"Boss, why does the game we're playing feel different from the one Shi Wan is playing?"
"Yeah, the residents' attitudes in this game are too obviously different!"
As soon as Zhao Tie and the others left, Stardew Valley players, including Liu Shiwan, gathered around.
Su Ran had already experienced it, so he wasn't surprised. He could only explain it to everyone.
"What?"
"Affection?"
"Are you saying that the residents of Stardew Valley are good to Shi Wan simply because her affection is high, while ours is too low?"
"Why? Are we too unsightly, or have we harmed that world?"
"I protest, this is discrimination!"
The other players understood, but immediately became indignant.
Liu Shiwan stood among the indignant players, feeling a bit embarrassed. After all, she had always thought everyone was the same, but she didn't expect herself to be an exception. However, she felt even more grateful to her friends in Stardew Valley.
"Don't worry too much. Affection can be slowly cultivated later, for example, by consistently chatting with them every day, accepting quests they post, or giving gifts!"
Su Ran then reminded them, "However, be careful when giving gifts. Residents all have things they like and dislike. Giving the wrong gift can cause your affection to drop even further!"
"This..."
Everyone's faces became even more stunned after hearing this.
Goodness, if someone has high affection, NPCs serve them, but if our affection is low, we have to pay extra?
Finally, they could only look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, singing helplessly and tearfully: "We are different!"
...
Soon after, all the Internet Cafe players left.
Without them, Su Ran summoned the Game Store, opened the stardew valley section, and started shopping, beginning his long-awaited farming plan.
Of course, there were no fields for planting in the Internet Cafe, but it was possible to grow vegetables in pots. The Game Store also sold them—long, rectangular vegetable pots, followed by shovels and watering cans.
Next was the soil, the unique soil of Stardew Valley, God's Soil.
One bag cost 500 Contribution Points.
When he was in the game before, Su Ran hadn't paid much attention, thinking this soil was similar to ordinary soil. But now, when he picked up a handful and examined it closely, he could see some glittering golden particles mixed within the brown soil.
"Finally... the seeds!"
As Su Ran selected crop seeds page by page in the Game Store, looking at the tempting pictures of the mature seeds, the cells in his body, which had been hungry for an unknown amount of time, seemed to jump and rejoice along with him.
At this moment, Su Ran's mood was probably similar to when he was ordering food in a restaurant, wondering what to eat.
"Between rice and wheat, I'll choose rice. I still prefer rice. Hmm, and some potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and..."
"Finally, I'll plant a fruit, strawberries. Okay, that's it!"
After making his selections, Su Ran contentedly closed the Game Store page.
However, the next moment, when a pile of seeds of various colors, shapes, and sizes appeared before him, Su Ran suddenly realized. He had indeed chosen the dishes he wanted to eat, but they hadn't been grown yet!
Moreover, growing these seeds was not that simple. These were crop seeds from the Star Dew Valley World.
Even with God's Soil, each crop required specific cultivation methods to be known, and then followed step by step.
Among the seeds Su Ran selected, he only knew the detailed cultivation methods for one or two, and for the rest...
"It seems I'll have to find a way to learn the cultivation methods for the remaining crops before planting."
"But it's just learning the methods, it should be quick, right?"
With this thought, Su Ran walked to a computer next to the bar, sat down, logged on, and entered the game.
Just like that, time passed bit by bit.
Looking out through the Internet Cafe window, one could see the sky change from pitch black to gradually breaking dawn.
"Phew, it's finally done!"
When Su Ran logged off and exited the game, he let out a light breath and checked the time. It was already past seven in the morning on the second day.
Su Ran couldn't help but smile wryly, "Sure enough, I wasted too much time trying to raise affection!"
He had originally thought that entering the game this time wouldn't take too long, as the flow of time in the game world was different, and he was only trying to understand the crop cultivation methods.
But in actual operation, he realized it wasn't that simple.
Because the cultivation methods for each crop were different, and the ways to unlock them were also different.
Some could be found by simply reading books in the library, which was relatively simple.
But the cultivation methods for some crops could only be obtained from specific Stardew Valley residents.
Whether those residents were willing to give him the recipe precisely returned to the topic he had mentioned to the players earlier: cultivating affection.
The reason Su Ran was able to get the parsnip cultivation method from Pierre, the general store owner, was entirely because parsnip was just a beginner's guide crop.
For other crops, if affection was not high enough, he absolutely couldn't get them.
For example, the cultivation method for growing strawberries was with a little boy named Vincent, so Su Ran not only had to chat with him often and play with him, but also had to cater to his preferences and give him gifts.
It was also fortunate that Su Ran had experience with the original game and knew what gifts Vincent liked, so he was able to earn money by growing crops he had already learned, while also buying gifts for him.
Finally, after maxing out his affection, Su Ran finally obtained the strawberry cultivation method.
This once again made Su Ran realize the importance of affection. If it were Liu Shiwan, she could probably get the cultivation method very easily, right?
"Hmm, I'll try planting first!"
At this moment, seeing that there was still some time before the Internet Cafe opened, Su Ran decided to try planting first.
Thinking this, Su Ran went to the bar to gather his tools, but he also casually opened the System Game Store, went to his personal exclusive product page, and clicked [Daily Sign-in Lucky Draw].
This sign-in lucky draw was free, and he could only draw once a day, so he would try to draw every morning. However, before this, he had always drawn "Thank you for your patronage."
But this time, when he clicked to draw.
[Ding, congratulations Host for drawing prize number 5. Please check and sign for it.]
Su Ran was stunned, then his face lit up with surprise. He hadn't expected to actually win this time, and he quickly looked at the prize.
[Construction Mall Half-Price Coupon x1 (Valid for 1 hour)]
"Uh... this..."
But upon seeing the prize, after an initial moment of excitement, Su Ran's expression became a bit subtle.
Because his Contribution Points were almost completely spent after buying the farming tools and seeds just now.
Now, looking at his Contribution Points, he only had less than 300 left, which meant that even if those already expensive equipment and facilities were half-price, he couldn't afford them.
This was a bit awkward.
However, something was better than nothing, and it still had to be used, so he spent some time choosing among the equipment and facilities he could afford, finally selecting: [Internet Cafe Facility: Rest and Waiting Area]