10 Join the Farm!

As he approached the barn, Lian noticed an old Spanish man pulling weeds in a vegetable field. The farmer was wearing a cap with some white hair showing, along with plain tattered clothing.

System: *New Farming Task: Join the Farm!*

System: *Task: convince the old man to let you join the farm as a worker.*

System: *Upon completion, user will be rewarded with Farming exp.*

Pleased by this task, Lian grinned. He prepared his Spanish and tried putting on the most mysterious expression possible.

Lian: "Hello!"

The man stopped what he was doing and turned around with a questioning gaze.

Old man: "Who are you? How did you get here?"

Lian: "I am just a wandering youth. I hope to learn the ways of the world. As such, I wish to work in this facility for a short while. Would that be all right? I have some basic experience…"

The man now started looking at Lian more and more suspiciously.

Old man: "What are your real intentions? If you're here to ruin our farm and force us to buy your products then you can fuck off! We already said that we don't want them!"

Lian rolled his eyes.

"It seems like things here are more complicated than they seem to be. I hope that this quest isn't going to be a pain in the ass…"

Lian: "I'm really just here to broaden my horizons!"

Old man: "Do you know how far the walk is to get here from the city? Are you sure this pile of old bones won't beat you?"

"Fuck! I totally forgot about that. This old man's too hard to get along with…"

Lian put on the best crying expression.

Lian: "Please! My legs, oh! I can't walk all the way back! I think I need to stay here to heal for a few weeks. Owww!"

Lian: "I actually have some pretty decent farming skills. You seem like a professional and your abilities are too astounding! Just give me a chance!"

Now, it was the old man's turn to roll his eyes.

Old man: "Okay, okay calm down. If you were those guys you wouldn't stoop so low as to beg. You may have some hidden motives, but I can tell that you don't have any bad intentions."

Old man: "Let me see…I'll give you a month to work here but with no pay. Is that fine?"

After hearing this, Lian didn't care much about having embarrassed himself. The money from here would also be negligible once converted. Instead, he just wanted to finally start some more tasks.

Lian: "Yes! Kind sir, thank you very much! Your magnanimity is-"

Old man: "Stop sucking up! Are all young men from the city such sissies? Sheesh…"

Old man: "Follow me."

Lian shut his mouth and followed the man along the field. After hearing the notification from the system, he was trying hard to hold back his smile.

From this small task, he gained 15k farming exp and shot up directly to level 5 in farming. In doing so, a bulk of new information rushed into his mind. However, he couldn't get too complacent. Such an amount of exp would do nothing for him in the long-term.

Calming himself, Lian decided to spur up conversation with the old man.

Lian: "Hey old man! What's your name?"

Old man: "Is that how you address your elders? Sigh…"

Old man: "You can call me Senor Pablo. What's your name young man…?

Continuing their chat, Lian began to have a better understanding of this area. In total, the farm was around 1700 acres wide (6.9 km2), and had many facilities. Most of the livestock lived in the main barn. Within that area, chickens, cows, goats, horses, and sheep could be found.

The chickens always lived in their own feeding area, but the other livestock tended to wander around the fields during the day. Other than the cows who tended to sleep outside in enclosed fields except for bad weather days, the others had their own stalls and feeding areas within the barn.

Out in the fields, there was an assortment of plants. Vegetables such radishes and carrots were being grown; along with vast fields dedicated solely for planting rice. Among a few of the trees, figs and oranges could be spotted. Senor Pablo glossed over the storage process since machines needed to be used.

Regarding the living areas, they were quite close to the barn. Inside the many large houses was a large population of residents. Among them were originally rural families, orphans, and some reclusive families or individuals who used to live in the city.

Most of the kids were homeschooled with the adults either in charge of livestock, fields, storage, or other aspects of management. Senor Pablo was known as an experienced elder of the farm and helped with managing the place; though he still didn't slack with his farm work.

Once they arrived close to the houses, many residents were conversing as they curiously looked at Lian. After a while, Senor Pablo stopped at a mid-sized house. He knocked on the door.

Random voice: "Who is it?"

Senor Pablo: "Antonio, it's me! Open the door. Quickly! I have a new recruit."

Random voice: "Ahh! It's Senor Pablo. Sorry, I'll open the door right away!"

A creak sounded as a tall muscular black-haired young man with dark circles underneath his eyes appeared.

Senor Pablo: "As you can see beside me, this young man from the city will be joining you guys to work for about a month. Find him a room and don't overwork him too hard…haha!"

Antonio: "Yes sir! No problem."

Once Lian followed Antonio into the house, Senor Pablo left.

Senor Pablo murmuring: "This child definitely seems problematic. I hope that he doesn't cause too much of a ruckus…"