Chapter 45: With Fire Comes Hope

Clothes 4, Yan Yu only dared to sell one piece.

The door curtains pulled down from the doors of her Uncle, Eldest Brother, and Big Sister Ya each sold for 3.4.

The candlestick from Big Sister Ya's room sold for 19.

The small straw hat borrowed from the Hu family's youngest daughter only sold for 1.4. It was pitiful; it sold for so little, yet she would have to go back and weave a kind lie to them.

Just as Yan Yu was hesitating over whether to sell her mother's small straw mat spread on the floor, the time was up, and the free market began to flicker again.

Clicking in, a sister in a disaster-stricken setting appeared in the video.

"Cough, cough..." As soon as the connection was established, there was an uncontrollable coughing sound.

"Sister, what's wrong? Are you sick?" Yan Yu's heart tightened.

"The strong winds these past few days... I got caught in them, cough, cough..." The woman's complexion was truly poor; she was wrapped entirely in Yan Yu's family's cotton quilt, shivering.

"I've already taken medicine, but it won't take effect that quickly." She forced a smile.

"I have medicine here too, it's for colds, quickly swap it over." Yan Yu hurriedly showed the medicine packets in her hand.

"Chinese medicine... cough, cough... needs to be boiled. My lighter... won't light... cough, cough..." the woman said with difficulty.

Yan Yu was at a loss, stomping her feet, momentarily not knowing what to do.

"Xiao Yu, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Seeing her daughter's anxious face, Li Xuemei asked with concern.

"That sister in the disaster setting is sick, she looks very unwell, her face is scary pale. She said she already took medicine, probably Western medicine. I want to swap the medicine packets with her; taking them together shouldn't cause any interference, but she said her lighter is broken and won't light..."

"That won't do. When you're sick, you need to drink hot water. How can you manage without fire? Her environment is damp; she needs to get her body warm." Li Xuemei looked at the brightly burning charcoal brazier and had an idea.

"Daughter, do you think this charcoal can be traded over?" She wasn't pointing at the charcoal still being gathered in the dirt pile, but at the glowing red embers inside the brazier.

Trading while it's on fire?

Yan Yu took a "nothing left to lose" approach: "Let's try."

"Sister, find anything at random and see if the burning charcoal here can be traded over," she said loudly, worried the woman on the other side might be too dazed to hear clearly.

"Okay..." Fortunately, although weak, the woman could still hold on.

Li Xuemei used two long wooden sticks to painstakingly pry the charcoal out of the brazier. After several failed attempts, she finally managed to pull out a few large pieces.

The fire climbed up the wooden sticks; she hurriedly dropped them, ignoring the stinging pain in her hands.

"Xiao Yu, come here."

Yan Yu ran over, and the woman on the other side grabbed two sausages.

Transaction confirmed.

The charcoal on the ground vanished, leaving only two unpackaged sausages lying on the floor.

At this moment, they couldn't care whether the sausages were clean on the ground or not.

Yan Yu hurriedly asked the woman on the other side, "How is it? Is there fire?"

"The fire... went out... wuu wuu wuu..." At this moment, the woman could no longer hold back and began to sob, covering her mouth.

It was too hard! Living was just too hard!

Li Xuemei couldn't see, so she could only ask her daughter anxiously, "Yu! Is it done?"

At this moment, Yan Yu felt her pain deeply. Her eyes filled with tears, and she said with a sob, "Mom, the fire went out as soon as the charcoal went over..."

"The fire went out..." Li Xuemei was disappointed at first, but then suddenly became invigorated: "Quick, blow on it! Oh, why are you crying? It's not the end of the world yet. Try again, blow on it and see if there are any sparks."

Yan Yu hurriedly choked back her tears and urgently relayed her mother's words.

The woman on the other side also seemed to sense hope; she gathered all her strength and blew hard.

A tiny spark, flickering on and off.

"There is! There really is!"

Even without being told, Yan Yu saw it too.

Yan Lao'er returned from relieving himself at this time.

Nature's calls don't care about timing; they are completely beyond one's control.

"What is it?" He was quite leisurely, jogging back to see the excitement.

"Quick, help me grab some dry grass!" Li Xuemei commanded urgently.

"Dad! Quick, quick, it's an emergency!" His daughter also urged him like a death knell.

Yan Lao'er hurriedly began pulling at everything around him.

As he pulled, he wondered: which unlucky soul did they connect with? Even grass is this scarce?

What good stuff? Hey! We have plenty of that!

Once the dry grass and a small pile of charcoal were traded over, Yan Yu harvested four more sausages.

This time, Li Xuemei regained her composure and placed a small basin on the ground.

She didn't let them touch the dirt again.

The woman struggled, both blowing and using objects to fan the embers.

Finally... through her tireless efforts, she succeeded in lighting the fire.

She found two small iron buckets, distributed the charcoal evenly, and placed them on either side of her.

The light of the fire shone on her face, chasing away the paleness.

"Thank you!" she sobbed, almost thinking she wouldn't be able to hold on.

The moment the fire rose, life seemed to have a glimmer of light again.

She found an iron water flask and a small clay pot, placing them respectively over the glowing iron buckets.

She unscrewed the mineral water bottles and poured them in, one by one.

"There's also the medicine; how did I forget to trade it over just now?" Yan Yu said regretfully, "Sister, let's trade again. This time, I'll give you the rest of the charcoal too."

Because they were in a rush, they had only traded a portion of the charcoal.

They could burn more charcoal at any time, and it was clear the woman on the other side needed it more.

"Cough, cough... little sister... what do you want to exchange for?"

"Sister, if you have plenty of water, exchange some for me. If not, we can exchange for something else. Oh, right, has your shop changed? Any new arrivals?" Yan Yu lifted the four medicine packets to show the woman.

"Two packets are for colds, and two are for diarrhea. I think you'll need all of them, Sister."

The woman said with a face full of gratitude, "My mall... has listed bottled water and... cough, cough... inflatable boats, and also canned fruit."

"Canned fruit!!!" Yan Yu exclaimed, incredibly envious.

At this moment, she understood the feeling of an uncle hearing what was in her official mall.

She couldn't stop herself from salivating.

The woman said, "There are two buckets of water... both can be... exchanged to you, and I'll give you a can of fruit too."

She felt a bit embarrassed; there were two cans in total, but she wanted to keep one for herself, as she hadn't eaten canned food in a long time.

When she was sick in the past, her mother would buy her a can of fruit, and it made the medicine feel less bitter...

Yan Yu was not truly a child; her soul was that of an adult who could read people's expressions.

Moreover, the desire to eat on the sister's face was far too obvious.

"Canned fruit next time; I just exchanged for some juice from the uncle earlier." Yan Yu gathered the items and added, "Sister, these medicine packets have been sitting for a while, so the effect might not be as strong. I've marked them so you don't mix up the ones for diarrhea. That's all the charcoal for now; my dad just burned it today, and I can provide more in the long run if you need it."

"Exchanging for two buckets of water, I wonder if there will be any issues," Yan Yu muttered to herself.

Li Xuemei hurriedly directed Yan Lao'er to set out wooden buckets, jars, pots, and bamboo tubes.

Their biggest goal this time was water, and they had made ample preparations.