Chapter 2: Can I skip eating? Are plants tasty?
With nothing much to do in the rented room, and this system involving planting and space sounding rather intimidating, Cheng Zhiyu decided to take a look.
The main problem is that he hasn't claimed that gift pack, and the system reminds him every five minutes, which is driving Cheng Zhiyu crazy.
He had no choice but to accept the gift package.
Then a panel appeared in front of him: [Congratulations, host, you have received a newbie gift pack. Would you like to view it?]
Cheng Zhiyu naturally chose to check.
[New Player Gift Pack Contents: One unknown plant, survival rate 20%; one ordinary shovel; 1*1 meter planting soil.]
After glancing at the contents, Cheng Zhiyu could basically conclude that the system was trying to get him to farm.
So, the reason you chose to bind yourself to him wasn't just because he knows how to farm, right? After all, Cheng Zhiyu grew up in the countryside, and he's quite sensible, often helping his parents with farm work. He really does know how to farm.
The system's subsequent notification confirmed his suspicions.
[This unidentified plant is in poor condition; please replant it as soon as possible.]
Perhaps to boost Cheng Zhiyu's enthusiasm, the system reminded him again: [Host will receive a generous reward upon completion of the planting.]
Isn't this just empty promises? Cheng Zhiyu, who had just become a corporate slave, was familiar with this kind of thing. He wasn't buying it and asked directly, "What is the reward?"
The system remained silent for a long time. Just when Cheng Zhiyu thought it wouldn't answer, it finally spoke slowly: "[Sorry, the host currently lacks sufficient permissions; the system cannot provide further information.]"
Cheng Zhiyu had been holding back his words for a while, but now that the system was working, he could finally start talking: "I won't say anything if you force me to buy something, but the newbie gift pack is so 'simple' and you don't even say what the rewards are. I seriously suspect you're trying to trick me into working for free."
[...The vitality of this unknown plant is declining. Please complete its planting as soon as possible.]
It's like this again. Cheng Zhiyu sighed in boredom, checked the unknown plant, and found that the system hadn't lied to him after all. He discovered that the plant's life status in the newbie gift pack had dropped to 19%.
Cheng Zhiyu rubbed his eyes and complained, "Wait, this price drop is way too fast! Can I really grow something this fragile?"
Seeing that the system remained silent, Cheng Zhiyu began to have doubts: "You're such a rip-off, if my crops don't survive, you won't blame it on me, will you?"
The system remained silent. Cheng Zhiyu had been bothering it for a long time, but it was like a taciturn person. He had no choice but to give up on the idea of using the system to relieve his boredom.
With nothing else to do, and seeing that the unknown plant's life state had dropped by another 1% while they were talking, he had no choice but to accept his fate and choose to plant it.
The apocalypse suddenly descended, and he was bound to this system. Cheng Zhiyu thought to himself, "I've read novels like this before. Maybe this system is my opportunity?"
Playing around is fine, but we can't really ignore it. Anyway, this is the current situation, and it won't get any worse.
Then, after Cheng Zhiyu chose "planting", his vision blurred, and when he looked down, he found that he was standing on a 1*1 meter patch of black soil.
This must be the space the system was talking about. What's amazing is that, apart from the space above the ground beneath his feet, everything around him is a mosaic.
Surrounded by a space filled with mosaics, Cheng Zhiyu was incredibly curious. He reached out and touched the surroundings, discovering that the mosaics were like a jelly wall. He could stretch the "wall" open a little, but he couldn't pass through it.
Cheng Zhiyu glanced at the ground beneath his feet, guessing that the system was worried that the land was too small. If the surrounding walls weren't jelly walls but real walls, he wouldn't be able to bend over while farming. Now, there was no such problem.
Surprisingly, the system is quite considerate.
Seeing that the unknown plant's life status was deteriorating again, Cheng Zhiyu dared not delay any longer. After thinking for a moment, he clicked on the shovel on the panel.
The ground was a bit hard, so he bent down and loosened the soil first. It was a tiny area, and he finished working on it in no time.
He straightened up, looked up at the sky, and wondered if the sun was shining on him.
In Cheng Zhiyu's understanding, after the soil is loosened, it needs to be exposed to the sun to kill any insect eggs or other pests. He didn't know if the soil in the system space needed to be exposed to the sun.
As if guessing his thoughts, the system, which had been silent until now, issued another reminder: [Expose the land to direct sunlight?]
Cheng Zhiyu subconsciously replied, "Yes."
After he finished speaking, he felt a blur before his eyes, and he reappeared in his rented room, without even a speck of dirt on his shoes.
If the system hadn't reminded him that the sun exposure was complete, he would have thought that everything he had just experienced was a hallucination.
Cheng Zhiyu reappeared in the system space. He could clearly feel that the ground beneath his feet had become warm, as if it had been exposed to the sun.
As he squatted down, he complained to the system, "System, next time you're sending messages, remind me, I'm getting dizzy."
