Chapter 14: Rewarded with an Energy-Saving System, Cooking Luxurious Seafood Porridge

069 sighed, feeling like a truly thrifty and responsible system.

Just as the wooden house was completed earlier, 069 received a message from the main system.

{Xiao Q: Internship score +5, upgrade progress 40%. Click here to view new upgrade features.}

069: Life is really starting to look up.

At the same time, it didn’t forget to help its host check the regional announcements and claim the reward for being the first to build a wooden house.

Meanwhile—

Wen Mingyue excitedly strolled around her new home, touching everything she passed, then made some basic furniture.

Really basic—just a 2-meter-wide bed.

After taking a hot and refreshing post-battle shower, she didn’t even get the chance to check her house-building rewards. Wrapped in a down comforter, she collapsed into bed and slept. Everything else could wait till tomorrow.

[Beep]

[Time: 9:00 AM]

[Day 2 of the Newbie Period]

[Today’s Weather: Sunny, daytime temperature 26°C, light breeze]

After a simple wash, she stretched lazily by the window that hadn’t yet been sealed with glass. Looking out at her upgraded fishing boat, she felt especially content.

It wasn’t until 069 reminded her that she remembered she hadn’t checked the wooden house reward from last night.

“Energy-saving system,” she murmured, then looked at the description on the card.

[Energy-Saving System: Reduces energy consumption by one-third after installation]

“Whoa,” Wen Mingyue couldn’t help blurting out.

Immediately, 069’s voice rang in her mind, sounding slightly cheerful.

[Energy-saving system detected. Install now?]

Same old answer: [Yes]

[Installing…]

[Installation complete]

Wen Mingyue began checking the energy system operations of her fishing boat.

First was the electric power system, which could rely either on electric cards or the currently bound energy trash bin for power generation.

The energy trash bin worked exactly as the name implied—it generated electricity from daily trash disposal.

With her current rate of trash production, she still couldn’t generate enough electricity to last a full day.

The bathing system, maintained by the electric system, not only provided water circulation but also functioned as a water heater, supplying 24-hour hot water without interruption.

Of course, hot water consumed significantly more electricity.

In addition, the bathing system could repurpose wastewater from the toilet or sink, treating it and redirecting it to the smart toilet. That way, she could save even more on water usage.

Wen Mingyue couldn’t help exclaiming, “Perfect!”

Next, she strolled into the kitchen and found the stove blueprint she had obtained from a chest yesterday. She clicked to learn it.

The system prompted her that stones were required. Fortunately, she had acquired 100 stones after hunting on the deserted island, so she proceeded to build two stoves.

One was large enough to hold a wok for stir-frying.

The smaller one fit the clay pot she had drawn yesterday, perfect for making soup. No time like the present—she got started immediately.

She rinsed rice and added water, placed the clay pot into the stove, and covered it with a lid. Then she took the used match card from cooking instant noodles yesterday—still burning—and put it into the stove’s firebox. She added some matchsticks made from decomposed wood and silently activated them.

Wen Mingyue had already tested this yesterday: burning matches were not classified as living things, making future ignition super convenient.

Estimating it would need to simmer for an hour, she pulled out a steamed bun and gnawed on it slowly with some water, wandering around as she assessed what still needed to be added.

First, she studied the sofa blueprint. The system notified her that it required 2 sponges, along with either monster hide, cotton, or linen.

After rummaging around, she found a cowhide that had dropped during the mad cow monster hunt on the island. She had also drawn 2 sponges from a chest yesterday, so she clicked to craft it.

Soon, a genuine leather sofa was placed in the living room. Wen Mingyue tested it—it wasn’t the kind that sagged easily. It was firm, heavy, and felt great to the touch, without any unpleasant odor. About 2 meters long, it could comfortably seat 3 or 4 people.

She immediately lay down on it. Then she spent the next half hour crafting a large iron wok, the kind that could cook multiple dishes at once.

She also used one refined iron to make a stainless steel water boiler, which could double as a steamer with the addition of a steaming rack.

A handled water ladle, a vegetable washing basin, strainers in multiple sizes, a spatula, soup ladle, slotted spoon, steel wool, several pairs of chopsticks, a chopstick holder, a cleaver—all made from stainless steel. In total, she used iron blocks, a small amount of wood and nails, plus three refined iron ingots.

As for bowls for eating, since stainless steel ones were too hot to handle, she opted for wooden ones due to material limitations.

All of the above were crafted from the comprehensive kitchenware blueprints she had obtained from the deserted island hunting reward chest.

Looking back, the chest from that first island hunt had truly been the best—extensive blueprints, mostly full sets, and incredibly generous rewards.

Wen Mingyue glanced around the empty living room, which also doubled as the dining area, and decided to build a square table with four chairs using wood, nails, and a few iron blocks.

She also learned the blueprint for a rocking chair and made two—one placed on the living room balcony, and the other outside on the fishing boat deck for convenient rest when tired.

There was also a plastic bucket blueprint: 4 pieces of plastic + 4 nails yielded one plastic bucket. She placed it in the bathroom for soaking her feet at night.

Noticing the windows still lacked glass, she sighed—she was missing the glass window blueprint. Thankfully, the wooden door had come built-in with the wooden house.

Just as she finished all that, the system prompted her that she had fished up the first treasure chest of the day. Upon opening it, she received a pair of pillows.

Great find—she tossed them straight onto her bed.

With the chest opened, she used the spare time to rush back to the kitchen. She added shrimp, crab, and fish slices to the pot, then tossed in some scallions and salt. Soon, a fragrant seafood porridge was ready.

Wen Mingyue hurriedly ladled herself a bowl and, happily dipping it in soy sauce, devoured four large bowls before stopping.

Then, she had 069 list one bowl of the porridge for trade, asking specifically for a glass window blueprint. Within five minutes, it had already been sold.

She had originally considered holding an auction—but she couldn’t do that every day, or she’d get scolded to death.

She clicked to learn the blueprint.

[Glass Window: Glass x2, Iron Block x3]

She did a quick count and input: [Build Quantity: 8]

After construction, 069 quickly installed them all.

Wen Mingyue was just about to return to the cockpit to fetch water when 069 informed her that, after last night’s upgrade, it could now handle tasks like water-fetching and fishing net deployment.

In fact, two nets had already been deployed, and all three water purifiers were filled with seawater. The purified water and salt from last night had also been partially separated and listed for trade.

Wen Mingyue felt an overwhelming urge to grab that panda-like ball of fluff and give it a big, smacking kiss.

She even swore to the heavens: once 069 could manifest in physical form, she’d take it to eat every delicacy imaginable, travel the world, and enjoy every moment of life together—which left 069 completely touched.

Still tireless and loyal, 069 went on to help her refill all three newly crafted water purifiers and bait the two nets that had been tossed into the sea.

Wen Mingyue now had six water purifiers, capable of producing 300 liters of clean water and 6 jin (~3 kg) of salt daily—bringing in another substantial income stream.

With a clear division of labor between host and system, Wen Mingyue wrapped up her tasks and used the ten plots of land she had acquired through shark meat trades the previous night.

Near the wooden house and control room, she planted coconut trees, passion fruit seedlings, watermelon seedlings, and various vegetable and seasoning seeds, along with a few wasabi plants she’d brought back from the deserted island—real wasabi, which sold for a fortune.

Around the wooden house and the stern of the ship, she had already planted lemon, grape, and orange trees yesterday. She also added two more plots for vegetables.