Chapter 8: No Shortage of Firewood, Firewood Costs Many Copper Coins

The three of them inspected the bottom of the boat several times, looking it up and down. Bai Yu even jumped into the water to take a look. Ultimately, they all agreed that the hull was truly different from before.

After the upgrade, the color of the hull remained almost identical to the original. However, upon closer inspection, they noticed that the areas previously darkened by dampness and mold were no longer the color of decay, but the natural hue of the wood itself.

“I originally thought it would be enough just to have something to eat.”

Bai Yu pulled on a rope. “Tonight, let’s boil a fresh fish for dinner.”

Bai Xi added, “And some shell meat. Miao Miao loves that.”

Bai Miao nodded. “Mm.”

Bai Yu grabbed the rope with one hand, preparing to flip herself into the water. She raised a hand and said, “Give me the basket. I’ll go down and feel around. We’ll eat something fresh tonight; whatever I find is what we’ll have.”

Being able to eat whatever they caught was no small luxury for them. Fresh catches could usually fetch a good price, and as long as the creatures were still alive, they couldn’t bear to eat them. They would try to keep them alive to sell on shore.

However, many times the fish would die while being kept, and if they couldn’t get them to shore in time to sell, they had no choice but to eat the fish themselves. Sometimes when too many died at once and they couldn’t finish them in one meal, and lacking enough salt for preservation, the fish would easily spoil.

Bai Xi handed the basket to Bai Yu. Once she had submerged, Bai Xi went into the cabin and brought out some pre-cut fabric, sitting on the deck to continue cutting and sewing.

Bai Miao circled around her a few times. Feeling bored, she went off to play with mud and stones.

Since the Shell appeared for the Check-in, the biggest change in their daily lives occurred at the moment of the Check-in itself. Other than that, their lives were no different from usual.

Over the next three days, the Check-ins yielded nothing particularly extraordinary. One day they received ten roasted wheat cakes, another day a bag of sugar, and on the third day, a jar. The jar was perfect for storing the sugar and salt bags, which were prone to getting damp.

Aside from that, Bai Xi spent those three days sewing day and night, finally completing a set of clothes. According to her, she had been figuring things out at first, but now that this set was finished, making others would be much easier and take at least half the time.

“We’re just out of thread. There wasn’t much stored in the cabin,” Bai Xi said as she changed Bai Miao into the new clothes, undoing and resewing parts that didn’t fit quite right directly on her. “We’ll need to buy some thread when we go ashore this time.”

“Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle’s families should be about ready. When they come over, we’ll go ashore together to buy thread,” Bai Yu said, rubbing salt onto a dead fish. “We don’t need to buy charcoal or salt this trip. We’ll sell these fish, buy some thread, and if we scrape enough together, maybe we can buy a pair of scissors.”

“The harvest this time wasn’t as good as the last,” Bai Xi said, leaning down to bite off a loose thread on Bai Miao’s clothes before trimming it with the scissors.

The scissors were no longer very sharp, making the trimming a bit of a chore.

“It’s a bit worse than last time, but luckily our expenses are low now,” Bai Yu felt that life wasn’t bad. “Still, we have to save as much as we can this year before winter arrives.”

Once winter came and the weather turned cold, the difficulty of diving for fish would increase, making it harder for them to earn money. This was their first year living independently, and they had to sustain themselves.

As the sisters talked, a boat approached from the distance.

“Sister He.”

“Mm. Once you’re ready, we’re heading to shore,” Bai He said, lifting her punting pole. “Get your things together and come along.”

“Coming right now.”

Bai Yu hung up the salted fish and helped Bai Xi tidy the boat. After a quick cleanup, they carried Bai Miao into the cabin. Then, each sister took a punting pole and steered toward the main Bai Family group.

The group of several boats lined up and headed toward a nearby landing spot.

However, this time, things did not go as smoothly as before.

Before they even reached the shore, they saw several large ships anchored in the distance. As they drew closer, before they could do anything, several small boats came out to drive them away.

“Have a heart, we just want to go ashore to sell some fish.”

“Sell what fish? You’re making a mess. No selling allowed. Go, go, all of you leave! Don’t linger here,” the men on the guard boats raised their poles. “No one is allowed near, or don’t blame us for being impolite.”

This was not a situation the Bai Family could handle. Eldest Uncle, who was at the front, didn’t dare say more. He could only row his boat back while calling out for everyone to leave.

But they didn’t leave entirely.

Their purpose in coming was to trade for supplies. Without trading, they had nothing out on the water, making survival very difficult.

Consequently, the Bai Family members split up to gather information, such as when those large ships would leave, if there were other large docks nearby, or if there was any other place where they could sell fish for supplies.

This dock usually accommodated many boats and saw a lot of foot traffic. Normally, fishermen like them could sell all their fish and shrimp in one trip.

But that didn’t mean there were no other places to dock. After all, they were by the water; many families in the nearby villages had boats. Those boats wouldn’t stop at the main dock, so there were bound to be other landing spots.

After a while, the scouts returned with news that wasn’t exactly good.

“They say some distinguished guests from the capital are staying here for ten days to half a month. It’s only been three days. If we come back tomorrow or the day after, we probably still won’t be able to sell our fish. We have to find another way to sell elsewhere.”

“Then should we change locations again?”

“Other fishermen probably have the same idea. Now it’s not just us who can’t sell; even the fishermen who live on shore can’t get back after catching fish.”

“What are we to do then? In another two days, another batch of fish on the boats will die.”

