Road Survival, I Have a Hint System!

Zhang Tuohai had no idea what the Su sisters were saying about him. At this moment, he was busy with his own tasks.

The leeks he brought back needed to be planted properly, as they were his hope for having fresh vegetables in the near future.

In the morning, Zhang Tuohai received a blueprint for making planting pots, and now was the perfect time to use it.

He made seven or eight planting pots in one go, enough to plant all the leeks he had brought back.

Once the pots were arranged, the already cramped backseat area became completely packed.

Many items could no longer fit and had to be piled onto the passenger seat. Some less important materials were even moved to the trunk.

“A second-hand family car really has too little space. I wonder if there’s a blueprint for increasing storage space. I’d even settle for converting it into one of those iconic Wuling vans.”

Looking at the backseat crammed with supplies, Zhang Tuohai scratched his head.

He realized that having too many supplies could be a bit of a headache.

For example, tonight, he would have to sleep sitting up.

There was no space left to recline the seat because all the space was filled with supplies.

Zhang Tuohai wondered if sharing his current dilemma on the regional chat would get him into trouble, possibly with people coming after him.

After planting the leeks, Zhang Tuohai made a small steel basin and started mixing dough.

He often cooked at home, and while he couldn’t compare to a professional chef, making a batch of dumplings was no problem.

Mixing the dough, chopping the filling, rolling out the dough skins, wrapping, and boiling—all done in one smooth sequence.

He even had a few extra dumpling skins left, which he saved to cut into strips for noodle soup the next morning.

After sending two plates of dumplings to the Su Mu sisters, Zhang Tuohai picked up a dumpling and popped it into his mouth.

“Ah—”

A wave of scalding heat spread through his mouth.

Awesome! Zhang Tuohai loved eating hot, steaming dumplings.

However, it felt like something was missing.

What was it?

He looked around and suddenly slapped his forehead.

Dipping sauce!

You can’t eat dumplings without garlic and vinegar.

He immediately opened the regional chat.

“Does anyone have vinegar and garlic? I’ll pay a high price.”

The regional chat, which had been filled with people exchanging tips, went quiet for a moment before exploding.

“Whoa, the boss is really eating dumplings?”

“Suddenly, my spicy strips don’t taste as good.”

“Boss, can you make me a plate of dumplings too? I’ll trade two bottles of water.”

“Boss, I have an orange. Can I trade it for a few dumplings?”

“Boss, I have ****. Can I trade it for a plate?”

When Zhang Tuohai saw the last message, his face darkened.

Seriously? Trading **** for food?

Is this joke ever going to die?

Ignoring that message, Zhang Tuohai posted a plate of dumplings on the trading channel.

“It’s up on the trading platform now, a five-minute free auction.”

Seeing that a plate of dumplings was really listed on the trading platform, the regional chat went wild.

It was only the second day since they had crossed over.

For many, the past two days had been a struggle to survive on dry bread, and not everyone had even been able to eat their fill.

Those were the luckier ones.

The unlucky ones had gone two days without food.

At this time, someone suddenly putting up a plate of dumplings was an enormous temptation.

The enthusiasm in the regional chat ignited instantly.

“I’ll bid 20 pieces of wood.”

“I’ll offer 15 metal scraps and a banana.”

“All in! I’ve saved up 40 metal parts over the past two days, I’ll trade them all!”

“I’ll trade a Durex blueprint. I hope you guys will give me some face.”

“What? A Durex blueprint? I’ll offer a lighter blueprint.”

Seeing the rapidly increasing bids, Zhang Tuohai was overjoyed. While eating dumplings, he scrolled through the offers, looking for something that caught his eye.

After a while, Zhang Tuohai finally found something good.

“A blueprint for car compartment modification.”

[Car Compartment Modification Blueprint: Level 1 Car Part. After use, it expands the car compartment by 10 cubic meters. Requirements: 20 units of metal ingots, 40 metal parts, 20 units of low-grade rubber.]

What a find!

Seeing the blueprint for car compartment modification, Zhang Tuohai’s eyes lit up.

This would be a waste in anyone else’s hands.

Right now, people don’t even have enough food to eat, so who has time to expand a car compartment?

But for Zhang Tuohai, this was crucial.

If the car compartment wasn’t expanded, there would be no room for the new supplies he might gather tomorrow.

In his mind, Zhang Tuohai had already decided he had to get this blueprint.

The five minutes passed quickly, and Zhang Tuohai, finding nothing better, awarded the bid to the person with the car compartment modification blueprint.

The lucky winner happily went off to eat dumplings.

He had only eaten two slices of dry bread over the past two days, and if he didn’t get some real food today, he wouldn’t have the strength to search for supplies tomorrow.

Those who didn’t win the bid were desperate.

“Boss, do you have more dumplings? I haven’t eaten all day. Just give me 10 dumplings, and I’ll trade you a blueprint.”

Seeing their pleas, Zhang Tuohai decisively refused.

They actually thought he’d make more dumplings for them?

Dream on.

Do they even know how much effort goes into making dumplings?

They weren’t pretty women—if they were, it wouldn’t matter since he couldn’t even touch them—and they still wanted to eat his dumplings?

Fat chance.

“If you missed out on the dumplings, you can buy something else. I just made a pot of braised tiger meat, 200 grams per serving, in exchange for 30 units of Level 1 materials. For Level 2 materials, blueprints, and other items, message me privately. Limited to 50 servings. If you’re interested, head to the trading platform to bid.”

As expected, someone started complaining the moment the listing went up.

“200 grams? Boss, wasn’t it 500 grams this morning? And it only cost 20 units of materials then. Why is it 30 units now?”

Zhang Tuohai had anticipated this reaction. The moment the listing went up, someone started whining.

Sure enough, you can’t give people too much leeway; otherwise, they’ll become insatiable.

If that happened, even if Zhang Tuohai prepared a full-course meal, people would still find something to criticize.

For people like this, Zhang Tuohai was quick to block them and ban them from purchasing.

Then, Zhang Tuohai posted another message.

“This morning, I sold raw meat. This is cooked meat; how could it be the same?”

“This morning, I sold pork. This is tiger meat; how could it be the same?”

“And besides, I’m only selling braised meat this once. To prevent the meat from spoiling, I’ve decided to render the rest into lard to sell until I find a better way to preserve meat.”

After that, Zhang Tuohai said no more and just watched.

Many people probably didn’t know what lard was.

Back in the day, meat was precious, and people liked to buy fatty meat because it could be rendered into lard.

The fat rendered from the meat was called lard, and the leftover meat was called lard residue.

This meat, after the fat was rendered out, was okay when hot but became dry and tough when cold—modern people wouldn’t even like it.

However, back in the day, it was considered a rare treat.

“Do they think they’re on vacation or something? Complaining about meat? Fine, let them try lard residue. And if they complain about that, they won’t even get lard residue.”

Zhang Tuohai thought to himself.