Chapter 1: Helping Someone; Surprising Magic
Translator: Nyoi_Bo_Studio, ABeautifulPotato Editor: Nyoi_Bo_Studio, Vicky_
“Mom, I’m telling you—I’m going to save someone, not commit suicide!”
“Stop fooling around! You don’t even know how to doggie paddle, let alone save others! Besides, there is no one in the river!”
w.a.n.g Yao didn’t know what to say. He went down the hill and saw someone fall into the river in the village. He then hurriedly jumped into the river to save the person. However, he realized that he knew nothing about swimming as soon as he jumped in. Ironically, the person in the water was not real but actually a doll instead.
How unfortunate for him.
Who in the village would have such a beautiful doll? w.a.n.g Yao thought as he sunk into the water.
It had been the last thought before he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he found that he was on a heated stone bed in his home. His parents were around him, a frown on their faces.
Within one day, the news that a foolish college boy attempted suicide in the river was known by all the villagers.
“It was just a few acres of herbs! He shouldn’t have jumped into the river even if the harvest was bad!” one villager exclaimed.
“The kids here have never experienced any problems in their life, so of course they would be easily affected by something like that!” another villager commented.
“That boy must not have done well in school since college boys don’t normally go back home to be farmers!”
“That’s right!”
…
“Stop planting the herbs!” Zhang Xiuying, w.a.n.g Yao’s mother yelled at her son.
w.a.n.g Yao’s father, who was squatting to one side to smoke, snapped. The people in the village were concerned about their reputation. w.a.n.g Fenghua, w.a.n.g Yao’s father, was so nervous upon hearing the gossip. Economical loss meant nothing, but his son might be lost if he kept planting the herbs.
“Yes. Listen to mom, stop planting herbs,” his father added.
“We’ll go to town and ask your sister to find a job for you. The child of your third uncle, Chang Mao, is a recent graduate, but he has found a job and bought a house in town,” Zhang Xiuying also persuaded him.
w.a.n.g Yao did not argue with his parents after that; he agreed with them.
w.a.n.g Yao was a graduate of a famous university. After graduation, he enthusiastically went back to his village to be self-employed. He contracted a barren hill in the village with the aim of making a fortune by planting herbs. It turned out that planting herbs was not as simple as he thought. Enthusiasm was not enough since many things could not be learned from books alone; he had to depend on experience and practice.
In the first year, the herbs were infested with parasites, and he failed to recover his loss. In the second year, the herbs had flowers and leaves, but they had no roots. It was only in the third year that the herbs became better, but bad things continued to happen to him.
I just quit. This is too time-consuming! w.a.n.g Yao said in his heart.
However, he still went to Nanshan hill. It was barren, but there were dozens of chestnuts and jujube trees there. The soil was bad, though, so there was nowhere to plant his crops. There was a gentle slope on the hill where he tried to plant the herbs.
He even employed someone to build a little house for these acres of herbal fields. In addition, he had electricity wired to his home. He had planted these herbs for three years, fighting against the wind and rain—he was really unwilling to give up.
Looking at the herbs growing up so well, he reached out and touched them.
How about planting for one more year? he thought.
Detecting herbs…the triggering condition has been reached. Should we activate the system?
A cold and mechanical voice suddenly spoke.
“What is this? Who’s there?” w.a.n.g Yao asked out loud.
There was just the hill, the water and the forest around him.
Did I just imagine it?
Should we activate the system?
The mechanical voice spoke again, sounding closer this time.
Is it a ghost!? w.a.n.g Yao quivered with fear before asking, “Activate what?”
Got it. Pharmacist system is activated. Scanning data…
There was a flash in front of w.a.n.g Yao.
Pharmacist system?
Just then, he saw a screen and a figure panel that looked so much like himself.
What is this…an illusion? This must be an illusion.
He shook his head, and the screen was gone.
Woof, woof, woof! A dog came rus.h.i.+ng down the hill. His tail shook as it came up to w.a.n.g Yao, his tongue out. It seemed so happy.
“San Xian, where did you come from?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
This dog was fed by w.a.n.g Yao, and it had been with him for three years. w.a.n.g Yao and the dog entered the house on the hill. w.a.n.g Yao then laid down on his bed; he felt dizzy.
What was that thing?
He thought back to that strange system and then the screen showed up as a projection again.
“There it is again!”
After several tests, w.a.n.g Yao made sure that it was not an illusion. It was a real thing that could not be explained by science. There were figure attributes, skills, and packages; it seemed to be like an online game.
Figure Level: 1
Occupational Grade: Green Hand (Actually you are worse than just a hand, you’re more like a finger!)
You have the following attributes:
Const.i.tution 1, Power 0.9, Sprite 0.85, Agility 0.9, Will 1.1 (1 is the average level of normal adult men)
Skill: Herb planting (A qualified pharmacist who can plant all kinds of herbs)
Skill Level: 0
Is this real?
This was so great! It was what he lacked in planting herbs! w.a.n.g Yao who had been wrapped up in his sheets, jumped up excitedly, startling San Xian.
There was a skill panel? w.a.n.g Yao wanted to click it, but he failed.
Why can’t I open it? he asked subconsciously.
You can’t do anything! You utterly fail at planting herbs. All you can do is shovel sh*t!
These words were shown in the panel as if it could hear his question.
Shovel sh*t!? What the h.e.l.l? Who designed this? Tell me, and I promise not to kick your a.s.s! w.a.n.g Yao thought in annoyance.
“What is this?” w.a.n.g Yao clicked the package tab and found a picture of a kettle.
There was ancient spring water in this kettle. One bucket of it should be used a day.
“How do I use this? Do I just reach for it?”
w.a.n.g Yao only thought about the kettle and then there it was in his hand. It was a wooden kettle that was in pristine condition. The kettle was very heavy, and he could hear the water shaking inside.
“There really is water in here! Is it really ancient spring water?”
He found a bucket in his room for him to pour the water out into. It was a small kettle, but the water was endless. The water stopped flowing when the bucket was full.
“So this is magic?!”
w.a.n.g Yao looked at the water in the bucket. It was so clear and pure, so he scooped some up with his hands and drank it. It was so sweet.
“How tasty!”
He took a bowl from the table and drank some more water. He had three more bowls of water, but only then did he stop drinking. He felt so comfortable, and his exhaustion was gone.
Woof, woof, woof! San Xian ran around the bucket.
“Come here, you should have a drink too.”
w.a.n.g Yao took out a bowl for the dog. San Xian quickly lapped it up, then he barked and shook his tail excitedly. Obviously, one bowl was not enough.
“Okay, you can drink some more if you want!” w.a.n.g Yao said.
w.a.n.g Yao and San Xian had drunk half a bucket of the ancient spring water. They would have continued to drink if they were not already full.
“It’s so tasty!” w.a.n.g Yao had never drunk such tasty water before.