15 Chapter 15
"Shushu, Shushu! Wake up!" Qin Xiaoxiao rushed into Tong Shu's room early in the morning and shouted excitedly.
Tong Shu was still half asleep when she heard the noise. Thinking something serious had happened, she quickly shook her head and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong!"
"Look at this!" Qin Xiaoxiao held up her right hand, revealing a fresh, juicy tomato.
"Tomato...what's wrong with the tomato?" Tong Shu was completely confused.
"These are tomatoes my dad grew!" Qin Xiaoxiao was still excited.
"Oh...the tomatoes my second aunt's husband planted..." Tong Shu suddenly realized, "What?! Weren't they just planted three days ago? How come they're already ripe?!"
"Yes, yes!" Qin Xiaoxiao nodded frantically from the side.
Tong Shu sat up abruptly from the bed and rushed into the island to check the situation.
In the farmland on the southeast side of the island, crops were neatly planted. Tomato vines were laden with yellow and red tomatoes, looking like lanterns, which was very festive. Qin Jiaqiang only planted two rows of tomatoes because Tong Shu had not cultivated much arable land when he built the farm. Therefore, he could only plant a variety of crops in small quantities. The corn, lettuce, potatoes and other vegetables in the field were growing very well. The lettuce seemed to have been harvested once because it grew even faster, and it was placed in baskets by the field.
"Shushu's here." Qin Jiaqiang was picking tomatoes when he saw Tong Shu come in, so he put down what he was doing. "I thought time in here was just as fast as outside, so I planted some vegetables that grow faster. Who knew that these things planted in the ground would ripen so quickly, like they'd taken some medicine?"
Qin Jiaqiang pointed to the lettuce: "After planting these lettuce, I watered them once, and they grew well the next day. I quickly harvested a batch, but the ones I didn't have time to harvest started to bolt and became too old. However, I did collect a lot of seeds, which I then replanted."
Qin Jiaqiang was somewhat troubled: "I thought it would be another ten days or so before we could eat the first batch of vegetables, but who knew these vegetables would grow so fast, like they're going crazy! We can't possibly eat them all. But the soil is so fertile, I'm really itching to plant it all..."
Before Qin Jiaqiang could finish speaking, Tong Shu heard a system notification in her mind, and the sound was different from before.
[Congratulations, Island Owner! You have met the conditions to trigger the hidden quest. Please proceed to the Service Center to accept the quest immediately!]
Hidden quest? There are hidden quests? Tong Shu was both excited and nervous. She quickly explained a few words to Qin Jiaqiang and rushed to the service center.
As soon as Tong Shu stepped into the service center, she noticed the difference.
All the announcements on the notice board, which used to be used to post island notices, had disappeared. Instead, a set of photos appeared. Tong Shu walked closer and took a closer look, and found that they were of the small animal NPCs who used to live and serve on the island.
Each photo has the NPC's name written underneath it. The one at the top is Doka, a little capybara with a round belly and a pair of small, black-rimmed round glasses perched on its nose, looking exceptionally honest and simple.
[Docard Service Center Director's Faith Points: 0/1,000,000]
Tong Shu looked at the other photos: Xiu Xiu, the clothing store manager; Mao Mao, the restaurant owner; Butuo, the hospital director... Each NPC animal's name had a progress bar for collecting faith points.
What exactly are these faith points? I've never seen this concept before when playing games. Tong Shu was very confused.
[A few months ago, an evil dark wizard entered the island, wantonly spying on the islanders' happy lives, his heart filled with malice. Finally, one day, the evil dark wizard concocted a powerful dark potion. On a dark and stormy night, the potion's miasma enveloped the entire island, and all the islanders were captured by the dark wizard, their whereabouts unknown.]
[The witch Nini escaped death in the magic house, only to find the island empty and her friends gone. Overwhelmed with grief, she spent her days and nights divining, and finally discovered the island where her friends were imprisoned—the Forest of Faith.]
[The Forest of Faith is surrounded by towering trees of Faith, impervious to swords, spears, water, and fire. Only by collecting enough Faith Points and forging them into a Blade of Faith can one fell swoop down these trees.]
[Please, Island Lord, gather enough Faith Points to rescue the innocent islanders and bring them back to the island!]
[Special Mission: For every island product sold in the human world, you will receive 1 Faith Point. Rewards can be in the form of currency, labor, or items. Each exchange constitutes a sale, and the Faith Points earned will be sent directly to the Forest of Faith. The trapped islanders will collect these points, and once they have enough to craft a Faith Blade, they will be able to escape their predicament and return to the island. Note: Items purchased with Forest Coins are not considered island products and cannot be traded.]
[Quest Reward: The power of stars to reverse time and space.]
After the system issued the mission, Tong Shu finally understood the cause and effect of the island's drastic changes. It's safe to say that *Little Forest Island* truly lives up to its reputation as a relaxing, farming game; even for an urgent hostage rescue mission like this, there was no time limit. However, Tong Shu had a vague feeling of unease. From her past life to the current flood, the island seemed to sense changes in the real world. Did the lack of a time limit mean that this disaster would continue for a long time?
Moreover, the reward for this mission was completely unexplained, but judging from the wording alone, it seemed to be something extraordinary. Tong Shu subconsciously felt that the secret to the frequent natural disasters in the real world might be hidden within this mission. Therefore, even without a time limit, Tong Shu planned to complete the mission as quickly as possible and claim the reward.
Tong Shu returned to the farm fields. Apart from Shuya, who was still on duty in the room, everyone else in the family gathered around the field, marveling at the rapidly growing plants.
