Volume One, Chapter 17: Punching Trees

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Lou Yijia’s sincerity was impossible to miss—bold, abundant.

Very abundant.

It left Zhuang Fan staring wide-eyed.

Her pitiful expression, alluring pose, and coyly half-covered charm stirred something inside him. He nearly lost control.

He had originally only meant to tease her.

Yet he had never imagined that this green-tea girl could be so uninhibited—and so well endowed.

Thinking of how she had been forced to pay such a price simply to survive, Zhuang Fan could not help sighing repeatedly.

And it was not only her. Many people were struggling to survive, some unable even to secure the bare necessities of food and warmth.

At that moment, Zhuang Fan found himself missing his family.

Besides his parents, he had an older sister one year his senior and a younger brother five years his junior.

He wondered how they were faring now. Could they eat their fill? Were they sleeping somewhere warm?

Zhuang Fan drifted into a daze.

Just then, Lou Yijia sent him another message.

After reading it, Zhuang Fan grinned and replied:

“Not bad. Do you have a video? [Cattail stems emoji] 3”

Zhuang Fan had plenty of food at the moment, so he did not mind giving away such a tiny amount.

These few cattail stems would not fill her stomach, but at least they could keep her alive.

Besides, this was an equal exchange. He was not losing out.

The long night stretched ahead. He still needed someone to soothe his loneliness and emptiness.

Who could blame him when Miss Zhong guarded against him like he was a thief?

How infuriating!

…

At that very moment, Lou Yijia was hiding at the bottom of a small earthen pit, trembling all over.

The area where she had ended up was desperately short of resources. She could not even find a few decent trees, let alone any food.

As a delicate and pampered woman, how could she possibly endure such hardship?

She did not even know how to search for resources or build shelter.

With no other choice, the homeless woman could only hide in this earthen pit and resist the bone-chilling night wind.

She was curled tightly into a ball, her eyes fixed intently on the chat channel.

Displayed there were her conversations with more than fifty men. Zhuang Fan was merely one of them.

She kept sending all sorts of messages, occasionally attaching a few photographs of herself.

She was trying to arouse the sympathy of those filthy men.

But although those men were willing to chat, they steadfastly refused to send her even a morsel of food.

Listening to the howling wind, Lou Yijia looked as though she might burst into tears.

She had not eaten anything all day, and the intense hunger made it impossible for her to sleep.

Suddenly, she received a message from Zhuang Fan.

There was also that tiny bit of food.

It was not the rabbit meat she had been hoping for, but at least it would put something in her stomach.

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She hurriedly claimed it and began gulping it down, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.

…

Zhuang Fan watched the video Lou Yijia had sent with a broad smile, yet his mind was not filled with many distracting thoughts.

After all, there was still a little pitiful creature outside, whining softly without pause.

Its voice was not loud, but in the quiet cave it was exceptionally clear, and Zhuang Fan found it rather bothersome.

He was not angry, however. He had stolen its nest and taken its food. Surely he could allow it a few cries of protest.

Zhuang Fan was simply afraid that its cries might attract other monsters.

Thus, he slowly walked toward the cave entrance.

“Aw-aw~”

The little bear’s cries seemed to be coming from a nearby tree.

When it saw Zhuang Fan approaching, it immediately fell silent and hid, afraid to make another sound.

Zhuang Fan could not locate it for the moment. Helpless, he could only threaten it in a low voice:

“If you don’t leave, I’ll catch you tomorrow at dawn and roast you for dinner!”

His vicious tone left the Wind-Treading Bear too frightened to answer.

Zhuang Fan turned and walked back into the cave, but the instant he left, the little bear began calling out again from time to time.

As the hours passed, Zhuang Fan gradually drifted into sleep.

At the same time, the little bear’s cries grew fainter and fainter, until they vanished completely.

…

Sunlight once again illuminated the earth.

Zhuang Fan woke first. With a delighted smile, he watched Zhong Xiahan’s uninhibited sleeping posture for a while and used the auxiliary system to record it.

