Qin Niu went to open the door and saw a pretty girl standing outside, dressed in a pale green cloud-patterned robe. She was carrying a heavy bag of corn in one hand, and a large piece of pork in the other.
Young ladies generally have the strength of a chicken, and she seemed to be struggling, already panting slightly.
"My dad's fiftieth birthday is coming up soon, and he asked me to bring you some food. This meat has been salted, so it can be kept for a few days, but don't keep it too long or it will be a pity if it goes bad."
Wang Wanyan's nostrils flared slightly, as she caught the special 'aroma' emanating from the pot.
She glanced discreetly at the pot that was steaming hot.
She did not ask any further questions.
"Take it!"
She stuffed the items into Ah Niu's hands.
Every time she saw this neighbor, she felt he was different from other boys. There was a light in Ah Niu's eyes, determination, persistence, confidence, and perhaps a hint of pride.
She couldn't quite put it into words.
"Consider it a loan from your family, and when I have money, I will pay you back," Qin Niu finally spoke.
He also took the bag of corn and the piece of meat.
"No need to pay it back, we are neighbors, it would make things awkward to be so calculative. By the way, here is a meat pie and a pickled vegetable pie that I specially kept for you, they are really delicious."
She then pulled out a package of food from within her cloud-patterned sleeves.
The aroma was overwhelming.
It carried her faint scent mixed with the unique aroma of the meat pies.
Ah Niu involuntarily had a reaction in his throat, swallowing saliva.
"I'm going back now, or my dad will scold me again! Don't go into the mountains when it gets dark, okay? It's very dangerous, you know?"
Her pair of clear, watery black eyes showed concern.
Since Old Man Liu died, no one had looked at him with such eyes.
At this moment, her image was deeply etched in Qin Niu's mind.
"Mm!"
After taking the items, he murmured a soft agreement.
He didn't say a word of thanks the whole time.
True gratitude never needs to be expressed in words; kept in the heart, and if a time comes when her family needs help, and he is capable, he will repay the kindness a hundredfold.
"I'm going now, take care of yourself, and if you run into any trouble, just tell me," she said, making sure he understood before leaving.
As her figure disappeared from sight, Qin Niu reluctantly retracted his gaze.
He firmly suppressed that inappropriate flicker of thought in his heart.
The difference in their statuses was too great for there to ever be a chance of anything happening.
He was even more afraid that any action of his might cause her to look down on him, or worse, to stop interacting with him altogether.
After closing the door and looking at the food Wang Wanyan had brought, Qin Niu's heart was filled with gratitude and joy. With so much food, if he was careful, it should be enough to last about three months.
As for what to do after that, he could only take it one step at a time.
Right now, his greatest hope was for the Termite Queen to survive, as this was his ace in the hole for turning his fortunes around.
He cut a small piece of meat, chopped it up, and added it to the pot with the 'hulls' to cook.
He believed that with the addition of meat, it would certainly become much tastier.
He placed the remaining meat into a jar, then hung it with a rope in the well at the back of the house.
This well was only five or six meters deep and had been dug by Old Man Liu and himself together when the old man was still alive.
The water in the well was a spring that came from underground, warm in winter and cool in summer, which would extend the shelf life of important food stored in this environment significantly.
By this time, the pot had begun to emit a meaty aroma, and he gulped down the saliva forming in his mouth.
He didn't rush to eat, but instead, under the faint moonlight and the light from the fire in the stove, he carefully chose the fullest and healthiest kernels of corn from the bag.
These were selected to be seeds.
The yield of that thin plot of land wasn't great, but he still needed to plant it!
Having some yield was better than not planting anything at all.
Each time he picked a corn kernel to be a seed, the words "Labor Point +0.01" appeared in glowing text.
He was taken aback.
What the heck were Labor Points?
He had picked out 2100 kernels of corn from the bag.
Based on past planting experience, about 4000 stalks of corn could be planted per acre.
