Farming Games are All About Grinding
Chapter 191 - 184: The Palm Flower that Can Clear Heat

Chapter 191: Chapter 184: The Palm Flower that Can Clear Heat

After hanging up the phone, Han Qiwu continued riding his bike to the spot where the tiger spot could be found.

Take advantage of the rain. Time for a good fishing spree!

There are still three empty spots in the cowshed, and the fishpond hasn’t been built yet?

He still hasn’t checked out the special weekly goods at Master Shuzi’s place.

No money!

Charge, charge, charge!

Arriving at the tiger spot fishing spot, Han Qiwu adjusted his raincoat, took out his fire barrel, and plopped down onto it.

Comfortable.

Cast the line!

"Whoosh!"

The feeling of fishing in the rain is just different. Within seconds, Han Qiwu was fully absorbed in the fishing game.

Looking at the treasure chest icon below the tiger spot in the fishing game, Han Qiwu smiled faintly and focused intently on fishing.

Five minutes later:

[Congratulations! You’ve obtained a treasure chest]

Off to a great start.

Opening the treasure chest, Han Qiwu gained a block of gold ore.

A few more and he could craft gold ingots for making an oil press.

Keep going!

Two hours later, Han Qiwu packed up his fire barrel and stood up to stretch.

The first hour and a half yielded pretty good results—fish after fish kept biting. But in the last half hour, the tiger spot’s catch rate dropped significantly.

"Maybe the downside of this kind of fishing hole is that you can’t fish here for too long," Han Qiwu analyzed as he rode toward the trade point.

[Through trading, you earned 5235 gold]

Sweet!

The price of tiger spot fish is definitely way higher than regular fish.

Thanks to Mr. Tang for the intel.

Really makes me want to take a closer look at Mr. Tang’s journal. How many fishing holes must be in there!

Besides the over 5,000 gold haul, he also snagged an ancient artifact and three crystal balls during the fishing activity, neatly storing them in his inventory for later use.

Storing everything away, Han Qiwu rode to Aunt Guo’s house. Passing through the town, it happened to be school time for the elementary kids—a row of little ones in school uniforms obediently marched into the campus.

Arriving at Aunt Guo’s door, Han Qiwu parked his bike and knocked.

"Aunt Guo, Grandpa Chen, it’s me, Han Qiwu."

"Oh, Xiao Han is here! Come have a bowl of ginger soup to ward off the chill," Aunt Guo said as she opened the door, handing over a bowl of ginger soup.

Han Qiwu thanked her, reached for the soup, and took a sip.

Aunt Guo’s ginger soup tastes way better than Qi Ren’s. Finely shredded ginger paired with richly sweet brown sugar—it leaves your whole body warm and cozy.

"Warm enough now? Shall we head out?" Grandpa Chen cheerfully asked, already wearing his rain boots. He had decided to gather palm flowers early so he could send Han Qiwu off quickly.

"Sure."

The three put on their raincoats and opted to walk rather than ride bikes toward the palm tree grove.

Walking in the spring rain feels very different from biking.

When walking, the fine drizzle brushing your face feels tingling and pleasant—it’s a delightful sensation.

About ten minutes later, Han Qiwu spotted a grove of tall palm trees. Water Buffalo Town’s climate is great for palm trees, and their leaves were wide and large.

As they approached, Aunt Guo pointed to the tops of the palm trees and said, "Xiao Han, do you see those big yellow bundles up there?"

Han Qiwu looked up as directed, spotting many yellow, football-shaped bundles on the palm tree tops. Their texture looked rough and fluffy.

"These are palm flowers, also called palm bundles or palm shoots. Lots of people don’t eat them, but they taste fantastic," Aunt Guo said with a smile.

Han Qiwu chuckled. "I used to play with these when I was a kid—tore them off and threw them around with classmates."

"Such a waste! Today, Aunt Guo will teach you how to cook them so you can make them for your kids someday." With that, Aunt Guo bit the edge of her knife, used her hands and feet to quickly climb a palm tree, balanced on a branch, and lightly sliced off one tender yellow palm flower.

