Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 163 - 156: No Pain, No Gain

Putting away the sword sheath, Han Qiwu briefly explored the fiftieth floor. Finding nothing of interest, he took the cable car and left the mine.

Even though he really wanted to go home and rest, with Dragon Heads-Raising Day tomorrow, he decided to sell the gemstones he had tonight to see how much money he could save for the festival.

Han Qiwu looked up at the sky. The sunset was a deep red. He couldn’t help but feel the strong breath of spring in the air. If it were winter, it would already be completely dark by now.

Passing by the wheat field from the Lantern Festival, Han Qiwu noticed four or five wooden poles stuck into the ground and some elderly folks sweeping the ground briskly with large brooms.

Curious, Han Qiwu rode his bike closer and shouted, "Auntie, mind telling me what you’re all doing here?"

"Preparing for an evening party, you’ll see tomorrow! No rush." The auntie replied with a hearty laugh.

"Want me to help sweep?" Seeing that there were still dusty areas around the wheat field, Han Qiwu got off his bike, ready to lend a hand as it was getting dark.

"No need, no need, we’re almost done. Your hands aren’t for manual labor. Go home and have your dinner." The auntie said in her down-to-earth manner, straightening up and waving him off.

Not insisting, Han Qiwu picked up a large broom nearby and began sweeping slowly.

When sweeping the wheat field, one can’t go too fast; sweeping too quickly kicks up too much dust—both choking and counterproductive.

Seeing this, the auntie exchanged a glance with the older man nearby and continued sweeping without saying anything more.

With Han Qiwu joining in, the sweeping finished much faster. In less than ten minutes, the remaining areas of the wheat field were cleaned.

"I remember your surname is Han, right?" The auntie smiled as she approached, handing a wooden pole to Han Qiwu.

Han Qiwu nodded, curiously examining the wooden pole in his hands.

These wooden poles appeared to be specially made. Both ends were cylindrical, while the middle was square. The grip felt particularly smooth, as if it had been used for years.

Hmm, in simple terms, it had developed a natural patina over time.

"Xiao Han, since you’re already here, might as well let me teach you how to ’encircle the granary.’ Once done, this year is bound to bring a bumper harvest." The auntie cheerfully said while gesturing with her wooden pole.

"Alright." Han Qiwu nodded. He had always been interested in this sort of thing.

Seeing his enthusiasm, the auntie became even more animated. She raised her wooden pole and walked towards a designated square area that had been marked off. Unlike the clean wheat field, this area was evenly sprinkled with a layer of ash.

"Xiao Han, what I’m holding isn’t just any ordinary pole. Do you know what this is?"

"What kind of pole?" Han Qiwu perfectly played the role of the curious assistant.

The auntie’s voice suddenly grew louder as she briskly ran to the outermost edge of the square, lowered the pole until its bottom was near the ground, and began circling around the central point.

"Remember! This is the Dragon Coil Pole!"

With this simple declaration, she shouted with the dramatic flair of a stage actor!

Clearly, this auntie was no ordinary person.

Han Qiwu: "...Impressive indeed."

The most impressive part was still to come.

In a matter of mere seconds, the auntie used the Dragon Coil Pole to draw a perfect, large circle.

"Second loop!"

After completing the first large circle, the auntie didn’t pause. She shouted again and continued drawing.

"Third loop!"

"Fourth loop!"

She drew seven concentric circles in total before finally stopping, sitting down nearby to rest with the Dragon Coil Pole.

Han Qiwu was dumbstruck, walking closer to carefully inspect the seven large circles.

The seven circles shared the same center, with identical radii differences.

Each circle was perfectly symmetrical, with no deviations, and even the spacing was uniform.

Auntie, were you a compass in a past life?

The last time I saw such skill was back in math class.

"Auntie, you’re incredible! What should I call you?" Han Qiwu gave an admiring thumbs-up.

"Just call me Aunt Yuan." Aunt Yuan said proudly, pointing to the Dragon Coil Pole in Han Qiwu’s hands. "You try it out too."

Wait, her last name is really Yuan?

But Han Qiwu hesitated to try.

A person needs to know their limits.

If he tried, he wouldn’t be helping—he’d be causing trouble.

"Aunt Yuan, I’d better not mess it up."

Aunt Yuan, hearing this, immediately became displeased. She grabbed his wrist with the grip of someone who had raised chickens her whole life and dragged him to the center of the circles.

"Young man, you’ve got to have confidence in yourself. Everyone starts from square one. Even if you don’t need this skill, drawing a circle for good luck is always worthwhile." Aunt Yuan guided his wrist, helping him draw a small circle near the center.

With Aunt Yuan’s help, Han Qiwu realized that circle-drawing wasn’t as difficult as he thought. It was just a matter of controlling force and speed.

Soon, Han Qiwu finished drawing a small circle. Although not as flawless as Aunt Yuan’s effortless creations, at least it was passable without any major flaws.

"You’ve got potential!"

Aunt Yuan looked pleasantly surprised and proceeded to help him draw three more circles.

Looking at the four circles beneath his feet, Han Qiwu felt a sense of accomplishment.

This was actually kind of fun.

