“Little Master just gave me a job!” Ji Rongxia tilted her head to look at Gu Tangjin.

Gu Tangjin: “I bet the Little Master’s reward is an ice cream maker.”

“I really can’t keep anything from you!” Ji Rongxia said with a laugh. “It’s not just that—he gave me a lot of things. The ice cream maker is just one of them.”

“So what should we do now?” Gu Tangjin asked with a smile.

“We need to replace the window paper over there,” Ji Rongxia said, pointing to the window on the west side.

Gu Tangjin: “Replace the window paper? Just replace the window paper?”

“That’s right, just replacing the window paper!” Ji Rongxia nodded repeatedly. “Let’s get the job done first. Just watch me do it—don’t help. I have to do most of the work myself for it to count.”

Gu Tangjin raised both hands, signaling that he definitely wouldn’t help.

Ji Rongxia quickly found the new window paper and paste. He slowly peeled off the old paper and then pasted the new one in its place.

“All done. Submit the task,” Ji Rongxia said, clapping his hands lightly.

【Submission successful.】

【Scanning…】

【Scan complete.】

【Ding, mission complete.】

【Reward being distributed…】

【Reward has been issued.】

The Cooking God System said, “Host, I’ve placed your rewards in the cabinet. If you need these small kitchen appliances within easy reach, I can adjust their locations—for example, I can disguise the blender as something else and place it on the countertop.”

Ji Rongxia shook her head and said, “It’s fine. Just put them in the cabinet for now.”

He walked over to the wall, reached out to open the cabinet, and saw that it was now filled with many new items.

Without Ji Rongxia having to say a word, Gu Tangjin could tell at a glance just how many rewards the Cooking God System had actually granted.

“The Little Master gave so much—is the system itself okay?” Gu Tangjin asked.

Surely it wouldn’t be penalized for giving out so much.

The Cooking God System replied in all seriousness, “I’m fine. I just issued a quest—of course there’s no problem.”

Hearing this, Ji Rongxia couldn’t help but let a smile escape the corners of his mouth.

Ji Rongxia: “It says it’s fine.”

Cooking God System: “Host, these machines all have instructions and labels—you can just take a look yourself!”

Upon hearing this, Ji Rongxia leaned in to take a closer look. Sure enough, he saw translucent labels and usage instructions on them that resembled the text on the light screen.

“Tangjin, can you see this?” Ji Rongxia asked, picking up the grinder.

It looked heavy and bulky, but felt surprisingly light when he picked it up.

Gu Tangjin took a step closer and bent down to look at the machine in Ji Rongxia’s hand: “I can see it. It’s a grinder. It says here you can use blades to spin and chop food, or use a heavy object to crush it in a pressing mode.”

Ji Rongxia said excitedly, “I wonder if this can crush ice. Should we give it a try? Wait a minute, Master Chef—is this machine very noisy? If it breaks, will you fix it for me?”

Cooking God System: “??!!!”

The host is doubting its capabilities.

Cooking God System: “Host, this grinder can crush not just ice, but even metal. The machine is silent, so you don’t need to worry about noise. These small appliances run on solar power, so you don’t need to worry about the machine running out of power at night—our machines come fully charged from the start. Additionally, the grinder can adjust its internal temperature based on the food’s temperature to ensure it stays consistent during grinding. Finally, all machines produced by the Cooking God System come with a lifetime warranty!”

“These little gadgets all have plenty of energy, so why did you run out of energy?” Ji Rongxia asked, puzzled.

The Cooking God System explained carefully, “First of all, the amount of energy I require is on a completely different level from what these machines need. Second, these machines are stored in my warehouse, and I had to protect the warehouse from spacetime turbulence, which is why I lost my energy. Finally, even when I have enough energy to sustain my basic existence, I cannot draw energy from these machines for my own use—that would be against the rules.”

Today’s host really had a million questions, but the Cooking God System was being exceptionally patient with its explanations.

Ji Rongxia was relieved: “It can be broken, it’s under warranty, and it won’t make any noise. Come on, let’s give it a try.”

Gu Tangjin went to fetch a large bowl of cold water.

Ji Rongxia poured the water into the refrigerator’s ice tray; with one press of the button, ice came out.

He placed the ice cubes into the grinder, tapped the screen to select the “crush with heavy object” mode, and saw an option to adjust the grind size. Ji Rongxia picked a higher number at random, and in less than a few seconds, the machine signaled it was done.

“That fast?” Ji Rongxia opened the grinder, and sure enough, it was already filled with fine ice slush.

“This is much finer than what I usually grind,” Ji Rongxia said after taking a look, then handed it to Gu Tangjin to see.

