From far away, Su Wenqi saw Granny Wang lying on a reclining chair sunbathing. A table sat beside her, on which was a kettle and a plate of pastries. The reclining chair creaked softly, making the scene appear exceptionally lonely.
Worried that he would disturb Granny Wang if she was sleeping, Su Wenqi softened his footsteps as he approached. Sure enough, Granny Wang had her eyes closed and was asleep. He quietly took out a few pieces of rabbit meat from his backpack that looked relatively intact, placed them on oil paper, and set them on the table beside her.
He did not plan to wake Granny Wang up, so after putting the things down, he left quietly.
What he did not know was that Granny Wang had already noticed his approach the moment he came over. She had kept her eyes closed just to see what this lad was planning to do.
Looking at his retreating figure and then at the uneven, mangled rabbit carcasses on the table, Granny Wang scolded with a smile, “You little brat, look at what a mess you made out of perfectly good rabbits.”
Although she was nagging, the smile in her eyes could not be concealed. Unfortunately, Su Wenqi did not see it.
“At least he has a conscience.”
When Su Wenqi arrived at the pharmacy, Dr. Sun was drying medicinal herbs in the sun. After he handed over the leather pouch given by the Village Chief to Dr. Sun, the quest was completed. He also successfully leveled up again. He was now Level 5. Once he reached Level 10, he could leave the Novice Village and head to the city.
After receiving the medicinal wine that Dr. Sun wanted him to deliver to the blacksmith, he did not leave immediately.
“Dr. Sun, I would like to ask, if I want to formally apprentice myself to a master, what kind of gifts should I prepare?” Since he had no reference for what kind of gift to give Granny Wang, he decided it would be best to ask the villagers.
Hearing his words, Dr. Sun stopped drying the herbs and looked at Su Wenqi with a strange expression.
Su Wenqi felt goosebumps under his gaze and hesitantly asked, “What is it? Is there something wrong?”
“Haha, it is nothing. I just realized that you are the very first one to think about formally apprenticing to a master.” The others all just left after obtaining their skills, Dr. Sun did not say this latter half out loud, only silently adding it in his heart.
“If you want to present the traditional apprentice gifts, you can go find Old Zhang at the grocery shop at the entrance of the village. He will tell you what is needed. But then again, who are you planning to apprentice under?”
Dr. Sun was very curious about who this young man in front of him wanted to apprentice under. He ran through it in his mind just now; only that old woman at the end of the village had not found a successor yet. Her requirements for choosing a successor remained a secret she refused to share with him even now, which was truly frustrating!
Su Wenqi answered his question simply, “It is Granny Wang. She taught me cooking this morning. Although I have not started practicing it yet, I still want to thank her.”
“Oh, her, WHO? That old woman Wang?!” The hand stroking his beard suddenly clenched, accidentally plucking out several strands of hair, causing him to grimace in pain. However, the news Su Wenqi gave indeed gave him a massive shock. Just a moment ago, he was thinking it could absolutely not be that old woman, but this young lad’s words slapped him right in the face, loud and clear.
“Yes, is there something wrong?” Seeing Dr. Sun lose his composure, Su Wenqi frowned and asked.
Dr. Sun quickly reined in his expression, returning to his guise of an enlightened master as he brushed Su Wenqi off, “Nothing, nothing. Don’t you still need to buy things? Go find Old Zhang. I still have to dry my medicinal herbs.”
Although he did not know why Dr. Sun had such an attitude, since the host was already shooing him away, there was no need to overstay. He bade farewell to Dr. Sun and went to do his quests.
Seeing him walk away, Dr. Sun immediately went out, shut the pharmacy’s front door, and ran like the wind to the Village Chief’s house to share this shocking piece of news.
Today, Su Wenqi honestly completed his Novice Village quests without wandering off elsewhere. By the time he raised his level to Level 10, a message from Lulu came through.
“Master, it is already 11:30 AM! You can go offline and rest for a bit.”
Unknowingly, it had already reached midday. Although the game’s dedicated nutrient fluids could provide the body with sufficient nutrition to support users staying online for a long time without logging off, Su Wenqi was not used to this lifestyle. Therefore, he had set a schedule for Lulu, letting it remind him to go offline and rest at set times.
“Okay, I got it.”
Su Wenqi logged off and left the game.
