Nan Liujing had been freeloading on meals at White Dew Manor until the very last moment—until the guests were nearly all gone, the buffet tables were more than half empty, and the waitstaff had stopped restocking. At this point, continuing to “haul off” food would have been far too conspicuous.

Nan Liujing knew when to call it a day. He quickly blended in with the departing guests and left Bai Lu Manor.

Just then, a hand reached out from behind him and tapped his shoulder.

Nan Liujing turned around to see a familiar young man standing beside him with a smile; the freckles on his face seemed to have multiplied.

Nan Liujing’s eyes lit up: “Pete! Long time no see—you’re here too.”

Pete chuckled: “Hey, Nan. Long time no see. Of course I’d be here—I’m the one who told you about this in the first place.”

“But I couldn’t find you at the appreciation banquet; I thought you hadn’t come at all.” 

“Did you see Elizabeth?” Pete asked. “She looked absolutely stunning today. I even went over to wish her a happy marriage—she said ‘thank you’ and smiled at me. Leonard kept shooting me angry glances the whole time; he was glaring at every man who spoke to Elizabeth, and he thought he was hiding it really well. But Elizabeth definitely noticed—she stepped on Leonard’s foot.”

As he spoke, Pete laughed again, secretly delighted to have witnessed the newlyweds’ childish side.

Nan Liujing couldn’t care less about this, but didn’t mind offering some emotional support: “That’s great—you got to see a rare moment: a wealthy couple from Goldfinch City flirting right in front of you.”

“As for me, I’ve been hanging around the food truck, determined to try every single dish.”

Pete nodded: “The food today was truly delicious. Did you try the red wine braised beef? It was absolutely amazing…”

“Of course! I also had the clear-broth braised beef short ribs—that had a completely different, subtle flavor…”

As they chatted their way out, Pete warmly invited Nan Liujing to visit his home.

But upon learning that Pete didn’t own a home in Goldfinch City and was sharing a place with six roommates, Nan Liujing politely declined the offer.

However, at Pete’s strong insistence, Nan Liujing reluctantly agreed to walk him to his doorstep. Then, Pete asked him to wait outside for a moment while he went inside.

Ten minutes later, Pete emerged, holding a brown paper bag and pushing the door open with his shoulder. He handed the bag to Nan Liujing: “Here, take this. It’s a small token of my appreciation.”

Nan Liujing peeked inside; the brown paper bag was filled with many orange-red persimmons.

“A gift?” Nan Liujing seemed to remember something; he looked at Pete and raised an eyebrow. “So it seems your work on Persimmon Island is going quite well?”

Pete said with a grin, “That’s right! You could even say it’s going too well! We finished ahead of schedule, and the boss was so happy he gave us lots of persimmons. I got two big boxes—I can’t possibly eat them all. So I’m sharing some with you. Have you ever tried persimmons from Persimmon Island?”

“No,” Nan Liujing said.

Pete said, “I highly recommend you try them! Persimmons from Persimmon Island are incredibly sweet—just like honey—and not even a bit astringent. Some are quite crisp, but they’re still delicious. I think I like them better than the soft ones.”

“And here’s this.” Pete pulled out an envelope and handed it to Nan Liujing.

“Is this a gift too?”

“It’s a reply to your letter,” Pete said. “You sent me a letter earlier, right? I was so busy at the time that I didn’t check my mailbox right away.”

Nan Liujing asked, puzzled, “But I’m standing right in front of you now. You could have just told me—why did you have to write back?”

“That wouldn’t do,” Pete said with a smile. “That’s my sense of ceremony!”

“…All right, then. Thanks for your sense of ceremony,” Nan Liujing said as he took the letter, then gestured toward the brown paper bag in his arms. “And thanks for the gift, too. I’ll come visit you again next time, and I’ll return the favor then.”

By the time he returned to Unknown Island, it was already 5:00 p.m.

Nan Liujing jumped off the boat, and the first thing he did was head straight for the farm to catch up on the farm work he hadn’t done that morning.

The first batch of pumpkins he’d planted was ready to be harvested.

In the first plot of poor-quality farmland, emerald-green pumpkin vines stretched far and wide, and golden pumpkins lay on the soil—each as big as a soccer ball, round and plump.

【Pumpkin★★】

【Category: Ingredient】

【A huge, round crop—a golden, sweet pumpkin that tastes delicious no matter how you prepare it.】

【Suggested Price: 248 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh】

The 5 pumpkin plants yielded Nan Liujing 18 pumpkins. Considering the size of the pumpkins themselves, this was a pretty good harvest.

