Chapter 67: Exchanging a Treasure Chest, Drinking Fish Soup

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Exchanging a Treasure Chest, Drinking Fish Soup

The night passed quietly. When Shi Zhile woke up, she felt like her world was ending.

Because she got her period.

Waves of intense, heavy pain washed over her, far worse than any injury from a monster.

After becoming paralyzed, she hadn’t had it for a very long time due to excessive blood loss and severe malnutrition. Now that it had suddenly returned, the pain drenched her in a cold sweat.

Today’s Healing Spring Eye had produced a single drop of spring water. Recalling its pain-relieving effect from yesterday, she consumed it without hesitation.

Her Life Value was full, her Physical Strength was full, but the pain didn’t lessen in the slightest.

That wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was, she had no sanitary pads.

The chest she had traded with Wang Dacheng had yielded a pack of toilet paper, but the sheets were too small. They were fine for wiping your butt, but useless as a sanitary pad.

She messaged Jiang Yu: [Do you have any sanitary pads and brown sugar?]

Jiang Yu immediately sent over a pack of pads, and soon after, initiated a video call.

On the other end of the video, Jiang Yu was sitting at a workbench, hammering something with a mallet. When Shi Zhile answered, she put the mallet down and looked at the screen, her brow instantly furrowing.

"Why are you so pale? Is the pain that bad?"

Shi Zhile had just changed into a fresh pad and was now lying on her bed, curled into a ball and constantly breaking out in a cold sweat. "It’s not just bad, I feel like I’m going to die from the pain. Jiang Yu, if I, the number one player on the leaderboard, actually die from my period, will I become a laughingstock on the chat channel?"

Jiang Yu considered this seriously for a moment. "You will. Not only will you be a laughingstock on the chat channel, you might become a laughingstock for the whole world."

She picked up an empty purified water bottle and stood up, continuing, "Hang on, I’ll boil some water for you. Putting a hot water bottle on your stomach should help.

What about Jiang Yuxing? Wasn’t he in your shelter last night? He left already?"

Shi Zhile mumbled an affirmation and drifted off to sleep, lulled by Jiang Yu’s cool, clear voice.

When she woke again, it was already noon. Outside, the blizzard had stopped, and the sun was shining brightly. The sound of melting snow dripped against the glass.

Only after changing her pad did Shi Zhile have the energy to pay attention to anything else.

A thin layer of frost had formed on the inside of the second-floor window. She wiped it clean and looked out.

Outside the shelter, the sun was high in the sky. Heavy snow covered the entire island. In the distance, the seawater washed over the shore, revealing a small patch of yellow sand.

The chat channel had exploded with activity as another small wave of players frantically showed off their sea fishing hauls.

[The Domineering CEO Fell in Love with Me, a Divorced, Menopausal Woman with a Child: [Image] [Image] The early bird gets the worm, and brave souls enjoy the world first. The fishing hauls after the disaster have doubled, friends! Anyone near the open sea? Let’s all go sea fishing and chat.]

[Chen Shimei: @The Domineering CEO Fell in Love with Me, a Divorced, Menopausal Woman with a Child, aren’t you cold out at sea on your pitiful little raft? What’s the point of catching so many fish? You still have to freeze on that Level One piece-of-junk raft. I’ve upgraded my raft with a wooden pavilion and glass. It’s not cold at all when I go out.]

[Lan Lan: Friends, rush out while it’s sunny! The fishing is extra good today. I’ve been out at sea for an hour and I’ve already caught three treasure chests and five sea fish. Anyone want a cod? Freshly caught. PM me if you’re interested, selling the whole fish.]

[Empress Dowager Chen Loves to Eat Turtles: Are you all crazy? It’s coldest when the snow is melting! I shivered just from getting near my door. I don’t dare leave my fire now, but you guys are actually out sea fishing. Is this the difference between people? No wonder you’re all so rich.]

