They had gone to bed so late the night before that Bai Youwei slept until the sun was high in the sky the next day.

Resting in the doll house always led to a deep, sound sleep. The place was like a natural haven for rest — it made people relax quickly and recover their energy quickly.

Because it was so comfortable, everyone spent the whole morning inside the doll house, tidying their rooms and washing clothes. The pots of cilantro and spring onions were all carried out to the small yard by the back door to get some sun —

When preparing breakfast, Teacher Cheng rummaged around the kitchen, then turned to Shen Mo with a worried expression:

“We’re running low on food. There’s still plenty of rice and flour, but we’re short on vegetables and meat. The eggs are almost gone too.”

Vegetables were always hard to come by given their short shelf life. The meat supply had been getting by on a pile of vacuum-sealed cooked food, which had now also run out.

Even the instant noodles — only a dozen or so packets remained.

“The organization controls all resource distribution inside the city, so there’s no way for us to gather provisions here,” Teacher Cheng sighed. “Unless we join the organization, we can go to the supplies depot and receive food for free. It looks like if we’re not going to join, we can’t stay here much longer.”

Shen Mo said evenly: “Let’s eat whatever we have for now. We won’t be staying here long.”

Bai Youwei glanced at him.

In truth, none of the others among them were particularly tied to any one place — but Shen Mo was different. Shen Mo’s father was in Shanghai.

To leave family behind and go looking for puzzle pieces of unknown quantity — was Shen Mo truly willing?

“I’m heading out first.” Shen Mo rose and walked toward the door. “Once everyone’s ready, come on out too — better not give people reason to suspect anything.”

The door opened, directly connecting to the bedroom of their living quarters.

He had just lifted his foot to step out when he heard knocking at the door outside.

Because the door was open, the sound carried directly into the doll house.

Bai Youwei tipped her head, thinking it over, then wheeled toward the door. “Probably someone looking for me.”

“Looking for you?” Shen Mo raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled.

He went to open the door. Outside were two lean, tall young men. When they saw it was Shen Mo who answered, a look of scrutiny and wariness passed through their eyes, though their manner remained reasonably polite:

“Excuse me — does Bai Youwei live here?”

Shen Mo frowned, then looked back at Bai Youwei.

“While you were out yesterday, I went to the exchange post and put up a notice to trade items.” Bai Youwei said. “Let them in.”

Shen Mo stepped aside, clearing the entryway, and let them in.

The two lean young men exchanged a glance, then stepped up to face Bai Youwei, producing two puzzle pieces: “We’d like to exchange for the substitute doll item.”

Bai Youwei gave their puzzle pieces a lazy once-over and gently shook her head. “That count falls way too short.”

“How many do you want?” one of them asked.

Bai Youwei turned it back on them: “How many do you have?”

“We…” The other person bit down, then said, “We only have this many. Puzzles only come from people who’ve cleared the maze — two pieces is already a lot! Most people don’t have even one!”

“That’s still too few~” Bai Youwei shook her head again, her expression impassive. “At that count, forget the substitute doll — I couldn’t possibly trade the starter pistol or the flower seeds with you either.”

“Then exactly how many do you want?!” The other one was growing anxious.

Bai Youwei held up one hand, her five slender pale fingers swaying back and forth. “Five pieces, at minimum.”

“And the substitute doll?”

“Not even a consideration without ten.”

The two young men exchanged a look, neither of them speaking for a moment.

Bai Youwei said leisurely: “You can go back and think it over. But I should also remind you — this price only goes up, never down. After all, used puzzle pieces are completely useless, and it’s only out of curiosity that I’d want to collect them and see what comes of it. Could be that tomorrow I have second thoughts, decide it’s not worth it, and don’t want to trade at all anymore.”

One of the two said with a frown: “…All right. We’ll go back and think it over.”