Raising a Bun with a Daily Life System

Chapter 21 Appraisal

Gathering technique? And there’s an increase in proficiency? Yuan Xi looked at the slippery jelly sea water in his hand, then looked up at the vast ocean with no end in sight. He immediately narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Oh my, I’m so lucky. After cutting such a small piece, I’ve improved my proficiency. If I cut it with a knife in such an endless sea… Yuan Xi remembered a classic line from a certain classmate in a TV series before crossing: I’m going to be rich!

Yuan Xi looked around with an idea in mind. This sea area was a tourist area. Although there were not many people, if he found a place to dig, he would be discovered sooner or later, and it would be difficult to explain it later on.

But as long as he takes everything in a single shot, he could successfully collect a large area of sea water without being discovered by anyone.

Yuan Xi checked his storage and sighed that the ten storage slots in his storage were still too few. In one of the slots, he had stored 9,999 white crystals. His son’s rations and milk bottle each occupied an additional slot. Don’t ask why he prepared these (rations and milk bottle for his son). His son was his most beloved—in case anything happens, he must first ensure that his son has something to eat.

There were also a hundred bamboo steamer baskets of hot steamed soup dumplings made by him, a hundred bottles of potable water, the yellow egg that the fat bird had laid, and also the remote control-like weapon which had saved him last time on the passenger ship occupying another four slots. One slot held his seven remaining hundred-yuan bills. The last filled slot contained a universal knife—the dagger that he had used to cut the sea water— that he spent a lot of money buying online.

All of these were Yuan Xi’s belongings. Of the total ten slots, nine have been filled, and only one empty space was left, which was really pitiful.

Although items could be stacked in this storage, and the size of the items was not restricted,  not many types could be placed in at a time. It was already filled after putting in a bunch of necessities.

Yuan Xi thought about it carefully. He had wanted to put different things in a large suitcase and put the suitcase in the storage. Who would have thought that the storage could identify other types and so they couldn’t be put in… Sigh, this idea could only be dispelled.

But one thing was very good—the time within the storage seemed to be static such that any item taken out would be in the same state as it was when he placed it in. He made the steamed soup dumplings a month ago, and now they were still steaming when taken out, as if they were just made.

Yuan Xi felt hungry after looking at the food, so he took out a steamer basket, filled his stomach, and also drank a bottle of water. He was immediately satisfied. My craftsmanship is really good, I will make some pastries next time…

He took out the dagger, and now two slots were freed up. Each slot could stack 9999 items, which was enough for him to put as much as he wanted.

Thinking of it this way, Yuan Xi started to work hard. It was easy to do and didn’t require any technical skill—just dig it out and put it away, and then listen to the beeping notification sound in his ear.

It’s just that after digging ten pieces, this beeping sound was no longer so diligent. Before, it would increase a bit when he dug out a piece, but after digging up ten pieces, it required digging two pieces before it increased a bit.

However, this progress was also very impressive. It required nothing more than a little effort, which was not very troublesome.

The gathering technique sounded like it should be very easy to level up, but in fact it was not easy. For a long time, Yuan Xi had also been paying attention to collecting some things, but his proficiency had not increased. Maybe the quantity (of picking) was not enough, or maybe the utility of the items wasn’t high. Anyhow, except for the little bit of proficiency given by the initial activation of the gathering technique, it had not increased again.

Therefore, it was already a great achievement to raise the proficiency by so much by digging seawater.

At this moment, Yuan Xi had dug another 20 pieces, and his proficiency had accumulated to 20 points. When he began to dig again, he found that this time he had to dig three pieces to increase his experience value… As expected, it was getting slower and slower.

If he continued to accumulate proficiency points at the current speed, he would need to dig up 550 pieces to reach 100 points… Alright, it’s actually not that much. Yuan Xi took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves and began to work again.

He tried to dig a larger piece once, but it needed the piece to be five times bigger than before to improve his proficiency, and it was more conspicuous. It was not convenient to move it, so it was better to dig up small pieces.

After digging too much, Yuan Xi studied—the best size was 20 cm square: it was convenient to cut and pick up, and the accumulation of proficiency was also very accurate.

Although it wasn’t a heavy job, it was very boring to go back and forth like this. However, Yuan Xi became full of energy as soon as he saw the progress bar moving forward. He looked very energetic like a rabbit with a carrot hanging in front of him.

He had been busy until dark, and his proficiency had risen to 80 points, but according to the current progress, he still needed to collect 190 pieces, which was not a small workload.

Yuan Xi thought for a while and decided to continue tomorrow. Although he was looking forward to the rewards after the upgrade, he was now on vacation with his family. He was not willing to end up neglecting his family just to blindly dig around.

Putting the dagger in the storage, he cleaned up and went back to the hotel.

This was a hotel built by the seaside. Yuan Xi was no longer considered a poor person now, so he wouldn’t be stingy, especially not towards his family. The hotel he stayed in was a vacation house, modelled in the Mediterranean style, with blue and white tones, and it looked fresh and pleasant.

