My Pokémon Story of Seasons

"It seems the effects of the increased production capacity have ended."

Tong Hua looked at the wooden fence she had worked so hard to repair, only to find it was only of E-grade quality. Looking at the evaluation on the panel, she felt a little helpless.

After all, he had absolutely no background in woodworking; he might be able to handle something like building blocks.

Trying to learn and master a skill from scratch is incredibly difficult.

Compared to going from 0 to 1, it is indeed easier to go from 1 to 100.

"After I finish the spring planting today, I definitely need to go to the carpentry shop tomorrow!"

With that in mind, Tong Hua decided to waste no more time and returned to the cabin with the remaining tools. He then took out the bags of seeds and planting notes left by the village chief and began to read them.

The notebook is thick, and the cover is made of leather, making it look quite old.

According to the old village chief, this notebook was written by his granddaughter, and it is estimated that it was a notebook he took when he was teaching his granddaughter.

As soon as she opened the notebook, Tong Hua immediately sensed the care and attention the original owner had put into it.

"Grandpa said that the land is honest. You will get just as much back as you put in your sweat."

The inscription on the title page was written in neat, clean handwriting.

The signature at the bottom reads in large letters: Jessica.

The first page of the notebook was clearly added later, with a table of contents divided into four sections according to the four seasons. At the end of the notebook, there was also a copy of a blank calendar with the latest dates.

Tong Hua flipped directly to the spring section and saw a lot of information about spring crops.

Potatoes, cabbage, parsnip, cauliflower, rhubarb...

Each crop is described with detailed illustrations and text, from seed to every stage after planting. It doesn't feel like a notebook, but rather like a well-made illustrated hand-drawn book sold in a bookstore.

It even lists the market price of each crop seed and crop, as well as key points and tips for various planting periods. It truly deserves to be called a professional textbook.

"Potato seeds are called seed potatoes. The purchase price is 300 Union Coins per kilogram, the average yield is 20 kilograms, and the market purchase price is 150 Union Coins per kilogram."

"The profit margin is so high!"

Roughly calculated, the principal has increased tenfold! However, Tong Hua himself knows that the yield data recorded in the notes must be something that only experienced old farmers could produce.

For a complete novice like me who has never farmed before, just managing to keep the potatoes from dying is a victory in itself.

Tong Hua rummaged through the tangle of potatoes and found a bag of seed potatoes, then compared it with the illustrations in her notes.

It's exactly the same; the drawing skills are truly remarkable!

"Besides potatoes, it seems the village chief also mentioned another crop... was it cabbage?"

Tong Hua then looked at the introduction of cabbage. Cabbage is a crop that can be planted in both spring and winter. Generally, spring cabbage is smaller, but it tastes crisp and sweet.

Cabbage seeds are sold by the package, with an average of nearly a thousand seeds per package, priced at 500 Union Coins. Mature cabbage is purchased at the market for 50 Union Coins per kilogram.

Based on the germination rate, with good luck, about half of the cabbages will survive and be harvested. Assuming each cabbage plant weighs an average of one kilogram, the final profit from a packet of seeds would be approximately…

50 times!

Even more outrageous than potatoes!

"Of course, you can't calculate it that way... After all, the cost of planting isn't just the seeds. The various fertilizers and labor costs during the planting process, and most importantly, the land costs, make up the majority."

Tong Hua was clear-headed. If you really want to calculate it, the money the original owner spent on buying this ranch should also be included in the cost of farming. Thinking about it that way, it doesn't seem so exaggerated.

"However, ultimately I'm not the one paying for it. I can still consider this ranch as having zero cost!"

Thinking of this, Tong Hua instantly perked up and walked out of the wooden house with two bags of seeds and farming tools.

Several Pokémon were still busy in the fields. After resting, Worm woke up, checked where else it could be helped, and then went to clear the irrigation ditches in the ranch.

The field is now about half an acre in size, with roughly twelve vegetable plots, which is about the limit that Tong Hua can currently cultivate.

If the area were any larger, even setting aside the question of whether it would be possible to cultivate the land successfully, just watering such a large area every day would take a very long time. Furthermore, the ranch doesn't have running water, so they'll have to use pumps and sprinklers for irrigation in the future…

"In short, let's plant them first."

