Han Qiwu was a bit puzzled. Such a fragrant flower, and yet the attribute panel was this simple?
Could it be that the effects only appear after giving it away?
While pondering this, Han Qiwu plucked all six branches of forsythia that he saw and placed them into the storage slot. The flowers were vibrant in color and rich in fragrance, so even just leaving them in the house to enjoy their scent felt delightful.
Once home, Han *starving-to-death* Qiwu rushed into the kitchen and started prepping the eel he took out from the fridge. Before heading out earlier, he had already set the rice cooker on a timer.
In less than ten minutes, a steaming hot eel rice bowl was ready.
The sweet-savory teriyaki sauce paired with the tender and sticky eel—absolutely divine!
The rice, though, left something to be desired. It was just average.
I wonder when I'll be able to grow rice. Han Qiwu once had the fortune of tasting a bowl of premium-grade rice before. No exaggeration, he could eat an entire bowl of plain rice by itself—it was that delicious.
"If rice can't be grown, wheat would do! I can't be stuck using potatoes as a staple food." Han Qiwu muttered to himself while eating and jotting notes in his notebook.
"Judging from the fishing trends over the past few days, it's clear that fishing is a good way to progress in the early game. But if I keep relying on it, its efficiency might drop eventually. For now, I'll keep at it. Maybe the first harvest will bring some unexpected surprises."
After finishing his meal, Han Qiwu's stamina only recovered to 31 points. But there were 13 seeds in total, and watering them alone would require 39 stamina points—not to mention that some plots still needed clearing.
Han Qiwu had already finished all the raspberries while fishing this afternoon. To recover more stamina now, he'd have to rely on another delicacy he picked earlier in the day!
"All for the sake of stamina!" Han Qiwu selected a recipe on his phone and headed into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he emerged with two small plates in hand.
Raw eel slices with wild garlic flower paste!
Wild scallions mixed with eel slices!
To maximize stamina recovery, Han Qiwu used three wild garlic flowers and three wild scallions—all bursting with flavor.
"This should taste pretty good, right? After all, they're system ingredients. Plus, people in that little island country who lead enviable lives also use wasabi and wild garlic flower paste for their spiciness!" Brimming with anticipation, Han Qiwu picked up an eel slice and heavily dipped it into the bowl brimming with wild garlic flower paste.
The moment it entered his mouth, it felt as though he'd just swallowed a bomb. The wild garlic flower's pungency rampaged across his taste buds—it was exhilarating!
Chewing slightly, the silky, springy eel began to save his taste buds, its delicious umami gradually melding with the spiciness into an addictive harmony.
Han Qiwu then tried the wild scallion-mixed eel. This self-crafted dish was just so-so, but still palatable. He could eat it—it did the job.
Ten minutes later, Han Qiwu leaned back in his chair, rubbing his belly in a clockwise motion, and let out a long sigh.
Through these comparisons, Han Qiwu realized that the biggest difference between homemade dishes and system dishes was the sense of cohesion.
With homemade dishes, there always seemed to be conflicting flavors. But system dishes? Every bite was flawless.
"Grandpa Shennong, please bless me with your good mood!" Han Qiwu earnestly bowed toward the TV.
Calling Shennong "Grandpa"? Not embarrassing at all!
Calling him "Great-Grandpa" wouldn't be embarrassing either!
After eating and drinking his fill, at 6:26 PM, Han Qiwu began planting green beans, peanuts, and potatoes!
Three green bean seeds might not seem like much, but based on the purchase prompt, Han Qiwu had to set up proper trellises on the plots for planting.
Following an online tutorial, Han Qiwu found some wooden strips in the storage shed. After checking their length, he simply stomped on them to snap them into shape.
As for requirements like polished surfaces or uniform sizes—
He didn't bother with any of those.
Why would a climbing green bean plant care whether your wood looks nice or not?
After setting up the three trellises, Han Qiwu began choosing which plots to plant in.
Currently, the plots planted with wind-resistant grass in the yard were arranged as follows:
Wind Wind Wind Wind (already harvested)
For the sake of easier watering, Han Qiwu decided to plant the 13 seeds on the right side of the wind-resistant grass patch as follows:
Green Bean Green Bean Green Bean
Peanut Peanut Peanut Peanut Peanut
Potato Potato Potato Potato Potato
After clearing the plots, Han Qiwu harvested [Fiber] ×3, [Stone] ×2, [Wood] ×2. He stored these basic materials in the warehouse—after all, even if they couldn't be used now, they might come in handy later.
To conduct a comparison experiment, Han Qiwu watered some plots first before planting the seeds, while on others, he planted the seeds first and watered them afterward. He wanted to see if there would be any difference come harvest time.
"Finally done. Only four days left till the wind-resistant grass matures—I can't wait."
After washing up, Han Qiwu spent some time chatting with his parents on his phone.
But after just a few exchanges, Han Qiwu felt like he couldn't take it anymore.
"Son, your Aunt Wang's Jiaojiao gave birth to another litter of puppies today. Do you think Jiaojiao is better than you?"
"Big Son, don't listen to your mom nag. Let me tell you, the baby bok choy planted during the New Year has grown beautifully. Do you think the bok choy might even be better than you?"
Two consecutive marriage-pressure critical hits.
Who could withstand this?
"Dad, Mom, Jiaojiao and the bok choy are incredible. Let's arrange for them to give it a try together. If it works out, the Nobel Prize in Biology this year will go to you two. Goodnight, and good luck!" Han Qiwu typed out his reply, then immediately muted his phone, turned off the Wi-Fi, and shut it down.
Better just sleep. Anything is possible in dreams.
At the Han Family sofa—
Mrs. Han, furious with her son's response, kicked Mr. Han, who was watching a game.
"Look at what your son just said."
Mr. Han glanced at the message and frowned. "Comrade, how could you use my phone to send messages? This only pushes me and my son further apart!"
"At your speed of typing, by the time your message gets sent, I'll already be retired." Mrs. Han, realizing she'd been caught out, stubbornly defended herself. "I was just in a hurry, alright? I mean, our son is so good-looking—why doesn't he have a girlfriend yet? Could it be that he... might be...?"
"Might be what? Lay off the novels; that's our biological son! But anyway, I do think his idea is interesting. If Jiaojiao gave birth to bok choy, would it be called water bamboo shoots then?" Mr. Han chuckled to himself at his own joke.
"Yeah, sure—go ahead and submit that water bamboo shoot idea for a Nobel, why don't you! I'm heading out."
"Where are you going?"
"To check out the matchmaking corner!"
Somebody's rooster was celebrating making it through another day alive.
Wide awake, Han Qiwu was reviewing the system log from last night.
Income... 80 Gold (Clams)
Income... 60 Gold (Cockles)
Farming Experience +0
Foraging Experience +96
Fishing Experience +260
Relationship Changes:
Current Balance: 2,319.
"There's an issue I need to keep in mind—fish sold through the trading hub don't show up in the system log, which means they can't get recorded in the fish encyclopedia. No wonder I felt like some fish I caught still haven't been unlocked in the log."
"Hu Qi's favorability has gone up, and now it's clear that giving gifts increases favorability. Other methods are still unclear. I'll check the mailbox later to see if there's anything inside."
"Foraging experience went up a lot—it should be about to level up, right?"