Steady progress

For dinner, Tong Hua decided to use the Baron Potatoes and cabbage he had harvested that morning.

He steamed the starch-rich Baron Potatoes, then followed a method he remembered seeing in his previous life, coating the mashed potatoes in flour and pressing them into dough.

Noodles made entirely from potato starch like these were called Snowy Udon.

To recreate the flavor he remembered as closely as possible, Tong Hua also added grated potato to the broth he cooked the noodles in, giving the mellow, rich soup more texture.

Noodles alone were not enough. Side dishes were a must, too.

He shredded fresh cabbage and quickly stir-fried it in olive oil. With the addition of potato patties shaped from mashed potatoes and baked, a bowl of noodles made almost entirely from potatoes was complete.

[Snowy Udon: Quality B. Udon noodles made from premium Baron Potatoes, with a springy, silky texture and natural sweetness. Paired with golden, crispy potato patties and richly savory broth, they form an exquisite potato trio.]

[Effect: Moderate cold resistance boost. Permanently increases cold resistance after consumption, with diminishing returns from repeated consumption.]

[Evaluation: I slipped something into it!]

[Recommended processing method: Alchemy.]

"Come on! Give it a try!"

Tong Hua brought several bowls of udon out of the kitchen, but before he could hand them out, a few Pokémon had snatched them all up.

Minccino was the first to take a bowl. Their little nose twitched, and their eyes immediately lit up. "Chino!"

Turtwig picked up chopsticks too and slurped up a mouthful. The noodles were packed with potato flavor and incredibly chewy, bouncing around in their mouth and even springing against their teeth.

The two Celebi clearly knew far more about enjoying good food. They even knew to taste the broth before eating the noodles.

They elegantly scooped up the broth with little spoons. All the potatoes' savory essence had melted into the thick, rich soup, while the occasional bits of grated potato added texture and took the whole tasting experience up several notches.

"Bii!"

Meanwhile, Miltank, Bounsweet, and Orthworm each tasted a mouthful as well, and their reactions were much the same as the Celebi's.

The potato patties served on the side were soft and sticky inside, with fragrant, crisp, browned surfaces.

Seeing everyone shower the Snowy Udon with praise, Tong Hua smiled and took a bite himself.

"Mmm, delicious!"

Early the next morning, Tong Hua first collected the milk Miltank had milked herself. After shipping it to Hitomi, he began preparing breakfast.

For breakfast that day, Tong Hua deliberately made the same motivation-boosting sandwiches as yesterday. He wanted not only the bonus effect, but also to save himself the time of making lunch.

After all, according to the plan he had settled on yesterday, the next few days would be packed with work.

After breakfast, Tong Hua watered the fields with the Pokémon again.

"Twig!"

Turtwig was still the expert when it came to watering.

Seeing how inefficient his own help was, Tong Hua gladly stepped aside and left the fieldwork to Turtwig and Bounsweet, who were better suited to it.

As for him, he rode Orthworm outside to find stones for paving the roads.

Minccino and the two Celebi followed along. They wanted to be useful just like the other Pokémon.

It was not just because they wanted to do their part for Fairy Tale Ranch. They had eaten the sandwiches! Now they were brimming with motivation and had nowhere to burn it off!

"Bii!"

Fortunately, the Celebi soon found something they could do. They used their psychic powers to select suitable stones from the riverbed and carry them back to the ranch.

Paving the roads with these stones would make them much easier to walk on than the ranch's original muddy paths.

Once the gravel was spread over the road, Orthworm rolled over it with a metal body weighing hundreds of kilograms, becoming a worm-shaped road roller and compacting the surface perfectly.

Minccino was not idle either, checking the road's evenness and the condition of its edges alongside Tong Hua.

After the inspection, they still needed to dig shallow drainage channels along both sides to prevent standing water from softening the roadbed.

