As soon as Su Wenqi stepped out of the game capsule, he saw the small robot, Lulu, standing eagerly beside it waiting for him. After coming out, he patted its round head and apologized, “I am sorry, Lulu. I encountered a little issue inside the game just now and missed your message.”
“Master, dinner is ready. Would you like to have dinner now?” Lulu asked, following behind Su Wenqi.
Before logging into the game in the afternoon, Su Wenqi had already started simmering the porridge. His original plan was to log off at six o’clock in the evening to have dinner, but due to a delay, it was already past seven o’clock.
“Yes, please help me dish out the porridge, Lulu. I am going to wash my hands and be right back.” After assigning the task to the small robot, he went to the bathroom. When he returned to the dining room after washing his hands, Lulu had already dished out the porridge and placed it on the dining table.
After praising the small robot, he thought about what to have for breakfast tomorrow while drinking his porridge. There was hardly anything left at home, so he planned to go to the shopping mall after dinner, take a walk, and pick up some groceries along the way.
After finishing dinner, he left Lulu to clean up the battlefield and began unboxing his deliveries. The items he ordered at noon had already arrived by evening.
The items he bought today were mainly clothes. After receiving them, he touched the fabric and found the texture quite nice, as it would not prickle his skin.
“Lulu, please wash these clothes tonight at 9 PM.” He handed such simple tasks directly to the small robot, finding it immensely convenient.
“Okay, task guaranteed to be completed,”
“Let us go. We are heading downstairs for a stroll and then stopping by the supermarket to buy a few things.” He brought Lulu outside. This was the time when regular office workers were getting off work, and Su Wenqi noticed quite a few people around the residential complex.
He stroked his chin, thinking that humans in the future world were no different from those in the past. Aside from their reluctance to go outside during leisure time, they still had to go to work and be corporate cogs at companies. With technology this advanced in this world, he had originally thought everyone worked remotely online.
After taking a half-hour walk around the complex, he had Lulu guide him to the shopping mall.
The crowd in the mall today was larger than what he saw yesterday, likely because people dropped by the supermarket to shop on their way home from work.
He headed straight to the fresh produce section, selected the ingredients for making buns along with the vegetables and meat needed for tomorrow, and then strolled around with Lulu.
Behind the shelf where he bought nutritional fluid yesterday, he noticed a sign marked specifically for robots. Feeling curious, he walked toward the shelf.
On the shelf were rows of square boxes in various colors. Puzzled, he asked Lulu what they were.
“Master, these are energy blocks exclusively for robots. They can replenish our energy, and we can also taste different flavors.”
Su Wenqi nodded, turned back to look at the small robot, and asked, “Do we have any spare energy blocks at home? How long can a single energy block last for you?”
“We still have one left at home. A single energy block can provide a month’s worth of energy.”
“Well, Lulu, pick a few flavors you like,” Su Wenqi pushed the small robot toward the shelf, letting it choose for itself.
The small robot visibly paused for a moment, then happily selected three red boxes and spun around Su Wenqi.
Lulu’s happy mood clearly infected Su Wenqi, making him feel for the first time that coming to this world might not be so bad after all. Without the pressure of everyday life, and having temporarily found a stable, high-paying job in the game, he no longer had to hustle desperately just to survive.
This checkout still qualified for a lucky draw, but since the grand prize had already been claimed by him, this time he drew a 1,000-Star-Coin voucher, which was still a considerable amount of money.
Upon returning home, he first kneaded the dough, covered it to let it rise, and then began preparing the other ingredients. He planned to make two flavors of steamed buns: meat with sauce flavor and mushroom with vegetable flavor. After making enough portions to cover breakfasts and dinners for tomorrow and the day after, the dough had finished rising.
Spending another ten minutes or so wrapping the buns, he placed them in the steamer and set a timer for Lulu before logging back into the game.
As for why Su Wenqi was so proficient in cooking, it was partly because he had previously worked as a waiter in various restaurants and frequently went in and out of kitchens to observe. On the other hand, he possessed a strong natural talent for culinary arts. Whenever he had free time to visit the orphanage, he would cook for the younger children. Given the orphanage’s limited resources, he racked his brain to make simple dishes taste as delicious as possible.
During occasional moments of leisure, he would also experiment with cooking, and over time, his culinary skills continued to improve.
When he returned to the game, lanterns were already lit across the streets. He was still lingering inside the dungeon. After using an anonymity talisman and an invisibility cloak, he exited the dungeon.
The entrance of the dungeon was bustling with activity, with many players still online even in the dead of night.
Since it was getting too late, he decided not to look for the person Granny Wang asked him to find, because NPCs in “Hua Xia” needed to sleep at night, while nocturnal ones operated on the exact opposite schedule.
Therefore, visiting them during their rest hours would only result in an empty trip.
Many activities in the game only unlocked after players reached the maximum level, so Su Wenqi’s primary task right now was leveling up. However, since it was pitch black outside and the NPCs were all asleep, he decided to return to Xianyuan’s homestead to cook new dishes!
Arriving at the city’s homestead guide, he teleported to Xianyuan’s homestead.
A player’s homestead existed in a separate space from the main game world, meaning the weather inside the homestead could be controlled by the player. Thus, even though it was nighttime in the game, the homestead remained identical to how it looked when Su Wenqi visited in the afternoon.
Moving with familiar ease, he reached the kitchen, intending to make shredded potatoes with sour and spicy sauce today.
After washing the potatoes clean, he ran into a dilemma because, in the modern world, he always used a peeler to peel potato skins. Looking at the kitchen knife in his hand now, he found himself stuck.
Opening the game forum, he tried to search if peelers existed in the game, but after searching for a long time without finding any results, he had no choice but to use the kitchen knife to peel them.
