Volume One, Chapter 18: The Woman Blessed with Boundless Fortune

Friendship is one thing, but Lin Yifan could never stoop to crawling on his knees to please someone.

However, if the other party took the initiative, naturally, he wouldn’t refuse.

So, Lin Yifan didn’t hesitate and directly sent a message:

“Thank you. I’ll remember this favor! Once I get new meat supplies, I’ll repay you threefold.”

“Hehe, no need to triple it!” the sultry wildcat replied via message. “If Brother Ye has extra wood or stone, you can trade those for me. I want to upgrade the shelter to level two first.”

Lin Yifan wasn’t short of basic materials.

Even if he was, he could easily exchange unused resources.

So he readily agreed without hesitation: “No problem. Count how much you still need by tonight and let me know. I’ll try to make up the difference for you.”

At that moment, the sultry wildcat, whose hands were blistered and raw from chopping trees, grimacing in pain, nearly jumped for joy when she saw Lin Yifan’s message.

She even doubted her own eyes and quickly confirmed:

“Brother Ye, are you serious? You’ll really make up the difference for me? What if I’m missing a lot?”

Lin Yifan clearly knew the material requirements to upgrade from level one to level two shelter.

Compared to his own upgrade from level two to three, it was a trivial amount, so he promptly replied:

“Yes, it’s true. No matter how much you’re missing, I’ll make it up.”

“Brother Ye, you’re too kind. Thank you, really, thank you!” The sultry wildcat’s hands trembled from the pain; tears of gratitude fell as she quickly sent another message:

“Brother Ye, I’m trading you the blueprint now. Besides the breakthrough, I also found five iron nails in that green chest. I don’t need them, so I’m giving them all to you!”

Iron nails too!

Lin Yifan couldn’t help but envy the wildcat’s luck.

He had opened so many treasure chests without finding a single iron nail, yet she effortlessly got five.

Truly, comparing people can be fatal; comparing goods can be humiliating.

After the trade, Lin Yifan examined one iron nail. It was just a basic three-inch nail, so he tossed it back into his storage space.

With these five nails, he could finally get the Primary Workbench up and running.

Having the workbench meant crafting more precise items.

For instance, wooden beds made on the workbench would at least be of ordinary quality.

Unlike the crude bed he made last night, which was rough and weak, unable to support two people.

Moreover, to craft higher-grade, more exquisite furniture or other facilities, the workbench was indispensable.

Hence, the workbench was a necessity!

After looking over the nails, Lin Yifan took out the Black Iron Hundred Tempered Blade blueprint.

[Black Iron Hundred Tempered Blade Blueprint] (Learnable)

Without hesitation, he clicked to learn it and checked the crafting requirements.

[Black Iron Hundred Tempered Blade Blueprint]

Grade: Black Iron

Crafting Materials:

Iron Blocks ×5

Sourwood Redwood ×2

More iron blocks—sigh!

Lin Yifan sighed softly. He still hadn’t found a stable source of iron blocks.

Even the iron nails had just come from the sultry wildcat.

Making this blade would be tough.

He had to put this matter aside for now and continued checking his private messages, but nothing else of value appeared.

Some people were selling herbs, but only the most common kinds. He already had those, so he didn’t bother trading.

What he needed most urgently now was mint, but nobody was selling it.

Helpless, he set aside three slices of toast and posted a separate purchase request for mint.

To make sure the request got noticed, he also sent a message in the chat channel:

“Buying mint, buying mint, buying mint!”

This time he didn’t use anonymity, so once the message was sent, the entire channel exploded:

“Oh wow, Big Brother Lin Yifan is here! The boss wants to buy mint. Whoever has mint, hurry to trade with him!”

“I saw someone trading toast for mint at the auction house, but I don’t have any.”

“Do I have to give it to him just because he wants it? Who is he? A god? I won’t sell it to him.”

“Are you crazy? Big Brother Lin Yifan shared the recipe for the High-Effect Mosquito Repellent, which requires mint. If you don’t give him mint, how will he make the repellent?”

“None of my business! My shelter is already level two. Even if mosquitoes attack, they can’t hurt me!”

“Look at this selfishness! Big Brother Lin Yifan cares about us, but this kind of person is the real selfish one.”

…

Lin Yifan watched the debate in the chat channel but didn’t bother to respond.

He had publicly shared the High-Effect Mosquito Repellent recipe yesterday as a form of advertisement, not to give it away freely.

So, whether people wanted to trade with him or not was their choice.

Just then, he noticed a message in his friends channel.

Ruan Qingtan: “I found two mint plants today. I can give you both, but I have one request: can you give me a share of the high-effect mosquito repellent once you make it?”

Lin Yifan raised an eyebrow, surprised at her good luck.

Her condition was reasonable.

He had cultivation soil and could grow a large batch from just one plant, so giving her a share was no problem.

He promptly replied: “I agree to your terms.”

After a moment, he asked, “Do you need me to pay a deposit?”

“No, no!” Ruan Qingtan quickly messaged back, “I trust your character.”

With that, she immediately initiated the trade.

After obtaining the mint, Lin Yifan got up and hurried back to the shelter.

The cultivation soil was there, and he needed to plant the mint quickly to grow more.

It was slower traveling out because he had to clear a path, but returning was much faster!

In less than forty minutes, he was back at the shelter.

Inside, the shelter was piled high with wood and stone, almost crushing the blueberry bushes growing in the cultivation soil.

Lin Yifan hurriedly sorted the wood and feed separately, neatly stacking the wood along one side of the shelter.

The stones were moved outside the shelter’s door, since they could withstand the weather.

He temporarily stored the clay in his ring space.

Only after the cramped wooden house was organized did Lin Yifan finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Another batch of blueberries had ripened, their heavy fruit bending the branches.

He quickly took out an empty box and picked all the blueberries.

He noticed that this batch was more plentiful than the morning’s.

That morning, the blueberries just filled one empty green chest.

This time, after filling the chest, there were still plenty left to put into another box.