Chapter 12: The Exquisite Headband

A Room in the Inn

When Qiao Duoduo finished a day of cooking duties and returned to the inn with the meals her master had rewarded her, she found Su Ning cutting some wire.

“Su Ge, are you planning to… assassinate someone?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then why are you fiddling with wire?”

“My master asked me to make a headband. I also wanted to gain some sewing and crafting experience.”

“Oh, then let’s eat first. I did well today—my master let me bring back some food for you to taste my skills.”

Qiao Duoduo laid out the dishes on the table, and the two of them chatted while eating.

“So last night you were tinkering until midnight just to make a wristguard?”

“Mm-hmm. The wristguard is finished, but the attributes are lacking… and it’s ugly.”

“Actually, it’s fine. It suits kids, and two attribute points aren’t bad. Yours is only one wristguard. If you could make a pair, that would add four points—better than the ones dropped by monsters.”

Qiao Duoduo carefully examined the Simple Wristguard and, as if remembering something, added:

“Later, check your mail. My master also taught me to skin rabbits today—I did well, so I sent them to you. I also made a few fire sticks, but the crafting system didn’t trigger.”

“Didn’t trigger? Did you do it wrong?”

Su Ning was puzzled. The crafting system was powerful—she believed it could form the foundation of survival in the future.

“Yeah, no matter what I do, the system says, ‘Crafting failed, focus on culinary skills.’ When you made your staff, how did it go?”

Qiao Duoduo looked frustrated, practically murderous. Su Ning quickly tried to soothe her.

“It’s nothing. My master just told me to observe and learn, so I tried making a staff.”

Su Ning suddenly realized the key point. “Wait—so it told you to focus on cooking? Before this, did you have any conversations with your master about cooking?”

Qiao Duoduo frowned, lost in thought.

“There was a time. I was making a fire stick. My master asked what I was doing, I said a dog-beating stick, and my master said, ‘You have such talent in cooking. If you can’t make good food, what’s the use of doing anything else?’”

The room fell into an eerie silence. Su Ning mechanically ate her food, feeling like she had become an emotionless eating machine.

Although it wasn’t yet certain how the crafting system worked, her mother had never triggered it either. She had thought one needed to be apprenticed, but now it seemed that whether the system triggered depended on the master’s mood.

“So that old man cut off my path to wealth… blocking someone’s fortune is like killing their parents.”

“Calm down, Duoduo, calm down,” Su Ning said, quickly restraining the furious Qiao Duoduo. Even if she didn’t really plan to confront the old chef, she had to look composed to avoid embarrassment.

“Sigh…” Qiao Duoduo exhaled and sat down.

“I wouldn’t dare fight him anyway—it’s not even certain I could win—but tomorrow, I’ll ask. I must. Why shouldn’t I?”

While speaking, she angrily took a big bite of rice.

“Well, let me tell you something fun. I ran into Fengji today in the zombie forest, trying to soothe Huanran.”

Su Ning saw her friend looking gloomy and quickly steered the conversation toward gossip to cheer her up. After all, friends bond over shared interests—like gossip.

“Li Huanran, the one with the childlike face and large chest?”

“Yes, that’s her.”

“Her boyfriend isn’t that IT guy?”

Qiao Duoduo had mentioned the IT guy before. Handsome, about 1.85 meters, fit, with balanced features. Standing together, they looked perfect as a couple.

“Ding Guangyu, right? I heard about him too, but he’s definitely with Fengji. I was perched in a tree. They came running past, and Huanran said she saw Fengji hugging a high-level player from their team—Yunyan.”

“Yes, Ding Guangyu. My goodness… hugging, and it was witnessed. Then what happened?”

Qiao Duoduo’s eyes sparkled with gossip excitement.

“Then Li Huanran ran off. Fengji chased after her, explaining that it was just for the team’s safety, to secure the high-level player. But in his heart, he still loved her.”

“And you believed that?”

“Belief aside, it worked. I saw them walking off hugging.”

Su Ning couldn’t help but be exasperated. How could a beautiful young lady be swayed so easily?

“So what does the high-level player look like? Do you know?”

“No idea. Sounds like he was flirting with Yunyan, which made Huanran upset.”

“Interesting. In this world, how long do you think it would take Fengji to win over a high-level player?”

Su Ning frowned.

“No idea. Huanran is a priest.”

Upon hearing that, Qiao Duoduo understood immediately. Fengji would never abandon a priest—no matter how beautiful or ugly she was. A priest is a lifesaving asset, especially a beautiful priest devotedly healing him.

High-level players are strong, but a priest’s value for survival is irreplaceable.

After finishing the gossip, Qiao Duoduo calmed down, tidied the dishes, and prepared to bring them to the teahouse tomorrow. She still had questions for her master, but at least she wouldn’t explode in anger.

Su Ning continued her headband project. She chose a pre-apocalypse style braided headband, using light gray linen, light gray chiffon, and black chiffon fabrics.

She had considered cotton, but it was all white—unlucky—so she abandoned the idea.

The craft was simple, but she also bought black cloth tape from the shop to secure the wire ends and prevent injury.

Just as she was getting into a rhythm, she heard an unusual system notification.

“Beep! Congratulations, player! Cross-level crafting successful. Item detected: Accessory—Headband. Assigning attributes…”
“Beep! Attribute assignment complete. Please name your accessory.”

“Exquisite Headband.”

Su Ning had named the others Simple Headband for easy distinction.

“Beep! Naming successful.
Accessory: Exquisite Headband
Grade: Green
Level Requirement: 5
Attributes: Intelligence +4, Strength +1
Crafted by: Su Ning”

Wow. Looking at the attributes, Su Ning felt it was tailor-made for her.

She opened the panel: Sewing Experience 32/100, Crafting Experience 33/100.

Indeed, craftsmanship couldn’t be rushed—a Simple Headband gave one experience point, an Exquisite Headband ten points.

Seeing the time, it was already late at night. She went to bed. After all, her goal was to become a “healthy early-to-bed, early-to-rise baby.”