Chapter 25: The Culinary God’s Apprentice
This situation came too suddenly and was beyond everyone’s expectations. Building new houses would take time, and even if Isaac had maxed-out building skills, it was impossible to conjure up a whole new set of residences instantly.
As a result, the situation in the town became a bit awkward. Some of the new residents were quick to react and immediately rushed to purchase the few remaining houses. The rest were left standing in the open spaces of the town, looking at each other in confusion.
Fortunately, most people were reasonable.
They understood that a new town needed to be gradually established and didn’t complain too much. Even those who did grumble knew deep down that this situation could only be resolved slowly, and being anxious wouldn’t help, so no one took any drastic actions.
In light of this tricky situation, Ye Mu had no choice but to use the town hall’s announcement board to post a notice, assuring everyone that the town would resolve the current issues as quickly as possible and asking them to remain patient.
If such a notice were issued in the real world, it would likely be considered empty rhetoric. However, here, everyone hadn’t seen a well-mannered territory lord in a long time, so they were surprisingly satisfied with the announcement.
As a result, the few complaints settled down. Some residents had survival tents in their gear and set them up, making do for a night. Others took a more straightforward approach and started consuming various potions to restore their stats—though this was costlier, if they could settle down quickly, they could afford it for the time being.
After the announcement was posted, Ye Mu went to find Isaac and discussed the possibility of quickly constructing a batch of new houses. Isaac readily agreed but asked if he could also have the authority to issue territory announcements.
Ye Mu had no objections to this.
To be fair, the establishment of this territory relied entirely on his 100% investment.
Not to mention he could ask for any permissions, if he suddenly decided to become the lord himself one day, she would find it completely reasonable.
Thus, she granted Isaac full permissions over the territory. Except for the fact that he wasn’t officially the lord, he could directly handle all affairs in the territory.
Ten minutes later, everyone saw the official announcements from the territory issuing three recruitment messages.
【Recruiting Lumberjacks】
Requirements: Age under 50, level and gender unrestricted, stamina no less than 3000, working hours 8 hours a day.
Salary: 100 copper coins/day, meals provided (lunch and dinner), accommodation not included.
【Recruiting Quarry Workers】
Requirements: Age under 50, level and gender unrestricted, stamina no less than 3000, working hours 8 hours a day.
Salary: 100 copper coins/day, meals provided (lunch and dinner), accommodation not included.
【Recruiting Construction Workers】
Requirements: Age unrestricted, gender unrestricted, overall level unrestricted, construction level no lower than level 40, stamina no less than 3000, working hours 8 hours a day.
Salary: 100 copper coins/day, meals provided (lunch and dinner), accommodation not included.
The three recruitment messages appeared one after another in a popup format in front of everyone, making them very eye-catching.
However, these three job types clearly had nothing to do with Ye Mu. At most, she could provide them with meals, so she didn’t pay them much attention and closed them immediately.
But among the residents of the town, the three messages immediately sparked discussions.
“What? 100 copper coins a day, with two meals provided? Is this price for real?”
“Is this really an official recruitment message?”
Everyone was shocked. The current labor market prices across various industries generally ranged from 80 to 100 copper coins per day without meals.
If meals were provided, the price might drop to around 50 or 60 copper coins a day.
And if it was an official recruitment by the territory, the price would often be pushed even lower, typically only offering 50 or 60 copper coins a day without meals.
This was because the lords had enough power and didn’t need to worry about people not cooperating. If a lord couldn’t recruit enough manpower smoothly, the next step might very well be to forcibly enlist people for “volunteer labor.”
Some even more shameless lords didn’t consider spending money on recruitment at all, when something needed to be built, they would simply seize people for labor without even pretending otherwise.
But now, the official recruitment prices they saw not only conformed to the market but were even a bit better than the usual rates, leading everyone to suspect they were dreaming.
Stimulated by the high salaries, Isaac quickly found the people he needed.
He initially planned to recruit 20 people for each position, but due to everyone’s enthusiasm, he ended up hiring 30 for each position.
This was a good outcome for two reasons: first, it allowed him to stock up on more materials, which would be useful later. Second, even though a wave of relocations had just occurred, no one could predict if a second wave would come soon, so building extra houses for potential needs was also a good idea.
After the preparatory work was completed, Isaac responsibly reported the progress to Ye Mu, the lord.
Ye Mu fully agreed with his idea and suggested, “Why not build a few inns first?”
He noticed that the residential buildings were all individual houses with yards, lacking the apartment complexes found in the real world. It seemed that people’s perceptions about buying houses were quite fixed and not easy to change.
