Chapter 32: Meeting
Because the dishes were meant for the audience to sample, Lu Yunxi prepared ten small bowls of cold noodles, which was just enough for a handful of lucky spectators to have a bite.
“Delicious! This is absolutely perfect for the summer heat!”
“Husband! I was watching exactly how the cook made this. If you like it, I’ll try making it for you when we get home! I guarantee mine will taste even better than hers!”
“Grandma, I want more!”
“Okay, okay, my dear grandson. Since you like it so much, I’ll give you the rest of my bowl!”
Seeing the audience’s enthusiastic reaction, Lu Yunxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, the chefs at the neighboring stations immediately tensed up.
Not only was this female cook incredibly fast, but her food was also a huge hit! It seemed they had a formidable opponent on their hands.
Unfortunately, nervousness easily breeds mistakes. As the other chefs kept casting anxious glances toward Lu Yunxi’s station, loud sputtering sounds erupted from their stoves, quickly followed by the acrid smell of burnt food.
Thankfully, Lu Yunxi had already received her scores and was able to leave the area directly, sparing herself from enduring the unpleasant stench of ruined dishes.
Lu Yunxi participated in two rounds of the competition but was ultimately eliminated in the second.
Jinzhou City was truly filled with hidden experts. The first round had only pitted her against chefs from her own small town, but in the second round, contestants from various towns were mixed together. To her shock, every single chef in that bracket was capable of producing a blue-quality dish! Furthermore, the second round required the use of exotic ingredients she had never handled before. As a result, her final dish only managed to reach green-quality.
Fortunately, winning first place in her initial bracket still earned her a generous prize—a full ten silver coins! This was more than enough money to finally enroll in some classes at the local martial arts academy.
The day after receiving her prize money, she rushed straight to the martial arts academy the moment her shift at the restaurant ended.
The academy only taught the absolute basics: basic boxing, basic palm techniques, basic whip techniques, and the like.
Lu Yunxi mentally calculated her savings and decided to start by learning basic Qinggong, the art of lightness. To her absolute delight, although a single session cost a hefty 500 copper coins, completing just one class officially added [Qinggong] to her system’s skill list. From that point on, as long as she practiced to increase her proficiency, the skill would level up automatically!
Thrilled by this discovery, she immediately spent the rest of her funds to unlock every basic technique the martial arts academy had to offer.
In the days that followed, she fell into a rigorous routine: working at the restaurant during the day and training like a maniac at night. This peaceful rhythm continued until the very first adventurer finally arrived in the town.
It was a relatively quiet afternoon at the restaurant. Having finished the lunch rush, Lu Yunxi was sitting with her eyes closed, practicing her basic internal energy circulation, when a loud voice suddenly drifted through the open window.
“Look, everyone! We’ve made it to a town! So this is how people in ancient times lived, huh?! The houses are so low; I feel like I have to bend down just to get through the door!
“Were ancient people really this short? But the NPCs around here don’t look short at all! Guys… look over there! There are actual shops lining this street, and the buildings up ahead look way taller and more imposing than the ones at the entrance!”
“[That’s right! Everyone, smash that like button and hit follow! Your host is the very first player to reach the town and broadcast it live!]”
“[Where are we heading next? Is there anywhere specific you guys want to see? Let me check… the building on the left is a furniture store, and the one on the right is…]”
Standing by the window, Lu Yunxi quietly watched the streamer excitedly run around the street. He would randomly touch the decorative lanterns hanging outside people’s doors and even try to pluck oranges from the potted trees on their porches. Unsurprisingly, his erratic behavior infuriated the local residents, prompting several people to grab their brooms and angrily chase him down the street.
Watching the chaotic scene unfold, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Within a few days of that streamer’s arrival, adventurers could be seen wandering everywhere, transforming the once-quiet town into a bustling, lively hub.
“Master Lu, there’s a strange customer out in the dining hall placing a ridiculous order. He specifically requested five dishes: one sour, one sweet, one bitter, one spicy, and one salty!” The waiter walked into the kitchen with a deeply troubled expression. He felt like the customer was intentionally trying to make things difficult. Who ordered food like that?!
Lu Yunxi paused her prep work, raising an eyebrow. “Could this specific order be from one of those new adventurers?”
“Master Lu, you’re amazing! You always guess right!” The waiter gave her an awe-struck thumbs up.
She just smiled. After all, she knew the tastes and habits of all their regular customers. For someone to suddenly make such an eccentric request, it had to be a player testing the game’s mechanics.
“Did he have any other specific requests?”
“No, that was it.”
Lu Yunxi nodded. “Alright, you go take a quick breather. I’ll handle this order for him.”
Scanning the available ingredients in the kitchen pantry, she quickly formulated a menu. She prepared a tangy pickled fish, a plate of bitter melon stir-fried with shredded pork, a fiery bowl of Sichuan-style boiled pork slices, a light and savory serving of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and finally, a sweet-scented osmanthus cake. Together, the five dishes perfectly captured the five distinct flavor profiles requested.
