Today was another very important day.
It might seem strange that yesterday was an important day and today is too, making things look incredibly busy.
This is Stardew Valley.
It looks like a place for a peaceful farming retirement, but in reality, it’s a terrifying 627 schedule—waking up at 6 AM, going to bed at 2 AM, working seven days a week, all year round.
Although life in Stardew Valley gets much easier in the late game once you have automation tools like sprinklers, Junimos, the Gold Clock, and warp totems, you have to grind that 627 life for a while in the early game to accumulate your initial capital.
You have to meticulously plan the use of every bit of energy.
After depleting it, you go greet everyone in town to raise friendship levels, then do a lap around Stardew Valley looking for wild forageables to give as gifts to the Villagers.
Finally, you install character beautification mods and a marriage mod to choose Jas as your wife.
Reject the ‘loli’ aesthetic; it starts with you and me.
Chen went back last night, saying she needed to pack her things and move to the farm.
She left the house she had chosen for Lady Yukari; Chen only needed a place that provided shelter from the wind and rain where she could put down her little nest.
As luck would have it, Shiki’s Farmhouse was just right.
Waking up and opening the door, he saw a huge, golden-yellow cushion made of tail fur.
Carrying the cushion on her back, Chen greeted Shiki and squeezed her way inside.
After spreading the two-meter-wide cushion on the floor, Orange placed the pillow and small quilt she was holding onto it, and that was the move completed.
“Shiki, what are we doing today, meow?” Orange ran out of the room full of energy.
Seeing Shiki harvesting crops in the field, she ran over to help.
After being invited by Shiki, she could now help harvest crops, though she was somewhat stealing Shiki’s experience points.
“Go play for now.
I need to harvest these myself.
You can harvest them later when you want to.” Stopping the curious cat, Shiki began harvesting today’s ripe garlic and rice.
On the other side.
Inside the Kappa Heavy Industries office, behind a massive mahogany desk, the small Kawashiro Nitori sat in an executive chair.
She looked with a beaming smile at Yukari, who was drinking tea, and Yakumo Ran, who was flipping through an account book.
“What wind blew the two of you here?
Look at this, if you’d told me earlier you were coming, I would have had the Little Kappas prepare some delicacies in advance.” “I’ve come here today in a private capacity.
There are some matters I need to coordinate with you.” Under normal circumstances, Yukari maintained her dignified Youkai Sage form.
When she mentioned that this visit to Kappa Heavy Industries was private, Kawashiro Nitori visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Just say the word.
Whatever it is, if it’s not too difficult, I’ll have someone handle it for you right away.
Gosh, you gave me a fright.” Taking the account book handed over by Yakumo Ran, Kawashiro Nitori opened her safe and put it back.
Only then did she regain her usual unscrupulous merchant expression.
“You all know about the Stardew Valley matter.
I’ve set up a house over there and need some furniture.
The owner there also has construction needs, so…” “I get it, I get it.
You pay what needs to be paid in Stardew Valley; the prices and everything are set.
Once the job is done, your money will be returned in full, and we’ll split the money from that world 70/30.” Kawashiro Nitori had an ‘I understand’ look on her face.
This was exactly how they did things in Gensokyo; their coordination was very tacit.
“No.
Make my furniture well, and as usual, I won’t pay a cent.
But over there, you must charge me the normal price; no overcharging.” Yukari took out a phone and handed it to Kawashiro Nitori.
Reimu had given her these phones last night, saying it was convenient for her to deliver things via Gaps, as it would be a bit scary if Reimu went herself.
“What do you mean by that?
How are we supposed to make money that way?” Kawashiro Nitori frowned.
Although they still profited at normal prices, that kind of profit required labor, time, and materials—it could only be called earning a wage.
Only the extra money counted as ‘making money’.
“That person has absolute control over that world.
For example, would you dare to overcharge the Dragon God for renovations?” “I would!
Fortune favors the bold!” Kawashiro Nitori’s answer was sonorous, righteous, and unrepentant…
“Forget it, I’m done with you.
If you get kicked out by them later, don’t come looking to me for help.
I’m leaving.” Yukari was speechless at these unscrupulous merchants of Kappa Heavy Industries.
In any case, she had delivered the notice; she wouldn’t bother with the rest.
Back in Stardew Valley.
The cat was crying.
She was crying so pitifully.
It was a good thing Yakumo Ran wasn’t here, or Shiki would have been’suicided’.
“I’ll handle the rest.
Go into the cabin and wash your hands with soap.
Whatever you do, don’t touch your eyes again.” Rewinding to a few minutes ago: Shiki had finished harvesting several acres of garlic.
Chen brought the sealed glass jars to the clearing, and the two sat together with small knives to start peeling the garlic.
First, you had to peel the garlic until only the last one or two layers of tender skin remained, then use a knife to trim off the root at the bottom.
That’s how one bulb of garlic was prepared.
The prepared garlic is soaked in water several times to remove some of the pungency, so the final pickled garlic isn’t so sharp.
After soaking, the garlic is dried in the shade before being put into the glass jars.
The problem occurred at the first step.
Orange followed Shiki’s example in processing the garlic, and everything went smoothly.
The two quickly finished enough garlic to fill several glass jars.
Then the issue happened: the cat subconsciously rubbed her eyes and licked her paws with her hands…
After sending the cat away, Shiki began mixing the sweet and sour brine in the glass jars.
He poured sugar and vinegar in a one-to-one ratio into the jars and stirred well, leaving one-third of the space empty.
Once the garlic was dry and put in, filling it near the mouth of the jar was enough.
Pickled this way, the garlic wouldn’t be spicy at all and could be eaten plain.
He really knew how to do this.
Every year in April or May when the new garlic came out, he would go to the market to buy dozens of pounds of garlic to pickle a vat.
That pickled garlic would last him a year.
It’s not like he ate it every meal; eating too much causes heartburn and thirst.
He usually just had a few pieces when eating noodles.
The next day.
He and the cat moved the sealed glass jars into the room together.
This made the already small room even smaller.
The cabin wasn’t big to begin with.
A bed, a TV, a fireplace, and a set of table and chairs already made it very crowded.
Then came Chen’s cushion, and now with the glass jars in the room, Shiki had to watch his step just to get back to bed to avoid accidentally kicking a jar.
“Sigh, I need to find a way to expand the house.” He dumped the remaining garlic into the Shipping Bin.
Regular garlic was 65 per pound, silver-star garlic was 75, and gold-star garlic was 90.
There were over forty pounds of garlic left.
If he sold it all, it would be around three to four thousand gold.
Combined with the sixteen thousand he had on hand, it was enough for the first house upgrade, with plenty left over.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”