First, he walked to the kitchen to check the vegetables he had bought. Lulu’s system had already downloaded the cooking module, washing the vegetables spotlessly clean and arranging them neatly on the prep table. The newly purchased kitchenware had also been tidied up by Lulu, so he could just turn on the stove and use them.
He thanked the little robot and praised it for its neat and efficient work, then arranged the seasonings according to his own habits.
He made a simple dish of tomato scrambled eggs and some braised pork belly. Once the rice was done steaming, he entered the dining room and sat down to eat.
The moment the braised pork belly entered his mouth, the tender, sticky, and sweet texture made Su Wenqi overjoyed. It was indeed worthy of being pork that cost several hundred Star Coins per catty; you truly got what you paid for.
After eating, he left the dishes for Lulu to clean up while he sat on the sofa to browse shopping apps.
He only had this one set of clothes on him. Yesterday, he had only bought one set of pajamas to change into. He casually purchased several sets of everyday clothes, then stared blankly at the remaining balance in his account.
“Hmm… What should I do with so much money?” The joy of becoming instantly rich had passed. He stared at the balance in his account and sighed, looking around to see if his house was missing any furniture.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit him, and he clapped his right fist into his left palm.
The house! The apartment he was currently living in was provided to him by the government; it did not actually belong to him yet.
At this thought, he opened his optical computer and contacted Jiang Yi, “Mr. Jiang, if I want to buy the apartment I am currently living in, what procedures do I need to go through, and what is the rough price?”
“It will probably cost over nine million. This community is considered to be in the center of District C, so the price is not cheap. If you want to buy it, I can ask the leadership to help you apply for a discount. The procedures are not complicated either; after all, many transmigrators choose to buy the houses provided to them by the government.”
It took about ten minutes for Jiang Yi to reply. Su Wenqi was also startled when he heard the quoted price; this housing price was truly expensive.
Before making this request, he had searched the internet. The interstellar world was divided into six districts, from A to F. The higher up the district, the better the air quality and various facilities. In fact, there was also District S, which was sparsely populated and mainly inhabited by government officials and members of long-standing families with immense influence.
He had moved in here yesterday and felt that the geographical location and transportation facilities were quite good, so he decided to buy this house without hesitation.
The property transfer was completed in less than ten minutes. Looking at the property certificate on his optical computer, Su Wenqi could not help but chuckle. He had a home of his own!
“Wenqi, congratulations! I did not expect you to become a homeowner on your second day here; it is really enviable. By the way, when are you free? I would like to visit and help you celebrate your housewarming.”
With Jiang Yi’s help, Su Wenqi ultimately bought the apartment for 8.88 million, saving a lot of money. Therefore, he was more than happy to accommodate Jiang Yi’s request.
“Let’s do three days from now. I will prepare a bit. Come over to my place for lunch in three days, and I will cook personally to host you.” After agreeing on a time, both went back to their respective tasks, and Su Wenqi logged into the game once again.
This time, he went straight to the grocery shop in the village. It was currently around two in the afternoon, so business in the shop was slow. Only Old Zhang sat at the entrance, cracking melon seeds and sunbathing.
“Hello, Uncle Zhang. I would like to ask, if I want to buy apprentice gifts, what exactly do I need to get?” Su Wenqi asked Old Zhang politely. Old Zhang raised his head to look at Su Wenqi standing beside him. The lad was handsome, spoke politely, and handled matters quite thoroughly, no wonder Old Lady Wang fancied him.
So he stood up and led Su Wenqi into the shop. Walking behind the counter, he spoke as he walked, “If you want to apprentice yourself to a master, you must prepare dried meat, celery, dried longan, lotus seeds, red dates, and red beans. I have all of these here. What quality do you want?”
“What qualities are available? What is the difference?” He knew that gear had quality distinctions, which affected their attack power and various attributes, but he did not know what the quality of these items would affect.
By now, Old Zhang had already taken out several boxes from under the counter, gesturing for Su Wenqi to come over and look.
Su Wenqi leaned in to inspect the lotus seeds in the boxes. The lotus seeds in one box were shriveled and tiny, looking as if they lacked any nutrients, while those in the other box were round, lustrous, and plump, clearly of premium quality.
After seeing the difference between the two, Su Wenqi already had his answer.