After harvesting the pumpkins, Nan Liujing tossed the withered vines into the compost bin and skillfully tilled the soil again, planting 5 rutabaga seeds.

【Rutabaga Seeds☆】

【Category: Seeds】

【Round, white seeds that are crisp when eaten. They can be harvested 4 days after planting. Can only be planted in farmland.】

【Suggested Price: 110 Sol.】

The rutabaga seeds took only 4 days to grow, allowing Nan Liujing to harvest them in the afternoon of the day before the typhoon hit.

As for what to do with the ripe rutabagas, Nan Liujing had already figured it out. This root vegetable—which looks like a radish but tastes nowhere near as good—is perfect for pickling. Once harvested, he can pickle a whole jarful to enjoy over a long period.

After watering all six farm plots, Nan Liujing headed to the Animal Seed Hut.

Hei Tang and Nian Gao were herding the animals one by one into the hut.

Upon seeing Nan Liujing, Nian Gao wagged his tail happily and let out a “Yi!” but, ever the dutiful worker, he first herded the black-faced sheep into the shed before running over to cuddle with his owner.

Hei Tang also turned around, gave the last white-feathered chicken a little kick with her paw to send it into the shed, and trotted gleefully toward Nan Liujing.

“Meow!”

“Yee~ Yee~”

Nan Liujing stood there with a smile, and soon Nian Gao pounced onto his legs, stretching out her paws, eager to be picked up. Hei Tang, on the other hand, demonstrated the advantages of being a feline: her paws emerged from her paw pads, hooked onto the human’s clothes, and she climbed right up, settling steadily on Nan Liujing’s shoulder.

With the cat perched on his shoulder, Nan Liujing carefully bent down to pick up Nian Gao, rubbed the little fox’s head, and then scratched the cat’s chin: “Did you guys miss me?”

The two little ones meowed and whimpered nonstop.

Nan Liujing had to pause his work; he grabbed two beach slimes and played catch with them for quite a while, until Nian Gao and Hei Tang got hungry and ran back to the farmhouse to eat pet cookies. Only then was Nan Liujing able to continue.

Today, in addition to the usual milking and egg-gathering, it was time to shear the long-haired rabbit. Nan Liujing collected another unit of rabbit fur, rolled it into a ball, tossed it into his backpack, and took a quick look at the two black-faced sheep.

The two sheep were aimlessly wandering around the breeding shed.

When they first arrived, they were barely half-grown lambs, but now they’ve grown to nearly adult size. Their weight has increased noticeably, their frames have grown larger, and their wool is long and curly—it looks like they’ll be ready for shearing soon.

In contrast, Hei Tang and Nian Gao aren’t growing quite as fast.

Hei Tang arrived relatively late, so let’s set her aside for now, but Nian Gao has been here for so long and has only grown a size or so—at most, he’s gone from wearing size 42 cotton slippers to size 45. Not much of a change.

How come sheep grow so fast?

Nan Liujing didn’t quite understand it, but the fast growth of the “moving seeds” was a good thing for him. It meant he’d soon be able to put breeding on the agenda.

With two black-faced sheep—one male and one female—the female would be used for pregnancy and lambing, allowing him to collect sheep’s milk every day and also get a new lamb.

Wasn’t this just the start of his livestock business snowballing?

Nan Liujing had high hopes for the future.

Stepping out of the breeding shed, Nan Liujing took the windmill construction blueprints and the island expansion permit out of his backpack.

However, after a moment’s hesitation, he put the windmill blueprints away again, planning to use them after the typhoon had passed.

After all, he’d gathered plenty of edible food at the feast today—enough to last for many days—so there was no rush to grind wheat flour. Besides, he didn’t currently have any other processing machinery that needed the windmill’s power.

On the contrary, if he built the windmill now, he’d have to construct an additional typhoon guardrail to protect it when the storm hit—which simply wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

On the other hand, not expanding the island wasn’t a big deal. Nan Liujing actually hoped his island would be a bit larger during typhoon season, so that when the strong winds hit, they wouldn’t blow his tiny, rickety island away.

In his simple way of thinking, when facing a typhoon, if a skinny guy weighing 80 jin and a fat guy weighing 280 jin were standing on the street, the fat guy would definitely stand more steadily.

He figured the same principle applied to the island.

Nan Liujing returned to the farmhouse; Hei Tang had already finished her meal and was elegantly crouching nearby, licking her paws, while Nian Gao was still battling it out with the little cookies, eating with the determination of a lone defender holding the pass against a thousand enemies.