Everyone kept working around the ranch like this, hauling stones, flattening the roads, and digging drainage ditches. Even Miltank out in the pasture could not resist coming over to help compact the roads with Rollout.

With only a half-hour break in between, they worked from morning until evening before finally finishing the ranch's roads.

"Whew..."

Tong Hua stood in front of the ranch's main gate. The road began here and stretched all the way to Wind-Circling Forest at the northernmost end.

"I never thought we'd finish it in just one day..."

They had actually completed one part of the most troublesome infrastructure project in a single day.

An elite crew of workhorses-no, an elite construction team-was already showing its talent!

Over the third and fourth days, Tong Hua continued his daily tasks while beginning to demolish the old Pokémon Cottages. He also gathered timber from the Fast-Growing Forest to prepare for rebuilding them.

Meanwhile, the second batch of crops was growing vigorously. To prevent wild birds from stealing them, Tong Hua even placed several scarecrows in the fields.

His days were full. Although there was always more work than he could finish, leaving him wishing he could stretch each day into forty-eight hours, the feeling of improving his life little by little with his own hands was truly addictive.

Finally, on the tenth day after arriving in this world, Tong Hua had stockpiled enough timber. Construction of the deluxe Pokémon Cottage could officially begin!

"All right, let's get to work!"

The new cottage would stand beside Miltank's and Orthworm's current homes, right where the old cottages had been.

After all, when Xiang Shi had drawn up the design, he had based his improvements on those old Pokémon Cottages.

This would let them make the most of the existing foundations and posts, saving Tong Hua a considerable sum.

And so, the first step in building the new Pokémon Cottage was to inspect the foundations!

"The bases look pretty solid. Seems like they're individual post footings." Tong Hua checked them while comparing their positions against the load-bearing posts on the plans.

After confirming that the foundations could be reused as they were, Tong Hua suddenly noticed that one post was visibly riddled with insect damage and could no longer be used.

He removed the old post, lifted a long log that had been cut to shape, and set it on the footing as a replacement.

Whether it was because his recent meals had been so nutritious or because his golden finger had strengthened his body, Tong Hua struggled a little to lift the post several meters tall, but he actually managed to get it into

place all by himself.

"Bii!" The Pokémon watching nearby were stunned, especially the pink Celebi. She had not even used her psychic powers to help yet. How had he already finished installing it?

Besides, as far as she remembered, Tong Hua should not have been that strong.

Could... could there be something wrong with my memory? Or...

The pink Celebi sank into thought. Meanwhile, the other Pokémon began helping Tong Hua build the main frame.

Building a house, especially putting up its frame at the start, really was not fundamentally different from playing with building blocks.

You simply replaced the blocks with wooden boards, and the connecting studs with nails and various mortise-and-tenon joints.

Besides, they had blueprints. Even a Slowpoke could build it by following the drawings.

Of course, that was not meant as a jab at Slowpoke...

With help from Turtwig, Orthworm, and the other Pokémon, the main frame was soon complete. Tong Hua stood in front of it, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and gazed with satisfaction at the deluxe cottage taking shape.

"Next are the walls and roof..."

It was now noon. Tong Hua took out the sandwiches and shared them with everyone.

To Tong Hua, the motivation boost in the sandwiches was even more invigorating than caffeine. After wolfing them down, the Pokémon immediately threw themselves back into construction, full of energy.

Minccino and Turtwig each used their own methods to pass tools precisely to Tong Hua, while Orthworm served as temporary scaffolding, allowing him to reach high places with ease.

The two Celebi also used their psychic powers. One held the boards suspended in place, while the other drove in nails with Confusion. Working together, everyone was astonishingly efficient.

"All that's left now are the doors and windows..."

The cottage's design did not use glass windows, but shutters made from wooden slats.

Like the finishing stroke that brought a painting to life, this final stage felt especially solemn.

Tong Hua carefully installed the windows, then took the tools and nails from Minccino and cautiously fitted the pivots into the window frames...

Done!

Mission accomplished!