Farming Games are All About Grinding

Since you've left, don't blame me then.

I had no idea this was the old nest of the big squirrel.

I was just curious about the redwood tree here and decided to climb up and take a peek.

"Little Spark, keep watch!" Han Qiwu shouted, bent his knees, and sprang upwards, hugging the trunk as he began climbing.

A few minutes later, Han Qiwu looked down into the squirrel's old nest.

Wow, there's quite a stash here!

This big squirrel actually hollowed out five or six meters of tree trunk and packed it full of tightly arranged large pine cones, stacked layer upon layer neatly.

"It's just spring, isn't it? Why the rush to hoard food like this? If it stores for too long, won't it spoil? Tsk tsk, such waste." Han Qiwu mumbled while reaching in to grab a few pine cones.

Looking at its size, it probably can't finish all these cones anyway.

Well, guess I'll help it out a bit.

Unfortunately, only about a third of these big pine cones had the system's glow. The rest either had defects or were unripe—not really worth picking.

Besides, the ones without the system glow were too much of a hassle to carry, so he simply left them behind.

Consider it a donation to the big squirrel.

"I'll remember this location and come back every once in a while to collect a batch of pine cones. So convenient! The tree's so tall; it's perfect since I don't feel like climbing again." Han Qiwu sighed.

Got to keep it sustainable!

After finishing, Han Qiwu's stash of big pine cones had grown to 55. Once he went home and peeled them carefully, he'd have enough nuts to last at least two seasons without worries.

"Little Spark, these three pine cones are for you. Take your time eating them—don't eat too many at once or you'll get too fat to fly," Han Qiwu teased, shaking the three pine cones in his hand.

"Chirp chirp!"

Little Spark proudly flapped its right wing, indicating that it absolutely wouldn't get fat!

"Oh, are you suggesting I pluck a few feathers off your left wing instead? Use some pine nuts to give your left wing a feather upgrade? Besides, my home could use another feather duster. Bird feathers would do just fine; I wouldn't complain." Han Qiwu said, grinning as he reached towards Little Spark.

"Chirp chirp!!!!"

Little Spark immediately turned tail and fled in a panic, shaking its head wildly to protest that it didn't mean that!

Who wants to become a feather duster?!

"Haha."

Teasing Little Spark is endlessly entertaining.

Before descending the tree, Han Qiwu thoughtfully rearranged the remaining pine cones back to their original neat, circular formations.

Once he climbed down, he also made sure to cover up his footprints on the ground, then waved at Little Spark hovering in the sky.

Time to scram!

The entire pine cone collection process had taken about seven minutes.

Perfect.

After leaving the area, Han Qiwu decided not to bother with the pine cones on the other redwood tree.

There's a big squirrel here—why bother picking them myself?

Time to chop trees!

Ten minutes later, the big squirrel climbed back up the tree humming a tuneless tune, clutching a big pine cone proudly.

The darn upright monkey dared to steal my pine cones! Even brought along that useless bird as an accomplice!

Bet you didn't get a single one!

The squirrel knew very well how difficult it was to climb that stretch of the tree trunk that entered the misty zone.

No way the upright monkey could manage!

As it reached its nest, it deftly tossed the big pine cone inside, then leaned over to admire its hard-earned stash.

"Squeak squeak??"

The big squirrel froze.

Why does the pine cone tower look so much shorter?

It jumped into the center of the pine cone pile and measured the height with its tiny hands.

It clearly remembered these pine cones once reached the height of its ears, but now, they barely came up to its shoulders!

The furious big squirrel let out a piercing cry: "Squeak squeak!!!"

Who touched my pine cones?!?!

Several hundred meters away, Han Qiwu, busy chopping down a tree, faintly heard the scream and smiled to himself, glancing at the map where the squirrel's nest was marked.

Ah, an extra mature pine cone—must've been it yelling just now.

If you dared harm my bird, you'd be lucky I'm not teaching you a lesson right now!

Behave and keep working hard. I'll come collect another batch later.

Xiao Lai, munching on rocks nearby, shook its head slightly.

Silly squirrel. If you ate rocks instead of hoarding pine cones, none of this would've happened.

After finishing chopping down this patch of birch trees, Han Qiwu had gathered 3 [Birch Tree Saplings], 2 [Frozen Birch Sap], and 2 [Lunar Meteorite Ore].

With these two new lunar meteorites added, there was now enough at home to smelt one lunar meteorite ingot.

Han Qiwu decided not to delay tool upgrades for better materials anymore. Tomorrow, when the ingot was ready, he'd use it along with four regular iron ingots to upgrade his watering can.

Originally, he had considered adding one cold iron ingot as well, but after thinking about it, cold iron didn't exactly seem compatible with watering.

What if I end up watering plants and freezing them into ice chunks?

Better to keep it simple.

Glancing at the time, Han Qiwu decided to wrap up for the day. Although his lumber haul wasn't particularly impressive today, the pine cone stash was quite satisfying, and Little Spark had also benefited from the ordeal, boosting its speed significantly.

Feeling good.

Time to head home.

Walking along the cobblestone path, Han Qiwu carried Xiao Lai on his back, taking big strides towards the forest entrance.

As he ran, the pink mist he had encountered before gradually began to roll in again.

Thankfully, Han Qiwu had retreated from the pink mist area ahead of time, so this situation wasn't too urgent.

He glanced at the map and noticed the squirrel nest's location now showed that the extra mature pine cone was gone.

"Could it be that the squirrel eats pine nuts to resist the damage from the pink mist? Judging by its stockpile, it might even eat unripe cones."

"And considering it didn't venture out again after returning to its nest, does that mean it knows when or how the pink mist appears?"

Han Qiwu contemplated these patterns while running, realizing he couldn't rely solely on luck to dodge the pink mist each time.

Better find an opportunity to properly study it.

Once out of the Mist Forest, the sky outside had completely darkened.

Couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Time to go home.

Riding his bike along the road home, Han Qiwu spotted faint yellow glows by the riverbank. Since his miner's lamp still had enough charge, he decided not to disturb them.

What if they're making baby fireflies? Interrupting them would be rude.

Back home, Han Qiwu saw that both the Little Prince and Little Shui had already returned.

[Hunter Pet: Little Prince has returned from foraging. Satiety level increased by 99.]

[Foraging gains: Wood ×59, Cassia Sapling ×10.]

[Foraging complete. Little Prince is feeling joyful.]

[Fishing Pet: Little Shui has returned from fishing. Satiety level increased by 115.]

[Fishing gains: Fully stocked aquatic grass net.]

[Fishing complete. Little Shui looks a bit guilty.]

"A bit guilty? Satiety level increased by 115?" Han Qiwu curiously walked over and lifted the aquatic grass net, discovering only three swamp catfish and two swamp eels inside.

"Whimper whimper." Little Shui blinked its big innocent eyes and snuggled up to Han Qiwu's trouser leg.

What's going on?