Farming Games are All About Grinding
Chapter 318 - 309: The Strawberries Are Ripe

Chapter 318: Chapter 309: The Strawberries Are Ripe

After checking the stats, Han Qiwu finally caught a rich scent of peanuts. This aroma was far more intense than any so-called peanut oil sold outside. The fragrance was strong but not overwhelming, making his mouth water.

Just one sniff made him hungry.

"This scent comes with self-locking properties?" He was somewhat surprised, shaking the peanut oil jar up and down. Only then did he realize that the fragrance was completely sealed within the glass jar. It could only be detected close to the opened jar mouth.

To prevent the scent from dissipating too much, he quickly carried the glass jar indoors and stored it in an airtight oil canister.

This batch of oil was reserved for his personal use; he’d think about other uses for the later batches.

"I’ve worked up an appetite anyway—might as well fry a couple of eggs to try." Han Qiwu heated the pan with oil, cracked two eggs, and dropped them in.

The hot peanut oil unleashed its aroma recklessly. The rich peanut smell made Han Qiwu feel like he was swimming in peanut butter. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

It was too fragrant.

Since the oil was quite pure, the heating process went smoothly, with fine and uniform ripples of oil.

A few minutes later, the golden-fried eggs came hot off the pan.

Han Qiwu sprinkled some fine salt, picked up a piece of fried egg, and began to eat.

The edges of the egg whites were crispy, while the yolk inside retained its delicate texture. Each bite carried the scent of peanut oil.

It tasted incredible.

"With this peanut oil, even stir-frying stones would taste delicious." Han Qiwu could already imagine his pleasant future life.

When there’s more oil later, he could try frying some chicken thighs and wings too.

For people of his complexion, the quality of the oil directly determines the quality of the dish.

"Who knows when I’ll be able to raise pigs. Then, I could make some pork lard to mix with rice—that’d be pretty flavorful too." Han Qiwu thought greedily, as pork lard could be produced in much larger quantities compared to peanut oil.

A single big fat pig could render out a whole vat of creamy white pork lard.

After finishing the eggs, Han Qiwu, feeling refreshed with his stamina mostly restored, decided not to waste his regained energy.

Off to chop some wood!

Better upgrade the intermediate chicken coop early and hatch a batch of chicks.

After chopping wood down to just about 10 stamina points left, Han Qiwu saw that there was still a bit of time left in the day. He promptly retrieved two seawater fish from storage, cleaned them up, and, following Liu Lang’s method, placed them on the rooftop to dry into fish jerky.

"I’ll taste the secret-recipe fish jerky first before deciding whether to sell it."

Han Qiwu headed back to the house. On his way, he deliberately stopped by the strawberry field to take a look.

"Come on, little strawberries, grow strong!"

"My strawberry jam depends on you guys."

Strawberries: "......"

In a good mood, Han Qiwu returned to his house, took a shower, and lay in bed to gently fall asleep.

Nighttime.

On the strawberry plots, faint strands of green light suddenly began to emerge.

Especially on the plots forming characters associated with Shennong, the green light was noticeably brighter.

After lasting for more than ten seconds, the green light surged toward the strawberry seedlings, rapidly merging into them.

March 14 Daily Log

Planting Experience +231

Foraging Experience +865

Fishing Experience +461

Combat Experience +888

Mining Experience +967

Character Affection Points:

None

Current Money: 36,497 gold

Total Historical Income: 302,867 gold

[Congratulations! Your Foraging skill has been upgraded to Level 4]

[Your movement speed has increased]

[You gain +1 extra yield when picking fruits in the wild]

[You’ve learned how to craft a charcoal kiln]

That morning, Han Qiwu enjoyed a rare moment of tranquility. Waking up, he felt slightly unaccustomed to it.

After reviewing the log, his mood turned upbeat.

"Finally, my Foraging skill is bumped to Level 4."

Getting out of bed, Han Qiwu tried pacing around in his slippers.

