Chapter 43: Bartering. Everyone Can Bring Something Back.

Knowing that practicing magic and cultivating Spiritual Qi was not something that could be achieved overnight, the sensible Bai Yu and Bai Xi were not in a hurry. The still-innocent Bai Miao naturally cared even less. Aside from wanting to learn magic quickly in the hopes of one day using the Flying Carpet, she didn’t have many other thoughts.

The opening of the New Plane had provided a burst of novelty for a while, but they soon returned to their previous routine.

However, a few days later, a request popped up in the information for the New Plane. The tenants there were willing to exchange supplies for food. They didn’t care what it was, as long as it was edible.

“They’re short on food there too?” Bai Xi was somewhat surprised. “In such a nice place?”

“No matter how nice a place is, you still need suitable fields to grow grain,” Bai Yu felt it was normal. “With the wind, rain, and floods over there, it’s likely impossible to grow crops.”

Bai Xi thought about it and agreed, but she still worried about the food supply. “But even though we have stored grain, it’s only enough for us. Even if we trade for it, it won’t last them many meals, will it? We could go fishing, but just fish and shrimp alone probably won’t fill their bellies.”

Fish and shrimp were certainly edible, but as genuine fisherfolk, they knew best that to truly satisfy hunger, one couldn’t rely solely on seafood. That was why they went ashore every few days specifically to buy staple grains.

Living on the island now, fish and shrimp were the easiest things to obtain and were part of almost every meal. Aside from that, they had game harvested occasionally from the Forest Plane and some rice, flour, oil, and vegetables from the daily Check-in. While it was enough for the three of them to save some up, it definitely wouldn’t be enough to supply the tenants as well.

Listening to her sister, Bai Yu thought seriously for a moment before looking at her. “Do you think we could grow grain on the island?”

“But we don’t have seeds,” Bai Xi blurted out. Then she realized something. “Eldest Sister, do you mean trading with the tenants of the New Plane? That’s right! Even if it’s hard for them to grow grain now, they must have plenty of grain and vegetable seeds stored away. We can ask them for seeds! That way, wouldn’t we be able to grow grain and vegetables on the island?”

Bai Yu nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. As long as we have seeds, we can grow grain. Even if the island isn’t suitable, we can plant them in the Forest Plane. We’ve cleared a large area of land recently by harvesting trees to level up. We could probably set that aside for farming.”

“Then can we also ask them for books? I mean the kind of books that show what wild vegetables look like?” Bai Xi had been eyeing the wild greens in the Forest Plane for a long time. However, since none of the three sisters recognized them, they were afraid of accidentally picking something poisonous. If they had a book for reference, they could forage in the Forest Plane and have more variety in their daily meals.

“Then let’s settle on those two things: books and seeds.” Bai Yu shared Bai Xi’s perspective and also hoped to learn more about the wild plants in the Forest Plane. Once they reached an agreement, they quickly opened the New Plane interface and filled in the exchange details.

…

On the other side, several people who had tried using their Room Cards to request food were huddled around the living room sofa, waiting for a response from the “ellipsis¹.”

Indeed, after they made their request, the prompt on the Room Card had turned into an ellipsis, giving them a sense of excited anticipation and the hope for a good result.

But as they waited, everyone remained anxious.

“Will it really work?”

“Maybe. If it doesn’t, we haven’t lost anything. But if it does, we’ll get the food we so desperately need,” said the person who had initiated the request through the Room Card. “The Landlord of this house is definitely no ordinary person. Things we can’t get might not be out of reach for the Landlord. It’s highly likely the Landlord has special means.”

“I hope so. No one knows when this cataclysm will end. The expired food sold outside is already incredibly expensive. If this continues, even the expired packaged food will be gone.”

“I heard some organizations are cultivating greenhouse vegetables.”

“The price of anything grown that way will only be higher than expired food. Those things might not even appear before people like us.”

“Speaking of which, I wonder how this Landlord chooses tenants. The tenants next door to me yesterday were a mother and two daughters. They looked very ordinary.”

“At least they aren’t choosing people based on wealth or power. That’s an advantage for us. So, if we run into other tenants when we go out, we should protect them if we can.”

“Don’t worry. We’re gathered here precisely because we share a similar temperament.”

As they spoke, the Room Card placed in the center suddenly lit up.

The group hurriedly leaned in.

“What does it say?”

“An exchange area appeared! There are items listed… are these dried vegetables?”

“There’s also salted fish and meat.”

“They don’t look like high-end goods, but… why do I suddenly want to eat them? If I don’t eat these soon, I’ll forget what normal dried vegetables and salted fish even taste like.”

“That’s not important. Look at what we can use for the trade.”

“Here it is,” one of them pointed at the text below. “We can trade using books and seeds.”

