Chapter 33
: After recording, teach P.E. Giles
Another night of One Thousand and One Nights.
Another morning enveloped in happiness.
Xia Ming spent another night at Sophia's house and enjoyed her meticulous care.
During the day, he helped Sophia with the farm work and chores in the blackberry vineyard. Although it was tiring, it was fun to do it together.
At noon, Xia Ming took Sophia to Gus's bar for lunch as promised. Gus made Tauros stewed with fatty potatoes, Xia Ming's favorite dish from his childhood, as well as peach-flavored fried boba, Sophia's favorite.
Yes, it was Pidgey, the Pidgey that died fighting with Spearow.
The battles between Pokémon in the wild are a matter of survival for their species, and are terrifying and cruel. In the town, there are rangers who specialize in trading corpses for berries between the two groups, which is one of the sources of income for the ranger profession.
It sounds cruel, but rangers will try their best to exchange dead wild Pokémon for the development of the ecosystem they protect. Many Pokémon will also run to the rangers to exchange their uneaten prey for something useful.
It could be berries, healing items, or evolution items, etc.
Of course, it's not just about trading prey. For example, the three bees will sell honey, and the circus will steal the honey from the three bees to sell. There are also rare berries, unwanted gold beads and pearls, unused evolution stones, and so on.
Being a ranger in the Pokémon ecosystem is a tough but very promising career. It means that if you have a problem, the Pokémon in the ecosystem will temporarily harmonize and unite to help you solve the problem.
Ecosystems with rangers who are beloved by the local Pokémon generally develop well.
…………
After lunch, the two strolled around the town before returning to Xia Ming's farm together.
If you dug a hole yesterday, you definitely have to fill it in today.
With just over ten days until autumn, sowing the seeds now might allow for a double harvest of cranberries in the fall.
Xia Ming can also use these two batches of cranberries to practice his skills. He won't go into details about agriculture, but the key is live-streaming sales. He needs to see if this approach is feasible.
If that doesn't work, he'll have to ask the all-powerful Grandpa Lewis for help.
"Sophia, could you please record this for me?"
"Okay, I'll definitely take the best picture of you, Xia Ming."
"There's really no need for that. It's just about sharing the process of becoming a farmer. That way, buyers will feel more at ease when selling our products in the future."
Xia Ming still maintains a simple and honest heart, at least when it comes to buying and selling. Rather than taking good pictures of himself, he prefers to show the full picture of agricultural products to his future customers.
And so, Sophia recorded Xia Ming's screen from afar with her phone, while Xia Ming and Pangolin began planting plants together.
Due to its size, Pangolin was only responsible for carrying things. He effortlessly lifted a box of plants and placed it next to Xia Ming.
Reaching out, Xia Ming picked up a cranberry plant with one hand and a small shovel with the other to begin planting.
Tree fruits are just a general term for a large category. They don't all grow on trees like in the game. Some grow in the soil, some in the water, and some even in extreme environments such as rocks and cliff edges.
Cranberries originally grew in the grassy areas of the open field. This plant is usually inconspicuous because of its short rootstock. It can only attract Pokémon to help spread it when it bears fruit, with its eye-catching yellow, red, and orange berries.
Cranberries have no pit; instead, they have a root-like stem wrapped in layers of small, fleshy pulp. They cannot be eaten normally, but can be absorbed as nutrients by Grass-type Pokémon.
The shape of the stem resembles the twisted fibers inside an orange, like a root, and it looks very much like a radish. The small grass on the cranberry fruit is the "hair" of the radish.
These seed stalks are the seeds of cranberries. After eating the fruit, Pokémon will casually scatter them, and if they are lucky, they will burrow into suitable soil and sprout.
Pierre gave Xia Ming mature stems that had already sprouted; they were all carefully selected and would quickly take root and grow once planted in the soil.
What Xia Ming had to do was a very tedious and repetitive action.
He buried the seedling along with the growing soil in the dug hole, and then filled in the surrounding soil slightly.
And after that...
"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"
A flock of Ubo lingered and waited by the farm, one of them waddling over to Xia Ming's side.
It first patted the soil where the plant was planted with its little feet, and then spat out a mouthful of water.
The process is complete once the moist and loose soil completely covers the stem of the seed, leaving only a small section of green shoots exposed.
As a Water/Ground type Pokémon, Woop not only has a natural ability to sense the information of the ground beneath its feet, but it also appears in large groups.
These Wobo were hired by Xia Ming from a small lake near Sophia's house. He only spent a few dozen cheap tree fruits and a lot of cheap fruit, which added up to less than 400 Alliance Coins. The cheapest orange fruit could be bought for only three Alliance Coins.
The work continued until 6 p.m., and Xia Ming felt that his waist no longer belonged to him, just like yesterday.
Looking at the lush green hair covering the entire ten acres of land, Xia Ming felt a sense of satisfaction. Before long, these cranberries would grow into a harvestable crop!
He can relax a lot in the days to come, as he only needs to check some of the plants periodically.
"You've worked hard today. Here, it's all been recorded."
"Thanks, Sophia. Hmm~ It's really urgent to get my body in shape."
Supporting his aching back, Xia Ming was helped back into the house by Sophia.
The young Gilas at my feet was already getting impatient for its meal:
"Yuichi Yuichi?"
What should we eat tonight?
"Of course, it's the Last Supper!"
"Yukichi?"
Xia Ming's words left Young Gilas confused. What did he mean by "The Last Supper"? Wasn't dinner just dinner?
The Rock Dogs following alongside Larva also cast a questioning glance.
Xia Ming simply gave a mysterious smile in response.
Like a primary school student who has relaxed for most of the summer vacation but finds himself with a mountain of homework to do in the last two days, Young Kiras instinctively felt a chill creep up his body:
"Yukichi Yukichi!"
Trainer, say something! I'm scared if you don't speak!
"Alright, stop scaring Young Gilas. Look, it's about to cry. It's just raising and training, don't make it sound like Gengar is visiting your neighborhood."
Seeing Young Gilas's distressed and tearful expression, Sophia gave Xia Ming's shoulder a light slap, then placed him on the sofa to rest before crouching down and patting Young Gilas's head.
"It's nothing serious, it just might get tough for Young Gilas starting tomorrow, but I believe you won't let Xia Ming down, right?"
"Yuichi~ Yuichi Yuichi!"
As long as it's Xia Ming, I'm not afraid of hardship!