Su Wenqi woke up feeling refreshed to the soft, gentle music playing from Lulu. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the little robot standing dutifully by his bedside, waiting for him to get up.
“Good morning, Master. It is currently 7:45 AM. Today’s temperature is 13 degrees Celsius. Please remember to wear an extra layer of clothing when you go out,” Lulu thoughtfully reported the time and temperature, accompanied by a cute emoticon on its screen.
After listening, Su Wenqi patted its round head and thanked it, “Okay, I got it. Thank you, Lulu.”
“You’re welcome. It is my honor to serve Master.”
Su Wenqi was charmed by the little robot’s cute expressions. Although Lulu was just a robot, he felt a warm sense of home from its presence.
After washing up, he habitually walked over to the refrigerator to get ingredients to cook. However, upon opening it, he could not help but hold his forehead at the sight of the neatly arranged rows of nutrient fluids inside. He had forgotten that he did not buy any groceries yesterday. To the him who had browsed the supermarket yesterday, the price of fresh vegetables was simply too expensive.
But he was no longer the same person he was yesterday! He turned around, walked to the sofa, sat down, and under Lulu’s guidance, found the food delivery section on his optical computer.
Opening the breakfast shop with the highest sales, Su Wenqi found that it was not much different from shops in modern society. He scrolled down through the items and reached the customer reviews.
[Customer Review]
“As expected of a long-established brand, this soy milk tastes exceptionally good!”
“Their buns are delicious, tasting exactly like the buns I ate in the game Huaxia!”
Seeing this review, Su Wenqi raised his eyebrows with interest. He did not expect this game to have a cross-promotion with restaurants. Its reach was quite extensive.
After adding the soy milk and buns to his shopping cart, Su Wenqi noticed a “taste test” button in the bottom right corner. Spurred by curiosity, he clicked the option.
Instantly, he entered a mysterious space where a cup of soy milk and some buns were placed on a table in front of him. So this was what the taste test meant.
He walked forward and picked up the cup of soy milk. The moment the soy milk entered his mouth, a heavy, raw, fishy bean smell traveled from between his lips and teeth straight to his brain. Su Wenqi could not hold back and spat the soy milk back out.
“Ugh, cough, cough, cough. Blech. This taste, yuck, is comparable to Beijing’s fermented bean drink!” After spitting repeatedly several times, he finally suppressed that taste in his mouth. Still holding onto a shred of hope, he picked up the remaining buns.
The buns had thin skin and generous filling. The bun skin that first touched his tongue was slightly sweet. Su Wenqi’s heart settled halfway, thinking that the buns should be fine.
Unfortunately, the buns also let him down. The moment the filling entered his mouth, he felt as if he had swallowed a large mouthful of grease. Without even chewing to taste it further, he quickly spat the bun out and threw it into the trash can.
With that done, he hurriedly exited the taste-test mode. In an instant, the tastes in his mouth vanished, but that bizarre sensation still lingered in his mind.
Refusing to accept defeat, he found two more breakfast shops and entered their taste-test modes. Those two were even worse than the first one. With a grim expression, he slumped onto the sofa.
Looking at the soy milk priced at 500 Star Coins and the buns priced at 800 Star Coins, he fell into deep thought. Had the people of the interstellar era never eaten real food before? How could they call this kind of stuff delicious? He felt it was not even as good as nutrient fluids. They really needed to eat better.
What he did not know was that after extensive research by experts, the government had successfully researched and promoted the cultivation of vegetables based on ancient records and the efforts of scientists who had crossed over to the interstellar world.
However, for some reason, the interstellar population seemed to have failed to unlock the cooking skill. Even if they followed recipes and videos exactly, the taste of the dishes they prepared was always beyond description.
In the end, he crawled back up, went to the refrigerator, took out an orange-flavored nutrient fluid, and drank it. He comforted himself with the thought that at least it tasted like fruit juice and was not too difficult to swallow.
