**Chapter 7: Seedling Cultivation and a New Hired Hand**
After returning to the Orphanage, Bai Feng saw Caicaizi holding Limo and spacing out in the Yard. Yihui sat to her left, and Xiao You sat to her right. The three of them had identical expressions, only Limo's large, watery eyes were darting around.
"Brother Bai Feng, you're back!" Seeing Bai Feng walk into the Yard, Xiao You beamed with a smile, jumped up, and quickly ran to Bai Feng's side.
Bai Feng took out the two Berries Auntie Sala had given him and handed them to him: "Here, one for you and one for Brother Yihui."
Xiao You happily took the Berries: "Thank you, Brother Bai Feng." After speaking, he ran to Yihui's side and handed him one of the Berries.
Yihui took the Berry. He smiled shyly at Bai Feng and quietly said, "Thank you."
Caicaizi said helplessly, "Brother Bai Feng, you should just eat them yourself, why give them to them!"
Bai Feng said indifferently, "It's okay, I don't like eating Berries."
However, Caicaizi didn't believe him. She felt that Brother Bai Feng must have been reluctant to eat them himself and specifically brought them back for Yihui and Xiao You.
"There are only two. You don't get any this time. I'll bring some for you next time if I have a chance." Seeing Caicaizi's disbelieving expression, Bai Feng said helplessly.
"I don't want them," Caicaizi said stubbornly. "Brother Bai Feng should keep them to eat himself."
Xiao You, who was nearby, wiped the Berry, took a bite, and then said with an exaggerated expression, "Wow! It's so delicious! It's the best Berry I've ever eaten!"
"Hahaha..."
Everyone burst into laughter, amused by his funny appearance. Even Limo giggled along.
After sending the children off, Bai Feng returned to his Room to process the Seeds. He didn't plant the Seeds immediately but chose to first use his Golden Finger to sort out the Energy within them.
Although the Seeds hadn't germinated yet, as long as they still had vitality, they also contained a Tree Diagram for storing Energy inside. However, the Seed's Tree Diagram was much more miniature than a tree's, and the Energy stored within was also much thinner.
What Bai Feng needed to do was ensure that the Tree Diagrams allowed the stored Energy to flow smoothly.
The Tree Diagrams of Berry Trees and the Energy Circuits of Pokémon were, to some extent, like the meridians of martial artists in the Wuxia novels Bai Feng remembered. Not all martial artists' meridians were unobstructed; blockages could occur, and martial artists had to actively clear them.
For example, after a martial artist suddenly cleared their Ren and Du meridians, their cultivation speed would instantly increase, and it wouldn't be long before they became peerless masters.
Bai Feng felt that Berry trees and Pokémon were the same. They just didn't have the ability to clear their Tree Diagrams and Energy Circuits on their own, so they needed Bai Feng to help them using his Golden Finger.
What Bai Feng had to do now was help the Seeds clear the blocked parts of their Tree Diagrams.
He didn't know if this could improve the Seeds' germination rate and survival rate, but this was an experiment. Whether it would work or not, he'd know by trying.
Because the Tree Diagrams inside the Seeds were more miniature, Bai Feng needed to be extremely careful when operating, and it consumed more energy than usual.
By the time he finished clearing all the Seeds, he was drenched in sweat.
After doing all this, Bai Feng still didn't plant the Seeds. He found a jar, put the Seeds into it, and then poured clean water inside, completely soaking the Seeds.
He soaked them for several days until the Seeds' outer shells softened before planting them one by one.
During this time, Bai Feng followed Director Meili to the Vegetable Market a few more times. Each time, he would ask Auntie Sala for some spoiled Berries, then peel out the Seeds and take them home.
During this period, Bai Feng focused most of his energy on seedling cultivation. Bai Ye's training issues were entirely supervised by Fletchinder and Fletchling. Only when helping them clear their Energy Circuits would Bai Feng go to the place where they usually trained.
Fletchinder and Fletchling were very responsible hired birds. As long as Bai Ye showed the slightest sign of slacking off, they would complain when Bai Feng went to see them, making Bai Ye feel resentful.
Because after that, Bai Feng would lecture Bai Ye non-stop for an hour until the old mother was utterly ashamed.
Your son is working so hard for this family at such a young age, yet you, as a mother, are always slacking off. Don't you feel ashamed???
......
After half a month, the Seeds Bai Feng planted began to germinate one after another. The survival rate was surprisingly as high as 90%, and every Sapling grew very vigorously.