His movement speed had noticeably improved. It manifested as both a slight increase in stride length and step frequency, as well as reduced stamina consumption during movement.

Overall, he could run faster.

The second reward for upgrading the Foraging skill also seemed tempting.

Grabbing double yields at once—efficiency boosted significantly.

Even though it’s limited to fruit-picking scenarios, it was still worth it.

Why would one need that many pepper leaves anyway?

As for the last reward, just the name got Han Qiwu feeling a little excited.

A charcoal kiln.

The essence of productivity!

Although coal could be harvested in Thunderstorm Secret Realms and mine layers, the former could only be accessed during electrical weather, and the latter yielded lesser amounts.

Nothing beats crafting your own—satisfaction guaranteed!

Let’s check the blueprint:

[Charcoal Kiln]

[Materials: [Wood]×20, [Copper Ingots]×1, [Iron Ingots]×1]

[Effect: The charcoal kiln allows you to convert wood into coal]

[Notes: Burn, baby, burn!]

The required materials weren’t extravagant; the quantities and types were quite reasonable.

Excited, Han Qiwu ran to the storage chest, gathered the materials, and hit the crafting button.

[Crafting Charcoal Kiln. Estimated time: 20 minutes] 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Only 20 minutes, huh?" Han Qiwu chuckled and headed toward the strawberry field.

The day’s weather matched yesterday’s forecast: the sky was covered with dense clouds, blocking out all sunlight and bringing a refreshing chill.

At this point, the strawberry field had undergone drastic changes.

Bright red, plump strawberries hung from the small strawberry vines along the ground, with their rich fragrance irresistibly wafting into his nose.

Upon closer inspection, the strawberries were uniformly medium-sized, showing no signs of spoilage or blemishes—every vine bore two or three strawberries.

Han Qiwu walked up and casually plucked a strawberry.

[Strawberry]

[Stamina +50]

[Health +20]

[Price: 260 gold]

[Notes: The fragrance of strawberries is truly unique]

"A single strawberry for 260 gold? The price’s pretty high—let’s see how it tastes."

Han Qiwu rinsed the strawberry by the spring water and popped it into his mouth.

Gently biting down.

Sweet strawberry juice flooded his mouth, accompanied by its distinct aroma enveloping his senses—a truly extraordinary experience.

"This strawberry is ridiculously delicious." Han Qiwu could hardly believe it; it surpassed even the strawberries grown in experimental fields of certain research experts.

The flavor leaned less like milk strawberries and more toward cream strawberries, being both fragrant and juicy.

Turning these into strawberry jam in canning jars—wouldn’t that be heaven?

"Mr. Tang will definitely be satisfied."

Before Han Qiwu could savor another strawberry, a text prompt suddenly appeared before him.

[Last night, Shennong improved and cultivated all your strawberries]

[All current strawberry plots have gained the following effects]

[Effect 1: Each plot’s strawberry yield +1, and price increased by 20 gold]

[Effect 2: After each harvest, the total plot yield increases by 20%]

"Shennong is too generous!" Han Qiwu was delighted and muttered a few heartfelt words toward the field.

No wonder the strawberries were fetching high prices and yields were decent.

It was all thanks to Shennong.

But Han Qiwu particularly valued Effect 2.

There’s still over a month left in spring. Calculating the numbers, at this rate, the final strawberry harvest’s yield bonus might surpass 50%. If the average revenue per plot rises by over 100 gold, the total extra income across a hundred plots might be three to four thousand.

Thank you, Shennong Ancestor.

Han Qiwu returned to his house, turned on the TV, and checked the channels.

[Weather Forecast]

Tomorrow will be sunny.

[Life Tips]

Letting go is to better receive.

[Almanac]

Favorables: Transactions, Unfavorables: Entering water.

[Shennong Recipe]

[The strawberries are growing well; give this a try when you get the chance]

[You’ve learned how to make Layered Strawberry Cake]