She thought for a moment, then flipped her hand and took out a winter melon that was as tall as a person from the system. She also took out a full basket of potatoes, a few pieces of tofu, a few pieces of dried tofu, half a giant delicious radish, and half a giant delicious shiitake mushroom. As for the scallions, ginger, garlic, and various seasonings, she put them into a small bamboo bucket.

—Since this world has supernatural powers, it's understandable that she might be seen using the system's functions by accident, but things like plastic are inconvenient to appear.

Cut a large piece of winter melon, peel off the hard skin, remove the seeds, and score the surface. Then heat oil in a pan, place the winter melon skin-side down, and slowly fry it until it takes shape. Set it aside for later use.

Xu Milu was going to make one of the vegetarian dishes she learned from Ning Haiqiao: premium winter melon and vegetarian braised pork. Although it contained the word "meat," it was completely devoid of any animal flavor.

She checked the winter melon pieces in the pot and saw that they were almost cooked; the green color of the skin had turned into a slightly yellow caramel color before she picked them out with chopsticks.

Slice firm tofu into squares about the same size as a winter melon piece, then pan-fry them in oil. The tofu will change color in a short time, turning a golden brown that looks quite tempting.

Xu Milu scooped out the tofu slices, cut open the winter melon, and stacked them layer by layer, with the winter melon part acting as the fatty part and the tofu as the lean part. She stacked them according to the "three parts fat and two parts lean" shape of pork belly. When the combination was complete, the slightly yellow winter melon and the golden tofu pieces really looked like braised pork pieces at first glance.

This wasn't the end of it. Xu Milu nodded and used clean, steamed straw rope to tie up the "meat chunks" to prevent them from falling apart during stewing.

Once the oil in the pot is hot, add star anise and ginger slices to sauté until fragrant. Then, put the seven or eight pieces of "vegetarian meat" into the pot and fry them until they take shape. Then, turn them over little by little. When they are almost done, Xu Milu pours in a little soy sauce, brown sugar granules, and a little vinegar and simmers them together.

As the sauce thickened in the pot, the aroma of sweet and sour sauce filled the courtyard, and the vegetarian meat was covered with bright red sauce, looking just like real braised pork.

"It looks good, but the tofu isn't good enough. I need to buy a stone mill tomorrow to make tofu."

Xu Milu muttered to herself for a while, then poured out the waste oil in the pot and quickly cooked several quick dishes, including bean sprouts with dried tofu, stir-fried mushrooms and bok choy, and radish with dried tofu.

Her main dish was a sesame seed cake she bought at the West Market this morning. It was covered in sesame seeds, and each bite was crispy and delicious, making you want to eat more.

"Gah—"

Ah Chou struggled to eat the sesame flatbread, which was several times larger than herself, but seeing that Xu Milu hadn't touched her chopsticks and instead served two more portions of the dishes she had prepared, she tilted her head in confusion:

"Huh?"

"Today is the first day of moving. According to our family custom, we have to invite the neighbors to eat together for the first meal. These are all vegetarian dishes, so I think the little monk next door and Madam Yin can eat them too. I'll be back in a bit."

Xu Milu picked up her basket and went to knock on the door next door, but no one seemed to answer at Madam Yin's house. The door was locked, and she gave up after knocking for a while.

The lights were still on at the little novice's house, but she was a little unsure whether to knock on the door and bring him food.

She, a fake Taoist priest, lives next to a real monk—

Something feels off.

As Xu Milu hesitated, a shadow suddenly fell over her head. She looked up and saw a bald little monk clinging to the courtyard wall, his eyes incredibly bright and dark, seemingly glowing. He was scratching his head anxiously.

"That kid! Are you going to deliver the food or not? I'm so worried... I'm really anxious!!"