“A random event? And it’s only for ten minutes!?”
Ye Mian snapped awake instantly. She performed a quick kip-up off the bed, threw on her shoes, and dashed downstairs.
The sound of her footsteps was quite loud. Xue Kai, who had worked until late the previous night and had washed up briefly on the first floor before crashing in his sleeping bag, was startled awake. He followed her out in a subconscious panic.
“What’s wrong? Are the mutants attacking?”
He ran a hand through his messy hair and followed behind Ye Mian, grabbing a nearby hoe and looking around for any suspicious enemies.
Ye Mian was urgent but not frantic; she spotted the target immediately.
The corn seeds she had planted with her own hands last night had already grown into a lush, green field. On the two-meter-high stalks, many sturdy and plump ears of corn had already formed.
Right beside the cornfield, a large contraption that clearly didn’t belong to the farm was basking in the morning sunlight, quietly awaiting her arrival.
After a moment, Xue Kai also noticed the object, his mouth dropping open in shock. “My god…”
It was a robot-like… automatic vending machine, equipped with retractable mechanical arms and legs.
As Ye Mian and Xue Kai approached, it displayed a large smiley face and emitted a lively electronic voice: “Oh, lovely Farmer! Welcome to the Dream Vending Machine. Please select your items.”
The screen flashed, shifting to a vibrant preview of various goods.
While it looked flashy, the categories were actually quite limited—it was mostly just different types of crop seeds.
Ye Mian first looked at the price displayed under one of the seeds: “100 Points.”
So, this was where points could be used.
The cheapest items were 100 points, while the more expensive ones cost hundreds or even thousands.
Seeing her hesitate, Xue Kai couldn’t help but ask, “You have points, right?”
She did. Ye Mian opened the farm options in her system and fell into a silence as she looked at her balance of 165 points.
…At the very least, she could afford one type of seed!
Ye Mian closed the system interface and began browsing the available seeds. “What seeds do you think are best? Something under a hundred points.”
“Huh? Oh… let me see.”
Xue Kai hadn’t expected Ye Mian’s budget to be so tight, but then he remembered she probably hadn’t had the system for very long, so it wasn’t surprising.
The cheap items on the vending machine were common vegetable seeds. Rarer ones were slightly more expensive. Seeds for things like rapeseed, beans, sesame, and cotton were also on the pricier side, while fruit, flower, and tree seeds were the most expensive.
“If we have to buy something, maybe tomato or chili seeds. Tomatoes can be eaten as fruit or used for sauce, and chilis add a different kick to many dishes.”
“Mhm.” Ye Mian briefly recalled the taste of chili before silently choosing tomatoes. “Wait…”
She had been scrolling down through the expensive seeds, intending to scroll back up for the tomatoes, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a striking red marker in her peripheral vision. She hurriedly scrolled back down.
“What is it?”
Xue Kai was puzzled, but then he saw Ye Mian stop. The screen showed Peach and Olive seeds, both originally priced at 1,000 points.
However, the original price had been crossed out with a black line, followed by parentheses with red text that read: “Limited Time Special Offer: 10 Points.”
!!!
While Xue Kai was still in shock, Ye Mian clicked “Purchase” without hesitation. After the transaction, the previews for those two items dimmed, showing they were sold out.
Ye Mian then scrolled back to the top and purchased the tomato seeds.
With a series of mechanical whirs and hums, the vending machine’s hands retracted and then extended again, holding three bags of seeds.
“Please receive your purchased goods.”
Ye Mian reached out and took them, checking the labels on the back. The tomato seeds were a pack of fifty, while the peach and olive were just single seeds.
That made sense. Since peaches and olives were fruit trees, a single tree could yield a lot of fruit and survive for a long time.
“Can these be planted directly?”
After receiving an affirmative answer from Xue Kai, Ye Mian handed the seeds to him. She went back to scroll through the vending machine again, hoping for more surprises.
However, once the ten minutes were up, the Dream Vending Machine bid them a polite farewell and vanished into thin air without offering any other hidden deals.
After it disappeared, Ye Mian turned her attention to the cornfield.
A light breeze blew through, making the green leaves rustle softly, and a faint fragrance naturally drifted into her nose.
“The peach tree is planted by the front door, and the olive is behind the house. It’ll probably take a while for them to grow and bear fruit.”
Xue Kai, having finished planting the fruit trees, approached the cornfield. He inspected the state of the corn husks and came to a conclusion: “The maturity period for corn is about ten hours. We just need to wait a little longer before we can pick them to eat.”
Hearing this, Ye Mian looked at the rising sun and guessed, “Then the vegetables take three hours to mature.”
The cabbage, lettuce, and cilantro planted last night had all reached maturity, growing lush, green, and tender.
“Yes.” Xue Kai looked over at the empty patch where they had harvested yesterday, which showed no signs of regrowth. “It looks like there isn’t a second harvest.”
Ye Mian nodded. “Then let’s dig it up and plant the tomatoes.”
Though it felt a bit like a waste, out with the old and in with the new. She could only hope the extra harvest drops would bring surprises later.
“In a bit. I’ll go check the status of the potatoes, and then I’ll make breakfast first. You go wash up.”
Watching Xue Kai cross the vegetable patch toward the potato field, Ye Mian realized her long hair was a mess. She turned and went back inside to go upstairs.
