You Can’t Cook Without Rice

Huanhuan had been taking food from her space recently and would take out the stone slab to take a look.

She quickly read the new contents of the slab.

It was Xue Ling’s handwriting.

He said that he had obtained a map of the world with a route to the dawn continent. They were thinking of ways to cross the sea to pick Huanhuan up and bring her home.

After Huanhuan received the news, she jumped up excitedly.

“Bai Di and the others are coming for me! That’s great!”

Little Brat was not as optimistic as her. “Even if they find a way to bypass the Sea of Illusions, they’ll encounter a lot of danger along the way. It’s still unknown if they can reach the dawn continent safely.”

Huanhuan immediately calmed down after listening to that.

Little Brat continued, “And they don’t have a boat. They can’t swim over either.”

Among Bai Di, Shuang Yun, Sang Ye, and Xue Ling, Sang Ye was the best at swimming, but no matter how good he was, it was impossible for him to swim across the entire sea, right?!

Xue Ling could fly, but it would take a long time to fly across the sea. There was not even a place for him to rest.

It was unrealistic to fly over directly.

Huanhuan slapped her thigh. “Why don’t we build a ship?”

Little Brat asked, “Why do you want to build a ship?”

“After we build the ship and deliver it to Bai Di and the others through the space, won’t they be able to come to us on the ship?”

“Do you know how many parts a ship is made of? Do you know what materials are needed to build a ship? Do you know how long it takes to build a ship?”

Little Brat’s series of questions rendered Huanhuan speechless.

Little Brat sighed. “Silly girl, when you’re done building the ship, you’ll have grandchildren!”

Even so, Huanhuan insisted on building a ship.

She didn’t want to sit still.

Bai Di and the others were doing their best to find her. She had to do her best to do what she could too.

Huanhuan got Little Brat to go online and download some information about shipbuilding.

She carefully drew the outline of the ship on a piece of paper based on the information.

As a layman, her drawings were quite standard.

But when she took the blueprints to Mark for help, he was pleasantly surprised.

As an expert in making things, Mark’s eyes lit up when he saw the blueprints. He was so excited that he didn’t know where to put his hands.

“This, this…”

Huanhuan reminded him, “This thing is called a ship.”

“Yes, the principle of this ship is amazing! How did you come up with it? You’re a genius!”

Huanhuan was a little embarrassed. “I didn’t think of it. I saw it somewhere else and drew it from memory. Can you do it?”

Mark thought about it carefully for a moment. “If we have enough materials, we should be able to make it.”

“Really? Tell me what materials you need. I’ll think of something.”

Mark hesitated. “Are you in a hurry to use the ship?”

Huanhuan nodded vigorously. “Yeah!”

“But you ordered 20 cannons from me. I don’t have time to do anything else until the cannons are done.”

Huanhuan thought for a moment. “You’ve already developed the method of making cannons. Hire a few skilled dwarfs later and teach them how to make the cannons. After they get used to it, leave the production of cannons to them. I’ll pay them.”

Mark tried to ask, “Are you going to pay them using energy crystals?”

“Yes, 10 colorless crystals a month for each one of them. Is that okay?”

“Sure, sure!” Mark agreed quickly. “I’ll go find some people now. I’ll gather everyone tonight and introduce them to you in person. If you think the arrangements are okay, we’ll officially start work.”

Huanhuan agreed readily. “Okay!”

That night, Mark called all the dwarfs he had hired to his house.

There were a total of 10 people, most of whom were strong young men. Only one of them was slightly older. His name was Abe, and he was Mark’s uncle.

When Abe heard from Mark that he could get 10 energy crystals for a month’s work, he didn’t believe it at first.

He even thought that Mark had been deceived, so he specially came to take a look. If that person was really a liar, he would chase them out of Swan Valley so that his nephew wouldn’t be fooled.

After Huanhuan listened to Mark introduce the names and ages of these dwarfs, she said calmly, “Let me put it bluntly. If you slack off or I’m not satisfied with what you make, not only will I not pay you, but I’ll also make you compensate for the materials lost.”

When they heard that they might not get paid for their work and might even have to pay for it, the dwarfs were immediately unhappy.

Two of them even wanted to leave immediately.

Huanhuan didn’t seem to notice the change in their emotions. She took out 20 colorless crystals. “This is your deposit. Each of you will get two crystals. When you’re done with your work for the first month, I’ll give you the remaining eight crystals. If you do your job well, I’ll give you additional crystals as a reward.”

As soon as the dwarfs saw the energy crystals, their eyes lit up.

The two dwarfs who had wanted to leave immediately retracted their feet and drooled as they stared at the crystals.

Even if the heavens came to drag them away, they would definitely not leave!

The dwarfs took crystals from Huanhuan one by one.

Bobby held the crystals in his hand. He did not expect the other party to be so generous. Before they even started working, they were given two crystals each.

It seemed that she was indeed as rich as Mark had said.

The dwarfs were overjoyed when they received the crystals.

In order to make a good impression in front of their boss and get more crystals as rewards, they ran to Mark’s house early the next morning to do some work.

The underground studio of Mark’s house was relatively small. After the 10 dwarfs entered, coupled with all kinds of miscellaneous parts, the space looked especially crowded.

Huanhuan wondered if she should build a new studio for Mark.

But before she could make a decision, Mark found her and told her something else that was more important.

“We need fine gold to make cannons. I don’t have enough fine gold stored here.”

Huanhuan asked, “Don’t the others in Swan Valley have fine gold? I can pay for it.”

Mark was still depressed. “They do have some fine gold, but not much. Even if I gather everything I can, we only have enough to make two cannons at most.”

A clever woman couldn’t cook without rice. No matter how skilled the dwarfs were, they couldn’t make anything without materials.

Huanhuan thought for a moment. “Continue making cannons at a normal speed. I’ll go outside to find the materials.”

“Where are you going to look for them?”

Huanhuan kept him in suspense. “You’ll know when the time comes.”

Later, she found Murphy and invited him to go out with her.

Murphy asked her why she was going out.

“There’s not enough fine gold. I’ll go out and look for gold mines nearby.”

Murphy was stunned. “You’re going to look for a mineral vein?”

“Yes!”