Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie arrived at the appointed time.

However, Fan Qing seemed to be in a rather bad state.

“What happened?” Shen Xin asked Xiao-Jie.

Xiao-Jie appeared quite happy. “He got dumped!”

Shen Xin was puzzled.

“He went to see Zhang Yunyun, only to be yelled at and insulted.”

Xiao-Jie was still savoring the insults uttered by Zhang Yunyun. Damn, she didn’t even need to swear, but every word was like a stab to the heart. What a powerful woman.

Shen Xin, baffled, said, “Isn’t that just a one-sided delusion? I don’t think there’s ever been anything between them.”

“Pfft—” Fan Qing clutched his heart, looking even more dispirited, allowing Xiao-Jie to drag him along.

The box bait, which boasted a 50 percent treasure chest conversion rate, certainly lived up to its name. After it broke, Shen Xin caught eight treasure chests in total.

Likewise, the premium treasure chest, with its 1 percent hook rate (which increased to 2 percent with Shen Xin’s fishing level bonus), did not disappoint. In the end, Shen Xin received five low-level chests, two mid-level chests, and one high-level chest.

Having witnessed the entire process, Xiao-Jie guessed the purpose of the item Shen Xin had attached to her fishing line earlier.

However, what shocked him even more was how Shen Xin managed to catch so many chests without spending much energy. Fishing chests required a lot of stamina, but she only ate a couple of bread slices to replenish her energy reserves at the very end.

Wow, being a farmer sure is a physically demanding profession. Xiao-Jie understood this conceptually, but why did Shen Xin have so much stamina?

Neither of them had upgraded their professions yet, so they were unaware that one’s stamina cap increased with each profession level-up.

Thus, Xiao-Jie’s admiration for Shen Xin reached an all-time high.

Eight treasure chests lay before them. Shen Xin started opening them from the low-level chest.

Wood x 50, stone x 30, hay x 30, clay x 50, wood x 50.

Iron ore x 5, rubies x 1, copper ore x 10.

And finally, a high-level treasure chest.

Shen Xin eagerly opened the iron chest… and received a scimitar.

Shen Xin had no words. Yes, it was indeed a straight blade that had somehow become curved. “What the hell, this game! Are there no other weapons?!”

Whether it was due to bad luck or the game’s mechanics, two consecutive weapons were both scimitars.

The description for this blade was as aggravating as the last, stating that there was an attack bonus for wielding two scimitars at once… The thought of who they were selling this to was left unsaid. Shen Xin mentally prepared a speech for the vendor before stuffing the blade into his inventory in distaste.

Upon seeing that a weapon had dropped from the chest, Xiao-Jie fell into a daze.

“Fan-ge!” He tugged on the stupefied Fan Qing. “Did you see that? The chest dropped an awesome blade!”

Fan Qing looked at Xiao-Jie, then back at the sky. “I already have the most powerful blade in the world… heartbreak is the sharpest dagger.”

“Snap out of it! This isn’t a heartbreak, it’s a loss of senses!”

“Fuck, what do you mean?!” Fan Qing and Xiao-Jie started bickering, leaving Shen Xin to shake her head in annoyance. She continued casting her line, collecting fish after fish into her backpack.

She had no plans to sell these to Uncle Li. The players and NPCs in town were lacking in food, so she could easily double the price and make a profit. As for the rest that she couldn’t sell, she could always keep them for sustenance; fish, after all, didn’t spoil.

Just as she was about to head back, she took a moment to count the number of fish she’d caught.

Double… If she sold a hundred, she could easily make a thousand silver coins, right?

Wait, was she already this rich?

Then she remembered the prices of animal offspring, and her joy was significantly dampened.

She sighed. “You just can’t celebrate too early in this game.”

At dusk, Jing Yan washed the monster’s blood off himself in the river. He planned to cross the small town and return to his treehouse when he noticed a large crowd of people gathered in one corner of the public square.

“Too expensive, I’d totally pay if you lowered the price.”

Someone was trying to bargain. Jing Yan peeked into the crowd.

Oh? Mr. Shen had taken up a side gig as a street vendor?

Among the crowd, someone complained, “Money’s practically useless now, why are you selling at such a high price?”

