Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the market trading interface, skimming past idiotic trades like 'dirt for bread,' 'weeds for mineral water,' and 'wood for wood.'
"?"
"Wood for wood, what are you doing?"
"The more wood you have, the less wood you'll have, right?"
Chen Zhuo didn't know who was so bored. With the apocalypse approaching, someone could still crack such a speechless joke.
After some searching, he finally filtered out a few trades that seemed relatively reliable:
【Trader: Zhou Heng, Item: Iron Pot Blueprint, Required: Water】,
【Trader: Yang Wei, Item: Simple Drainage Ditch Blueprint, Required: Food】,
【Trader: Du Xin, Item: corn Seeds X300g, Required: Stone】,
【Trader: Shen Huai Ren, Item: Bandage X1, Required: Stone】.
He didn't hesitate to send friend requests to all of them.
Only one person immediately accepted the request: Yang Wei, who was selling the drainage ditch blueprint.
【Yang Wei: My brother, are you interested in buying my blueprint?】
Yang Wei immediately greeted him as 'my brother' with a hint of flattery.
【Chen Zhuo: I am. How much food do you want?】
【Yang Wei: Well... I won't mislead you. This blueprint of mine is a good green-grade item. Can I ask for 5kg of food?】
Chen Zhuo knew he was testing how deep his pockets were, but being asked for ten catties of food right off the bat made him feel like he was being taken for a fool.
After all, even the bread given by the Survival Platform was only half a catty each.
【Chen Zhuo: If you can't make a proper offer, I'll leave. After all, a drainage ditch isn't something that absolutely requires a blueprint to make.】
It seemed the other party was truly desperate for food. Hearing Chen Zhuo say he would leave, he immediately changed his tone:
【Yang Wei: Don't be so hasty, big brother. We can discuss this slowly. Look, for us to meet among so many Survivors, it must be fate. How about 3kg of food? Is that acceptable?】
【Chen Zhuo: I can give you a maximum of one and a half catties of food, but it's green-grade rare meat. If you agree, we'll trade. If not, then forget it.】
A silence followed, making Chen Zhuo wonder if he had driven the price down too hard and scared the other party off.
After all, while it was a probing offer, dropping from ten catties to one and a half catties seemed a bit too aggressive.
In reality, he was overthinking it. On the other side of the chat box, Yang Wei was already beaming.
He had obtained this blueprint by accidentally crushing a green-grade squirrel with a falling tree while chopping wood. He initially thought it was a good item, but upon seeing it was a drainage ditch blueprint, he immediately scoffed.
He figured it was better to sell it for some food to get through the first natural disaster, so he immediately put it up on the trading market.
However, it had been listed for half a day with no one contacting him. Just as he was about to sell it cheaply, someone came along and offered a good price.
"Rare-grade meat, hehehe."
But he also had a bit of cunning. He deliberately remained silent for a while to make the other party think he was hesitating, to avoid agreeing too quickly and having the other party suddenly back out.
However, he didn't dare to drag it out too long and immediately initiated the trade.
Just as Chen Zhuo was about to close the page, thinking the trade was falling through, he suddenly received a trade request again.
【Trader: Yang Wei, Item: Simple Drainage Ditch Blueprint, Required: Rare Food X750g】
The sudden trade information made him a bit suspicious. He suddenly felt that one and a half catties might not have been the other party's bottom line, and they probably would have agreed to an even lower price. The hesitation earlier was likely an act.
However, he had proposed the price himself, and the trade request had been sent. Changing his mind now would be a bit shameless. He sighed, admitting he was still a bit young.
Still, the other party might make a small profit, but Chen Zhuo would never lose.
He directly placed one and a half catties of wild boar intestines on the trading bar and happily completed the transaction.
As for how much filling was in one and a half catties of intestines, that was no longer his concern. The trade was complete.
【Yang Wei: Happy to cooperate, Brother Chen. Let's trade again if there's an opportunity.】
【Chen Zhuo: No problem.】
Chen Zhuo was, of course, happy to continue trading with Yang Wei.
Although his personality and tone were somewhat obsequious, he clearly didn't realize how important these blueprints were. Chen Zhuo didn't mind milking him a bit more.
There was no built-in option to create a drainage ditch in the crafting menu.
Saying that building a drainage ditch didn't require a blueprint was, of course, false. Without a blueprint, he couldn't rely on the crafting function, which meant he would have to build it manually.
Acid rain was coming, and simply digging a trench in ordinary dirt for a drainage ditch would definitely not work.
As for why he was so fixated on building a drainage ditch, it was because he judged that a week of continuous acid rain would very likely seep into the Shelter.
So, when he saw someone trading the blueprint for this item, he immediately sent a friend request.
Closing the chat channel, he opened his backpack, selected the newly acquired blueprint, and used it directly.
Since the Shelter was nestled within the mountain on three sides, only one wall, roughly a 5-meter area in front of the door, needed a drainage ditch, which would be sufficient.
He checked the required materials. For such a small drainage ditch, it only needed 15 stones.
He opened the door and directly spent 15 stones in front of it.
A simple stone drainage ditch quietly appeared before his eyes. It wasn't finely carved, but it carried the important task of helping them survive the natural disaster.
"System, check this drainage ditch for me."
【Simple Stone Drainage Ditch: Resistant to acid rain erosion, happiness points: 10】
He casually tested its hardness a couple of times with an axe, found it satisfactory, and returned to the room to rest.
He noticed that the other three people he had contacted hadn't added him as a friend yet, but he didn't pay much attention. After all, everyone had to race against time to survive, so it was normal for them not to have time to check messages.
The exhausting day finally ended, and Chen Zhuo relaxed on the not-so-relaxing stone bed.
He wondered if he should pull some grass from outside to cushion the bed to make it more comfortable.
He suddenly sat up, remembering he still had a pure cotton coat given by the system.
He took out both the pure cotton coat from the system and the straw clothes given by the Survival Platform.
The pure cotton coat, spread open, was just right as a mattress on the stone bed.
The straw clothes weren't wasted either; he kneaded them into a chicken nest and placed it in the corner at the foot of the bed.
Then, he turned his gaze to the wild chicken.
Looking at the wild chicken leisurely pacing around the room, he remembered he hadn't named this intelligent wild chicken yet.
"Hmm... such a smart chicken definitely needs a resounding name."
"I'll call you Taimei," Chen Zhuo said, his lips curving up 2.5 degrees, with a hint of mischievousness.
He picked up the wild chicken and called its new name. Taimei only tilted its head, seemingly puzzled.
He carried Taimei to the chicken nest, stroked its head, and murmured:
"Your new home. Do you like it?"
"Cluck cluck."
"You like it?"
"Then you must lay many eggs in your nest. As long as you lay eggs obediently, I definitely won't bear to eat you."
Taimei, who had been enjoying Chen Zhuo's petting with its eyes closed, immediately turned its head upon hearing this, burying its head in the freshly kneaded chicken nest, leaving only its trembling chicken butt facing Chen Zhuo.
Amused, he lay back on the bed, savoring the feeling of his new bed.
"Having a mattress is so nice. It would be even better if I had a companion to enjoy it with..."
... 【happiness points +9】