Chapter 21: Spicy Pork Belly
The scene before Ye Mu left her jaw dropped, and a famous meme of a female celebrity widely circulated online flashed through her mind: “So many people!”
—What she saw should have been a desolate winter plain, but now, on this plain, men, women, old and young, all dressed in various styles as mages, were arriving in droves with big and small packages, creating an impressive sight.
Ye Mu estimated that there were around two to three hundred people, if each person needed a house, the existing residences in the small town wouldn’t be enough. Fortunately, most of them were part of larger families, so 200 to 300 people meant around 60 or 70 households.
Thus, the previously quiet small town suddenly became lively, with a large portion of newcomers rushing into the town hall to see if the tax rates were real, while another group hurried to the residential area to choose their new homes.
Isaac and Jenna returned with them, and when they saw Ye Mu standing at the store entrance, they walked over.
Ye Mu sized them up and said, “Marketing experts, huh!”
Isaac spoke frankly, “It’s all thanks to you for announcing the tax rates in time, it’s too tempting.”
Ye Mu smiled, feeling satisfied with the tiered tax rates she had established.
Just then, someone rushed out of the hall after reading the announcement, joyfully shouting, “It’s true! It’s really true! The highest tax rate in this small town is only 45%!”
“……” Ye Mu’s expression broke, her mood was complicated.
She had put so much thought into the tiered tax rates, yet their focus was only on that maximum 45%!
What kind of life had they been living before this!!!
Of course, some people noticed more details.
A pair of twin sisters stood in front of the notice board, and the younger sister pointed at the first line of text: “No tax for a monthly income below 5000 copper coins? So, when we were selling goods or working at other shops, and we only made a little over 3000 copper coins in a month, we didn’t have to pay any taxes?”
“I can’t believe it would be that good…” The elder sister was skeptical about such a policy. She scanned the notice board for a long time but ultimately didn’t find any other tax models, so she could only say, “But it does seem like that’s the case.”
“Why would it be like this? Is there a scam?” someone nearby said anxiously.
But the problem was, he couldn’t think of what kind of “scam” it could be.
The only reasonable guess was that perhaps the lord of this place wanted to attract everyone over in this way and then suddenly raise the tax rates.
But the problem was, if that were the case, they could just leave again…
A group of people crowded in the hall, discussing enthusiastically. At the entrance of the Nightfall Restaurant, Ye Mu asked Isaac, “By the way, I still haven’t set the prices for the houses. Can they not move in until I do? What’s a reasonable price?”
Isaac thought for a moment and said, “Housing prices aren’t as standardized as tax rates, they vary from place to place. Just set it based on your judgment.”
Ye Mu nodded. Considering that the territory was newly established and most of the newcomers were poor, she referenced the prices in third- and fourth-tier cities in the real world, pricing the three different types of houses at 200,000 copper coins, 150,000 copper coins, and 100,000 copper coins, respectively.
In addition, there was a rental option. According to the system’s settings, unsold new houses could be rented out directly, with rent paid directly to the territory.
Ye Mu set the daily rental prices for the three types of houses at 200 copper coins, 100 copper coins, and 50 copper coins. The monthly rent was slightly discounted from the daily rates, at 5,000 copper coins, 2,500 copper coins, and 1,200 copper coins, respectively.
Within ten minutes of announcing the housing prices, a large number of newly arrived residents had already moved in. Organizing housing in the game was much simpler than in the real world, so it wasn’t long before they came out of their houses, curiously wandering around to quickly familiarize themselves with the new territory.
Seeing this, Isaac stopped chatting with Ye Mu and called over Jenna and Chase to start working.
Chase led a group of people off into the distance: “Come, come, come! If you need temporary work, follow me! The small town is just starting out and needs a lot of quarry workers and lumberjacks! Physical strength must be at least 3000, no magic level requirement! Pay is 100 copper coins/day, paid daily, and lunch is included!”
Jenna pointed to two buildings not far from the town hall and said, “This is the Tax Bureau and the Bank. The town’s tax rate isn’t high, so please remember to pay your taxes monthly and don’t break the law!”
Isaac walked to the empty space beside the Nightfall Restaurant. This area had long been fenced off by him, and the ground was paved with tiles, creating a small square of several thousand square meters. However, the square only had the Nightfall Restaurant building on the right side of the entrance, with no other buildings.
Isaac introduced, “This is the market area, everyone is welcome to set up stalls! If you need to build a storefront, feel free to contact me!”
Every introduction he made was met with cheers from the crowd, creating a lively atmosphere.
Ye Mu stood at the door, smiling at the bustling scene, before turning back inside to continue making her upgraded vegetable soup.
As noon approached, the vegetable soup was ready. Ye Mu packed it into her backpack along with some fried meat to take outside.
Jeff, who was tidying up the tables and chairs, ran over and curiously asked, “Aren’t you selling it through the self-service window?”
Ye Mu shook her head, “Everyone just arrived and probably doesn’t have much spare cash. They’re likely to think they can’t afford it just seeing this building. Let’s take it outside and set up a stall!”
Jeff promptly replied, “Alright!” He selected two tables and two chairs to pack into his backpack. The two of them left the second floor of the restaurant, exited the front yard, and went around to the left side of the restaurant to set up their stall outside the courtyard wall.
