Last time, on Apocalypse Lord: Summertime, and the livin’ ain’t easy. Temp is jumpin’ and humidity’s high. Oh, Yun Ling’s rich and Rising Cloud is good lookin’. So hush, little baby, don’t you cry.

This chapter has been brought to you by me and Smash10101.

Chapter 42 – Summer 1

This day, when Shi Jian Shan just sat down, players came charging over and said, “Shopkeeper, are there bamboo umbrellas? I want to buy! !”

Shi Jian Shan placed the umbrellas and said coolly, “Yes, 50 copper coins each.”

Hearing this, the player was almost crying, “Didn’t you say it was 30 copper coins on sunny days, and 50 copper coins on rainy days?”

Shi Jian Shan said without thinking, “This is a sun shade umbrella, on very sunny days, 50 copper coins each.”

The player was speechless.

“If you want them, buy as soon as possible,” Shi Jian Shan suddenly warned. “These are the last ten. After they are sold, there are no more.”

“What?” The player was shocked. “The business is so good, why do you not continue!”

Shi Jian Shan spread his hands in helplessness. “There are no more raw materials.”

Without the tung oil, and the rag cloth, he could not make the umbrellas.

The player, “……”

He was stunned where he stood, and silent for a while.

“Oh, someone else is coming.” Shi Jian Shan saw someone running hurriedly in this direction and immediately smiled. “If you want, be quick. Today is the last day I am selling bamboo umbrellas.”

The player, “!!!”

“I want two!” He did not hesitate in taking out the money, and bought two, fearful that someone would snatch them from him.

**

The bamboo umbrellas were quickly sold.

Shi Jian Shan stood up and slowly walked back. When he was in front of a wood house, he stopped, and knocked on the door.

[Player “Shi Jian Shan” requests to enter the room. Will you allow it?]

Liang Hui received the system notification and stilled. He pressed “yes.”

Shi Jian Shan found a place to sit down after entering and headed to the main topic. “The bamboo umbrella business is done. Let’s split the money.”

He was the one with the idea, and he had hoarded the rag cloth, and it was due to him that the business had succeeded.

But it could not be refuted that without Liang Hui’s help, he could not have done it.

“No need.” Liang Hui waved his hand. “You helped me buy official resident status, and gave me a house. You have given enough.”

He only helped. Any other person could have also done this.

Shi Jian Shan reminded, “You have to have some money left to defend yourself.”

Liang Hui stopped moving.

“Then….100 copper coins?” he tried.

Without having to pay the overnight fee everyday, 100 copper coins was enough for him to live well for a fortnight without doing anything.

In the end, Shi Jian Shan gave him 200 copper coins. “On the way to Rising Cloud Village, if you did not pull me, I may have dropped in the lake and drowned. I remember this. I hope that you will live well in the future.”

Then he finished and left.

Liang Hui dazed out looking at the 200 copper coins.

Back then, he saw that Shi Jian Shan had not been steady, and instinctively helped him. He swore, he really did it along the way, and did not think the other had always remembered it.

“No matter what, we finally came out of Setting Sun Village. Now, I have a house and savings, much better than usual players.” Liang Hui rubbed his face and got alert. “The old, women, and children are able to survive. I am an adult man, with all my limbs. I will not starve to death!”

Returning to his own house, Shi Jian Shan started to count.

Official resident status.

1 x Wood House.

460 x copper coins.

3 x Bamboo Umbrella.

3 x White Bamboo Art Blueprints.

N x Tools.

All kinds of simple furniture.

These were all his property.

“If I stayed in Setting Sun Village, even if I made the bamboo umbrellas, the teams would push down the price. Even if I made money, when I left the territory, I would be robbed.”

“So what if I was capable and had ideas? Without a good environment, money will kill.”

In the end, he lamented from the bottom of his heart. “It was the right decision to come to Rising Cloud Town.”

**

[The Tailor Shop has sold 1 x Bamboo Hat. Congratulations, you have received 100 copper coins.]

