Chapter 35: Living Together (3rd Update)

Jiang Ye widened his eyes, staring at I Love Farming's face.

I Love Farming was using that gentle face and smooth voice to say... strange things.

The mushroom really wanted to stop him—was this even a serious discussion? It all sounded so unreliable.

I Love Farming could see the distrust in Jiang Ye's eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you want to turn from a monster back into a human?"

Jiang Ye shot back, "I'm not a monster."

Jiang Ye thought to himself, I'm a mushroom—at best, a good-looking one!

Besides, Dorin is my friend. He didn't want to be a third wheel.

To avoid being pestered by the Big Shot, the mushroom left the library and returned to the small inn before dark.

"Too bad, I didn't find any useful info." Jiang Ye sighed, opening the system social channel to see what's new.

"Social"

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": Did you all get a new quest log entry too?

"You Have No Work to Do": Is the young master talking about releasing the Chief Deity?

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": (Nodding emoji)

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": I've got one.

"Sleep at Two": Me too—it just appeared out of nowhere.

A new entry had appeared in every player's quest log on this server. It wasn't just Jiang Ye who got a new quest—everyone was confused.

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": What's releasing the Chief Deity about? What key are we supposed to find?

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": No clue.

"You Have No Work to Do": This afternoon, I happened to run into the mayor. I stopped him and asked about the key—he was so startled he bolted without saying a word.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": You just asked him directly? You've got some nerve.

No one had a clue. The mushroom suddenly grew curious—I Love Farming claimed to be a second-playthrough player. Didn't he know where the key was?

"Thinking about it, that guy is really weird," the mushroom muttered.

At midnight, the mushroom harvested the first battery from the solar panel—sure enough, it produced one battery every ten hours.

"But this..." The mycelium scratched the mushroom's head. Jiang Ye was confused. "Can solar panels soak up moonlight too?"

He'd thought time after dark wouldn't count.

"Do you want to craft an automatic sprinkler?"

"You crafted an automatic sprinkler!"

The mushroom crafted the first automatic sprinkler and placed it into the mailbag. Doing the math—tomorrow, the 16th, was when the cabin upgrade would be done!

The mycelium rubbed its hands together. The mushroom couldn't wait to get back and see his new house. Then he'd set up the automatic sprinkler in the yard and start living the fully automated farm life.

The mushroom crawled into the tent-style cat bed and lay down. "I've missed my little house so much. Finally, I can go home."

So nice.

The mushroom fell asleep.

And then...

Morning came.

"Spring, Day 16, Sunday"

"6:00"

"Would you like to open grandpa's cookie tin?"

The mushroom rolled over and jumped up, nodding.

"Congratulations! You got: Extra-Large Heart-Shaped Double Bed x1"

A new item showed up in the mailbag—judging by the icon, it was the heart-shaped bed.

"New house, new bed—that looks nice." Jiang Ye was satisfied.

But the mushroom usually slept in the cat bed, which came with its own creation ability—a ridiculously OP cheat.

The mushroom examined the heart-shaped double bed. It didn't mention any creation function. Using this bed to rest could restore hunger, HP, and sanity.

Jiang Ye was curious what the heart-shaped bed looked like, so he took it out of the mailbag.

"Heads-up: You can't do that."

The mushroom was confused. "..." What did I even do?

After trying for a while, Jiang Ye still failed. He figured it was because the heart-shaped bed was too big, and this small room just couldn't fit it.

The mushroom marveled, "That's pretty impressive."

Flap, flap.

A white pigeon landed outside his window—a messenger pigeon.

The carpenter brought good news: the cabin renovation was done on time, and he could move into his new wooden house now.

"Awesome! Time to head home!"

The mycelium moved quickly, all seven or eight strands working together to stuff everything into the item slot and mailbag, making sure nothing was left behind.

The mushroom couldn't wait to bolt out of the inn, hop on his bike, leave Sun Town, and race to his little farm.

The bike flew—the distance from town to the farm seemed way shorter. What usually took two hours, the mushroom made in just 15 minutes, and he could already see his adorable little red roof.

"So beautiful." The mushroom had only caught a glimpse and was already singing its praises. It looked so cute!

The bicycle stopped at the farm gate. The mushroom got off, put the bike away, and pushed open the fence gate.

A wave of strawberry scent drifted on the wind. The mushroom took a deep breath—so sweet.

The strawberries were ready!

"Crops ready to harvest x20"

And that wasn't all—the other crops had ripened too.

Jiang Ye was stunned. He hadn't even come back to water them, yet they'd still matured. How was that even possible?

"You're back."

A voice came from across the farm. Jiang Ye looked over and saw someone on his farm.