Seeing her owner return, Hei Tang wagged her tail and let out a soft “meow.”

“I’m back,” Nan Liujing said as he walked over, picked up Hei Tang from the floor, and then scooped up the little fox cub with its belly round as a ball. Holding both of the still-dazed little ones, he sat down on the sofa.

Both little ones settled on his lap. Nian Gao licked his muzzle and tilted his head: “Hmm?”

Nan Liujing said, “It might get a little bumpy from here on out. Don’t be scared—I’ll hold you both tight.”

Now Hei Tang looked puzzled too: “Meow?”

Nan Liujing smoothed their fur, pulled out the island expansion permit, and tore it open in one swift motion.

The very next second, Unknown Island began to shake violently.

A thunderous roar rose from deep underground, as muffled as a dragon’s roar. Hei Tang’s fur stood on end almost instantly; she was about to leap up and run out to face the enemy, while Nian Gao, terrified, stretched out his neck and let out a series of yelps and whimpers, burying his head under Nan Liujing’s elbow.

Nan Liujing grabbed Hei Tang with one hand and hugged Nian Gao with the other, repeatedly reassuring them: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. They’re just doing some renovations outside. It’ll be over soon. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”

It took quite a while of comforting before Hei Tang stopped trying to rush outside. She sat upright on Nan Liujing’s lap, staring intently at the locked door, her vertical pupils narrowed to slits, her expression grave.

Nian Gao lay nestled in Nan Liujing’s crook of his arm, taking the opportunity to whimper and act cute.

Nan Liujing struggled to pull out his tablet and, in this awkward position, tapped open the 【Construction】 page to check on the changes on Unknown Island.

On the screen, the aerial view of Unknown Island was continuously zooming in.

The entire island—which Nan Liujing couldn’t witness with his own eyes—was undergoing earth-shattering changes.

Waves rolled outward in successive layers as the small island slowly rose higher; more land emerged from the water, firmly attaching itself to the island’s edges.

The reef and beach areas surrounding the island were also growing larger; gradually, a third area rose on the eastern side, crystal-clear blue waters and vast expanses of red coral reefs replaced the sandy beaches and reefs in this section, transforming the original two-part division into a three-way balance.

Colorful tropical fish darted through the coral forests, sea urchins and starfish clung to the reefs, and a magnificent lobster strolled slowly along the seabed, accidentally stepping on a flatfish hiding in the sand as it hunted.

Nan Liujing Island finally had its own coral forest.

After thirty minutes, the terrifying tremors stopped.

Nian Gao had already fallen asleep in his arms.

He exchanged a glance with Hei Tang, who darted to the door, leaped up, hooked the doorknob with her paw, and, using her body weight to push down, easily opened the door. slipping through the narrow door crack like water.

Nan Liujing carried Nian Gao out with him, eager to witness the island’s transformation with his own eyes.

His first impression of Unknown Island was: Wow, it really has gotten so much bigger!

Although the instructions stated, “Expand it into an irregular circular island with a diameter of 500 meters,” Nan Liujing hadn’t really grasped what that number meant. Now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, he realized just how vast a circle with a 500-meter diameter actually was.

In an instant, his island transformed from a school sports field into the Bird’s Nest National Stadium.

The island had expanded, yet the positions of the various buildings remained unchanged—so much so that the farmhouse, farmland, animal sheds, and other structures were now all located in the center of Unknown Island, surrounded by a vast ring of flat, open space.

When he walked to the beach, he found it had grown larger as well. The marine ranch was still safely out at sea; it wasn’t until he saw it that Nan Liujing realized he’d overlooked it earlier when calculating the number of typhoon guardrails. Fortunately, he’d bought plenty of magic crystals.

The makeshift dock and the marine ranch were still at the eastern and western ends of the beach, respectively. Walking east from the dock, what appeared before his eyes was no longer a reef area, but a calm and beautiful coral forest.

Even though Nan Liujing had already seen it on the tablet, he couldn’t help but crouch down and gaze through the crystal-clear seawater at the magnificent scenery on the seabed.

Upon seeing the abundant marine resources in the coral forest, a smile spread across his face.

And as he continued eastward toward the reef area, the smile on Nan Liujing’s face grew even more sincere—for upon the pitch-black, jagged reefs, plump oysters stretched out in vast expanses.

The reef resources he had previously harvested to the last had actually been replenished along with the island’s expansion!

Not only had the reef area expanded, but the shellfish resources had also been replenished—could there be any better news than this?