Gu Tangjin fed the two chubby puppies, then turned to see Ji Rongxia intently watering the taro. Suddenly, something occurred to him. He closed the back door first, then called out, “Xia-ger?”

Ji Rongxia was watering the taro when he heard Gu Tangjin call him. He instinctively looked over at Gu Tangjin: “What’s up?” 

“What are we having for breakfast this morning?” Gu Tangjin asked.

Ji Rongxia smiled and said, “Koushui chicken. Basically, it’s chicken topped with a sauce mixed with chili oil. It’s savory, fragrant, and spicy—it makes your mouth water.”

Thinking of how delicious the Koushui chicken was, Ji Rongxia couldn’t help but take a deep breath. It really is delicious!

Sure enough, Xia-ger had only steamed some rice today and showed no intention of preparing breakfast; he was indeed planning to serve the dish they’d made yesterday at the young chef’s place.

“Then why don’t we tell Mom and Dad today that the plants in those pots are chili peppers? The Koushui chicken uses chili peppers, not Chinese bayberries.” Gu Tangjin walked over to him and whispered.

Ji Rongxia blinked, letting out a puzzled “Ah.”

Gu Tangjin took the watering can from Ji Rongxia’s hands to prevent him from overwatering the taro.

“We’re going to start seedlings and keep growing chili peppers and taro. We can’t keep this from Mom and Dad forever. What I mean is, I’ll tell them I want to learn how to farm and grow vegetables. As for the chili peppers, we’ll say we bought them from a street vendor at the pier. We originally bought them because they looked pretty and wanted to display them, but then we found out they were edible and ate them. It wasn’t until after we ate them that we realized how spicy and fragrant they were.”

“Do you remember when we first saw the chili? You said it was pretty. We’ll just say we bought it because it looked festive. Since it was a waste of money, we didn’t dare tell Mom and Dad at first. It wasn’t until we found out it was edible and could actually be grown that we told them.”

Ji Rongxia nodded repeatedly, then sighed. “Once or twice is one thing, but constantly using the excuse of ‘merchants without a trace’—don’t you think that might give you away?”

In truth, he had never renovated the restaurant or used many of the dishes taught by the system, so he was a bit worried.

Gu Tangjin said, “That’s exactly why I told my parents I’d focus on farming from now on. When the time comes, we’ll just harvest some seeds and vegetables ourselves, and mix the ingredients you get in with them.”

“But you still have to study for the imperial exams, don’t you?” Ji Rongxia said worriedly. “Studying is what really matters.”

Gu Tangjin replied, “When I said I’d learn farming, I didn’t mean I’d actually be tilling the fields every day. We’ll still hire people to do the tilling, and we can have others help look after things on a daily basis. It’s just a pretext—that way, if anyone really asks where your ingredients come from, we’ll have a solid explanation. Besides, you’re the one who told me to learn rice farming; I won’t neglect my studies or writing either.“We agreed on this before—I’ll grow ingredients for you. This time, I’m just giving Mom and Dad a heads-up so things will go more smoothly later.”

“You’re right. Just yesterday I told you to learn how to farm, and today you’re already dragging your feet. You’re right—we should tell Mom and Dad. That way, if it ever comes up, we’ll have a proper explanation.” Ji Rongxia wasn’t one to dither. “Then, when we go to the provincial capital this time, let’s buy back plenty of rare and exotic seeds.”

“Oh, right. I’ll give you a few chili peppers first. You can show them to Mom and Dad later. I’ll get you the ones we’ve sun-dried. The ones from the little master’s place are too fresh—they don’t look like they were brought back a few days ago.” Ji Rongxia said as he went into their room and dug out a few dried chili peppers with the seeds already removed.

The two of them settled on the plan just like that.

“Since we’re having spicy food today, let’s make some fruit punch too. There are still some peaches in the pantry, though they’re not very fresh.” Gu Tangjin took the chili peppers Ji Rongxia had found and suggested.

Ji Rongxia: “Sounds good. Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve had some—I’ve actually been craving it.” They made a small bowl of fruit punch when, suddenly, anxious footsteps echoed from outside.“Old Gu?!”

“Tangjin?”

Tao Xingsheng hurried to the Gu family’s backyard. Seeing the door tightly shut, he hadn’t even knocked when it swung open.