"Dorin!" Mushroom waved his little tendrils and said, "What are you doing at my place?"

Dorin walked over, carrying a watering can.

He said, "I came to water your crops for you."

Mushroom suddenly got it—the crops had grown because of Dorin.

Jiang Ye was moved and said, "You're really nice."

Dorin said flatly, "No big deal."

Mushroom hadn't harvested in ages, so he ran over and started picking strawberries. The giant strawberries made a satisfying pop as they came off the vine.

Jiang Ye said as he picked, "I already got the slime oil. Once the batteries are ready, I can make enough auto-sprinklers, and then you won't have to water for me anymore."

Dorin, still holding the little watering can, went quiet.

"But..."

Mushroom finished picking and stood in front of the crops, hands on his hips, looking a little worried. "There's a small problem."

Dorin looked at the field and raised an eyebrow.

Mushroom said, sounding troubled, "When I first planted these, I didn't know sprinklers were a thing, so I just packed them all in tight."

The crops were laid out in neat little squares of 20.

That left no room for sprinklers.

An auto-sprinkler waters the 8 tiles around it, so crops have to be planted around the sprinkler—this setup definitely wouldn't work.

Dorin said, "You could break a few of these crops and put the sprinklers there."

"What?" Mushroom said, pained. "No way, I don't wanna break them..."

The crops were doing so well—Mushroom couldn't bring himself to destroy them.

Dorin added, "Actually, I could just come by every morning and water them for you."

Mushroom's eyes lit up. "Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"Think of it as a thank-you," Dorin said. "For helping me find the key."

Mushroom's little cabin had been upgraded, but not the yard—that was a separate service and pricey.

From the outside, the cabin was the same size, but it'd been repainted—the bright red roof stood out, like a big mushroom with a red cap.

Jiang Ye waved Dorin over. "You haven't seen my place yet! Come on in."

Mushroom pushed open the door and went in first, Dorin right behind him.

The moment they stepped inside...

"Whoa!" Mushroom gasped, covering his mouth with his tendrils. "It's huge—like, actually huge."

It was way bigger than the starter cabin—super spacious.

Kitchen on the left, bedroom on the right, and a little wooden table with two chairs in the middle.

Mushroom poked the chairs and table. This time they weren't broken—they looked solid, natural wood and all.

Mushroom scurried into the bedroom. It was a little bare, with just a small wooden bed sitting there.

His tendrils dug into the mailbag and, with a thud, pulled out the giant heart-shaped bed, setting it right in the middle of the room.

The bed was seriously huge—no wonder it didn't fit in that tiny hotel room.

The bright red heart-shaped bed came with red pillows and a red blanket, all covered in rose patterns.

Dorin followed him in, glanced around, and said, "That's a pretty unique bed."

Mushroom then pulled out the TV, universal duplicator, solar panels, and other stuff. That way, the bedroom felt full and not so empty.

"Oh yeah, I gotta check out the kitchen—I heard it comes with cookware."

Mushroom ran into the kitchen on the left. It was big and bright, and sure enough, it had cookware—a whole row of fridge, oven, juicer, stand mixer, microwave, and more. Fully stocked.

Jiang Ye eyed the setup, itching to try it out. "Dorin, you hungry? Let me make you something good!"

Dorin nodded and asked, "Mind if I stand here and watch you cook?"

"Sure," Mushroom said generously. "If you're not tired, you can watch."

Dorin leaned against the kitchen doorframe, arms crossed, his long legs impossible to ignore. He stayed quiet and didn't bother Mushroom one bit.

Mushroom opened the mailbag, dug around with his tendrils, and pulled out chocolate sauce, eggs, and milk.

"Let's try something simple to get a feel for it."

Chocolate, eggs, and milk were all ingredients for slime boards. Mushroom had bought two extra sets, so he could use them for dessert instead.

Jiang Ye mixed everything in a bowl, gave it a stir, and popped it straight into the fridge.

A minute later, he opened the fridge, put the big bowl in the oven, and set the timer.

Ding! The chocolate baked milk was ready.

Cooking in the game was super easy. Jiang Ye caught the chocolate smell from the oven and felt like a total chef—super satisfying.

"And done!"

His tendrils slipped on a brand-new pair of oven mitts with cute little bunnies on them and brought out the chocolate baked milk.

"Chocolate baked milk X2"

"Dorin, Dorin, come try it—careful, it's hot." Mushroom looked like he was fishing for compliments.

There were exactly two servings of chocolate baked milk: Mushroom had one, and Dorin had the other.

"Delicious! Delicious! So delicious!" the little mushroom praised himself lavishly while eating.