After managing to finish peeling one potato with great difficulty, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the potato in his hand, which had shrunk by a wide margin compared to before it was peeled.
Sighing softly, he picked up the next potato and began practicing his peeling technique. As someone who approached everything with extreme diligence, he immersed himself fully into the practice.
Through continuous practice, his proficiency steadily increased. After using the kitchen knife to carve out a perfectly peeled potato, he straightened his back and smiled.
Looking up abruptly, he saw Xianyuan and Feng Qian sitting on the kitchen chairs watching him. Startled, he took a few steps back, his heel accidentally striking the basin of potatoes on the floor.
Losing his balance, his body staggered backward, about to fall. Seeing this, Wen Shaochuan immediately stood up, even utilizing a movement speed buff skill, rushed over to Su Wenqi, and grabbed him to prevent a collision.
Once Su Wenqi regained his footing, Wen Shaochuan let go of his hand, furrowed his brow, and said, “Be careful. Feng Qian and I are not that ugly, are we? Why do you look like you have just seen a ghost the moment you look at us?”
Hearing this, Su Wenqi felt a burst of annoyance and retorted unpleasantly, “You have the nerve to say that? The two of you showed up without making a sound, and suddenly two people popped up right in front of me when I looked up. Can you blame me for being startled?”
“Hehe, Chun Ri, do not be angry. When the two of us came in, we saw you concentrating hard on peeling potatoes and did not notice us, so we decided not to disturb you. Who knew it would scare you? Do not be mad, do not be mad. Next time we come in, we will definitely greet you first!” Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Feng Qian hurriedly jumped in to smooth things over.
Glancing at his older brother, Wen Shaochuan also realized his tone had been a bit harsh earlier, so he awkwardly apologized, “Sorry, I was just worried about you. It definitely will not happen again!”
Su Wenqi knew the other person had not done it on purpose, so he accepted the apology and let the matter go.
Ignoring the two of them further, he picked up the basin, placed it next to the chopping board, picked up a potato, and started cutting.
With rapid movements, his knife descended, slicing the potato into flat pieces. After stacking and gathering the potato slices together, he swiftly shredded them into fine strips, then placed the shredded potatoes into cold water to remove the starch.
Before long, a whole basin of potatoes had been shredded and set aside in water. After preparing condiments such as garlic, green onions, dried chili peppers, and bell peppers, he heated up a wok with oil.
Adding oil to the wok, he heated it on high until it reached medium heat, then tossed in the garlic and dried chili peppers to release their aroma. Next, he poured in the shredded potatoes for a quick stir-fry, drizzled vinegar along the rim of the wok, and continued stir-frying rapidly. Once the shredded potatoes lost their stiff texture, he added the accompanying vegetables and seasonings, gave it a few quick tosses, and a plate of sour and spicy shredded potatoes was complete.
A fragrant aroma of sour and spicy notes swirled above the kitchen, instantly stimulating appetite and causing mouths to water involuntarily.
Su Wenqi first picked up a strand of shredded potato to taste-test. It was pleasantly sour, spicy, and crisp, so he scooped it out onto a plate.
Unsurprisingly, this dish also turned out to be of golden quality. Moreover, before cooking, he had equipped the title [Imperial Chef]. Triggering the title’s special effect granted him double items, resulting in exactly one plate each for Xianyuan and Feng Qian.
After receiving their dishes, the two of them remembered their manners this time, retrieved another plate from the kitchen rack, and spooned some food back for Su Wenqi.
Catching their action out of the corner of his eye, Su Wenqi did not say anything, though he felt pleased inside. After all, the feeling of being remembered and cared for was quite nice.
While the two of them ate, Su Wenqi cooked the remaining shredded potatoes into finished products, ultimately yielding twenty-eight plates of golden quality [Sour and Spicy Shredded Potatoes].
Seeing the two of them looking at their plates with lingering appetite, Su Wenqi retrieved another plate of food from his backpack for each of them. The three of them sat together eating, and the other two even pulled out flatbreads bought in the city, pairing them with the shredded potatoes, it was simply delicious.
After they finished eating, Wen Shaochuan remembered the main business. He opened the trade window and placed a few pieces of equipment onto it.
“We dropped a few pieces of Guangling equipment during our dungeon run tonight. Take them and use them. At this rate, by the time you reach max level, you will have your full set of equipment ready.” He reopened the trade window and added some ores as well.
Anticipating what Su Wenqi was about to say, Wen Shaochuan spoke up first, “Do not refuse. Every new member in the guild gets the same treatment, and plus, the two of us will frequently come over to bum meals from you anyway, so just consider it payment for your food.”
Since he had put it that way, Su Wenqi had no reason to refuse and accepted them.
Feng Qian stood nearby, smiling silently: Newcomers do get this kind of treatment, but previously it was always just him and the other vice guild leaders doing it—when did Wen Shaochuan ever pitch in like this?
Xianyuan said, “Batian and Yitian will take you leveling tomorrow, while Feng Qian and I will take you the day after. See what time you can log online so we can coordinate our schedules.”
After calculating the time, Su Wenqi replied, “Around 9 AM. By the way, are those two online every single day?”
“Yeah, their schedules and finances are completely free, so they hang out in the game every day without logging off for half a month straight.” Xianyuan explained, then sent them a private chat.
Private Chat [Xianyuan]: Tomorrow morning at nine, you and Batian take Chun Ri leveling. If you run into any trouble, call for backup immediately.
Private Chat [Yitian Chi Batian]: OK, leave it to us! We guarantee no one will dare bully Big Boss Chun Ri! By the way, when will I get to eat food cooked by the Big Boss?!
Private Chat [Xianyuan]: Before the guild war.