◎Toilet Paper Explodes◎
Unread messages kept popping up in the Trading Center.
She had just sold one roll of toilet paper to that girl and hadn’t even had time to return to the regional channel. At first glance, seeing so many private messages flood in left her a bit dumbfounded.
She opened the earliest one.
“Hello~ I’d also like to trade wood for toilet paper.”
The word “also” was very telling. She could roughly guess the reason. Sure enough, if the product was good, there would be no shortage of buyers.
She started processing the trades.
“Sure~” “No problem!” “10 pieces of wood.”
In no time, all 15 rolls of toilet paper were snapped up. Still, quite a few people lined up to ask: “No more toilet paper left?”
She patiently replied: “All gone for now.”
Player: “Will you be restocking later? Can we still trade with wood?”
She thought for a moment: “Yes, there will be more, but what I trade for will depend on the situation.”
The 15 rolls of toilet paper had brought her 150 pieces of wood. Adding the 15 she already had, she now had 165 pieces of wood.
Wood wasn’t an upgrade material, so there was no need to hoard too much. The chances of her trading for other supplies in the future were much higher.
The few young ladies who missed out were extremely disappointed. Wood was the easiest material to get!
You could find it every few kilometers along the road, and decomposing treasure chests also gave wood. In just two days, they had already collected over a dozen pieces of wood. Being able to trade that easily for a soft roll of toilet paper, what a great deal!
Still, this boss seemed pretty easygoing. They could definitely become regular customers.
Too many people came asking, and Yan Lan couldn’t reply to everyone at once. So she simply posted an announcement in the Trading Center: “Toilet paper sold out. New stock will be available at 8 PM. Those in need, please check back in time.”
The announcement was quickly screenshotted and shared in the group chat. Those who wanted to buy but hadn’t managed to now had something to look forward to, and the chat buzzed with discussion.
“New stock at 8 PM, everyone go for it!”
“Awesome. Hopefully, there’s more this time.”
“Tell me, have you all practiced your hand speed? The moment I clicked in, the stock was already zero!”
“Haha, you’re just too slow. She had restocked a while ago~”
“Got to admit, Yan Lan is pretty honest. Fair prices too.”
“Yeah, but how does she have so many supplies? First food and water, now toilet paper.”
“She must have gotten lucky. And didn’t the game reward her with two treasure chests? Maybe they had good stuff inside.”
“True. But as long as she’s helping everyone out, that’s good.”
Jiang Tiantian watched the harmonious atmosphere in the group chat, her heart burning with jealousy. Obviously, she had been the one everyone adored and supported at the beginning. When did that quiet, boring gourd become the center of attention?
And people were praising her for being sincere!
If that despicable woman hadn’t stumbled into such dumb luck, she would have been the Leading Merchant and Leading Vehicle Owner, not Yan Lan!
Jiang Tiantian couldn’t help but glance at the small, nearly finished roll of toilet paper in the corner. That fat guy had refused to give her any no matter what she said, he only sent her this little bit after she sent him a photo. So stingy.
And he thought he could date her? What a joke, a toad dreaming of eating swan meat!
She stared at the announcement and silently noted the time.
Meanwhile, Yan Lan continued driving her three-wheeler along the road, searching. She had to admit, with the vehicle’s help, her scouting speed had greatly increased. By the end of the day, she had collected 5 Bronze, 3 Silver, and even 1 Gold Treasure Chest.
She figured that even if she opened all of them, she still wouldn’t have enough materials to upgrade her three-wheeler, so she tossed them all into the rear compartment, planning to open them together during the evening rest.
6:00 PM.
The sun had half set, and the sky was growing dark. Yan Lan gradually relaxed her grip on the handlebars, and the three-wheeler came to a stop.
Her first task was to open the treasure chests, 9 in total. The upgrade materials obtained were: Glass ×20, Metal ×20, Rubber ×20, Electronic Components ×2.
Food and water obtained: Mineral Water 300ML ×5, Purple Rice Bread ×5, Meat Bun ×5, Packed Meal ×1, Apple ×1.
Other items: Instance Card ×1, Gasoline ×60, Lighter ×1, Flashlight ×1.
Her previous food and water had all been consumed, so it was good that these chests provided a replenishment.
Now she had two Instance Cards in total, so she didn’t have to worry about not being able to enter instance missions. She also had plenty of gasoline. Everything was heading in a good direction.
With more and more supplies, her 10 backpack slots were completely insufficient. She had no choice but to take some supplies out and store them in the rear compartment.
After organizing her supplies, she lovingly took out a packed meal. Lifting the plastic lid, the aroma hit her face, and she couldn’t help but swallow.
This packed meal had two meat dishes and one vegetable. The meat dishes were a chicken leg and braised fish, and the vegetable was stir-fried crown daisy.
She hadn’t had such a hearty meal in two days, and with all the physical labor, she was absolutely craving it. She tore off a small piece of toilet paper, wrapped it around the chicken leg bone, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Meat was really the best. This chicken leg was braised, with the broth soaking all the way through. The texture was smooth and tender, every bite left a lasting aftertaste.
The braised fish was also very flavorful. A mouthful of fish coated in broth, paired with a bite of soft, fragrant white rice, the taste was simply incredible!