In addition, the first Sapling he planted had also fully survived. It not only sprouted new branches and buds but also grew significantly taller.
Facts proved that his Golden Finger could indeed work on Berry Trees. More accurately, it could work on all magical plants that possessed Special Energy Circuits.
In the past half month or so, Bai Feng had successfully planted and grown a total of thirty-six Saplings.
Looking at the neatly arranged green plants before him, he felt a warmth in his heart, and a sense of accomplishment welled up.
With this Golden Finger, if he were to engage in the planting industry in the future, wouldn't he easily become a berry tycoon?
One must know that in the Pokémon World, the demand for Berries is huge. Countless Trainers need Berries to make Pokémon Food to raise their Pokémon, such as Pokéblocks, Poképuffs, and so on.
In short, this market is very vast, and the business has great prospects.
(*￣︶￣) Fantasizing about large sums of money entering his pockets in the future, Bai Feng couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hehehe~
But soon he sobered up. Fantasies were just fantasies; making them a reality would be extremely difficult.
Moreover, if the Golden Finger could only help Berries survive and promote Berry tree growth, it would be completely insufficient and wouldn't form a competitive advantage at all.
If you want Berries to sell well, the focus is on quality, not quantity. Otherwise, the Berries you grow can only be sent to the Vegetable Market like Auntie Sala's.
Only high-quality Berries can catch the eye of Trainers, especially high-level Trainers!
What Bai Feng needed to verify now was whether his Golden Finger could improve the quality of the Berries the Berry Trees produced. If it could, then he truly had hope of becoming a berry tycoon and reaching the pinnacle of life.
It just required time. It could only be verified when the Saplings grew up and bore Berries.
The plot of land behind the Blue Bird Orphanage wasn't large. The Saplings were still small now, so planting them here temporarily was fine.
When the Berry Trees grew larger, if they remained this close to each other, it would greatly affect the amount of Berries they bore.
In short, Bai Feng currently faced many problems.
Just as Bai Feng was silently planning his future in his heart, Caicaizi led Yangtai, Yihui, and Xiao You over. Each of them held a small shovel in their hands.
"Brother Bai Feng, we're here to loosen the soil and weed your Saplings," Xiao You said, skipping to Bai Feng's side.
Bai Feng rubbed his head and said, "Okay, thank you... for your trouble... today too!"
Ever since they learned that Bai Feng was planting Berry Trees, Caicaizi and the others often came to help. They could loosen soil, weed, catch pests, and water, truly helping Bai Feng a lot.
Although Bai Feng had an adult's soul, his body was still just a child's. Managing over thirty Berry Trees by himself was truly beyond his strength.
Don't let their young age fool you; Caicaizi and the others were very efficient workers. Even Xiao You and Yihui, who were only four or five years old, did a decent job.
Moreover, they never acted on their own initiative. They did whatever Bai Feng asked them to do and never caused any damage to any Sapling from beginning to end.
Xiao You looked at Bai Feng with an expression of admiration and said, "Brother Bai Feng is so amazing! You can actually grow so many Berry Trees. Does that mean we can eat as many Berries as we want in the future?"
Bai Feng looked at Xiao You's drooling, greedy expression and laughed heartily: "That's right. When they bear Berries... the first one... Xiao You gets to eat."
Xiao You was overjoyed and flattered, "I knew Brother Bai Feng was the best."
"All you think about is eating!" Yangtai, who was nearby, slapped Xiao You on the butt, causing Xiao You to keep making faces at him.
After playing around for a little while, everyone enthusiastically got busy.
When the sun was about to set, Bai Feng said goodbye to the children and went to the Small Woods on the Hillside.
When he arrived, Bai Ye was battling fiercely with the Fletchinder and Fletchling.
Now, facing the simultaneous siege of over ten Fletchinder and Fletchling, Bai Ye was no longer as flustered as before. She moved with ease between offense and defense, occasionally knocking down a Fletchinder or Fletchling.
It must be said that high-intensity training is very useful. It's truly not easy that even a softie like Bai Ye could be trained into a valiant female warrior.
Seeing Bai Feng arrive, the Fletchinder and Fletchling knew that today's training was over. They consciously stopped attacking, then landed orderly beside Bai Feng, lining up to wait for rejuvenation.
