Chapter 26: Rumors
On the second floor of the residents’ villa, Ye Mu spent the entire afternoon jotting down plans for two important upcoming matters.
First was selling breakfast. She had been considering this idea since she moved to Qiana Town, but initially, there were too few people in the town, and she was not sure if it would be viable.
Now, with the wave of migration that began, the number of residents had increased by over 100 households, effectively doubling the previous population, making this business feasible.
To this end, Ye Mu drafted a simple menu that included four items: small wontons, steamed dumplings, fried eggs, and rice porridge.
Among these, the wontons contained meat filling, while the steamed dumplings were a mix of vegetables and meat.
In the real world, aside from fried eggs, which are common in both Eastern and Western cuisines, the other three items are considered very traditional Chinese breakfasts.
Ye Mu rubbed her hands together, preparing to bring an impressive Chinese culinary experience to everyone once again.
So that night, she drank stamina potions and stayed up late, wrapping up eight hundred wontons and steamed dumplings. Fortunately, the speed of food preparation in the game was directly affected by her cooking skill level, which was at the maximum of 100. Otherwise, she would have struggled to handle everything herself, from rolling the dough to preparing the filling and wrapping.
Early the next morning, Ye Mu called over her old employees, Jeff and Ivy, for help.
Previously, their main task had been cutting vegetables, but now they were needed to boil the wontons and steam the dumplings, which both found quite refreshing.
Following Ye Mu’s instructions, they boiled and steamed the wontons and dumplings in batches, then portioned them into small servings of ten each.
While they were busy with that, Ye Mu was in the back kitchen of the Nightfall Restaurant frying fried eggs like crazy. Since today was just a trial run, she didn’t plan to complicate the cooking, using only salt for seasoning, but the sheer volume made it quite a task.
She started frying eggs at 7:30 and, thanks to her maxed-out cooking skills, managed to fry 300 fried eggs by 9:00, just in time to open for breakfast.
At the same time, the Xibel squad was preparing to head out to hunt monsters.
The six-member team exited the residential area and headed out, passing by the market. Even if they didn’t walk through the market, they had to go around it.
They had all eaten a simple breakfast earlier that morning, so they didn’t plan to go through the market. After all, while the market was a short distance, it was relatively crowded, making it easier to bypass.
Just as they walked past the front road of the market, Leah casually turned back to take a look and exclaimed, “Hey, why is the Nightfall Restaurant open for business so early in the morning?!”
Even though they had all eaten, this comment made them turn their heads.
As their gazes fell on the entrance of the Nightfall Restaurant, they saw a bustling crowd there.
This was actually the first time the Nightfall Restaurant was “open for business” since moving to the new territory, for the past few days, they had only set up temporary stalls outside selling items like fried meat slices.
So the scene they were witnessing was both familiar and strange: many people were lining up at the self-service window, and some were determined to queue for dine-in, filling the large space in front of the restaurant and making it appear very lively.
“Breakfast is being served!” Xibel was the first to remember what Ye Mu had mentioned, making a decisive decision, “Let’s go check it out!”
In the Nightfall Restaurant, the menu clearly displayed the attributes of several dishes:
【Fresh Meat Small Wontons】
—Continuous restoration of health and stamina during consumption.
—Can restore up to 2500 health points and 2500 stamina points (total restoration amount is affected by the quantity consumed).
Price: 200 copper coins/serving.
—
【Cabbage and Pork Steamed Dumplings】
—Continuous restoration of health, magic points, and stamina during consumption.
—Can restore up to 1700 health points, 1300 magic points, and 2000 stamina points.
Price: 200 copper coins/serving.
—
【Salt-Fried Eggs】
—Continuous restoration of health and magic points during consumption.
—Can restore up to 1000 health points and 200 magic points.
Price: 80 copper coins/serving.
—
【Rice Porridge】
—Continuous restoration of stamina during consumption.
