After sending off Aunt Hong Mei, Han Qiwu planned to check on the dried fruits before heading out for some fishing.
The blacksmith Gongshuzi and the museum Zack were both waiting desperately.
Such heavy responsibilities ahead!
Picking up the dried fruits, Han Qiwu noticed a system notification:
[Raspberry Drying in Progress, Total Sunlight Needed: 3 units. Estimated Completion: 3 days.]
[Wild Onion Drying in Progress, Total Sunlight Needed: 2 units. Estimated Completion: 2 days.]
[Wild Leek Drying in Progress, Total Sunlight Needed: 5 units. Estimated Completion: 5 days.]
Sure enough, one unit of sunlight per day.
Behold the birth of the fruit-based weather forecast!
Now I don't have to deal with that lousy TV as much anymore!
If you don't want to work, just say so! Stop using power outages as an excuse!
Of course, Han Qiwu just thought these words to himself. After all, tomorrow he still needed the TV to learn recipes from Old Man Shennong.
If he couldn't learn recipes, checking the almanac would be fine too.
Before heading out, Han Qiwu decided to organize his belongings.
Besides the [Copper Knife] and other tools, he only carried [Red Date]×1, [Raspberry]×2, and [Longfin Tuna (Damaged)]×1. Truthfully, aside from the elm seeds he just received from the old lady, he didn't have much left to restore stamina.
Broke as always.
Watering plants every day already consumed a portion of his stamina, and now there was also Physical Reinforcement, a skill that drained both stamina and health.
Looks like he'd have to grind hard.
Wait a second. While organizing his belongings, Han Qiwu noticed something he got from yesterday's treasure chest: [Ancient Pottery Shard]
"Ancient Pottery Shard? I wonder if Zack would like this stuff?" Han Qiwu decided to head to the museum to check it out. After all, he hadn't visited the new building yet, so he wouldn't lose anything by swinging by!
But thinking about Zack's stern face from before made him a little hesitant. Could it be that the curator was petty?
Even the lottery required answering questions—seemed so half-hearted.
Taking a quick look at the map, the museum was just a short distance north of the blacksmith shop. Han Qiwu biked for fifteen minutes and reached his destination.
The museum's exterior resembled a small European-style villa, nestled by the lake.
Han Qiwu parked his bike and walked to the entrance. Before he could even knock, the door opened by itself.
"I hope you've brought good news," said Zack, sitting behind the counter with a sour expression.
"Of course it's good news. See if this counts as an artifact." Han Qiwu pulled out the [Ancient Pottery Shard] from his storage compartment.
Before Han Qiwu could even approach the counter, Zack darted over in a flash.
[Would you like to donate the artifact: 'Ancient Pottery Shard' to the museum?]
"Yes," Han Qiwu nodded. Judging by this, anything labeled with the word "ancient" might count as an artifact. He wondered if something like Big Gu might qualify too.
[Thank you for completing your second donation.]
A minute later, Han Qiwu had received no further system notifications.
"That's it? Just a thank-you?" Han Qiwu looked at Zack in disbelief.
Is this some kind of joke?
"When you've donated enough artifacts, you'll receive more rewards in the future." After taking the item, Zack's expression softened considerably. "Here's a friendly tip: there are plenty of artifacts underground, not just in fishing spots."
"But I can't find them, can I? Where are the mines?" Han Qiwu asked directly, as if he was starting to piece together how the museum worked.
Knowledge is valuable.
"Drink this, and you'll be able to see areas that might contain artifacts. As for the mines—your contributions aren't sufficient yet." Zack retrieved a wide-mouthed jar filled with an earthy-yellow potion from behind the counter.
[Explorer Apprentice Potion (Common Quality)]
[Effect: After consumption, enables detection of ancient artifact sites on land.]
[Note: Exploration is endless.]
Han Qiwu glanced at the attributes and cautiously opened the bottle cap.
Then, applying the scent-detection skills he learned in middle school, he gently fanned the bottle's opening to analyze the smell.
After sniffing for a long time, he caught no scent, but Zack, standing nearby, couldn't watch any longer.
"Enough! Just drink it already—it's meant to be consumed in one go."
Han Qiwu chuckled, grabbed the jar with one hand, and chugged it all down in one swig.
If Zack was annoyed, that could only be a good thing.
As soon as the liquid hit his tongue, an overwhelming earthy taste flooded his mouth. As for the potion's texture… let's just not talk about it.
[You consumed the Explorer Apprentice Potion.]
[You can now detect ancient artifact sites on land. Remember to use a hoe to unearth them.]
What a win!
"I'll look forward to your next visit." Zack quickly muttered with a dark expression before turning to head into the inner chamber.
"Wait! Tell me about the mines!" Han Qiwu, fully committed to pestering, tried to follow Zack into the inner chamber. But, upon reaching the door, he found it wouldn't budge.
[Only friends of Zack may enter the inner chamber.]
"Sigh."
So my friendship level's too low, huh? Just say so!
After leaving the museum, Han Qiwu leisurely biked along the riverbank, wanting to see what these ancient artifact sites looked like.
After five or six minutes of exploring, he still hadn't found anything resembling an ancient site.
Han Qiwu decisively parked his bike—he couldn't waste any more time.
If he wasted any more, he wouldn't even have the stamina to water his plants tomorrow. Time to fish.
I must say, fishing with the copper knife just feels fantastic!
Plus, with 16 bait still on hand, he could extend his fishing sessions, significantly boosting efficiency.
From the setting sun to the clear, breezy moonlit night, Han Qiwu pushed his endurance to levels far beyond what his age should bear.
Exhausted.
His red dates and raspberries were completely consumed.
The tuna was down to just its bones and fleshless scraps.
The haul was mediocre—not a single treasure chest in sight. Han Qiwu even began suspecting Zack of scaring the fish away nearby.
The best harvest today? Six pieces of waterweed. I'll save them for stamina recovery tomorrow.
As for the fish caught:
[Bigmouth Bass]×3
[Smallmouth Bass]×2
[Sunfish]×2
[Redtail Trout]×1
The Bigmouth Bass entry had already been logged in the fish compendium. As for the other three, this was his first time catching them, so he had no idea about their price.
"Sunfish… doesn't look tasty. Forget the trout too—it's just one fish, might as well save it for the compendium. I don't feel like trying the Smallmouth Bass either. Let's just steam two Bigmouth Bass tomorrow, and sell the rest to make some money."
After sorting everything out, Han Qiwu packed up. There was still the tuna fish head soup from lunch back home, which should be enough to recover the stamina needed for chopping trees in the evening.
On the way home, Han Qiwu suddenly remembered—he'd forgotten to deliver the forsythia to Mr. Tang, and he hadn't shown him the red coral either.
"First time, so no experience—makes sense. Once you do it again, you'll get the hang of it. Gotta cook the rice before it turns into porridge anyway." A fatigued Han Qiwu's mind wandered as he biked along, occasionally glancing at the surrounding fields.
[Ding! You've discovered an ancient artifact site.]
Han Qiwu immediately perked up, stopped his bike, and grabbed his hoe, heading toward the reddish patch of land now in his view.
The site was about the same size as the fields back home, except it was red. From afar, it looked like the red soil from those old QQ Farm days.
The red patch didn't have much grass growing on it—just a few scattered rocks of various sizes. Not being a geology major, Han Qiwu couldn't make much sense of it.
Well, who cares! Just dig it up and get it over with!
Positioning himself over the red soil, Han Qiwu struck it with his hoe.
[Congratulations, you've obtained Copper Ore ×1]