Chapter 5: The Goods of Exchange

Shaking his head, Chen Zhuo shifted his gaze to the market trading interface, skimming past a string of absurd trades: dirt for bread, weeds for bottled water, wood for wood—pure nonsense.

“?”
“Wood for wood? What are you even doing here?”
“So the more wood you have, the less valuable it becomes, huh?”

Chen Zhuo couldn’t figure out who had the time—or the nerve—to pull such a ridiculous joke with the apocalypse looming. After a quick scroll, he finally filtered out a few trades that looked at least semi-serious:

【Trader: Zhou Heng – Item: Iron Pot Blueprint – Requires: Water】
【Trader: Yang Wei – Item: Basic Drainage Channel Blueprint – Requires: Food】
【Trader: Du Xin – Item: Corn Seeds × 300g – Requires: Stone】
【Trader: Shen Huairen – Item: Bandages × 1 – Requires: Stone】

No hesitation. He sent friend requests to all four.

Only one responded immediately—Yang Wei, the guy selling the drainage channel blueprint.

【Yang Wei: Bro! You want my blueprint, right?】

The moment the message popped up, Yang Wei hit him with “bro,” dripping with just enough sycophancy to make Chen Zhuo roll his eyes.

【Chen Zhuo: That’s the idea. How much food you looking for?】

【Yang Wei: Uh… I won’t lie to you. This blueprint’s green rarity—solid quality. Five kilograms of food, okay?】

Chen Zhuo knew he was testing the waters, seeing how deep his pockets were. But asking for ten pounds of food upfront made him feel like he was being played—especially since the survival platform had only given him half a pound of bread per ration back in the day.

【Chen Zhuo: If you can’t come through with a reasonable offer, I’m out. Drainage channels aren’t exactly impossible to build without a blueprint.】

The silence on the other end stretched. Then—immediately—Yang Wei backtracked.

【Yang Wei: Hey, don’t go yet, big bro! Let’s talk this through. We’re both survivors—we’ve got some kind of connection, right? How about three kilograms? That’s fair, isn’t it?】

Chen Zhuo smirked. He’d already lowered the price from ten to three, but now he pushed further.

【Chen Zhuo: I’ll give you one and a half pounds of food—but it’s rare-grade meat. If you’re good with that, we do the trade. If not, I walk.】

Another long pause. Chen Zhuo started to worry—had he gone too far? Even though it was just a test, slashing the offer from ten pounds to one and a half felt brutal.

But he was overthinking it. On the other side of the screen, Yang Wei was grinning like a kid who’d just found buried treasure.

This blueprint? He’d gotten it by accident—chopping down a tree, accidentally crushing a green-rarity squirrel. At first, he’d thought it was gold. Then he saw it was just a *drainage channel* blueprint. Disgusted, he’d nearly tossed it. But with no food, no hope, and nothing else to sell, he’d thrown it up on the marketplace.

Hours passed. No takers. Just as he was about to dump it for a pittance, *someone* showed up—and offered a premium price.

“Rare meat… hahaha.”

Still, he wasn’t dumb. He let the silence stretch a beat—just enough to make Chen Zhuo think he was hesitating. That way, if the deal fell through, the buyer wouldn’t suspect he’d been desperate. But he didn’t wait too long. He sent the trade request.

Just as Chen Zhuo was about to close the tab, the notification pinged again.

【Trader: Yang Wei – Item: Basic Drainage Channel Blueprint – Requires: Rare Food × 750g】

Chen Zhuo froze. The sudden shift made him suspicious. One and a half pounds wasn’t the real bottom line—he could’ve gone lower. That hesitation? Fake. A tactic.

But the offer was already sent. Changing it now would look weak. He sighed inwardly. *Still young,* he thought. *Too eager to play hardball.*

But while Yang Wei might be making a little profit, Chen Zhuo never lost.

He dropped the one-and-a-half-pound wild boar intestine onto the trade window and clicked confirm. Done.

How much actual meat was in that intestine? Not his problem. The trade was complete.

【Yang Wei: Great working with you, Brother Chen. Let’s do business again sometime!】
【Chen Zhuo: Deal.】

Chen Zhuo was more than happy to keep dealing with Yang Wei. Sure, the guy was obsequious, flatteringly eager—but clearly didn’t realize how valuable these blueprints really were. Chen Zhuo had no issue milking him for a few more favors.

There was no “build drainage channel” option in the crafting menu.
Saying you could build one without a blueprint? Pure fiction. Without the blueprint, you couldn’t use the system’s crafting function—you’d have to build it by hand.

And this wasn’t regular rain. It was acid rain. Digging a hole in plain soil? Useless. The ground would dissolve before the first drop hit.

So why was Chen Zhuo so fixated on this blueprint? Because he’d calculated—there was a strong chance acid rain would seep into the shelter over the course of a week. When he saw someone selling this blueprint, he didn’t hesitate.

He closed the chat, opened his inventory, selected the newly acquired blueprint, and used it.

The shelter was nestled into the mountains on three sides. All he needed was a five-meter stretch in front—the entrance area—covered with a drainage channel.

Checking the materials required: just fifteen stones. Simple.

He stepped outside, placed the command, and consumed the fifteen stones.

A basic stone drainage channel unfolded before him—rough-hewn, unpolished, but functional. It wasn’t beautiful. But it carried the weight of survival.

“System, check the quality of this channel.”

【Basic Stone Drainage Channel: Resists acid rain erosion. Happiness Bonus: +10】

He swung his axe at it twice—tested the durability. Solid enough. Satisfied, he turned and headed back inside to rest.

This chapter isn’t finished yet—click next page to read more exciting content!

He noticed the other three traders hadn’t accepted his friend requests yet. Didn’t matter. Everyone was scrambling to survive. No one had time to check messages.

After a long, exhausting day, Chen Zhuo collapsed onto the stone bed—hard, cold, anything but comfortable.

He considered going outside to gather some grass to pad the bed. Maybe it’d help.

Then he sat up abruptly—remembering the cotton coat the system had gifted him.

He pulled out both the system-provided cotton coat and the straw robe from the survival platform.

He laid the cotton coat flat across the stone bed—perfect as a mattress.

The straw robe? He crumpled it into a makeshift nest and tucked it into the corner behind the bed.

Then he turned his attention to the wild chicken.

It strutted around the room with calm confidence, clearly enjoying its new home.

Chen Zhuo realized he still hadn’t given it a name.

“Hmm… a smart bird like this deserves a bold name.”
“From now on, you’re… Tai Mei.”

A small smirk curled at the corner of his lips—just two and a half degrees upward, laced with mischief.

He picked up the chicken and called out, “Tai Mei!”

Tai Mei tilted its head, confused.

He placed it gently into the straw nest, stroked its feathers softly.

“Your new home. Like it?”

“Cluck cluck.”

“Like it, huh?”

“Well then, lay lots of eggs. As long as you keep laying, I promise—I’ll never eat you.”

Tai Mei had been peacefully closing its eyes under the touch. But at those words, it whipped its head around, jammed its beak into the nest, and left only its wiggling rear end facing Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo laughed, flopped back onto the bed, and sank into the softness of his new setup.

“Man, having a mattress is *so* good. Would be even better with someone to share it with…”

…

【Happiness Points +9】