However, inns could often be built to three or four stories, and people were generally accepting of that.
By comparison, building inns would save a lot more space than regular residential yards. Given the current unexpected situation, inns would indeed serve as a good buffer.
If they could have a few inns in their territory, many people wouldn’t need to set up tents or consume potions anymore.
Ye Mu hoped that next time a “large-scale migration” occurred, new residents could at least stay in inns temporarily if they couldn’t buy a house right away.
“That’s a good idea,” Isaac acknowledged her plan, then asked, “What should be the rental price for the inns?”
Ye Mu replied, “If they are all just the most basic rooms, let’s charge 30 copper coins per night.”
Her reasoning for setting this price was quite simple—there were currently no inns in the territory, but the unsold houses could be rented out on a daily basis. Among these, the cheapest bungalow had a daily rental price of 50 copper coins.
Although the bungalows were basic, they were fully equipped with a bedroom, kitchen, and living room. Some larger bedrooms could even be converted into two-bedroom units.
In contrast, inns were different. The most basic room in an inn was essentially just a bedroom, with a shared kitchen. As for bathrooms and toilets, they weren’t necessary in the game world, so they didn’t exist at all.
In addition, the game world didn’t require hiring staff to clean the rooms. The dust on the floor was merely a visual effect, maintained at a constant level, and posed no health risks. Any trash would be automatically recognized and disappear. After guests checked out, the beds would also refresh automatically.
Therefore, operating an inn here meant their costs were almost entirely limited to the initial building expenses and the cost of furnishing.
So, charging 30 copper coins a day for the rooms seemed quite reasonable, right?
Once they recouped their costs, Ye Mu even thought about lowering the price to 20 copper coins!
She considered this a normal operation, but after she spoke, she saw a persistent smile on Isaac’s face: “Okay, I’ll arrange everything directly!”
After saying that, he even chuckled twice and continued walking out, saying, “You carry on, I won’t disturb you.”
“?” Ye Mu looked at his retreating figure, puzzled and not quite understanding why he was suddenly so happy. After thinking for a moment, she figured he must have thought of some other good news, so she didn’t ask further.
That night, the third snowfall beneath the royal city arrived.
In this capital city, where the king resided and nobles congregated, winter did not appear as miserable as in Zeka City. The price of coal had only doubled and was not allowed to rise further, and given that the economic situation in the royal city was generally better than in Zeka City, the vast majority of people could still afford coal.
Only a small portion of people could not afford it, and it was this very small portion that tragically succumbed to the cold during the winter leading up to Christmas Eve.
Most of them died in inconspicuous slums, and some, trying to earn a little more money, worked from dawn till dusk, ultimately perishing on their way home during the coldest hours of the night.
Families of these individuals sometimes found it difficult to locate them, so the task of collecting the bodies was entrusted to the knight order.
On the morning after the snowy night, the knight order collected over a dozen bodies throughout various streets in the city.
If people knew which knight order was taking on this task, they would surely find it quite “incongruous.”
In the current kingdom, knighthood had become a very established profession, with detailed assessment and promotion processes. Those with high magical talent, regardless of their noble status, could take the knight examination once they reached level 60, provided they did not wish to become full-time magicians.
Once they passed the examination, candidates could join a knight order and pledge loyalty to the noble who owned that order.
Moreover, because knights themselves belonged to the noble class, those who became knights would achieve a significant class transition if they were not previously nobles.
Among the numerous knight orders, the “Order of Radiant Light” was undoubtedly the most renowned. They directly pledged loyalty to the royal family, and regardless of their backgrounds, everyone possessed good manners and noble character. In over three hundred years since its establishment, there had never been any scandals, and even rumors defaming them were almost non-existent.
They bled to protect the civilians and sacrificed themselves to fend off external enemies. In the ballads passed around the streets, they seemed more like gods descending to earth.
Given such exceptional strength and reputation, the grim task of collecting corpses from the streets shouldn’t have fallen to them, but the other knight orders in the royal city were unwilling to take on this job.
…In recent years, people’s hearts have changed, and knight orders are not what they used to be. Because of the generally generous treatment knights received, many now engaged in bribery and corruption.
Young nobles wanting to join could do so if they provided enough money, even if their skills were insufficient, conditions could be relaxed for them. For commoners, unless they were exceptionally talented, it was extremely difficult to pass the assessments.
And how many of these pampered young knights from noble families would be willing to take on the task of collecting corpses for the commoners?
They would only feel that it was dirty and unlucky, disdainful of how it tainted their beauty and cleanliness, and would shy away from such tasks.
