The greasy-haired, powdered-faced youth’s face darkened instantly. “You’re looking for trouble, aren’t you!”

Cen An’s eyes turned cold as he reached behind him to grip the iron sword hanging at his waist—a system-issued weapon. Ever since recognizing the dangers of this world, he never left home without it, so he wasn’t afraid of these few men.

Tian Yuan rose as well, positioning himself behind Cen An.

Cen An said coldly, “Hello. Money not in my hand doesn’t count as paid. Cash on delivery is the rule for buying things.”

The young man’s face flushed red, then darkened, then flushed again. Damn it, he’d never argued like this before. The other guy was clearly threatening him, yet he said “Hello” politely. Hello, my ass!

The small market wasn’t big, and a crowd had already gathered around to watch the commotion.

With everyone watching, the henchmen saw their leader stumped and quickly chimed in, “How dare you talk to our boss like that? Do you even know who he is?”

“Exactly! Our boss is Shi Jie! The younger brother of Shi Long, the captain of the Ability Squad!”

“Apologize now!”

Cen An’s tone remained unchanged: ” As far as I know, the captain of the Ability Squad is surnamed Liao.“

Shi Jie’s face darkened further. The surrounding crowd murmured, as if they were about to trample his dignity underfoot. Unable to contain himself, he roared, ”That old man surnamed Liao hasn’t been seen in ages! He could be dead for all we know! My brother will be the captain of the Ability Squad sooner or later!” Get the hell out of here, all of you!”

Cen An lowered his gaze. He figured his brother must be the deputy captain that old couple had mentioned. He didn’t think that the deputy captain position was particularly secure. The brother was already acting so arrogantly before even becoming captain. Likely, the man himself wasn’t very well-liked either.

His pause lasted a bit too long. Shi Jie mistook his silence for fear and immediately crowed triumphantly, “Scared, huh? I won’t make this hard on you. Just pack up these bok choys and the rat skins underneath and hand them over. I’ll let you go.”

Cen An had calmed down. Before he could speak, a fierce, bold female voice cut in: ” Shi Jie, who the hell do you think you’re talking to?“

Hearing that voice, Shi Jie instinctively shuddered. ”Y-you… what are you doing here?”

Cen An also recognized the voice. Looking up, he saw it was Qu Yue, followed by Zhao Wu.

Qu Yue rolled her eyes at Shi Jie, ignoring him completely.

Shi Jie, who had been acting all high and mighty moments ago, now shrank back, even sidestepping to the side. Like a frightened quail, he dared not utter a sound. He even began to feel pain all over. After all, this couple had beaten him countless times since he was young.

His brother was also an ability user—a Level 3 one, making him a top-tier talent in the village. The problem was, this couple was both Level 3 ability users! Even his brother had warned him to steer clear of them!

Qu Yue approached Cen An. “My daughter mentioned a new vendor here. It sounded like you, so I came to check—and here you are!”

Zhao Wu approached with a sheepish grin to greet them.

Cen An felt quite fond of these two. “Have your injuries healed?”

“Completely!” Qu Yue beamed. “The medicine you gave us really worked—far better than our own remedies. We haven’t even repaid your life-saving favor yet, and now we owe you another debt!”

Shi Jie perked up at the keywords. What life-saving favor? Medicine?

Just as he was listening intently, someone grabbed his ear. “Ouch, ouch! Easy there, Sister Qu! I won’t do it again…”

Qu Yue yanked him closer. “And you, you little brat! Showing off again, huh? Know who this is? This is the person who saved my and Old Zhao’s lives! Apologize!”

Shi Jie’s face twisted into a grimace, his earlier cockiness completely gone. He obediently bowed low to Cen An. “I’m sorry, benefactor. I know I was wrong.”

Cen An gave a faint nod. “You probably don’t want the vegetables anymore. Don’t forget to take your crystal core with you.”

Shi Jie’s face twisted even more bitterly. He tried to signal his henchmen but feared Qu Yue would notice, so he reluctantly fumbled in the muddy water.

Only then did Qu Yue realize what was happening. Her anger flared, and as he fished for the crystal core, she delivered a swift kick to his backside.

Shi Jie landed face-first in the mud pit, utterly humiliated.

After he and his entourage fled in disarray, Qu Yue finally spoke. “That kid is Shi Long’s younger brother—the deputy leader of the Ability Squad. He’s a bit dim-witted and often makes minor mistakes, but he hasn’t done anything truly bad. If he bothers you again, just tell me. I’ll teach him a lesson.”

Cen An smiled gently. “It’s not that easy to provoke me.”

“True enough. You look like the patient type.” Qu Yue’s cheerful voice carried across half the market. She bent down to inspect a stall. “Oh! These are baby bok choy, right? They look fantastic. My daughter mentioned craving fresh greens just the other day. I’ll take them all. Old Zhao, pay up!”

Old Zhao chuckled and pulled out crystal cores.

Cen An hesitated briefly before bundling it with dry grass. “Fresh greens don’t keep well. Eat them quickly.”

Qu Yue nodded. She wasn’t as dim-witted as Shi Jie. She could tell at a glance that such tender, juicy bok choy couldn’t possibly come from the mountains. Though most land was now uncultivable, people occasionally found ways to grow things.

She didn’t pry further, replying briskly, “It’s better to have a proper trade. Going up the mountain is too dangerous. I was actually going to ask you—do you sell the medicine you make? Since you want to sell vegetables, I’ll help you find more buyers.”

Cen An chuckled. “Thanks a lot.”

The couple carried their vegetables away. Following their gaze, Cen An spotted the young girl setting up her stall. The little thing waved her chubby hand at him, her face full of mischief.

