Farming Together Chapter 162: Catch the strong man.

Chapter 162: Catch the strong man.

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

Twelve noon. Intermittent whimpering and swallowing sounds came from the dining room of Bai Li’s small villa.

“Oooh, this pig’s foot! Why is it so soft and tender and chewy? It’s not like I haven’t chewed the real pig’s feet. They’re hard and fishy, and the meat is dry. Even if the advertising and publicity says that it should be eaten often to increase the muscle strength of Therian, I didn’t dare eat it a second time. That kind of a pig’s foot also cost me a whole 500 star coins, now eating this…if you went out to sell this at 5,000 star coins people would want it!”

“Ho, ho, ho! This spicy chicken! The spicy taste is really strong, spicy and cool, but the chicken is tender. If you eat it carefully the juice seems to burst out. Who made this dish, ah? Really awesome!”

“The three kinds of vegetables are also good, you can eat several kinds of vegetables at the same time, eggplant, green pepper, potatoes, and each kind is super delicious! Why do I feel the urge to cry when it’s an ordinary home-cooked dish?”

“And this winter melon soup! It’s so good, the essence is all in the soup, if it wasn’t for the three other people, I could drink the whole bowl by myself!”

“…”

Tang Ying was like he’d been possessed by Wen Chen. He put real effort into being a food taster, describing his feelings in detail as he ate a dish. All the while, he was eating and talking, and the whole process of busily eating simply couldn’t stop. Also, while he was in the game, he’d opened Food Baskets a lot of times, otherwise that screen full of praise would have been “crap this delicious,” “crap this also delicious,” “Damn slot slot slot this was also too delicious, bah!” over and over.

Considering that Tang Ying was the first to eat such delicious food in reality, Bai Li and Wen XingYao didn’t stop him from doing it. Instead, they took their “food without words” to the extreme, and left him alone on the big stage of food to show his surging mood.

At the end of the meal, his plate was as clean as if it had been licked, and there wasn‘t a drop of soup left in the soup bowl. Tang Ying couldn’t hold back. He covered his mouth and burped, which he thought was full of the aroma of the food and smelled intoxicating.

The next step was digestion time. The brain that had been thrown out during the meal automatically returned to its original position, and blushing emotions finally found Tang Ying. His gentle face turned into a monkey’s butt, Tang Ying tried to hold back the shame to save his own honor. “Uh…I wasn’t like this before, it’s mainly because these dishes taste so good.” As he spoke, he felt something was wrong. His mind clicked, and he blinked a few times as his intelligence came back, “No…Those ingredients in reality were tasty? How did you bring out such food, where the taste is so fresh and natural, and the game…it’s more real than the game’s food when it can give people such feelings? Can it be that the Imperial Research Institute invented an object that can materialize game food when I didn’t know?” Tang Ying asked in a joking tone.

After he said that, he found that both of them looked at him with a kind of astonished look. It felt like they were looking at a fool’s eyes.

Even the fox cub, who was in his infancy and didn’t have much thinking ability yet, also tilted his head towards him, with a dumbfounded curiosity in his fox eyes.

Tang Ying, “…”

“Haha!” Bai Li smiled to break the awkward atmosphere, and pulled out his all-purpose reason to explain, “Although most of the natural ingredients in reality are tasteless, there are still a small number of tasty ones. The ingredients in my hand were sent to me by a friend. All of them have flavor, and with Wen XingYao’s handicraft, you will get the illusion that this is the food in the game when you eat it.”

The current world was extraordinarily concerned about personal privacy, and the Interstellar’s courier industry was particularly well-developed, so whatever was sent can be 100% hidden and secure. Bai Li wasn’t at all worried that he would find anything wrong with his words. Even if Tang Ying did find something good, as long as he already ate the food, who could say anything about him?

Bai Li was explaining seriously, while Tang Ying’s concern was…

“What! These dishes were actually made by XingYao? Oops! How could this be nice…” He rubbed his hands in excitement, and looked like he was no longer obsessed with the source of natural food.

Wen XingYao knew it was going to be a disaster when he heard Bai Li say that, and sure enough, Tang Ying couldn’t help but express his embarrassment after hearing it. He occasionally wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, as he pretended to hold back tears, moved beyond words.

Wen XingYao, “…If you have nothing to do, help pull up the grass in the yard.”