[The Tailor Shop has sold 1 x Bamboo Hat. Congratulations, you have received 100 copper coins.]

She had thought that when the rainy season ended, the bamboo hats would not be easy to sell. But when summer came, the bamboo hats and the bamboo umbrellas were sold as fast as they were made.

But the materials for the bamboo umbrellas were used up, and they could no longer be made. The players all rushed to buy bamboo hats, fearing that they would not be able to buy them if they were late.

With sun protection equipment, the hunting teams no longer feared heatstroke when they went out. Because of their high level and good equipment, they went farther and farther when they left.

There were many resource points in areas far from the territory which no one had harvested. The teams who were daring and went exploring all got rich.

As one of the teams that went far, Yun Ling hoarded many game materials. But when she was standing in the warehouse, she was frowning, and there was no joy on her face.

“Strange.” She was very puzzled. “Why has the shelf life of food shortened?”

The rice and flour that she had taken from the hypermarket originally had 720 days of shelf life. And now, it was 660 days.

“Based on this speed, the grain will be inedible soon.” Yun Ling pressed on her temples, having a headache.

Out of the corner of her eye, she accidentally saw the game materials and her gaze froze — the time for the game materials seemed to be normal?

“Why is the rice and flour changing twenty days at a time, while the sweet potato and lotuses are decreasing a day at a time? During the rainy season, I did not see the shelf life of the food shorten.”

When she said the words, Yun Ling stilled slightly. A blurry thought seemed to float out of her mind.

“Could it be…”

She looked silently at the full warehouse, and decided to do an experiment.

After careful selection, Yun Ling found hypermarket rice and flour that had 660 days left, and corn flour from the game that had 360 days, and the lotus that had 180 days left.

She put the materials into the corner, and observed them.

“I hope that my guess is wrong,” Yun Ling murmured.

**

It was near dusk.

After finishing a day of hard work, the residents gathered together and talked as they ate.

“Apocalypse Calamity is not as difficult as imagined,” one man was spirited and said, “the spring rain season is hard. Without rain gear, you are trapped in the territory and cannot take a step out.”

“But if you have food at home, and manage to make it through those days, it will be good. Hunt, dig for wild vegetables, you can always fill your stomach.”

“When it is summer, the bamboo hats and umbrellas can still be used. People are not trapped in the territory because it is too sunny.”

“If you can go out, if you can live, do you fear not having food to eat?”

A youth heard this and shook his head. “The days are good because you live in Rising Cloud Town! Go to other territories and try to live a few days!”

“The outside has a lack of materials, and there are no bamboo umbrellas for sale. Even the production of the straw raincoats and the bamboo hats are not high. Even if someone is selling rain gear, the price is so high as to frighten you to death!”

“With the constant rain, normal players are trapped in the territory, and have to eat their stored food everyday. What do they do when their food is gone? They can only go out to find food.”

“If they get rained on, and they are lucky, they just have a negative state, and will be fine if they stay by the fire for a while. The unlucky ones get ill, and need to rest three days.”

“I heard during the entire rain season, not many people in Rising Cloud Town died. But outside, go inquire, how many people died!”

The residents were shocked and changed their expressions.

The man who had spoken first did not believe it. “Is that true?”

“Why will I lie to you?” The youth said in exasperation, “Each day, people cannot stand it. I saw too many dead people so I packed up and fled out.”

If he had stayed, he felt that he would be the next one.

That heavy atmosphere could drive a person mad.

“It is fine, our Rising Cloud Town has a reliable system, and many elite players. Such a thing will not happen!” The man comforted the youth. “With umbrellas and bamboo hats, you can go out each day, and the summer will pass in the blink of an eye.”

“You cannot say that,” the youth said cautiously, “if the game wants, it has a thousand ways of killing players. Being too optimistic is not a good thing.”

“What do you mean being optimistic?” The man was angry. “I just think that you are snakebitten! The days are good, so why worry about things that do not exist!”