Seeing that it was Gu Tangjin who had opened the door, he stepped inside first, then closed the back door behind him. He hurried over, took Gu Tangjin by the arm, and led him to the center of the courtyard, where he lowered his voice and said, “Gu Tangjin, Uncle Tao needs to tell you something. Don’t worry—this is actually good news.”

Gu Tangjin replied, “What is it, Uncle Tao? Don’t rush—sit down and tell me slowly.” 

“I won’t sit down.”

“Well then, have you seen a chubby man these past couple of days—someone who looks like a merchant—come by to buy food? He had a tall, burly attendant with him, a square face, and a small patch missing from one side of his eyebrow,” Tao Xingsheng hurriedly said.

“There are indeed two such people.” Gu Tangjin didn’t even need to think about it; he knew exactly who Tao Xingsheng was referring to. “Oh, that’s right,” 

Tao Xingsheng said, slapping his thigh. “That’s our new county magistrate and his attendant.”

Ji Rongxia exclaimed in surprise, “What? We’ve got a new magistrate?”

For ordinary folk, unless the magistrate was utterly despicable, few paid much attention to when he was replaced. After all, no matter who took the post, life went on as usual—the county office remained just as hard to get into, and getting things done was still just as difficult.

Ji Rongxia was clearly one of those people.

Although Gu Tangjin usually paid attention to such matters, he’d been too busy lately to notice.

“They’re just here to buy food. Our meals aren’t half bad, so it should be fine,” Gu Tangjin said, looking at Ji Rongxia reassuringly. Ji Rongxia wasn’t afraid either; he nodded, recalling that the plump middle-aged man he’d seen the other day had seemed quite friendly.

Tao Xingsheng spoke quickly: “If it were just this, I wouldn’t have rushed over to tell you so soon. I could have waited a few days to find a moment to mention it. It seems our new county magistrate intends to stay here for the long haul—not the type who leaves after three years. Since he’s here to stay, he’ll need to buy a house and settle down, right? When I went to see him today, he even asked me about good properties in the eastern part of town, especially around your restaurant.”

This time, Gu Tangjin was taken aback: “What?”

Buying a house specifically to be near a restaurant? That was far beyond Gu Tangjin’s expectations.

“That magistrate is a real foodie. I just had to come over right away to let you know. He’ll definitely be coming by often from now on, so keep that in mind and don’t get into any trouble.” After saying this, Tao Xingsheng added reassuringly, “From what I can tell, our new magistrate just loves to eat—there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Having a regular customer at the restaurant is certainly a good thing,” Gu Tangjin said. “Thank you for making the trip over, Uncle Tao.” 

Seeing that the two of them were quite composed, Tao Xingsheng said with relief, “I’ll head back now; I can’t stay away from the county office for too long.” After Tao Xingsheng left,

Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia exchanged a glance.

“This new magistrate of ours is quite an interesting character,” Ji Rongxia remarked. He hadn’t even realized his cooking was so delicious that it could persuade a magistrate to move nearby.

But he just sounds so unreliable.

“Hmm, do you think he’ll make a good magistrate?” Ji Rongxia was actually a bit worried—the man was far too fond of food. Ji Rongxia considered himself quite the foodie, but he wouldn’t go to such lengths.

“He should be fine. He hasn’t caused any commotion since taking office. Either he’s so incompetent he can’t even stir up a ripple, or he’s a smart man who doesn’t plan to consolidate power through grand spectacles. He’s taking it slow, without burdening the people or wasting resources—which is actually the surest way to succeed. Judging by Uncle Tao’s attitude, I’d say it’s the latter.”

Gu Tangjin reassured Ji Rongxia.

“I see,” Ji Rongxia exhaled in relief. “That’s good.”

“This is actually a good thing for us,” Gu Tangjin said, gently patting Ji Rongxia’s shoulder. “He loves spicy food. In the future, we can grow chili peppers and use them in our cooking; we’ll even have the county magistrate as a witness.”

Ji Rongxia thought about it and agreed; having a county magistrate as a regular customer wasn’t a bad thing.

Just as they were saying this, Gu Chuncai went downstairs first, with Yao Tianlan close behind. Gu Chuncai asked, “I think I just heard your Uncle Tao’s voice. Is he here?”