Aunt Yuan gave Han Qiwu a satisfied once-over. "If only I’d met you decades ago, I’d have taken you everywhere to encircle granaries. By the end of the day, you’d have earned enough to fund half a wedding."

Han Qiwu: "...Guess I came too late."

Taking another look at the eleven circles, Han Qiwu curiously asked, "Aunt Yuan, how did you master this skill?"

Aunt Yuan gave a mysterious smile. She set down the Dragon Coil Pole, raised her arms in the air, and performed a playful "old mischievous master" trick:

Her left hand drew a circle, and her right hand drew a square!

Han Qiwu’s eyes widened.

What’s going on here?

Ambidextrous arts?

Seeing his stunned expression, Aunt Yuan chuckled with satisfaction. "I learned it from watching TV when I was young. Don’t be fooled by how easy I make it look—I practiced for over ten years to get it right."

Still, that’s pretty amazing.

Han Qiwu instinctively gave it a try.

Hmm, both hands drew circles instead.

Same result as last time he tried.

"Alright, alright, stop teasing the youngster. The work’s done; let’s pile the grain." The old man nearby called out.

"Got it." Aunt Yuan waved her hand and hoisted a few sacks of grain off a cart, handing them to Han Qiwu. "Xiao Han, put these in the center."

"Okay." Han Qiwu easily carried two large sacks of grain and placed them in the center of the encircled granary.

After playing farming simulation games for a month, Han Qiwu’s physical fitness had improved significantly.

"Looking at your build, you’d probably do well in farming. What a pity." Aunt Yuan commented wistfully, carrying a bag of corn to the granary.

"Granary circling—the tradition is to circle an odd number, never even. Customs vary every three villages, and regulations change every ten. Each family has its own method." Aunt Yuan explained as she worked, "Once the grain is placed in the granary, you take it back after Dragon Heads-Raising Day. Grain infused with dragon energy will bring a bumper harvest to the family."

Han Qiwu nodded and continued moving wheat sacks.

After a few minutes.

A high granary pile stood completed.

"Thanks for your help! Want to come over to Aunt Yuan’s house for some food tonight?" Aunt Yuan warmly invited him.

"No need, Aunt Yuan, I still have plans tonight. You all should go eat soon." Han Qiwu politely declined with a wave of his hand.

"Alright then, come by another time if you’re free." Aunt Yuan didn’t press, pulling a handful of leafy greens from her basket and placing them in Han Qiwu’s bike basket before hopping onto a van and driving off.

[You’ve learned ’Encircle the Granary’ from Yuan Gui]

[Encircle the Granary: A traditional custom for Dragon Heads-Raising Day. Completing it will boost crop yields on your property.]

[Note: This skill can only be used on Dragon Heads-Raising Day.]

Just as Han Qiwu got on his bike, he received an unexpected surprise.

This is how you can learn skills?!

Good deeds indeed bring rewards!

He decided to try it first thing tomorrow morning.

By the time he rode to the blacksmith shop, it was completely dark.

Han Qiwu was a bit worried it might be closed, so he quickly ran up and knocked on the door after parking his bike.

"What’s the rush?" Master Shuzi opened the door and asked.

Han Qiwu grinned widely. "It’s nothing, just here to sell some stuff."

Walking inside, Han Qiwu pulled out all the gemstones he had, including jadeites and ground crystals, and placed them on the counter.

There were so many that by the end, the counter couldn’t hold it all, and he had to use a nearby box.

"Kid, did you blow up a gemstone mine?" Master Shuzi joked with a laugh.

Han Qiwu chuckled but said nothing, pushing the box forward with both hands.

All in, let’s go!

No, no, wrong line—I’m not in a gambling movie.

I’m selling it all.

Master Shuzi gave a small smile, tapping a section of the counter with his finger.

"Click click click."

As the sound of gears turning echoed, the counter split in two down the middle to reveal a deep chute. On either side of the chute were two wooden claws, which began to slowly open.

Once fully open, the wooden claws gathered all the gemstones and dumped them into the chute, then returned to their resting position. The chute slid back down, and the counter closed up again.

So it’s fully automated, huh.

Impressive, indeed.

Han Qiwu clasped his hands in respect and quietly waited for the transaction to finish.

[Through this transaction, you’ve earned 13,520 gold.]

Time to cash in.

Tomorrow, I’m definitely going to buy lots of nice things!

Hopefully, I’ll find some stamina potions!

Dragon Heads-Raising Day might even have something like dragon’s blood elixirs!

It doesn’t hurt to dream a little, right?

"Alright, if there’s nothing else, head home. I need to rest too." After taking care of the transaction, Master Shuzi ushered him toward the door, waving him off as he headed back into his forging room.

"Okay, thank you, Master." Han Qiwu clasped his hands in thanks, taking two steps back.

"Tap, tap."

Time to head out!

Checking the time, Han Qiwu realized he still had some left, so he decided to head to the secret realm to catch some fish and retrieve today’s crab traps.

Nothing beats the taste of mantis shrimp.

Once he arrived at the secret realm, the first thing he heard was bad news.

[Remaining time for today: 0.5 hours]

Forget fishing—better hurry and grab the crab traps.

Han Qiwu had no interest in testing the consequences of overstaying.

It’d be a hassle if it disrupted the festivities.