Fruit Farmer In A Cultivation World

A full month had passed since the first snowfall. The winter sunflowers were growing up nicely, with the bud beginning to open up slightly.

If the unreliable booklet of Green Wind Spirit Farmers Association were to be trusted, the sunflowers would mature in a month to 50 days more.

The winter sunflower seeds would have to be harvested by Sen Lin right before the plants wither. Doing so would ensure no loss of spiritual energy, turning the seeds into energy rich items that could play beneficial roles for cultivators.

Sen Lin recalled the contents of the booklet as he looked down at the tiny white petals that were slowly peeking out of the green buds. This was the only part of the plant that was green. The leaves were all white and judging by the petals that were getting ready to bloom, they'd be white as snow as well.

Thinking about it, he could see why the plant was called a winter sunflower.

An excited braying brought Sen Lin out of his thoughts. Without even looking back, he could tell why Blacky was so happy -- little Ying, the little girl had come over to play once again.

Sen Lin couldn't help but shake his head at the donkey's unexpected energy levels when it was with the girl. Gone was the lazy donkey that slept all day because of the cold.

I can't believe I have to coddle him for hours just to take him along to fetch water. If I hadn't raised him myself, I'd seriously think this beast was raised by this girl.

"Blacky, I came to play. Look, I got some berry for you. Grandpa said I couldn't eat it since he had never seen this before but it should be okay to feed it to you."

Another round of happy braying followed the girl's words, causing Sen Lin to shake his head at the donkey's antic.

In the past two weeks, the girl had often visited his little farm. Her first visit was to return his pot as the one he had fixed with rice paste had dried properly. Over the next few visits, she had become friends with Blacky.

Initially, Sen Lin wanted to join in the fun as there was nothing much to do in winter. Unfortunately, he couldn't butt in as the girl would suddenly start stammering and grow timid in his presence. Blacky too, would go back to his lethargic state when he entered the barn.

Seeing how unwelcoming the two were towards him, Sen Lin gave up on his plan.

Instead, he had now developed a habit of staying by the winter sunflowers for even longer. While he was still unsure of the mystical feeling, he could now sense the energy flowing into him much more clearly.

He guessed this was probably the spiritual energy cultivators talked about but had no idea what it did for him.

For now, he could only be sure of one of its functions – it kept him warm.

Even after spending hours on end by the winter sunflowers, he felt no cold. He had even tried taking off his jacket once and it didn't affect him much.

"Excuse me mister."

Sen Lin turned around and looked at the girl who was standing with her head down. Behind her, Blacky was chewing on something.

"What is it?"

"This." Little Ying offered him a handful of white berries from her pocket. "Grandpa said you might know what these are."

The berries were the size of her fingernails. When he tried to crush one between his thumb and index finger, he realized they were surprisingly tough.

Glancing at Blacky who was eating it with relish, Sen Lin put it in his mouth. After a little struggle, he finally broke through the berry's tough skin.

Immediately, a bitter flavor exploded in his mouth.

Ptooh!

Sen Lin spat out the berry. The bitterness from this small fruit was at least three times stronger than the worst bitter gourd he'd ever had.

He could say with confidence that this was, without any shadow of a doubt, the worst fruit he had come across.

As an aspiring fruit farmer, he was well aware that many fruits found naturally in the wild were lackluster when compared to the ones he had eaten back on Earth. It was only after hundreds of years of selective breeding that delicious fruits had come about.

Still, he couldn't understand how a berry so vile in taste could exist. But looking at Blacky enjoying it like it was the greatest delicacy, Sen Lin decided to be open minded.

Maybe it's a fruit that animals like. It would be able to spread its seeds as long as birds and beasts ate them. I wonder if this berry will also be able to turn into a delicious fruit if I selectively breed it for a few years.

Sen Lin ignored Blacky who ran to the fruit he spat and asked the little girl, "Where did you get this berry?"

Little Ying shrank back at his words. She thought he was angry as he had suddenly spat the berry and asked her about it.

"The… the berries are growing on a stone."

"On a stone?" Sen Lin was suddenly at a loss. He thought he was used to this magical world after having run into a talking goose, but now, he found himself surprised once again.

He asked her to lead him to it and followed the nervous girl who was looking back at him every now and then. He understood why she was suddenly scared of him and wanted to clear up the misunderstanding but didn't know how to approach it.

He was never good with kids. In this life, he could somehow deal with kids after watching the village elders and copying them. But now faced with a unique situation, he had absolutely no idea how to fix it.

In the end, Sen Lin decided to let it be. A few minutes of walk later, he found himself in front of a giant stone that had several berry bushes growing on it.

The leaves of the bushes had all died because of winter but the berries that were hanging by the stems still seemed to be full of life.

Sen Lin crouched by the bush and plucked a berry. Putting it into his mouth, he spat it out after making sure it was the same bitter berry he had had earlier.

Looking at the bushes that had taken root in a stone, he found himself attracted to this unusual plant.

The berry tasted horrible but as an aspiring fruit farmer whose goal was to grow and eat the most delicious fruit in the world, he couldn't help but grow interested.

The world was vast with all sorts of magical plants and animals. There were flying paper airplanes, dog sized talking geese, and a sunflower that grew in winter.

Sen Lin couldn't even begin to imagine what led to the development of such things but that didn't matter to him. There was a strange fruit in front of him. One that tasted horrible. If he could domesticate this berry, he would be one step closer to achieving his goal.

He was sure of it.

After all, the original fruits back on Earth were almost inedible as well. Many tasted bland, had more seeds than pulp, or had other qualities that greatly reduced their desirability.

With enough knowledge and time, he was sure these bitter berries could be turned into something good. He just didn't know if he had the expertise to be able to pull it off.

Still, he wasn't too worried about it. Judging by how they were growing on a stone, they were probably very low maintenance. And even if he failed to turn these berries into something delicious, it was fine since Blacky seemed to like it very much.

Sigh… Looks like I'll have to find someone knowledgeable. I don't know if the concept of selective breeding exists in this world but I need to at least ask around for some expert. I hope there's someone capable in the Green Wind Spirit Farmers Association. I'll ask around when they send people to buy the winter sunflower.