Seeing so many players showing off their cod, Shi Zhile suddenly had a craving for fresh fish soup.

She immediately opened a private message: [How many pounds is the cod? What do you want for it?]

Out on the sea, the fishing Lan Lan was ecstatic. She never expected the top player on the leaderboard to send her a private message.

She replied immediately: [Boss, the cod is about eleven pounds. I want to trade for some coal.]

Her shelter in the snow was too cold. She had run out of her stored dry firewood, and the damp wood wouldn’t catch fire. The cold, dry weather was just too hard to bear.

Shi Zhile didn’t have any coal, but she could trade magma for it.

She sent a private message: [I don’t have coal, only magma. Magma can be used for heating. If you put it in a stone basin, it will never go out as long as it doesn’t get wet. Plus, you can adjust the temperature. One portion of magma and one stone basin for your two treasure chests plus two cod.]

Lan Lan was so excited she almost jumped up.

’The Boss drives a hard bargain, but she’s offering a real treasure!’

’With magma, who needs firewood or coal?’

[Deal, deal! I’ll write up the agreement.]

The agreement was sent over. After checking that there were no issues, Shi Zhile signed it directly.

She opened her inventory and searched, only to find that she had used up all her magma.

There was one Magma Stone Basin left in her room, the one she always used for heating. By now, Lan Lan had already sent the treasure chests and the cod. After claiming them, Shi Zhile casually sent the Magma Stone Basin from her room over to Lan Lan.

Without the magma, the room’s temperature dropped quickly. Even with the fireplace downstairs, it couldn’t warm the freezing cold second floor.

She shivered and immediately threw on her military greatcoat, then opened her panel to contact Wang Peng.

[Contentment Brings Happiness: Brother Peng, urgent SOS, trading one portion of beef for magma.]

She didn’t send an agreement, just sent the beef directly.

Soon, Wang Peng replied.

[Volcanic Eruption: You got it, sis. Sending it right over.]

In less than a minute, Shi Zhile received one hundred portions of magma.

After claiming it, she immediately started making a stone basin. When a new Magma Stone Basin appeared in the room, her body finally started to warm up.

"Tong’er, what’s the temperature outside?"

[Current outdoor temperature is minus thirty-seven degrees Celsius. Indoor temperature is twenty-three degrees Celsius.]

Shi Zhile finally understood why so few players were out at sea.

She had originally thought the lowest temperature outside was around minus ten degrees, but it had unexpectedly dropped to over thirty degrees below zero.

As someone from a temperate region, neither the extreme north nor the deep south, Shi Zhile had never experienced temperatures like this.

She shook her head and immediately opened the two treasure chests she had just traded for.

Before opening the chests, she took out today’s Wish Drifting Bottle. "Today’s wish: to get the supplies I need."

The wish was extremely broad, as there wasn’t a single supply she didn’t need at this point.

The treasure chests opened.

[Obtained: Sanitary Pads ×3, Toilet Paper ×1]

[Obtained: Tofu ×1, Pepper ×2]

The quantities weren’t large, but the supplies she got were exactly what she needed most right now.

The cod was directly broken down into pieces. She took out the fish head, planning to make a fish head and tofu soup for lunch.

Shi Zhile couldn’t be bothered to move, so she took a stove and an iron pot from her inventory and started a fire to cook right there in her room.

She put the fish head in the pot, added hot water, a pinch of pepper, and salt. While the pot was heating up, she entered her Planting Space to quickly grab a handful of scallions.

After washing and mincing them, she tossed them directly into the pot.

A little over ten minutes later, a pot of creamy white fish soup was ready.

Although her cooking method was rough, the freshness of the fish won out. The soup wasn’t just palatable; it was delicious.

She ladled out a bowl and drank it slowly. The warmth spread through her stomach, and the pain in her abdomen finally began to ease.

There was still a lot of soup left. She took out three bowls and sent a portion to Jiang Yu, Wang Peng, and Jiang Yuxing, respectively.