Pokémon Ranch Story

Xia Mu quickly picked a full basket of mushrooms, including morels and chanterelles, and he also unexpectedly discovered a white truffle of extremely high value.

White truffles: A top-tier ingredient, found in the mountains after rain. A prized mushroom, they are thick, white, and flavorful, and produce special effects when paired with certain dishes.

There is a top-quality ingredient that, according to its description, can alter the effects of cooking to a certain extent.

It's like adding a buff to the original dish, making its effects even more powerful.

Xia Mu happily put away the white truffle, planning to add some to special dishes in the future to see how it would turn out.

Now, it's time to go back.

"You're so kind, you chattering bird. These mushrooms could sell for a lot of money."

Xia Mu smoothed the noisy bird's ruffled feathers and didn't hold back his praise.

Selling these mushrooms brings us one step closer to earning 100,000 Alliance Coins.

The current issue is how to sell these mushrooms and convert them into Alliance Coins.

Xia Mu thought of the Ding couple, who lived not far from him. Their ranch had been around for many years and had a stable sales channel. He could go and ask them about it.

Of course, one shouldn't visit empty-handed, so Xia Mu divided the mushrooms she picked into small portions to give as gifts.

I treated the noisy bird to a good lunch; we can't forget this great contributor.

After resting for a while, he rode a mud donkey and took the foam squirrel with him to the Ding Zhi couple's ranch.

The ranch was right next to Route 12. When Xia Mu arrived, he saw Brother Ding Zhi talking to a man at the entrance.

"Xia Mu, what brings you here? We were just talking about you."

Ding Zhi waved enthusiastically and introduced him, "This is Galio, the purchasing agent from the farmers' market in Saluo City. He's in charge of purchasing from the ranches in this area. We were just talking about you!"

"Hello, Mr. Galio," Xia Mu greeted politely.

Galio stepped forward enthusiastically, revealing his dark skin, and said in a carefree manner, "You must be Xia Mu. The location of that ranch by the sea isn't great, so you'd better be prepared for a tough journey."

The road is too narrow; oncoming trucks can't get in at all, making it extremely difficult to transport agricultural products.

Galio was just offering a well-intentioned reminder.

After all, having another ranch in his area of ​​responsibility is only beneficial to him, and he hopes the ranch can stick with it.

"Thank you for your concern, I already have a solution." Xia Mu patted the mud donkey that was closely following him. With them around, transporting agricultural products would no longer be a problem.

"Mud Donkey?" Galio's eyes lit up. Borrowing the power of Pokémon was a good idea.

Chapter 26 The Unexpected Century Soup

"Mr. Ding, I wonder if I could place another parcel locker next to your ranch?"

Ding Zhi overheard their conversation and understood Galio's reasoning.

He laughed and readily agreed, "Of course, no problem."

"Xia Mu, what about you?"

"Of course I have no problem. On the contrary, I'm taking advantage of you, Brother Ding Zhi."

The function of the receiving box is very simple.

The rancher places the items for sale inside, and people pick them up in the evening, leaving behind the corresponding Alliance Coins based on the day's selling price.

It benefits both parties and is a great invention.

The three parties reached an agreement, and Galio immediately said that someone would come to build a new receiving box the next day.

"By the way, Xia Mu, do you have something to sell today?"

"Oh! I almost forgot."

Xia Mu quickly took the basket off the mud donkey's back and showed it the mushrooms inside.

"Wow, so many morels and chanterelles! Where did you find them?"

“The back mountain,” Xia Mu pointed to the noisy bird circling in the sky, “it’s the bird that led me to it.”

"Mr. Galio, how much are these worth?"

"Wait a minute, let me calculate." Galio squatted down, took out his calculator, and began to count them one by one.

Taking advantage of the break, Xia Mu took out another small bag of mushrooms and said, "Brother Ding Zhi, these are for you."

"I can't accept it." Ding Zhi glanced at it and immediately understood its value. For a new ranch, it wasn't easy to come up with these things.

“We are neighbors, so it’s normal for us to exchange some local specialties.”

Xia Mu didn't give Ding Zhi a chance to refuse, and forcibly stuffed the things into his hands, leaving it up to him whether he sold them or ate them.

"15 catties of morel mushrooms, priced at 250 Alliance Coins per catty, for a total of 3750 Alliance Coins."

"21 catties of chanterelle mushrooms, 300 Alliance Coins each, totaling 6300 Alliance Coins."

"Here are 10050 Alliance Coins, Xia Mu, please keep them safe."

He received 10,000 Alliance Coins, far exceeding his expectations.

Xia Mu looked over with a puzzled expression.

"Xia Mu probably doesn't know yet, but the city of Saluo is about to hold a beach festival." Galio explained, "The price of mushrooms and other fungi, which are used to enhance the flavor of soups, is rising."

"Xia Mu, Ding Zhi, you can go to the back mountain to pick more mushrooms; they can fetch a high price."

"I see."

Xia Mu suddenly realized, nodded, and accepted the 10,000 Alliance Coins with a clear conscience.

After chatting with the two for a while, Xia Mu saw that it was getting late and took his leave to return.

The mud donkey's shoulder bags were piled high with various seasonal vegetables, a return gift from Brother Ding Zhi.

