Chapter 22: Overwhelming Wealth
Huai Yu returned to the little treehouse with a flashlight. Her watch showed it was already 9:30.
The room was a mess. The things she bought from the trading market were scattered everywhere, looking like a junkyard under the flashlight’s beam.
The vine net she had brought back from the mountain was still tossed on the ground. There was only half a bucket of water left in the barrel, and the square stone hearth in the center had nothing but cold ashes.
So tired today!
But time was tight; she couldn’t rest yet. She went outside, gathered some branches and leaves, and relit the fire.
With the warm flames flickering and the woven grass curtain door lowered, she finally felt herself relax.
But after lying on the haystack for only a short while, Huai Yu forced herself to get up again.
Of the three baskets, one was used for storage. She carefully packed the newly bought sugar and salt, her soybeans, the peanuts and yams gifted by the field mice, all wrapped in leaves and placed inside.
The large waterproof storage bag held her new down jacket, sweatpants, underwear, and brand-new sneakers.
Ah, so spacious! It looked like it could hold so many things. The more she looked, the happier she felt. She wished she could go up the mountain tomorrow and bring back two baskets full of wild vegetables to stuff the whole house!
But…
Looking at the pile of dry grass stacked at one side of the treehouse, Huai Yu had to suppress her excitement.
Wild vegetables could be harvested again and again, but if she didn’t build a toilet before the heavy rain, answering nature’s call would become a huge problem!
Priorities had to be clear.
She sighed and arranged the cups and basins on the simple washstand where she kept her toothbrush and toothpaste. Soap and detergent were placed to the side. The iron pot, not needed for now, was also set aside.
She stuffed three plastic bags into one of the baskets, kept another basket as a spare, and placed them next to the multi-purpose shovel, ready to head up the mountain anytime.
And now!
The most urgent task was weaving grass curtains!
The small stack she had started weaving last night was piled by her bed. Her craftsmanship was basically nonexistent — just simple three-strand braids, intertwined vertically and horizontally to barely form a grass curtain.
The curtain wasn’t smooth or neat at all. Broken straw ends stuck out messily, looking very silly.
Still, she was getting faster by the end. Anyway, it was usable.
After walking around the trading market today, Huai Yu was even more convinced that Captain Zhou had helped her exchange for the waterproof tarp without telling her the real price both times.
Points had to be spent wisely.
For the toilet and such, grass curtains would do for rain protection. When she had more points later, she could upgrade step by step.
The firelight flickered gently, and the temperature inside the room gradually rose. With the practice from yesterday, Huai Yu’s weaving speed today was even faster…
Night gradually deepened.
…
The next morning, Huai Yu woke up again to the broadcast. She had only fallen asleep at 1 a.m. and struggled painfully to get out of bed.
Lifting the grass curtain, she felt the damp moisture carried by the wind even without listening to the weather report.
Although the broadcast said heavy rain was expected the day after tomorrow, judging from the weather, she felt it might start raining tomorrow.
She grabbed her multi-purpose shovel and rope, quickly washed up, bit into a bag of nutrient solution, and headed straight for the mountain.
Building materials were expensive now. To build a shelter and a toilet, she needed a framework, so she had to check with her “relatives” on the mountain.
This time, Huai Yu was already familiar with the route. The rose corridor vines were also becoming more polite, moving aside without her needing to sweet-talk them.
She didn’t go too far — the mountain was high, deep, and vast — and today’s tasks were all labor-intensive. It was best to gather materials nearby.
After all, it would take more than half an hour just to walk from Zone 37 to Zone 8!
Fortunately, the mountain was full of trees, especially those small trees that had just grown.
They were about as thick as a girl’s wrist — sturdy enough for construction but light enough for Huai Yu to drag. Since many hadn’t sprouted leaves yet, they were even lighter.
She used her shovel and tied elastic ropes to nearby trees to control the direction they would fall.
Chopping, sawing, and kicking — these actions were almost unbearable for a delicate girl.
After two exhausting, breathless hours of labor, Huai Yu finally had eight even-sized tree trunks piled at her feet.
Don’t underestimate them — while the trunks weren’t thick, their branches spread out wide. She tied them together with ropes, hooked them with a few vines, and started dragging them back.
Ideally, letting tree vines root and grow would’ve been better — less exhausting even if it took longer — but Huai Yu was afraid of the Mutated Plant Defense Army coming.
Her treehouse was already heavily covered with leaves and waterproof tarps. Luckily, the wisteria branches were behaving well — side buds had paused growth, and roots were spreading underground.
In a while, the roots would break through the soil on the other side and grow into sturdy trunks.
By then, even if the Mutated Plant Defense Army came, they wouldn’t notice.
As for the leaves used to cover the roof — they were already dried and withered yellow. In a few days, they’d shrivel completely.
Of course, even dried leaves could still stay quietly piled on the roof, providing insulation against the cold.
This way, no one would question why there were fresh green leaves when it was still early spring.
But if she used living trees for building corridors or toilets, it would be very obvious whether they were alive or dead.
Not to mention, she didn’t have enough points left to shamelessly ask for more waterproof tarps.
Thinking it through, she accepted the hard labor.
Huai Yu kept convincing herself while dragging the heavy load.
The trunks were too big. At the rose corridor, she had to untie them and drag them one by one.
The branches caught on the vines, making the flowers sway — obviously unhappy.
Huai Yu was terrified it would trigger an alarm and had to beg softly…
She felt like crying from exhaustion.
Wuwuwu, this is too hard!
Why is it so miserable?!
Had she been so outrageously rich before that she was now suffering a harsh rebound to reality?
By the time she finally dragged the trunks back to the treehouse, raising her wrist, it was already 12 noon.
But still, no time to rest.
Huai Yu wiped her sweaty face with a towel, lit the fire, and set up the pot, boiling a large pot of water.
As the water bubbled and steamed, she thought — if only she had a packet of instant noodles to throw in — it would be the best food in the world.
Staring at the empty pot, Huai Yu felt a huge craving — but even cravings couldn’t conjure food!
The only things left were the seeds she had saved and some nutrient solution.
Finally, she looked up — at the pinecone hanging from the center of the treehouse ceiling, disguised as a chandelier.
Forget it.
Depressed, she pulled her gaze back and tossed some of the sugar and salt she bought yesterday into the pot.
Want more to read? 🎉 Subscribe on my Ko-fi page to unlock bonus chapters for every novel on Red Panda Translations!
Get early access, exclusive updates, and all the novels you love 💖
