“Ah?” Lin Zhiman’s jaw dropped in astonishment.
This thing was so hot – were they supposed to eat it with their bare hands?
“Hehe, just kidding!”
“Husband, is it ready?”
Mu Yunsheng responded affirmatively, holding newly made chopsticks and some chinquapin leaves.
“What are these?” Lin Zhiman looked puzzled.
Shang Yueli took several cleaned chinquapin leaves and stacked them in her palm, then used the chopsticks to pick up some fish meat and mushrooms to place on them.
“See? Now we can eat like this.”
Lin Zhiman suddenly understood.
Chinquapin leaves were quite sturdy, with the longest leaves reaching up to 14 centimeters. They could withstand certain weights and heat, making them perfect to use as bowls.
Shang Yueli picked up some fish and mushrooms together and chewed them.
“Mmm, delicious!”
The fish was tender and soft, the mushrooms smooth but not tough – cooking them together was absolutely perfect!
“Yueli, should we share some with the Su family?”
Wang Shi watched the Su family huddled alone in a dark corner and couldn’t help feeling some compassion.
Shang Yueli looked over – they did seem rather pitiful.
But what did that have to do with her?
Didn’t Su Moli say that in chaotic times, saints should be killed first?
She had no intention of being a saint, but being a shrewd merchant was acceptable. After all, they couldn’t finish this large pot of red mushroom fish soup anyway.
Shang Yueli put down her bowl and chopsticks and walked over.
“Aunt, we have some leftover mushroom fish soup we can sell to you. Would you like some?”
Madam Su was tempted – the soup smelled wonderful just from the aroma. If she could just have a taste…
“Thanks, but we’re not interested. Who knows if your mushrooms are poisonous or not.”
Su Moli rejected outright on behalf of the entire Su family.
Shang Yueli smiled: “As you wish.”
She had intended to leave directly, but Madam Su’s haggard appearance reminded her of her own grandmother.
If someone had been able to help back then, maybe…
Forget it.
Shang Yueli took out several steamed buns and gave them to Madam Su.
“This is all that’s left, Aunt. Please ration them carefully.”
She didn’t forget to whisper in Madam Su’s ear:
“Aunt, don’t give any to that ungrateful person who won’t let you eat hot food.”
Madam Su was momentarily stunned, then burst out laughing.
She took out ten taels of silver and gave it to Shang Yueli.
“This is all I have left, Aunt. I hope you don’t think it’s too little.”
“Mother!” Su Moli expressed dissatisfaction.
Shang Yueli had offered the buns voluntarily – why give her money!
Shang Yueli smiled and accepted without declining.
This was Madam Su’s way of maintaining her last bit of dignity.
Unfortunately, Su Moli didn’t understand this.
As Shang Yueli left, she provocatively winked at Su Moli, silently mouthing:
Lit-tle foo-ol~
“Are you crazy!”
Madam Su said displeased: “Moli, she just helped us. How can you curse at people so casually!”
“But she insulted me first…”
Shang Yueli had no interest in listening to the rest of the conversation, because the unscrupulous System wanted to chat with her again.
[Ding! Treating elders kindly, virtue +1, remaining virtue points: 10 points.]
“Unscrupulous System, I remember the System Store sells soap, right? How much does it cost?”
[Fifty taels of gold, per gram.]
“…”
“Unscrupulous System, I bet you must be very wealthy, right?”
[Not at all. Due to the host’s prolonged lack of gold consumption, this system has been consistently ranked last on the Poor Systems Ranking.]
“Haha.”
Shang Yueli actually felt the cold mechanical voice sounded somewhat dejected—it must be her imagination.
“Is there anything cheaper that can be used for bathing?”
[Yes. Ancient soap recipe. Only requires 2 virtue points.]
Two points?
So cheap.
She just needed to be kind to elderly people a few more times to earn that.
“Buy.”
[Virtue points deduction successful. Remaining virtue points: 8.]
The next second, a piece of parchment materialized in Shang Yueli’s hand, detailing how to make soap.