That was double planting, which meant two stalks per hole.
This year, he planned to improve his planting techniques and try single stalk planting.
The extra 100 kernels of corn were in case some didn't germinate or were damaged by insects or rats, so he could use them to replant.
Don't be fooled by the two thousand-plus grains of corn; they only weigh about one jin.
The planting plan for this year is to plant corn in the spring and wheat in the autumn because the plentiful rainfall during the spring and summer seasons ensures a higher yield of corn. Come autumn and winter, there will be much less rain, making the wheat harvest more considerable.
That thin acre of his land can't retain nutrients well, and planting corn there in autumn could easily result in a total crop failure.
Once he had selected the good seeds and stored them properly, the rest were to be kept in the grain jar.
With the corn and meat Wang Wanyan gave him, he should have no worries for the next three months.
He often had visits from rats at home and needed to guard against them.
"Time to eat!"
He was already starving, but he firmly believed in the principle of "bitter first, sweet after."
He preferred to take care of important matters first before indulging, instead of seeking immediate pleasures while neglecting long-term benefits.
These principles of life were all learned from books.
Books say that to achieve great things, one must be able to endure loneliness, have a long-term vision, not be blinded by the immediate benefits, stay calm in the face of problems, be organized in one's work, keep a low profile, and know how to conceal one's capabilities...
Therefore, to become stronger, he was willing to eat poor food and save money, even if it meant purchasing low-tier contract charms that cost one tael of silver each.
The villagers rumored that he squandered his money living lavishly in the city; he never bothered to explain himself.
Lifting the lid off the pot, the aroma of meat wafted through the air.
He filled his bowl and started gobbling down, although the wild grass was coarse and somewhat stuck in his throat; he had to exert effort to swallow it down.
While eating, he pondered over the appearance of the labor point +0.01.
After some consideration, an attribute panel appeared in his mind.
Qin Niu
Cultivation: Mortal Onefold 17/100, Low-tier Farmer 51/100, Low-tier Insect Master 3/100
Lifespan: 51 years
Cultivation Technique: None
Skills: Planting category, Sowing Novice 0/10, Soil Loosening Novice 0/10, Fertilizing Novice 0/10, Watering Novice 0/10, Weeding Novice 0/10
Talent: None
Divine Skills: None
Labor Points: 21
Currently, the only skills he possessed were the five most basic planting techniques.
What are labor points for?
He tried to understand.
Labor points can be used directly to improve the proficiency of planting skills.
So that's what they're for.
Qin Niu tried adding one labor point to the sowing skill.
Sowing Novice 1/10.
Unexpectedly, it really worked, and he felt his sowing technique had slightly improved.
What would happen if he increased it to 10?
He added another nine points in one go.
Sowing Proficient 10/100.
Incredibly, his sowing skill level had instantly improved.
Now, his understanding of some key points, techniques, tips, and experience in sowing had qualitatively improved.
Looking again at the selected corn seeds, some appeared full and healthy, but there were secret flaws, such as sunken germ eyes or tiny insect holes.
Such seeds would hardly germinate.
After the increase in sowing skill, it was so powerful.
Qin Niu quickly poured out the selected corn seeds and picked them again.
He ended up finding over four hundred problematic seeds.
For every problematic seed he picked out, the labor point would +0.01.
In a short time, his labor points had increased by 4.31 points.
So magical.
He then took 431 good seeds from his food supply and added them back in.
Labor points went up by another 4.31.
It seemed that if he wanted to earn labor points in the future, it would be good to repeatedly handle the corn when he had nothing else to do.
Initially having 21 labor points, he spent 10 and then earned 8.62, leaving him with 19.62. He didn't rush to spend them but decided to wait until there was a need.
The time for spring planting had already passed by nearly seven or eight days; tomorrow would be a good day to go to the field to plant corn.
Being able to rapidly improve his planting skills with labor points filled him with great joy.
Life seemed to hold more promise now.