“Seeds won’t be easy to find. The price of seeds outside is very high right now.”

“But books are easy. Since the cataclysm began, things like books have been the easiest to overlook. You can’t eat them, wear them, or use them… I remember, isn’t there a bookstore nearby?”

“I think it collapsed.”

“If it collapsed, we can dig it out. The point is, the books inside can be traded for food!”

“Exactly!”

Just as they were talking, they all heard the sound of a door opening outside.

After exchanging glances, they guessed what was happening and immediately began discussing in low voices.

“Right now, no one outside knows about this rental situation except for us. We’re all in the same boat. Although the building itself has protection, the fewer people who know about the rentals, the better.”

“In that case, we can’t just walk out openly.”

“We’ll go out in a group. We can keep watch and avoid others.”

“Raise your hand if you agree to form a group.”

Everyone raised their hands.

With the decision made, someone immediately went to the door and opened it. “I assume you’ve seen the information on the Room Cards. There’s a bookstore nearby. I’m sure you’ll be interested. Rather than going out alone and facing countless dangers, why don’t we team up?”

Before the people outside could speak, the man continued, “We all live in this building. I’m sure no one wants the peaceful life we’ve finally found to be disrupted. Therefore, we are each other’s best allies.”

As his voice fell, a door in another room opened. “Can we go together?”

The other side discussed it for a moment before turning back to say, “Since we’re all going together, we don’t need so many people. Each household will pick someone. This time we’re looking for books, and we need to avoid being spotted. We can’t have too many people going.”

“Fine. Then each family picks a person, and we’ll team up!”

It wasn’t just the tenants on this floor. After discussing it, they also reached out to the tenants on the floors above and below. Everyone wanted food, and since they all lived in this mysterious building, they quickly reached a consensus.

However, the final number of people was actually too large, so they split into another group to search for places that might store seeds. Books were easy to find, but if they could find seeds, they could obtain even more food, which would benefit everyone.

From the top floor, the three sisters, as the Landlords, saw this entire process clearly.

Knowing that these tenants were teaming up to find food, they knew the amount of food required next would not be small. Once the tenants headed out, the sisters also returned to the island, planning to take the boat out to deeper waters to catch more fish.

Before this, they had moved a significant amount of firewood and temporarily stored it in the cabin below the deck.

Next, she placed the firewood, the fire starters made from flammable grass, and the wooden sticks infused with magic elements into the for-sale slots.

These people had brought pots, pans, and various utensils with them when they moved, as well as some combustible materials and fire-starting tools, but such items were consumables. The more they had, the better.

Bai Yu had spent the longest time on the water and knew that the most troublesome situation was being without fire. Guessing that these people might also be troubled by a lack of fire, she put the items up for sale.

It would be best if they sold, but it didn’t matter if they didn’t.

Once everything was set, she went to the bow to pilot the ship.

The ship was currently docked at the Small Pier, so there was no need to struggle with repositioning it. Leaving the island was easy. She stayed at the bow mainly to control the ship’s direction, while the movement of the vessel relied primarily on drifting with the current.

On the rare occasions when the waves were large and the ship drifted too far off course, the current strength of Bai Xi and Bai Yu was more than enough to swing the heavy, massive oars.

…

“This is the place.”

“There’s quite a bit of collapse, but the interior isn’t completely caved in. Look for a passage that’s easy to crawl through.”

“Will it be dangerous?”

“As long as we don’t touch the load-bearing pillars, it shouldn’t be a problem. These houses have already collapsed to the foundation. Even a strong gust of wind wouldn’t affect them now, let alone our small movements.”

“Found it! There’s a hole here we can enter. Does anyone have a flashlight? I’ll go in and take a look.”

“I do. Use it sparingly, the battery is almost dead.”

“Once I find the location of the books, I’ll turn it off. I’ll pass the books out, and you guys can look at them outside.”

“Should we try not to find duplicate books?”

“It doesn’t matter even if they’re the same. We can use them to start fires when we get back.”

“Tsk, then we’d better find the books and get back quickly. Otherwise, once other fuels run out, people will start eyeing these books. Let’s keep a set for ourselves if we find extras. It’d be a pity to burn them.”

“When it truly comes down to having nothing left to burn, these books can only serve as fuel.”

At this point, the atmosphere grew much heavier.

Fortunately, the person who crawled into the hole soon passed out a small stack of books, breaking the silent mood. Everyone quickly got into the zone and began using the ropes they brought to bundle the books one by one. This way, everyone could carry several stacks on their way back.

Watching the pile of books outside grow larger and larger, happy expressions appeared on everyone’s faces.

“With this many books, it’ll be enough to trade for a lot of food!”

“Yeah, we might be able to trade for quite a bit.”

Translator’s Notes