Yan Lan’s eyes narrowed happily as she ate. Food truly had a magical way of healing the soul. Even in a strange world, eating until her belly was full made her feel deeply happy.
She scraped up the last grain of rice stuck to the container and popped it into her mouth, then patted her stomach and let out a satisfied burp.
“Ah, that’s so nice!”
How wonderful it would be if life could stay this peaceful forever. But she knew this calm would shatter once the novice period ended. She’d better hurry up and upgrade before disaster struck.
After eating, she turned on the three-wheeler’s headlights and practiced a set of punches on the road, then did some squat stance training.
Time passed quickly. Before she knew it, it was 7:20 PM. She had promised the other players that she would release a new batch of toilet paper at 8 PM. Now was the perfect time to get busy making it.
She took the crafting table out of her backpack slots. The sky was getting dark, and she didn’t dare stay out in the open on the road. To be safe, she had to huddle inside the rear compartment.
The rear compartment was fairly large, but after placing the half-person-high crafting table inside, the movable space became very small. She squeezed into a tiny corner with a sigh. She’d have to make do for now.
Before starting work, she habitually kept the chat interface floating in the upper-right corner. That was when she noticed a friend request.
Assuming it was still the same group of sour grapes who had been jealous of her before, she ignored it.
But the notification alerts kept coming, one after another, as if they wouldn’t stop until she agreed.
She frowned, but opened it anyway. It was actually Shi Yuanyuan, that guy!
Yan Lan had a decent impression of him, so she accepted the friend request.
Almost the moment the request was approved, a message came through in a frantic hurry, so fast that Yan Lan suspected he had been sitting on top of the chat interface waiting.
“Sorry to bother you so late.”
Shi Yuanyuan had hesitated for a long time before swallowing his pride and sending that request. He used to be a pampered rich young master, tossing around tens of thousands of yuan like nothing. Who would have thought that in this game, he’d end up as a beggar, pleading for help from everyone?
Today, he had once again been extremely “lucky”, after an entire day, the only thing he found in a treasure chest was a single small biscuit.
A biscuit the size of a thumb!
He was a tough guy, 1.8 meters tall and weighing 145 jin (about 160 lbs). That tiny biscuit wasn’t even enough to get stuck between his teeth, let alone sustain him in this digitized game world.
Sure enough, after going the whole day without eating, his health had dropped below 50 and was heading straight for 40. And resting through the night would consume at least another 20–30 health points.
That level of health was extremely dangerous, like a fragile eggshell. A single light tap could mean death. So as soon as it got dark, he stopped his cart and started desperately trying to trade for supplies.
He had scrolled through the Trading Center twice. Very few people were selling food, and most listings demanded food in return.
He posted a plea for help in the group chat. A few players were willing to trade, but they were absolutely outrageous. They were taking advantage of his desperate need for food.
One player wanted 20 pieces of Glass for a single bottle of water!
Another was even worse, they were selling buns by the bite. One bite would cost him 10 Metal and 10 Glass. Two bites would cost 5 Electronic Components!
Wasn’t that just robbery?
The more Shi Yuanyuan looked, the angrier he got. He deleted all of them in a fit of rage. But the moment he deleted them, he regretted it.
At first, he could at least get food by being overcharged. The longer he waited, the worse the prices would get.
If he traded, at least he’d be a sucker with food.
If he didn’t trade, he’d starve to death!
As he wrestled with this internal battle, his eyes lit up, and then he found Yan Lan.
Shi Yuanyuan stared fixedly at the chat interface, his throat bobbing as he swallowed nervously, his heart inexplicably tense.
A reply came quickly from the other side: “It’s not late. What can I do for you?”
See! This was worthy of the Leading Vehicle Owner and Leading Merchant, she immediately guessed that he needed help.
He carefully chose his words: “I’m really, really sorry, but I didn’t find any food again today. I was hoping to trade with you for a little. If you have any to spare, could you help me out?”
He was about to add, “I’ll trade you anything you want,” when he saw her reply.
“No problem. What supplies do you have?”
Such a direct response made Shi Yuanyuan’s eyes go wide. How could the gap between people be this huge?
Little did Yan Lan know that she had just become a towering saint in his mind. She simply felt that in this treacherous game world, having a few loyal friends was essential, and Shi Yuanyuan seemed like someone worth trying to develop.
The other side seemed to be thinking about what would be best to trade, not replying quickly. She wasn’t in a hurry; she continued making toilet paper as she waited.
After a while, a message came through: “I can trade one blueprint and one set of women’s underwear.”
Yan Lan’s hand slipped slightly as she was holding the wood: “Women’s underwear?”
Shi Yuanyuan: “Don’t misunderstand! It just came out of a treasure chest today. Don’t worry, the packaging is still unopened.”
Yan Lan was a little tempted: “What kind of blueprint is it?”
Shi Yuanyuan: “Charcoal Blueprint. I don’t really know how to use it. If you don’t need it, I can trade something else.”
Yan Lan asked again: “Send me a picture.”
Shi Yuanyuan took a photo of the two items and sent it over. The image was very high-definition, clearly showing the words 【Charcoal Blueprint*Permanent | Required Material: Wood ×1】.
Another permanent blueprint!