The players attempted to bargain, but Shen Xin only shrugged nonchalantly. “If I can’t sell it, I’ll keep it. Either way, it won’t be cheap, so you guys decide.”

Many in the crowd grew both frustrated and anxious, frustrated that Shen Xin wouldn’t budge, anxious because they were already completely out of food.

Although some players had stored quite a few fish during the early days, those who had spent money to upgrade their kitchens had no choice but to sell some for cash. Every day, running out to gather and fish depleted a great deal of stamina; sometimes, they could only manage one or two fish per day. Now, with their stores depleted, the situation was bleak.

“Is she really going to sell?” Jing Yan heard someone whisper next to him, “Let’s wait a bit longer; she’ll lower the price eventually if nobody buys.”

Jing Yan smiled in response, ready to help out his buddy. “Mr. Shen, I—”

But someone else spoke up first. “I’ll take two fish!”

It was Bibi, who squirmed her way into the crowd and asked to trade with Shen Xin.

She grinned sheepishly. “Heh heh, I forcefully dragged a few NPCs to the barber shop, and finally scraped together enough money.”

Upon hearing this, the players turned their heads and noticed the many NPCs in town now donning strange hairstyles.

The expressions on their faces fell blank.

A few seconds of silence later, the crowd empathetically patted the residents of Peach Blossom Town.

With Bibi taking the lead, the rest of the players became even more anxious, whispering amongst themselves.

Jing Yan saw this as an opportunity and was about to speak up again when a boy squeezed into the crowd and shouted, “I’ll take eight.”

“Eight?!” The surrounding players grew even more agitated.

How many fish did the girl have left? Please don’t sell out!

The interrupted Jing Yan now wore a puzzled expression.

Could it be that Mr. Shen already had a plant in the crowd?

Shen Xin glanced at Xiao Feng, knowing he was trying to support her, and after completing the transaction, she gave him a kind smile.

Jing Yan, watching the interaction between the two, suddenly realized that, despite having done business with Mr. Shen countless times, she had never smiled at him like this. An inexplicable competitive instinct was triggered within her. Jing Yan squeezed into the crowd and said in a loud voice, “I’ll take twenty of each kind of fish!”

The players surrounding the stall gasped.

Still unsatisfied with the effect, Jing Yan pretended to drag Shen Xin aside to discuss business. “Mr. Shen, how many fish do you have left? I’ll buy them all, how about we work out a payment plan?”

This line finally did the trick; the players who were still hesitating, afraid that Shen Xin would agree, immediately chimed in.

“Wait! We were here first, sell us ten small fish first!”

“I want one too! Are there any more small ones?”

“I want a medium one…”

The crowd erupted into a clamor, messages of transactions flooding the chat.

However, Shen Xin usually fished at the beach, so she didn’t have many small fish in stock, and the later arrivals had no choice but to purchase medium-sized fish instead. Jing Yan wasn’t satisfied with the amount of fish purchased by the other players; she interjected, trying to buy more herself, and told Shen Xin not to sell to anyone else, inflaming the situation expertly.

After the last player left, Shen Xin had earned 235 silver coins, and still had plenty of medium and large fish in her inventory.

Jing Yan, a major contributor, ran over from the side to claim his credit. “Boss, how was my performance?”

“Pretty good, pretty good,” Shen Xin said. “Is it really a good idea for you to be this close to me? Aren’t you afraid those people will say I’m giving you special treatment?”

“So what if they do, they can’t beat me anyway.”

“True…” Shen Xin finished packing up his things. “Oh right, I caught another weapon. Do you want it?”

“Yes! What kind of weapon is it?”

When Jing Yan saw the identical dagger in the trade window, his lips twitched slightly. “Are there no other types of weapons in this game?”

“I’ve been wondering about that myself.”

Despite his disdain, in order to obtain the bonus from dual-wielding, Jing Yan purchased the dagger, and then sold the random seeds and ore he’d acquired from today’s adventure to Shen Xin.

“There weren’t many ore deposits today, only enough for two copper ingots.”

“Mm-hmm, stone monsters are hard to beat, but with two daggers, we should be able to get more tomorrow.”

