The Rose Corridor remained still.
No movement meant no rejection.
Huai Yu carefully raised her fingers, avoiding the steel-needle-sharp long thorns above, and slowly selected three flower stems to pinch off.
It was quite an effort, but since she was building her own house, what was wrong with being a little refined?
On the three rose stems she had picked, there were fully blooming pink flowers and plump, budding flower buds. The edges of the green leaves were serrated, and the tender stems still had long and short small thorns.
But they were truly beautiful.
She joyfully placed the flowers into her simple perforated brick “vase,” arranging it diagonally above her maroon sleeping bag. The wisteria flowers by the door swayed gently, and the large pine cone overhead swayed slightly.
All the effort seemed utterly worthwhile.
However, the house was still a bit too simple.
Huai Yu clapped her hands and rallied herself—
Next, she was going to make herself a mattress!
Yellow spear grass was everywhere, not growing densely but abundant enough to be readily available.
These grasses had withered through autumn and weathered winter snows. By spring, they were as dry as could be, naturally perfect for use as mattress material.
Even without a knife, she only needed to give them a light snap to hear a crisp crack as the main stem broke. One by one, as she gathered a small handful, she would casually tie them up and carry them back outside the Treehouse.
This method of moving around wasn’t very efficient, but at least it allowed her to stretch her stiff back. When it came to making labor easier for herself, Huai Yu felt she had some experience.
It was a pity that she had no watch now, and the broadcast only announced the time in the morning. She could only estimate the time by the angle of the sun’s descent.
When the sun gradually turned orange and was about to touch the distant high mountains, Huai Yu stretched hard, groaning as she loosened her stiff back.
Then she took the handful of dry grass back, deciding that the first step of her mattress plan would come to a temporary end.
Next, before it got dark, she would start weaving the mattress! Otherwise, if she simply spread the dry grass directly on the ground, by the time she woke up, it might have scattered in all directions.
But a moment later, this plan was revised. After all, the skill of weaving a mattress was clearly an advanced one, and after several attempts, Huai Yu’s efforts fell apart.
But it didn’t matter—if skill was lacking, quantity could make up for it.
The continuous harvesting from morning until evening had resulted in a small pile of dry grass in the open space in front of the door. No matter how she experimented, it was probably enough for a mattress.
Huai Yu measured their length and found they were about 1.2 to 1.3 meters long. She then turned to look for the blue bricks again.
For a 1.2-meter-long bed, she would lay two layers of blue bricks underneath and use them to build a surrounding wall, creating a recessed bed frame that resembled an inset bed.
The only regret was the lack of a soft headboard.
But this was still good enough.
The blue bricks were heavy and large, much taller than red bricks. When used to build a wall, even without cement to bond them, they wouldn’t be easily pushed over. There was no need to worry about them falling and hitting her during the night.
And with two layers of bricks raising the bed, even if heavy rain suddenly caused water to seep into the house, she wouldn’t have to worry about the bed getting soaked.
Then she could spread the dry grass horizontally inside, and since there was plenty of grass, she could even make it thicker…
Wow!
When the dry grass was piled almost level with the height of the blue bricks, Huai Yu couldn’t help but throw herself right into it!
So comfortable! So free!
Although it was only 1.2 meters wide, compared to the sleeping bag that didn’t allow much movement, this bed was simply too comfortable!
After all, even with a sleeping bag, lying directly on the cold, hard ground wasn’t exactly comfortable—it was just slightly better.
The only pity was the lack of a blanket, so she still had to tidy up her sleeping bag and lay it over the dry grass.
But freed from the cold and hardness of the ground, tonight should be a particularly restful sleep!
…
Dry grass wasn’t easy to collect. Although more than half of it remained unused, Huai Yu took advantage of the lingering daylight to bundle it back into large sheaves and store them inside her little hut.
Bundles of dry grass were stacked tightly against the wall—wasn’t this a form of wealth in itself?
Perhaps because rain was approaching, tonight’s sky appeared dark and heavy, with no moon or stars in sight.
Kneeling on her dry grass mattress, Huai Yu slurped down a bag of Nutrient Solution with a gurgling sound, then skillfully crawled into her sleeping bag.
Tomorrow…
As drowsiness set in, she struggled to think: food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—shelter was no longer a problem. Next, she needed to consider food and clothing.
Leaving aside everything else, she hadn’t properly brushed her teeth or washed up in days. It was hard to believe that someone as meticulous as her could be so unkempt…
But the daily physical labor had been so exhausting for her that now, as she relaxed, her thoughts barely had time to wander before she fell into a deep sleep.
Outside, the spring breeze swayed gently, full of vitality.
…
However, despite her ambitious plans last night, when Huai Yu woke up, she found herself lost in uncertainty again.
Because while building a house was something she could manage, weaving cloth to make clothes… that was truly beyond her.
But these tattered clothes she was wearing… aside from everything else, without a change of clothes, she couldn’t even wash off the sweat from each day’s labor!
It was just too miserable!
Was someone as talented as her not even worthy of some nice clothes?
As for food… well, she still had Nutrient Solution for now. Even if it wasn’t enough for a full month, it could probably last another half-month without issue. Since she wasn’t starving, there was no rush on that front.
—Should she go check out the trading market?
Huai Yu hesitated.
Then she looked down at her ragged self and wasn’t too sure if the bus would even let her on.
After some thought, she could only turn her gaze toward the distant outpost of District 69.
Well… since she had already managed to trade for waterproof tarps, maybe… just maybe, she could also trade for a couple of sets of clothes…
But it was still early spring, and even in the mountains, there probably wasn’t much to eat.
What could she use to trade?
She sat on the grass, resting her chin in her hands, deep in thought.
And the next moment, Huai Yu remembered an even more critical issue, one that nearly made her jump to her feet!
That was! Girls… have to deal with their monthly period, right? And it doesn’t exactly give advance notice, does it?
Help, help, help!
She instantly stood up from the ground, her expression darkening as she gazed toward Sanqing Shan.
It seemed that going up the mountain to search for treasures was now a matter of utmost urgency!
Glancing at the layers of swaying rose flowers beside her, Huai Yu sighed:
“You may look beautiful, but you don’t bear any fruit to eat…”
The resentment in her words was so palpable that the swaying of the Rose Corridor came to a sudden halt. The next moment, as its branches began to wave frantically, Huai Yu tensed up, her eyes fixed on the Mutation Value detector in front of her!
Then, with a thud, she dropped to her knees.
“I was just venting a bit because I’m exhausted from work! I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”
She sincerely clasped her hands in a bow, lowering her head deeply.
The next moment, her eyes met two small, pitch-black eyes peeking out from the ground.