Dorin smiled and said, "You have a talent for cooking."

After the cabin tour and dessert tasting, Dorin set down his utensils, stood up, and said, "I should get going."

The little mushroom hopped down from the chair and asked, "Got anything else to do?"

"Not really," Dorin said, shaking his head.

The little mushroom looked around and said, "I'm gonna give the new place a good cleaning in a bit."

Jiang Ye was making plans, then adjusting his bike and figuring out how to rig up some lighting.

"Let me walk you out," the little mushroom said.

Dorin nodded silently, walked out the front door, and said goodbye: "I'll take off now. Oh, by the way, need any help cleaning up?"

The little mushroom thought that'd be too embarrassing, and his mycelium waved quickly, saying, "No, no, I got this."

"Alright then, goodbye." After making sure a few times, Dorin turned and left.

The little mushroom walked Dorin out, then ran back to the cabin to start cleaning. In the living room was a set of tools—brooms, rags, and even a little apron.

Jiang Ye thought, do you really need an apron to clean?

"Might as well wear it," the little mushroom said. "Don't wanna get all dusty."

It was a pink apron—simple but cute. The little mushroom tried it on; it was a bit long...

His mycelium picked up the broom and got to work.

The only downside of a big house was that cleaning was a pain, especially since Jiang Ye was now a tiny mushroom, nowhere near adult size.

The little mushroom cleaned from morning till night.

"It's dark out now."

Glancing outside, Jiang Ye realized it was already 10 PM.

The night was beautiful—bright moon, twinkling stars, not a cloud in sight.

Just as the little mushroom was admiring the view, a purple lightning bolt struck down outside the window...

BOOM!!!

"And I just said the weather was nice..." the little mushroom was dumbfounded. A huge lightning bolt on a cloudless night—was some immortal going through their tribulation?

The little mushroom craned his neck to look a few times. Just one flash—startling—and then everything went back to calm.

"What a weird lightning bolt," the little mushroom shook his head, ready to continue cleaning.

Rustle, rustle...

A strange sound came from outside the window.

The little mushroom turned around—could it actually be raining?

He looked outside again—no rain, ground was dry.

The rustling continued, coming from the farm outside the cabin.

The little mushroom checked the system—SAN value 97, pretty high. He wasn't seeing ghosts, was he?

Jiang Ye cautiously stepped out and followed the sound.

The rustling was a big bird flapping its wings. A black crow flew over and slipped nimbly into the golden birdcage sitting outside the cabin window.

The little mushroom was dumbfounded. He walked over and said, "Dorin? Is that you?"

"Caw..." The big bird nodded in response.

The little mushroom was even more stunned. He said, "Why are you here so late, and..." and even crawled into the birdcage.

The birdcage was still too big to fit inside, so it had to stay outside.

The giant crow turned into a man right in front of Jiang Ye—it was indeed Dorin.

The little mushroom recalled the dream where the crow turned into Dorin, completely naked. Fortunately, reality was totally different—Dorin was neatly dressed in riding gear, immaculate from head to toe.

Dorin said calmly, "Here's the thing..."

Dorin explained that he'd just gotten home from the little mushroom's farm. The moment he reached his doorstep, a massive lightning bolt struck down from the sky, hitting his house directly and destroying it.

The little mushroom listened, stunned, and after a long pause said, "You mean... that lightning bolt just now hit your house?"

Dorin nodded.

The little mushroom couldn't believe it, but had to—Dorin was an honest man, he surely wouldn't lie.

Dorin said, "My house is ruined, unlivable. I have nowhere to go, and I didn't want to bother anyone, so I thought of this birdcage. Could I rest here for the night?"

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew, nearly knocking the little mushroom off his feet.

The little mushroom said, "Of course not! The night wind is so strong, and the birdcage is open on all sides. You'd definitely get sick sleeping here. Come inside with me!"

His mycelium pointed to the open cabin door.

Dorin said, "But that would disturb you."

"Impossible," the little mushroom said generously. "Come on in, my room is plenty big. You can stay comfortably."

Dorin followed the little mushroom into the cabin like a pitiful soul, standing awkwardly at the bedroom door.

The little mushroom patted the heart-shaped bed and said, "A brand-new big bed, soft and comfy. You sleep here."

Dorin asked, "What about you?"

The little mushroom said, "I'll sleep in my tent cat bed."

Now both the big bed and the cat bed had their uses—nothing wasted.

"Thank you so much," Dorin said gratefully. "To repay you, I can water and till the fields for you every day. And if you need, I can go mining with you too."

The little mushroom thought, wasn't this what they called cheap labor? Seemed like a pretty good deal.