“Hard? Are there no weaknesses?”

Jing Yan froze. “What weakness?”

“You know, a fatal weakness that can multiply damage by two or threefold… You didn’t know?” Shen Xin asked, shocked.

Jing Yan fought monsters every day, so how could he have missed this pattern?

“I didn’t know, but please explain in more detail.” Jing Yan led Shen Xin to a quiet corner, and after listening to her explanation, he fell silent.

“… It’s your fault for being too strong,” Shen Xin said. “But what about the stone monsters? Their HP is high; you can’t possibly take them out in one or two hits, right? How did you not notice their weakness?”

Jing Yan remained silent.

“Let me tell you something about the stone monsters,” he said, pulling out his own notebook and drawing a few stone monsters made of piled-up rocks, then adding a stick figure at the monsters’ calves. “They’re this big, and I can only hit their feet or knees. The weak spots must be somewhere near their heads… That’s why I didn’t notice.” Jing Yan put away his notebook, feeling speechless. “Thankfully, I’m working with you now, or who knows how long it would’ve taken me to discover this secret.”

“We’re helping each other out; having you fight more stone monsters will benefit me too.” Shen Xin glanced at the time, preparing to return to the farm. Before leaving, she asked Jing Yan, “Oh, and thank you for your help today. Do you have plans for dinner yet? Do you want to join us for some grilled fish? Um…the ordinary kind.”

“Yes, please!” Jing Yan quickly followed her, recalling the competitive urge that had surged within him earlier. He suddenly felt it was rather silly. What was wrong with laughing? Mr. Shen often invited him over for meals!

On the sixteenth day of spring, all players received a notification at dawn.

【 The general store has been fully renovated, and a new facility, the Notice Board, has been added. The residents of the town (including players) may now post quests on the notice board for other players to complete. 】

Many players were confused by this message.

Upon opening their in-game manuals, they discovered that the “Rebuild Peach Blossom Town” quest’s completion rate had changed from 0% to 10%.

Quite a few players immediately gathered around the general store, which had been given a thorough facelift.

The building was now a two-story wooden structure with an intricately carved signboard and bright decorations… It stood out amongst the dilapidated town’s scenery.

Old He, the owner of the store, held his wife close as tears welled up in his eyes. “We finally… I thought our family business would be ruined under my watch.”

As Old He rambled on emotionally, the NPCs gathered around him clapped and cheered, but the players quickly turned their attention to the notice board outside the general store. They surrounded it, reading the instructions written on it.

【 Notice Board Instructions: 】

【 This notice board is a public property of the town; any vandalism will not be tolerated. 】

【 Each person may only post one quest at a time. Additional quests may be posted once the previous one has been accepted or canceled. 】

【 Please deliver the reward, in either coins or goods, at the time of quest posting. 】

【 A 5 percent commission fee will be deducted from the reward upon completion or cancellation of the quest; for rewards given in goods, the commission fee will be rounded up to the nearest whole number if less than one unit. 】

Stacked neatly beneath the notice board was a pile of quest submission forms. Simply fill out the form and pay the reward, and the quest will automatically be added to the notice board.

Several NPCs had already stepped up to post their quests; players crowded around to take a look.

【 Seeking 2 eels for eel rice—Aunt Zhou, reward: 8 silver coins. 】

【 Wanting a tossed salad with dandelion greens, seeking 5 dandelions—Mayor Wang, reward: 2 silver coins. 】

【 Give me bread!—Carpenter Old Liu, reward: 40 copper coins. 】

“How do we complete these quests? It’s all stuff about food.”

“The rewards seem to be double the original price.”

“Who cares how many times the price is! At this point, who even has extra food?”

Shen Xin, who had a surplus of food, was disturbed by a string of notifications.

【 Congratulations, player! Your favor with Old He has reached ten hearts. Unlocked the “Intimate Friend” achievement. 】

【 Congratulations, player! Your cooking skill level +1. When cooking, there is now a 30% chance that your food quantity will +1. 】

【 Congratulations, player! You have helped complete the construction of the shop. To thank you for your contributions, the intermediary fees listed in the notice board will be deposited into your account every day at 7 P.M. Please take note. 】