“Father, you really have sharp ears—you could hear that? It really is Uncle Tao.” Gu Tangjin had only spoken halfway through his sentence; he waited until both his parents had come downstairs before continuing, “Uncle Tao said that the important client we talked about yesterday was the new county magistrate and his entourage. The magistrate is plump and round—Mother, you must have seen him yesterday.”

Yao Tianlan stared blankly for a moment before it dawned on her: “That man was the county magistrate? Oh my goodness, I never would’ve guessed. He doesn’t look like someone who works for the government.” 

Ji Rongxia: “Uncle Tao came by to let us know. The magistrate seems like a decent fellow, but we’ll still need to be a bit more careful from now on.”

“The county magistrate came to our shop to buy food—we should be happy about that.” Gu Chuncai, however, remained quite unperturbed. Having witnessed so many matters of life and death, he didn’t dwell on such things; he was simply pleased that Xia-ger’s culinary skills had been recognized.

“A magistrate must have tasted plenty of fine food, yet he still prefers Xia-ger’s cooking—shouldn’t we be happy about that?”

“We should be happy, but he’s taken quite a liking to it. The magistrate wants to buy a house and establish a property in the eastern part of town, near our restaurant. I’m afraid he’ll be coming by often from now on,” Ji Rongxia added quietly.

Gu Chuncai：“……”

Gu Chuncai was momentarily speechless. This is a problem!

Is this magistrate really a reliable one?!

“Let’s eat first. Nothing’s set in stone yet. Even if he really does move here, we haven’t done anything wrong, so there’s no need to worry,” Gu Tangjin interjected.

Gu Chuncai nodded. “Alright, let’s eat first.”

Ji Rongxia quickly brought out the steamed rice and a serving of mouth-watering chicken.

“We have a new dish today. Father, Mother, Tangjin, you must try it.”

Yao Tianlan wasn’t surprised to see another new dish today; instead, he smiled and asked, “What is this dish today?”

“It’s boiled chicken drizzled with oil mixed with chili flakes and sesame seeds,” Ji Rongxia said, glancing at Gu Tangjin. Gu Tangjin went to the kitchen to fetch some chopsticks, handed them to his parents, and then sat down.

“Delicious.” Yao Tianlan picked up a bite of the Koushui chicken. It was savory, fragrant, and spicy—the flavor was truly excellent, especially since it was a cold dish, making it refreshing to eat on a summer day.

Gu Chuncai took a couple of bites: “This dish is surprisingly good. Are you planning to add it to the menu, Xia-ger?” The dish was arranged quite beautifully; it didn’t look like something thrown together on a whim.

“That won’t do. We’re running low on chili peppers, and we need to save some for planting,” Ji Rongxia said, feigning nonchalance.

Gu Tangjin chimed in from the side: “Father, Mother, look at those pots by the west wall—they’re growing chili peppers. They’re perfect for adding heat to dishes.”

“Chili peppers? No wonder. The spice in this oil doesn’t quite taste like Chinese bayberry—I thought I might have tasted it wrong.”

After hearing Xia-ger and Tangjin’s explanation, Gu Chuncai picked up another piece of mouth-watering chicken. The more he ate, the more certain he became that it definitely wasn’t Chinese bayberry.

Yao Tianlan also took another bite of the mouth-watering chicken and savored it carefully: “If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem to be.”

Gu Tangjin spoke in a calm, measured tone: “The other day, we bought a potted plant from a merchant at the dock. It’s bright red and looks a bit like a small crescent moon. We thought it looked festive and pretty, and since the chili plant was nearly dead, it wasn’t very expensive, so we bought it. The merchant said it’s a plant that people from foreign lands grow for ornamental purposes.”

As he spoke, he took out a few chili peppers: “These are the ones we saved. They’re bright red and truly beautiful. After we bought them, Xia-ger and I thought that since cornelian cherries are also red, we’d try them on some chickens. Sure enough, they weren’t poisonous. When stir-fried, they have a spicy flavor without any bitterness—just a faint, sweet aftertaste. So the two of us collected the seeds, thinking we’d try planting them—and to our surprise, they actually grew.”

“Why did you two go around eating random things?” Yao Tianlan’s first reaction was relief that the two were unharmed. “Mom and Dad, Cousin Jing said we fed them to the chickens first, and the chickens were fine,” Ji Rongxia said with a smile.

Yao Tianlan: “That doesn’t mean you should just eat anything. You were lucky this time, but don’t ever do that again.” Gu Chuncai, however, had already picked up the dried chili peppers and was examining them closely.

