Undoubtedly, the waterwheel was the most essential item Mu Zong needed at the moment.
Before leaving the farm, he took another look at the planted starf berry. The ripening time didn't match; the drought had caused it to ripen even slower.
The crop's status was also gradually turning yellow.
"Hello, do you have materials to repair a waterwheel?" Mu Zong pushed open the door of the lumber shop and looked at the counter.
It was empty.
The boss's voice came from beside the shelves, a gentle female voice like water.
"Yes, yes, do you need wooden parts or gears? If you add Froakie's foam, it can extend its lifespan!"
The boss held a jar in her hand, filled with white foam.
Mu Zong's gaze shifted over; it was a head of blue hair, with a long ponytail reaching her waist.
"Eh? Aren't you from Qinghe Town? You look a little familiar, but not much," the shop owner blinked.
"My name is Mu Zong..."
"Oh! I know whose grandson you are. I'm Xiao Jia." She put down the jar, smiled gently, and extended her hand.
The two shook hands lightly.
"I've heard about your situation. I hope you can cheer up," Xiao Jia comforted him.
Mu Zong showed a smile, "It's fine. I probably need some wooden parts and gears. Not many parts of the waterwheel are broken."
"Alright, I'll find them for you."
After Xiao Jia finished speaking, she began to move through the shelves.
The arrangement of these goods was messy, but Xiao Jia quickly found everything needed.
"I'll charge you five hundred Alliance Points. Can you install it?" Xiao Jia asked a crucial question.
"I... I can't..."
"On-site installation costs three hundred points... Hmm... Since this is your first time, I'll give you a discount down to one hundred points." Xiao Jia showed a smile, her words not hurting Mu Zong's self-esteem.
"Thank you!"
Mu Zong quickly thanked her, then added, "Can you wait a bit? I still need to buy some things."
"You can. Just come find me anytime. There aren't many customers right after the start of spring," Xiao Jia smiled slightly.
Mu Zong nodded, then rushed off to various shops.
When he saw Xiao Jia again, she was already carrying oil, rice, salt, and other items.
"Then let's go," Xiao Jia held a pile of materials, waiting for him to lead the way.
"The boss is coming in person?" Mu Zong was a little surprised.
"It's fine. Anyway, there aren't many customers, and it's a good chance for me to see what you're missing, also to win over customers," Xiao Jia showed a sweet smile.
Mu Zong understood, "Then follow me."
Along the way, Mu Zong looked at the farms along the road with some envy.
When would he have his own Miltank?
"By the way, Sister Xiao Jia, do you know the market price for starf berry?" Mu Zong asked.
"Of course! Thirty yuan per jin!"
"That's so high..." Mu Zong was a little surprised.
"But!"
Xiao Jia's expression became serious, and she changed the subject, "The seedling success rate for starf berry is only thirty percent, and it ripens every three months, with each plant yielding only a little over one jin."
"Is that so..." This made Mu Zong's heart sink.
He had asked about the price of fertilizer; fifty starf berry plants would require five hundred points worth of fertilizer.
That didn't even include other costs.
Soon, they arrived outside the farm, and Xiao Jia immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Mu Zong, your place is very close to the mountains, so the fence must be repaired, otherwise Mankey will treat you like a soft persimmon."
Xiao Jia looked at the dilapidated fence very seriously.
"Is that so? Sister Xiao Jia, can you estimate the cost?" Mu Zong felt that this money had to be spent.
He didn't have any Pokémon now, and Zarude didn't look like it could fight.
An angry Mankey wouldn't be scared away by aura.
"It'll probably cost one to two thousand. If you need it, I can come help you repair it tomorrow," Xiao Jia estimated.
"Understood..."
Mu Zong did some calculations: the waterwheel cost him six hundred today, oil one hundred, rice fifty, oil and salt fifty, eggs fifty, fertilizer five hundred...
Adding this fence, he probably wouldn't have much savings left.
But this fence was a short-term defensive investment and had to be made.
If Mankey really treated him like a soft persimmon, all his expenses would be for nothing.
He returned to the starf berry field again, and the data reappeared before his eyes.
"Crop type: starf berry (Ghost, Grass.)"
"Crop status: Green (continuously decreasing)."
"Ripening countdown: 2645.8 hours (slightly increasing)."
"Estimated yield: Unknown."
"Environmental warning: Drought."
Except for the countdown, there wasn't much change in anything else.
This made Mu Zong frown, but then he quickly understood.
The seedling success rate wasn't one hundred percent, so it was normal not to have an estimate.
When writing the code, he hadn't considered the seedling success rate, as there wasn't one in MC.
"There's also another problem. This artificial irrigation ditch is dry. The source in the mountains is probably problematic, perhaps blocked by something."
The irrigation ditch below Xiao Jia's waterwheel had not a single drop of water left.
Mu Zong immediately slapped his forehead, "I knew something was missing! So it was this. Thank you, Sister Xiao Jia."
It proved that he knew nothing about real agriculture.
"Everyone starts like this. You need to work hard!" Xiao Jia encouraged him, then took out her Poké Ball, "Come out, my partner."
Mu Zong had expected it to be a Machamp or something similar, but he didn't expect it to be a Tangela.
"Man~"
"Tangela's vines are very flexible and can do many things," Xiao Jia said, handing the materials to Tangela and instructing it to repair the waterwheel.
Mu Zong could only watch enviously from the side.
He was barely making ends meet now, let alone raising Pokémon.
In his memory, Zarude could also condense tentacles with energy.
However, using it to repair a waterwheel would definitely be overkill, not much different from Kyogre watering the land.
Soon, the waterwheel was as good as new, just like a brand new one.
"It's done, but it's still no good without a water source. However, Mankey have been particularly active in the mountains in the past few days, so I don't recommend you go into the mountains," Xiao Jia reminded him.
"Thank you," Mu Zong said quickly.
"It's alright, we're all villagers. I'll bring the fence repair materials tomorrow morning," Xiao Jia recalled Tangela and turned to leave.
But then her footsteps paused, "This waterwheel has a reverse drainage function, and I helped you fix that too. I won't charge extra for it."
Mu Zong didn't idle away the remaining time; instead, he fetched water to irrigate.
"I really hope it rains heavily tomorrow."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and returned to the living room at dusk.
The drought condition had disappeared.
Before he could catch his breath, he saw a towel handed to him.
It was Zarude.
He could move now.
Mu Zong was startled, looking up to meet his scarlet eyes.
"You..."
"luzha!"
"Thank you."
He took the towel and wiped the sweat from his head.
After resting enough, he got up to cook in the kitchen, and Zarude followed him into the kitchen.
"I can't cook, you'll have to make do..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zarude picked up the spatula.
"You can?!"
"luzha!"