Chapter 81

"Is that the Great Wall from another world? It seems that there is a prairie if we go further..." Bei Qiao stopped his horse and looked into the distance: He couldn't run forward anymore. If the description of the official map was correct, the mountains and hills ahead were mostly places where bandits gathered, and it was not safe to go forward alone.

The bandit who had set a trap nearby and was waiting for someone to fall into it said: "Why don't you take two more steps forward! Damn, the duck that was in hand is about to fly away again! How come these lone travelers are so clever nowadays!"

"Boss, when are we going to start?" Lai San, who was squatting in the bushes, scratched his neck. Mosquitoes were very crazy in autumn. In just a short while, he had three bites on his body.

The ghost spat out the grass leaves in his mouth and said, "Let's rob the next one. This guy looks a bit weird."

"Why is it so weird?" Lai San scratched his leg again: "Can't we just rob this guy? He's been squatting all afternoon."

"You talk too much nonsense! Keep staring!" Gui Yi slapped Lai San on the head.

"Did you set this trap?" A faint voice came from behind the two of them.

"Who are you kidding!" Lai San was timid and jumped up in fright at the sudden voice. Gui Yi, who was lowering his head, was hit on the chin by his shoulder. He covered his mouth in pain and jumped up: "It hurts so much! You suddenly stood up, are you trying to kill me? Do you think you are the boss?"

"I didn't do it, boss! Stop hitting me, stop hitting me..." Lai San covered his head and ran away.

"You still know that I'm your boss? Stop right there!" Gui Yi grinned and swung his fist as he chased after him.

Bei Qiao stood by and watched the two people fighting for no apparent reason. They fought and ran, getting farther and farther away: What are these two people doing?

Bei Qiao tried to approach and ask questions, but the two men fought and retreated, keeping their distance. Time was running out, so Bei Qiao finally gave up trying to get information from them. He jumped back on his horse and headed back to the city. Seeing Bei Qiao disappear in the distance, Gui Yi, who had been pretending to fight, breathed a sigh of relief. He gave Lai San a hard shove on the back of his head, and panting, he distanced himself from him, sank to the ground, and began to recover.

"Boss, why did you hit me?"

"What do you know? This is called the art of war! The ancients once said, if you don't want to be beaten, then beat yourself first. Beat others so that they can't attack you again!"

Lai San, who was beaten black and blue, said: I have little education, please don’t lie to me. Did the ancients really say that?

"Doesn't this new mask look ferocious?" Bei Qiao, riding back on horseback, took off the mask and placed it in her hand, slowing down to examine it carefully. Lai San had just been beaten, his face completely bewildered, but she had seen it all clearly from the side. The person who started it clearly thought he'd get a beating from both of them, so he decided to strike first, starting a fight among himself... Did he think if they just fought among themselves, others wouldn't attack them?

"Forget it, I'll just try to wear this mask less in public in the future." Bei Qiao shook his head and stuffed the mask into his canvas bag: maybe it would be nice to wear it at night to scare away bad guests.

Bei Qiao's journey north wasn't far; by the time he reached the capital, the sun was still a little way off. After returning his horse to the stables at the inn, Bei Qiao checked the time and headed straight to the Chamber of Commerce, intending to complete one last set of quests and bid a formal farewell to the friends he'd made.

Dan Ruo: You're leaving too? Why are you leaving earlier than me?

Qiao Qiao: I’ve been out for a long time, I want to go back and have a rest.

Dan Ruo: Well, have a bon voyage then.

Haiwei: Bon voyage!

Wen Xiang: Be careful on the road. I just happened to receive a cooking quest today. Do you have time to come with me and try my cooking? This time, it's a banquet hosted by the players themselves, so there shouldn't be any accidents like last time.

This time, Wen Xiang's Chamber of Commerce mission involved hosting a breakup party for a player. This player's boyfriend had hooked up with a wealthy indigenous woman in another world, and upon discovering the situation, she had broken up with him immediately. She had even organized a breakup party today, inviting friends she knew in real life who were currently in the capital to join her for dinner, ensuring the news of their breakup spread widely.

Dan Ruo: That sounds cool. Are the man’s friends also invited?

Wen Xiang: I don’t know about that. The girl didn’t say anything and I didn’t ask.

Dan Ruo: Oh my gosh! I have to eat Aunt Xiangxiang’s cooking this time!

Hai Wei: I’m going too, but I won’t go to evening self-study tonight.

Qiao Qiao: I have to go.

The cooking quest Wen Xiang had accepted took place at a restaurant in the outer city, not far from the official Chamber of Commerce. The player who had posted the quest had booked several private rooms and borrowed a small kitchen from the restaurant, intending to have a hearty meal in the game, a tribute to their wasted years.

Wen Xiang led the three of them out of the Chamber of Commerce basement and walked all the way to the entrance of the restaurant to meet up with the other chef players. After all the players who had accepted the quest arrived, everyone lined up and went upstairs, entering the small kitchen in an orderly manner, finding the stoves that had been assigned long ago, and began their respective preparations.