Seeing the two about to fight, the surrounding residents changed the topic and started to talk about other things.

“When someone has no foresight, there will be worries soon,” the youth thought inside.

**

The next morning, Yun Ling went to the warehouse to check.

She saw the hypermarket rice that had 660 days left now had 640 days.

The game material corn flour that had 360 days now had 359 days of shelf life next.

The lotus that had 180 days now had 179 days left.

Seeing this, Yun Ling’s heart sank. “My guess was right. In a hot environment, non-game materials will quickly rot, while game materials are not affected.”

Based on this rate of twenty days of shelf life per day, how long could the hypermarket rice and flour last? Not more than 32 days!

She glanced around the warehouse. Yun Ling felt fortunate. “Luckily I like to hoard game materials.”

Each day, she had to provide food for the NPCs. Some food would also be used up as she sold mixed grain steamed buns, and rice porridge. It would not be a problem to eat all the stored food before their shelf life was up.

**

On the way home, Lu Chuan suddenly appeared and said abruptly, “The situation is not right.”

Yun Ling did not immediately react. “What is it?”

“The food is changing quality too quickly.” Lu Chuan had a grave expression. “The biscuits had two months shelf life. When I opened it yesterday, I found there were mold spots already.”

“After the soy sauce is opened, it should have a shelf life of three months. Yesterday, when I opened and smelled it, the scent had changed.”

At the end, he concluded, “The game materials are not affected, and the non-game materials are quickly rotting.”

“I found this too.” Yun Ling sighed. “The hypermarket rice and flour are dropping quickly in shelf life. After a while, they will be inedible.”

Lu Chuan was shocked. “You can see the shelf life of the non-game materials?”

“Right.” Yun Ling nodded. “Game is -1 day, food is -20 days of shelf life.”

“I cannot see the shelf life of the biscuits and the soy sauce, and just judged from the smell and mold spots,” Lu Chuan said.

“Maybe because they were in the warehouse?” Yun Ling guessed. “When I was transporting them from the hypermarket, I could not see them.”

Lu Chuan was speechless. After a long time, he said, “I did not think that being the lord gives so many special rights.”

Yun Ling laughed. “But this is a legendary equipment that rivals orange equipment.”

**

“My salted meat! !” In the wood house, You Qing Wen gave a pained cry.

At the end of the spring, she had thought that the summer season would be hot, and some food could not be kept for long. She could put salt on them and preserve them.

At the time, they had been sweeping past a market and got a lot of salt from there. You Qing Wen had put salt on the meat, marinated for 2-3 days, and then hung them in a cool place to be air dried.

Normally, her way should be right. But when she woke up today and checked, she found there was mold growing on the meat!!

Seeing that the meat could not be eaten, You Qing Wen was both angry and annoyed. “If I had known this before, I would not have made salted meat.”

Zheng Ming Yue carefully inspected the salted meat, and then opened a bag of salt to taste. He frowned. “It is not the problem of the meat, the salt seemed to have degraded.”

“What?” You Qing Wen was stunned. “How can salt degrade? It is a mineral.”

“It is true.” Zheng Ming Yue handed over the salt. “Taste it. It is somewhat bitter, and there is a strange taste I cannot describe. It is not normal salt.”

You Qing Wen touched it with her index finger for a taste. When the salt entered her mouth, she immediately had a bad expression. “So bad.”

“I see that there are two pieces of salted meat that are fine. The rest have gone bad.” Zheng Ming Yue carefully analyzed. “They are all salted meat, so why have some succeeded, and some failed?”

You Qing Wen was speechless. “It cannot be because this is a game, so there is a success rate for preserving?”

Zheng Ming Yue did not refute the possibility. “Maybe.”

You Qing Wen felt a surge of powerlessness. “All the meat we managed to save is ruined!”

At this time, she did not want to get to the bottom of the reason, just have a cry.

