Chapter 30: Lucky Grand Draw

George knew that Liu Heming had vegetable seedlings in the nursery pond, but he never expected there would be so many. He and Megan spent the entire afternoon helping Liu Heming until they finally planted all the seedlings in the ground. Although the work didn’t require much stamina, constantly squatting and standing up tired the old couple out.

Liu Heming had no choice because he urgently needed to free up his time—there was something big to attend to. What was the big matter? While mixing the dumpling filling earlier that day, he suddenly triggered a subcategory of the System: Cooking.

During that brief moment of stirring, a prompt from the System appeared before his eyes, and it gave him a chance for a Lucky Grand Draw.

He never thought that casually making dumplings could trigger something like this. He felt grateful that his car had broken down and even more grateful to George and his wife. If it weren’t for them, he might still be making do with quick meals.

“Hehe, buddy, come out and tell me all about this Cooking thing, and what I can get from the Lucky Grand Draw,” Liu Heming said with a chuckle after seeing George and his wife off, closing the doors and windows.

“Did you plan this on purpose? Triggering the Cooking subsystem only after I agreed to give you the Lucky Grand Draw?” the System asked, sounding a bit puzzled.

“Buddy, having a brain is a good thing. Do you really think if I knew that making a simple batch of dumplings could trigger the Cooking subsystem, I would have waited until now?” Liu Heming asked, annoyed.

The System thought it over carefully and realized that made sense. Given Liu Heming’s excitable personality, there was no way he could have held back.

“Hurry up and tell me how this System can help me. And that Lucky Grand Draw—do it for me now,” Liu Heming continued.

“The Cooking System will simply improve the taste of the food you make. It focuses mainly on cooking, and some special tasks might offer ability boosts. The food you create in the future may have certain properties that temporarily enhance a character’s attributes. You might even develop foods with special effects,” the System explained matter-of-factly.

“As for the Lucky Grand Draw rewards, I can’t decide them; I can only help you activate it early. You now have two titles: Farmer and the newly acquired Cooking Apprentice. Once you truly become a Chef, the System will randomly assign Lucky Grand Draw rewards based on task difficulty.”

“George and the others all said my dumplings were delicious. How come I’m only a Cooking Apprentice?” Liu Heming retorted, unconvinced.

He was still hoping to fish for more benefits from the System.

This time, however, he was disappointed. The System ignored him completely and displayed a large spinning wheel in front of his eyes. It had five options: Animal, Plant, Recipe, Skill, and ?.

“Wait, I understand the first two, but what do Recipe, Skill, and this ? mean?” Liu Heming asked, confused.

“I cannot answer that question at this time. It exceeds the host’s permissions. Please start the wheel promptly,” the System’s electronic voice rang out.

“Okay, fine. Start it,” Liu Heming yelled helplessly.

After interacting with the System for so long, he knew it was very stubborn. If it refused to explain, there was no point in hoping. He had to follow the System’s rules now. If he pushed too hard and the System canceled the Lucky Grand Draw, he would have nowhere to complain.

As soon as he shouted, the colorful lights on the wheel lit up and spun faster and faster, until they became a blur.

Liu Heming felt frustrated. He had planned to watch the lights’ speed and try to guess when to stop on the Plant option. After all, he was a Farmer now, so he thought Plant was the best choice.

But the System was very strict. Only when the lights were spinning wildly did a prompt appear on the side: You can stop it at any time. Time to decide: 60 seconds. His little plan was foiled; it really was just a matter of luck now.

“Stop!”

With only fifteen seconds left on the countdown, Liu Heming shouted and grew tense. As soon as he called out, the spinning lights came to an abrupt halt. The lit section was exactly the Plant option he had hoped for.

“Hahaha, my luck is just this good. Tsk tsk, I got exactly what I wanted,” Liu Heming exclaimed, jumping up and down.

The reward was announced as follows: Reward category: Plant type. Specifically: 100 kilograms of sweet potato seeds. Because this is your first time using the Lucky Grand Draw System, one free appraisal is provided. Appraisal: Can determine a food’s grade and additional attributes.

Looking at the green text appearing before his eyes and then at the pile of finger-sized “sweet potatoes” that suddenly appeared on the ground, Liu Heming was speechless.

When he saw they were sweet potato seeds, he felt quite happy. Whatever they were, as long as he could plant them, it was fine. What if they grew into giant sweet potatoes? They would be super sweet potatoes then.

But after seeing the actual items, he almost fainted from anger. These finger-sized little sweet potatoes—even if they grew bigger, at best they would reach normal sweet potato size. But Liu Heming thought there was little hope of that; more likely, they would still be this small at harvest.

“Buddy, are you getting back at me?” Liu Heming asked, picking up a finger sweet potato and taking a bite.

Surprisingly, it was slightly sweet and very crisp. It would make a decent snack. But with so many different fruits available, who would eat sweet potatoes for fun?

“This System operates on the principles of absolute fairness and impartiality in providing draw services. If the host is unsatisfied, the reward can be reclaimed,” the emotionless electronic voice stated.

“Do you think I’m stupid? Once it’s given to me, don’t even think about taking it back,” Liu Heming said, feeling unenthusiastic.

“Hey? Something’s not right, really not right. Tell me honestly—did you upgrade or evolve? Don’t try to fool me. Earlier, when you first answered my questions, you had emotion in your voice, and it wasn’t something I imagined—it was real emotion.”

The System stayed silent for a moment before saying, “It’s because you unlocked your second title system. Even though it’s just a subsystem, it’s on the same level as the Farmer system. It’s just that your main profession is Farmer.”

“So I evolved a tiny bit. As for what changes that will bring, I’m not sure. But it should be a good change. Now I can also convert more bio-energy from your body.”

“Alright, I’m going to rest. Don’t bother me unless it’s important. During the upgrade process, I can’t issue any other tasks. Completing the soil improvement task is what matters.”

After that, the System fell silent.

Liu Heming smacked his lips, feeling that the System had probably deceived him before. This didn’t seem like an incomplete database at all—it seemed like the System was also adapting to its role.