Gu Tangjin nodded. “It really is very fine.”

Ji Rongxia poured out the slush, then took out the blender.

“I want to see if I can churn butter from milk with this. Look, isn’t shaking a bamboo tube pretty much the same as using this? It should work,” Ji Rongxia said, holding up the churn.

Gu Tangjin: “You can give it a try.”

No sooner said than done, Ji Rongxia had obtained some milk while learning how to cut beef.

Although all these items were stored in the Cooking God System, Ji Rongxia always felt that items obtained earlier were more likely to spoil over time.

So this time, Ji Rongxia told the Cooking God System, “Little Master, please retrieve the milk I was rewarded with when I was learning to slice beef.”

Cooking God System: “……”

Is this any different from the milk reward for this task?

It was puzzled but still retrieved that batch of milk for Ji Rongxia.

Gu Tangjin tended the fire while Ji Rongxia poured the milk into a clay pot and simmered it slowly over low heat—it didn’t need to boil; just a few small bubbles would do.

+He poured the milk into a large bowl and whipped it with a mixer.

First, a milky-white layer of cream formed, and soon the ghee separated.

A golden-yellow mass of ghee floated on top of the milk.

He scooped out the ghee, and it stirred into a smooth consistency with ease.

“Wow, that was fast! How long did you stir it by hand today, Tangjin?” Ji Rongxia asked as he prepared the butter.

“About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn,” Gu Tangjin replied after a moment’s thought.

“Wow,” Ji Rongxia exclaimed.

He took out a plate, placed the shaved ice on it first, then drizzled the smooth ghee over it, and finally topped it with strawberry jam.

While making the pastry, he also used the ice cream maker to whip up a serving of strawberry soft-serve for Gu Tangjin.

“Making fruit syrup takes too long, so I had to use jam instead. Just make do with it,” Ji Rongxia said as he placed the two plates in front of Gu Tangjin.

“Although the methods are actually quite similar—both involve freezing milk and other ingredients with ice—this ‘crushed ice mountain’ lets you taste the combination of shaved ice and ghee, while this soft-serve ice cream has a smoother texture. They’re a bit different to eat, but they both taste great.”

Gu Tangjin brought over two small stools—one for herself and one for Ji Rongxia.

Ji Rongxia plopped down, propping his chin in his hand as he waited for Gu Tangjin to try the crushed ice mountain and the ice cream.

Gu Tangjin picked up the spoon Ji Rongxia had prepared and scooped some of the crushed ice mountain first.

The shaved ice, piled into a small mound, was topped with a thick layer of butter. The butter at the very bottom, in contact with the ice, had already solidified, while the butter on top still flowed slowly and smoothly.

The jam sat on top, not directly touching the ice, but due to the drop in temperature, it was in a state between frozen and unfrozen, looking like a crystal-clear gem trembling and wobbling.

When you put it in your mouth, you can taste each layer distinctly, yet they blend together perfectly.

The ice cream has an even more delicate texture; without the sharp chill of the slush, its coolness enters your mouth in subtle, lingering waves.

Gu Tangjin: “They’re all delicious.”

Ji Rongxia said sternly, “Just because they’re all delicious doesn’t mean you can eat too much. It’s already evening—you shouldn’t have too much ice cream. I’ll let you have three bites of each.”

Gu Tangjin hadn’t intended to eat much in the first place, so upon hearing this, he obediently replied, “Okay, I’ll have three bites of each. Put the rest in the fridge so I can eat them later.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, I just remembered—doesn’t the cupboard have a freshness-preserving function? I need to put the food in the fridge.” Ji Rongxia hurriedly stood up to tidy up the cupboard.

Seeing how flustered he was, Gu Tangjin shook his head in exasperation.

Ji Rongxia set aside some of the food to put in the fridge, while the rest was temporarily stored by the Cooking God System.

He wouldn’t be able to finish it all if he left it out anyway, and at least it wouldn’t go bad if the Cooking God System held onto it, right?

After finishing that, Ji Rongxia picked up the plate of crushed ice mountain and ice cream and put it in the fridge.

“I saw everything—you’ve already had three bites! I’m putting these away.” Ji Rongxia closed the fridge door without the slightest mercy.

Gu Tangjin wasn’t a glutton. Although he felt a slight sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction in his mouth at that moment, he managed to suppress the feeling with a little effort. He got up and found some green salt to brush his teeth.

“Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s go back to bed.” Gu Tangjin took Ji Rongxia’s hand and led him back to their room.

“We still haven’t looked closely at all those prizes yet, and I haven’t even tasted those nuts, chocolates, or vanilla,” Ji Rongxia said, lying in bed with his mind still buzzing with excitement.