Having experienced the food culture of the interstellar world, Su Wenqi completely gave up on the idea of ordering delivery. After ordering some fresh vegetables and kitchen utensils online, he assigned Lulu the task of receiving and cleaning the cookware.
“Understood, Master! Mission guaranteed to be accomplished!”
Yesterday, after obtaining those rare materials, he had only cared about chatting with Xianyun and did not complete any quests. Since he had nothing to do now, he decided to play the game for a bit.
Upon logging in again, he was still in the vegetable patch of Granny Wang’s house. After weeding the entire vegetable plot, he went inside the house to turn in the quest to Granny Wang.
Only after knocking on the door and receiving permission to enter did he push the door open. There was no one in the main hall. As he looked around trying to find Granny Wang, her voice came from the adjacent room.
“Young man, I am in the kitchen. Come find me here.” Following the sound, Su Wenqi arrived at the kitchen. At this moment, Granny Wang was bending over, trying to light the stove.
Seeing this, Su Wenqi quickly stepped forward to support Granny Wang, then took the fire starter and sat down in front of the firewood feeding area of the stove.
Meeting Granny Wang’s puzzled gaze, he spoke softly, “Granny, let me help you light the fire. You just focus on cooking.” Granny Wang gave him an unreadable look, neither objecting nor refusing, and simply treated him as an extra helper to start cooking.
Granny Wang did not cook anything too complicated, making simple noodles. In about ten minutes, the meal was ready. Su Wenqi took the initiative to help scoop the noodles and place them on the dining table. He did this mainly because he saw that Granny Wang had difficulty moving and wanted to help wherever he could.
Granny Wang had no intention of waiting until after eating to check the quest requirements. She led Su Wenqi outside to inspect his work.
Seeing that the weeds in the vegetable patch had been cleared spotlessly and no vegetables had been accidentally weeded out, a rare smile appeared on Granny Wang’s face.
She turned to look at Su Wenqi beside her, “Child, you did very well. Thank you for helping this old woman with her chores.”
[System Notification]
Ding! You have completed the quest [Help Granny Wang Weed]. You have gained 5,841 experience points. Congratulations on reaching Level 2!
Granny Wang’s favorability toward you has increased significantly. Your relationship has reached [Casual Acquaintance]. Continuing to raise her favorability to the next level will unlock a mysterious reward! Please keep up the good work, Hero!
Granny Wang wishes to pass on her life’s knowledge to you. Do you accept?
After the two consecutive prompts ended, the final system notification gave Su Wenqi a pleasant surprise. He looked at the elderly woman who had a stern face but now carried a trace of a gentle smile as she looked at him warmly, and he chose to accept.
Immediately, a vast amount of knowledge flooded into his mind. Only then did Su Wenqi realize that Granny Wang was actually a hidden culinary master.
Following this, the cooking skill was unlocked in his life skills tab, and the recipes taught to him by Granny Wang were recorded. Looking at the diverse and numerous recipes spanning various cuisines, Su Wenqi’s eyes practically shone.
If he learned these dishes in the game, would he also be able to replicate them one-to-one in reality? At this thought, Su Wenqi was filled with motivation. Furthermore, Granny Wang had not only taught him the recipes but also gifted him a set of gold-grade kitchen utensils, which could greatly improve the quality of his dishes.
“Thank you, Granny! I will definitely cook delicious meals and will not let you down!” After accepting the gifts, Su Wenqi bowed deeply to express his gratitude.
Granny Wang waved her hand to urge him to leave, “Alright, alright. If there’s nothing else, run along now. Don’t delay this old lady from eating.”
“Okay, goodbye, Granny! I will visit you when I have time!” Su Wenqi did not want to disturb her meal any longer. After saying goodbye, he prepared to head to the back mountain to do his quest.
Granny Wang murmured as she watched his retreating figure, “They all say that, but who would ever come back to visit this old woman.” Her voice faded into the empty house, leaving her alone in a quiet and lonely space.
