“A bottle of low-grade baijiu detected. Gather?”
“Yes.”
A flash of white light passed, and an item wrapped in white light appeared on the floor.
Ye Yi bent to pick it up, but the moment her hand drew near, the white light vanished, and at the same time a prompt sounded in her mind: “Gathering experience +0.1.”
The item in her hand revealed its true form, it turned out to be a 250 ml bottle of alcohol.
Gathering alcohol out of baijiu, not bad at all. It would surely come in handy later.
She casually placed it in the second slot of her Backpack and went on looking for useless things to gather.
One after another she obtained an unidentified seed, 5 nails, and 3 wooden boards. She tossed the seed and nails into the cabinet under the coffee table and put the boards into the system Backpack. In all she gained 0.4 gathering experience, and worked out a pattern.
The items she gathered bore a certain relationship to the original object.
Plants yielded seeds, things made of wood, once gathered, yielded boards, nails, and the like.
For more, she’d have to gather in bulk to find the pattern.
“Grrrmble—” Her stomach let out a hungry rumble. Absorbed in studying the Gather function, she’d forgotten she hadn’t eaten in a long time.
She dug out the instant noodles, washed the kitchen’s frying pan clean, boiled water, and cooked a pack of instant noodles, though she still didn’t know whether this kitchen ran on natural gas or bottled gas.
She opened the cabinet below and saw the natural-gas meter inside, which was rather disappointing.
If it had been bottled gas, then when the water and power got cut she wouldn’t have to worry about having no fire. Staring at the noodles in the pan, watching the flames of the stove burner around it, she realized she hadn’t yet bought a lighter or any tool for lighting firewood. She went to the living room, picked up the notebook on the coffee table, and jotted it down with a pen.
Just as she finished writing, the tempting aroma of the noodles wafted from the kitchen into the living room.
Ye Yi couldn’t help swallowing. The smell was as good as ever. She went back to the kitchen, washed a bowl, forked the noodles into it, and dug in.
Slurping the springy, curly noodles into her mouth, the numbing spice of the green Sichuan pepper left her whole mouth and belly tingling and hot, very appetizing. She finished them in no time, cleaned up the kitchen, and left.
Sprawled on the sofa, looking at the spotless room, she felt there was nothing for her to do.
Back in her old world, a single phone could keep her lying at home for a week without going out. Here, there was no phone, no TV, all she could do was lie on the sofa and space out.
She turned her head and spotted the notebook on the coffee table beside her, the one she’d just written in. She could think about what other supplies still needed buying and write them down, so she wouldn’t forget.
At the thought, she rolled over to sit by the coffee table, picked up the pen, stared at the notebook, and, propping up her chin, began to think. She had a place to stay and food bought, about all that was left were the cold-weather supplies. What should she buy?
Blankets? She thought she’d seen some in Sister Ma’s cabinet, along with lots of thick quilts. Cross that off, no need to buy.
Hand warmers, a winter miracle-worker. These were a must. Write them down.
The hot-water bottles you tucked into the covers as a kid, she could buy several, fill them with hot water, and put them in the quilt to stay warm all night.
She drew a circle around “water”, this was the priority. While there was still running water, she should find more containers and stockpile water. She’d seen buckets in the cabinet just now, she could wash them out later, fill them with water, and, together with the drinking water from the supermarket, it should last until the map ended.
Head down, she kept writing and sketching. A stove could provide heat too. It could burn wood, only, burning wood with the doors and windows sealed shut easily caused carbon-monoxide poisoning. She didn’t know if the town had smokeless charcoal. She marked it as a priority, she could go ask around tomorrow.
Beyond that she couldn’t think of anything more. Other heating methods basically all needed electricity, and without power they’d be so much scrap iron. About this map she knew only that it was extreme cold and blizzards, no other information at all. No one knew what would happen the next second, so she could only prepare for the worst.
Looking up at the glow of the electric light, she thought: without power, these wouldn’t work either. She picked up the pen and wrote: Lighting, candles, flashlight, and the kerosene lamps her family used when she was little would work too.
