Volume One, Chapter 11: The Short Play Takes the Internet by Storm, Fragrant and Delicious Pork Rice

Qin Fan spent the entire night contacting pharmacies throughout the city, purchasing all the amoxicillin and rubbing alcohol he could get his hands on. He managed to secure a thousand boxes of amoxicillin and a hundred bottles of alcohol. This was the absolute limit for now; regulations were too strict, and buying any more alcohol would inevitably draw suspicious attention from the authorities. After transporting everything to his warehouse, he returned home to rest.

"Knock, knock, knock..."
"Beep, beep, beep!"

The next day.
The vibration of his phone roused him from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes as they flickered open, wondering who was being so inconsiderate as to disturb him so early in the morning. He opened his phone, only to find a flood of notifications.

"Why is the plot so heart-wrenching?"
"Serves him right! You can't be a doormat; this short drama is absolutely spot on."
...

In an instant, the comment section of his creator’s dashboard hit 99+, and some users had even sent him tips.

"Creator, can you update a bit faster? I’m itching all over if I don’t watch it for a day. Are you trying to kill me?"
"Yeah, exactly! Hurry up, or we’ll trace your IP and come to your house to supervise your writing!"
"Author, this story is so addictive! If you don't update soon, I'm going to die of withdrawal!"

The comment section had practically exploded.

"Damn! It’s actually gone viral."

Looking at the comments, he rubbed his eyes repeatedly, confirming it: it was a hit. This short drama had truly, miraculously taken off. Qin Fan’s eyes widened. He had originally only wanted to test if the short dramas from that other world could earn him some extra pocket money to help support Dongfang Wan'er. He never expected that with less than ten episodes released, it would be such a sensation.

Qin Fan checked his daily revenue on the viewing platform: it was already at a thousand yuan. And this was just the beginning. He could only imagine the traffic and earnings if he released a few more episodes.

Immediately, he wanted to contact Dongfang Wan'er. He even specially ordered a pork trotter rice bowl. When he opened the livestream, he found it already filled with messages. They must have been asleep, unaware of the messages on their phones.

"Qin Fan, can you get some more milk powder?"
"Qin Fan, the steamed buns you sent are almost gone. People in the base are starving; they need at least three buns each to feel full."
"..."

Reading these messages, Qin Fan got dressed and prepared to head to his warehouse to send supplies to Dongfang Wan'er through the stream.

***

In the city center, near the industrial district, Li Taixuan had contacted several wholesalers, arranging for them to prepare pork and dumplings. He sent all the remaining steamed buns from his warehouse to Dongfang Wan'er, which should be enough to last them three or four days. It would take time for the wholesalers to deliver, but he knew they would be pleasantly surprised once the meat arrived.

"Wan'er, I slept too soundly yesterday and missed your messages. However, I have some spare buns stored here that should tide you over for a few days. Take these for now; once I’ve gathered more supplies, I’ll send them all your way." Qin Fan sent a voice message to the livestream.

On Blue Star, at that very moment, Dongfang Wan'er gripped her arm tightly. There were four or five deep claw marks on it, and blood was streaming down.

"Captain, this... your injury looks quite serious!" Shen Hui said, looking at a loss.

They had come here looking for gold, but instead of finding any, they had encountered a large group of zombies. Most critically, Dongfang Wan'er had been ambushed and clawed.

"Damn it, I never expected them to come out during the day and ambush us," Dongfang Wan'er said, covering her wound. She poured some alcohol on it, and a piercing pain shot straight to her head. She gritted her teeth hard.

Shen Hui couldn't bear to watch. "Captain, should we go back now, or keep looking?"

"Naturally, we keep looking. We only killed a few zombies today and found no gold at all. We’ll continue searching nearby residential buildings. If we really can't find anything, we'll head back and try the city center tomorrow." Dongfang Wan'er briefly bandaged her wound and led Shen Hui to continue their search for gold.

***

Night fell. Back at the base, everyone was trading the energy cores and gold they had found for steamed buns.

"Captain, the food is running out," Shen Hui said, looking at the dwindling pile of buns in the bag.

"Don't worry! As long as we have gold, there will definitely be food."

When she had returned, she felt something strange about her supernatural storage space, but she hadn't investigated it yet while tending to her wounds. "You go ahead and distribute the buns; I'll go check how much gold we have." Dongfang Wan'er picked up the gold and headed toward her private room.

"Captain, wait," Shen Hui stopped her.
"What is it?"
"The... the milk powder is almost gone. Can you still get some more?"
"Don't worry. Little Stone’s problems are my problems. I’ll get it for you."

"Thank you, Captain!" Shen Hui said, secretly overjoyed.

Once inside her room, Dongfang Wan'er opened her storage space. A large batch of supplies appeared on the floor. There were so many buns! More than last time. There was also a pork trotter rice bowl, still hot and emitting a rich, savory aroma. Ever since she had tasted that delicious meal last time, she had been unable to forget it; in this place, having something to eat was a blessing from the heavens. There were also two portions of egg-fried rice.

Seeing that Dongfang Wan'er had entered the livestream, Qin Fan hurriedly spoke up.

"Wan'er, is that you?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Dongfang Wan'er subconsciously responded. "It's me, Qin Fan. How did you get so much stuff, including these four meals?"

The livestream could clearly hear the joy in Qin Fan’s voice. "Wan'er, the short drama you gave me is a huge hit! I made some money, so I thought I’d treat you all for working so hard on my behalf!"

"Oh? No, I should be thanking you! You’ve given us so many resources; otherwise, we wouldn't have lasted this long," Dongfang Wan'er replied.

"It's fine. That pork trotter rice is for you, and the rest is for your three brothers. That pork trotter rice is incredibly delicious! You have to queue up to buy it here; they only make twenty portions a day."

"Thank you, Qin Fan!"
"Don't mention it. By the way, if you have more short dramas, feel free to send them to me."
"Alright, no problem!"
"Oh, Qin Fan, could I trouble you to find more milk powder? We've run out."

Qin Fan had only managed to find a little bit of milk powder last time, and he knew it wouldn't be easy to find again, but for the sake of little Stone, he would have to swallow his pride and search for it.

"Milk powder, you say?" Qin Fan didn't actually know where to get it, as no one in his family needed it.

"Is it too hard to find? If so, I'll..." Dongfang Wan'er began to say it wasn't necessary.

"I can find it. I just need to look around. Since it's for a child, the quality must be guaranteed. Tomorrow—I’ll have it for you tomorrow," Qin Fan promised.

"Really? Thank you so much, Qin Fan! You truly are my savior!" Dongfang Wan'er said, overcome with emotion.