Not content with just looking, Gu Chuncai took a big bite right out of one. 

Ji Rongxia: “Ouch!”

Gu Tangjin: “Father!”

Both of them let out a startled cry almost simultaneously.

Gu Chuncai：“！！！”

A flush of red spread across Gu Chuncai’s gaunt face. He sucked in a sharp breath.

“Ouch, this is really spicy! Ouch, how dare you—ouch—put this in the food? You—ouch—if you hadn’t said anything, I would’ve thought it was poison!” 

Gu Chuncai frowned, “This stuff isn’t just spicy; after eating it, why does my mouth hurt so much?”

Ji Rongxia agreed, “That’s exactly right.” He’d thought the same thing when he’d eaten the chili peppers straight.

“Dad, have some cold water first.” Gu Tangjin was at a loss for words, so he poured his father a cup of fruit drink and urged him to take a sip.

Gu Chuncai quickly gulped down a large bamboo cup of fruit drink: “You… your mother was right. You shouldn’t just eat anything.” 

Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin stifled their laughter.

It was rare to see Father looking so disheveled.

“Hmm, but this incident has actually reminded me—the ingredients we have here are limited. If we want to prepare something fresh, we’ll need to find some fresh vegetables. Didn’t we just buy some land? I was thinking of learning how to farm from now on, and helping the restaurant grow vegetables and rice in my spare time.” Gu Tangjin seized the moment to say.

“Learn to farm? Do you plan to cultivate the land you bought yourselves?” Yao Tianlan frowned; farming was an incredibly arduous task.

Gu Tangjin explained, “We’ll still need to hire help when necessary. I’m just saying I want to learn how to farm. We’re definitely going to buy more land in the future. If the two of us know absolutely nothing about farming, wouldn’t we be easy to take advantage of? Besides, we’ve only bought two plots so far. It doesn’t matter if we get a little tired doing it ourselves.”

“You’ve been buying all sorts of strange foods lately—like those taro roots—and it’s all because of those chili peppers, isn’t it? No wonder you’re always making dishes we’ve never seen before. But they’re all pretty tasty.”

Gu Chuncai paused for a moment, then

thought for a second before saying, “If that’s what you want to do, then go ahead. I’ve told your mother before—you don’t need to consult us about these things. Just let us know if there’s work to be done, and we’ll help you out. From now on, you’re in charge.”

Although taro came first and chili peppers later—Gu Chuncai had the order wrong—saying that the chili peppers had given them the confidence to start looking for exotic foods made for a good excuse.

Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin exchanged a glance and silently agreed.

“But Mom and Dad aren’t just partners—how could we not tell you?” Ji Rongxia felt a pang of warmth seeing how much his parents trusted them.

Gu Chuncai waved his hand and said, “Everything else is fine, but when it comes to food, you must be careful. Don’t just eat anything.”

And boy, was that chili pepper intense. He’d only taken a single bite, and his mouth felt like it had been punched.

“Let’s eat, let’s eat. Once we have this chili at home, our restaurant business is bound to get even better. I just wonder how much of it will grow. If the yield is low, we won’t be able to use it freely.” Yao Tianlan said as he picked up another piece of Koushui chicken.

“This chicken is truly delicious!”

“Let’s start by growing it ourselves. If we don’t have enough, we can always distribute the seeds later and get everyone in the county to grow them. After all, chili peppers don’t take up much space. Isn’t the county magistrate coming over for a meal? We’ll tell him then—since he loves it, he should be happy to do this.” Gu Tangjin said in a tone that sounded almost fanciful.

Gu Chuncai burst out laughing: “You really think ahead, but do you really think the county magistrate would listen to us?” These were all pipe dreams; Gu Chuncai didn’t take a word of it seriously.

Yao Tianlan also couldn’t help but chuckle as she listened, thinking to himself that Xia-ger and Tangjin really were daydreamers.

The four of them quickly polished off the entire plate of marinated chicken, not even leaving the cucumber at the bottom. Soaked in the marinade, the cucumber actually tasted just as good as the chicken, with a refreshing, crisp texture.

After the meal, since Tongdong Village was close to the county seat, Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin didn’t borrow the Guan family’s oxcart this time; they walked straight to the Ji family’s house. Ji Ronghu had already tidied up and was waiting for them.

