That afternoon, Bilbo hurried off to the storeroom and hauled out a whole string of sausages in different flavors. He declared that, as a local of the Shire, he absolutely had to offer Li Wei, a friend who had come from afar, a warm and generous welcome.
Naturally, Li Wei did not refuse.
The two enjoyed a lavish "afternoon tea" together.
As he savored the food he had cooked himself, Li Wei's mind was filled with thoughts.
He had read The Lord of the Rings many times and knew the story extremely well.
But now that he had truly come to this world, apart from those key, prophecy-like scenes and the general plot, he knew nothing about the specific details the story had never described.
He needed time to fit in, and he also needed to gather information.
After the meal, he declined Bilbo's Shire-exclusive tobacco. The two sat in the chairs in the little courtyard, gazing into the distance in silence.
For a moment, the air was quiet.
"Li Wei, do you have anything important to do over the next few days?"
Bilbo suddenly asked.
Li Wei glanced at Bilbo and raised an eyebrow.
Bilbo stood up, took a breath, and said, "Of course, don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to pry into your privacy. What I mean is, if you don't have anything pressing to do, perhaps you could stay here a few more days."
"Look, the scenery in the Shire is quite nice too, isn't it? I think you could take a stroll around and treat it as a chance to relax."
"Uh... you know, we Hobbits have never liked leaving our homeland, nor do we like adventures. But personally, I'm still somewhat interested in the sights beyond it. If you're willing, you could tell me about them. And I'd be happy to play host and entertain you, or something like that."
After saying that, Bilbo crossed his hands over his waist and blinked as he waited for Li Wei's reply.
At that moment, Li Wei had already become, in Bilbo's eyes, a master chef who had traveled far from home. He might even have been a royal chef serving some human kingdom.
With cooking like that, every extra bite was a profit.
The air fell quiet again.
Li Wei only needed a moment of thought to see through his little scheme.
Sure enough, a person with a skill never had to worry wherever he went.
Bilbo was a little uneasy. Just as he opened his mouth again to say something, Li Wei smiled.
"Hahaha, since you've put it that way, then I'll shamelessly impose on you for a few more days."
"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Bilbo."
"Oh, good, good!" Bilbo nodded repeatedly.
Only after Li Wei got up and returned to the house did Bilbo let out a breath.
It was Bilbo's first time inviting a stranger he had only just met to stay in his home, so it was inevitable that he was nervous.
Leisurely moments always passed quickly. The gap between afternoon tea and dinner was over after barely a few words.
Under the pretense of learning, Li Wei learned several more recipes that night. As a result, Bilbo's cooking all went into Li Wei's stomach, while the system-level delicacies Li Wei made all went to Bilbo.
For a while, the Hobbit felt somewhat ashamed. He was eating high-quality food while Li Wei had to make do with his rough cooking.
For a chef like him, eating food prepared so crudely must have been a difficult ordeal...
Bilbo thought that if he had to eat a piece of scorched fried fish made by a kitchen novice, he certainly would not be able to stand it.
At the table, both men wore satisfied expressions after finishing dinner.
It had to be said that a Hobbit's stomach could really hold a lot.
Going by Li Wei's usual appetite, this single meal would have fed him for an entire day.
Li Wei had thought he might not be able to eat any more either. After all, in Minecraft, once the Hunger Bar was full, he could not keep eating.
Yet he discovered, to his surprise, that he could continue eating even after his Hunger Bar was filled.
The extra food formed a second Hunger Bar, brighter in color, overlaying the original one.
AppleSkin?
AppleSkin was a mod that displayed "saturation."
In Minecraft, whether Health Bar recovered or stamina was consumed, saturation was depleted first, and only then was the Hunger Bar reduced.
Saturation and the Hunger Bar were often not synchronized. Most foods restored less saturation than hunger, which meant the second Hunger Bar was not full most of the time.
But now, after his Hunger Bar was full, Li Wei could keep eating and fill his saturation as well.
Once the second Hunger Bar, namely his saturation, was full, no further changes occurred no matter how much he ate. Only then would he normally feel stuffed.
Very reasonable.
After dinner, Li Wei greeted Bilbo and quietly left, running deep into a distant forest.
He had wanted to do this for a long time.
He looked around, making sure no one lived nearby and that no one would disturb him.
Then he raised his hand and slammed it hard against the tree before him.
Thud.
A slightly muffled sound rang out.
A nearly imperceptible crack appeared in the trunk.
His hand, meanwhile, was completely unharmed.
Thud thud thud thud thud...
The dull impacts continued. After several heavy punches left the tree with immense psychological trauma, a sharp crack sounded. A section vanished from the middle of the tree, and the entire thing crashed to the ground, startling birds and animals into flight.
In contrast, a miniature piece of wood dropped to the ground and slowly floated in the air.
After it was absorbed into his inventory, its name appeared: Oak Log.
Unlike in the game, the piece of wood looked exactly the same as it had when it was broken off.
Li Wei tried breaking off another section, only to find that this Oak Log occupied another inventory slot and could not stack at all.
Because the two pieces of wood were different.
And the solution was...
Recipe unlocked: Standard Oak.
A moment later, the fallen tree vanished. In its place were several stacked pieces of "Standard Oak" in his inventory, along with a pile of sticks and leaves.
Achievement made: "Standardization!"
"I see."
Watching the achievement pop up, Li Wei came to understand something.
Just as no two snowflakes in the world were exactly alike, items broken off directly could not stack in the inventory because their shapes, sizes, and structures differed.
But after being processed through crafting, they could be turned into identical materials and stored in stacks in the inventory.
For example, with a tree log he had punched down, Li Wei only needed to put it through the four-slot crafting grid built into his inventory to "standardize" it and turn it into the familiar "log."
Now that he understood, Li Wei immediately got back to work, punching trees everywhere and gathering materials.
As the materials in his inventory increased, more crafting recipes were unlocked.
First came the Crafting Table, followed by the Wooden Pickaxe.
With a tap, Li Wei struck the ground beneath his feet and immediately began using the true man's mining method: digging straight down on the spot.
A long while later, when Li Wei emerged from underground, he had already assembled a full set of Stone Tools in his inventory, earned the "Stone Age" achievement, made several furnaces, and burned some charcoal into torches.
It could not be helped. Reality was not like Minecraft, where one could find ore by digging anywhere. He could only burn some charcoal for now.
After all that work, a ding sounded, and Li Wei reached level one.
No obvious change occurred.
If he found diamonds and obsidian later, he could try crafting an Enchanting Table and see what happened...
By then, it was already late.
He raised his head and saw a sky full of stars, with a crescent moon among them.
"Beautiful."
It was about time to head back. Bilbo was still waiting for him to make a late-night snack.
Before you continue