaper!

——————————————

“So Mrs. Liz’s Salon is actually located on Goldfinch Island. Wednesday through Saturday…” Nan Liujing glanced up at the sky, then turned and retrieved the Earth Calendar—which he’d previously obtained from a treasure chest—from the warehouse. Ever since Victor had explained this world’s system for days of the week to him, he’d repurposed the Earth Calendar into an Impermanent Sea Calendar upon his return.

Today was Tuesday, and he planned to go to Goldfinch Island to feast at a wealthy household on Friday—which happened to fall right within the store’s anniversary celebration period.

Although Nan Liujing himself had little interest in the merchandise at Mrs. Liz’s Salon, just walking into the store meant getting a free gift. Since the timing was right, he had to take advantage of this freebie.

He jotted this important information down in his calendar, then turned back to check the other news updates.

Excavation work on Lava Island will continue for another half a month—good news for all players. As for Nan Liujing, he could wait until after his trip to Goldfinch Island to decide whether to take a job on Lava Island; he didn’t need to worry about arriving too late and finding no work available.

Next was the news about the Olive Festival. Nan Liujing hadn’t expected Olive Town to keep the festival under such tight wraps—yet news still managed to leak out afterward, including interviews with eyewitnesses. He really didn’t know whether to say the reporters at the Heart of the Rising Sun newspaper were impressive, or whether those honorary citizens’ lips were as thin as paper.

“But does attending the Olive Festival actually give you a chance to win seeds for a ten-star olive tree?” Nan Liujing was engrossed, carefully committing this information to memory. “I’ll have to find out more about how to become an honorary citizen. I want to become one, too.”

As usual, after finishing the newspaper, it was time for the postcards. But this time, aside from the postcard raffle, Nan Liujing also planned to buy a few things.

To be honest, the 20% discount for newspaper subscribers was quite tempting. He happened to have some cash on hand, and today’s paper had just started offering discounts on premium farmland—it would be crazy not to buy some.

Besides, Nan Liujing remembered he had a dedicated mission to complete; one of the mission objectives—the requirement to “own no fewer than 6 farm plots”—was still unfulfilled, so this was the perfect chance to knock it out in one go.

After filling out the postcard and sending a text message requesting four premium farm plots, Nan Liujing rolled up the newspaper and headed out, just in time to run into the newspaper bird coming to pick up the mail.

“Caw!” The newspaper bird was startled, lost its balance on the mailbox for a moment, flapped its wings to steady itself, then looked up at the pitch-black sky, glanced at Nan Liujing, and looked back at the sky.

The newspaper bird tilted its head in confusion: “Caw?”

Nan Liujing smiled and greeted it: “Good evening, my friend. You’re not mistaken— I stayed up late tonight. Since I happened to run into you, I have a question I’d like to ask.”

He took out the newspaper, showed him the letter from the Eath’s Breathe Agricultural Association once more, and asked, “I’d like to buy the discounted items recommended in the newspaper. How do I pay for them?”

If it were just a few dozen or a few hundred sol, that would be one thing, but four Premium Farmlots come to 320,000 sol after the discount. If he had to take it all out of his piggy bank, it would flood his entire house.

“Caw, caw!” The newspaper bird called out twice, patted its chest with its wings to indicate it was simple, then ducked down to retrieve a brand-new checkbook from its little cloth pouch and handed it to Nan Liujing. “Caw!”

“What’s this? Are you giving it to me?”

“Caw!”

The newspaper bird nodded.

“Really? That’s great, thank you so much.” Nan Liujing quickly pulled several moonlight fish out of his backpack and fed them all to the newspaper-delivering bird.

Seabirds like the newspaper-delivering bird rarely get the chance to eat freshwater fish, especially such a delicious variety. The bird ate so enthusiastically that its eyes narrowed, swallowing one after another with relish.

After finishing, it smacked its lips reluctantly, brushing against Nan Liujing’s arm.

Nan Liujing had originally wanted to ask what the baseball-swinging gesture it had made earlier meant, but upon reflection, since he’d already figured out most of the details regarding the typhoon, it didn’t seem necessary to dig any deeper, so he didn’t say anything else. Instead, he quickly signed the check, stacked the postcard, check, and letter together, placed them in the newspaper bird’s little cloth pouch, and patted it gently.

“All right, you still have to rush off to the next island, right? I won’t disturb you while you’re working. Bye.”

“Caw!” The newspaper bird saluted him, flapped its wings, and flew away.

Nan Liujing returned to the farmhouse feeling light as a feather and couldn’t help but yawn.

He glanced at the time—it was already nearly 2:00 a.m.

“…I guess I’ll go to sleep.” Slowly climbing into bed and wrapping himself in a blanket, Nan Liujing closed his eyes, stretched out an arm, and fumbled around on the nightstand until he grabbed the kerosene lamp. He muttered, “Xiao Nan, turn off the light…”

Click. The kerosene lamp went out.

Hei Tang, the black cat perched on top of the large wardrobe, twitched her ears, while Nian Gao rolled over in his nest, revealing his white belly.