—Can restore up to 500 stamina points.
Price: 30 copper coins/serving (if purchasing any other dish, rice porridge will be complimentary, limited to one serving per person).
—
Customers in front of the ordering panel were animatedly discussing: “What are wontons? What are dumplings? Such strange names!”
“Who cares? As long as it’s delicious!”
“I’m the tank in the team, I use less magic, so 【Fresh Meat Small Wontons】 are just right for me… but 【Cabbage and Pork Steamed Dumplings】 look great too! Ah, forget it, I’ll have the small wontons today and try the dumplings tomorrow!”
“Then I’ll buy a portion of steamed dumplings and one fried egg, eat the dumplings right away, and take the fried egg and rice porridge to go for lunch!”
“Ah, clever! I want to do that too!”
As Xibel’s squad were friends of Ye Mu, they made their way through the bustling crowd and found her in the back kitchen. After a frenzied egg-frying session, Ye Mu smiled upon seeing them: “Good morning, are you here for breakfast?”
“Hey…” Xibel was still pondering how to shamelessly ask the chef for food, and without hesitation, replied, “Eat, eat, eat!”
“Hahaha.” Ye Mu got up and walked to the island counter, taking three portions of both wontons and steamed dumplings, along with six servings of rice porridge and fried eggs.
“Hehe, thank you, chef!” Xibel, feeling a bit guilty about getting free food, paid according to the menu. Ye Mu didn’t mind and accepted the payment.
They originally thought they could pack this chef’s breakfast into their backpacks for lunch since they had already eaten breakfast that morning. But now, with the aroma wafting nearby, they found it hard to move.
Without any discussion or even exchanging glances, they tacitly found places to sit down and started eating.
Xibel had the 【Fresh Meat Small Wontons】. She had never seen anything like it before—little white wontons floating in the soup, the skin looking very soft and thin, resembling the edge of a skirt. The filling bulged out, revealing a hint of pink meat through the skin. The broth was a light brown color, with a bit of oil floating on top, and there were also some chopped green onions. After tasting a spoonful, she found the slightly salty broth incredibly delicious, clearly seasoned with more than just green onions.
“Wow…” Xibel took a deep breath, and as the delicious warm soup filled her stomach, she felt completely at ease.
Then, she carefully and seriously took her first small wonton.
The smooth skin slid past her lips and teeth, and as she gently bit down, she hit the chunk of filling perfectly. The fragrant meat burst forth, breaking free of its confines, as if declaring its presence in her mouth.
“!!” Xibel was enveloped in delight, wanting to react but could only cover her mouth in surprise.
It was so delicious that she couldn’t contain herself!
Ye Mu sat beside the island counter, smiling as she watched them eat while resting her chin on her hand, thinking: Ah, there are too few ingredients, too few ingredients!
In order to enhance the flavor of the wonton soup, she had added a little bit of the expensive 【High-Quality Magic Potion】, which was basically soy sauce. Fortunately, she didn’t use much, so the cost was manageable, resulting in the enjoyment Xibel was currently experiencing.
However, there were no dried shrimp or seaweed.
These two ingredients were regarded by Ye Mu as the soul of wonton soup, and their absence made her feel quite unhappy.
As for things like pepper or oyster sauce, which were optional, they were regrettable but bearable.
What really bothered her, though, was vinegar!
She was someone who loved sour flavors and liked to add vinegar to her wontons, but she could manage without it.
But having steamed dumplings without vinegar truly drove her to the brink of despair!
Looking at everyone enjoying their meal so much, Ye Mu felt like two little voices were arguing in her mind. One said: Ah, they all love the food I made, I’m so happy! The other shouted: You can tolerate this? These people don’t understand good food!
—
In any case, during the next two hours, breakfast sold like hotcakes. By the time they stopped selling at eleven, many people still felt unsatisfied and politely suggested that time restrictions be lifted, they wouldn’t mind having the same for lunch.