“That part is fine. We can use nets to keep them in the water for a while; they can survive a bit longer that way. The problem is our supplies on the boats are running low. We have no charcoal and no firewood. We can’t even get a hot meal.”

Hearing this, Bai Yu and Bai Xi immediately looked at each other.

They might lack other things, but they certainly did not lack firewood. It just took some time to gather it.

They had originally thought twelve hours wasn’t a long time, but in reality, the time they spent in the forest was mostly used for gathering wood. Later, every time they went to grab a bundle, they would finish within a few breaths.

After all these days, they still had at least ten hours left on the Transit Pass.

“Why don’t we split up and go to the people living along the shore to buy firewood?” Bai Yu suggested. “Trading probably won’t work, as the shore-dwellers won’t be lacking fish or shrimp. But if we offer to buy it with money, they should be willing.”

“I’m just afraid they won’t have much to spare. There is plenty of water around here but few mountains, so many families living nearby have to buy their firewood as well.”

Bai Yu replied, “It doesn’t matter if they don’t have much, as long as they are willing to sell. It shouldn’t be an issue; if we offer an extra half-penny, they will likely agree. They live on land, so if they run out of wood, they can just buy more. It’s not like us, who can’t even set foot on the shore.”

“Xiao Yu is right. Even if one family doesn’t have much, we can just visit a few more houses,” Second Aunt said. “We can endure other hardships, but we can’t go without firewood and charcoal.”

“Then it’s settled. We have so many boats, let’s split up to buy wood and then meet back at the original spot. We need to get the fish and shrimp back into water as soon as possible, or they really will die off.”

“Then let’s head out separately.”

“Xiao Yu, can the three of you go buy wood on your own? When you’re buying, don’t go ashore. Just conduct the business from the boat. One of you must hold the punting pole at all times. If anything happens, just push off and leave immediately. Though generally, there shouldn’t be any trouble just buying firewood.”

Bai Yu and Bai Xi naturally hoped to go alone, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to take the firewood out of the Plane. Hearing this, they both nodded quickly.

Once the group finished their discussion, they went their separate ways, searching along the banks for residents who might be willing to sell firewood.

Meanwhile, Bai Yu and Bai Xi steered their boat toward a more secluded area.

The matter of the firewood could not be exposed. Bai Yu and Bai Xi were extremely cautious, eventually deciding that the two older sisters would stand at the bow and stern, holding the poles and keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.

Miao Miao alone would enter the Plane to carry out the bundles of firewood that had long been stacked near the large tree.

Miao Miao moved slowly, which actually helped because they didn’t have to worry about too much wood appearing at the bow or stern all at once.

She carried them out bundle by bundle, handing them to her two sisters on either side, who then stacked them on the deck.

The boat was small, so they couldn’t stack much wood, but it was enough to last the Bai family for two days. Considering the others were also buying wood, the two sisters eventually stopped Miao Miao, who was becoming addicted to moving the bundles.

“That’s enough.”

“That’s enough?” Miao Miao stood on the gunwale¹ with her hands on her hips.

“Yes, it’s enough. Thank you for your hard work, Miao Miao,” Bai Yu said, giving her a hug and asking softly, “If someone asks you later where this came from, what will you say?”

Miao Miao tilted her head up. “Miao Miao moved it here.”

Bai Yu smiled, knowing she would say that. She held her and whispered, “You have to say it cost quite a few copper coins.”

Saying Miao Miao moved it was fine, but it had to be framed as a purchase.

Fortunately, after these past few days of coaching, Miao Miao knew not to mention the Shell to outsiders.

As the two talked in low voices, Bai Xi rowed the boat back toward the direction they had come from.

A boat approached from the opposite direction. Bai Xi didn’t want any conflict, so she steered toward the edge of the water. To her surprise, as she moved to the side, the oncoming boat steered in the same direction.

Bai Xi frowned, thrusting her punting pole into the shallow water.

Sensing the movement, Bai Yu immediately tucked Miao Miao into the cabin and hurried over to Bai Xi’s side.

As the unfamiliar boat drew near, Bai Yu immediately called out, “I thought it was Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle arriving.”

Bai Xi understood her intent and quickly played along. “We agreed on this time, they should be arriving soon.”

The boat across from them slowed to a halt. A person on board spoke with a smile, “Don’t misunderstand, we mean no harm. You have so much firewood on your boat, so you must know the situation at the docks. We can’t get ashore either and are trying to find wood. I wonder if you could spare some of yours, or perhaps tell us where you got it?”

Just then, Miao Miao crawled out of the cabin. Hearing this, she said loudly, “The wood cost a lot of copper coins!”

Just as Bai Yu and Bai Xi were about to speak, the person on the other boat said with great joy, “As long as it can be bought with money, that’s fine. We have urgent business to attend to. Why don’t you sell us the wood on your boat? For this wood… would fifty copper coins be acceptable?”

The wood was certainly not worth fifty coins.

But the other party had already pulled out a coin pouch and begun counting out coppers.

Exactly fifty copper coins.

Bai Xi looked at Bai Yu. “Should we continue asking along the shore later? The families along the bank should still have wood.”

“If you aren’t in a hurry, it’s good to earn this money,” the stranger said, taking out a string to thread the coins. “I’ll give you the money first, then you can hand the wood over to me.”

Bai Yu nodded with a serious face.

The other party breathed a sigh of relief.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi shared a secret glance, both of them stifling a laugh.

Translator’s Notes