【Salted Fried Pork Belly】
【Price:】 35 copper coins/serving
【Spicy Pork Belly】
【Price:】 45 copper coins/serving
【Secret Vegetable Soup】
【Price:】 30 copper coins/serving
Ye Mu arranged the three dishes on the table and displayed the prices using the signboard that Isaac had helped her customize.
It was noon, and most of the travelers were hungry. Many people rushed over as soon as they saw the stall, but they all stopped a few meters away from her.
“How can she dare to sell fried meat and vegetable soup at such high prices?” a middle-aged male mage couldn’t help but whisper sharply.
Others echoed, “Exactly! They’re just simple dishes, can they really be sold for so much just by changing the name?”
In fact, they would find the answer by stepping forward to check the description of the dishes on the signboard, but perhaps they were intimidated by the prices, as no one approached to take a look.
—
Not far outside of Qiana Town, Xibel squad was casting spells furiously and, after half an hour, finally defeated a moderately difficult boss monster: the 【Savanna Mammoth】.
The 【Savanna Mammoth】 dropped a rich haul of items, including various equipment, potions, plenty of copper coins, and some meat.
Most of the meat was labeled 【Pork Belly】, the kind used for making braised pork. If Ye Mu knew that mammoths dropped pork belly, she would definitely be speechless, but Xibel, who grew up in this world, felt nothing strange about it. She immediately thought of the delicious braised pork from that day and swallowed several times.
She picked up all the pork belly from the ground and asked her teammates, “I’m going to take all this meat to offer to the culinary God, do you have any objections?”
Nala: “Absolutely none!”
Leah: “This is its best fate, hahahaha! But it would be even better if the culinary God blessed us with a finished dish of braised pork after receiving the offerings!”
After Leah finished speaking, Nala joined him in a praying gesture, which made Xibel laugh out loud. “Alright, alright, let’s go see how she’s settling into her new place!”
The squad made their way to Qiana Town, chatting and laughing.
In fact, they had come specifically to farm monsters today. The squad was staying at the Brave’s Inn in Dragon Town, and the nearest monster farming spot was the Dragon Mountain Range. However, everyone thought that since Ye Mu had just moved, she would definitely have a lot on her plate with opening a new restaurant, so they unanimously decided to visit Qiana Town to see if she needed help.
Since they were coming and didn’t want to waste time farming, the best approach was, of course, to temporarily change their farming location and farm along the way.
As they entered the town, it was lunchtime, and Xibel immediately spotted the uniquely designed building of the Nightfall Restaurant, quickly noticing the crowd gathered around it.
“It must be the culinary god setting up a stall over there!” Xibel exclaimed.
Leah frowned, “That’s definitely not it. If she’s already opened a restaurant, why would she set up a stall?”
Xibel suggested, “How about a bet of 500 copper coins?”
Leah confidently replied, “Deal!”
The squad all walked over, and as they got a few meters closer, they reached the conclusion that it was indeed the culinary god.
Leah silently pulled out 500 copper coins and handed them to Xibel.
Then everyone noticed that the people seemed to be just watching and discussing, no one was buying anything. Xibel was puzzled when he heard someone say, “Exactly! They’re all simple dishes, can they really be sold for so much just by changing the name?”
He then heard another person comment, “Nightfall Restaurant… She must be that ‘culinary god’ from Dragon Town. But so what? Regular dishes are still just regular dishes!”
This made Xibel roll her eyes dramatically!
“Make way, make way!” She furrowed her brow and squeezed through the crowd to reach Ye Mu’s stall. Looking at the few simple and unpretentious dishes, her expression changed. “Culinary god, what is this… behavior of yours?”
“I was afraid everyone couldn’t afford the expensive dishes, so I started with these,” Ye Mu replied, casually grabbing a few pieces of meat—some spicy and some not. She also counted out six portions of vegetable soup based on the number of people in the squad and handed them over. “For my loyal customers, it’s on me. Feel free to eat!”
“Hey, thanks!” Xibel was completely unbothered by the simplicity of the dishes. Rubbing her hands together, she took the food without looking at the description on the signboard and immediately stuffed a large piece of fried meat into her mouth.
After chewing a few times… Xibel’s expression gradually froze, and shock spread across her face. After a few seconds, she managed to say, “I—wow—”
She glanced at the unremarkable slices of meat in her hand, then looked at her teammates beside her who were pretending to be reserved and hadn’t started eating. She quickly grabbed Nala and urged, “You guys have to try this! Quickly! This meat is different from what you find outside!!!”
It didn’t have the strong fishy taste that outside meat often carries, which makes it difficult to eat without feeling nauseated. It was just like the highly popular 【Home-style Stir-fried Pork】 from before, with all the fishiness completely removed.
The cooking was also perfect, each slice was evenly golden brown, making the meat tender and juicy, with a thin, crispy skin that was delicious. As she chewed, a light saltiness blended with the meat’s juices, enhancing the rich flavor.
Since Xibel’s box contained spicy meat, there was an additional piquant kick to the simple savory flavor that lingered on her lips and teeth, refusing to fade.