Chapter 22: Ivy
As Xibel savored the delicious food, surrounded by her teammates, who were also exclaiming in surprise after tasting it.
After a moment of astonishment, Xibel finally remembered to take a look at the attribute panel at the stall.
【Salted Fried Pork Belly】
—During consumption, it will continuously restore health, mana, and stamina.
—Can restore a maximum of 1000 health, 500 mana, and 500 stamina (the total amount restored is affected by the quantity consumed).
【Spicy Fried Pork】
—During consumption, it will continuously restore health, mana, and stamina.
—Can restore a maximum of 1000 health, 500 mana, and 500 stamina (the total amount restored is affected by the quantity consumed).
—Grants cold resistance after consumption, lasting for 1 hour.
【Secret Vegetable Soup】
—During consumption, it will continuously restore mana.
—Can restore a maximum of 2000 mana (the total amount restored is affected by the quantity consumed).
Among the dishes made by Ye Mu, these three had the lowest attributes.
But!
Ordinary fried pork slices on the market can restore a maximum of only 700 health and nothing else. If cooked poorly, the value might be even lower, and dreaming of any cold resistance effect would be unrealistic!
Common vegetable soups usually restore between 200 and 500 mana, with rare ones occasionally reaching 700 or 800, but those are typically a mess of various ingredients, making it more like a mush than a soup, and the taste is hard to describe.
In contrast, Ye Mu’s three dishes not only tasted great, but their attributes were also several times higher than ordinary ones. Selling them for thirty or forty copper coins per serving was not just good value, Xibel felt she was practically doing charity!!!
Unable to resist, Xibel took another big sip of soup and asked her, “Can I pack ten servings? Please!”
Ye Mu was both amused and exasperated. “Why don’t you come to my house tonight for some braised pork?”
“Ah, culinary god! I’ll bow to you!” Xibel pretended to bow, her forehead hitting the table of the stall. Seeing that Ye Mu’s business wasn’t great, she persistently added, “But if you can’t sell this, I’ll take all of it! I want it at the original price! Is that okay?”
“Of course, that’s fine!” Ye Mu readily agreed.
However, that was impossible, even if it had been a possibility before, it became impossible after Xibel’s praises.
She and the onlookers were not far apart, and they could hear all the compliments. So finally, someone stepped forward to check the panel and exclaimed, “No way!”
Then they quickly pulled out some coins, saying, “Give me one of each!”
“What’s going on?”
“Aren’t they just slices of meat and vegetable soup?”
“What’s happening? Are they paid actors?”
More and more people became curious and squeezed forward to see what was written on the panel… and soon joined the queue to make a purchase.
Within ten minutes, Ye Mu’s first batch of 【Salted Fried Pork Belly】, 【Spicy Fried Pork】, and 【Secret Vegetable Soup】 sold out successfully.
She happily slung her backpack on and called out to Jeff, who had been busy all afternoon, “Let’s go to my house and eat the braised pork together!”
When Ivy arrived at Qiana Town in the evening to deliver a housewarming gift to Ye Mu, the small town, which housed only about two to three hundred people, didn’t seem very crowded. However, Ivy felt a peculiar sensation that she couldn’t quite articulate.
Not overthinking it, she messaged Ye Mu to ask where she was. But Ye Mu was busy cooking and couldn’t respond, so she told Jeff, “Ivy’s here, could you get in touch with her?”
Jeff and Ivy had added each other as friends long ago, so he immediately messaged her to ask where she was. They first met up at the entrance of the Nightfall Restaurant and then headed to Ye Mu’s house together.
Ye Mu’s house was lively at the moment, with Xibel’s team and Isaac’s trio present, making it quite a sizable party.
When Jeff and Ivy returned, Ye Mu was chatting with everyone while reducing the sauce for the braised pork. “I’ve been thinking about changing from evening service to all-day service. Do you think that’s feasible? My idea is to start at 7 AM, serve breakfast from 7 to 10, take a one-hour break from 10 to 11, and then start serving lunch from 11.”
Leah sat at the dining table, originally wanting to patiently wait for the braised pork without letting any other food take up her appetite. However, she couldn’t resist munching on the leftover fried pork, her mouth full as she said, “I think that sounds good! If there’s something tasty all day, everyone will be happy, but won’t it be too tiring?”
“I think it’ll be fine,” Ye Mu pondered.
Running a shop in the game world is much easier than in the real world. On one hand, many tasks are genuinely “automated,” and when opening a restaurant, there’s no need to prepare any bowls or plates. On the other hand, issues like fatigue can be completely resolved by consuming potions or food, so exhaustion isn’t a problem here at all.
As for what to do if things get too busy…
Ye Mu chuckled and sighed, “I should hire a lot of employees and have two shifts. The town is still small, so I probably won’t be able to hire that many people. We can take it slow for now.”