If forced to comply, the corpses would receive no respect. They would likely be hastily buried or even maliciously discarded, perhaps fed to dogs.
In this situation, the Order of Radiant Light could only take the initiative to accept the task.
The captain, Aaron, personally paid for decent coffins for each unfortunate deceased and placed a small bag of copper coins in each coffin for them to pay the ferryman to the underworld, so they could cross the river safely and reach the afterlife, as in ancient legends.
The knight order worked tirelessly from early morning until three in the afternoon to complete all their duties. They returned to the royal palace, to the small castle designated for the knights’ residence. Everyone sat together in the living room for a meal, and the atmosphere felt particularly heavy.
After an unknown amount of time, a voice filled with indignation broke the silence: “Are we a knight order, or have we just become corpse collectors?”
The speaker was Asher, only 22 years old but already at level 65.
He had joined the Order of Radiant Light last year and was the youngest in the entire group.
Hearing his words, several members of the order thought he was dissatisfied with the morning’s task and frowned.
Just as someone was about to educate him, he stood up in anger, pointing outside and saying, “Look! People are dying every day, whether it’s winter or summer, poverty and disease torment them in turn! But what about us? We do nothing but collect their bodies after they die? Is this what a knight order is? If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have wanted to join you, I might as well be a ranger!”
“Calm down!” a nearby companion tried to persuade him.
He actually agreed with every word Asher had said before, but the last statement sounded a bit hurtful.
He explained to Asher, “We also want to help them, but we have to obey the royal orders. They not only own this kingdom but also the Order of Radiant Light.”
—This was the harsh truth. Historically, the Order of Radiant Light wasn’t formed to serve the royal family at a certain point, it was established directly by the king from the very beginning.
But this harsh truth did little to appease Asher, it instead fueled his anger. He sarcastically thought that the king who originally founded the Order of Radiant Light must have been different from the current one, and the royal family back then was certainly not in the dire state it was now.
His voice rose even higher: “The royal family? They’re just a bunch of weak and treacherous scoundrels! They keep retreating before the nobles for their own interests, completely disregarding the lives of the commoners!”
“Asher!” The silent captain Aaron finally cut off Asher’s voice with a stern command.
Asher gritted his teeth, realizing that his previous comment had gone too far, if it were overheard by someone with ulterior motives, it could bring great trouble to the entire knight order.
But he was still frustrated, his face flushed, his chest heaving with emotion, and after a moment, he managed to calm himself and said to Aaron, “I’d like to apply for a long leave to do some things I want to do.”
“No, you need to calm down first.” Captain Aaron firmly rejected him.
Asher’s temples throbbed, but after a moment of locking eyes with the captain, he ultimately chose not to insist further and turned to leave in anger.
With his departure, the living room fell into a deeper silence. Some were pondering the dire situation outside or Asher’s words, but many others were thinking about a member of the royal family.
A member of the royal family who seemed out of place in the current royal court.
He had exiled himself last year, abandoning without hesitation the coveted title of crown prince that many sought after.
Many people missed him.
—
Qiana Town.
Holly marinated the meat using scallions and ginger, just as Ye Mu had taught her, but she didn’t use sliced meat or chunks that needed blanching, instead, she used cubes of meat about two centimeters in size.
Once the meat cubes had marinated long enough, Holly started heating oil. Afterward, she added the meat cubes to the pan, followed closely by red, yellow, and green bell peppers.
These peppers weren’t spicy, so they didn’t provide any warmth, instead, they had a unique flavor that many people disliked, making them unpopular in the market and cheap in price.
However, a few days ago, Holly discovered by chance that if she used the sauce Ye Mu had given her to stir-fry them thoroughly, the unique flavor would lighten, and any remnants would blend perfectly with the sauce, making it delicious!
Not only that, but they also had a great coloring effect.
If she only stir-fried the meat, the color with the sauce would be a dull light brown, but with the peppers, it looked much prettier.
So two days ago, she experimented with it and named it 【Stir-fried Meat Cubes with Colorful Peppers.】 After she finished cooking, she thought the presentation was quite appealing, so she decided to take it to the market to sell. To her surprise, it sold out instantly, and the last portion almost caused two customers to fight over it.
A culinary god truly has something special! Beautiful and kind-hearted, with expertise in their craft!
—Over the past couple of days, Holly found herself repeatedly praising these thoughts, having long discarded her initial skepticism that the culinary god was merely using the guise of opening a class to profit from selling sauce.
The sauce was just so good, and it came in a large bottle, which lasted a long time. She sold 50 to 60 portions of “Stir-fried Meat Cubes with Colorful Peppers” each day, using less than half a bottle in two days.