After he heard Wen XingYao’s words, Bai Li thought, Fortunately the other party was from the future world. Otherwise this time would be for Tang Ying to pick up the dung for the whole village.

Having once again heard the yard mentioned, and then remembering the usefulness of the soil in the yard, Tang Ying found another point and excitedly asked, “Bai Li, you are growing vegetables in the yard, right?”

Obviously, the “vegetables” in his words meant “used for cooking.” The inference was in accordance with the meal eaten at noon today.

“Of course. We’ve already harvested a batch of cabbage. It’s not too large, but it tastes sweet and delicious. We finished it two days ago.” Bai Li gave Tang Ying an approving look. “As for the ones planted in the yard…Most of them just sprouted because they’ve only just been planted. However, the yard is big enough for me to plant a dozen kinds of vegetables in it, so when they grow up, if you want to eat them, I can send you some.”

Tang Ying completely forgot about the fact that they had only met for the first time in reality, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Sure, sure! I’ll take it then. If you need my help with anything, just mention it, and I will help if I can. If I can’t, there’s XingYao, who can definitely keep you safe and sound.”

Bai Li laughed, “I’m just an ordinary person. How could I need your help? Besides, what problems could I encounter? I can solve some minor troubles on the spot.”

Wen XingYao said from the side, “It’s okay. We can solve anything together. We can’t eat so much of your food for nothing.”

He also remembered that Bai Li and Tang Ying used the word “you” when they said they would send a little over. This “you” would not include him, right?

“Hey, yes, there is one thing I almost forgot to say,” Tang Ying said, as he held his stomach. “The Imperial Research Institute has completed the testing of all the new online virtual reality games this year. The results are also out, and will be announced tomorrow at 12:00 exactly on the Starnet. Guess where Carefree Farmstead is ranked?”

Wen XingYao, “Number one.”

Bai Li, “Number one, right?”

The former was a calm declarative sentence, the latter was a question with a bit of hesitation, but both pointed to the same goal. In general, if not for their absolute confidence, this result wouldn’t have occurred.

Tang Ying applauded both of them, and congratulated them on their correct guesses. “Who would have thought that the most successful Spiritual Pacification Estimate, that is Carefree Farmstead, would reach a rare 90%? I heard that when the results came out, the dean and several vice presidents went out together and re-tested the results several times before they would accept the facts, and then almost had a party in the hospital from joy.”

“Spiritual Pacification Estimate?” It was a term Bai Li hadn’t heard before.

Wen XingYao explained to him, “Simply put, it is the ability to relieve the Genetic Collapse Disorder. If this were a game with no limit on the number of people, the game would be overcrowded as soon as the test results were released.”

Unfortunately, this was a game that had only been online for two months, and the number of people at the very beginning was only a mere 500. Even if the player capacity had now reached one million, the gap was huge compared to the number of Therians across the Empire who were stricken with Genetic Collapse Disorder.

The game was now opened up to 200 villages of 5,000 people under the game developer’s setting, and at the moment those villages were still in a state of being built, so it was unlikely that the number of players would continue to increase in the villages when they were not yet on track.

What else could they do? They could only take their time. They were still participating in the game contest and not able to accept third-party capital injection.

Anyway, Bai Li understood. It meant that the game he made was very powerful. He thought about it. Carefree Farmstead was a farming game that first showed up in front of the Interstellar people, and attracted their attention at the first moment. In the process of designing the game he had integrated his grass and wood clear spirit, so that players would feel that the air in the game was fresher at the same time. That small amount of grass and wood clear spirit was now changing their bodies in a subtle way.

The effect might not be as obvious as with Wen XingYao, after all, he got the concentrated essence, but the changes were definitely there, as evidenced by the medical reports posted in the game forum. At that time, he had been thinking that the fusion of the grass and wood clear spirit into the game could increase its competitiveness a little, but he hadn’t expected it to hit exactly the right spot. The two goals had achieved each other.

The special and interesting gameplay, coupled with the real and effective effect, was the basis for Carefree Farmstead becoming number one in the test.

Bai Li was very satisfied with the result. The players’ health would become better, and he also got more faith power. This was a proper win-win situation.

“How about it, Bai Li? Is it exciting to know this result?” Tang Ying asked.

Bai Li nodded honestly. He was indeed very happy. Still it wasn’t as exaggerated as Tang Ying implied. He would try to treat it with a calm heart. What he was worried about now was that when the results were announced the next day, he would be faced with another round of “escalation.”

