Chapter 6:

After working for two days, Feng Yao cleared his debts.

A week later, he was summoned by Yun Shan to a rented room.

“This is the purple grass ointment I made,” Yun Shan said, handing over a coin-sized circular wooden box.

Feng Yao took it and examined it closely.

The ointment was a deep purple color, emitting a pleasant fragrance, and had an enticing aroma. The box was inscribed with the words, “For sale at the trading market, made by Yun Shan.”

“What is the trading market for?” Feng Yao had numerous questions in mind.

Yun Shan replied, “Similar to a bazaar, players can put their crafted items up for sale there. Once sold, a 5% trading tax is charged.”

“What if there are quality issues with the items being sold?”

“Before listing, there’s a designated person who inspects them. Only items of satisfactory quality are allowed to be displayed.”

“So, the producer’s name on the wooden box is to enhance brand awareness,” Feng Yao realized.

“Exactly,” Yun Shan nodded, “The same product, when made by different people, naturally yields different results. With the same price, better efficacy means better sales.”

Feng Yao sighed as he saw hundreds of circular wooden boxes scattered on the wooden table. “I was thinking, you could have done this business on your own, there was no need to involve me. Now, I understand why,” he said.

Yun Shan replied, “I involved you because that batch of herbs belongs to you.”

But she could have managed it alone.

“You’ve put in a lot of effort, and I’ve only provided a batch of purple grass, yet we split the profits fifty-fifty afterwards,” Feng Yao felt uneasy.

“We can’t simply calculate it that way,” Yun Shan said earnestly. “The tools can be used again after purchase; the additional ingredients had minimal cost; customizing the wooden boxes required extra money, but after negotiation, the other party agreed to offset the box production cost with medicinal ointment, so the cost is shared. When you consider everything, a fifty-fifty split is fair and reasonable.”

What she didn’t mention was that purple grass were always in high demand. If she went to a pharmacy to buy them, the prices were high, and there were purchase limits.

Feng Yao managed to obtain 30 plants in one go, which, to be honest, saved a lot of trouble.

“From the 30 plants, a total of 336 boxes of purple grass ointment were produced,” Yun Shan reported.

“20 boxes are for the wooden box production, to be paid to the processing factory.”

“300 boxes are for sale as products, listed at 8 points per box.”

“The remaining 16 boxes are to be split evenly, and you can do as you please with the 8 boxes you receive.”

Feng Yao fell into a puzzled silence and after a while asked, “Will we be able to sell all these boxes? There aren’t many players in the game right now.”

Yun Shan replied, “It’s fine if there are fewer players; I actually planned to sell to NPCs.”

Feng Yao was stunned.

***

Lumberyard.

Mr. Zhao, the NPC in charge, rolled up his sleeves, revealing seven mosquito bites on his arm. He kept scratching, wishing he could tear his skin apart.

However, the wounds were red, swollen, and unbearably itchy.

He pulled out a circular wooden box from his pocket, but it was empty, not a trace of medicinal ointment left.

Mr. Zhao got so frustrated that he threw the box away.

“I have some here, would you like to try?” Feng Yao appeared out of nowhere, offering the wooden box at the right time.

Unable to bear the itching, Mr. Zhao took the box, scooped out the ointment, and applied it to the large bite.

As soon as the ointment was applied, a refreshing sensation spread, and the bitten area didn’t seem as itchy.

“This is a new batch of purple grass ointment I bought recently, unopened. I’ll give this to you.” Feng Yao said warmly.

Mr. Zhao wanted to refuse, but he had spent three consecutive days visiting all the pharmacies in the camp, and they all said that there was a recent shortage of purple grass ointment.

Thinking about how long it would take for the purple grass ointment to be restocked and put back on sale, Mr. Zhao shuddered. He held the wooden box tightly, reproachfully saying, “You work too hard. Workers should have rest time. Occasionally, you need to take a break and catch your breath.”

Feng Yao immediately understood.

Earning hourly wages, workers had only working hours but no specific workloads. When they were tired, they could take a break.

Normally, if players sat for a while, they would be reprimanded and scolded by Mr. Zhao. Now, after giving a gift and increasing his favorability, he might be able to slightly extend his rest time in the future.

***

A good night’s sleep.

Since being bitten on the arm and using up the purple grass ointment at home, Mr. Zhao had not been able to sleep well for a long time. Upon waking up, he felt refreshed and invigorated all over.

Rolling up his sleeves, he was about to apply the ointment again, but to his astonishment, the seven large bites on his arm had completely disappeared, leaving his skin looking as if it had never been bitten.

Mr. Zhao was shocked, “With the previous herbal ointment I bought, it took two days of application for the wounds to disappear. But this time, I applied it once, slept, and the mosquito bites vanished?”

Seeing the inscription on the wooden box, “For sale at the trading market, made by Yun Shan,” he hurriedly got up and went to the trading market.

— Such an effective medicinal ointment, he needed to stock up more.

***

For two consecutive days, Feng Yao seemed to be overly generous.

Clearly low on points, he worked at the lumberyard but took out a box of purple grass ointment whenever someone was bitten. Anyone who was familiar with him couldn’t bear it. An older NPC privately advised him, “Use it sparingly, a box of purple grass ointment costs a lot.”

“It’s fine, it was given to me by someone else,” Feng Yao said generously. “Everyone usually takes good care of me, so using good things together is only fair.”

The NPCs looked at him with a bit more favor and didn’t mince words.

“The purple grass ointment from the trading market? It’s really effective. I’m going to buy a box tomorrow.”