Looking at the dense list of supplies on the paper, with so many still unbought, she wondered whether she should keep handing out flyers tomorrow. If she didn’t finish buying everything, she’d never feel at ease. Ye Yi stood up and walked to the balcony off the living room.
Outside, the fine rain was still pattering down, and the sturdy trees swayed and bent in the wind, the wind was picking up. Looking at the scene, she couldn’t shake a bad feeling. She decisively gave up on handing out more flyers and resolved to go buy heating supplies first thing tomorrow.
The sooner she bought everything on her list, the sooner her mind would be at ease.
She opened the wristband:
Time: Day 2, 9:00 p.m. Location: Yudu Town, Jincheng Complex Weather: Cloudy Temperature: 10°C Humidity: 90%
Name: Ye Yi
Sex: Female
Age: 26
Survival Points: 150 (100 points frozen)
Current Map: Extreme Cold Blizzard
Random Teammate: Hidden (When your teammate is in danger, their location is automatically sent to you. Rescuing your teammate earns double points.)
Ability: Gathering-and-Crafting System (Lv1: 0.5/50)
The temperature was already down to 10°C. It wouldn’t drop below zero by tomorrow morning, would it? It looked like she couldn’t put off buying heating supplies any longer.
She turned back to the kitchen, washed all the basins and buckets in the cabinet clean with tap water, filled them all with water, and found lids to cover them. Finally, to her surprise, she found a thermos flask, opened it and checked, still usable. She washed it too. There was no kettle in the kitchen for boiling water, so she could only boil some in the frying pan and fill the thermos.
Remembering the wind was picking up, she ran to the other rooms and shut all the doors and windows. Finally she chose the room closest to the living room, took the quilts out of the cabinet, laid one on the bed, and set another on top to pull over herself when she slept later.
She lowered her head and sniffed at herself, ugh, awful.
She went to the bathroom, turned on the water heater, and took a nice hot shower. Say what you would, Sister Ma’s place really did have everything, it felt as if it had been fitted out to a hotel’s standard.
After showering she lay down on the bed she’d made, pulled the quilt over herself, and could almost smell sunshine.
Sister Ma must have sunned the quilts before, they were warm and comfortable.
She closed her eyes. One, two, three, four… before long Ye Yi’s breathing evened out and she drifted into dreamland.
On the morning of the third day she slept until she woke naturally. She opened the wristband and found it was already 6 o’clock, and the temperature had dropped again from the previous day, only 10°C now.
She freshened up quickly and went to the kitchen to cook two portions of noodles, filling her stomach. It was probably quite cold outside today, so she took a down jacket from her starter pack and put it on.
Only after putting it on did she remember that everyone’s down jackets were identical, anyone with a starter pack could be spotted as a non-native at a glance. But there was no helping it at this point. Wearing the down jacket, she opened the door and walked out.
At the complex’s front gate she found a small shop. Comparing against the list she’d written the day before, she asked the auntie who ran it to help her find things.
She bought 5 lighters (10 yuan), 5 bags of hand warmers (15 yuan a bag, 25 patches per bag), and a flashlight (10 yuan), the shopkeeper auntie threw in 2 batteries free, and 3 hot-water bottles (20 yuan). The only thing left was candles, the auntie finally dug 10 candles out of a corner (5 yuan). In all she spent 120 yuan.
Carrying a big pile of supplies, Ye Yi asked the auntie about the last important item: a stove.
“Auntie, do you know where in town sells stoves?”
“Stoves? What’s a young lady like you buying that for? Who even uses those anymore?” The auntie looked baffled. The things the girl was buying were already a little odd, and now she wanted a stove too.
Pretty enough face, why did she seem a bit dim?
Under the auntie’s strange stare, Ye Yi forced herself to stay calm and explained, “The wiring at my place is broken, and it’ll take a few days to fix. The weather’s turned a bit cold these days, so I want to buy a stove to warm up by.”
Why did buying something require this many questions?!