In fact, he didn't feel dizzy; he was just being sarcastic because he was so bored and nobody was talking. But unsurprisingly, the system completely ignored him.
Cheng Zhiyu had no choice but to click on the unknown plant whose life status was only 15%, select extract, and then he had a red plant in his hand.
The plant's life force was declining so rapidly that he didn't have time to observe it further before planting the unknown plant in the hole he had just dug.
The system was too stingy and didn't provide any water. Cheng Zhiyu hesitated for a moment, thinking about his limited water supply, but still managed to frugally make a small cup. He muttered to himself as he carefully watered the unknown plant.
Cheng Zhiyu: "Commander, you'd better give me a good reward. I suffered a huge loss this time. Water is the source of life, and it was a whole cup of water!"
He was genuinely distressed; he wouldn't even dare drink water like that.
And this tiny plant absorbed the water instantly from its roots.
However, to his relief, the unknown plant, whose life status had stabilized after he planted it, saw its life status increase by 5% after he watered it, and it has now returned to its initial 20%.
After the water was absorbed, Cheng Zhiyu stopped watering it. Although the plant looked quite thirsty, he didn't dare to water it too much at once, as too much water would be as bad as too little, and he was afraid of killing it.
If they really get drowned, there'll be nowhere to cry.
Based on his experience in growing vegetables, he buried a ring of soil around the unknown plant to prevent water from evaporating and being lost.
After finishing his work, he finally had time to observe the plant. It was entirely fiery red, with only two leaves. Many young plants are red, but Cheng Zhiyu's farming experience wasn't very extensive, so he wasn't sure what kind of plant it was.
We can only wait and see. Hopefully, it's something edible, so at least he won't have to worry about his food source.
Thinking of this, Cheng Zhiyu touched the unknown plant with a smile, his gaze becoming much more affectionate.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the unknown plant felt warm to the touch. What kind of plant feels warm to the touch? Cheng Zhiyu didn't have time to think about it, because he discovered that after he touched the leaves of the unknown plant, the plant, which was originally stable at 20% vitality, increased its vitality by 1%.
Cheng Zhiyu: "!!!"
Is that okay? Let me touch it some more, hehe.
My hands are sore from touching it, but my health hasn't increased at all. Hehe.
Well, that makes sense. If touching something could continuously increase one's life state, it wouldn't really conform to the laws of nature.
Although... none of what is happening now fits the bill.
However, calling it an unknown plant is too cumbersome. Cheng Zhiyu thought for a moment, scratched his face, and poked it: "Let me give you a name, hmm... since you're all red, let's call you Xiao Er, because you have two leaves, haha."
This person who's terrible at naming things has absolutely no self-awareness. They even think their chosen name is very vivid, and the waiter seems to like it quite a bit, so their life status has increased by 1%.
The increasing number of life points boosted Cheng Zhiyu's confidence in his planting task. It seemed the system was somewhat considerate; after all, it was a beginner's task, so keeping it simple was to be expected.
Cheng Zhiyu had no idea that what he considered a simple task had been failed by countless hosts who had been bound to him before.
After repeated failures, the plant system grew impatient. Finally discovering that Cheng Zhiyu had a high affinity with plants, it bound itself to him without hesitation.
As it turned out, its choice was correct. It was astonished when Cheng Zhiyu watered the plants and Xiao Er's health increased by 5%.
It should be noted that it has been to many planes, including some cultivation planes. In one cultivation plane, it was bound to a powerful being who poured spiritual spring water, which was coveted by countless cultivators, on Xiao Er, which improved Xiao Er's life status by 5%.
Cheng Zhiyu simply poured water from a tap he had just gotten... It's true what they say, comparisons are odious.
Not to mention that just by touching him and giving him a name, Xiao Er's stats could improve—that's outrageous.
The system was shocked, but also overjoyed, realizing it had successfully bound itself to the right person this time.
Indeed, all efforts are insignificant in the face of talent!
The exceptionally talented Cheng Zhiyu worked for a while longer, only to find that Xiao Er's life status remained unchanged. He sighed and muttered, "Sigh, it seems there's still some difficulty involved."
They had no idea how infuriating their words were.
Over the next week, Cheng Zhiyu worked diligently every day, spending most of his time on Xiao Er. Finally, his efforts paid off, and he successfully raised Xiao Er's life status to 100%.
Checking Xiao Er's status again, it has changed to "Growing".
Great! The "growing" status proves that at least Xiao Er (the author) won't fail to grow it.
Cheng Zhiyu felt greatly relieved. He happily patted Xiao Er and muttered, "Xiao Er, grow up quickly! My food reserves are running low. I wonder if Xiao Er will taste good, hehe..."
In a daze, Xiao Er, who subconsciously wanted to get close to Cheng Zhiyu, froze almost imperceptibly on the leaf that was originally trying to rub against Cheng Zhiyu's fingers.
Can I not eat it...?
Seeing that the waiter seemed a little listless, Cheng Zhiyu asked, "?"
Is it not tasty?
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