"Hello! I'm Chuang Yi, a Ranger from Windring Town Base. Do you have any products to ship today?"
Chuang Yi hopped down from the truck and walked into Fairy Tale Ranch.
Besides his partner Pachirisu, a familiar Machamp followed at his side.
"Machamp!"
"It rained yesterday, so nothing was shipped. I bet there's plenty piled up today. Take Machamp with you to help."
Recalling Captain Palmer's words before he left, Chuang Yi inwardly scoffed. He thought the captain worried far too much.
Hitomi had only just told him yesterday that Fairy Tale Ranch was starting out, and practically its only source of products was a single Miltank.
How much could pile up from missing one day's shipment? One can of fresh milk would become two, that was all. It wasn't as if he couldn't handle that little bit of heavy lifting himself.
"Anyone here?"
"Coming, coming!"
Tong Hua hurried out from behind the house and greeted Chuang Yi with a broad smile.
"You're just in time. I've got everything ready.
Come on in."
Seeing the dirt and grass clippings covering Tong Hua, Chuang Yi suddenly had a bad feeling.
He followed Tong Hua behind the house, took one look, and froze.
At least ten baskets of potatoes and several baskets of cabbages sat on the ground. There weren't just a lot of them-each basket looked heavy, too.
"Are these... all products you want to ship?"
"Yep."
Tong Hua nodded, grinning broadly.
"...Machamp, sorry for the trouble, but could you bring the electronic scale over from the truck?"
"Machamp."
Machamp brought over the electronic scale, and Tong Hua and Chuang Yi began weighing the crops.
To make the measurements as accurate as possible, the two of them and the Pokémon carefully cleaned the dirt off the potatoes before placing the baskets on the scale one by one.
"Heave-ho!"
As each basket of potatoes was weighed, Chuang Yi recorded the figures.
"22... 25... 30..."
Practically every basket weighed at least twenty kilograms. Even Tong Hua was surprised by how much this crop of potatoes had yielded.
In the end, the potatoes weighed 243 kilograms altogether. Tong Hua specifically kept one thirty-kilogram basket and sold the rest.
"Give me a moment to check the handbook. The purchase price for potatoes of this quality should be..."
Chuang Yi pulled a work handbook out of his pocket and flipped through it, quickly finding the section on baron potatoes.
"Individual weight of at least three hundred grams, smooth surface, round shape. These meet the standard for premium produce. The recommended purchase price is...
Two hundred League Coins per kilogram!"
This was Chuang Yi's first time handling shipments for a ranch, so it was also his first encounter with the purchasing price guidelines.
"Two hundred League Coins per kilogram, and 213 kilograms in total..."
Beside him, Pachirisu counted on its fingers too, though it seemed only capable of arithmetic up to ten.
"42,600 League Coins. Here you go."
Chuang Yi mechanically pulled a stack of banknotes from the purchasing funds the captain had given him. It was almost half a month's wages for him.
After all, as a low-ranking Ranger employed by the League, he earned only 100,000 League Coins a month. If the base hadn't provided room and board, he would barely have been able to save anything.
"Thanks." Tong Hua had no idea what Chuang Yi was thinking. He accepted the banknotes with a cheerful smile. "Next up are the cabbages and Moomoo Milk."
Chuang Yi took a deep breath, trying his best to remain professional. "All right, let's continue..."
Half an hour later, a hundred kilograms of spring cabbage and thirty liters of Moomoo Milk had added nearly another 10,000 League Coins to Tong Hua's earnings.
He had even kept a basket of cabbages and half a can of Moomoo Milk for his own use.
Afterward, Machamp and Chuang Yi began moving everything onto the truck, with Tong Hua and the Pokémon helping load it.
Tong Hua even found a spare moment to record today's earnings at the back of his Planting Notes.
March 11, spring, League calendar year 112.
Income: potatoes +46,200, cabbages +5,200, Moomoo Milk +4,500
Total savings: 167,900 League Coins.
"Not bad!"
Looking at the figure for his savings, Tong Hua couldn't help smiling sincerely.
With this much money, he could move his plans for the ranch's infrastructure forward.
Ever since Jessica had turned her nose up at his bathroom yesterday, Tong Hua had quietly raised the priority of building a new house on his list.
I really want a fully equipped kitchen and an air-conditioned bedroom. How am I supposed to survive summer without air conditioning?
Fortunately, summer was still a long way off. At his current rate of earning, he would definitely be able to build a new home with running water and electricity before then!
"Machamp!"