Zheng Ming Yue was in deep thought looking at the fine salted meat. After a while, he suddenly said, “This meat does not seem to be preserved with the salt from the market.”

You Qing Wen said in exasperation, “Other than salt from the market, where else can the salt come from?”

Zheng Ming Yue reminded, “Did you forget? The restaurant also sells salt. You said you were curious about the difference between what the market sold and the restaurant sold, so you bought some.”

“Then you tasted, and found it was all salt, and there was no difference in taste, so you did not do anything.”

“When salting the meat, you said to use the salt from the restaurant first, and then the salt from the market. Do you remember?”

After being reminded, You Qing Wen finally recalled. “It was like that. When salting the beef, I even joked, would the salt from the restaurant be different from the normal salt?”

Now, looking back, maybe it did have special effects.

“The salt from the restaurant? The salt from the market?” Zheng Ming Yue felt that he had caught something, but there was still a veil, and it did not feel right.

Suddenly, his face changed, and he strode to the storage closet, taking out all the food.

“What is it?” You Qing Wen was stunned.

Zheng Ming Yue opened a pouch of preserved vegetables to taste and had a bad expression. “Not just the salted meat, even the vegetables have gone bad. The taste is not right.”

You Qing Wen, “!!!”

She darted forward, took the preserved vegetables and tasted as well. Then her heart sank. “….it isn’t right.”

Zheng Ming Yue looked at their supplies and said slowly, “Open all the food and taste it.”

“Are you crazy?!” You Qing Wen was not willing.

Right now, the weather was already hot. If the things were fine, and they could not be kept after they were opened, what to do?

“The same batch will have the same or close production date. We just open one to see if they have gone bad,” Zheng Ming Yue said solemnly. “We must know how much of our food we can still eat.”

He was right.

You Qing Wen silently moved aside.

The two of them worked together and inspected the biscuits, cakes, chocolate, candy, instant noodles, preserved vegetables, vermicelli, chili sauce, corn, rice, flour, and other supplies.

“My guess was right. It is like this.” Zheng Ming Yue did not show any hint of joy.

He pressed his lips together and had a heavy heart. “The game materials are not affected. And the non-game materials are quickly changing quality. The food…about 40% cannot be eaten.”

You Qing Wen stopped breathing, and felt her heart convulse in pain.

**

“Damn! My cornbread that I made yesterday has gone bad already?”

“My chive pasty!!”

“The bread baked yesterday cannot be eaten!”

Shouts rose in waves.

Soon, the news that “non-game materials changed quality due to the hot temperature” spread through the territory.

In Rising Cloud Town, there were residents everywhere discussing the food going bad.

Qiao Qiao carried a bamboo basket and said crisply, “Grandmother, I am back.”

Qiao Qiao’s grandmother had the family name Qian. Right now, she was building a small hut to dry sweet potatoes. Seeing her granddaughter return, she immediately smiled. “You are back? Are you tired?”

“Not tired. I just walked around the territory, and did not go far.” Qiao Qiao took the bamboo basket off and took out the chives and sweet potatoes like she was presenting a treasure. “Look what I dug up!”

Grandmother Qian was very generous and said, “Qiao Qiao is so capable.”

Qiao Qiao smiled. “This is a new resource point. I dug a lot before other people could find it. When people found it, and came over, I ran without a word.”

“You did it right,” Grandmother Qian warned. “You are a girl, and not yet an adult. Do not compete with the others, and do not do anything dangerous.”

Qiao Qiao was discontent. “Grandmother, I will come of age in July.”

Grandmother Qian said, “Even if you come of age, you will be a child.”

Qiao Qiao had nothing to say.

“Come and help me,” Grandmother Qian called.

“Yes.” Qiao Qiao responded.

Dried sweet potatoes were made from steaming sweet potatoes, peeling the skin, cutting them into slices, and then air drying them.

One had to have control of the humidity. When it was too dry, the pieces would be hard and would not be chewable. if they were not dry enough, there was too much moisture, and they were soft to the taste.

