Chapter 28: Resisting Ye Da

Wu Liang left a message: “Everyone, don’t buy from this profiteer. One piece of quality wood is worth a hundred pieces of inferior wood. Damn capitalists! We should unite and boycott him!”

Comments piled up beneath his message.

“If you don’t want to buy it, don’t. Is anyone begging you to buy?”

“It’s all your fault, you heartless jerk. Now they’re all sold out and I couldn’t get any even if I wanted to. If I have trouble tonight, I’ll haunt you to the end of my days!”

“Loser! You just wanted to get a bargain and now that you can’t, you’re trying to drag everyone else down with you. Thanks to you, I missed my chance and the matches are gone! Bastard!”

Wu Liang replied, “Damn it, did I put a knife to your throat and force you not to buy? What does it matter to me if you missed out?”

“And I didn’t buy any myself. I don’t believe a little fire is such a big deal!”

“If you’ve got the materials, you’d be better off upgrading your treehouse early. Wouldn’t that keep out the cold even more?”

“A grown man whining like a little girl, afraid of the hot and the cold!”

“Absolutely pathetic!”

Ye Da couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the other players’ messages to Wu Liang.

That Wu Liang sure was tough!

But he wondered whether, after meeting the chilling night air, Wu Liang would still be this tough.

Ding!

Ding ding ding...

While Ye Da was watching players attack Wu Liang, he kept getting tagged.

He couldn’t be bothered with Wu Liang anymore, so he opened the communication channel to see what was going on.

He was afraid of missing some important information.

Like...

Maybe Da Li would be able to find him.

“Oh my god, how are you all so rich? I hesitated for just a second and you guys bought out all the matches? @Ye Da, do you have any more matches, boss?”

“@Ye Da, these matches don’t come with a box—how do you use them?”

“Haha, I got some! I actually got some, I’m so lucky!”

“I knew these would sell out instantly. I bought two extra sets—if anyone wants them, come to me. Of course, the price is negotiable!”

“@Ye Da, how do you use the matches? Please reply! I traded all my wood for matches and now I’ve got nothing to fix the door of my treehouse. That fog keeps coming in and I think I’m hearing strange sounds! Hurry, tell me how to use the matches?”

“Same here! I heard those whispering voices too. I thought I was imagining things, but you all heard it too?”

“Stop telling ghost stories! Don’t you know that people can be scared to death by other people?”

“I’m so scared, I’m all alone right now. I just want to go home.”

There was no sign of Da Li.

Still, hearing that the matches sold out instantly, Ye Da was startled—afraid even the six matches he’d set aside in his own warehouse had been sold by accident.

Fortunately, his spares were still there.

Looks like the players are all pretty well-off, or maybe he’s just not shrewd enough.

[Communication Channel]

“As for the matches, I won’t reply to everyone individually. Here’s a unified explanation!”

Ye Da answered directly in the channel: “These are phosphorus matches. Just strike them on any rough surface and they’ll ignite!”

“But before you light a match, I recommend gathering enough dry leaves and tinder. Otherwise, if you strike the match but can’t get the fire going, you’ll have wasted it.”

“Also, I have no more matches to sell. All available matches are already listed. Thank you, everyone.”

As soon as his message ended, the channel was filled with wails of despair.

“Boss, why didn’t you tell us about gathering tinder earlier? I heard you say the match would light with a strike, so I tried it—and I was an idiot!”

“I’ve got no more wood, no fire source. Someone save me!”

“Same! Save me, I just want to slap myself. I’m so dumb, I had no idea I needed to prepare tinder first. Now I’ve got nothing.”

“You poor souls. Luckily I’m farsighted, so I saved money on fire-starters.”

“Excuse me, what does farsightedness have to do with fire-starters?”

“Because reading glasses can focus sunlight, just like a magnifying glass. Didn’t you ever try that as a kid?”

“I’m desperate. Please, someone, give me some fire! I’ll repay the materials tomorrow.”

“No can do. I just tried it—if you put burning wood in the market, it turns into burnt wood and the fire goes out.”

“You think you’ve got it bad? I prepared dry leaves and twigs, but still couldn’t get the fire going. Can anyone top that misery?”

“Please, boss, sell just one more match! I got tricked by that idiot Wu Liang and came too late—sob...”

Ye Da watched as the channel filled with both joy and sorrow, but he could do nothing.

After all, he wasn’t God—he couldn’t help everyone.

Anyway...

All the matches he could sell were already gone.

So be it.

He needed to hurry and cook, and prepare for the cold night ahead.

This world was clearly not as simple as he had imagined!

First things first—he needed to fill his stomach.

Ye Da took out the ingredients he’d gathered that day: a bag of rice, ten units of snake meat, some leftover bear meat from the morning, and a few wild mushrooms.

Crack!

Ye Da cut a section from the bamboo he’d brought back.

Both ends needed to be closed off by bamboo nodes, with no open ends. Then he carved a large hole and a small hole in the bamboo.

The small hole was for ventilation, just like a teapot lid.

Without it, air couldn’t get in and water wouldn’t go in either.

Ye Da filled a third of the bamboo with rice, then stuffed in diced mushrooms and bear meat, giving it a good shake.

Shaking it mixed everything well, so the cooked rice would be infused with the flavor of mushrooms and meat.

Finally, he added purified water, just enough to cover the rice.

In one go, Ye Da prepared twenty bamboo tubes of rice, using up all the bear meat and mushrooms.

Once filled, the bamboo tubes needed to be sealed.

Since there were no stoppers, Ye Da made do with what he had.

He placed a leaf over the opening, then packed it with wet mud. Once the mud was baked dry by the fire, it formed a new lid.

After that, he put the bamboo directly over the fire. Forty minutes would do.

Ye Da had learned this method of cooking rice in bamboo when he traveled in Yunnan, but never had the chance to try it until now.

Now, with the opportunity at hand, of course he had to give it a go—homemade bamboo rice!

As for the snake meat...

It would be good stir-fried, too.

Unfortunately, he lacked seasonings—if only he had some!