His belly rose and fell once, and he let out a soft snore.

Day 17 of Survival: Peaceful Day.

Wednesday.

Nan Liujing slept straight through until 10:00 a.m.

By the time he finally woke up, Nian Gao and Hei Tang were long gone from the farmhouse.

It was a good thing he’d replaced their food bowls yesterday; since they were big enough, he’d poured several bags of pet biscuits into them all at once. They had a buffet to eat in the morning and didn’t come to bother him; they were very conscientious, finishing their meals on their own before heading out to work.

Nan Liujing yawned as he went to the bathroom to wash up. On the way, he washed the dirty clothes he’d soaked the day before, wrung them out, and hung them out to dry.

Someone in the trading area was selling homemade clotheslines—basically three wooden sticks tied with rope into a “门” shape and stuck into the ground. There are specific blueprints for making both the sticks and the rope, since 1 wooden plank or 1 palm leaf can be used to craft a wooden stick or rope x5. The cost isn’t high, so they aren’t sold for much. Including the labor fee, it only cost 2 basic materials, so Nan Liujing bought 5 at once to use for drying clothes and bedding.

The bad news is, the magic crystals Victor left behind were completely drained of magic, so starting today, he wouldn’t have a hot shower again.

However, when doing laundry, he poured some boiling water from the kettle into cold water, feeling that this made the clothes come out cleaner.

Today, two types of crops ripened in his fields, and, coincidentally, both were red.

Nan Liujing arrived at the farm and went to harvest the tomatoes first.

This was the last batch of tomatoes he’d planted; after harvesting all 25 of them, the once-vibrant tomato vines withered completely. Nan Liujing used a hoe to pull them out by the roots and toss them into the compost bin.

The second crop to ripen was strawberries. Parting the low-growing strawberry plants, one could see red, heart-shaped berries hidden beneath the green leaves, each as big as a baby’s fist, plump and round. Thanks to Nan Liujing’s skillful hand-pollination, not a single strawberry in this batch had grown into a misshapen form.

However, the fruit on one strawberry plant had turned from red to golden. Nan Liujing parted the leaves and fell silent upon seeing this.

“……”

This scene felt so familiar; it seemed as though he had seen it before.

So strawberries can develop a golden mutation, too.

Strawberries are also berries, but because they’re large, 3–5 of them make up one unit. Each strawberry plant yields between 5 and 8 units. In the end, Nan Liujing harvested 27 strawberries and 6 golden strawberries.

【Strawberry★☆】

【Category: Ingredient】

【A perfectly shaped red berry that looks just like a plump heart. It has a delicious sweet-and-sour taste but is easily bruised. Restores 2 Stamina points upon consumption.】

【Suggested Price: 52 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh】

【Golden Strawberry★☆】

【Category: Food】

【A golden strawberry that’s golden inside when bitten into; it’s sweeter than ordinary strawberries. Restores 2 Stamina points upon consumption.】

【Suggested Price: 520 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh】

The strawberries were a delightful shade of red, and as Nan Liujing picked them, their distinctive sweet aroma filled his nose. He couldn’t resist—he picked the biggest one and took a bite. The crisp, sweet juice burst in his mouth; the flesh was soft but not mushy, with only a faint hint of tartness lingering on the palate. That first bite—from the tip of the strawberry—was especially delicious.

“It’s this good and only sells for 52? The people of the Impermanent Sea really have no taste.” He took another bite from the bottom of the strawberry. Nan Liujing tossed the stem into the compost bin, thinking to himself, “It’s probably because strawberries have such a high yield. Around here, any crop with a high yield never sells for more than a hundred.”

Even the strawberries that had mutated into the “golden strawberry” variety weren’t particularly expensive—they were nothing compared to golden lettuce.

After shoveling the withered strawberry plants into the compost bin, Nan Liujing didn’t rush to till the field again. Instead, he first glanced at the mailbox, which contained only a newspaper and two coupons; the premium farm produce he’d ordered hadn’t arrived yet.

That made sense—he’d placed the order that evening, so expecting the seller to ship it out that very night would have been unreasonable. Nan Liujing surmised that the newspaper birds’ work routine likely involved patrolling their assigned sea areas once during the first half of the night, collecting mail from the mailboxes on various islands, and returning to the newspaper office.

Once at the newspaper office, they would pick up the next day’s edition, which had just been printed, and set out on another patrol during the latter half of the night.

The prizes for the postcard sweepstakes must have been sent to the newspaper office in advance, so staff could draw the winners on the spot and mail them out immediately, but promotional items aren’t quite as straightforward—they require an extra trip to the buyer’s location.

“Wait a minute, what’s the deal with those coupons?” Nan Liujing blinked and rubbed his chin. “Are they also mailed to the newspaper office in advance? Is the Heart of the Rising Sun Newspaper actually the post office for the Impermanent Sea?”

He still couldn’t fully fathom how this newspaper operated, but based on the clues he had so far, it seemed safe to conclude that the entire staff was night owls.

The newspaper industry on Earth worked the same way.

