Chapter 205: Pig’s Head
14 mutation value vinegar!
Huai Yu became interested—although to her, that mutation value was already so high it would taste awful, vinegar was something rarely seen on the market.
She had bought some before, but the purification effect wasn’t great, and now it all tasted strange.
She happily took the big jar: “Perfect! Let’s use this to make cucumber salad tonight.”
Sneakily, just a little, purify only a tiny bit—shouldn’t be a big problem, right?
Never mind the cucumber salad, what’s the price of fresh vegetables nowadays? Even the Defense Force couldn’t have them at every meal. Seeing the washed cucumbers already placed there, she didn’t hesitate and popped a chunk into her mouth.
“Mm! So refreshing!!!”
“Cucumber is so good! Must have cost a lot, huh?”
“Yeah, Captain Zhou, we’re just here for a meal, don’t let us eat you poor.”
“Come, try it, come on, this cucumber is really good!”
Huai Yu stared at their satisfied expressions, wondering if she had accidentally purified it? Quickly, she grabbed a piece of cucumber and stuffed it in her mouth—
Oh, she overthought it.
Mutation value definitely over 12, terrible taste.
She looked at the group and couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic. Then she enthusiastically pointed to the big basin of tomatoes nearby:
“Don’t eat the cucumbers, try the tomatoes, they’re delicious.”
Since these were meant to be eaten like fruit, Huai Yu had controlled the mutation value, keeping it around 8~10. Someone with fast hands already grabbed one, didn’t even care if it was washed, and took a big bite!
In an instant, their mouth was filled with juicy, sweet-sour goodness, and their eyes widened.
“Damn…”
Were they really going to eat up Captain Zhou’s entire retirement fund in one go?
Zhou Qian was busy chopping that big chunk of pork, following Huai Yu’s instructions—first removing the pigskin, then separating out the fat.
The pork belly had to be cut into small pieces, and the ribs needed to be chopped too… it was hectic!
Seeing these grown men hunched over the tomato basin, gorging themselves and even licking the juice off their fingers, it was honestly a bit of an eyesore!
Seeing that Huai Yu didn’t seem to mind, Zhou Qian quickly shooed them away:
“Go, go, stop crowding the kitchen! There’s no space to move around. Here, move these basins to the living room.”
After thinking for a bit, he added, “Forget it, it’s cooler outside. Set up a table out there, help yourselves.”
Everyone was more than happy!
Since he said so, they quickly went inside, took a quick look around, and brought out a table.
But the table was only big enough for a family, not for all of them. So they looked around, and in the end, just took the door off its hinges and placed it on top of the table.
Yep, now it was big enough.
When Zhou Qian finished cutting the meat and came out to call them, he was dumbfounded.
“Damn! You bunch of animals! Nobody’s leaving until the dishes are all washed!”
“For sure, absolutely.”
With good food, everyone was especially agreeable.
Not to mention just washing dishes and pots—they’d scrub the door clean before putting it back too! Otherwise, if they ruined this meal, there wouldn’t be a next time—it wasn’t worth it.
Huai Yu tidied up, ready to show off her cooking skills in the kitchen, and reminded them:
“There’s bamboo shoot tea boiling on the table, help yourselves.”
“Do you want the yam cooked with the meat or just eaten as is?”
“Did you bring out the boiled peanuts?”
The freshly boiled ones were super tasty—she couldn’t resist, and ate quite a few while purifying them.
“Brother Zhou Qian, come light the fire for me. We’ve got potatoes too, let’s make braised pork.”
In times like these, with this group of big eaters who rarely got anything rich, they needed a proper hearty dish to be satisfied.
Seeing it was already past 6 PM, she asked, “Is it okay if dinner’s a bit late?”
Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?
Never mind a late dinner—with such a big basin of tomatoes, salted peanuts, and smashed cucumber, they could practically count that as a meal already.
And hearing there’d be braised pork, and seeing the half-prepped fried carp…
Tsk!
Everyone was thrilled.
But since the hosts were still busy in the kitchen, they didn’t feel right just sitting around eating and drinking.
So they wandered around the yard, tidied up some firewood, cleared weeds by the door, swept the yard, and even tried to help in the kitchen…
But these big guys were too bulky—more of a hindrance than a help.
In the end, they just set the kettle on the stove:
“Is that pot in use? I’ll boil some water later.”
Zhou Qian shook his head: “It’s in use now, later.”
Then he called him over: “Don’t rush, come check if the steamed sweet potatoes are done.”
Sweet potatoes too?
Zhou Qian lifted the lid, and the sweet fragrance of the potatoes wafted out with the steam.
His friend was amazed, and looking at the kitchen packed full of food, even the thickest-skinned among them felt a bit embarrassed.
“How many points did all this cost?”
Zhou Qian grinned proudly: “Didn’t cost much. See? My own sister! Wood-type ability, a pro at growing veggies.”
And he wasn’t just showing off. He added:
“When you guys are out on routine clearing missions, if you find any edible mutated stuff—no matter how high the mutation value or how bad it tastes—bring it back.”
No problem there—those things usually got destroyed or buried on the spot. Bringing them back just took up a bit of truck space and actually saved them a step.
But—
“What do you want those for? Resell them? You can earn contribution points with that?”
Zhou Qian shook his head and said mysteriously:
“You all know Huai Yu lives near the Rose Corridor, right? I don’t even dare go near it, but she’s close. I’m thinking of collecting some of this stuff as offerings for the Rose Corridor.”
This idea came from Uncle Jujube.
At first, it sounded ridiculous, but the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. Back then, people used to bury fish guts and eggshells in flowerpots, didn’t they?
Now they didn’t dare plant much, but feeding the soil with potent mutated plants and animals seemed pretty reasonable too, right?
Turns out, Uncle Jujube wasn’t the only one thinking this way. Once Zhou Qian explained, they immediately understood, and even asked mysteriously:
“Is it just these things you need? We saw a mutated wild boar on a clearing mission once. Usually, you need a pig’s head for offerings, right?”
But that thing was hard to hunt.
Wild boars—tough, aggressive, and destructive. Normally, no one dared mess with them, and after mutation, their skin and flesh were like armor, hard for regular bullets to penetrate.
Their group didn’t have any abilities, and it took a lot of effort, gritting their teeth, to finally bring one down.
But if it’s for an offering at the Rose Corridor, not offering a pig’s head just didn’t seem proper.