He looked up, smiled, and said to Old Zhang, “Uncle Zhang, I want the high-quality ones. Please pack them up for me and let me know how much they cost.”
Old Zhang looked at Su Wenqi in surprise. He knew from the Village Chief that Su Wenqi wanted to apprentice under Old Lady Wang and that he would come to his shop to buy things. He had not expected him to make such a grand gesture. Regardless of whether he was sincere or just putting on a show, having this intention was always a good thing.
“Do you want Epic Purple quality for all of them? The total price for these won’t be cheap; it will cost over five thousand gold.” Old Zhang calculated the price and reported the amount to Su Wenqi. If Old Lady Wang chose him as her successor, the money he would earn from this trade in the future would definitely be tens or even tens of thousands of times more than this five thousand gold.
Su Wenqi looked at the pitiful few dozen gold in his backpack and fell silent. He quickly pulled up the top-up page and loaded 10,000 gold into the game.
Huaxia was connected with the government and backed by the massive mountain that was the Wen Corporation. Private transactions between players were not subjected to taxes or processing fees; whatever you topped up was exactly what you got, and the same applied to cash withdrawals. However, if you were short on time and chose to list items in the trading house, the game would charge a 5% transaction tax.
Once the funds arrived, he traded directly with Old Zhang and stored the six traditional apprentice gifts in his backpack.
“Thank you, Uncle Zhang. I still have other things to attend to, so I won’t disturb you further. Goodbye.”
He then headed over to the village’s pastry shop and tailor shop to buy more items: five boxes of exquisite pastries and a few bolts of fashionable silk satin.
With his preparations complete, he slowly walked toward the end of the village.
What he did not know was that several stealthy figures were tailing him; they were the owners of the shops where he had just purchased his goods.
Thanks to the gossip spread by the Village Chief and Dr. Sun, everyone in the village knew that a young man wanted to apprentice under Old Lady Wang. Naturally, this had not escaped Granny Wang’s ears either. Not knowing when Su Wenqi would arrive, she had stayed at home all afternoon without going out.
Granny Wang’s door was unlocked today. As Su Wenqi walked into the yard, he saw her still lying on her reclining chair. The rabbit meat he had previously left on the table was gone, replaced by a plate of spicy diced rabbit.
Seeing Su Wenqi staring at the dish, Granny Wang cleared her throat to draw his attention back. He then retrieved the apprentice gifts and other items he had just bought from his backpack.
Once piled on the ground, the items formed quite a tall stack. Granny Wang knew he was coming to apprentice, but she had not expected him to bring so many things. Seeing the exceptionally high quality of the apprentice gifts, her heart could not help but be deeply touched.
After taking out all the items, Su Wenqi stepped in front of Granny Wang and bowed deeply. Granny Wang did not avoid it, sitting up straight to accept the gesture.
“Granny, thank you for the knowledge you passed on to me yesterday. Although you didn’t say you would take me as your disciple, I have received such a great favor that I must come to show my gratitude.” He then bowed two more times to Granny Wang. Standing back up straight, he looked at the expressionless Granny Wang across from him, his heart beating with anxiety.
Granny wouldn’t think I am trying to force her to accept me as a disciple, would she? Su Wenqi felt uneasy. Noticing his expression and glancing at the crowd of onlookers watching from over the wall, she gave a cold snort and spoke, “And then? Hand me the tea on the table.”
“Ah? Are you thirsty? I’ll pour you some tea right away.” Caught off guard by her words, Su Wenqi hurriedly picked up the teacup from the table and handed it to Granny Wang with both hands.
“Pfft… You silly boy, how can you lack situational awareness at a critical moment like this…” Dr. Sun, peeking over the wall, could not help but burst into laughter, and the others also stifled their giggles.
Granny Wang felt a sense of helplessness, like punching a ball of cotton. She took the tea, took a sip, and immediately, Su Wenqi’s system began to broadcast.
[World Announcement] The hero “Chun Rici” has been blessed with immense fortune and has acquired the [God of Cooking’s Legacy]! May this hero keep up the good work and carry this legacy forward!
A golden light shone from Su Wenqi’s body. He unlocked gold-grade recipes, a gold-grade outfit set, and his Butchering skill was instantly maximized. It was definitely not a skill Granny temporarily granted him out of pity when she saw how unevenly butchered the rabbit meat was!