Chapter 15: Weeding

The Snail Maiden!

Jiang Ye looked at the watered Fangfeng Grass, his eyes sparkling. This NPC was such a good guy—saving him 15 stamina points!

"Thank you for saving me yesterday." Dorin handed him the small watering can and said, "I ought to get going now."

The mushroom walked him to the farm gate, waving his mycelium. Too bad Knight Snail was leaving.

Dorin's silhouette grew farther and farther along the path, his silver-gray helmet blindingly bright under the sunlight, looking weird for some reason.

"Time to get back to farming." The mushroom muttered to himself.

First, he planted the peach tree in front of the cabin window. The tree seed went in easily—just had to make sure the tree had enough room to grow, with no rocks or other trees in the way. He didn't even need to dig a hole—just plopped the seed on the ground. Peach tree planted successfully. Now came the long wait.

Trees grew really slowly; it'd take at least a season to mature, and even longer before it bore fruit.

"Next up, time to hoe the ground." The mushroom pulled out his newly bought copper hoe: "Let's see what this new tool can do."

Whack! Whack! Whack!

The mushroom swung the hoe—way bigger and heavier than him—slamming it into the ground, hopping up, and slamming it again.

Next to the 15 Fangfeng Grass plants, 3 freshly tilled plots appeared.

"Stamina: 85/100"

He opened his system profile and saw that 3 plots had cost him 15 stamina points. Yep, way better than that old broken hoe.

Whack! Whack!

He tilled two more plots and planted the strawberry seeds he'd been craving.

"Now for the potatoes!"

The mushroom swung the copper hoe, already daydreaming about the future, muttering under his breath with every swing: "Shredded potato pancakes!"

"Beef and potato stew!"

"Mashed potato salad!"

"Baked eggs with potatoes and shrimp!"

"And cheesy potato toast!"

Five potato seeds went in, and then it was time for five lettuce seeds.

Jiang Ye had a bit of OCD; the tilled plots were neat and tidy, arranged in a way that was pleasing to the eye.

Out of the 20 seeds he'd bought, only 5 tomato seeds were left. Jiang Ye opened his profile again.

"Stamina: 25/100"

By all logic, tilling 5 more plots would use up exactly 25 stamina. But once stamina dropped below 10, the player would feel super exhausted, stamina consumption would double, and they might even pass out.

The mushroom pulled a green apple from his item slot, made a point of washing it in the nearby pond, and Jiang Ye said, "I'd better eat an apple before tilling, so I don't actually keel over."

Of course, if a player passed out from exhaustion, they wouldn't die—they'd just wake up the next day, with time forcibly skipping to 6 AM. That would waste a whole day, which just wasn't worth it.

Yesterday, Jiang Ye had picked 4 green apples on the way back, ate one for dinner, gave one to Dorin, and now only had two left.

Jiang Ye did the math carefully while eating an apple. His stamina was just barely enough, but after finishing all this farm work, he'd better head out and scrounge up some more food.

The apple was finished.

"Stamina: 43/100"

The mushroom picked up the hoe beside him and kept tilling.

"Sugar-sprinkled tomatoes, tomato scrambled eggs, tomato fish fillet, tomato baked rice, tomato hotpot!"

And done! The last 5 tomato seeds were in the ground.

"Stamina: 18/100"

The mushroom stuck out two strands of mycelium and put them on his hips like hands: "Next, I gotta water."

Once I water, today's work will be done and dusted.

But before watering, his stamina was running low again—he needed to eat that last green apple.

The mushroom hopped over to the pond, dunked the apple in, and scrubbed it clean.

The water rippled gently, sunlight glittering on the surface like countless dazzling diamonds. The cool pond water made the slightly sweaty little mushroom let out a soft sigh.

Jiang Ye looked down at his reflection in the water—a little white mushroom...

So white, so round, plump and full.

Man, what a fresh little mushroom!

A thought popped into his head—tomato stir-fried with mushroom would probably taste amazing too!

Oh no, looking at his reflection made him hungry—he almost drooled.

The little mushroom shook his head, held up the washed apple, and decided to just eat the apple.

Just as he was about to take a big bite, he caught a glimpse of someone at the farm gate out of the corner of his eye.

A tall figure, instantly recognizable even from far away. Especially with that can-shaped helmet—nobody could mistake him.

Jiang Ye ran over, surprised, and said, "Dorin?"

Dorin was standing outside the farm fence—he'd come back.

Dorin was holding a bamboo basket, which didn't quite match his imposing build—and clashed even more with his sapphire-studded knight helmet.

He lifted the basket, then set it back down, looking a bit stiff and awkward. He said, "I caught some fresh shrimp and figured I'd drop them off, as thanks for saving me yesterday."

Though, he'd already thanked him yesterday with that fancy sapphire.

And this morning, Dorin had even helped Jiang Ye water the fields.

"Shrimp..."

Jiang Ye's eyes lit up, and his mouth betrayed him again as drool threatened to drip from the corner of his lips.

Jiang Ye, who'd been working the fields all day and had only eaten one green apple, felt his stomach growling. Who could resist a basket of lively, jumping shrimp at a time like that!