As they discussed that, the trio’s position had shifted from the dining room to the courtyard. As he looked at the lush scene in front of them, Tang Ying for once shut his mouth and closed his eyes to enjoy this inexplicably moving scene.

Bai Li saw that he seemed very interested, and silently added the seeds of various vegetables to his family’s list of “local specialties,” so that when Tang Ying and Wen XingYao left, they could take some with them, then to plant them for themselves.

His heart didn’t feel that parting sorrow. After all, he and Wen XingYao would see each other in the game since they were neighbors, and every day he could open the door and still see that relationship. Even with a different face, they had used them so long he was used to it. Besides, now that travel was so convenient, if he wanted to meet with people in reality, an airship would do. Especially since now he wasn’t short of money…

Until the afternoon, when Fox One and Fox Two came back to the door, Wen XingYao and Tang Ying didn’t talk about the topic of when to leave again.

On the contrary, Tang Ying was in the yard weeding.

While Bai Li nurtured those vegetables, a little bit of grass and wood clear spirit energy leaked out and was absorbed by the weeds, so although he remembered to pull out the newly grown weeds every day, because of limited manpower, some corners couldn’t be taken care of.

Tang Ying was different. He buried his head in the hard work, and he could still spare energy to say, “Unfortunately, these vegetables aren’t like in the game. There, in a few short hours, or as long as a dozen hours, they will be ripe. At the thought that they have to grow in the soil for months, I am heartbroken.” How many opportunities to enjoy the food must have been missed!

Bai Li heard Tang Ying say that as he ran his mouth but didn’t respond to what he said. After all, it was the truth. The game was a game, reality was reality.

After Fox One and Fox Two came over, he gave them a more detailed description of their Patriarch, that was, the black fox cub, Zhu MoLing’s treatment. At morning, noon and night, three times a day he would be taken into the virtual reality game Carefree Farmstead, accompanied by three meals a day of grass and wood clear spirit energy. With the combination of the two, he was relaxed, and didn’t believe that their Patriarch’s recovery wouldn’t come.

After all, that was how Wen XingYao came all the way through, and the number of times he was fed then was not as frequent as it was today.

To this end, Bai Li deliberately showed the two his initial results. “When your Patriarch first arrived, he couldn’t understand human language at all, and was just like a newborn cub. But now, he can already understand human language, and his mind is much more flexible. Look at how his eyes turn, how smart!”

At his side, the fox cub was very cooperative. He followed along with his eyes and grunted a few times.

Fox One and Fox Two were still in a trance. How come from the outside this was a very serious condition, but to Mr. Bai, it became a small matter that was so easily handled? Could the Patriarch’s Genetic Collapse Disorder really be treated so he would recover?

How could they believe this!

However, they listened to him, as Admiral Wen XingYao seemed to have recovered through this method. With a living example in front of their eyes, they couldn’t help but believe.

Bai Li saw that they still had doubts on their faces, thought about it and proposed, “I see you guys don’t seem to be really convinced. How about this? I still have extra game slots here. I’ll send you two, so you can have time to go into the game, experience it, and see if I’m right?”

Tang Ying echoed his words, “Yes, yes. You also go into the game and see it. I can guarantee that once you enter the game and play with your heart for an hour or two, all doubts will be dispelled. But my suggestion is that before you play, you browse around in the game forum of  the Holographic Game Design Competition. Search for Carefree Farmstead and read some of the newbie tips, so it will be easier to get started. Hey, it’s really cheap for you two, if those two game spots were out there, I don’t know how crazy people would be for them.”

He didn’t stop Bai Li from giving the game quotas away. According to his beliefs, those quotas belonged exclusively to Bai Li, the game developer, and he could do whatever he wanted with them, without anyone else having a say.

It was the same as the 190,000 game quotas they got for the military department. If someone had come forward to prevent Bai Li from selling these quotas, Bai Li wouldn’t have agreed, right?

In fact, before they came back that afternoon, Fox One and Fox Two had checked the Carefree Farmstead information. It was only that due to the lack of time, they were still in a half-understood state. Therefore, when Bai Li said he was going to give them two game slots, they didn’t have the strong understanding that “these slots are worth a lot of money.” They nodded subconsciously and then bound the two slots under Bai Li’s operation.

“Thank you, Mr. Bai.”

“You’re welcome.”

