Ye Mian walked over and took a look.
[Best Fishing Time: 17:00 – 18:00]
There was even a designated fishing time?
However, as Ye Mian stood by the pond and looked into the quiet depths, she wondered if there really were any fish in there.
Strangely enough, Ye Mian had never fished before, and the original owner of this body hadn’t known how to either, but standing there gave her an itchy feeling, as if she couldn’t wait to take out the rod and cast a line.
Since there was a ready-made Magical Fishing Rod in the warehouse, Ye Mian simply took it out.
Her palm grew heavy as a slightly weighted, black telescopic fishing rod appeared. The other end of the white fishing line held a common metal hook; the style was very simple, with nothing particularly special about it.
“Do I just cast it?”
As she spoke, Ye Mian put her words into action—she extended the rod, flicked the line, and the metal hook sank silently into the water.
The surrounding air suddenly grew still, and even the light breeze stopped.
Time passed minute by minute.
Just when Ye Mian felt like she was about to doze off, the rod in her hand suddenly grew heavy. Almost instinctively, she pulled it upward.
[Obtained “A Tangled Mess of Seaweed”]
???
Ye Mian blinked at the text box in front of her. “Huh? Where’s my fish?”
Besides, where did seaweed come from in a small fish pond?
Did the bottom of the pond lead directly to the ocean?
Confused, Ye Mian opened the system warehouse. She wanted to see what this “tangled mess of seaweed” actually looked like, but after searching through many slots until her eyes felt blurry, she couldn’t find it.
“Hmm?” She paused, then remembered to look at the fish basket by her feet.
Was it in there?
She had thought it was just a decoration.
Ye Mian crouched down, turned the basket over, and shook it. A mass of dark green, slippery matter flowed out.
“Uh…”
Just as Ye Mian was feeling a bit of regret, wanting to put it back but not knowing how to handle it, she heard Xue Kai’s exclamation.
“My god! Has it upgraded!?”
He circled around from the bushes on the other side. He looked at the shimmering fish pond in front of him, then at the quiet green bamboo forest on the other side, his entire face written with disbelief.
Knowing that the system’s “cheat” was very mysterious, Xue Kai was still shocked into a long silence by the sight of such a paradise-like scene.
Since the fish pond landscaping was something opened from the level gift pack, Ye Mian didn’t say much else and simply nodded. “Yes, we can fish now.”
“Then there will be fish to eat!”
Just after saying this excitedly, Xue Kai looked down and saw the mass of dark green seaweed on the ground. He opened his mouth. “Was this caught too?”
“…Yes.”
“Eh?” Xue Kai crouched down and flipped through it. “It’s kelp… does it really connect to the sea underneath?”
“Is it edible?”
“Yes, it’s very appetizing when served cold with some vinegar.”
Speaking of it, Xue Kai couldn’t help but salivate a little. “It just so happens we have all the ingredients and seasonings. I’ll make it this afternoon for lunch.”
As long as it was edible, it was fine.
Seeing Xue Kai put the mass of kelp back into the basket to take it back, Ye Mian silently retracted her fishing rod and followed him back to the front.
The rice seeds Xue Kai had soaked last night had already sprouted green shoots, and the paddy field was successfully prepared. They could officially begin transplanting the seedlings.
As for fishing, she would wait until the “best time” to come back.
Because she was a bit of a perfectionist, Ye Mian—who had only just learned how to transplant seedlings—worked extremely slowly. For every seedling she planted, she agonized over whether the spacing was even and if they formed a straight line.
By the time she finally finished the bundle of seedlings in her hand, she found that the entire paddy field was done. Xue Kai was pacing along the ridge of the field, checking the work. When he saw the section she had planted, he praised her with a smile. “Not bad, very beautiful.”
“…Thanks.”
With the work here finished, the two went to the warehouse to help Lu Ning.
Lu Ning was indeed efficient at manual labor. Half of the wheat harvested yesterday was already done. Because her strength was so great, the outer skin of the wheat had almost fallen off automatically; with a little rubbing, the wheat kernels inside were revealed.
After Xue Kai used tools to completely separate the kernels from the chaff, he began grinding them into flour using the stone mill they had brought back a couple of days ago.
This process was very easy for both Lu Ning and Xue Kai.
But for Ye Mian, it was a bit strenuous.
So in the end, she was pushed aside and tasked with peeling some fresh corn to set out to dry for later use.
As noon approached, the vegetable crops planted in the morning matured all at once. Xue Kai harvested some of the ingredients needed and went straight to the kitchen to start preparing lunch.
Ye Mian stayed behind to continue harvesting.
When the Spiritual Essence value was low, the number of extra seeds harvested returned to 10, and she didn’t get any new seeds—they were all ones she already had.
Furthermore, because the harvest volume wasn’t large, nothing special or any new recipes appeared.
“Phew…” Ye Mian straightened her back slightly and wiped her sweat. Clearly, labor without any surprises was a few degrees more tiring than usual.
Fortunately, because the variety of ingredients had increased, today’s lunch looked even more bountiful than last night’s dinner—complete in color, aroma, and taste.
The moment she saw the full and colorful dining table, Ye Mian felt healed.