In any case, since his premium farm supplies hadn’t arrived yet today, Nan Liujing had no choice but to go back and diligently till those two rows of land again, then find some new seeds to plant.

This time, he planted 10 soybeans—new seeds he’d picked up yesterday while scouring the trading zone.

【Soybean Seeds☆】

【Category: Seeds】

【Seeds of a high-yield legume crop that can be harvested 9 days after sowing. Can only be planted in Master Farmland.】

【Suggested Price: 188 Sol.】

After sowing, he held the watering can and watered each plant one by one. After several days of growth, the sun grass had finally developed buds ready to bloom, and the growth countdown was now less than 24 hours. It would be ready for harvest on a cloudy day.

The closer he got to harvest, the more careful Nan Liujing became. He crouched beside the farm plot, parting the weed-like leaves with his hands and slowly watering the root system.

A gentle stream of water moistened the soil. Only after all the water had seeped into the earth did Nan Liujing set down the watering can. He scooped up some dry soil to cover the damp area, and only then did he release his grip on the leaves.

Under his meticulous care, these plants—which looked like weeds but were far more delicate than any precious plants—thrived without a single drop of water touching them.

But that wasn’t all; Nan Liujing turned around and retrieved fertilizer from the compost bin.

After tossing that huge pile of stuff in yesterday, it had undergone rapid fermentation overnight, yielding Nan Liujing 78 units of fertilizer. He generously applied it to both fields; only then did he wipe his hands, brush the dirt off his knees, and leave.

Next stop: the animal shed.

Milking, grooming, collecting eggs, and petting the animals to build a bond—Nan Liujing had already mastered this little routine so well that he could guarantee he’d wrap things up in half an hour.

Once he was done, Nan Liujing grabbed a pitchfork, went into the animal shed to rake out the soiled hay and toss it into the compost bin, then went back in to spread fresh hay.

After refilling the water trough with fresh water, Nan Liujing confirmed there was still plenty of hay left in the feed trough. Even if it rained one day and the animals couldn’t graze, they wouldn’t run out of food while sheltering indoors, so he felt reassured and headed back carrying the milk bucket.

He’d gotten up really late today; by the time he finished his chores, it was already past 11:00 a.m., so he decided to combine breakfast and lunch into one meal.

Between yesterday and today, he’d collected a total of 2 milks, amounting to 1 kg. Combined with the wheat flour he’d gathered from Mulberry Village and the eggs he’d just picked up, he thought to himself that he could make a few pancakes when he got back, to eat with the special sauce.

Come to think of it, how do you make pancakes again? Just mix all the ingredients together and pour them into a frying pan to cook, right?

Anyway, with these ingredients combined, there’s no way it could taste bad.

As he was thinking this, he passed by the slime ranch. A green light flashed, reminding Nan Liujing that there was still one slime left inside the machine that hadn’t been ejected yet.

“A slime made from failed mulberry wine…” Nan Liujing’s curiosity was piqued, so she hurried inside and gave the machine a few firm taps.

The slime-making machine shook violently for a moment before finally spitting out a purplish-red slime.

【Slime (Mulberry)】

【Classification: Magical Creature】

【Element: Wood】

【A Wood-element Slime created using large quantities of mulberries; a thoroughly artificial product that does not exist in nature. Produces 1 Mulberry Jelly per day.】

【Elemental Skill: Fermentation.】

【Fermentation: Has a certain probability of producing Mulberry Wine-Filled Jelly.】

【Mulberry Jelly】

【Category: Cuisine】

【Produced exclusively by artificially raised slimes, this is a chewy, mulberry-flavored jelly. Eating it restores 5 Stamina points.】

【Mulberry Wine-Filled Jelly】

【Category: Food】

【Produced exclusively by domestically raised slimes, this chewy mulberry wine-flavored jelly has a wine-filled center that oozes out when bitten into, leaving a lingering aftertaste. Consuming it restores 5 Stamina.】

【Suggested Price: 300 Sol.】

The mulberry slime looked just like a giant jelly. Nan Liujing rested his chin in his hand and stared into its black bean-like eyes for a moment, then mused, “…What does this kind of slime eat?”

He had neither wine nor mulberries on hand. After much thought, the only thing he could think of was the empty wine barrel left over from yesterday—one he hadn’t had time to scrub yet—which still contained some residual wine.

Would it work to feed the slime with water from the bucket? 

Nan Liujing decided to try the experiment this afternoon; for now, he’d head back to cook dinner.

Back at the farmhouse, Nan Liujing found a large ceramic bowl, washed it thoroughly in the bathroom, and brought it back to place on the dining table.

The fresh milk still needed to be strained to remove debris like grass and cowhair that had fallen in during milking. After boiling it once more to sterilize it, it would be ready to drink.

Nan Liujing found the milk pot and placed it over a few half-burned logs to heat it gently.

Until a faint steam rose from the milky-white liquid and tiny bubbles appeared at the edges, Nan Liujing took a deep breath and smelled the rich aroma of milk.

【You have unlocked a new recipe: Hot Milk.】

“Huh?”