After a quick wash and tying her hair back, Ye Mian checked the farm info. Today’s Spiritual Essence was 3+1, so the chance of extra rewards would likely be half of what it was yesterday.
Fortunately, they had planted a lot last night. She hoped to make up the difference through the sheer volume of the harvest.
But compared to that, what really gave Ye Mian a headache were her points.
She had just spent 120 points, leaving her with only 45. If another random event occurred without a limited-time discount, she wouldn’t be able to afford anything.
Relying solely on main quests for points was too slow. She needed to try more side quests and head out to hunt.
After all, a single Lusterstone was worth 100 points—enough to buy a bag of seeds.
Since she only had one for now, Ye Mian was reluctant to exchange it, but if she had several more, she wouldn’t mind.
It seemed she needed to take Da Hei out for a look.
But before that, she had to finish harvesting the crops.
Downstairs, Xue Kai had already started cooking breakfast. As Ye Mian walked down the stairs, she smelled a rich aroma that made her stomach growl, even though she hadn’t felt that hungry.
Ye Mian paused, feeling the wonder of it all again.
Since yesterday, she had experienced three different types of “sweet” fragrances. They were all fragrant and sweet, yet they tasted completely different once eaten.
Because of this, in just over a day, Ye Mian had already pushed her former life and memories to the back of her mind.
Her head was filled only with farming and vegetables, and her eyes saw only various delicious foods.
“Today’s breakfast is boiled corn. That pressure cooker is amazing; it only took five minutes to cook them thoroughly.”
Xue Kai came out of the kitchen with both hands full, carrying two large plates of golden corn on the cob. Seeing her eyes widen, he couldn’t help but smile. “Eat as much as you want. I’ll boil more if it’s not enough.”
“Okay.”
Ye Mian took it as a joke, but once she started eating, she realized… it really wasn’t enough.
When her hand reached out only to find the plate empty, Ye Mian was stunned. Had she really finished an entire plate of corn?
While the corn was even better than yesterday’s carrots—the juice bursting in her mouth with a sweet, refreshing flavor that required no effort to eat—when did she become such a big eater?
Xue Kai had been waiting for this reaction. “Should I boil some more?”
Although she really wanted to eat more, Ye Mian shook her head. “Let’s harvest the vegetables first. After that, I need to take Da Hei out for a bit.”
“You’re not taking me?”
But remembering he had no combat power and couldn’t help when she used her skills, Xue Kai accepted the arrangement. “Alright, then I’ll plant the wheat and tomatoes.”
The results of the experiment Xue Kai had conducted with the vegetables yesterday showed that even if they weren’t stored in the system warehouse, they wouldn’t spoil and would remain as fresh as if they were just picked.
So for this harvest, the two had prepared tools, planning to move the harvested vegetables, corn, and potatoes into the basement and warehouse.
That way, Xue Kai could use them whenever he cooked without waiting for Ye Mian to take them out of the warehouse.
As for the division of labor, Xue Kai took on the more troublesome task of digging up potatoes, which required skill with tools and constant bending over.
Ye Mian went to pick the corn.
At first glance in the morning, it had seemed like a lot, but once she entered the field and started picking ears one by one, Ye Mian realized the yield was staggering.
One corn stalk could yield at least ten ears. Fifty stalks meant five hundred ears of corn.
Her hands were going to break from all this snapping.
She peeled one raw ear of corn and fed it to Da Hei, who had approached wagging his tail. Ye Mian said despondently, “Go play outside for a while. Don’t go too far.”
“Woof~”
Watching Da Hei obediently run out of the farm, Ye Mian stretched her limbs and threw herself into the work of picking corn.
Fortunately, it wasn’t just tedious labor; it was accompanied by frequent surprises.
[Obtained extra “Corn Seeds” x10!]
[Obtained extra “Waxy Corn Seeds” x10!]
[Obtained extra “Sweet Potato Seeds” x10!]
[Obtained extra “Potato Seeds” x10!]
[Obtained extra “Corn Pizza Recipe” x1!]
[Obtained extra “Shining Gem” x1!]
Seeing the recipe only gave Ye Mian a sense of “as expected,” but when the next text box appeared, she couldn’t help but pause.
A gem?
Ye Mian couldn’t resist opening her warehouse to look at the diamond-shaped stone emitting a faint purple light.
[Shining Gem: Aside from being pleasant to look at, it is entirely useless.]
“…”
Well, it wasn’t completely useless. Ye Mian clicked the exchange button, and 30 points were added to her balance.
The feeling of gaining points back swept away her fatigue. Just as she was about to grit her teeth and work a bit longer, she heard footsteps approaching, and Xue Kai’s voice rang out.
“Let me take over. Go take a rest.”
Startled by his voice, Ye Mian realized the potato field had already been cleared, and the corn she had picked had quietly been transported back into the house.
But looking at Xue Kai now, he still looked completely relaxed. In the blink of an eye, he had already snapped off several more ears of corn.
How could the difference between people be so vast?
Ye Mian didn’t push herself. She let out a breath and put her hands down. “Then I’ll go take some corn and potatoes to turn in the quest.”
“Eh? Okay!” Hearing about the quest, Xue Kai thought of more rewards and immediately worked even faster.
The rewards for the side quest did not disappoint his expectations, and were even a bit beyond Ye Mian’s anticipation.