But after a long, tiring day, his body had already relaxed, and his eyelids were growing heavier and heavier.

“We’ll look at them later. Go to sleep,” Gu Tangjin said gently.

To Ji Rongxia, his words sounded like a lullaby, and within seconds, he was fast asleep.

“Good evening, little apprentice. Let’s get started on the starch right away,” Ji Rongxia said as he stretched his arms and legs.

He hadn’t forgotten that he hadn’t had time to wash the starch yesterday.

His last session studying food science had taken far too long.

The Cooking God System flickered and said, “Okay, Host. I thought you’d take the day off to rest and wouldn’t come to the System Space to practice.”

“That won’t do. I’m just one step away from finishing washing the starch—why should I give up today? Besides, it won’t take that long. Oh, right—the wheat starch Tangjin and I washed is already dried. It’s just clumped together in chunks. I completely forgot to grind it with the mill. I’ve been so busy today; my brain’s a bit overloaded.”

Ji Rongxia muttered to himself as he arrived at the restaurant’s kitchen.

He rolled up his sleeves and began washing the wheat starch.

He’d already tried this out with Tangjin back at the shop.

First, knead it into a dough, then slowly wash the dough with water.

You keep washing until the water starts to run clear and the dough turns into a yellow, porous mass.

“Young Master, what’s this big lump of dough called?” Ji Rongxia asked, holding up the lump of dough in his hand.

Cooking God System: “Gluten. The ‘jin’ in ‘jinmai’ (tendons and meridians).”

“Is this the chewy part of the flour?” Ji Rongxia asked cleverly.

Cooking God System: “You can think of it that way, Host.”

“No wonder starch tastes sticky and crumbly—it really sticks to your mouth. It’s especially gross when eaten raw. So that’s because the gluten has been washed out.” Ji Rongxia wasn’t one to memorize food facts by rote, but he loved thinking for himself and weaving these concepts into his own way of thinking.

Cooking God System: “……”

There aren’t many people like the Host who would eat starch raw!

After finishing the wheat starch, Ji Rongxia moved on to making taro starch.

“Host, I forgot to mention—the layout here changes based on what’s happening in restaurants outside. You can now use machines to make starch.” Seeing that Ji Rongxia was about to start hand-grinding taro paste, the Cooking God System quickly interjected.

“Oh? Is that possible?” Ji Rongxia thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll try making one batch by hand and one by machine.”

Only if he could make it by hand would it mean others could do the same, making it safer to use outside.

However, deep down, Ji Rongxia could probably guess that just as wheat starch could be made by hand, this taro starch should also be possible to make by hand.

He cut the taro into small pieces, added water, and pounded it by hand into a pulp.

Then he wrung out the liquid through a cloth and skimmed off the white foam.

Finally, he let the starch settle naturally; the layer at the very bottom was the starch.

If the starch isn’t fine enough, filter it a few more times.

【Ding, Starch Production Quest Complete.】

【Reward has been issued.】

“Just hold onto the reward for now. We still have enough starch out here; if we run out, I’ll let you know.” Ji Rongxia stretched her arms wide.

“I’m not going to talk to you anymore—I’m going to sleep.” Ji Rongxia waved her hand. “Little Chef, goodbye.”

Cooking God System: “See you tomorrow.”

“Bro, why aren’t you sleeping in the middle of the night? What are you rummaging through all those cabinets for?” Diao Qiuyun gave her face a quick wash. She’d eaten too much today and was having trouble sleeping, so she’d originally planned to take a short walk in the courtyard.

As she passed her brother’s room, she noticed the light was still on. She knocked on the door; Diao Kaipeng answered, so she pushed the door open and walked in.

Diao Kaipeng said casually, “I slept too much during the day, so I’m having trouble falling asleep at night. I’m just looking through my old financial records.”

“Oh, well, I didn’t dare touch any of your stuff—I just dusted a bit and aired out the quilts. Don’t blame me if you can’t find anything,” Diao Qiuyun said, but her movements were completely relaxed as she plopped down on her older brother’s bed, showing not the slightest fear of Diao Kaipeng.

Diao Kaipeng nodded. “I know. Neither Mom and Dad nor you would dare touch my things.”

“It’s just that I’ve been away for so long; there are some things even I can’t find myself.”

Diao Qiuyun said, “It’s not like you need them right away, so take your time looking.”

Diao Kaipeng thought to himself: But I do need it right away.

Diao Kaipeng had promised Tangjin not to tell anyone else, so he kept this thought to himself.