“I haven’t been able to buy purple grass ointment for so long! If I had known it was available at the trading market, I would have gone earlier. Enough talking, I’m going after work today.”

“They are all purple grass ointment, so why is the efficacy of this box outstanding? It immediately stops the itching, and the next day, the bites are gone.”

“Who knows about such professional matters? Anyway, it works well. I’ll tell you, I used to buy purple grass ointment from Miachun Hall through acquaintances, 12 points per box, but it didn’t work as fast as this box.”

Someone exclaimed, “Miachun Hall is the best clinic in the camp! It’s said that their purple grass ointment is different from others, high in cost, effective, doesn’t harm the skin, so it’s more expensive than other pharmacies.”

The previous speaker sighed, “I don’t see it not harming the skin, but it’s true that it’s more expensive than other places.”

The lumberyard workers all came from humble backgrounds, and nothing could move them more than “high cost-performance ratio.” Hearing that the purple grass ointment was affordable and effective, they all agreed to go buy a box from the trading market after work.

Feng Yao’s expression remained unchanged, but his heart surged with overwhelming emotions.

What Yun Shan said was true—NPCs also shopped.

***

The mine.

He Changqing had two mosquito bites on his wrist, three on his calf, and one on his neck. He scratched and rubbed, sounding frustrated, “What kind of mosquitoes are these? It’s so itchy!”

As players entered the game, they wore short linen clothes. With many mosquitoes in the camp, exposed skin was prone to bites.

After being bitten, applying purple grass ointment made the redness and swelling disappear quickly.

But if you couldn’t afford the ointment, that was a different story. It would take at least five days for the wound to heal. During this period, the itching at the bitten area made it hard to concentrate.

He Changqing originally intended to tough it out and then save money to buy long clothes. However, he overestimated his willpower and underestimated the game’s realism.

“It’s just 8 points for a box, can’t I buy it?”

He Changqing gave up the struggle.

After finishing work, he hurried to the nearest pharmacy.

To his surprise, the staff told him, “Purple grass ointment is temporarily out of stock and will be restocked after a while.”

He visited two stores in a row, receiving the same response each time.

He was willing to spend money, but he couldn’t spend it. What kind of world was this? Was this the unique scenery of the apocalypse?

He Changqing was thoroughly perplexed.

Just then, several NPCs emerged from the trading market, each carrying a box of purple grass ointment, their faces beaming as if they had struck gold, as if they had made a great bargain.

Purple grass ointment!

He Changqing’s spirits lifted, and he entered the market.

The hall wasn’t crowded, with more than ten self-service machines scattered around and three NPC staff at the counter.

He Changqing was at a loss. Then he saw a boy operating one of the self-service machines for a moment, and then taking a note to the counter.

The staff took the note, and the boy exchanged it for a box of purple grass ointment, then left with excitement.

He Changqing seemed to understand something. He stood in front of one of the self-service machines and attempted to operate it.

The interface automatically categorized items. Some categories had many listings, while others had few.

【Clothing】

Name: Cotton Long-Sleeve T-shirt

Size: L

Quantity: 1

Price: 15 points

Seller: Ding the Tailor (black name)

【Bag】

Name: Canvas Bag

Quantity: 1

Price: 12 points

Seller: An Xiaomo (white name)

Name: Backpack

Quantity: 1

Price: 20 points

Seller: Zhu the Tailor (black name)

【Medicine】

Name: Purple grass ointment

Quantity: 1

Price: 8 points

Seller: Yun Shan (gray name)

Name: Purple grass ointment

Quantity: 5

Price: 40 points

Seller: Yun Shan (gray name)

When He Changqing scrolled to the medicine page, he was stunned by the full screen of “Purple grass ointment” and “Yun Shan.”

“Can one person list so many items?” he wondered to himself.

Clicking “Buy,” the page redirected, prompting for payment.

A swipe of his black wristband, -8 points, and the self-service machine spat out a payment voucher.

He Changqing took the voucher to the counter to find an NPC, and soon after, he had the purple grass ointment in hand.

***

Three days passed.

Yun Shan called Feng Yao to split the money, “300 boxes of purple grass ointment listed, priced at 8 points per box, totaling 2400 points sold.”

“After the transaction, a 5% trading tax is required, net profit 2280.”

“We agreed on a fifty-fifty split, so each of us gets 1140.”

“All 300 boxes sold out already?” Feng Yao couldn’t believe it.

“Only 300 boxes, this time it was relatively slow,” Yun Shan swiftly transferred the funds.

Feng Yao was so shocked he couldn’t speak.

Not long ago, he was worried about 1 point, almost starving due to poverty.

Now! 1140 points! Already transferred into his account!

According to the market price, 1 point = 100 yuan, this amounted to 114,000 yuan.

How long had he been working with Yun Shan? Less than half a month!

Feng Yao’s heart was racing, finally calming down. Turning to look, Yun Shan was still in her plain linen clothes, and he couldn’t help but ask, “You’ve made money, why don’t you buy new clothes? Aren’t you afraid of mosquito bites?”

“Not afraid,” Yun Shan calmly replied, “Mosquitoes don’t bite me.”

She had the “affinity” talent, and mosquitoes wouldn’t harm her.

Feng Yao changed the subject, “I’ve been to the trading market, there are several self-service machines, making transactions particularly convenient.”

“‘Doomsday Camp’ game truly takes player benefits into account and considers the player’s gaming experience.”

“In previous games, players had to stand idle and set up stalls. Now, if there’s something to sell, you can list it directly. Even if the player isn’t present, it doesn’t affect transactions.”

Yun Shan: You’re overthinking. Even if there are no players, NPCs still lead their lives.