Chapter 10: Knelt Down
The Rose Corridor remained still.
No movement naturally meant no rejection.
Huai Yu carefully lifted her fingers, avoiding the long, steel-needle-like thorns, and slowly picked three branches of flowers.
It was quite a bit of work, but since she had already built her own house, was it wrong to want something a little more refined?
The three roses she picked had fully bloomed pink flowers as well as plump, unopened buds. The green leaves had serrated edges, and the tender stems were still covered in small, sharp thorns.
But they were truly beautiful.
She happily stuck the flowers into her makeshift “vase”—a perforated brick—and placed it above her maroon sleeping bag. The wisteria at the doorway swayed gently, and the large pinecone overhead rocked slightly.
All her efforts suddenly felt totally worth it.
Still, the house was a bit too shabby.
Huai Yu clapped the dust off her hands and pulled herself together—
Next, she was going to make herself a mattress!
There was yellow thatch everywhere—not dense, but abundant and easy to gather.
These grasses, having withered in the fall and endured winter’s snow and wind, were now so dry they made perfect natural bedding.
Even without a knife, she only needed to snap them lightly to hear a crisp crack as the main stems broke. One by one, she gathered small handfuls, tied them loosely, and brought them back to her treehouse.
It wasn’t the most efficient way to work, but it gave her stiff waist some much-needed stretching. When it came to making labor a little easier on herself, Huai Yu felt she had some real experience.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have a watch, and the broadcast only announced the time in the morning. She could only estimate time by watching the angle of the sun.
When the sun began turning orange and neared the tall mountains in the distance, Huai Yu stretched lazily and groaned as she tried to loosen her stiff waist.
Then she carried her bundle of dry grass back, deciding that the first stage of her mattress project was officially complete.
Next, while it was still light out, she planned to start weaving the mattress! Otherwise, if she just piled the grass on the ground, by morning it would be scattered everywhere.
However, that plan quickly changed. Apparently, weaving a mattress was a skill that required leveling up. After a few failed attempts, the grass simply fell apart.
But that was okay. If her crafting skills weren’t good enough, she could just use more material.
Thanks to her all-day harvest, there was now a small pile of grass in the clearing outside her door. No matter how messy her work was, there was more than enough material to make a mattress.
Huai Yu measured the length—over 1.2 meters!—then went off to find some blue bricks.
A 1.2-meter bed, with two layers of blue bricks underneath, and a wall of bricks around the sides—it looked just like a recessed bed frame!
The only regret was the lack of a soft, cushy headboard.
But this was already amazing.
The blue bricks were heavy and thick, taller than the red ones. Even without cement, once stacked, they were hard to move, so she didn’t have to worry about them collapsing on her during the night.
And with two layers elevating the base, even if heavy rain seeped into the house, the bed wouldn’t get wet.
She laid the dry grass flat across the frame horizontally. Because there was so much, she could even make it extra thick…
Wow!
Once the grass was piled up almost level with the bricks, Huai Yu couldn’t resist diving right in!
So comfy! So free!
Even though it was only 1.2 meters wide, compared to her cramped, restrictive sleeping bag, this bed was heaven!
After all, even with a sleeping bag, sleeping directly on cold, hard ground wasn’t exactly comfortable—it was just slightly better than nothing.
Unfortunately, she still had no quilt, so she had to lay her sleeping bag on top of the grass.
But at least she was no longer sleeping on the freezing, hard ground—she’d surely sleep like a baby tonight!
…
Since collecting dry grass was no easy task, and with much of it still unused, Huai Yu bundled the leftover grass into large bundles before it got fully dark and stored them inside her little house.
The bundles leaned neatly against the wall, piled high—wasn’t this a form of wealth too?
Tonight, the sky was heavy and dark, probably because rain was coming. There were no stars or moon.
Huai Yu knelt on her grass mattress, slurped up a bag of nutrient fluid, and expertly burrowed into her sleeping bag.
Tomorrow…
Drowsily, she thought: Housing is settled. Next, I need to think about clothing and food.
She hadn’t even brushed her teeth or washed properly for days. How could a refined girl like her have become this dirty…
But the daily physical labor was just too exhausting. Now that she was finally resting, her thoughts barely turned twice before she fell into a deep sleep.
Outside, the spring breeze blew gently, full of life.
…
But despite her grand ambitions last night, when she woke up the next morning, Huai Yu found herself confused again.
Building a house she could just about manage, but weaving cloth and making clothes? That was asking way too much.
Yet her current tattered clothes… not to mention the smell—since she couldn’t bathe properly, she reeked of sweat every day!
This is torture!
Was a genius like her not even worthy of having some nice clothes?
As for food… well, she still had nutrient fluid left. Even if it wasn’t enough for a month, she could survive another half month easily. No need to rush.
—Should I check out the trading market?
Huai Yu hesitated.
Then she looked down at her ragged self, not even sure if a bus would let her onboard.
Thinking it over, she could only turn her gaze again toward the settlement in Zone 69.
Since she had already traded for waterproof tarps, maybe… just maybe… she could trade for two sets of clothes too?
But it was only early spring. Even in the mountains, there probably wasn’t much edible vegetation yet.
What could she possibly trade?
She sat on the grass, resting her chin in her hand, deep in thought.
And then suddenly, a more urgent problem popped into her mind, making her almost jump to her feet—
Girls… had their periods every month, right? And it didn’t exactly come with a warning either!
Help, help, help!
She instantly stood up, face dark, staring toward Mount Sanqing.
Looks like treasure hunting on the mountain just became urgent!
Looking at the layers of swaying roses nearby, Huai Yu sighed:
“You may look good, but you can’t grow anything edible…”
Her resentment was so strong that even the Rose Corridor’s swaying paused. The next second, the rose vines started lashing wildly, and Huai Yu’s eyes darted nervously to the mutation detector!
Then, with a thump, she dropped to her knees:
“I was just venting because I was tired from working! I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”
She bowed deeply in apology.
The next moment, her eyes met a pair of shiny little black eyes peeking out from underground.
Alternate Title: Playing House
Hahaha, writing up to here really feels like playing house.
Maybe a bit childish for kids, but just right for adults.