But that was, of course, impossible, Ye Mu still needed to close for a break. In the future, she planned to open for lunch as well, serving main meals. But today, the main meals would only be available in the evening, and in the meantime, she needed to prepare the ingredients and get ready for the second important thing she had planned that morning.
That was the new “free cooking classes.”
The effect of the free classes was exactly as Ye Mu had anticipated, they quickly became popular in the territory. The initial four students who made a significant profit served as the best advertisement, and now all the stall owners who made a living by selling food wanted to come learn from her.
However, teaching the same content repeatedly would not work.
Now, after those two classes, a total of nine students were making money, which was due to the scarcity of ingredients. There weren’t many people in the territory who knew how to cook with that special sauce, so the dishes they made were easily consumed by the market. Among them were also those like Xibel who could innovate a bit and find new ideas, naturally ensuring a steady demand.
But still, it was only one type of sauce. Not only did everyone have the same flavor preferences, but the cooking methods were also quite limited.
If her course content remained unchanged and more and more stall owners began using the same type of sauce and similar cooking methods to prepare their dishes, would their products still be popular?
That was clearly impossible.
Ye Mu took her role in helping everyone out of poverty seriously and decided to start preparing new courses, aiming to teach ten or eight students, then change the curriculum!
This way, in the not-too-distant future, she believed these people could gradually become prosperous.
At the same time, this would also lead to a gradual emergence of more delicious food in her territory!
By then, people who were worn out from their daily struggles would at least be able to enjoy a delicious meal when they returned to the town in the evening, easing their tense nerves. Before starting a new day of hard work, they could also have a hearty breakfast, gearing up for the battles of the day ahead.
That was what life should be!
Imagining such a beautiful scene filled Ye Mu with enthusiasm, even though she was helping others make money. She diligently worked in the kitchen all afternoon, still using the same few ingredients from before, but this time removing the chili and readjusting the proportions of the remaining ingredients. Ultimately, she created a basic version of a sweet and savory braised sauce that smelled amazing when heated.
Once the braised sauce was ready, Ye Mu called Xibel’s team and the Isaac trio for a taste test, just like last time.
This time, she made two simple dishes: one was sliced chicken, and the other was diced tofu, using firm tofu.
Both ingredients were stir-fried briefly with chopped green onions, and then only the braised sauce was added, without any other seasonings.
When the dishes were ready, Ye Mu took nine plates, putting half a plate of rice on each, dividing the other half into two portions: one half for the chicken slices and the other for the tofu cubes, and directly served each of them a plate.
Due to the simplicity of the ingredients, these two dishes looked very plain, displaying only the classic brown-red color of braised dishes without any embellishments. Only by looking closely could one see a hint of softened green onions mixed in.
However, this did not diminish their enthusiasm for the chef’s creations. The six members of Xibel’s team, having experienced the previous potato braised pork rice, developed a strong interest in rice dishes. Now, upon seeing the familiar “braised” term on the panels of these two dishes, they immediately began to improvise and mix their plates with gusto.
In fact, this was indeed a very good way to eat!
Firm tofu, like well-stewed potatoes, was perfect for mixing into rice. When the potatoes were smashed, they added a sandy texture between the rice grains, while the firm tofu provided a unique smoothness. Moreover, tofu itself doesn’t absorb flavors easily, no matter how it’s cooked, the outside often becomes enticingly flavored by seasonings, while the inside retains its pure tofu aroma.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with the pure tofu aroma. But when mashed, it showcased a completely different style. During the mixing process, the sauce evenly coated every piece, allowing the smooth texture and flavor of the sauce to blend fully.
In addition, the braised chicken slices they mixed in provided a satisfying meatiness to the otherwise bland tofu rice, enhancing the layers of texture.