“Hey, whose family is Tangjin’s Fulang from? I’ve never seen him before.” Seeing that his younger sister had sat down with no intention of leaving, Diao Kaipeng casually brought up a topic of conversation.

Diao Qiuyun replied nonchalantly, “Xia-ger is from the Ji family—the carpenters. The Jis live in the south of the city. I didn’t even know him when he married into the family. How could you possibly know him, since you’re never home?”

“Brother, you don’t know that when Xia-ger came to marry into the family, a lot of people were gossiping. They said a deaf ger had married a lame man, and they were just waiting to laugh at them—to see them ruin the household and end up so poor they couldn’t even afford a meal.”

By this point, Diao Qiuyun’s tone had turned rather sharp. She might be young, but she wasn’t stupid.

Just hearing those kinds of comments made her sick to her stomach—let alone how Xia-ger and Tangjin must have felt hearing them.

“Deaf? What’s that all about?” Diao Kaipeng hadn’t realized there was such a thing and quickly turned to look at Diao Qiuyun.

Diao Qiuyun froze for a moment, then realized her brother didn’t know about this.

She explained, “I just heard from others that Xia-ger’s hearing isn’t quite right—he has a bit of tinnitus, as an older person might. He picks up some background noise and has trouble making out what people are saying. The family the Ji family had originally arranged for him to marry even called off the engagement because of his hearing loss. But look—when we talk to him, he responds so quickly. I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone’s making it out to be.”

“A while back, Liang Laoniang even had her two grandsons and a few naughty little brats go up to Brother Gu to imitate the way he walks.”

Diao Kaipeng furrowed his brow deeply: “Imitating Brother Gu’s walk? Right in front of him?”

“That’s right. But Xia-ger and Brother Gu weren’t going to take that lying down—they gave them a good thrashing.” At this, Diao Qiuyun beamed with delight.

“Hmph, even a cornered rabbit will bite. Liang Laoniang and her lot thought Xia-ger and Brother Gu wouldn’t dare lay a hand on them. What a joke! With just a little effort, they beat them so badly they were running for their lives—and Liang Dafeng actually wet himself.”

Diao Kaipeng: “……”

Diao Kaipeng: “You’re just a kid—stop going on about such filthy things all the time.”

“We’re family—surely I can talk about it.” Diao Qiuyun tilted her head, ignoring her brother’s remark.

“Then what? Is that the end of the story?” Diao Kaipeng was on the edge of his seat, urging Diao Qiuyun to continue.

“It was over—what else could it be? They started the trouble. Didn’t you know that back then, Xia-ger was handing out food to everyone around? As long as someone was willing to curse the Liang family, he’d give them food. He even dropped the price of Pan-fried buns from three wen to two wen each. The scene was something else—a whole crowd surrounding the Liang family, cursing them!”

Diao Qiuyun: “When Old Man Liang tried to act all high and mighty, Brother Gu beat up his son!”

“Oh my god, so Tangjin actually knows how to fight?” Diao Kaipeng was so engrossed in the story that he even forgot to look for the ledger.

While he was shocked, he also felt so sorry for Xiucai—what a pitiful state he’d been driven into! A scholar like him had actually started hitting people!!!

Seeing her older brother listening so intently, Diao Qiuyun, the one telling the story, grew more and more animated: “And that’s not the only thing. Do you know about the You family, Ms. You? They’re relatives of Pei Laofulang’s family. Have you heard of them, Brother?”

Diao Kaipeng furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, but he simply couldn’t recall: “I’m not really sure—I don’t remember anyone by that name. What did she do?”

“She’s been hinting, both openly and subtly, that Xia-ger has ties to the new county magistrate. You know, that kind of relationship. You get it, right?” Diao Qiuyun paused briefly as she said this.

After all, she was still an unmarried young lady, and even talking about such things made her feel as if she were sullying her own mouth.

Diao Kaipeng: “?!”

Diao Kaipeng: “The county magistrate? What’s that all about?”

How did this suddenly get tied to the county magistrate?!

Had he missed something?

Diao Qiuyun quickly explained, “Xia-ger is a great cook, and the county magistrate is quite the foodie. Lately, the magistrate has been stopping by Xia-ger’s food stall often to buy snacks. It seems Xia-ger noticed someone following the magistrate, so he mentioned it to him—and that’s how the magistrate’s identity was exposed. I was right behind the magistrate at the time and heard it perfectly clear—someone really was following him! I guess there must be some officials in the county who don’t get along with the magistrate; otherwise, who would dare send someone to tail him?”

Diao Kaipeng’s eyes widened in shock.

“Is that so?”

