[Wild Ambition]: Yo, boss! Got 10 iron nails. One water bottle? Trade's sent—just smash accept!
[High Calcium Milk]: Crow! Insulation materials for your water, one-to-one. You're swimming in bottles—hook me up cheap!
[Lantern Light]: Big shot, please! You've got water for days. Spare one bottle—I'm parched! Saving me's worth a seven-story pagoda. You're a saint—show mercy!
[Hey Siri]: Five iron blocks. One bottle. Hit accept.
…
The DMs poured in like a flood.
Cheng Shuli's brow furrowed. Trading was a nightmare.
Hagglers and beggars mixed in a chaotic mess…
Sorting this would take hours.
Did she have that kind of time? She pinged Liang Shanbo's DM.
[Crow Takes Flight]: Need a hand.
[Liang Shanbo & Pig Charge]: !!
[Liang Shanbo & Pig Charge]: Boss, name it! That porridge you gave me last time? Still eats me up taking it for free. I owe you big!
[Liang Shanbo & Pig Charge]: Lay it on me—I'm your guy!
This hyped?
Cheng Shuli paused, then fired off her message.
[Crow Takes Flight]: Trading water bottles for basic materials—iron blocks, nails, insulation, heatproof stuff, plastic, rubber. One bottle per set: 5 iron blocks, 10 nails, 2 insulation or heatproof materials, 4 plastics, 2 rubbers.
"You gifted Player [Liang Shanbo & Pig Charge] 500ml Water Bottles x250."
For clarity, she spelled it out, keeping 20 bottles as backup.
She'd lurked in the trading channel for days—this pricing was fair as hell!
Real traders wouldn't blink.
[Liang Shanbo & Pig Charge]: On it, boss! Consider it done!
Cheng Shuli snorted. This pure-hearted fool didn't even ask for a cut. Lucky she met her, or she'd be scammed down to her underwear.
Clearing her unread DMs, she dropped a regional chat bomb.
[Crow Takes Flight]: Water trades wrapped. No reply? Move on.
[Lucifer Stan]: No way! Boss ghosted my offer!
[Wild Ambition]: Quit crying! She skipped me too. I'm gutted!
[Sauce Sauce]: This is the boss's pull!
Cheng Shuli didn't stick around—she was dying to install her bathroom.
With the water bottles gone, the carriage felt like a palace.
Her first weapon, that old metal pipe, lay forgotten on the floor.
Ignoring it, she mulled over the bathroom's spot.
Fridge stays. Heater stays.
She picked the spot across from the sofa, where the sink sat. Installing there, the bathroom fused with the sink.
Going full deluxe, a frosted glass enclosure materialized.
Stepping through the glass door, Cheng Shuli gaped. Non-slip stone tiles glowed under warm lights—a far cry from the cart's cheap white flooring.
No way.
She eyed the upscale setup, complete with a smart toilet, then glanced at her cart's tacky floor.
Perfect. The bathroom was gloriously out of place.
Because it was too damn good.
Cheng Shuli lived for stuff her old paycheck could never touch.
Barely finished, Night One's lunch delivery pinged.
A steaming bowl of hot dry noodles landed neatly on the sink counter.
No fuss. She washed her hands with poise, wiped them with tissue, and grabbed the disposable lunchbox, heading out.
She'd toyed with trading for a ceramic bowl.
Then pictured its previous owner's… uses. Hard pass.
Flopping onto the sofa, she stirred the noodles with care.
Golden alkaline noodles shimmered, drenched in sesame paste. Minced meat sauce flecked the center.
Garlic's pale green, spicy radish's orange, and chives' emerald hues layered like art.
This bowl was a sensory masterpiece!
Cheng Shuli devoured it in a flash. Still lunch hour, she tore through the leaderboard rewards—leaving them unchecked was killing her!
Wealth list: 100 game coins. Mileage list: 100 more. Total? 242 coins in her pocket!
And then…
Her eyes locked on a sturdy desk. Its redwood surface flowed into a pegboard, bristling with tools. A stack of blank paper and a black pen sat ready.
She picked a clear spot in the carriage and set up the workbench.
Eager, she leaned in. The redwood was warm, classier than she'd dreamed.
The pegboard was a tool lover's paradise—screwdrivers, precision tweezers, even weird gadgets she couldn't name.
"So many tools… I'm not building from scratch, right?"
Muttering, her fingers brushed the desk's edge, catching tiny text:
[Crafting requires blueprints. Check drawer for manual.]
She yanked the drawer open. A manual waited.
Flipping to page one, bold red text blared:
[Warning: Crafting needs blueprints! Blueprints are reusable forever!]
[Warning: Once crafting starts, you're locked to the workbench. Pick a safe time!]
[Warning: Workbench can be upgraded!]
[Current Workbench Level: Lv1]
[Lv2 Upgrade Needs: Heart of Creation x1, Iron Blocks x15, Iron Nails x20, Insulation Materials x6, Heatproof Materials x2, Plastic x18, Rubber x6.]
[Current Blueprint: Basic Water Condenser]
Cheng Shuli memorized every line, then snapped the manual shut.
Her fingers tapped the redwood in a steady rhythm, thoughts aligning.
Upgrade materials were standard, except this Heart of Creation. Sounded like a unicorn.
She scoured the trading channel for "Heart of Creation." Zilch.
Regional chat? Not a whisper.
Ugh, ahead of the pack again.
Cheng Shuli gave a wry chuckle, pivoting to her lone blueprint.
[Basic Water Condenser Blueprint]
[Effect: Yields 1 liter of pure water daily]
[Materials: Plastic x4, Rubber x2, Iron Blocks x2]
Her eyes sparkled. Low output, but constant! Who'd scoff at a free liter of water every day?