It was dark, and the night was deepening.
At this time, there was less than half an hour until the Internet Cafe closed at ten.
But inside the Internet Cafe, it was still fully packed, with all players focused on their games.
Liu Shiwan was one of them.
Unconsciously, Liu Shiwan had spent another week in the world of stardew valley.
A new day dawned, and Liu Shiwan stretched comfortably, feeling refreshed and invigorated; it seemed that buying a new bed yesterday and getting rid of that hard wooden plank bed had indeed greatly helped her sleep.
At this moment, the first thing she did after waking up was not to wash up, nor to eat breakfast, but to habitually turn on the computer and watch the weather forecast.
She had now completely figured out how to use this machine, which somewhat resembled a computer screen.
However, it was a pity that, according to Robin, because the town's signal was not fully connected to the outside world, the computer could only receive a limited number of channels, so she couldn't see any TV shows or movies that others had mentioned; she could only watch a few limited programs.
The weather forecast was one of them.
Even so, she now found this program quite magical.
Initially, the first time she watched it, when she saw the weather announcer on the computer predict rain for the day, she found it very amusing, like seeing a street charlatan, and didn't believe it.
As a result, not long after, when she was working in the fields, it suddenly started raining heavily, and she was a bit dumbfounded.
After watching for a few more days, she indeed found that the weather each day was exactly as predicted on the computer.
Only then did she realize that the weather forecast was very accurate.
So, she developed a good habit of watching the weather forecast every day.
"Welcome to Stardew Valley Weather Forecast, I'm your announcer, Xiao Gu. Today, from day to night, the weather will be clear, with a minimum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius, and a maximum temperature..."
"Clear skies?"
Liu Shiwan shook her head with some regret after finishing today's weather forecast.
She used to dislike rainy days, as they would make her mood worse, but now she eagerly anticipated their arrival.
Because she found that on rainy days, the planted crops didn't need watering, which usually gave her more free time to do other things she enjoyed, such as cooking and fishing.
"Oh, right, I wonder if this planting was successful?"
Soon, Liu Shiwan became concerned about her crops again, and couldn't help but open the door and walk out, her expression a mix of worry and anticipation.
It wasn't until she looked at her farmland that she was slightly stunned, and then her brows relaxed.
Under her efforts these past few days, the farmland had undergone an expansion and was now divided into two sections, presenting two completely different scenes, one on the left and one on the right.
The wheat field on the left was already golden, with mature wheat stalks bowing heavily; a gentle breeze blew, causing them to rub against each other, making rustling sounds and creating golden waves of wheat.
On the right was a vibrant green ocean, consisting of tall and straight apple trees; the apples had already grown, but their leaves had not withered.
Deep red hues dotted the lush green foliage, and the freshred, juicy apples resembled rubies, their enticing fragrance detectable from afar.
"It's a success, it's finally a success this time!"
Liu Shiwan was overjoyed and couldn't help but run over.
She already knew that wheat had to be processed into flour before it could be made into delicious dishes, while apples were a fruit that could be eaten directly.
So, the first place she went was to the apple trees.
After observing them happily for a while, she picked an apple, and looking at the crystal-clear fruit in her hand, she took a bite without even washing it.
With a "crunch," a deep mark was left on the bright red apple.
The flesh was fragrant and sweet, and with one bite, it was delicate and soft, refreshing to the heart, compelling Liu Shiwan to take bite after bite.
"It's too delicious!"
After finishing it, Liu Shiwan's face was filled with a happy and contented smile.
"Shiwan, do you have... Oh!"
Just then, Mayor Lewis, who came to the farm every day, arrived again, and a kind smile appeared on his face when he saw Liu Shiwan.
He had originally intended to see if Liu Shiwan had anything to sell today, but when he saw the farmland, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Did you plant all of these?"
"Yes!"
"The quality, it's so much better than the parsnip you planted before! I see many of these apples have reached silver star quality, and even one or two are gold star quality!"
Lewis carefully examined the mature crops, his face filled with even more surprise.
Liu Shiwan was a little confused: "What's silver star? Gold star?"
Lewis explained: "This is Stardew Valley's standard for evaluating crops. Based on quality, crops are categorized into normal, silver star, gold star, and purple star. Generally, only a very small portion of harvested crops can be individual premium crops!"
"But premium crops not only taste better, their purchase price will also be higher!"
Liu Shiwan nodded, finding it somewhat novel: "This is the first time I've heard of this!"
"The reason I didn't tell you is because you just moved here recently, and I didn't think it was necessary."
Lewis said with some emotion: "But I didn't expect you to be able to grow such excellent crops so quickly, well done, well done!"
Liu Shiwan also smiled, feeling quite proud.
In fact, she had encountered many difficulties in growing apples and wheat this time.
Even after she knew the specific cultivation methods and followed the process for planting, she still failed many times.
Now that she had finally succeeded, and it seemed the quality was very good, Liu Shiwan felt that her efforts these past few days had not been in vain.
Lewis eagerly said: "Hurry up and harvest them! I'm willing to give you a high price for these crops!"
Liu Shiwan hesitated for a moment, then said with a slight apology: "Mayor, I'm sorry, I don't plan to sell these crops this time. I'm going to use them to practice cooking. When I grow new ones next time, I'll sell them to you!"
"Is that so? That's really a shame!"
Mayor Lewis shook his head with some regret, then bid farewell and left.
Liu Shiwan, however, happily harvested these crops with a beaming smile, but when she had harvested most of them, she received a system notification.
"The Internet Cafe is about to close. Players, please exit the game voluntarily."
"So fast?"
Liu Shiwan was startled, feeling a sense of reluctance again, but she didn't stop. She quickened her movements until all the crops were harvested and stored in the storage box, then she exited the game.
As soon as she took off the virtual reality device, she heard discussions coming from other players nearby, and upon listening carefully, it was about Stardew Valley.