Can’t you just tell me where they sell them? Don’t tell me this whole town doesn’t sell stoves.
“Ah, that explains it, I was wondering why you were buying all these heating and lighting things.” Auntie Li had a sudden flash of understanding. She’d thought the girl was up to no good, too many cop-and-robber films, suspecting everyone she met.
Auntie Li thought hard and did come up with a place that sold stoves. Leaning on the counter, she pointed toward the door. “West side of town, at the very end of Lujiao Alley, there’s a two-story house with a courtyard. There’s a huge osmanthus tree growing out front, and an old man named Wang lives inside. He sells this stuff, but he’s got a cranky temper, usually if you’re not an acquaintance, he won’t sell to you.”
“Auntie, do you know how to get there?” West side? Two-story house with a courtyard? Osmanthus tree? Ye Yi was thoroughly confused, how was she supposed to find that?
“Out the door, head straight west. Find a place called Lujiao Alley, and once you find it, it’s not far.” Auntie Li didn’t quite know how to give directions either, so she just told her the obvious landmarks. Whether she found it or not would be up to fate.
Out the door, following Auntie Li’s directions, Ye Yi walked west the whole way. Passing a public restroom, she checked that no one was around, ducked inside, and tried putting the supplies she’d just bought into the fourth slot of the system Backpack.
She’d assumed so many things wouldn’t fit, but to her surprise everything in one bag went in, turning into a tiny plastic bag stored in the fourth slot.
Out of the restroom, she kept heading west, asking along the way. After about half an hour she reached the entrance of a courtyard with an enormous osmanthus tree, on Lujiao Alley.
She stepped up and knocked. An aged voice came from within. “Who is it?”
“Hello, sir. I’ve come to buy a stove.” Ye Yi called out loudly, afraid the old man wouldn’t hear. Although the shopkeeper auntie had advised her not to come, saying the old man only sold to acquaintances, she still wanted to try.
“Not selling.” The old man didn’t even open the door, just two words.
Stubborn indeed, and hard to talk to. “Sir, how about I sell you some information, and you sell me a stove?”
She waited a while, but there was still no movement inside. Had the old man already gone back into the house?
Ye Yi raised her hand to knock again, and the door opened. She jumped. Sir, could you give a warning before you open the door? You nearly scared me to death.
“Selling information? The girl’s got ideas.” The old man stood in the doorway, sizing up the girl clamoring to trade information for a stove. In this town, what information was there that he, Wang Bantong, didn’t know?
“Come in.” After sizing her up for a good while, Wang Bantong said one line, then turned back into the house. “Remember to shut the door.”
“All right, sir.” Ye Yi briskly shut the door. Seeing the courtyard piled with honeycomb coal briquettes, she knew she’d found the right place. This spot was so out of the way, without someone giving directions, no one would ever guess stoves were sold here.
Most people used electricity these days, who still wanted a stove? Only some restaurants that needed to simmer soup still used them, in ordinary homes these things were rarely seen anymore.
“Speak. What information could get me to sell you a stove?” Wang Bantong lay in his chair, rocking, and asked with careless indifference.
Ye Yi stood in the courtyard, hesitating. She didn’t know whether anyone would believe what she said. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
“What is it, you weren’t just bluffing me, were you?” Wang Bantong glanced at the girl’s conflicted look and was privately amused. Now she didn’t know what to say, when a moment ago she’d talked so freely about selling information.
A girl from out of town, what information could she possibly know? If he hadn’t been bored and wanted to tease her, he wouldn’t have let her in at all.
Forget it. The stove sat at home with no one to buy it anyway. This girl seemed pleasant enough to look at. Once she made up some bit of information, he’d just sell it to her and be done with it.
“Of course not. It’s just that even if I say it, I’m afraid you won’t dare believe it.” Ye Yi countered. She paused, then spoke anyway. “Extreme cold and blizzards are going to descend soon. This is information I came by with great difficulty.”
In this town, aside from her, she didn’t know whether there were any other outsiders who would tell the natives such things.