The notes said that potatoes can be planted directly on newly reclaimed land. In that case, let's plant more potatoes and less cabbage.

Tong Hua immediately got busy, and the little ones also came to help.

"Game!" Grass Turtle was still the most sensible one, using the vine whip faster than Tong Hua could plant the seeds by hand.

Sweet Bamboo is responsible for jumping up and then slamming down to dig a hole, then Grass Turtle buries the seeds in the hole, and finally Foam Squirrel covers the soil with its tail.

The three Pokémon worked together to create a perfect seeding production line.

Tong Hua smiled as he watched the three little guys line up to farm, only regretting that he didn't have a phone. If this were his previous life, he would definitely have filmed this scene and uploaded it online for his silly netizens to see.

"Not bad! Well done!"

Tong Hua couldn't help but squat down and pat the head of the grass turtle, and then gently pat the foam squirrel and the sweet bamboo.

After being praised, the three Pokémon became even more motivated, especially Baskin, who jumped around excitedly and almost fell off the vegetable patch.

"Be careful," Tong Hua said with a smile as she hugged Tian Zhuzhu.

With the help of the Pokémon, the planting was much faster than Tong Hua had expected. In less than two hours, the half-acre field was neatly divided into north and south sections.

The north side was planted with potatoes, while a small patch of land near the wooden house on the south side was planted with cabbages.

"Next, it's time to water them."

Tong Hua painstakingly drew several buckets of well water from the well, along with the rice water he had collected while making curry rice at noon, and irrigated the fields.

After a while, the sun gradually set in the west, and the sunset enveloped the earth.

Even with the help of the Pokémon, watering the plants still took a lot of Tong Hua's energy...

Tong Hua wiped the sweat from his forehead and straightened his aching back. He thought to himself that he had to solve the irrigation problem as soon as possible, otherwise, if the fields were to expand further, the sheer amount of watering would wear him out.

"When I go to the carpentry shop tomorrow, I should ask if they have any ideas on how to install automatic irrigation systems..."

Having almost finished all her tasks for the day, Tong Hua is now preparing to cook.

"I can't take it anymore, I'm just too tired today... I'll just make something simple for tonight..."

Considering that there was still half a bowl of rice left over from lunch, plus the 20 liters of nutritious Moo Moo milk from the morning, Tong Hua immediately decided to cook a pot of milk porridge.

Use milk porridge as a base for hot pot!

Tong Hua rubbed her sore shoulders as she walked into the kitchen and quickly started cooking a pot of porridge.

The ingredients for hot pot are naturally a variety of vegetables, fruits, and meats purchased today, as well as fruits picked from the orchard.

However, because milk is added to the porridge base, it should be avoided to eat it with vinegary ingredients such as tomatoes to prevent adverse reactions.

"Speaking of which, I wonder if these berries will react with the milk? The berries in the Pokémon world are actually quite outrageous; some can even wash away effort values. I guess I'll just not use any berries at all. It's better to be careful."

After carefully selecting the ingredients, Tong Hua chewed on a few peaches, carried a basket of ingredients, and went outside to prepare to make hot pot.

"Fortunately, there is an open-air stove outside the wooden house, which saves a lot of trouble."

Simply place the pot on the stove and put the prepared ingredients aside; that's about it. Finally, Tong Hua lit a fire under the hot pot.

To be honest, this actually does feel a bit like camping.

"It's almost time to eat!"

Tong Hua ran to the back of the cabin and called back the three Pokémon that were still playing. Even Miltank on the meadow heard Tong Hua's call and rolled back.

"Miru~"

Miltank has eaten her fill of hay, but the Pokémon House on the grassland is not yet finished, so she can only live in the cabin with Tong Hua and the others for the time being.

"Huh? It seems like we're missing one person?"

After counting the number of people, Tong Hua looked around and realized that Tuotuo Yin had disappeared without a trace!

"Oh no! Could it be like what Grandpa from Sunshine Ranch said, that we've gotten lost underground?"

Tong Hua quickly took the whistle out of his pocket and started blowing it all over the place!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"