Back at the ranch, the marsupials who had stayed behind immediately surrounded him, circling around him.

Xia Mu comforted them for a while and then let them go play.

She went into the kitchen and started making dinner.

He still had a lot of mushrooms left at home, and he planned to cook a mushroom feast.

Before cooking, he cleaned the white truffles and placed them on the windowsill to dry, turning them into dried mushrooms to prevent them from spoiling.

Since we're going to eat the other mushrooms today, there's no need to dry them.

Standing in front of the stove, Xia Mu looked at the cleaned morel mushrooms and chanterelle mushrooms and pondered what to do with them.

Got it!

Stewing old hen with lamb liver mushrooms creates an extra layer of freshness, making it a truly delicious soup.

The soup is ready, now let's have a plate of stir-fried vegetables.

My gaze fell on the green vegetables beside me, their leaves still glistening with dew.

Stir-fried chanterelle mushrooms with seasonal vegetables should be quite good.

Once Xia Mu had an idea, he put it into action.

First, cut the old hen into pieces and blanch it in boiling water to remove the surface scum. Then, transfer it to a clay pot, add scallions, ginger slices, red dates, and cooking wine, and bring it to a boil over high heat.

Once the water boils, turn the heat to low and simmer slowly. Xia Mu then prepares the green vegetables.

Cut a broccoli head, which is bigger than a washbasin, into small florets, and slice a carrot into thin slices.

With all the side dishes prepared, Xia Mu wasn't in a hurry.

Now, by the time we stir-fry it and eat it, it's already cold.

I went to the window and glanced at the afterglow of the setting sun in the west.

Xia Mu called the kangaroo beasts back. It was getting cold outside, so it was better to stay indoors.

When Mud Donkey returned to the donkey hut, they had already eaten dinner. The three of them lay together, yawning one after another.

Without disturbing them, Xia Mu returned to the cabin.

Then the Kangaroo and the Foam Chipmunk stared longingly at them, their noses twitching.

Xia Mu slapped the ground impatiently, "Just bear with it a little longer, it takes a long time to stew an old hen until it's tender."

"Longga~"

"Lili!"

Before it got completely dark, Xia Mu picked up her notebook and recorded what she had learned that day.

Spring of the 198th year of the League calendar, January 17th

Income: 10050 Alliance Coins.

Remaining funds: 20060 Alliance Coins

We've taken a big step closer to our goal of accumulating 100,000 Alliance Coins.

-

Lifting the lid releases a wonderful aroma that wafts out, a perfect blend of the freshness of morel mushrooms and old hen, making your mouth water just from the smell.

Two figures immediately appeared beside Xia Mu: the Foam Squirrel and the Kangaskhan swallowed hard, their eyes fixed on him.

After simmering for more than an hour, the golden and translucent chicken soup had a few drops of oil floating on the surface, giving it an amber-like luster.

"Lung long~"

The kangaroo eagerly begged for food.

"Don't rush, don't rush." ​​He glanced helplessly at the greedy kangaroo beast. His own child could be summed up in one word: spoil.

Before checking the cooking results, Xia Mu first served each of the Kangaroo Foam Chipmunks a bowl of chicken soup.

"Eat slowly, it's still a little hot."

After giving a few words of advice, Xia Mu carried a large bowl and hurried to the donkey hut.

The mud donkey doesn't eat meat, but drinking soup is fine; besides the soup, the bowl contains lamb liver mushrooms.

"Mud~" x3

Mud Donkey Boy: ?(。?ω?。)ノ?

"I'm glad you like it. You guys enjoy your meal. I'll be going now."

After touching each one, Xia Mu returned to the cabin.

And don't forget the noisy bird too, it's a great contributor.

Looking at the Pokémon burying their heads in their food at the dining table, Natsuki finally had time to use his cheat code to check the cooking results.

[Lamb Liver Mushroom and Old Hen Soup (B+): A clash of umami flavors, every sip is a delight, and it's one of the ingredients for making a rich, creamy soup. Cooking effect: Rich, creamy soup with a perfect balance of umami.]

"Hmm? A century-old soup!"

This is wrong!

It's not Harvest Moon, so why is it turned into Gourmet Hunter?

Driven by curiosity, Xia Mu clicked on the cooking effect section.

【Century Soup O-Flavor: Unparalleled umami flavor, one of the ingredients for making Century Soup. After consuming it, Pokémon will experience a umami journey, gaining unique stat boosts along the way.】

I understand, Pokémon customization and enhancement service.

Judging from this effect alone, Xia Mu is increasingly looking forward to the real-life version of the rich, creamy soup, whose quality is at least an S-grade.

Compared to the lamb liver mushroom and old hen soup, the stir-fried vegetables with chanterelle mushrooms are too ordinary, and the cooking effect is simply to restore physical strength (large).

The cooking wasn't great, but the taste was just as good, and Xia Mu ate two bowls of rice.

There wasn't a single crumb left from dinner today, and the soup pot was even picked up and licked clean by the pancake maker.

After they finished eating, Xia Mu urged the kangaroos to go to sleep.

After a quick wash, Xia Mu lay down on the bed with the foam squirrel in her arms.

In the blink of an eye, the sounds in the pasture vanished, replaced by a peaceful atmosphere.