Han Qiwu curiously approached the furnace, wanting to test how it worked.
[Please insert ores and coal]
[Using the furnace will consume one unit of coal each time, and the smelting time varies for different ores]
As the system prompt appeared, the furnace material submission interface also appeared in Han Qiwu's view.
Han Qiwu tried placing the copper ore from his inventory into the ore slot.
[Smelt copper ingot: Copper ore (1/5), Coal (1/1)]
[Insufficient materials, unable to smelt]
"So it takes five pieces of copper ore to make one ingot? And coal is required, too? Does that mean coal also has to be mined?" Han Qiwu felt a bit disappointed. He had no idea how to mine yet. Surely, he couldn't rely entirely on fishing treasure chests and digging up ancient plots for materials?
For now, the furnace would have to be taken home and displayed as decoration.
Honestly, the thing really had a bit of a steampunk vibe.
Before leaving, Han Qiwu glanced once more at the counter to see the price of upgrading tools.
[Hoe upgrade: Spend five copper ingots and 5000 gold to upgrade the hoe to a copper hoe]
[Watering can upgrade: Spend five copper ingots and 5000 gold to upgrade the watering can to a copper watering can]
...
[Upgrading takes a certain amount of time. Please upgrade with caution.]
All tools except for the sickle could be upgraded.
Death God: "??? Is this some kind of discrimination only an Eastern mod could manage?"
Five copper ingots meant twenty-five pieces of copper ore and five pieces of coal.
Where on earth was the mine?!
And on top of that, upgrading tools required 5000 gold. Honestly, even if Han Qiwu emptied out his entire house, he wouldn't have enough.
Forget it! Goodbye!
Picking up the furnace, Han Qiwu headed straight back to fishing without looking back.
He rode all the way to the seaside dock. Just as he'd caught a fish, Han Qiwu remembered that he'd forgotten to inquire about the [Broken Copper Flask].
People, the moment they get busy, their memory just deteriorates.
No time for regrets now!
Because—you guessed it—a fish was biting!
Current time: 9:50 AM
Fishing time always passed in the blink of an eye. Before he realized it, night had already fallen.
Han Qiwu had eaten up all the rations he'd brought with him.
Pancakes with wild onions, wild chives, tuna, and raspberries were unbelievably delicious.
Pancakes can wrap everything!
The eight-hour fishing marathon had yielded an abundant haul.
[Yellow Croaker] ×7, including two silver-starred and one gold-starred fish.
[Atlantic Herring] ×4, no high-quality ones.
[Eel] ×2, both silver-starred.
[Sardine] ×9, including three silver-starred and one gold-starred.
[Hairtail] ×3, including one silver-starred.
In total, he caught 25 fish in eight hours.
Han Qiwu felt completely drained.
Grinding overdraft reached maximum.
Even in his exhaustion, he habitually took out a small notebook to record his findings for the day: "I've only ever caught eels at night during these attempts. This seems to be a special nighttime fish. As for hairtail, this is my first time catching one—they're slow-moving but really demanding on gear."
The hairtail fishing animation in the game was hilarious. A big silver stick stood upright, barely moving, convincing Han Qiwu at first that the game had bugged out.
Fishing for hairtail presented an interesting challenge for the bobber. Thanks to the hairtail's long icon, first-level and beginner bobbers couldn't even cover it enough to catch anything. Even a second-level bobber could barely manage. Han Qiwu had encountered five hairtails in total and succeeded in catching three.
Oh well, three out of five wasn't bad; at least two were enough to make a decent plate of fried hairtail.
He carefully stowed the fish, hopped on his bike, and returned home. By the time he reached the house, it was 8:03 PM.
Entering the courtyard, Han Qiwu checked his inventory and decided to keep the eels and two hairtails. The rest of the day's catch went straight into the selling box.
"Work at sunrise, rest at sunset. I wonder if my schedule counts as healthy or not," Han Qiwu muttered while climbing a ladder to collect dried fruits. Naturally, the dried herrings were also taken down.
Getting them wet with rain and accidentally fermenting them would've been a massive headache.
After tidying up the dried fruits, Han Qiwu took a short break and prepared to cook dinner.
Checking the fridge, Han Qiwu decided on making some fried elm seeds. This dish was not only tasty but also restored stamina.
Eat well, then off to chop trees!
All for the sake of eggs!
Cooking fried elm seeds was simple. First, clean the elm seeds thoroughly, then coat them in a thin layer of flour. Since Han Qiwu preferred his food well-done, he steamed the seeds for a few minutes before deep-frying them in oil to set their shape, adding seasonings as they came out.
The golden elm seeds, strung together in bunches, looked even more beautiful than actual copper coins. One bite into the crispy exterior revealed the fragrant, tender, and slightly sweet elm leaves inside.
Some say eating elm seeds is like tasting the essence of spring.
Happiness!
Under the starlit sky, in a moonlit courtyard, munching on spring itself, Han Qiwu had only one thought in his mind—
Chopping trees! Breaking rocks! Earning money!
Ah, such is the life of a farming simulation.
After finishing a whole bag of elm seeds, Han Qiwu's stamina had risen to above 70.
"How about eating a windbreak herb too? I've still got six left anyway."
Grinning, Han Qiwu rationalized his decision. Earlier while fishing, he'd already eaten two regular-quality windbreak herbs, but somehow these self-grown crops just tasted infinitely better than anything foraged or system-generated!
Actually, Han Qiwu had long concluded that foraged items and system-affinity rewards only carried minor taste enhancements granted by the game. In essence, anyone could theoretically experience these flavors.
But when it came to something homegrown or caught with his own hands, there was simply no comparison—it was on a completely different level.
The taste alone transcended ordinary expectations.
All this rambling was just Han Qiwu persuading himself to eat another regular-quality windbreak herb!
A full stomach brings peace of mind.
Taking out a windbreak herb, Han Qiwu happily chomped away, bite after bite. Midway through, it suddenly hit him—if this tasted so good raw, how insane would it be cooked?
No time today, I'll try cooking it tomorrow!
Time to get to work!
In the courtyard, Han Qiwu identified a 3×4 area. Spending a dozen or so stamina points, he cleared the weeds and began planting the extravagantly priced cauliflower seeds he'd purchased.
After planting the cauliflower, Han Qiwu watered them in the usual manner. Based on his morning experience harvesting windbreak herbs, he hadn't noticed any difference between watering the soil first and sowing later versus sowing first and watering afterward.
The planted area now looked as follows:
Flower flower flower flower
Flower flower flower flower
Flower flower flower flower
Once finished with the watering, Han Qiwu grabbed his axe and pickaxe and headed toward Xiao Shu.
One swing, two swings…