Machamp certainly lived up to its name. Each of its four thick, muscular arms supposedly had the strength to move a mountain, and it handled almost all the hauling single-handedly.
While the crops were being loaded onto the truck, the Pokémon by the fields weren't idle either. One crop had just been harvested, and the seeds for the next were already ready to go into the ground.
"Boun, boun!"
Cabbages and potatoes were both single-harvest crops. Tong Hua called Turtwig, Minccino, and Bounsweet over to help, and together they planted the remaining cabbage seeds and some seed potatoes cut into small pieces.
As for the cabbage and potato stems and leaves left after the harvest, they crushed some of them and buried them in the soil as fertilizer.
Worried that this organic fertilizer wouldn't be enough, Tong Hua also added some of the "nitrogen fertilizer" he had accumulated over the past few days.
"Turt!""Min, min!"
The three Pokémon worked just as they had last time. Bounsweet bounced along in front, making holes; Turtwig placed the seeds inside; and Minccino covered them with soil to finish the sowing.
One crop had barely been harvested before the next was planted. Tong Hua didn't know whether this would harm the soil, but it was the perfect season for spring planting, and he didn't want to waste a moment.
"Thanks for all your hard work!" Tong Hua wiped the sweat from his forehead, filled with a sense of accomplishment as he looked at the newly replanted fields.
Meanwhile, Chuang Yi and Machamp finally finished loading all the goods onto the truck. Pachirisu collapsed onto a seat, panting with its little tongue hanging out.
"I never expected
your yield to be this high..."
Chuang Yi couldn't help marveling. "Looks like Captain Palmer was right to have me bring Machamp."
Tong Hua gave a sheepish smile. "This is actually my first time farming, too. I never thought I'd harvest so much. It's all thanks to everyone's help."
Watching how smoothly Tong Hua and the Pokémon worked together, Chuang Yi suddenly felt a little admiration for him.
Fairy Tale Ranch might have only just started out, but Tong Hua's diligence and the Pokémon's hard work had already filled the place with life.
"Well, that's the job done. I'll be heading off now. See you next time." With that, Chuang Yi turned to get into the truck.
"Wait!"
Tong Hua hurriedly called him back, picking up the picnic basket he had prepared earlier. Inside were the sandwiches he had made for lunch.
"Was there something else?"
"If you don't mind, please try these."
Tong Hua smiled and handed Chuang Yi the basket. "I made these sandwiches myself. Machamp and Pachirisu should try some too."
Chuang Yi paused, then accepted the basket with some surprise.
Lifting the lid, he found several golden, crisp sandwiches neatly arranged inside, filled with fresh salad and fluffy scrambled eggs. Their aroma wafted up invitingly.
"This... you really didn't have to." Chuang Yi felt a little embarrassed, but his stomach betrayed him with a growl. Only then did he remember that he had been busy since early morning and hadn't had a proper meal.
"Go on, try one!" Tong Hua urged warmly.
Chuang Yi stopped refusing and took a bite of a sandwich. The soft bread, sweet Berries, and tender scrambled eggs blended in his mouth, making his eyes widen.
"Delicious!" he praised sincerely. "You two should try some too!"
Chuang Yi handed sandwiches to Pachirisu and Machamp beside him, and both Pokémon began eating with equally blissful expressions.
Watching everyone enjoy the food warmed Tong Hua's heart.
He hesitated before speaking. "Um... Chuang Yi, there's actually one more favor I'd like to ask."
"Hm? What is it?" Chuang Yi asked indistinctly, his mouth full of sandwich.
"Could you give me a ride? I'd like to go to the village to buy a few things."
Chuang Yi swallowed his food and readily nodded. "No problem! There's a spare seat in the cab. I'll take you along."
"Great!" Tong Hua clapped his hands happily, then turned to call out to Turtwig and the others. "I'm going to buy a few things. You three be good and look after the ranch together!"
"Turt!""Min, min!""Boun!"
The three Pokémon all reacted differently. Only Bounsweet was willing to stay at the ranch and continue tending the fields.
Turtwig and Minccino immediately ran to Tong Hua's feet and looked up at him expectantly.
"Just as I thought... all right, you can come too." Tong Hua crouched down helplessly and patted both Pokémon on the head.
"Let's get going, then!" Chuang Yi called Tong Hua over to the truck. With the two little ones in tow, Tong Hua hopped into the passenger seat.
With a roar of its engine, the truck slowly pulled away from Fairy Tale Ranch and headed toward Chicory Village.
Tong Hua watched the scenery retreat past the window, already planning what he needed to buy.
Before you continue