“Father, Brother, I’d like a few more wooden basins. Please remember to make them for me,” Ji Rongxia said bluntly.

Carpenter Ji readily agreed, “That works out perfectly. I had plenty of good wood left over from making a cabinet for someone the last time. I’ll have them ready in a few days and send them over to you.” 

As the three walked together, Ji Rongxia said deliberately, “Tangjin and I have read quite a few agricultural books, and we’re thinking of growing our own rice.”

“We’ve discussed it with the Gu family’s parents, and we need to run it by the Ji family as well.”

“Is that even possible?” Ji Ronghu scratched his head, glancing from his son Xia-ger to his son-in-law. Neither of them looked like they had what it takes to farm. Gu Tangjin chimed in, “Sure, if others can do it, so can we. There’s no reason we can’t.”

Ji Ronghu was afraid they’d ruin the fields, but he didn’t want to dampen Xia-ger and Tangjin’s enthusiasm, so he forced himself to swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue. They arrived at Tongdong Village around the same time as yesterday.

This time, they went straight to the Xu household. As soon as they arrived, they noticed that the young couple from the Lu family had already arrived.

Lu Xiaoshun looked short and thin, no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with a still-childish face. His expression was somewhat gloomy, but his back was held straight, and his patched clothes were worn neatly.

Sang Erqiao was a bit older, slightly taller, and sturdier than Lu Xiaoshun.

“This is Carpenter Ji. His craftsmanship is quite famous around here—you’ve surely heard of him. Xia-ger is his son, and this is Xiucai Gu.” Village Head Xu pointed to the young couple from the Lu family and said, “These are Lu Xiaoshun and Sang Erqiao. You can just call them Lu Wulang and Qiao’er.”

“Qiao’er and Lu Wulang—I hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Ji Rongxia said with a smile.

“Not at all, we just got here ourselves,” Lu Xiaoshun said, rubbing his hands together. “Village Head Xu has already shown you the plot. It looks just like that. I’m not one to sugarcoat things. My mother is buried over there, and I pop by every now and then to pull some weeds. If you farm that land, I can keep an eye on it and make sure no one steals your crops.”

Sang Erqiao chimed in eagerly, “That’s right, that’s right. If you can’t farm it yourselves, pay us ten wen a day, and during the busy farming season, we can even help you tend the fields.”

During the busy farming season, hiring a day laborer costs far more than ten wen a day—at least fifteen wen, if not more. Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin hadn’t even said a word yet, and they’d already offered so much.

Ji Rongxia thought to himself, It seems they’re truly short on money.

“All right, thirteen taels of silver is acceptable. Let’s go to the county magistrate to have the deed notarized.” Ji Rongxia and GuTangjin exchanged a glance, then Ji Rongxia turned to the two men and said this.

They agreed so readily!

Sang Erqiao and Lu Xiaoshun couldn’t help but burst into wide-grinning laughter.

Just yesterday, they’d been secretly discussing that if thirteen taels wouldn’t work, but twelve would be acceptable. They never expected Xia-ger to agree so readily.

With this money, they could build a house and wouldn’t have to live at the Sang family’s place anymore. Sang Erqiao’s eyes welled up, and she nearly shed a tear.

Village Head Xu felt relieved. He had his own ulterior motives: Lu Wulang was a member of the Lu family, but the Lu family had driven him to the brink of despair. He still had to rely on the Village Head to help arrange the land sale—and he’d managed to pull it off. The people from the surrounding villages were all watching; how could they not wonder about it? Wouldn’t they start to doubt his reliability? With his reputation as village head now solidified, it would be much easier for the Xu family to secure the position in the future.

Ji Ronghu was taken aback by how quickly the negotiations had concluded.

Once they had left the Xu family compound, Gu Tangjin spoke up: “We’ve also purchased a paddy field in Heshui Village. If it’s convenient for you, I wonder if you could drop by from time to time to check on it. If that works out, along with this dry field, we’ll pay you one hundred wen a year. If we’re too busy farming to manage it all and need to hire you as day laborers, we’ll pay fifteen wen a day as per the standard rate—and we’ll throw in a little extra if you do a good job.” Gu Tangjin said.

“Sure! Why not!” Lu Xiaoshun agreed readily. A hundred wen—it was just a short walk to Heshui Village, and popping over to take a look wouldn’t be the least bit tiring.

