◎ Want a Kiss ◎
The sharp pain in her abdomen came on suddenly. She convulsed and crouched down on the ground.
Yan Lan didn’t expect that even in the game world, where various physical indicators were digitized, her monthly period would still persist.
With the temperature outside at -30°C and the wind blowing, she didn’t dare stay long. She picked up her basket and went back inside.
Her period always came with some dull pain, but today it was especially severe, as if a pair of hands were stirring her internal organs. It was likely related to the harsh weather.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her lips began to pale. She also felt a sticky discomfort below.
There were no sanitary pads here, and she couldn’t find anything to replace them. Just as she was feeling troubled, she happened to find a sanitary pad blueprint in her backpack, one she had received a long time ago.
She had almost forgotten about it. She still had quite a few of the 10,000 units of cotton she had purchased earlier, some had been used for jackets and undergarments, but plenty remained. Perfect timing.
She placed the blueprint on the crafting table, along with one unit of cotton. Five seconds later, a fully packaged sanitary pad appeared on the table.
Yan Lan immediately grabbed a fresh pair of underwear and went to the bathroom to change. The pad was made of pure cotton, with two small wings. It was thin, breathable, and very comfortable to wear.
After changing, she told Xueqiu where she was going and went to lie down in the bedroom.
She had collected a lot of cotton over the past few days and had even made herself a thick quilt. Wrapped in the warm bedding, holding a hand warmer against her body, the heat seeped in and eased the pain in her belly.
Before long, Xueqiu stopped the RV, carried a cup of hot water, and flew into the bedroom.
Seeing her lying in bed with her eyes closed, it gently set the cup down and flew back out.
Her period always made her feel fragile. She ended up lying down from the afternoon until the next day.
After resting through the night, her body felt much better. Yan Lan got up, washed up, and changed into a fresh sanitary pad.
She had to admit, these sanitary pads were excellent in quality, comfortable, and practical. Once in place, she could hardly feel them.
She had only made two yesterday because the pain was too severe. Now that she had used them up, she started producing more on the crafting table.
Each sanitary pad required one unit of cotton. She still had several thousand units left from the 10,000 she had collected earlier. She turned them all into pads and listed them on the trading post.
If she had feminine hygiene issues, other female players probably did too.
One advantage of being famous was that things spread naturally without needing to be advertised. Soon, female players came seeking her out.
“Boss Yan, I want to trade for sanitary pads! 10, no, 20 of them!”
Yan Lan could feel the player’s excitement and urgency through the text. She smiled and replied, “Sure. Mainly trading for wood, cotton, and upgrade materials. Other things I’ll consider case by case.”
Wood and cotton were two major consumables that needed constant replenishment. As for upgrade materials, she had used almost all of them yesterday.
“How much cotton for one pad?”
Yan Lan: “5 cotton for 1 pad.”
“I happen to have some cotton, but not quite enough. Can I use something else? I have fresh vegetables.”
Yan Lan swallowed. She hadn’t had fresh vegetables in a long time: “What kind of vegetables?”
The female player replied: “Lettuce. I planted several heads in a flowerpot, and they’re ready to harvest today.”
Yan Lan’s eyes lit up: “You have a flowerpot too?”
The player seemed a bit confused, wasn’t that common?
“I made a simple wooden pot and dug up some soil from an instance dungeon. Lots of players do that. It’s just that everyone’s crops have different growth periods. Mine just happen to grow fast.”
Yan Lan felt a bit disappointed. She had hoped it was another magical flowerpot. But she was also somewhat comforted, players were figuring out survival tips on their own, which was great for the entire zone.
“One head of lettuce can trade for 10 sanitary pads, but I need it with the roots intact~”
“Haha, I get it~”
The female player was surprised by the exchange rate, but it was within her expectations.
In this game, most food came in packaged form, fresh food was almost nonexistent. Lettuce grown in natural soil had a long growth cycle and low yield, so trading one head for ten sanitary pads made perfect sense.
Back in the instance dungeon, she had come across several heads of lettuce and dug them up with the roots and soil intact. She had even gone through a lot of trouble to collect extra soil. Looking back now, it was totally worth it.
The female player gazed affectionately at her thriving lettuce, scooped up a ladle of melted snow water from a bucket, and carefully watered them.
Once the trade was complete, the head of lettuce with its roots appeared before Yan Lan.
The female player was quite skilled at planting. Even in the cold winter, the lettuce was lush green and vibrant, without a single rotten leaf.
Yan Lan took the lettuce to the kitchen counter inside the RV, pulled out a knife, and cut it just above the root. She stored the leaves in the refrigerator and planted the root in the flowerpot on the balcony.
The flowerpot, about one meter in diameter, already contained one orange tree, one apple tree, and several small mushrooms. There was no extra space left.
She had no choice but to pull out two mushrooms and plant the lettuce in their place.
Just after planting it, another female player named Xiang Rikui came calling.
“Boss Yan, I have rice, flour, oil, and salt. How would you trade for them?”
Yan Lan found the player’s name a bit familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before. But her curiosity was quickly drawn away by the items listed: “What are the specifications?”
Xiang Rikui: “One jin of rice, one pack of salt, 250ml of vegetable oil.”
These were all top-tier items. Food from treasure chests usually consisted of steamed buns, bread, or at best, instant noodles or boxed meals, almost always pre-made. She had never seen raw rice, flour, oil, or salt before.
The food was excellent, but the quantities were too small.
Yan Lan asked, “Can you give more rice? One jin isn’t enough to last.”
Given Xueqiu’s appetite, one jin of rice would be gone in two meals.
Xiang Rikui: “My profession only gives me a 50% chance to obtain one supply item each day, so this is all I have for now. But in the future, if I get more, I’ll trade with you first.”