“Come, try this cold kelp salad. Besides that universal seasoning, I added some fried peanuts. It’s very fragrant!”
Ye Mian picked up a piece of kelp. When she chewed, her mouth was filled with various flavors—fragrance, sourness, sweetness, and a hint of spiciness. Combined with that slippery texture, it was an indescribable delicacy.
The smashed cucumbers on the side were equally sweet, sour, and crisp.
And the fried peanuts found in both dishes were purely aromatic and crunchy. At first bite, it didn’t seem like much, but she found herself reflexively reaching for more.
In addition, Ye Mian tasted a very distinct, unfamiliar fragrance.
Looking at the green grass-like plant in the smashed cucumbers, Ye Mian vaguely remembered. “Is this cilantro?”
“Ah…” Xue Kai immediately became nervous. “I forgot to mention it. I only added a little bit to the cucumbers. If you don’t eat it directly, it should be okay, right?”
“Yeah, it seems to be fine.”
Surprisingly, Ye Mian was quite accepting of this fragrance.
Seeing this, Lu Ning said, “Then I’ll pick it out. I eat green onions, ginger, garlic, and cilantro.”
Actually, Ye Mian felt like she could try eating it all, but seeing one person nervous and the other being considerate, she didn’t say anything more.
Besides the rich vegetable dishes, since there was a lot of rabbit meat left from yesterday, Xue Kai simply made a large pot of braised rabbit meat. This time, he added some other side ingredients, making the flavor more diverse and less likely to feel heavy.
After tasting a few bites of the vegetables to show her support, Lu Ning lowered her head and began devouring the meat. This left Xue Kai, who had originally wanted to share the joy of the farm upgrade with her, unable to find an opening to speak.
However, Lu Ning wasn’t someone with particularly large emotional swings anyway. When she finished eating and heard the good news, she only raised an eyebrow.
“Is that so? I like eating fish quite a bit; I eat any kind.”
Xue Kai: “…I couldn’t tell you were such a foodie.”
“Being able to eat is a blessing.”
“…”
Ye Mian was in a state where she was so full she didn’t want to move at all. Listening to their conversation, she only smiled slightly and didn’t join in.
Because of this, it took her a beat to react after they had arranged the afternoon’s division of labor on their own. “Hmm? Then what am I doing?”
Both of them turned their heads to look at her at the same time.
Xue Kai looked concerned. “You should rest. Recover your health first.”
“These are all small matters; it doesn’t need three people.” After saying that, Lu Ning glanced at Xue Kai. “Why is your tone like an old father’s?”
“I actually did want to have a daughter… sigh…”
Thinking of his girlfriend, whom he had a great relationship with despite the distance, Xue Kai felt a moment of dejection. He immediately turned that sorrow into strength and cleared the dining table. “I’ll wash the dishes first, then we’ll make the starch together.”
“Mm, then I’ll go grind the cornmeal.”
Watching the two of them head off to their respective tasks, Ye Mian was stunned for a moment before she also rose from the table.
Since they wouldn’t let her participate in the heavy labor, she would find work for herself.
She took a hoe and dug out the vegetable roots. After turning over the idle land, Ye Mian glanced at the wheat field that Xue Kai temporarily wouldn’t let her touch, then walked toward the car from yesterday.
The two people in the house were so focused on their work that by the time they noticed what Ye Mian was doing, the sky was already a brilliant red.
Even though they knew Ye Mian couldn’t hear them, they still instinctively discussed in low voices.
“Does she know how to fix cars?”
“I don’t know… and it doesn’t look like she’s fixing it. It looks more like she’s…”
Dismantling it.
The two looked at each other silently.
Xue Kai cleared his throat and said, “It’s fine. That car is probably almost out of gas anyway. We just need to find another working gas-powered car.”
“Yeah, I’ll go check the roads tomorrow.”
Unexpectedly, although Ye Mian had indeed completely dismantled the car, she later put it back together exactly as it was with Lu Ning’s assistance. She even made a small modification—taking out the back seat cushions to leave a spacious area.
Watching her wave the Cerberus over and let it get in to see if it could fit, Xue Kai understood.
This meant she didn’t plan on taking him when she went out in the future!
Although Xue Kai was indeed reluctant to face the outside world and the mutants who were once his own kind, he couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of melancholy in his heart.
“It would be nice if another person could come.”
After a sigh, Xue Kai cheered himself up and went to a room on the third floor used for storing extra supplies. He found some containers and packed the ground wheat flour, cornmeal, sweet potato starch, and potato starch, sealing the lids.
After he finished these tasks, the task completion text box popped up before Ye Mian’s eyes. Points and experience were still increased by 30 each.
Looking at the sunset, Ye Mian opened the system interface to check the time and found it was only a few minutes away from five o’clock.
“Let’s go, time for fishing.”
She called Da Hei down from the car, said hello to Lu Ning, and then circled around the house to the fish pond landscaping in the back.
Just as she took out her rod and settled into the chair, she saw Xue Kai and Lu Ning walking over, clearly curious about what she could catch.
Ye Mian took a deep breath and then flicked the fishing line out with her rod—she was also looking forward to seeing what kind of surprise this magical fishing rod, combined with the best fishing time, would bring her.