Diao Qiuyun: “That’s right. Then that Ms. You said, ‘What could the magistrate possibly see in this little food stall?’ She was implying that the magistrate had his eye on Xia-ger. Some people even laughed at the time—brother, you have no idea how furious that made me. Brother Gu happened to be out in the fields that day; he wasn’t even there.”

At that moment, Diao Kaipeng didn’t even care that Diao Qiuyun was a young woman talking about such things; he quickly pressed her for more details: “Then what happened? We can’t hit anyone this time—otherwise, it’ll look like we’re guilty.”

“Xia-ger didn’t hit anyone. He gave the food to me, Brother Guan, Brother Liu, and the diners who hadn’t laughed. Then he said that from now on, anyone who goes to Pei Laofulang’s place to eat shouldn’t come to their shop anymore. Pei Laofulang thought Xia-ger didn’t have the authority to make that call and tried to smooth things over, but then Aunt Yao and the others stepped in and said the shop would belong to Xia-ger from now on; they’d drawn up a deed—he has the authority to make decisions.”

“Didn’t you see the notice posted at the entrance of the restaurant?”

“Oh, you were in such a hurry today that you probably didn’t notice.”

“There are two notices posted on the restaurant door. One says they won’t be setting up the breakfast stall anymore, and the other shows a diagram of Pei Laofulang and Old Master You’s stalls, with a cross through them. From now on, anyone who goes to the You family’s place shouldn’t eat at the restaurant.”

Diao Kaipeng was completely baffled by what he heard.

Just how long had he been gone? How could he have missed so much?

“You wouldn’t believe it—when that drawing was posted, the county magistrate happened to be at the restaurant eating!”

Diao Kaipeng: “???!!!”

“Wait, wait a minute! Are you saying the county magistrate knows about this too?” Diao Kaipeng’s voice cracked slightly.

“You bet. The county magistrate got really angry right then and there. He bought a whole bunch of fresh shrimp patties on the spot and gave them away for free to everyone, so they could sample Xia-ger’s cooking and see that he really was here for his culinary skills. By the time we heard the news, it was already too late—we didn’t get any patties to eat.”

Just thinking about it made Diao Qiuyun feel incredibly regretful.

“One shrimp meat patty costs forty wen.”

Diao Kaipeng’s eyes widened in surprise: “Wait a minute—forty wen for one patty?!”

“That’s right. Bro, didn’t you take a close look at the menu when you went there today? We’ve all been saying his food is overpriced, but it seems you didn’t listen to a single word.”

Diao Qiuyun counted on her fingers as she said, “I can recite the prices at Gu’s Restaurant by heart: one fresh shrimp meat patty is forty wen, a plate of “Koushiu Chicken” is one hundred sixty wen, a plate of “Fish-Flavored Shredded Pork” is one hundred forty wen, half a jin of braised pork is one hundred twenty wen, half a jin of braised vegetarian dishes is forty wen, a plate of scrambled eggs is sixty-four wen, a bowl of rice porridge is thirty-two wen, a plate of sweet and sour fish is one hundred fifty wen, and a plate of “Pot-Battered Pork” is one hundred forty wen.”

“Oh, my god.” Diao Kaipeng wasn’t unfamiliar with more expensive dishes, but hearing that the prices at Gu’s Restaurant—where he used to eat regularly—had suddenly skyrocketed like this left him utterly speechless.

“That’s right. It wasn’t always this expensive. I heard there were black spots smudged on the menu boards. I took a close look when I went to the restaurant today, and sure enough, there were black spots. I figure Brother Gu and Xia-ger never intended to charge this much in the first place. But after Ms. You got involved, it made Xia-ger so angry that he raised the prices—proving that their food isn’t something just anyone can eat.”

As she spoke, Diao Qiuyun couldn’t help but start reminiscing about the dishes she’d eaten that day.

“Still, Xia-ger’s cooking is truly excellent—it’s worth the price.”

Diao Kaipeng thought of the dishes they’d eaten today—which were countless times better than anything served at a grand restaurant—and nodded in agreement.

It was just a shame his parents hadn’t gotten to try them; he was already thinking of buying some of the dishes tomorrow to bring home for them.

“Brother, let me tell you something. Brother Guan told me this in secret—he said not to spread it around—but our county magistrate really looks out for Brother Gu. I don’t know what kind of private relationship they have, but they definitely get along really well.”

Diao Kaipeng: “?!”

Sigh, and here he was feeling sorry for Mr. Gu, the Xiucai.

Just look at the life Xiucai leads.

He’s got a Fulang by his side, plenty of good food, no shortage of money, and the county magistrate holds him in high regard.

He felt like he was the one who deserved sympathy!