Grandpa Tong pulled out a potato plant. The potato tubers connected by the green stem were large and dense, which made Grandpa Tong nod repeatedly and praise it.
"This land is wonderful! The vegetables growing here are all so fresh and juicy; they must taste amazing!" Grandma Tong picked a tomato, took a bite, and exclaimed, "It's delicious!"
Tong Shu gathered everyone together and sat around the small wooden stakes where the farm tools were placed, explaining the new tasks she had received.
"So, we still need to find a way to sell these things?" Wang Jianye asked. "But there aren't many people left with money. How are we going to sell them?"
Wang Jie said, "Dad, didn't you hear what Shushu said? It's not just about money; they can also exchange labor or goods. If they help us with something, the deal can be done."
Tong Shu nodded: "That's the idea. Actually, what we should be most worried about is not how to trade, but how to explain why we have so many supplies to sell."
Everyone fell silent. Yes, in this chaotic world of natural disasters, supplies were the most scarce commodity. This family were ordinary people with no other support, living in an apartment building. It was really difficult to explain the source of their supplies. If they were to be reported to the government, their whole family could be taken away for investigation.
As Tong Shu looked at the faces of everyone with furrowed brows and deep thoughts, the image of one person flashed through her mind.
The sudden heavy rain and the emergency situation meant that Tong Shu's family was unaware that she had taken out the lifeboat. At that time, only Wen Shaocheng was near Tong Shu. Although she did not take it out in front of Wen Shaocheng, Tong Shu knew that he must have noticed something. Although most people might not think of it in terms of personal space, Wen Shaocheng's keen senses meant that he was definitely suspicious.
Later, when they met their comrades, Wen Shaocheng helped Tong Shu cover up the truth, which made Tong Shu have a vague idea in her mind: Could Wen Shaocheng help her with this mission?
But seeing the group of relatives gathered together and discussing it so enthusiastically, Tong Shu still put the idea out of her head.
No, with the apocalypse upon us, the more people who know this secret, the greater the danger. Tong Shu cannot risk her family's lives.
"Dad, do you have any blueprints for modifying boats? Can you modify an inflatable boat that can both store cargo and provide shelter from the rain?" After much thought, Tong Shu had a plan in mind.
"This isn't a difficult request. We can modify it even without blueprints. I'll look it up and do some reinforcements for you," Tong Songming said. "Modifying an assault boat? You're planning to use it to sell vegetables?"
Tong Shu nodded: "I plan to drive out at night to the next city, where no one will recognize me, and it will be safer than staying in this city."
"No! It's too dangerous. Z City is already like this, we don't know what the situation is like in other places. I'm worried about you going out. Let your dad go!" Shu Hua said anxiously, trying to stop her.
Tong Shu quickly took her mother's hand and comforted her, "Mom, don't worry, I still have the island, right? If there's any danger, I can just hide on the island, and nothing will happen."
"But..." Shu Hua was still reluctant.
“Auntie, don’t worry, we’ll take turns going with Shushu,” Qin Xiaoxiao said. “Shushu is right, it’s actually safest for her to go. If we leave her, we can’t get into the island, and she won’t feel at ease at home.”
Shu Hua was somewhat persuaded, but she still felt sullen and upset. She sighed and stopped talking.
“Those of us who stay at home can take the opportunity to trade with our neighbors. We won’t let them take too much; we can just ask them to bring us some water. It’s raining non-stop outside, and everyone can do some work,” Shuli suggested.
Tong Shu thought it was a good idea and immediately agreed.
Then everyone got busy with their own tasks. Tong Songming dragged out an inflatable boat to start modifying it, Shu Hua went out to prepare lunch for the family with Shu Ya, and the others were busy in the fields, some sowing seeds, some harvesting vegetables. Grandpa Tong and Grandma Tong, being old, sat by the edge of the field processing the freshly picked fruits and vegetables and putting them into baskets, while Tong Shu was in the house outside, taking crops out of her backpack.
Tong Shu's house has a large terrace on the second floor, which Tong Songming had previously enclosed with reinforced glass and installed blinds to ensure that people outside could not see inside. The house, treated with island-grade materials, was in excellent condition, with no leaks whatsoever. Tong Shu sat on the terrace, neatly arranging baskets of fruits and vegetables, waiting for Tong Songming to finish modifying the inflatable boat so she could pack them up and take them to another market to sell.
While working, Tong Shu peeked out from behind the blinds. The building next door had the same floor height as theirs, and after carefully counting, the floodwaters had already reached the fifth floor. It seemed that the people hiding on the sixth floor would soon have to move up.
The rain continued to fall, and Tong Shu looked at the ever-increasing supplies on the terrace, feeling a sense of peace she had never known before.
[Author's Note]
After reading JJ's works silently for over a decade, I still don't understand her at all.
A few days ago, I saw that I still had some points on my account, so I casually submitted a post to myself. I didn't expect it to show up as the author. I was so embarrassed. Luckily, not many people saw it.
Seeing a tiny bit more comments under the post made me very happy. Receiving feedback is a huge encouragement for a nobody writer like me. Thank you to everyone who left a sincere comment! (However, given my lack of knowledge about JJ, I'm being very careful not to reply randomly anymore, but I will carefully read every comment!)
I wrote this on a whim, and to be honest, it was just for fun. There might be many plot holes I didn't think of, so feel free to point them out (but please don't yell at me, I'll just quietly crush you...).
Thank you to the baby who sent me nutrient solution yesterday, I will try my best to finish updating!
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