Sang Erqiao was delighted too. Village Head Xu was right—Xiucai and Xia-ger didn’t seem intent on driving the price down; they were easy to deal with.

“You’re buying the Wang family’s paddy fields, aren’t you?”

Sang Erqiao asked after a moment’s thought. Ji Rongxia nodded. “That’s right.”

Sang Erqiao grinned. “That’s a decent plot. The Xu family owns a few rice paddies over there, too. If it weren’t for the medical expenses, the Wang family wouldn’t have been willing to sell.” 

Xu Lizheng, as the village head, oversaw several surrounding villages. Most of the Xu family’s fields were in Tongdong Village, with a few scattered plots in Heshui Village and Qingyan Village.

Ji Rongxia said, “What a coincidence. Here’s what we’ll do: Let’s go take a look at those paddy fields first. You two memorize the route and where the fields are, then we’ll head to the county seat to get the land deeds. We’ll pay thirteen taels for the land. We’ll sign a contract, and I’ll give you fifty wen upfront. You’ll help look after these two plots. If nothing goes wrong over the next year, I’ll pay you the remaining fifty wen.”

They didn’t discuss this in the Xu family courtyard, precisely because they feared the news might spread. What if someone, coveting those 100 wen, deliberately ruined their fields to make life difficult for Sang Erqiao and Lu Xiaoshun, hoping to have them replaced? In that case, it would be their own fields that suffered.

It’s better to discuss matters like this in private.

“All right, all right, we’ll head over right away. I know the area well—my eldest sister married into Heshui Village!” Sang Erqiao agreed readily.

Both sides were in agreement, and once they returned to the county seat, the matter was settled quickly.

After receiving the silver, Sang Erqiao said earnestly, “When the time comes, we’ll build a house right on the border of the two villages, as close to that plot of land as possible. I’m not sure when Xiucai and Xia-ger plan to plant there, but we’ll go ahead and pull the weeds out of the field first.”

“No, thanks. It looks pretty clean to me—not much weeds.” Seeing how enthusiastic they were, Ji Rongxia actually felt a little embarrassed.

“No way,” Lu Xiaoshun said earnestly. “It rained a few days ago, so quite a bit of grass has sprouted. We didn’t expect the field to sell so quickly—we haven’t even had a chance to tidy it up yet.”

“In about seven or eight days, I suppose—I can’t say for sure,” Gu Tangjin replied vaguely.

“Alright, come back then. We’ll definitely have all the weeds cleared by then,” Sang Erqiao said with a smile. Seven or eight days? He and Xiaoshun could finish that much work in just two hours.

After finishing the work, it wasn’t even noon yet. Ji Ronghu insisted on not returning to the restaurant with Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin, but went straight back to the Ji family residence instead. Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin had no choice but to take the deed back to the restaurant.

“Now that this is settled, let’s head to the provincial capital first thing tomorrow morning,” Gu Tangjin said, carefully tucking away the deed.

Ji Rongxia perked up immediately, skipping along as he took Gu Tangjin’s hand and said, “We’re leaving tomorrow, so today I’ll make some extra braised pork, crumbly pancakes, and taro paste glutinous rice balls for us to take on the road.”

He thought for a moment and asked the system in his mind, “Little Master, can you store these for me? I’m worried they’ll spoil during the trip.”

The Cooking God System replied, “Sure, Host, but since storing external items consumes a lot of energy and space is limited, you can’t bring too much.”

The Cooking God System felt a bit embarrassed. It should have told the Host about the function to store external items sooner, but… well, it consumes energy. So the Cooking God System had never mentioned it; after all, the Host didn’t need it for the time being.

“Thanks, Little Master!” Ji Rongxia didn’t pick up on the system’s embarrassment; he just thought Little Master was amazing—he could even store things from the outside world!

“Little Master can help me carry some—don’t worry about them getting damaged. Your friend loves to eat, doesn’t he? We wouldn’t want all our hard work carrying them over there to go to waste.” Ji Rongxia said excitedly.

Gu Tangjin smiled as he listened to Ji Rongxia chatter away, his own mood lifting along with his.

Ji Rongxia was very busy that day. He had now mastered the art of making braised fish and braised pork, so when preparing these dishes, it wasn’t just Gu Chuncai who was busy—he could take the lead in the kitchen as well. When the restaurant was quiet, Ji Rongxia would bake flatbreads, make taro paste glutinous rice balls, and prepare taro paste cakes.