Xibel meticulously mixed her food, striving for an even blend. After mixing, she took three bites in rapid succession and offered her sincere evaluation: “It’s simple, but quite tasty. The flavor is strong and aromatic, especially suitable for mixing with rice! But if paired with flatbread, it might fall short?”
“Yeah.” Ye Mu nodded. “If you want to pair it with flatbread, you can use the same seasoning, but you need to switch to more suitable ingredients.”
Then she asked, “Did you find anything that needs improvement? Is the sweet and salty flavor suitable?”
“Suitable, suitable, no problem at all!” Leah couldn’t help but answer eagerly, while Nala beside him nodded vigorously.
“That’s good to hear.” Ye Mu smiled, then casually glanced over to the Isaac trio.
Isaac, Chase, and Jenna sat on the same side of the table, undisturbed by the mixing actions of the opposite team. The three were eating very elegantly, taking half a spoonful of vegetables and half a spoonful of rice for each bite, drizzling a bit of the vegetable broth over it. They controlled their portions just right, ensuring they could eat without stuffing themselves.
Not only that, but after careful observation, Ye Mu found that they didn’t even mix the two dishes together while eating.
For this bite with rice, only tofu was used. For the next bite with rice and chicken slices, not a single piece of tofu was added.
…Such a strong sense of order?
Ye Mu couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
Unbeknownst to her, the “Orderly Trio” in front of her was actually on the verge of collapsing.
This wasn’t Isaac’s first encounter with such tempting rice mixing, but it didn’t prevent him from feeling like his heart was being sliced open.
Chase and Jenna hadn’t experienced the immense torment of potato braised pork rice before, but at that moment, watching the opposite team mix their rice with such enthusiasm made them feel like something inside them was being overturned.
—The food is mixed like that, it should be disgusting, yet why does it look so appetizing?
—In fact, it even looks more delicious than the neatly arranged food on their plates?!
This was unreasonable!
They were already tempted, wanting to try the method of Xibel’s six-person team. But looking at Isaac, who was still eating elegantly beside them, they had to suppress that thought.
…No! They couldn’t eat like that! Absolutely not! It was too rude!
They repeatedly told themselves this in their minds, fearing that if they relaxed even slightly, their hands would uncontrollably start mixing their food.
What oddballs they were!
Ye Mu observed them silently, when suddenly something in her peripheral vision caught her attention, jumping a couple of times. She focused and saw that a message window was flashing, indicating a new message.
She casually clicked it open, and to her surprise, the message was from the police station in Dragon Town.
The police stated that the owner of Giselle’s Restaurant had been in prison shortly after the incident, and they were contacting her now because they had found Billy.
On the day of the incident, Billy had sustained severe injuries that he couldn’t hide from his family. After returning home, he told them everything honestly.
Then, the whole family went into hiding, wanting to avoid the situation for a while.
It wasn’t until these past few days that they returned to the town, and that was when the police found them.
As Ye Mu read this, she felt a surge of disbelief: as expected, this mischievous kid had a pair of clueless parents. After Billy had stolen and sold items from her, almost causing a serious incident, his parents’ first reaction upon learning about it was to take him away to avoid the trouble?!
As she continued reading, she found with mixed feelings that what she had secretly hoped for actually happened!
The police informed her: when they presented Ye Mu’s request for compensation for damages to Billy’s parents, the family immediately claimed that Billy was severely injured from this incident and had not yet recovered, feeling weak ever since, and that it was all Ye Mu’s responsibility, demanding that she provide compensation.
The amount they were asking for was actually more than what Ye Mu had originally submitted to the police!
However, the police quickly stated that during their investigation, they had already determined that there was no ice mage on Ye Mu’s side. The ice spells that hit Billy were cast by the owner of Giselle’s Restaurant, and hurting Billy was merely accidental.
Even if Billy repeatedly stated that he was accidentally injured due to the rebound from Xibel’s shield, in that situation, it was perfectly justifiable for Xibel to use the shield for defense, there was no reason to take any responsibility.
