Chapter 210

Chapter 210

Bai Fuling took a stroll around the campus, already immersed in the revamped Pelland Academy (farm).

It was hard to imagine how happy the player would have been if this was how it had been from the start. Now everything here was aligned with his wavelength—the settings and NPCs all clicked perfectly!

Bai Fuling felt utterly delighted. But then he thought about it: the process of change had also been quite interesting. If the background had been this crazy from the beginning, there would be no fun in messing with the NPCs.

On the screen, the annotations on the minimap in the top-left corner indicated that the leading teachers and the others were currently in the lecture hall. This exchange event would go on all day, and they wouldn't set off on the return trip until the next morning.

The player naturally had no intention of going to the lecture hall to meet up with the leading teacher NPCs. After all, participating in this campus exchange was merely a stepping-stone for him to hitch a ride to the initial town—not his ultimate goal at all.

The player came to have fun! Why would I go to some boring meeting? Bai Fuling cheerfully dismissed the leading teachers and others from his mind and began wandering around the campus.

Pelland Academy covered a large area, but no matter how vast, it could eventually be fully explored. After strolling and rummaging through every trash can he came across, the player found himself back at the school gate. He stood there, wondering about where to go next.

Beside him, Plum Cake, who had just finished showing the player around the campus, brought up a new topic: “By the way, it's almost time for the next round of sow breeding and farrowing. Got any suggestions, Cabbage?”

He pressed his lips together and spoke in a humble, reverent tone, “I’m not very familiar with these matters, so I’ll have to trouble Cabbage Classmate to teach me.”

This was the first time Plum Cake was handling the sow's birthing process. Although he had studied thoroughly “The Sow Breeding Guide and Postpartum Care,” he still lacked practical experience.

He was afraid of letting Fresh Cabbage down. Additionally, he wanted to maintain more contact with Fresh Cabbage, so he politely asked for guidance.

“Breeding? Is it time for the little piglets to be born?” The player blinked, looking at the dialogue box, and perked up.

In a farming simulation RPG, animal breeding is an art—different parents yield piglets of different quality! So breeding was indeed a crucial part.

“As for this question… the key is to choose a good boar.” The player thought for a moment, then answered seriously.

Plum Cake pulled out the small notebook he always carried, looking utterly serious, as if he intended to jot down every word Bai Fuling said.

The player: “First of all—it must be glowing.”

Plum Cake: “…Glowing?” His pen paused, and a big question mark showed up over his head.

According to this game’s setting, glowing items were the good stuff. The player knew this well. So any pig that didn’t glow was a bad pig!

The chance of low-tier livestock mating to produce high-tier offspring was very low. To get the best piglets, you had to guarantee both parents were high-tier.

“That’s right. Preferably the kind that looks like a giant lightbulb, like an unwavering lighthouse in the dark.” Bai Fuling gave an affirmative answer. He added, “At the very least, it should be plump and round, emitting a faint glow all over.”

Plum Cake: “…”

He fell into a strange silence for two seconds, trying to jot something down in his notebook, but finally managed to stammer, “A lighthouse pig? I’m… sorry, but I’ve never seen a glowing pig.”

Ah. So NPCs aren’t equipped with a system to identify livestock quality? Bai Fuling thought. Well, then it seemed the player would have to handle it himself.

“Alright, no problem. I’ll pick it out.” Bai Fuling patted Plum Cake on the shoulder. “You just take care of the sow during farrowing and postpartum care.”

Without wasting more time discussing with the NPC, the player took on this extra breeding task and decided to get it done quickly.

He immediately ignored Plum Cake’s dialogue box full of hesitation, and directly steered his character out the door and turned right.

While he still had the chance to stay in the initial town today, he was going to get the task of “finding a glowing boar” done!

To confirm breeding possibilities and maybe predict probability outcomes, the player even specifically brought along a sow from the school out the door. This way, he could conveniently check various interaction options.

Bai Fuling’s first target location was the farmers’ market.