Gu Tangjin also pitched in, running back and forth to assist.

By the end of the day, he was even more exhausted than he had been the day before when he’d been inspecting the land.

Though his body was tired, his heart was exhilarated; by bedtime, Ji Rongxia was still full of energy. Gu Tangjin pulled Ji Rongxia down to lie on the bed.

It was rare for Gu Tangjin not to be reading today. He urged, “I’m not studying characters today, so you should get some sleep too. Tomorrow, we’ll take a boat from the pier to the provincial capital.”

“Okay, I know,” Ji Rongxia giggled, closing his eyes and saying, “I’m going to sleep.”

Ji Rongxia had thought he’d have trouble falling asleep tonight, but the moment he lay down, exhaustion overwhelmed him.

He fell asleep almost the instant his eyes closed.

“La la la, Little Master, we’re going out to play tomorrow. Are you excited? Oh, and you still have that quest to collect culinary culture, right? If it gets triggered, I can even help you with it.” Ji Rongxia was unusually chatty today.

There was nothing to be done about it—when Ji Rongxia was in a good mood, his words flowed like a fountain, pouring out unstoppably.

The Cooking God System floated over to him and said, “Don’t worry, Host. When I need you to gather ingredients, I won’t hold back.”

Ji Rongxia added, “I’m only doing half an hour of tasks today. Make a note of that—I need to get some sleep early.”

“Sure.” The Cooking God System thought for a moment and said, “Host, actually, if you’re too tired, you can just think in your mind not to enter the space. That way, you won’t be able to enter, and you can rest.”

Ji Rongxia looked puzzled. “Huh? No way. I still have to practice my cooking skills. It’s not like my body is actually in there, so I’m not really tired—I just can’t go to bed early.” 

The Cooking God System: “……”

Fine, never mind.

His host definitely has the potential to be a top-tier player.

Ji Rongxia had already arrived at the kitchen. Rolling up his sleeves, he said, “Let’s get started. I’m ready.” 

Cooking God System: “Alright, Host.”

【Dish #6: Braised Pork Belly with Taro (Non-Spicy Version)】

【Hint: Simplified recipe as follows: Cut the taro into chunks and fry them in oil over low heat.】

【Scald the pork belly to remove impurities, then place it in cold water. Add scallions, ginger, rice wine, a pinch of salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and sugar, and simmer until just cooked through. Remove the pork, pat it dry, score the surface to create pockets, sprinkle with salt, and deep-fry until golden brown with a “tiger skin” texture. Finally, soak the pork in warm water to tenderize it.】

【 Sauce ingredients: Fermented tofu, red fermented bean curd (made from red yeast rice, Shaoxing wine, and fermented rice), soy sauce, oyster sauce, red vinegar, white sugar, pickled plum paste, rice wine, spice powder (made from fennel, cinnamon, star anise, Sichuan pepper, cloves, angelica root, dried ginger, cardamom, black cardamom, galangal, amomum, ginger, and sandalwood, etc.), salt, meat broth, pickled lemon, pitted and chopped red dates, minced shiitake mushrooms, minced garlic, minced ginger.】

【Slice the pork belly, pour in the marinade, layer one piece of taro with one slice of pork belly, arrange in a bowl, pour the remaining marinade over the top, place in a steamer, and steam. Finally, place a plate on top of the bowl, flip the bowl and plate over, and the meat will be inverted onto the plate.】

“Oh, my god. Don’t tell me you gave me such a detailed spice list so I can grind the spices myself!” Ji Rongxia tapped his finger on the long list of spice names, then glanced at the dish after dish of spices on the stove.

The Cooking God System hesitated for a moment before saying resolutely, “Yes, Host.” 

Ji Rongxia: “???!!!”

Ji Rongxia: “I finally understand why you said none of your previous hosts ever managed to get this mission’s completion rate above 95%.”

It wasn’t that the previous hosts who wanted to become culinary gods were lazy—the quest was just too difficult!

Ji Rongxia smiled helplessly: “Should I thank you for not making me prepare the chili oil when you made Koushui chicken yesterday?” In response, the Cooking God System whispered softly: “Host, if you want to make chili oil, there’s actually a related seasoning quest for that.” 

Ji Rongxia quickly waved his hands: “Stop! One thing at a time. I’ll make the spice powder first.”