Fortunately, the shelter wasn't far away, and Zhang Shi returned before sunset. He glanced at the animal traps and was surprised to find another catch. A gray rabbit, about the same size as yesterday, was caught in the trap; it looked like it had been trapped for quite some time and was already dead. Zhang Shi quickly collected the resources, and before going inside, he didn't forget to reset the traps.

"Duang!"

As he closed the wooden door, it was completely dark outside, plunging the cabin into darkness once more. Zhang Shi opened the system panel, canceled the lighter rental, and with 170 units of wood added to his inventory, he retrieved the lighter, lit the campfire, and the cabin was instantly filled with light again.

As the wilderness world entered its second day, more and more people dared to venture out of their shelters to explore the surroundings. Everyone was more abundant than the day before, both in terms of treasure chests and basic resources. Zhang Shi had already anticipated that the lighter rental business would decline further.

Zhang Shi had just narrowly escaped death today, and an indescribable sense of exhaustion washed over him. A voice inside him cried out: "Don't go out. From now on, just stay in this shelter and live one day at a time. It's too dangerous outside."

Zhang Shi shook his head violently, dispelling these negative thoughts. The newbie protection period would end in seven days, and according to the system's warning, there would be a natural disaster. With his current resources, even a single ferocious beast could easily cripple him, let alone a full-scale attack from a natural disaster.

Zhang Shi gulped down a bottle of water, leaned against the window, and began organizing the supplies he hadn't had time to check that day.

I just got another one from the bear trap:

[600g white rabbit meat x1] [1 white rabbit skin]

Doubled from the premium treasure chest:

[Two white cotton quilts: Highly warm, soft, and comfortable, allowing you to feel the warmth of home even in the wilderness.]

Oil Lamp (White) x2: Consumes kerosene, dispelling darkness and bringing light. Fuel 100/100

[Luxury King Bed (Blue) x2: Humans are like drifting boats, and beds are like warm shores. These high-quality wooden beds increase stamina recovery speed by 20%.]

Zhang Shi's spirits lifted, and he lit an oil lamp, hanging it by the window. He took out a luxurious bed, spread out a quilt on it, and couldn't wait to try it out. The two quilts were soft, one on top of the other, and Zhang Shi immediately felt a wave of comfort, unable to help but groan.

"Ah~ that feels so good."

Zhang Shi lay on the luxurious bed, feeling his strength gradually returning. Instead of rushing to do anything else, he opened the system panel and checked today's trading market.

This discovery astonished Zhang Shi. The market had seen a surge of new resources: iron ore, mud, coal, vines, and even finished pig iron and white-grade design blueprints. Zhang Shi checked the price of iron ore and found it extremely expensive; the exchange rate for stone was a staggering 10:1. The ratio for wood to stone was also 5:1, and the price of pig iron had skyrocketed, yet it remained virtually unsellable.

Zhang Shi was somewhat bewildered. Relying on Lao Duan, his tree-chopping speed was practically cheat code-like. Even so, a day's work only yielded 50 units of iron ore. If he didn't have that cheat code and relied solely on the tools from the newbie gift pack, he probably wouldn't be able to upgrade his shelter until the newbie period ended. Only then did Zhang Shi realize that simply chopping trees and mining wouldn't lead to great wealth.

Zhang Shi switched back to his friends list and contacted Liu Yu, intending to sound him out. Unexpectedly, Liu Yu replied instantly as soon as Zhang Shi sent the message.

"VIP, I thought you'd forgotten about me. Are you looking to exchange for stones? I have plenty here."

Zhang Shi was somewhat surprised by Liu Yu's confidence and typed a message to send it over.

"I'm planning to exchange 350 units of stone. The traded items can be wood or food. Also, I saw some iron ore appearing in the market today. Do you have any in stock?"

Liu Yu replied quickly: "Boss, the price of stone changes every day, so yesterday's ratio is definitely not going to work. However, I won't cheat you. It's 4 to 1, and we can settle with wood. As for iron ore, it can be mined from stone. I've been mining stone all day, and the yield is about 10 to 1. The output is very low, so I don't plan to sell it anytime soon."

Zhang Shi was slightly surprised, not expecting Liu Yu to actually take on such a large order. After all, most survivors could only manage a dozen or so stones after a whole day's hard work; Liu Yu must have had some extraordinary encounter.

Zhang Shi sent a trade request, and Liu Yu completed the transaction shortly after. After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Shi looked at the stone that had fallen into his backpack, feeling slightly relieved. He then turned his attention to the trading market and instantly bought 45 units of mud at a price of 2 units of wood. At this point, only a stone house blueprint was needed to successfully upgrade the log cabin.

Zhang Shi looked at the rapidly depleting timber in his backpack and felt a pang of regret. At this stage, timber was practically a form of basic currency, so Zhang Shi immediately put the plums on the trading market, hoping to recoup some of his losses.

Four hundred plums were listed at once, priced at 2 wood each. The system notifications went off non-stop as soon as they were listed, and within three minutes, all 400 plums were sold out. Many people left comments below the order details.

Bloodthirsty Demon Realm: Mad Blade: Anything made by the master of the Heroic Wind is bound to be of the highest quality. Each of these fruits weighs 100 grams and is very juicy. They can quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger. I bought 10 of them in one go, and that solves my food problem for tomorrow.

Johnny Walker: Holy crap, are you crazy for money? Selling a worthless plum for two pieces of timber? Where did this black marketeer come from? You're making 4000+.

Anti-Japanese Military and Political University Chief Steward: The person upstairs is just being argumentative. You don't even calculate how much food and water you consume in a day. The price of Xiongfeng Boss is already very reasonable.

Void Snorlax: Wow, the person upstairs is so filial! Are they a paid shill? Let's make money together.

Humanoid Teddy Bear: @RevitalizeManhood, bro, is your ID real? Can you please reply to me? Waaaaah.

Zhang Shi always ignored these rumors. He glanced at the trading market again, but couldn't find the stone house design, so he clicked on Zhao Feng's avatar and traded him 50 ordinary plums and 20 high-grade plums.

The transaction request was accepted as soon as it was sent. A video call request followed immediately. Zhang Shi answered the video call, and on the other end was Zhao Feng with an extremely exaggerated expression—wide-eyed, mouth agape, looking quite comical.

"Stone, where did you get these plums? They're even blue quality. I just ate one, and they're so sweet and sour, so refreshing."

Zhang Shi was amused by him.

"Is it delicious? I'll go look for some more tomorrow, and I'll make you some more if you like."

"Waaaaah, my good brother, all I've eaten these past two days has been fish and bread. Now my mouth tastes fishy, ​​and I feel like throwing up whenever I see fish."

Zhang Shi shook his head helplessly. Meat was scarce in the current trading market, and even if you had the resources, you couldn't get it. Survivors like them who had food and drink were already considered to have a very high standard of living.

Zhang Shi sent over the information about the rabbit and duck meat, and asked, "Choose whichever you want to eat."

Zhao Feng's eyes widened even more. He pursed his lips, swallowed hard, and answered decisively, "Of course I want them all!"