Moreover, it was equipped with an independent small kitchen, which was exactly what Yuan Xi wanted. He personally cooked, making a few delicious meals, and the family ate happily.

On the second day, Yuan Xi brought Xiao Yuanzhe, and Yuan Yucheng and wife out as a family to play on the beach for half a day. At noon, they rented an aircraft and went to the nearby city to stroll around, buying a lot of things.

Lin Suyun went into the baby shop and bought a large bag of clothes for Xiao Yuanzhe. It was enough to wear a different outfit everyday for a month… At this time, Yuan Xi also discovered that Lin Suyun must have lived the life of a young lady. This money spending technique was well versed.

In the afternoon, Yuan Xi went out and returned to the beach to continue the work that had not been finished yesterday.

After digging so much, Yuan Xi was quick and without even batting an eye, he dug down and put it in the storage without stopping.

In less than an hour, he had dug 189 pieces. Seeing that his proficiency was already at 99 points, and one more piece would make it reach 100 points, Yuan Xi couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

He took a deep breath, dug the last piece with his hands, and he heard a loud chime in his ear. Then he heard the prompt: “Congratulations, you have accumulated 100 points of proficiency in the collection technique, and the upgrade conditions have been reached. Do you want to activate the upgrade reward immediately?”

Upgraded!

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Yuan Xi was excited. His hand shook, causing him to put the last piece of sea water in the slot with the white crystal, but he didn’t notice since all his attention was focused on the pop-up upgrade dialog box.

He hurriedly clicked confirm, and chose to get the upgrade reward immediately.

Then the voice sounded again: “Collection technique upgrade reward: one material appraiser. Please check it.”

Yuan Xi blinked, a material appraiser? What was that?

However, when thinking of the super-easy-to-use storage, Yuan Xi instinctively decided that it was definitely not a bad thing. He excitedly waited to study new things. Who knew that the voice would once again ring in his ear: “The storage is full, and the reward cannot be issued. Please organize the storage first and make sure there is an empty slot.”

….. This time it was sent directly to the storage.

No, Yuan Xi suddenly remembered that when he took out his dagger, there should have been a vacant spot. How could the prompt say that there was no vacancy? With doubts, Yuan Xi opened the storage. At a glance, all ten slots were full.

What was going on?

Yuan Xi shifted his sight to the slot where the dagger was originally placed, and found a light blue unknown object lying quietly there. What is this? Yuan Xi was very sure that this thing was definitely not in the storage before.

He took it out curiously, and when he zoomed in, the appearance was very familiar. It was the last piece of sea water he had collected, but the question was, why did the color become so light? Originally, the jelly sea water was dark blue, but now this one was still jelly, but it had turned into a light sky-blue. What happened to it?

Moreover, this piece of sea water alone occupied a slot. According to the storage regulations, this thing must be different from the previous sea water, so it could not be stacked, but when he had collected it, it was obviously the same. Why did it change when he put it in the storage?

Yuan Xi couldn’t figure it out, but at that moment, he heard a beep, and there was something new in the empty slot. It seemed that the material appraisal instrument had been delivered/sent out.

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Yuan Xi put the light blue sea water aside, and first took out the material appraisal instrument, which was very small—about the size of a pinky finger’s fingertip. It was pure black. He couldn’t see anything special about it.

What made Yuan Xi more depressed was that this thing didn’t even have a manual. Just thinking about it, the voice of the system rang again: “Material appraiser acquired. Do you choose to bind?”

Yuan Xi chose to bind, and then he saw that the little black piece instantly melted into the palm of his hand. It didn’t hurt or itch, just slightly numbed him, before it finally disappeared completely.

Yuan Xi was stunned. He still didn’t know how to use it, and he wanted to throw it out. Sellers who don’t give instructions are not good sellers! Be careful or I’ll give you a bad review!

He was so depressed that he slapped the surface of the light blue sea water. Then, a line of words appeared in front of him: Primary appraisal—planting materials.

Yuan Xi blinked, looked up and down, and suddenly understood. So that’s what caused this!

This appraisal instrument was bound in his hand, and with just one pat he could identify the function of an object. Wait, Yuan Xi suddenly reacted, this piece of seawater here is actually planting material?

Yuan Xi quickly patted the dark blue water that hadn’t changed, which prompted: It cannot be identified. The material is incomplete.

The result was different…

Yuan Xi looked at the light blue sea water, curious. Planting material? What does it mean? Is it possible to plant seeds in it?

It was better to move than to act. He drove the rented aircraft to the city in a hurry, bought a big bag of wheat seeds, and went back to the holiday house. He found a clean plate, put the light blue sea water on it, and then picked out ten complete seeds and buried them.

The next day, Yuan Xi was stunned by the sight…

In just one night, the ten seeds had broken out of the soil and had grown into tender wheat sprouts.