It's not the earth as we know it

It's like the clouds parted, to give the view of a clear sky.

Like you are watching the most interesting drama with unexpected plots, to ultimately find the exact same cliché as a thousand other dramas.

Dang it.. She should have known from the beginning. It irked her since the moment she met aunt and uncle Fa. They both are too pretty, too handsome and too regal for a country side. She is not being biased against country folks, but let's face it guys. It's a simple trait cultivated by gene selection. Even if the first emperor is ugly, if all his wives are pretty, his children only have half pretty genes. If all the children married pretty wives, and the generations repeated with same conditions, before you know it, all the family would be incredibly pretty, tall and thin.

This kind of beauty could not be found in simple countryside. If it were to be, then they are snatched up and sent up to the emperor. Damn… she is getting side tracked again. Regardless, the moment she has seen MoQiu's family, her Spidey senses tingled. Lo, and behold! She is damn right.

Only …

What can she do now?

When she first received her blessing, Jiushu did not know that there are so many caveats involved in having such a blessing. Hells, she thought she was unique to this world, so she even had plans to behave carefully so as not to crash the economy… She thought she would be like her ancestors, a single horse and her, roaming the wide world. However, she knows better now. It's not possible.

If the few days with MoQiu and Uncle Fa taught her anything, it's that she is no match for warriors of this world. If a person wanted to steal her blessing, and let an arrow fly, she would have no time to hide in her little bangle. She looks like a girl half on her way to become a woman. Let's face it, the world is not very kind to young and pretty girls travelling alone in the modern world, much less in this ancient world where anyone could get away with anything. If she goes down this path, there are far too many reasons not to separate with Uncle and Aunt Fa.

However, now she knows, it's the determination to fight to death that she is seeing in MoQiu's parents. They tried laying low, being unobtrusive. It did not work. Now the only choice they have is to struggle to death. Jiushu knew it would be a struggle to death. If the opponent's resources were enough to banish them to the countryside in the first place, they would be more than enough to squash them to death like bugs now.

She's not the coward in the crowd who looks away disinterestedly, neither is she the volunteer who walks for breast cancer. Yes, she wants to punish the guy who strangled Xiao Xing, but she knows it's not possible to do it any time soon. She needs an intelligence network, an assassin's association and a secret army. All of which are going to need money, more importantly, time.

Guess she would be farming nonstop for a really long time.

On that note, she should return to the farm space to harvest. She planted rice as soon as she finished harvesting cucumbers in the morning. The field should have been empty for a long time. Jiushu returned to the field…

What should she plant? Peas or mix and match vegetables? ..

Let's plant peas later. Jiushu decided. The first task is always to create seeds, and she needs to sit in observation for doing that. Peas, she can plant just fine in the night. There are enough to fill the field. She looked at the vegetable plants.

Bokchoy - half mature.

Needs to be raised for at least three more months.

Egg plant - seedling.

Needs to be raised for at least four more months.

Chinese Broccoli - almost mature.

Needs to be raised for fifteen more days.

Choy sum - seedling

Needs to be raised for at least a month.

Winter melon - adult plant

Ready to produce melons. Harvest lasts for a month and half.

That's quite a number of plants. The system most definitely did not show such a neat explanation before. This must be my latest skill, Jiushu thought. It's wicked good. Only, she has a vague feeling that all these crops needed different kinds of environment to grow in. Is it alright to keep them together?

Ah… who cares. She is growing first season to get seeds. As long as all the plants produce seeds, that is enough for her.

So off she went to the field to plant.

She dug a small hole, and placed bok choy in it.

Planting quality - ten percent.

I am sad it has come to the point even individuals like you are considered farmers these days.

Jiushu was shocked to see the words.

What ..?

Whaaat ?

WHAT ?

Did the system call her inept by any chance? And her planting quality . is atrocious.. ?

.

..

…

Fine… FiNe.. FINE.. she will replant it. Alright? It's not like the plant is going to die just because the planting quality is low.

Jiushu removed the plant, made a deep enough hole for the roots to sit comfortably. Then she filled the hole slowly, letting earth settle naturally around the roots.

Planting quality - sixty percent.

At least you don't have air in between your ear holes.

Jiushu reached to pull the plant out, only for the words to show up again.

A plant can only be planted twice. The plant will die if you pull it out now. Continue? [ Yes ] [ No ]

Fine.. Sixty percent it is.

She chose an area two meters away and dug deep enough pit for eggplant. She set the root, and made sure that the edge is touching earth without bending. Then she started filling the hole.

Planting Quality - seventy percent.