She only took two or three ripe flowers from the tree, leaving the rest untouched.

"Be careful, Aunt Guo," Han Qiwu said, but before he could react, Aunt Guo had already collected several palm flowers and was preparing to climb down.

Why are these aunties always so agile?

"No worries, back in the day your Aunt Guo was way better than this. These old arms and legs aren’t what they used to be," Grandpa Chen said proudly, then glanced at Han Qiwu and shook his head. "You wouldn’t manage, huh? Young people’s physical fitness isn’t what it used to be."

Han Qiwu: "....."

How could I not manage?

"Grandpa Chen, watch this!" Han Qiwu sized up a nearby palm tree, leaped lightly, grabbed the trunk, and climbed it in two steps.

The sensation of having strong jumping ability was too awesome.

"Attaboy!" Aunt Guo landed back on the ground, gave Han Qiwu a thumbs-up, packed the palm flowers into a basket, and prepared to keep harvesting.

Watching Han Qiwu in action, Grandpa Chen shouted, "You’re good, kid! Since you can climb so easily, don’t let Aunt Guo tire herself. Go climb a few more trees!"

Saying that, Grandpa Chen gently held Aunt Guo’s elbow, chuckling as he persuaded, "Xiao Han hardly gets a chance to climb trees. Young folks love this kind of fun. Let him do it."

Up on the tree, Han Qiwu realized he might have walked right into Grandpa Chen’s trap.

What a ploy!

Oh well, let’s get to work.

"Xiao Han, remember to pick the tender ones—they taste better."

"Got it."

Truthfully, before Aunt Guo even mentioned it, Han Qiwu had already identified the two highest-quality palm bundles.

The method is simple—if it glows, it’s a good one.

[Palm Flowers]

[Stamina +20]

[HP +50]

[Special Effect—Cool Heat: Reduces burn damage by 10%]

[Note: Palm flower quality is highly variable]

"There’s a special effect?" Han Qiwu was slightly surprised. The cool heat effect seemed pretty useful. He guessed when exploring deeper in the mining caves down the line, he might run into high-temperature environments.

Perfect timing! Could palm leaves also have such effects?

Looking up, Han Qiwu saw there were only about ten glowing spots in this palm grove.

High-quality palm flowers seemed scarce.

He decided to secretly harvest them later.

Leaving them here would be wasteful since no one else would pick them.

With this plan in mind, Han Qiwu plucked the two best palm flowers, gently tossed them to Aunt Guo, and then stretched his body while standing on the tree. With a leap, he smoothly jumped over to the next palm tree.

His fluid motion made the two elders below brighten with amazement.

"This kid jumps more nimbly than a monkey."

"Sure does! Shame, though—back in the day, someone like him would’ve gathered who knows how many things from the mountains in a single day!"

Han Qiwu: "..."

These senior folks sure have an unusual way of giving compliments.

After plucking two more palm flowers, Aunt Guo shouted, "Enough, enough! Put on gloves and pull down some leaves now."

"Got it."

After pulling down the palm leaves, the three returned to Aunt Guo’s home.

"Old Chen, go heat up the dishes I prepped earlier and clean the palm bundles. I’ll stir-fry them later," Aunt Guo instructed Grandpa Chen, then led Han Qiwu to sit on the side while she pointed at the palm leaves on the ground and briefly explained the process of making straw raincoats and the other uses for palm leaves.

Nearing the end of her explanation, Aunt Guo chuckled and sighed, "As the saying goes: A thousand palms and ten thousand phoenix trees—they’ll keep you fed for a lifetime. Truly good stuff!" She then headed into the kitchen to stir-fry the palm flowers.

Han Qiwu nodded but felt a bit anxious inside.

Why haven’t I learned a skill yet?

I want to make straw raincoats, twist palm ropes, craft palm mats, and bind brooms too!

Maybe I could make a whole fire-resistant gear set!