He had bought things here before, and the location was still marked on the map. The quality of goods here refreshed randomly; items at different stalls on different days all varied.

After looking around, the player disappointingly found that no glowing boar had spawned today. Except for the newbie benefits period, high-quality animals in RPGs were rarely directly purchasable in stores.

So he would have to look elsewhere. Where else could he get a boar? The player thought, opening the minimap on the screen and scrolling through it, his gaze settling on one point.

That’s right, there’s a forest behind the initial town… How about going into the forest to catch a pig?

Speaking of the forest, Bai Fuling’s mind conjured up the corresponding NPC: the Forest Ranger Guan Jizhong, who considered himself the player’s “big brother.”

Guan Jizhong… That’s right, just go directly to him!

Using NPCs’ help to achieve goals is an essential skill for players. Bai Fuling felt buoyant. Maybe Guan Jizhong had some domestic pigs penned up, and he could get one directly.

Having set his direction, Bai Fuling decided to summon his long-unused mount—a big dog (wolf). He had tamed this local animal from the forest back then, and it would be faster to traverse the woods—or so Bai Fuling originally thought.

But when he opened his personal panel, he caught a glimpse of his wardrobe, and an idea struck him.

Oh. Wait. Now that the player had repaired his wings, there was an even faster method.

After all, it came down to the same principle: the shortest path between two points is a straight line. Running on the ground or swimming in water couldn’t compare to flying in the sky!

He only pondered for a moment, and soon the player giddily scooped up the sow, equipped the pure white wings, and shot into the sky.

—And that was the prelude to Guan Jizhong’s encounter with a sow falling from the sky.

As a forest ranger, Guan Jizhong had a habit of patrolling every morning at dawn. At this time, around mid-morning, he had just finished his patrol and returned to the yard of his log cabin.

Standing in the yard, Guan Jizhong pulled up a bucket of well water and bent down to wash his face. He shook the water droplets from his hair, and when he opened his eyes, he sensed a shadow looming over him.

“!” On alert, he instinctively snapped his head up. In the dazzling sunlight, he saw a black pig slowly descending from the sky.

Guan Jizhong: …?

Then he heard a crisp call.

“Big brother!” The player called out without any hesitation. When it came to quickly increasing an NPC’s favorability to achieve his goals, he never held back.

Sure enough, after the player’s call, the pixel character on the ground immediately straightened up, and a smiley icon popped above his head.

“…Little sister.” Guan Jizhong’s voice softened, as if he were talking to a little bird with great care. His gaze lingered on Bai Fuling as he descended with affection and reverence. “It’s been a long time since I saw you. Are you doing well in your new city?”

Bai Fuling guided the pixel character to land, spontaneously straddling the sow as he landed.

Guan Jizhong’s attention was completely fixed on the black-haired youth; he didn’t even glance at the unexpected sow.

“Have you been busy with your studies lately? Any troubles? You can tell your big brother anything.”

Guan Jizhong reached out with his large, calloused hand and gently brushed it through Bai Fuling’s hair. “I'll fix any problem for you… I’ll protect my little sister and never lose you again.”

His last sentence murmured out, as if talking to himself.

The player was already used to Guan Jizhong’s “little sister” remarks in every conversation—after all, what the NPC called him didn't matter at all when benefits were involved! As a player, he didn’t mind the NPC’s misunderstanding of his gender.

He knew that Guan Jizhong’s feelings towards him were a transference of guilt and love for his deceased sister, a kind of delusional misplacement, and the symptoms were getting worse—but for the player, that was not a bad thing.

Moreover, perhaps for the NPC himself, it wasn’t a bad thing either. After all, people always need some emotional support.

“Don’t worry, big brother, I’m doing very well now.” So the player followed the NPC’s lead in the conversation. This would earn maximum favorability, setting the stage for the player to get more perks later.

"Lately, school and life have been smooth sailing, no real worries." After a short setup, the player got to the real point: "—But there is one small issue."