So after hearing all this, Billy’s family of three went to demand compensation from the owner of Giselle’s Restaurant!
Even though that owner was already serving time in prison, they had no intention of letting him off the hook!
—This was exactly what Ye Mu had been hoping for.
Billy and that owner—one was a traitor and the other was engaged in malicious competition. She really wanted to see them tear each other apart.
However, she only knew that Billy himself was a scoundrel and hadn’t given much thought to whether he had a pair of unreasonable parents.
Now that these parents had shown up, their attack power was clearly enhanced, so let the owner of Giselle’s Restaurant deal with them slowly!
Ye Mu looked at the message panel and couldn’t help but chuckle, then typed to inquire about the compensation.
The police told her that since the responsibilities in this case were clear, the police station would issue a ruling. Once the ruling was made, the compensation would automatically be deducted from Billy’s family account and transferred to her account by the system.
“That’s great, thank you! You’ve worked hard.” Ye Mu felt relieved and continued curiously, “What about the matter between Billy and the owner of Giselle’s Restaurant? Does the owner really need to compensate?”
The police’s next response revealed a hint of helplessness and difficulty: “Well… the responsibilities between them aren’t as easily defined as those between you and Billy. We could only get a rough idea from witness testimonies, and there isn’t enough evidence.”
“So, this matter mainly depends on what they can negotiate themselves, the outcome is uncertain.”
Ye Mu thought to herself: Good, good, good! This is exactly what I wanted! Let them tear each other apart!
After thanking the police again, she happily closed the panel, eager to share this follow-up with her friends nearby.
The members of Xibel’s team, who had been directly involved in the incident, were very pleased with this. Isaac pondered for a moment after hearing it and suddenly burst into laughter.
“What are you laughing at?” Ye Mu looked at him.
He lowered his eyes, shaking his head: “I’ll tell you later.”
Ye Mu was puzzled for a moment, but Xibel, sitting opposite Isaac, instantly understood and rolled her eyes: “Fine, fine, fine, is it another secret you can’t tell us? You’re so boring!”
Since they had already finished eating, she stood up while speaking and called her teammates to leave.
Ye Mu suddenly remembered that she had first come into contact with Isaac through Xibel’s introduction.
From what Xibel had just said, it seemed that Isaac had many secrets he was unwilling to share, and Xibel and the others had grown accustomed to it.
…See! She felt he was more likely to be a noble illegitimate child, right?!
She silently muttered to herself.
Once Xibel’s team walked away, Isaac, without Ye Mu needing to ask, explained the reason for his earlier laughter: “I was just thinking, the police in Dragon Town must also believe in your noble identity.”
Ye Mu: “Huh?”
Isaac clicked his tongue and said slowly, “Otherwise, do you think they would be so proactive in handling the case? That’s impossible. Especially since you’ve withdrawn from Dragon Town, they would only bet on you not pursuing it further, wanting to avoid more trouble.”
“…” Ye Mu looked speechless at Jenna and Chase, who both silently nodded in agreement with Isaac’s words.
Ye Mu forced a smile: “Okay… Regardless, at least the outcome is good.” After a pause, she added, “I think this identity thing, um… doesn’t need to be hidden from Xibel?”
“I understand, Xibel is a good person,” Isaac nodded, “But she’s too straightforward. If she learns the truth, the next time she hears such rumors, she might not be able to resist trying to ‘clarify’ things for you.”
“Actually, clarifying rumors is…” Ye Mu wanted to say, “actually clarifying is fine,” but halfway through, Isaac turned to look at her, and she suddenly realized, swallowing her words.
That makes sense, let these rumors spread, there’s nothing wrong with that!
This is a world with distinct class divisions, and noble identity is a very strong shield.
So, this rumor is not only harmless to her but also serves as an invisible protection.
She couldn’t bring herself to shamelessly admit that she truly had noble status, but she could certainly ignore it!