You can learn to do better.

Jiushu was about to pull, but she decided against it. Seventy percent is good. She will figure this out later.

She planted Chinese broccoli and Yu choy on opposite ends. It is just something she does with leafy greens, given some of them can spread as strong and fast as weeds. She planted winter melon on the opposite side of Bok choy. Gourd somewhere in between. The system scolded her soundly by giving her only sixty percent for the planting, however, she is satisfied with as much for now.

Now, she is going to leave this place be, and forage in the forest.

She had enough vegetables, but she had no fruits. The fruit trees are supposed to grow in abundance in the mountains, yet she has not encountered any till now. If she doesn't encounter any on the path to the next village, she is going to conclude fruit trees in forests is a myth propagated by anime.

Now that her work in the field is complete, she took a leisurely look around her space. The hut is as usual… the pond is the same.. Hmm… she forgot something. What is it?

She looked at each and every fixture in the space slowly, analyzing each and every fixture.. Then it struck her.

The melted metal.. The system said something about converting them to currency.

She chose the smallest piece, retrieved it.

She touched the piece.

Metal quality matches currency. Converting to iron coins.

872 Iron coins added to the treasury.

This is great. She can sit and earn money..

Okay, let's do this. Jiushu hyped herself up.

337 Iron coins added to the treasury.

805 Iron coins added to the treasury.

Then she faced her first ever problem.

Metal quality does not match currency. Store? [ Yes ] [ No ]

Jiushu stored it.

139 Bronze coins added to the treasury.

…

…

…

23 Copper coins added to the treasury.

She retrieved the silver sculptures. She touched them lightly, anticipating converting them to cash.

Store ? [ Yes ][ No ]

…

..

.

What ? she can't make silver currency? … the wind went out of her sails. What's the big deal if she makes hundred thousand iron cons? Their combined value is lower than the silver sculpture she held in her hand. She has the great idea of robbing tombs, fighting bandits … stealing all their treasure.. Now she can't do any of them.

Well, never mind. In the first place, she's not playing a game. She has magic given by deities who are probably thousands years older, who might even call plough and spade brand new technology. She should be happy with this technological level. For now, back to the real world and prepare for the further journey.

She returned from the jungle, where she went with the excuse of collecting firewood, and bringing more water. For the next destination they are going to is up the slope. It seems the wolf pack is hunting halfway in between the mountain villages, so their goal for today is to reach the maple tree village, which is the only village with a maple tree at its entrance.

Onwards they walked.

Jiushu casually used search, and found more and more weird plants. She walked with an empty basket. Today, Xiao Xing seemed to have energy, so he is walking with them as well. Dressed in little deerskin boots, he looked adorable as he jumped onward in the path. MoQiu vanished as soon as they started walking. Aunt and uncle Fa brought up the rear, while Jiushu and Xiao Xing hopped on in front of them.

Half way in the path, uncle Fa called for a break. He observed trees here and there, then moved them to a clearing.

"Let's take a break here." he told them.

Xiao Xing came to her obediently.

Jiushu retrieved the table and meal settings, set the table and retrieved the dishes.

Having a space like this.. Even in the modern world, this is travelling in style. She happily placed the porridge bowl in the center, and retrieved all the side dishes. This time around, she retrieved the honey jar too, and added honey to Xiao Xing's porridge. The child's eyes sparkled.

They had their meal in leisure, observing the surroundings. The forest is surprisingly fuller in terms of fauna. There were squirrels chattering away, a pheasant cried in the distance. Only.. there are more insects too, though, thankfully, no mosquitoes. However, the ladybugs and grasshoppers got all over the meal.

Ahh… I miss the insect repellant..

They resumed their journey onwards. Jiushu kept using search, various plants showed up, including but not limited to wild herbs. It is not until she reached three quarters of the way she got a surprise.

Hawthorn - fruits are edible.

The tree will produce two more sets of fruits this season. The wood of this tree could be used for carpentry.

That's all the explanation there is. All the same, Jiushu is happy.

She patted the trunk excitedly, showing Aunt Fa.

'Look, a hawthorn tree.'

Add the hawthorn tree to forage ? [ Yes ] [ No ]

As usual, Jiushu touched the question to see the explanation.

'Any tree, plant or mushroom could be added to the forage list. Then you can either harvest in person, or harvest remotely. The chances of forage's success go down with increasing distance to the forage location.'

My… that is useful. Jiushu added the tree to her list.

It is at this time MoQiu suddenly appeared by their side.

"Want to eat fresh sushi?" he asked, proffering a bamboo box in front of Jiushu.