"What?" Guan Jizhong instantly got serious.

"The pig I've been keeping at school is ready to breed... Oh, and I also want a special new outfit." The player blinked. "Can you, big brother?"

"Call him big brother and he'd give you his life" was a classic online meme, but Bai Fuling knew that the Forest Ranger NPC had truly programmed that into his AI.

Guan Jizhong had no questions or objections at all—he was even happy that the player asked him for help. Having always spoiled his sister, he naturally transferred that spoiling to the player.

After Bai Fuling typed out the request for a mate for his sow, Guan Jizhong acted the same day. He went straight into the forest, snagged three high-quality, sturdy wild boars, and stuffed them into his van along with the player's sow.

He promised the player that the next day he'd deliver all these pigs to Pelland Academy, and Plum Cake would sign for them.

Seeing the splendor of those burly wild boars that even a pixelated van couldn't hold back, the player happily had their character give Guan Jizhong a hug, burying their face in his chest, then lifted their head with a smile: "Thanks, big brother!! You're the best brother in the world."

"...And you're the best little sister." Guan Jizhong gave a faint smile, his one visible eye—not hidden by the eyepatch—full of deep affection. "I want you to be happy and fulfilled."

His voice sounded dreamlike: "...I want to be by your side forever, watching you grow up."

"Of course, big brother," the player said. "You'll be with me, and I'll be with you."

These empathy-type NPCs were really easy to understand—just go along with their feelings and you'd max out the affection. The player replied expertly, satisfied as the pixel character's head bubbled up with another smiley face.

The glowing breeding pig situation was neatly resolved. As for the special new outfit the player had mentioned—

"You want clothes like this?" Guan Jizhong hesitated, then said, "I can make you something prettier."

"Nah," Bai Fuling waved a hand. "It doesn't have to look good, just realistic. This is my disguise outfit."

Yes, Bai Fuling had already started preparing for next Tuesday's unveiling ceremony.

Though Kong Que had texted that he'd meet him at the door and bring him in.

But the player was always cautious. He knew that Father Kong, as an NPC, knew his face and might not be friendly, which could mess with his investigation on-site.

To avoid trouble, he figured he'd better disguise himself before sneaking in! The player had already devised a clever plan.

And so, with the custom outfit Guan Jizhong had carefully made, he waited at the entrance of the new commercial office building at the appointed time on Tuesday.

That day, Kong Que saw Bai Fuling's message. He straightened his suit collar, smoothed his perfectly styled hair in the mirror, and said to the butler next to him, "I'm going to pick up a friend, my dance partner for today." Then, confident and proud as a peacock, he strode out.

He knew the transfer student was stunning—the mermaid costume glittering with pearls had wowed everyone at the auction.

But no matter what the transfer student wore today, he was sure he'd match. After all, he planned to invite him into the second half of the ceremony as his dance partner.

Kong Que always cared about his appearance in public. And there were plenty of reporters outside the building.

Kong Que stepped out of the building and swept his gaze quickly.

There were too many people outside; he couldn't immediately spot the pretty transfer student among them.

"Where are you?" He sent a message, head down.

A phone vibrated beside him.

Kong Que instinctively turned his head—only to see a row of vibrant, nearly human-height opening flower baskets.

Just as he was puzzled and about to look elsewhere, one of the flower baskets moved.

"Hey, I'm over here~!" a familiar hushed voice called.

Kong Que: ?

Startled by the flower basket that seemed to have come to life and spoken, Kong Que whipped his head back and stared. After a few seconds, he finally spotted familiar big eyes among the blooms.

Kong Que, dressed in a small suit ready to match a dance partner, froze for a moment, a landslide of doubts rumbling in his mind.

...Dude, why are you dressed as an opening flower basket?! Is he supposed to dance with an opening flower basket at the latter half of the banquet?!

Author's note:

Player: Bro, you don't understand—the highest level of disguise is always the most practical choice. Just like this, I'll blend perfectly into the scene.