The crowd of onlookers dispersed. Even from this distance, Cen An could hear people cursing Deputy Team Leader Shi. Who knew if the man had a brain or not? He wanted the position of Ability Squad leader, yet why did he let his brother ruin his reputation?

Using the basket as cover, Cen An retrieved twenty more bok choy from his backpack and placed them on display.

Turning around, he came face to face with a dark-complexioned person and jumped. “What’s up?”

Tian Yuan stroked his chin, studying him. “You know those ability users well?”

Cen An shook his head. “Not really. Just ran into them once up in the mountains.”

Tian Yuan nodded. “Then it’s fine. Besides that, Shi guy, the rest of the Ability Squad are okay.”

Cen An couldn’t help but inwardly scoff. From the sound of it, you’re the one who knows the Ability Squad well.

But it felt odd that Qu Yue hadn’t recognized him just now.

“Oh, right,” Tian Yuan asked curiously, “Why did you say hello to that Shi Jie guy? I saw his face turn dark. Haha, that was hilarious!”

Cen An smiled. “Probably because I’m polite.”

Orphans weren’t taught manners, yet they were branded with countless labels. Show even a hint of anger, and people would say, “Just like someone who was born but not raised—utterly ill-mannered.”

Cen An had hated that phrase since childhood, so he taught himself to carry himself with dignity. Over time, it became second nature—even when angry, he couldn’t shake the habit.

But deep down…

He tapped the iron sword at his waist and smiled at the customer buying vegetables.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

As dusk fell, the small market closed, and Cen An headed home. Today, he’d sold over fifty heads of bok choy, twenty of which were bought by Qu Yue, netting him over twenty crystal cores.

He calculated that without Qu Yue’s help, he could sell about thirty heads a day, meaning the entire crop would be gone in about five days.

It wasn’t a bad thing, but he felt a twinge of regret seeing the black soil lying idle. If only he could plant the seeds sooner.

But then he thought, if he grew that many vegetables and couldn’t sell them all, they’d just rot in his hands… So, running a farm in real life was definitely not as simple as it was in a game.

Rubbing his temples, he decided to stop overthinking it. He’d been eating whatever was convenient for several meals now, and tonight he wanted something decent.

Besides the rat skin, his basket contained half a wild pheasant and a piece of bamboo shoot.

He’d traded five bok choy to Tian Yuan for the pheasant.

Tian Yuan had been the last vendor to pack up, and with only one pheasant left, he’d planned to keep it for himself. When he heard Cen An wanted some too, Tian Yuan cleaned it by the riverbank and split it in half for him. The bamboo shoot was a gift, neatly wrapped in leaves along with the chicken giblets.

Cen An expertly lit the fire, hoisted the iron pot, and retrieved several chunks of yellow chicken fat from the bird’s cavity. He gently placed them at the bottom of the pot…

The glistening fat pooled at the bottom. The chicken chunks absolutely had to be stir-fried first—cooking out the moisture until golden brown before adding water.

The new cutting board was being used for the first time today. Tender bamboo shoots were chopped into just the right-sized pieces. Together with wood mushrooms and savoury mushrooms, they filled a large pot and were tossed into the simmering broth.

Tsk, I told you—what doesn’t pair perfectly with chicken?

After simmering for half an hour, the large iron pot had already eagerly released its aroma.

The rich, savory scent had nowhere to go in the small hut, so it relentlessly pursued the owner, making his stomach growl.

Cen An had no choice but to find something to do.

But eating only meat wouldn’t do. Shouldn’t he try the first batch of matured bok choy?

With that thought, Cen An pulled a head of bok choy from his backpack and soaked a handful of silver mushrooms.

A cold salad would pair perfectly with the stewed chicken, but his ingredients were limited. Bok choy tossed with silver mushrooms would work just fine.

He blanched the silver mushroom, tore it into small pieces, and shredded the bok choy into thin strips. Adding a splash of soy sauce and a pinch of salt, he tossed everything together.

Though lacking vinegar and garlic juice, the natural sweetness of the ingredients ensured the dish remained delicious.

By the time the cold salad was ready, the chicken was fully stewed.

Cen An simply carried the entire cast-iron pot to the table and steamed a full bowl of ground fruit paste in the steamer.

The chicken was indeed incredibly tender, every strand of meat saturated with rich sauce. The bamboo shoots were exceptionally sweet, soaking up the meat juices while retaining their natural bamboo aroma—almost more delicious than the meat itself.

Then there was that last bit of brown broth at the bottom of the pot—a fusion of chicken, mushroom, and bamboo shoot aromas. One sip was enough to make your tongue tingle with delight!

No wonder the dog owner had wiped every last drop of sauce off the rice during his last visit. Cen An poured the sauce into the ground fruit paste and stirred it in. It smelled far more fragrant than the mashed potatoes from Kaifeng in his past life.

The cold dishes were refreshing too—the bok choy crisp and tender, the silver mushroom smooth and delicious. After the rich, savory stewed chicken, a bite of crisp bok choy left him utterly satisfied.

Speaking of the dog owner, he hadn’t been around for days. He wondered how the puppy was doing. Last time they met in the woods, he hadn’t seen it either.

After finishing his meal, Cen An washed the pots and bowls clean, then tidied up the ashes from the campfire. The scorched patch on the ground grew darker and deeper.

Perhaps he should gather some stones and lime to build a proper hearth at home. That way, he wouldn’t have to clean up the ashes every day.

With this thought, Cen An climbed into bed and fell asleep.

But before long, he was roused by shouts outside the courtyard.

In the darkness, he instinctively reached for his iron sword, then froze upon hearing the voice. “Qu Yue?”