“It will develop quickly,” Isaac said confidently, as if giving Ye Mu assurance and also boosting his own confidence. “This tax rate will definitely attract many people to come here, everything will be fine.”
Ivy was about to greet Ye Mu when she paused at what she heard and couldn’t help but ask, “What tax rate?”
The other guests in the room turned around, apart from Chase and Jenna, everyone recognized Ivy and greeted her.
Ivy felt a bit shy due to their enthusiasm, responding bashfully. She then handed her gift to Ye Mu: “This is a housewarming gift that my mom and I prepared for you. It’s not expensive… but I picked it out carefully!”
Ye Mu took a look and saw it was a stamina necklace that increased the stamina limit by 500. While this value wasn’t particularly high, it was essential for someone like her who ran a shop.
It was even more important if she planned to operate all day!
“Thank you, I really like it!” she said gratefully, directly putting the necklace around her neck. This action made Ivy breathe a sigh of relief and smile, saying, “That’s great!”
During their conversation, the others remained silent, so no one explained Ivy’s earlier question.
Now that the topic had come to a pause, Isaac quickly took on the role of a salesman, beaming as he began his “official work”: “Our town uses a tiered tax rate system, and income below 5,000 copper coins per month is tax-exempt. Miss, if you’re planning to move recently, feel free to consult with us!”
—What is a tiered tax rate?
Ivy understood every word but didn’t grasp the meaning.
—Tax exemption for income below 5,000 copper coins per month???
Is he joking with her???
And why was Isaac the one introducing this?!
She suddenly felt nervous, looking at Isaac, who wasn’t a stranger to her but felt complicated now, and cautiously asked, “Excuse me… Mr. Isaac, are you the lord here?”
“Oh, no,” Isaac said casually, glancing at Ye Mu. “I’m just handling some matters here on behalf of the lord.”
Ivy let out a sigh of relief and asked, “So… was what you said true?”
“Hmm… if you don’t believe me,” Isaac pointed outside, “The town hall is open all day, you can go see for yourself.”
“Alright then…” Ivy nodded silently.
This matter wasn’t urgent in theory. As Isaac said, the town hall is open all day, and the panels are in self-service mode, so Ivy could wait until after the meal to take a look.
However, the more she thought about it, the more anxious she became.
Unlike Jeff’s large family, where members looked out for one another, Ivy only had her mother at home, and her mother’s health wasn’t good. She had long faced all the harsh realities of life.
So, Ivy was fully aware of how difficult things were at home. Their lives seemed calm on the surface, but they were always living in unease, never knowing when an unexpected event might shatter their fragile peace.
If there truly was a place with low taxes, their lives could become much easier. Even if that low tax rate were only temporary, it could give them a breather. Although moving would inevitably incur some losses, perhaps it would be worth it?
These thoughts made Ivy restless, and she even lost her appetite for the rare delicacies on the table.
After forcing herself to take a few bites, she lost her patience and walked over to Ye Mu, apologetically whispering, “Miss Ye… I need to step out for a moment. I want to check the tax announcement at the hall.”
“Ah? Is it that urgent?” Ye Mu asked, turning her head. In the brief moment their eyes met, she understood Ivy’s emotions.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, she immediately nodded and said, “Go ahead! Come back and have some more food later. I heard the monsters are strong at night, so don’t go back alone. Stay at my place for the night.”
“Okay, thank you!” Ivy expressed her gratitude and, not wanting to wait any longer, headed straight to the town hall. As soon as she left Ye Mu’s house, she couldn’t help but start running.
She rushed into the town hall. As it was getting late, the earlier bustle had faded, and there were hardly any people left in the hall. A few floating panels hung silently, displaying faint blue text.
Ivy took a deep breath, and her excitement suddenly turned into nervousness. She walked step by step to the panel, her hands trembling as she clicked on the screen.
—
Fifteen minutes later, Mrs. Mira, who was at home eating pancakes to fill her stomach and save money, received a series of messages from her daughter.
Ivy: Mom, if I said I feel like I’ve found paradise, would you believe me?
Ivy: Let’s move!
Ivy: The Qiana Town that Miss Ye just moved to has a tiered tax rate… I don’t quite understand it! Anyway, even if you earn a lot in a month, the highest tax is only 45%. If you earn below 5,000 copper coins, you don’t have to pay any taxes at all!
Ivy: Mom, you’ve never seen a place like this, right? Let’s move there!
Ivy: And if we move, I can continue working at the Nightfall Restaurant, and you can keep eating the meals that Miss Ye makes. Your health will improve a lot!
Mira read the messages, feeling her daughter’s excitement even through the screen.
Mira knew how hard her daughter worked for a living. Seeing her so thrilled, Mira didn’t want to dampen her spirits. But after reading the messages, she hesitated for a moment before reminding her: “No tax for income below 5,000 copper coins? Are you sure you read that correctly?”
Then, she provided further clarification: “Did you maybe miss a zero?”