But when it came to pricing, the profit margins were enormous.
So Holly had already made plans that as soon as she finished this bottle, she would immediately go buy a new one. Ideally, she could purchase several bottles at once to keep at home, so she wouldn’t have to worry about running out and could feel more at ease.
What? You say the price of 500 copper coins is too expensive? Where’s it expensive?!
She would be willing to buy it even if it rose to two or three thousand!
“I’m heading out to sell!” Holly happily left with her portions of 【Stir-fried Meat Cubes with Colorful Peppers.】
Today, her husband, Ethan, wasn’t out gathering, and just from this statement, he could tell how good Holly’s mood had been lately.
Her good spirits made him feel like life was brighter.
Thinking about the money she had earned recently, he felt that their future might really become much brighter.
—
【Stir-fried Meat Cubes with Colorful Peppers】
—Consuming it will continuously restore health, mana, and stamina.
—It can restore up to 500 health, 1000 mana, and 2000 stamina (the total amount restored is influenced by the quantity consumed).
Price: 120 copper coins per portion.
Holly arrived at her familiar spot in the market, set out her goods and the price board, and the vibrant colors immediately attracted the attention of passersby. As they got closer, they were further enticed by the aroma.
Once they saw the prices on the board, no one hesitated, and they all pulled out their money to buy. Some customers started eating right there at the stall, and one who had tried Ye Mu’s dishes exclaimed, “Huh? Is this also a noble dish? It has the charm of a culinary god!”
“Hehe… What noble dish? I’ve never eaten it, so I don’t really understand and can’t say for sure.” Holly smiled shyly, not taking credit for it and honestly admitting, “But this dish is indeed made using the culinary god’s method, and the sauce is from her hand—it’s her secret recipe!”
“Ah, no wonder!” The customers nodded in realization, expressing their agreement, “It’s really delicious, and it’s not expensive at all, it’s way better than eating those fried or boiled meat slices.”
“Of course!” Holly chimed in while secretly feeling dissatisfied.
She felt this way on behalf of the culinary god.
—How could the carefully crafted flavor of the culinary god be compared to those things?!
—It’s an insult to the culinary god, okay?!
At a nearby stall selling sausages, Frank occasionally had customers, and he could sell about 60% to 70% of the sausages he made each day, but compared to the bustling scene at Holly’s stall, his situation looked a bit bleak.
As a result, Frank’s eyes kept darting toward Holly’s stall, and to say he wasn’t jealous would be a lie.
Thinking about how he had looked down on Holly a few days ago made him feel even sourer inside.
How could he have the face to mock Holly for being naive?
Now it was clear that he was the naive one!
How could he completely forget the rumors from before? The culinary god was a noble young lady, whether she was a legitimate child or not, she clearly didn’t lack money.
She came to places like this just to experience life, or in other words, to “play around.”
So, of course, she was different from others.
While others counted every copper coin for their livelihoods, she pursued inner satisfaction and could easily spend lavishly.
Thus, it wasn’t surprising that she offered free classes and sold sauces at low prices.
What was strange was Frank! How could he have been so foolish that day, not thinking of any of this at all?
Frank silently scolded his past self eight hundred times over the past few days. After struggling for a while, he finally mustered the courage to talk to Holly, who had just finished selling out her goods and was preparing to pack up and go home ten minutes after setting up: “Hey… do you actually make a profit from this? Even after accounting for the cost of the sauces, do you still make money?”
“Of course,” Holly replied.
Although she couldn’t openly state her profit margin in public, her confident tone indicated she was making a decent amount.
“Well…” Frank chuckled awkwardly, “I’m just asking, does the culinary god have any plans for new classes lately?”
“Oh…” Holly thought for a moment and seriously told her neighbor, “Actually, there’s a class yesterday and recruited five people. I was going to go, but Miss Ye said the content of the class was exactly the same as what I did that day, so I didn’t go. As for when the next classes will be, I’m not sure. Just wait and see. Anyway, whenever there is a class, the Nightfall Restaurant will send people to the market to hand out flyers.”
She added, “But now that more people want to attend, you’ll need to sign up the night before the class. It’s best to do it early so you can secure a spot.”
“Okay, okay!” Frank eagerly replied, secretly determined to make an effort to attend a class!
He then remembered Holly had mentioned that during their first class, they hadn’t even managed to recruit five people, and one spot had gone to waste. It made Frank’s heart ache.
If only he had thought of joining Holly to attend the class back then…
The thought made him so frustrated he wished he could travel back in time and choke his past self.