"Okay, our stove is here. I'm responsible for the dishes on the menu. Please help me get the ingredients." Pointing to the stove by the window, Wen Xiang quickly tied her apron and said, "Do you know what ingredients are needed for these dishes?"

"Of course!" Hai Wei rolled up his sleeves, looking proud: "Only by knowing what the food you eat is made of can you know if you are allergic to it!"

"Do you have any other allergies?"

"I didn't have any, but I do have it in this body now." Hai Wei covered her face. "Because I couldn't figure out the allergen, I couldn't go out for the first few days after going online. I was swollen like a pig's head."

"So is there anything on this menu that you can't eat?"

"No, I've seen it."

"I thought they were renting the courtyard downstairs." Dan Ruo held a large cabbage and went to the window, glancing at the courtyard downstairs: "This is different from what I thought!"

"The girl just has a little money, not enough to rent the whole yard." Wen Xiang washed the pot and began to assign work to the three people: "Okay, stop looking at the yard... and stop staring at Qiao Qiao, you've been staring at her all the way. There's still an hour before the food is served, so let's cook the food early so we can eat earlier!" He knew that the girl was pretty, but he didn't have to stare at her all the time, right?

"Oh, here it comes..."

While the players didn't book the courtyard, they had booked the entire small kitchen, and now all of them were busy at the stove. The time and order for serving the dishes had been set in advance, and by the time Wen Xiang finished cleaning up and started cooking, the first few dishes had already been brought out by several players to the private room.

"What a nice smell..." Dan Ruo sniffed.

"Get the tableware ready, our food will be ready soon..."

After working for almost an hour, the four of them finally had time to sit down and taste the delicious food made by Wen Xiang. Bei Qiao usually didn't eat online, but this time, she stayed a little longer because Wen Xiang's cooking skills were really good.

"Aunt Xiangxiang, this is your cooking skill!" Danluo hugged the bowl in her arms and gave a thumbs-up: "If I had enough money, I would have wanted to stay in the capital for a few more days and eat more of your meals!"

"Then go for it. Auntie is not afraid of you eating for free."

"No, no, Auntie isn't afraid, but I am!" Dan Ruo shook her head vigorously: "I'm afraid of becoming a nasty person who takes advantage of others."

"Haha, how could anyone hate Ruoruo... Qiao Qiao, what are you looking at over there?"

"There's something lively going on downstairs in the yard." Bei Qiao, who had already finished his meat dumpling, leaned against the window frame with his arms folded. "Are you guys watching?"

"Is there something exciting to watch? Make room for me!" Dan Ruo stuffed the last two meat swallows into her mouth, chewing them while running to the window: "Auntie Xiangxiang, come here quickly, I'll save you a good seat!"

"No need to take it. I'm going to go out for a while. You guys can take your time to watch it. Remember to wash the dishes when you come back." Wen Xiang smiled and shook his head. He put down the bowl and followed a few players who were in charge of cooking to walk out.

"What's so interesting about the hustle and bustle?" Hai Wei followed Dan Ruo, shaking his head while holding the bowl: I don't want to join in the fun, I just came to see what's so interesting about the hustle and bustle.

Seeing Bei Qiao and the others standing by the window, the other players, curious, followed suit and squeezed in to look out. Bei Qiao, who was already sitting on the outside, was immediately pushed aside. The small kitchen was small, and the only two windows were instantly blocked by a dozen players of varying heights. At this moment, if a gust of wind tried to blow into the kitchen through the window, it wouldn't be able to get in.

Hai Wei came to see what was going on, but when she came to her senses, she realized she couldn't squeeze out anymore: "Stop pushing, my bowl is going to fall!"

Hearing Hai Wei's roar, he unconsciously looked up at the people in the yard: "..." What's going on with those heads crowding at the window?

Bang!

"Meow?"

"ah!"

"What's wrong with you?" Wen Xiang received the reward for this task from the player who posted the task. When he came back, he saw Hai Wei standing by the window in a daze, with a group of players with embarrassed expressions standing next to him.

When she learned that the bowl had fallen out of the window and shattered, and no one was hurt, she breathed a sigh of relief and patted Hai Wei on the shoulder: "It was just an accidental breakage of a bowl. Just apologize to the store and pay the price. It's not a very valuable item. Why are you crying like this?"

"We've already compensated for the bowl. He's just feeling sorry for the meat dumplings that were eaten by the cat." A player replied.

Wen Xiang: "Ah, this..." Although he was very happy that the child liked his cooking skills, the ingredients were gone.

"That's right, this is the place... Hey, someone was eating meat dumplings here just now, right?" Speak of the devil and he will appear. Just when Wen Xiang was thinking about how to comfort Hai Wei, a girl in a red gauze robe walked in from outside, holding a little orange cat in her arms that was licking its mouth.

"Yes, so you are here to pay for the meat dumplings?" Hai Wei raised his head with lifeless eyes and glanced at the orange cat weakly: My meat dumplings!