In the past half month, five more Fletchling had successively evolved into Fletchinder. This made Bai Feng even more certain that his Golden Finger had the effect of promoting Pokémon evolution.
In Bai Feng's conjecture, the essence of Pokémon evolution was a racial leap. To put it more clearly, it was the evolution of the energy circuits within their bodies.
What about Pokémon that were already in their final form? For example, Bai Ye. If Bai Feng continued to use his Golden Finger on her, compressing and purifying her origin energy, and clearing her energy circuits, would her energy circuits continue to evolve? If so, what would they eventually become?
It's hard to imagine...
Because Bai Feng had been using his Golden Finger frequently, his Golden Finger had been trained to become stronger and stronger. Now, he could complete rejuvenation for Fletchinder and Fletchling in a very short time.
On the way home, Bai Feng accidentally saw a small mound bulging on the ground not far away. He quickly signaled Bai Ye quietly.
The old mother understood instantly. She pressed all her psychic power onto the small mound. With a miserable cry, a Bunnelby was pulled out of the dirt pile by Bai Ye.
"It really is you!" Seeing the Bunnelby, Bai Feng said with a smug expression, "Haha... I caught you again, didn't I?"
He had heard from the Fletchinder before that there weren't many Pokémon in this area, and they only encountered a fixed few. So, as soon as he saw the small mound, he guessed if it was the same Bunnelby that had tricked him and Bai Ye last time.
He didn't expect it to be true!
"Hobi~~~"
The Bunnelby looked at Bai Feng "pitifully," trying to get Bai Feng to let it go again.
"Trying to act pitiful with me? No way."
Bai Feng wasn't falling for that. He looked around and found a clump of vines not far away, so he walked over, pulled them off, and tied them around the Bunnelby's neck.
"Let's see if you dare to trick me again." If it wasn't for Bai Ye's strength causing Bunnelby to be wary, the mother and son would have been buried alive by it last time.
(ó﹏ò) Nooo. The Bunnelby continued to act pitiful, trying to persuade Bai Feng to let it go.
And Bai Feng did indeed let it go.
He put the Bunnelby on the ground. As soon as the Bunnelby ran two steps, it was pulled back by the vines tied around its neck.
Hehe~ I was just pretending.
Seeing this, Bai Feng said to it cheekily, "I advise you not to try to escape. Otherwise, if I catch you again... Hmph hmph..."
Bai Ye was very cooperative and pressed her aura onto the Bunnelby. The mother and son had great chemistry.
The Bunnelby was so scared that it immediately lowered its head.
"Alright, let's go home."
After saying that, he and Bai Ye continued walking home. The Bunnelby could only resignedly follow behind the mother and son.
After returning home, the children were very surprised to see the Bunnelby. They didn't understand how Bai Feng went out and came back with a rabbit.
Bai Feng said to everyone, "From now on, you don't need to loosen the soil for the Berry Trees yourselves. Bunnelby will do it, right? Bunnelby..."
Seeing Bai Feng's threatening gaze, the Bunnelby shivered and quickly nodded its head.
From then on, Bunnelby became Bai Feng's second hired hand, besides the Fletchinder and the others, and it was the kind that didn't get paid.
Time flew by, and another three months passed. Bai Feng was still busy with both training Bai Ye and cultivating Berry Trees.
Bai Ye's strength steadily and rapidly increased, but because she lacked the assistance of Pokéblocks, Bai Feng still felt a bit dissatisfied.
Things went even more smoothly with the Berry Trees. Most of the Saplings had grown to be about as tall as Bai Feng. Looking from afar, they were a lush green, clearly full of vitality.
One day, Bai Feng was walking back and forth among the Saplings, leading the Bunnelby, seemingly looking for something. This was because yesterday he had accidentally discovered several Saplings' Leaves had many jagged, round holes, which looked very much like traces of being gnawed by pests.
"Hobi~hobi~"
Just then, the Bunnelby seemed to discover something and cried out, pointing in a direction.
Bai Feng walked over to look and actually saw two pests hidden among the Leaves on a Sapling, happily feeding.
"Well, look at that, it was you two!"
Bai Feng walked over, pinched one small pest from a Leaf with each hand, and lifted them up.
"Puh~Puh~Puh~" Let go, let go, help!
"Puh~Puh~" Let go of me, let go of me!
The two pests caught by Bai Feng were two Scatterbug, each only the size of his palm.
"You two have a lot of nerve, daring to come here and eat my Saplings!"
(End of this chapter)