As he watched the whole process, Wen XingYao’s eyes were slightly dark, and now he had a strange feeling. With Bai Li’s actions towards Zhu MoLing, and even the two people there that he’d just met that day, he seemed to have a kind of great tolerance. He was unconsciously good to them, and didn’t ask for any return in kind.

However, that may just be Bai Li’s character. As long as something didn’t threaten his personal safety, he always behaved extra generously.

The fox cub was a little sleepy after it ate. It squinted in Bai Li’s arms, then used his big fluffy tail to cover his head, as he tried to create a suitable atmosphere for a nap. Bai Li saw it, so he took him back to his room and let him take a nap.

As for the others…

Bai Li greeted the others and sat them down in the living room with a kind smile. “Haha! You’re just in time. I’m short of staff for something, so come and help me!”

“What is it?” Wen XingYao was the first to respond.

Bai Li then briefly explained what he was going to do that afternoon. He had previously posted a recruitment for game anchors on the Starblog, and figured that all those who intended to sign up should have signed up by now, so he decided to screen a wave of them.

The result was that when he opened the developer’s background screen, he found that the applications were like snowflakes and they almost overwhelmed him.

If he was alone, it was likely that he wouldn’t be able to sift through them in a month.

He was distressed when Tang Ying, Fox One and Fox Two came to the door one after another. Together with Wen XingYao who was already around, that made five people. At the same time, the appearance of Fox One and Fox Two also gave him new inspiration. He could also bring in Mo Song who had been live for more than a month. One more person was one more strength, and he believed he would soon be able to confirm the new anchor candidates.

When Bai Li said that, Fox One and Fox Two were dumbfounded.

They looked at Bai Li with difficult expressions and said, “But we don’t know anything about the game, and we don’t know what content is suitable for live broadcast in the game, so how can we help?”

Don’t let them help instead of volunteering to help.

Bai Li said it didn’t matter if they didn’t know much, they could do the initial screening work. They could exclude those who had obviously come to post a joke application, and then for the remaining applications just look for things that piqued their own interest; feel the fun of where additional live content could be placed.

Bai Li also has his own reasons for this arrangement. “You should have seen other games’ live streams, right? The content needed in the game broadcast is content that even people who have never played games before will be interested in!”

He didn’t want the selected collaborators to broadcast in the same way as Mo Song, with more of the same type of content. It would be bad for the anchors to form internal groups not to mention that the audience will get bored of watching too much of the same thing.

The money we have to earn together happily wasn’t good?

The words were rough, but his explanation could be said to be deeply popular. It was quickly accepted by Fox One and Fox Two. They looked at each other, and immediately said they were willing to help with this favor, and when the time came they would certainly do a good job.

“Mn. Let’s all work together. I’ll treat you all to a delicious meal after we finish,” Bai Li opened his mouth and promised.

Bai Li, who was busy contacting Mo Song in his address book, didn’t notice that his promise got a big reaction. Fox One and Fox Two’s eyes glowed, and they quietly swallowed hard. That “delicious.” Was it the kind of “delicious” they wanted?

Wen XingYao looked at the pair’s reaction and knew that they had long been aware of the Bai Li family’s meal anomalies. They were greedy, that was for sure, but they didn’t have any impulse to express it out loud. Perhaps it was because their Patriarch was in Bai Li’s hands?

Not long after that, Bai Li, Mo Song, Song Xinran, Jiang Huaibi, Wen Chen and Zheng Yi had all agreed. Together with the other people present, a total of ten people directly open a discussion group.

Then, Bai Li temporarily set them as the administrators of the game’s official website, and gave them permission to view the registration information of the game’s anchors. Tang Ying, Fox One and Fox Two had a lower permission level, limiting them to giving those applicants a preliminary selection while the five anchors were responsible for the review, and Bai Li and Wen XingYao were responsible for the final selection.

When he made the arrangement, Bai Li didn’t think that there was anything wrong with it. It was just that he and Wen XingYao were the closest, so they could communicate face-to-face about the results, which was more convenient.

But to the others, the thoughts in their hearts were much more interesting.

Mo Song, Wen Chen and Zheng Yi reacted the least, and just said that the relationship between those two big brothers was really as good as the forum said. The two of them were the only ones who had such a good relationship with each other. They were so sad.

Tang Ying looked up at the face of the reserved Wen XingYao, and his heart was frightened, while through his brain floated an ill-timed speculation. What was the relationship between these two?