When they were orange-red and sweet, chewy and soft, it was the best.

Qiao Qiao picked up some dried sweet potato pieces to examine, and then said certainly, “Grandmother, they are about done.”

“You are so clever,” Grandmother Qian scolded with a laugh. “I was going to deliver some to Xiao Fan and the others when it is evening.”

Qiao Qiao volunteered. “Your legs are not nimble, let me go.”

“Okay, then I will trouble you to make the trip.”

Grandmother Qian said with a smile. She put the dried sweet potato into bags, and then when the water in the pot started to boil, she washed rice, cut up wild vegetables and planned to make porridge.

When the wild vegetable porridge was done, she would make ten flat breads for Qiao Qiao to deliver as well.

Qiao Qiao helped with the work, and when chatting, said, “Grandmother, I heard that some food has gone and cannot be eaten.”

“You heard it wrong!” Grandmother Qian corrected, “It is the food from home, the super markets and the shops. The food gathered from the wilderness is not affected.”

Hearing this, Qiao Qiao sighed in relief. “Then it is fine.”

At the start of the game, she and her grandmother had relied on the food from home to survive. If they were not lucky to have picked up an equipment card, and sold it cheaply when they came to the safe area, they would have been driven out a long time ago.

After the first few hard days, the pair heard that straw sandals could be sold for money. So one foraged and the other wove, and they were both busy.

It had to be said that the straw sandals were really easy to sell. Weave one pair, sell one pair. There was no need to worry about the market.

Later, there were so many people selling straw sandals the price decreased, and they switched to selling straw hats and straw raincoats.

As they came into contact with more people, the residents became familiar with each other. One team came to ask them if they were willing to take over the job of cooking.

The job was simple. The team would frequently encounter resource points during hunting. They planned to gather the food materials when they saw them, and when returning to camp, they would give them to Grandmother. Grandmother Qian would prepare all the food they needed for the next day trip, and also the dinner the next day.

As payment, Grandmother Qian could do as she wished with two-tenths of the materials.

Grandmother Qian felt that materials were hard to find, and the business was profitable, so she agreed.

Later, when it started to rain, the business of the bamboo hats, bamboo umbrellas and straw raincoats was very good. Grandmother Qian made a lot, and even saved enough to buy a house. Even so, she did not stop the job of cooking.

As days passed, over time, all they saved up were game materials, the kind that did not easily rot.

Grandmother Qian calculated. “Tomorrow, we will dry peanuts, then make some salted meat and ham to store. Our food will get better and better!”

“Do not forget to make straw hats,” Qiao Qiao reminded, “Brother Xiao Fan said that the bamboo hats from before are not enough. When they went out without sun hats these two days, after being in the sun, they felt hot and bothered, very uncomfortable.”

She could help make simple crafts like the straw sandals. But something more complicated like the straw hats she could not help with.

“I will not forget!”

Grandmother Qian thought the children likely saw that they were old and young and so helped them. Even as busy as she was, and no matter how bad her memory was, she would not forget what they had asked.

**

Xiao Fan’s real name was Zhang Fan.

When he returned to Rising Cloud Town in the evening, before he returned to his house, he heard the residents talking with worried expressions.

“Non-game materials easily rot? Much of the stored food cannot be eaten?”

Hearing this, he was dazed for a long time.

The assassin in the team had a thoughtful expression. “Before, I traded for a rice cake with someone. I ate half on the first day, and planned to save the rest for breakfast the next day. I did not expect when I got out of bed, the rice cake had gone bad. I thought that I had not stored it properly, but so it is because of the materials.”

The priest was worried. “We do not have much food in the first place, and now they will easily rot. What to do in the future!”

The assassin glanced at this person. “What is the panic? We are from the outside, and did not have much food when we came to Rising Cloud Town. We ate what was left during the rainy season.”

“What is being hoarded in the house are either drops from monster kills or food materials we foraged from the wilderness.”