Then he stretched lazily, yawned, and ambled toward the cave entrance to inspect the surroundings.

When he reached the entrance, he was astonished to discover that the Wind-Treading Bear was still nearby.

It had curled itself into a ball and was lying among the pile of logs.

The Wind-Treading Bear also slowly awoke, its sleepy expression rather adorable.

Man and bear stared into each other’s eyes. Both instantly became fully alert.

The Wind-Treading Bear suddenly jolted as though terribly frightened. It fled in panic at once and quickly disappeared without a trace.

Zhuang Fan stared blankly in the direction it had run, then lowered his head to examine the nest it had casually made from grass.

He shook his head, stepped forward, and salvaged it.

[Obtained Plant Fiber 2]

Zhuang Fan surveyed the surroundings.

Apart from the little bear’s footprints, there were quite a few other strange traces. It seemed that something else had approached during the night.

“Perhaps I should build a wooden house at the cave entrance. That way, the Wind-Treading Bear and other monsters won’t be able to break in while I’m away.”

“It would also offer some protection against attacks from other monsters.”

“Perhaps I can cleverly integrate the house with the cave. Then I can store supplies inside the cave—safe and convenient.”

Once he had made up his mind, Zhuang Fan immediately set to work.

Building a simple wooden house required at least a hundred units of lumber.

At present, he and Zhong Xiahan had only forty-three units of lumber between them, most of it painstakingly gathered by Zhong Xiahan.

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They were still far from their target. It seemed that all they could do was work hard at chopping trees.

Zhuang Fan turned his attention to the Crafting interface.

[Ordinary Stone Axe: Requires Flint 3, Rope 1, Lumber 2]

All the required materials were ready. The previous night, he had even asked Ke Mengyao for five more units of flint.

It had to be said that the campus beauty had been exceptionally lucky. She had been summoned beside a great river right from the start.

She had also fortunately found some flint among the rocks nearby.

With that, she was not lacking in either water or tools.

Food, however, was another matter.

There was nothing she could do. Although there were fish in the river, they were all enormous, grotesque, and frighteningly fierce.

Whether they were edible was one question. Without suitable tools, catching them was impossible anyway.

Food was plentiful on Zhuang Fan’s side, so the two of them could exchange resources and each obtain what they needed.

A flash of blue light passed, and a stone axe appeared in Zhuang Fan’s hand.

[Ordinary Stone Axe: Possesses no special effects. Its sharpness and durability are average.]

(In this other world, items such as flint are similar to those on Earth, but their hardness is greatly enhanced. Items made from them therefore have improved sharpness and durability.)

Next, Zhuang Fan turned his attention to the relatively smaller trees.

Fortunately, most of the trees on the mountain were not particularly large, making them ideal for him to cut down.

Near the cave, Zhuang Fan gripped the stone axe and began his tree-chopping work.

Whenever he grew tired, he stopped to rest. Once his strength returned, he resumed swinging the axe.

The lumber reclaimed by the system all came in identical sizes.

To avoid waste, Zhuang Fan deliberately chose trees of roughly similar thickness and tried to keep each section just over one meter long.

After waking, Zhong Xiahan also joined the resource-gathering effort.

With her frail physique, chopping trees was simply too much for her.

But she did not remain idle. She wandered around the nearby area, stopping now and then to pick up branches and similar materials.

And so, they worked from morning until afternoon.

The two of them finally managed to obtain 103 units of lumber.

Added to what they already possessed, it should be enough, right?

By then, Zhuang Fan was utterly exhausted. He tossed the axe aside and collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

“I can’t go on. I’m exhausted.”

“I haven’t done anything all day except chop trees.”

“Where did Miss Zhong run off to? She doesn’t even know to give me a back rub.”

After resting for a while, Zhuang Fan raised his head and looked toward the cave entrance.

“This should be enough wood. It’s time to try building a home.”

He muttered to himself, but when it came to figuring out how to construct the house, he fell into confusion.