Chapter 46: New Companions

The woman on the other side of the screen swiped her screen and purchased two buckets of water.

The transaction was complete.

The call was disconnected.

The screen returned to Yan Yu's official mall.

Yan Yu and Li Xuemei looked at each other and sighed simultaneously.

Yan the Second asked cautiously, "What? Is she seriously ill?"

It sounded as if the woman who had been praying for rain for months had fallen sick.

"Sigh!" Li Xuemei said sympathetically, "How pitiful. She's all alone; when she's sick, she can only endure it by taking some medicine, without even a sip of warm water."

"Mom! I'm actually a little scared—scared that next time, or the time after that, I won't see her again," Yan Yu said, lowering her head dejectedly.

"It won't happen. We will all be fine," Li Xuemei said, unsure if she was comforting her daughter or herself.

The mother and daughter were somewhat shaken.

Yan the Second feigned a relaxed attitude. "Let's worry about our own immediate problems first. We've exchanged so much water and my pile of charcoal, and now there's only a tiny bit left. How do we explain this? If we say aliens descended from the sky, took the charcoal, and left the water, would they believe us?"

"It would be better to say we encountered a white-bearded old man or a fairy; ancient people are more likely to believe that," Yan Yu muttered.

Li Xuemei took a deep breath, clapped her hands, and said, "Daughter, pull yourself together! Keep selling things! With the Platform backing us up, how could we not live well? We're going to live better than anyone!"

"Right!" Yan Yu nodded heavily in agreement. "The Platform Daddy pampers me; I can't let him down. I will conquer this drought and make a comeback against the odds!"

"Protect Old Yan, and we'll eat and drink like kings in the future!" Yan the Second said with a solemn expression. Through what had just happened, he had realized a profound truth.

A person cannot live in isolation.

Especially when facing difficulties, one must huddle together for warmth.

"Huh? What did you just call the Platform?" Yan the Second's eyes widened.

Yan Yu stuck out her tongue and hummed a nursery rhyme.

Yan the Second didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Mom, let's sell the straw mats too," Yan Yu said, having regained some energy.

"Sell them!"

Li Xuemei had also come to terms with it; what was there that couldn't be sold?

"You two hurry up and finish those noodles. Don't just sit there staring at the bowls."

Sell everything.

Yan Yu scooped the remaining noodles into her mouth and swallowed them down with a gulp.

Once finished, she would sell the bowls directly to the Platform—hehe!

With a muffled voice, she continued reporting: "Bowl 0.5, straw mat 8."

She squatted on the ground, pulled up a handful of grass, and tried to place it on the screen, but the Platform showed no reaction.

"There's even discrimination! It looks down on grass!"

Yan the Second swallowed his last bite of noodles. They were originally intended for the woman facing the natural disaster, but since they couldn't wait, he had to finish them to avoid waste.

As he stood up, Li Xuemei grabbed the small stool he had just been sitting on.

Both the bowl from Yan the Second and the stool were handed to their daughter one after the other.

Yan Yu was still broadcasting: "Bowl 0.5, stool 8.4."

"Ah! Why did we sell the stool too?" Yan Yu asked. "What will we sit on to eat in the future?"

Thinking of the price of 8.4, Li Xuemei answered casually, "We'll make more. I saw Qi Wu works very fast. It's not even good wood, just scraps left over from making the small tables."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Xuemei felt as if she had missed something.

"Were... the beds, cabinets, and tables in our house sold for quite a high price?" Li Xuemei asked uncertainly.

This stumped Yan Yu. They had been so excited when they sold them that they hadn't paid much attention.

The more Li Xuemei thought about it, the more certain she became. "Look at what we sold today. The clothes were very cheap, the quilts didn't fetch much, and those three door curtains were even less. So, the bulk of our first sale should have been those pieces of furniture. A small stool made on a whim could sell for 8.4; those large items must have been quite a lot."

Yan the Second agreed deeply. "In the old days, as long as it was solid wood, it would fetch a good price, regardless of the craftsmanship."

"Then we'll try selling them next time." Yan Yu looked at her pitiful balance, which hadn't increased much. "Dad, Mom, what should we buy this time? Should we still buy rice and white flour?"

They truly hadn't eaten much of it; most of the villagers ate coarse grains, and they would feel awkward if they were the only ones eating refined rice and fine flour.

Li Xuemei walked to where Yan the Second had been recording earlier.

"Buy the vegetables first."

Yan Yu: "Wild vegetables are too expensive; they're so much more expensive than ordinary vegetables."

Despite her complaining, her hands were very efficient.

"Hemp, coarse cloth, cotton cloth—get it all."

Yan Yu complied.

"The newly listed brown rice, coarse flour, and red, green, and black beans."

Yan Yu clicked away.

"Meat, eggs."

Yan Yu bought and bought.

"Won't that be enough to buy bamboo slips?" Li Xuemei said with some regret.

Looking at the balance, Yan Yu replied, "Not enough."

Yan the Second looked up from his busy packing and straightened his back.

The mother and daughter were having a field day with their shopping, but his old waist was suffering.

"Aiya, looking at these things makes me feel energetic again!" Yan the Second threw a couple of left and right punches.

Yan Yu ruthlessly teased, "Dad, you look like you're doing the doggy paddle, hahahahaha!"

"What's wrong with my doggy paddle? It doesn't matter if it looks good, as long as I can swim," Yan the Second said, puffing out his chest proudly.

Unlike you two, a pair of landlubbers, hehehe!

Li Xuemei frowned and asked, "Xiao Yu, hasn't the third person arrived yet?"

Yan Yu let out an "Eh?" She checked the time and then looked at the Free Market icon.

"The time is up, so why isn't it flashing?"

The third person should be that cool young man.

Did something happen?

They didn't have to wait long; the Free Market finally began to flash.

Yan Yu hurriedly clicked into it.

On the other side of the video call, however, was a woman also dressed in ancient attire.

To be specific, a very, very beautiful woman.

Her eyes were like autumn waters, full of emotion; she had a delicate nose and small mouth, and a figure as graceful as a willow.

Her thick black hair was loosely tied up, with a single wooden hairpin tucked in at an angle.

Yan Yu was stunned, because this woman was not only beautiful, but she seemed to be glowing.

"Little sister, do you have anything to eat?"

Her voice was so gentle too!

"Yes, yes! What would you like to eat, Big Sister?"

The beauty on the other side smiled, a sight as captivating as flowers swaying in the wind.

"Can I even order from a menu? Little sister, you are quite interesting."

She slightly restrained her smile and said softly, "Just ordinary food will do. However, I only have one thing here that I can exchange with you, and I wonder if you would be willing."

"Tell me, Big Sister."

"This is the Valley of Snakes..." she began apologetically, "There are only various sizes of... snakes... Little sister, are you afraid? Do you dare to eat them?"

Yan Yu:...

I am afraid, and I don't dare to eat them!

But... there should be someone in our village who would dare to take a bite.

"Big Sister, where are you? How can there be a Valley of Snakes?" It sounded terrifying.

Yan Yu realized she hadn't introduced herself and decided to set an example for the lady: "I forgot, I forgot! I am from the 'Transmigration into a Book' category, a fictional ancient setting, currently fleeing a famine."

The woman on the other side smiled slightly and said, "I am from the 'Transmigration' category, a cultivation world. My current cultivation level is only at the early stage of Qi Refining. I wandered into the Valley of Snakes and missed the time to return. The small world has closed, and I am trapped here. If the Platform does not open, I will either be swallowed by a snake or die of hunger."