"Ahhh! Sister Yezi, your boat actually has its own manufacturing room!" Fu Shiyi’s eyes darted everywhere with excitement.
In the corner, adult-sized wooden barrels stood in piles—not just one or two, but several, though only a few had been left in the manufacturing room. The rest, Ye Shu had thrown into the cabin. Since last time’s returned goods fiasco, she simply stopped selling anything, creating a surplus of supplies.
The manufacturing room didn’t only produce fire basins—it could generate large amounts of fresh water too. The purifier had been optimized; now it churned out at least 200 liters of purified water a day.
Fu Jingchuan was surprised the moment he touched the crafting table. From what he knew, Ye Xiaoshu had sold two or three hundred fire basins just today alone. Could her crafting table be capable of synthesizing over a thousand basins every single day?
Ye Shu and Fu Jingchuan handled player communications and gathered materials. Once the fire basins were crafted, Fu Shiyi handled shifting the goods.
Time dragged on, and he realized, with a horror born of exhaustion, that these bricks could never all be moved—Ye Xiaoshu’s crafting table... seemed to be entirely unrestricted in how many fire basins it could create.
……
Even offline players were now flocking to the chat room.
They hovered over the trading interfaces of Ye Shu and Fu Shiyi, waiting to snipe each new batch of fire basins. Every half hour saw another drop.
Compared to other sellers, her price was a steal—best bang for the buck! It was a frantic competition of speed.
Players who snagged basins: Hee-hee!
Players who missed out: No hee-hee.
A large fishing boat was trailed by a small dugout canoe.
Ye Wanwan huddled over on the ‘I'm Your Dad’ trading page, wrapped thick in a bedsheet, her body curled tight, shivering uncontrollably. Beside her, Qin Zaozao was in even worse shape—face ashen, lips bluish with cold, teeth chattering furiously.
"Sister... Wanwan, I'm not cold, you take my sweater!"
Ye Wanwan forced a smile uglier than tears as she fumbled with frozen fingers at her bedsheet.
Before she’d been pulled into this game, she’d worn a light crop top—if a lucky chest hadn’t produced that sweater, she’d have frozen by now.
"Wanwan... keep it, I’m fine. Just keep warm. We’ll get a fire basin, won’t we? You’ve always been lucky, from the time you were little. This time... will be no different."
Qin Zaozao tried to comfort her, but her own limbs were numb with cold, her smile strained.
Sadly, Ye Wanwan’s luck had utterly failed her this game.
The initial chest contained not a morsel of food—just useless jewelry, gaudy knickknacks, or showy megaphones. Had she not been paired with Qin Zaozao by the teammate card, she’d have starved days ago.
They’d tried for three rounds on the trading page—and still failed to nab a fire basin.
Ye Wanwan was officially infuriated.
But when she saw that account name, guilt swept over her again.
She comforted herself quietly: That’s the top player, the top player—don’t offend him. The Ye family needs to draw him to their side!
It was all those players’ fault—they were just too fast. Her frozen limbs lagged by half a beat.
When another failed attempt flashed, Ye Wanwan hatched a plan.
Maybe she could contact the leaderboard champ directly, explain her situation. She was so pretty and cute, surely no man could coldly refuse!
Ye Wanwan had never doubted in her looks.
……
Ye Shu had just crafted a fresh batch of fire basins when she received a private message.
"Wanwan? What kind of ridiculous username is that?!"
Ye Shu frowned unconsciously at the sight of 'Wan', and hadn’t yet closed the screen when another message landed: an attached photo.
It was a sultry swimsuit photo—black lace—
The subject was none other than Ye Wanwan.
Ye Shu was silent.
There was no way Ye Wanwan thought this picture was for Ye Shu herself. Clearly, she didn’t know who was on the other end… and was trying to seduce them.
[It’s Wanwan: Sorry! Sent by mistake! My bad.]
Ye Shu curled her lips. "…Ha, playing hard to get?"
Knowing it was Ye Wanwan, she wanted to respond even less.
She’d rather have Ye Wanwan curse her out than feel this sickened.
[It’s Wanwan: Big boss, I’m the daughter of the Ye family. If you’d like, once we beat the game, we can talk about anything in the real world.]
[It’s Wanwan: Please, handsome big boss, could you help me? I’m Ye Wanwan of the Ye family—I was too slow to get a fire basin from the trading page. Could you spare just one? Just one, please! My sister and I are freezing to death here!]
When the other side stayed silent, Ye Wanwan wavered, wondering whether her looks simply weren’t captivating enough. Maybe he hadn’t seen her message… Under such pressure, she decided to lay her cards on the table.
Some players might have said yes in a moment of heat.
But Ye Shu? Who was Ye Shu?
Expelled from the Ye family, she didn’t feel a speck of pity for Ye Wanwan. If anything, she’d be disrespecting her past self if she didn’t stomp on her a couple of times.
[I'm Your Dad: Ye Wanwan, right?]
[I'm Your Dad: Beg me. Call me Daddy, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you one if I’m in a good mood.]
Ye Wanwan—once a princess of the Qin and Ye families, forever pampered—had never suffered this kind of humiliation. Tears welled up at the insult as she stared at the message.
"Wanwan... Don’t do it."
Qin Zaozao, fiercely protective from childhood, grew so angry at her sister’s distress she felt warmth rise even in her frozen limbs.
"But sister... Without a fire basin, we’ll die!"
"Wanwan, if you want me to live... to survive to see Mom and Dad again…"
Qin Zaozao fell silent.
Cursing her own helplessness—and hating that damned leaderboard king even more.
[It’s Wanwan: Please, Daddy. (voice message)]
[I'm Your Dad: Oh, you really called me that? Sorry, all the fire basins have been promised to other players. I don’t have any extras for you.]
Ye Shu smirked and closed the chat window.
From the very start, she’d never intended to send supplies to those two.
She’d only said, 'maybe if I’m in the mood,' but she wasn’t.
Besides, this was nothing—certainly not humiliation. Compared to the way the original host had been shamed in public, it was almost meaningless.
He lied to her!!
Not only did he refuse to give her anything, but he blocked her as well.
[Player Ye Wanwan, you have been blocked by I'm Your Dad and cannot send any further messages.]
After several attempts, the message stayed the same. Ye Wanwan’s face bleached even whiter, her shivering form swaying with unshed tears.
……
Unlimited fire basin production—over 100,000 per day.
The cheapest model—effective and affordable—was the crowd favorite. Not only could it ward off the cold, but it kept predatory fish at bay, maximizing players’ safety.
Ye Shu counted her earnings. Iron and coal had both broken through the 50,000 mark, and she secretly planned to trade for some other resources she’d need for upgrades, like glass and refined steel.
Fu Shiyi’s head was spinning.
The good news: many players were surviving.
The bad news: the San Biao gang had locked their sights on Fu Shiyi and Ye Shu.
By sunset, fire basin production finally paused.
Pang Pangzi was already waiting on deck, surrounded by the day’s haul of treasure chests from fishing. Several pet beasts stowed their rods and set out stools, ready to dig into dinner.