Another player with a profession. She had to admit, she was a bit envious.
“Alright. One supply set for 20 sanitary pads.”
Xiang Rikui agreed without a second thought: “Okay!”
After receiving 60 sanitary pads, Xiang Rikui immediately divided them into two portions and sent them to their “Little Sunflower, Go!” group chat, excitedly announcing: “I managed to trade for 60 pads! Each of us gets 20!”
Zhang Xiaoxiao: “Wow! The quality of these pads is really good. Love them, love them.”
Lu Zilin: “See? I told you trading with Boss Yan was worth it!”
Xiang Rikui: “Yes! The quality is unbeatable! Next time we have supplies, we’ll go to her first.”
Yan Lan stored the rice, flour, oil, and salt on a shelf next to the stove. From now on, she wouldn’t have to worry about cooking without seasonings.
The next customer was a male player. He spoke hesitantly and also looked quite familiar.
She scrolled through the chat history, saw the name, and smiled to herself. She deliberately raised the price a little before selling to him.
Based on a minimum of three pads per day, one period required about 15 pads. Half of the players in Zone H-38 were female. Although a few thousand pads seemed like a lot, they only covered a few hundred people. The inventory sold out quickly.
After finishing her trades, Yan Lan stretched and remembered that she hadn’t completed today’s check-in task yet.
“System, check-in!”
【Please induce the first opposite sex friend on your list to voluntarily say “mwah” and “kiss kiss”.】
Damn. This task was getting difficult.
Yan Lan patted her chest without a trace of guilt. She remembered that the first opposite sex on her list was Shi Yuanyuan. If it was him, she wouldn’t feel any psychological burden.
Just as she opened her friend interface, a message popped up unexpectedly.
Her eyes blurred, and she felt a sudden urge to faint.
Staring at the avatar now pinned to the top of her list, she felt a headache coming on.
Ji Zhou: “Are you there? Are you there?”
Yan Lan had never seen him this urgent before. She couldn’t help but ask: “I’m here. What’s the matter?”
Ji Zhou: “There will be a new game task tomorrow. You need to be prepared.”
The last time, Ji Zhou had mentioned having a precognition skill. He must have foreseen this as well.
Her thoughts stirred, and she asked: “An instance dungeon or a monster attack?”
Ji Zhou was very honest: “I’m not sure. I only know the danger level isn’t high. It’s both a challenge and an opportunity.”
“Then what preparations do I need to make?”
“Mm, prepare gasoline. That’s the only hint I have.”
“Thank you for coming all the way to tell me.”
“It’s nothing. Cooperation benefits us both!”
The conversation should have ended there, but Yan Lan thought for a moment and then tentatively asked: “By the way, you said before that if there’s anything I want, I can just tell you, right?”
The other side didn’t hesitate: “Right.”
Yan Lan gritted her teeth: “Then I want to drink a taro buddha milk tea. No taro, no milk tea.”
Looking at Yan Lan’s message, Ji Zhou was stunned for a moment: “No taro, no milk tea? Then what do you want?”
“I don’t care. I just don’t want taro, and I don’t want milk tea.”
As if to remind him, Yan Lan repeated herself: “I want to drink a taro buddha milk tea. No taro, no milk tea.”
This tone was completely unlike her usual self, with a hint of playful coquettishness. Ji Zhou was utterly confused and asked again: “Do you want milk tea with extra ingredients or without? Or are you doing a task? I don’t understand. You can give me a clearer hint.”
A clearer hint? She was practically spelling out the answer!
After saying all that and the man still didn’t get it, Yan Lan was almost defeated. She took a deep breath.
Seeing that sudden message, she had already guessed that today’s task would definitely fail. And sure enough, it did. It was a shame about the reward, it must have been quite generous, right?
After coming to terms with it, she simply gave up: “It’s nothing. I don’t want it anymore.”
Ji Zhou’s lips parted slightly, but the words got stuck in his throat.
He read Yan Lan’s request carefully again, but still couldn’t understand what exactly she wanted.
No more messages came from her after that. She had probably already closed the chat panel.
Ji Zhou frowned, pondering for a long time. Finally, he couldn’t help but click on his cousin’s avatar.
“I want to drink milk tea.”
Shi Yuanyuan nearly gouged his own eyes out when he saw his cousin’s message. Was he seeing things? His cousin, who had always turned up his nose at worldly indulgences, actually wanted milk tea?
If this were the real world, he could have just gotten him a cup. But this was a game world!
What a pain. Back when milk tea was freely available, his cousin never wanted it. Now that it was gone, he came begging for it. Seriously.
Shi Yuanyuan rolled his eyes, picked up his cup, and thought, speaking of milk tea, he was starting to crave some too.
“No milk tea here. But cousin, weren’t you the one who never drank milk tea?”
“I don’t care. I want to drink taro buddha milk tea. No taro, no milk tea.”
Shi Yuanyuan nearly spit out the water in his mouth. He hastily wiped the dampness from the corner of his lips and asked, trembling, “No taro, no milk tea?”
Ji Zhou focused. Here it comes.
“Right. No taro, no milk tea. Guess what I want?”
Shi Yuanyuan burst out laughing. “Are you for real?”
A trace of expectation appeared on Ji Zhou’s face. “I’m serious. Just guess what I want.”
Shi Yuanyuan rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. “You want a kiss? Blegh, disgusting. Wait, cousin, what are you really trying to do? Do you actually want milk tea, or did someone mess with you?”
His spirits lifted. “Did some girl mess with you? Tell me who! Who is it?”
A kiss? Kiss?
An imaginary scene flashed through his mind. Ji Zhou’s expression suddenly turned awkward.
So that was the answer.