“Seashells, lard, dried flower petals…”
“It seems we’ll need to visit the Ghost Market when we reach Ye City.”
In the middle of the night, Su Er was so hungry he couldn’t stand it. Leaning on a wooden stick, he hobbled into the woods to gather mushrooms.
He picked mushrooms that looked exactly like the ones Shang Yueli and the others had eaten—that way he shouldn’t get poisoned, since they had eaten them without issue.
Su Er was now filled with regret.
If only he hadn’t listened to his younger sister and had just bought some bowls of food to fill his stomach.
“Hey, what’s this?”
His stick hit something hard.
Su Er brought the fire starter closer for a better look. They were red mushrooms.
But these had already been picked, and there were many of them—probably dropped accidentally by Shang Yueli’s group.
Without thinking twice, Su Er gathered the mushrooms and hurried back.
“Second Brother, what are you doing?”
Su Er was completely focused on roasting the mushrooms.
He would have preferred to stew them with fish, but without a pot, roasting was his only option.
“Little sister, are you hungry? I roasted some mushrooms.”
“They’re not poisonous. See? Those people ate them and they’re fine.”
Indeed, when Su Moli looked over, the Mu family was sleeping soundly with no signs of poisoning.
But she distinctly remembered her teacher saying that pretty mushrooms were always poisonous, and these mushrooms were red!
Su Moli suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach.
“Never mind, Second Brother. Call me when they’re ready.”
Su San and Su Si also woke up, drawn by the aroma.
After the roasting was done, each of them ate two skewers, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
“Mother, aren’t you going to eat?”
Mother Su shook her head. “I’m fine with just the steamed buns. You’re still growing, so eat more.”
“Alright.”
Su Er: “Big brother, do you want some?”
Su Yi shook his head. “I have no appetite.”
Since none of them wanted to eat, Su Er ended up finishing portions for three people by himself.
After eating their fill, they couldn’t be bothered to clean up the leftovers and simply moved to another spot to continue sleeping.
As dawn approached, Shang Yueli heard miserable groans and retching sounds from nearby.
“Gag—”
Su Moli had dark circles under her eyes as she clutched her stomach, crouching by a tree root and vomiting.
Su Er’s facial muscles were twitching uncontrollably, and he had already collapsed on the ground.
Their entire family, except for Mother Su and Su Yi, were either vomiting or unconscious.
“What’s wrong with them?”
Lin Zhiman was puzzled. “Did heaven finally open its eyes?”
Mu Shicai: “Could it be that the immortal who protected us last time didn’t like them stealing my jerky, so he poisoned them?”
“You brat, still hung up on your jerky!”
Jiang Xia flicked his forehead.
It was because of that bag of jerky that Mu Shicai had nearly drowned!
When Lin Zhiman heard the word “immortal,” she immediately went on high alert.
She knelt down and performed three quick bows toward the empty space.
“Immortal bless us, immortal bless us. I haven’t done anything bad for a long time, I haven’t secretly called Mu Shicai an idiot behind his back, and I haven’t been thinking about finding another rich man after Mu Tairan dies…”
Shang Yueli: “……”
“Baby, I just used a flash, and you immediately unleashed your ultimate?”
Mu Tairan walked over, likely preparing for a tough battle with Lin Zhiman later.
Shang Yueli tactfully stepped away.
She glanced at the debris on the ground—probably leftovers from when the Su family got hungry during the night and made some food.
But these mushrooms looked awfully familiar.
Shang Yueli leaned in for a closer look.
Holy shit, weren’t these the poisonous mushrooms she’d told Mu Shicai to throw away?
They even had the nail marks she’d pinched into them.
Combined with their vomiting and diarrhea symptoms, they were really about to meet their maker.
“Officer, could you please find us a doctor?”
“Ugh—” Su Moli’s stomach was completely empty by now, leaving her clutching a tree trunk while retching dryly.
Madam Su wept as she begged Gu Mang, “Officer, we beg you!”
“My child is dying!”