The mycelium moved swiftly, already opening the farm gate before Jiang Ye could react, and with a whoosh snatched up the bamboo basket, hugging it tightly to itself.

Jiang Ye gave an awkward smile and said, "How about we eat together? These shrimp are so fresh, they'd make some delicious roasted shrimp."

A full bamboo basket of large shrimp, heavy and full, Jiang Ye made the offer.

Dorin nodded.

Jiang Ye invited him in: "Then I'll go get these shrimp ready right now!"

The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King had shared his method for roasting fish with Jiang Ye before, and Jiang Ye figured roasting shrimp was probably pretty similar to roasting fish—no kitchen required.

Dorin stepped into the farm and looked around.

He stopped by the fangfeng grass patch, lowered his head, and said, "You've planted a lot of veggies again. Bet you haven't had time to water them yet."

Jiang Ye had originally planned to eat the apple first, then water, but now there were shrimp to deal with!

The plan shifted a bit—Jiang Ye decided to eat the roasted shrimp first, then water.

"If you don't mind," Dorin said, "I can water these veggies for you while you roast the shrimp."

"Really?!" Jiang Ye's eyes went wide with delight, a bit embarrassed, and said, "That's way too much trouble for you."

Wait, hold up!

Even as Jiang Ye said that, the mycelium had already betrayed him—whoosh, it shoved the little watering can into Dorin's hand, and like some stingy landlord, pointed at the seeds that still needed watering.

Damn hand, way too fast...

Dorin didn't say anything, seemingly a man of few words, and turned with the watering can and got down to business watering the ground.

Knight Snail was a genuinely good guy.

"Then I'll go roast the shrimp." Jiang Ye was in a fantastic mood.

The tea-leaf fortune-telling segment on TV had called it perfectly—today the Chief Deity must be in a good mood, and everyone else's spirits were lifted along with his.

Jiang Ye carried the basket over to the pond, since the shrimp needed a good wash before roasting.

The bamboo basket sat on the ground, the shrimp inside hopping around lively. Besides the shrimp, there were also two palm-sized shells mixed in.

The mycelium picked up one of the shells and held it up to the light.

White shells, perfectly uniform in shape, looking every bit the classic shell, yet under the bright light they shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. Jiang Ye learned for the first time what "iridescent white" really meant.

This was way too beautiful.

"I found it, you can have it," Dorin said without looking back as he watered. "I like shiny things, not sure if you're into that."

A little shell with no real use, but undeniably beautiful.

The shrimp were cleaned, and now it was time to get roasting.

Roasting shrimp, like roasting fish, didn't need a kitchen—just wood and fire, and you lay the shrimp on top to cook. If they had chili peppers, they could make spicy roasted shrimp; if not, it'd be plain roasted shrimp.

"Wood and fire..."

The mycelium scratched its plump mushroom head.

How was he supposed to get wood and fire?

Jiang Ye opened the system control panel, planning to ask for advice on the social channel.

"Social"

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": It sprouted! It sprouted! The young master's cilantro sprouted!

"Don't You Have Work to Do": Wow, young master, you're amazing, it already sprouted?

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": But why doesn't it look like cilantro at all?

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": The young master loves cilantro the most, so the young master definitely knows what cilantro looks like.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Can something else grow out of planting cilantro?

"Don't You Have Work to Do": By the way, young master, did you weed the field after planting?

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": ???

"Don't You Have Work to Do": I mean, around the field, if green weeds pop up, you gotta pull them out or cut them.

"Don't You Have Work to Do": Otherwise the weeds'll keep growing, taller and taller, and eventually choke out your crops!

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": So what grew in the young master's field isn't weeds, right?

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": !!!

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": Damn, it really does look like weeds! Then where's my cilantro, young master?!

Weeding too?!

Jiang Ye hadn't even gotten to ask his question before he saw this whole exchange. The mushroom jumped up and sprinted at full speed, dashing to the edge of the field in one breath.

"I never weeded either! I never weeded!"

Besides the scattered twigs and stones, the farm was mostly trees and weeds. Jiang Ye had cleared a small patch to plant, but had left the surrounding weeds alone.

He rushed over in a panic and saw Dorin had just finished watering, bent over and pulling weeds by hand.

Dorin tossed the weed aside and said, "I'm weeding."

Jiang Ye was stunned—Knight Snail really was quite the domestic type.

Dorin had already pulled out most of the weeds around the field, and the area looked a lot tidier.

Jiang Ye sighed in relief and said, "I've really put you out."

Dorin shook his head like it was nothing, then asked, "Are the roasted shrimp ready?"

The mycelium scratched its mushroom cap—it hadn't even started yet.

Jiang Ye said, "I'll get right on it!"

The little mushroom ran back and opened "Social" again.

"Mushroom Soup": Fish King's man, you there?

"Mushroom Soup": @The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King

" Mushroom Soup": Hey, I wanna make grilled shrimp—how do I get a fire going?

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Grilled shrimp...

"Up Till Two": Grilled shrimp...

"Got Nothing Better to Do?": Mushroom, how'd you get shrimp! I really wanna eat some!

"The Wannabe Smoked Fish King": You'll need firewood and a flint. You can find flint along the small path outside the farm—those black rocks are the ones you want.