Chapter 20: Sold the Whole House Empty

“I used to sell ornamental green plants. Among everything I’ve sold, they had the highest point value.” While waiting for the dough drop soup, the two kept chatting.

“Green plants? What kind?” Yan Yu asked.

“No idea. I’d never raised any flowers or plants before.” The woman shook her head.

“I’ve still got a pile of bamboo slips and handwritten books on my shelf. No clue what they’re for either,” Yan Yu said. “And they’re expensive. Bamboo slips are 500 each, handwritten books are 2000.”

“That’s not cheap at all. But with platform goods, if you can buy them, better take them home and check them out. You probably haven’t noticed yet, but items related to text from different worlds can’t be traded. Last time someone tried to trade me a water-damaged book, and it just wouldn’t go through.” The woman explained.

Yan Yu: “Really? Then let’s try trading mine.”

She pulled out the simple map she’d drawn for her dad at the beginning.

Just a piece of cloth, with some lines and a few words on it.

Result was the same.

Trade failed.

At that moment, Yan Lao’er came back carrying a steaming bowl of dough drop soup.

The whole room filled with fragrance.

Tempting poached eggs nestled among the dough drops, as if waving: Come eat me.

Li Xuemei grabbed a small jar for pickles, two bamboo tubes for water, and a clean cloth bag.

Trade confirmed.

A magical scene unfolded.

Golden, clear corn oil appeared in the little jar. Once it filled up, it automatically poured itself evenly into the two bamboo tubes, filling them about 80-90% full.

A sweet, milky aroma spread faintly as the milk powder lay quietly in the cloth bag.

The charcoal canister wasn’t even a foot tall, with a matching small kettle.

Li Xuemei looked it over and quite liked it.

Perfect for boiling water and cooking small things.

Yan Lao’er carefully weighed the milk powder bag, grinning foolishly.

The family boss and their daughter both needed good nutrition. Milk powder, really good stuff.

Worth the trade!

Yan Yu was forcibly screened off.

Across from her, the older sister hugged a blanket smelling of sunshine, humming happily.

Then she slurped down the food like there was no time to waste.

That poached egg—bite into it and the yolk oozed out, still soft and runny…

Can’t take it. Too tempting!

Yan Yu resigned herself and went back to studying the official platform.

Combining the senior’s advice, she figured the bamboo slips and handwritten books must be useful.

When she got richer later, she’d definitely buy some to see.

Then she started scanning the whole house to see what could be sold.

“Mom, you’ve been tidying up these past couple days. Got anything we don’t need? Let’s try selling it.”

Li Xuemei got excited at the topic.

“I’ll bring it over. You try the brown rice and coarse salt first.”

Yan Lao’er also urged, “Go on, give it a shot. Sell a little, your uncle won’t notice.”

Brown rice and coarse salt went into the inventory, and the balance changed instantly.

Next came two big bags of old clothes, fabric scraps, scissors, sewing kit, pillows, door curtains, mats, mosquito nets… In the end, they didn’t even spare the cabinet. Both she and her dad carefully carried it over.

Yan Yu: …

“Mom, what are you doing? Aren’t you going overboard?”

Li Xuemei set down the cabinet, took a couple deep breaths, then grabbed the oil lamp from the table and handed it over.

“This too. Sell whatever we can.”

While Yan Yu was busy chatting with people, her parents were strategizing too.

Seeing that Old Yan had no intention of splitting the family, they figured they’d all be traveling together.

Even with the AI ox, they couldn’t move the whole house, so sacrifices had to be made.

Old Yan’s supplies? Yan Lao’er had been hanging around there these days, he knew roughly what was available.

The Eldest Nephew’s school luggage? Yan Lao’er had helped pack that too. Combine that with Li Xuemei’s recent near-obsessive house-scouring…

The two exchanged glances—they had a plan.

Life on the road wouldn’t be like home.

Yan Yu didn’t realize it, but after all these years of rice-eating experience, they had their own calculations.

For example, where to sleep—definitely boys and girls in separate groups. In this heat, no one would use thick blankets anyway.

Yan Lao’er could bunk with his big brother. Li Xuemei and Er Ya could squeeze in with Big Girl.

Mats, blankets, mosquito nets—they had them at home, but wouldn’t need them on the road.

And the sewing kit—after today’s embarrassment sewing with Da Ya, Li Xuemei, a grown woman, had been utterly outdone by a little girl.

To avoid exposing herself again, she insisted on selling it.

And those pillows… Could you even call them pillows?

More like bricks.

Yan Yu was convinced.

She smacked her little forehead.

Right! They were all leaving. They couldn’t take everything.

Leaving it behind would be wasteful.

Better to sell what they could.

When the balance crossed into three digits, the whole family got excited.

Gotta admit, buying was addictive—but selling wasn’t far behind!

Keep going!

If the platform was really as that woman said—taking anything and everything

Then the most valuable items turned out to be the cabinet and the table.

Yep, they sold the table too.

“Let’s sell the bed too. We’ll sleep on the floor.” Yan Lao’er was high on selling fever.

“In this weather, that works.” Li Xuemei wiped her sweat-drenched forehead. They didn’t bother moving the bed—just signaled her daughter over to handle it.

Yan Yu went over quickly, stretched out her hand, and poof—the last big item in the house was gone too.

Once the bed sold, it instantly topped the price charts for all their items.

“How much now?” Yan Lao’er’s eyes sparkled, waiting for his daughter’s report.

“Ah!” Yan Yu smacked her head. “I forgot the Free Market!”

There was still one poor soul—wait no, one more person she hadn’t connected with!

The Free Market icon blinked urgently, flashing who knows for how long.

The screen lit up—on the other side was a teenager, his whole face full of grievance.

“Whyyy did you only connect nowwwww——”

Every word was loaded with the boy’s heartfelt complaint.

“Forgot, forgot! Got too caught up selling stuff.” Yan Yu felt guilty. One glance at the time—yikes! Less than five minutes left.

“Uh, sorry about that, for making you wait so long.” Yan Yu quickly switched topics: “I transmigrated into a drought-stricken ancient world. Dirt poor. The platform store has food and clothes, but I want to trade for toilet paper. Got any?”

The boy grumpily pulled out a big unopened pack of rolls from behind him.

Supermarket style—the kind that’s firm and stands up straight.

Yan Yu’s eyes lit up immediately.

Her face blossomed into a smile. Sweetly she said, “Brother, what do you want in exchange?”

“Soil!”

Yan Yu: ???

“Brother, what did you say? I didn’t catch that.”

“I said soil. Dirt, as in dirt for planting.” The boy snapped back, annoyed.

“Oh, got it.”

The boy hadn’t explained, but she guessed—it was probably another polluted-world situation, even the soil was contaminated?

“I’ll have my dad dig some up, but there’s not much time left, so it’ll only be a little bit, hehe.” Yan Yu smiled awkwardly. For some reason, she felt a bit bad for him.

Survival buddies—everyone’s having a tough time.

Now they were truly down to bare walls!

Everything sold!

(End of Chapter)