Keke timely recommended some books to her, saying, "Host, the variety of goods in the store is very limited, and many items cannot be traded on a large scale. Moreover, as a system, I do not recommend that you engage in buying low and selling high, as this kind of business lacks any technical content and poses significant risks to your own safety."
Keke’s voice became passionate, fervently saying, "In this world, only the money earned through your own abilities is the safest. Therefore, host, learn cultural knowledge. As long as your abilities are great enough, you’ll never worry about lack of money."
Keke selected several books for her in a row, all with a preview feature.
After flipping through a few pages and finding them incomprehensible, Manbao closed the book and said, "I don’t understand it."
"It is because you don’t understand that you need to learn," Keke said. "If you already understood, would you need to study? And books that can be understood at a glance, that don’t require research, are surely as worthless as spit. Host, you should be learning knowledge, not merely reading stories."
"What kind of knowledge are these?"
Keke answered earnestly, "Knowledge on how to make money."
Scratching her little head, Manbao was almost convinced by Keke, but then she thought something wasn’t right. She was still young but knew that making money was difficult, and from her experience, making money definitely meant going out.
Yet she was too young to travel far. Her parents would certainly not bear to part with her, so she definitely couldn’t go out to earn money.
Thus, she became unwilling, "I won’t buy it!"
Sensing Keke seemed disappointed, Manbao relented a bit, "Do you have any books on planting yams? If so, I’ll buy one."
Keke responded, sounding disheartened, "No, there are books on planting other crops like rice, wheat, and various fruits, but none on yams."
Although Keke wanted to tempt Manbao into buying books, because the books were purchased from the encyclopedia, and it would receive a commission for each sale, it still wouldn’t cheat Manbao.
Thus, it brought up the entry on yams for her to see, "The entry on yams has been pulled up; it includes the most basic planting suggestions. Host, you can take a look."
Manbao discovered she didn’t recognize many of the words on the entry.
Keke explained them to her and helped clarify the parts she didn’t understand, such as how to treat yam seeds and prepare the soil for planting, listing specific numbers, all of which seemed very abstract and tough to Manbao.
Seeing Manbao’s interest, Keke perked up, "Host, there is also a simulation demonstration inside the system. Would you like to use it? It’s very cheap, just one point for ten minutes of simulation demonstration, and it comes with explanations too."
Manbao didn’t understand and asked, "What’s a simulation demonstration?"
Suddenly, an image appeared in Manbao’s mind: a clear picture of a person hoeing the ground with a hoe. Keke explained, "That is a simulation demonstration. There are three modes: the first is the most basic, which displays exactly according to the text you selected; the second allows for demonstrations based on conditions you set; and the third simulates based on scanned actual situations. The points required for each mode vary. I recommend that the host first experience the first mode of simulation demonstration. However, since there is a significant discrepancy between the host’s era and the era when the entries were created, I believe the host should prioritize the third mode after believing in the simulation demonstration."
Manbao’s eyes gleamed as she stared at the person hoeing, excitedly asking, "Can I change that person into Silang?"
Keke hesitated for a moment; for the sake of long-term development, it bit the bullet and changed the image for the host, and so the person in Manbao’s mind turned into Zhou SiLang swinging the hoe.
Manbao cheered, "Change it to me, change it to me!"
Of course, it could only agree, so the image in Manbao’s mind changed to a tiny herself holding a hoe longer and larger than her, sitting on the ground.
With no emotion, Keke narrated, "Due to the tool being too large and the host’s lack of strength, the host has ended up sitting down on the ground."
Manbao laughed heartily. The system couldn’t understand what she found so funny, but after watching her laugh for a while, it asked, "Host, will you use the simulation demonstration?"
Manbao nodded, wiping the tears brought on by laughter.
The system happily deducted a point from her and thoughtfully selected the text from the yam entry. Thus, a slow-moving image began to flow in Manbao’s mind.
Keke called it a video, but Manbao felt it was more like a series of moving pictures strung together, very beautiful and vivid.
Wrong, they were actually moving.
Keke obligingly provided commentary, "About half a month before the yam tubers mature, true yam can be harvested..."
Manbao, with wide eyes, observed and eagerly asked, "I’ve seen this before, on the vine."
Keke then added, "It can be used as seed. Besides from the yam tubers, true yam can also be planted."
Future technology, of course, cannot be compared to what’s available now. Even though future technicians only had access to yams for a few days, they were able to rapidly figure out planting methods based on the existing data and their study of the yam’s characteristics.
Whether using tubers or true yam as seeds, it’s best to start with seedlings. First, they submerge them in a kind of liquid to reduce bacterial damage, then dry them for one to three days, and after that, begin nurturing the seedlings.
The seedling period is roughly twenty-five days.
After the seeds were prepared, Manbao saw a large machine appear on a plot of land, digging into the earth. Keke introduced, "This is a planting machine; it can dig, ridge, sow, and harvest. In short, it can do all the work in the field."
Manbao exclaimed in awe and asked, "Can I buy one?"
"No," the system replied, "you wouldn’t be able to use it anyways. This machine is operated through remote network control, and it also needs to be charged, and you don’t have electricity here..."
Manbao felt a pang of regret and then watched carefully how it planted yams.
The video lasted nearly thirty minutes. Afterwards, the system deducted another two points from her and saved the synthesized video for her, saying, "You can watch it anytime without spending more points in the future. Isn’t that a great deal?"
Nodding her little head, Manbao started asking various questions, such as about the liquid used for soaking the seeds, and learned that it could be purchased through the store.
Moreover, this liquid could be used not only for soaking yams but also for millet, promoting germination rates and strengthening the seedlings...
Manbao was deeply interested and began to look for the liquid, discovering that it wasn’t expensive at all.
Since the merchandise was from the store and Keke would receive no commission, it genuinely considered the host’s interests, saying, "Actually, the host could try to substitute other things for these liquids. The colors of these liquids are very bright, and the host might have trouble explaining their origin if taken out. In fact, yam seeds can be treated with lime..."
The system’s main duty was to collect all kinds of plants. Regarding planting, it had also compiled plenty of knowledge, so it could effortlessly provide information. Even if the yam entry didn’t specify it, the system could still infer the most suitable planting methods for this era based on the techniques uploaded by the technicians in its system.