Today was a weekday. Those who had to work went to work, and those who had to study went to school. Compared to when he logged on yesterday afternoon, there were significantly fewer people in the village.
Su Wenqi arrived at the back mountain and found that there indeed were not many people around. With a thought, the weapon on his back appeared in his hands.
He carefully observed the guqin, cradling the instrument with his left hand while his right hand stroked the strings. With an index finger pluck, a visible wave of sound shot toward a rabbit.
His current level was too low, requiring several hits to kill a rabbit. It took him four to five minutes to hunt enough rabbits for the quest.
Looking at the scattered rabbit carcasses before him, a sudden idea struck him: he wondered if these rabbit carcasses could be butchered. Thus, he gathered the rabbit carcasses into a pile, took out a small knife from his backpack, and began to unskilfully skin them.
The game was highly realistic yet not overly disturbing. As he skinned them, a flash of white light passed, and [A Tattered Rabbit Pelt] and [Mangled Rabbit Meat] appeared in his backpack.
After processing the rest of the rabbit carcasses, Su Wenqi stood up to head back and turn in the quest to the Village Chief. Seeing the wild flowers by the roadside, he remembered the lively and cheerful little girl from yesterday, so he picked some wild flowers to bring along.
When he arrived at the Village Chief’s house, Xiao Wen happened to be there. As soon as she saw him, she rushed over with open arms, asking for a hug.
“Beautiful Brother, you’re here! Xiao Wen missed you so much!”
The Village Chief watched his darling daughter run toward another man, and his expression instantly turned resentful, “You little ungrateful thing, your father is still standing right here!”
Su Wenqi did not have time to turn in the quest to the Village Chief yet. He squatted down to catch Xiao Wen, cradling her with one arm. After gesturing for her to wrap her arms around his neck, his right hand retrieved a woven flower crown from his backpack and placed it on her head.
Sensing something on her head, Xiao Wen reached up and took the crown off. It was a flower crown woven from willow branches, adorned with various colorful wild flowers, looking exceptionally beautiful.
Xiao Wen’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the flower crown in her hands. After squealing with joy, she gently placed it back on her head, nuzzling her cheek against Su Wenqi’s face. She happily thanked him, “Thank you, Brother! The flower crown is so beautiful, Xiao Wen loves it!”
Su Wenqi had learned this skill during his childhood. To coax the children at the orphanage, he would often weave flower crowns for the younger girls.
Squatting down to set Xiao Wen back on her feet, the little girl immediately ran to show off her new toy to her father. She treasured this gift so much that when the Village Chief wanted to reach out and touch it, she rejected him.
“Hmph! Fine, if you won’t let me touch it, I will make a flower crown even more beautiful than this one tomorrow, and I won’t let you touch mine either!” The Village Chief’s personality was even more childish than Xiao Wen’s. Xiao Wen was not having any of her father’s antics, retorting directly, “Forget it. The flower crown you made for Mother last time was so tattered that Mother thought you had collected trash!”
“You! …You brat, come over here and hand in your quest!” Seeing that he could not win the argument with his daughter, the Village Chief directed his frustration toward the culprit.
After turning in the quest, the system prompt arrived right on cue.
[System Notification]
Ding! You have completed the quest [Overrunning Rabbits of the Back Mountain]. Village Chief Lin Wei’s favorability toward you has increased significantly, and you have received double experience points!
Su Wenqi looked at the Village Chief in surprise, only to see that the Chief had already turned his head away and was handing out a new quest.
“These are some medicinal herbs that Old Man Sun asked me to collect for him. Do me a favor and deliver them. You know where the pharmacy is, right?”
“Yes, I know. I will go right away.” Su Wenqi accepted the quest, said goodbye to Xiao Wen, and left the Village Chief’s house.
Looking at the rabbit meat in his backpack, he turned his steps toward Granny Wang’s house at the end of the village.