A short while after the waiter carried the massive tray out, he hurried back into the kitchen, his face glowing with excitement. “Master Lu, your cooking is truly unmatched! That customer out there is eating so happily that he actually insisted I give you this tip!”
This time, Lu Yunxi was genuinely surprised. Although her contract with the restaurant stated that she was entitled to keep any tips she earned, in reality, she had never received one. Traditional locals rarely tipped the kitchen; comparatively, the floor waiters were far more likely to scrape together a few extra coppers!
A bright smile spread across her face. This was her first official tip! Even if it was only a few copper coins, it was still a milestone to celebrate.
However, when the waiter opened his hand, he didn’t hand her copper. He handed her a shining silver coin!
Lu Yunxi’s eyes went wide with shock.
Are all the players in this era seriously this rich?!
“By the way, Master Lu, that guest also requested to see you in person. What do you think? Do you want to go out and meet him?” the waiter asked as he handed over the silver.
Lu Yunxi pondered the offer for a moment before shaking her head. “Forget it. I’ll just make sure to cook whatever he likes the next time he visits. What’s the point of meeting me face-to-face?”
The waiter nodded understandingly and headed back out to relay her refusal.
Happily pocketing the silver coin, Lu Yunxi quickly moved on, thinking nothing more of the encounter.
Meanwhile, in the real world—Interstellar Capital Star, the Fu Family Estate.
The sleek, high-tech gaming cabin hissed as it slowly opened. Fu Jinheng opened his eyes, sat up, and stepped out into the spacious room.
“Third Brother, you’re finally out! How was it? Is the game actually fun?” A young man who had been lounging lazily on the sofa immediately bolted upright the moment he saw him.
When the Number One Game Company had delivered the premium gaming pod to their estate, the younger brother had been desperate to play it—it was his summer vacation, after all! But to his utter dismay, his terrifying Third Brother had happened to be home.
Knowing he was absolutely no match for him, the youth could only watch helplessly as his older brother commandeered the gaming cabin for himself. Seeing how massively popular Ancient had become on the Star Network, he had been itching to experience the virtual world firsthand!
Unfortunately, premium gaming cabins were biometrically bound to a single user upon activation, preventing anyone else from logging in. Otherwise, he would have totally hijacked the machine while his brother was resting!
Fu Jinheng completely ignored his brother’s frantic questioning. He stood motionless in the center of the room, lost in deep thought. After a long silence, he finally spoke. “Little brother, do you think it is scientifically possible for the skills and items within this game to be replicated in the real world?”
“Third Brother, have you logged so many hours your brain fried? I read the developer logs; Ancient was meticulously reconstructed using archaeological data excavated from Old Blue Star. Where would we even find the resources to replicate any of that?” Just a single, authentic scrap of ancient fabric out in the real world cost billions of star coins at auction!
“I’m not talking about physical cultural artifacts,” Fu Jinheng said, shaking his head at his brother’s lack of vision before sinking back into reflection. “I mean the practical knowledge. For example, if we successfully learn the formulas and techniques to brew medicinal remedies inside the game, could we apply that exact knowledge to synthesize real medicine out here?”
“Hahaha! Third Brother, you’re hilarious! How could you possibly believe something like that?” The young man nearly fell off the sofa laughing. “Virtual reality mechanics are just automated system scripts! Inside a standard simulator, I can call down the wind and rain with the click of a button!”
Fu Jinheng ignored the laughter entirely.
He had played plenty of high-end holographic online games before. As his brother pointed out, those games usually imparted skills instantaneously with a single click, allowing a total novice to pilot a dreadnought-class mecha with master-level proficiency.
But Ancient was fundamentally different. Every single skill had to be physically learned and practiced in person. The basic boxing techniques he had acquired, for instance—he had literally learned them by mimicking the local NPCs, matching their movements punch for punch and kick for kick until his muscle memory adapted!
Because of this, a radical theory had taken root in his mind: What if the knowledge encoded within this virtual world is entirely authentic? If that were true, then the Number One Game Company had achieved something truly miraculous. They had somehow managed to weaponize a boundless treasury of genuine prehistoric data!
And most critically, there was the matter of the extraordinary meal he had eaten in the game today. The sheer depth of flavor and sensory feedback had vastly eclipsed anything served by the most elite five-star luxury hotels across the interstellar capital! If he could decipher those recipes… or, even if he couldn’t master them himself, he could always hire professional agents to infiltrate the game and extract the knowledge for him!
A sharp, predatory gleam flashed in his eyes. He turned to his younger brother, issuing a swift command: “Contact the game company immediately and order a massive shipment of premium gaming pods. I want to make sure every single member of this family has one!”