“These are all game materials, and have long shelf lives!”

The priest, “……”

Almost forgot they did not have any stored food to worry about.

“Salt the meat.” The priest suggested after thinking. “Usually, salted items have the longest shelf life.”

“Then we have to use the salt from the game?” The assassin guessed, “I feel that non-game materials, whether it is food or seasoning, will be unusable.”

The priest thought hard. “Where is there salt in the game…”

“The restaurant.” Zhang Fang pointed at the system building. “Everyone, run and go see. They are likely going to sell salt.”

The priest was shocked. “Then what are we waiting for? Go and buy!”

None of the team members objected.

Everyone came hurriedly towards the restaurant.

When they entered the hall, they found the residents all swarming the shelves, fighting with each other to buy.

The assassin murmured, “So mad…”

The priest could understand. “They are afraid that the food they managed to save will rot.”

As they spoke, they joined the buying brigade, and moved towards the shelves.

[Name: Table Salt]

Quality: Normal

Use Effect: Seasoning, edible, can make food salty.

Price: 10 copper coins.

Note: Because of limited production, each person is limited to buying 1 per day.

The salt was wrapped up in paper folded into a small square with a bulge in the middle. It was about the size of a coin.

The residents sighed. “Such a little bit of salt, and it sells for 10 copper coins.”

As they spoke, they squeezed in, fearing that they would not be able to buy if they were late.

After twenty minutes, Zhang Fang got away. He was still feeling fear. “Each person can only buy one bag. What are they fighting for?”

If he did not know, he would think that they could buy ten bags each.

“You speak of others? Didn’t you also run in to grab salt?” the assassin said.

“I saw them panicking and furiously fighting over it, so even I got nervous.” Zhang Fan said.

The priest examined the small bags of salt and did not know to laugh or cry. “What can you do with this little bit of salt?”

“Just be content. Having some is better than having none.” The assassin turned to look around.

After twenty minutes, there were even more residents who were trying to get the salt and there were signs of more people. Probably, some people came back late, and then got the news, so they were a step slower.

“I suspect that it will take 10 bags of salt like this to make a salted duck.” The priest calculated inside and his heart felt cold.

The assassin suddenly said, “Life is too difficult.”

Who said no?

The members were all sad and had worried expressions.

On the way home, Zhang Fan and the others encountered Qiao Qiao.

“You have returned? I was going to bring you dinner.” Qiao Qiao greeted them enthusiastically.

“We returned long ago, and went to the restaurant.” Zhang Fan had a serious expression and warned Qiao Qiao to remember to hoard food and salt.

Qiao Qiao blinked her eyes and was confused. “If you need salt, why do you not make it yourself? Why go to the restaurant and fight with others?”

Zhang Fan and the others, “?!!”

Facing everyone’s dazed and confused gazes, Qiao Qiao said seriously, “It is easy to make salt. You learn during chemistry. If you need some, I will make some and give it to you next time.”

“I almost forgot, she is an all-purpose third year high school student,” the assassin muttered in an inaudible voice.

The third year high school students knew how the celestial bodies moved, knew what was happening on the earth, there were the ellipses, ovals, hyperbolas, and then the hybrids, ecosystems and genetics.

Zhang Fan had mixed emotions. “Then please.”

“Brother Xiao Fan, you are too polite!” Qiao Qiao smiled brightly. “Thank you for frequently patronizing my grandmother’s business so our lives gradually got better.”

During the rainy spring season, the players had gone mad for rain gear. Because they knew Grandmother Qian, they did not have to bid or wait in line. Each of them had a bamboo hat.

In summer, as the sun grew hot, sun protection gear was very popular. Because they knew Grandmother Qian, if they said they needed a sun hat, they could quickly buy one at a fair price.

Now, when the players were all in need of salt Qiao Qiao said that she knew how to make it.

Who was taking care of who?

Zhang Fan thought that he was being supported by two deus ex machina.

Translator Ramblings: Can the system get more evil?