Chapter 71 Punishment

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That evening, She Ning ate braised pork ribs and drank soda, enjoying a satisfying and hearty meal.

After dinner, they went out for a walk around the village as usual.

As night falls, the village, which used to be pitch black with only a few dim candlelight, is now bathed in a warm yellow glow, with lights on in every household and streetlights illuminating the main roads and the large open space.

Just a few days ago, she was nagging about when the electricity would be turned on. In the two days she was away, streetlights and electric lights sprang up like mushrooms after rain and were installed in a flash.

Thanks to the merchants who used to come to the village to buy fruits and vegetables, every household in the village has some extra money. Their village is one of the few in the surrounding area where the whole village has electricity, and they even raised funds to install streetlights on the roads and the playground.

Back home, She Ni enthusiastically explained to She Ning how to use the light. Nowadays, light bulbs are all pull-type, with a wire connected to the switch. Pull it once to turn it on, and pull it again to turn it off.

Each time she pulled the switch, it made a "click" sound, and She Ni laughed "click click click" every time she pulled it. As the switch was turned on, warm yellow light illuminated the entire room, creating a cozy and comfortable feeling, just like home.

Lying in bed that night, She Ning finally had time to study the new props.

Rare props

Old books

Note: From the Lost Food Continent, the legendary Food God's Notebook, the dishes made from it have a chance to come with special effects.

Small print: Special empowerment requires ingredients from the Gourmet Continent.

Instructions: Unlock recipes with points (different levels require different numbers of points).

She Ning's eyes lit up as she looked at the annotations on the system interface. This was like a pillow sent just when she was sleepy. Food is the most important thing for people. With this book, her small restaurant would be like a tiger with wings, and it could be upgraded to a big restaurant in no time.

She Ni and She Hongmei slept next to her, so She Ning couldn't just take the book out and look at it directly. She got up, went to the bathroom, closed the door, and then retrieved the book from the system.

The book lay in her palm, tattered and worn, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch. She Ning reached out and carefully opened it.

The first page of the book says the first dish: *****, requiring 1 point.

The dish names and cooking methods are all replaced with ***, so it seems that you need to accumulate points to see the dish names and cooking methods.

She Ning glanced at her personal attributes interface and saw that she had 337 points left. The recipes on the first few pages of the book were all discounted by 90% during the promotion.

"To celebrate the host opening more than 10 blind boxes, a limited-time recipe discount event will be launched, with all recipes at a 90% discount, limited to 10 recipes only."

The system, which hadn't appeared for a long time, broadcast the report in perfect, clear voice. After it finished speaking, it even displayed several buckets of beautiful fireworks on the system interface.

I wonder where they learned to do it with such a ritualistic approach.

The fireworks were beautiful, but She Ning's mind was entirely on the 10% discount. The first few pages of the menu were all one point each after the discount, which was a great deal.

She Ning tapped her fingers rapidly, buying, buying, buying. So what if she couldn't see the names of the dishes? It was the God of Cookery's notes! Buying it was like making a profit, right?

After using up all ten limited slots, the available points on the system interface decreased from 337 to 327. Then, streaks of white light flashed on the worn-out book, and the recipe names that were previously hidden by asterisks began to appear.

Braised lion's head meatballs, stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, twice-cooked pork in a dry pot, blood duck, deep-fried cicada pupae, roasted grasshoppers, braised chicken with pork belly...

Looking at the familiar dish names, She Ning was stunned. This Lost Food Continent seemed to be quite down-to-earth, with dish names that looked just like the food from their planet, China.

Could it be what she's thinking?

To verify whether her guess was correct, She Ning reached out and clicked on the recipe steps for each dish as if seeking confirmation.

The first one is braised lion's head meatballs.

1. Mince the pork belly into a paste, chop the water chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms, add eggs, minced green onions and ginger, and stir in the same direction until well mixed. Then, beat the meat filling and shape it into a large round ball, similar to a lion's head.

2. Heat oil in a wok to 60% heat, then fry the lion's head meatballs until golden brown. Remove and set aside.

3. Then sauté the scallions and ginger until fragrant, add seasonings such as light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar to make a braising sauce. Finally, put the lion's head meatballs into the braising sauce and simmer over low heat until they are flavorful.

The menu looked familiar, but not wanting to give up, She Ning ordered stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, twice-cooked pork in a dry pot, and other dishes.

Stir-fried Beef with Yellow Peppers

Slice the beef tenderloin thinly against the grain, then marinate with light soy sauce, cornstarch...

Dry pot twice-cooked pork

Put the pork in cold water first...

...

The methods described in the book are almost identical to those in China, and the details of cooking are also quite similar.

"Master, the Lost Continent mentioned in those tattered books, could it be referring to China?" With a question raised immediately, and prioritizing speed, She Ning asked.

"No comment," the system said coldly.

"One point," She Ning bid.

The system remained silent.

"Two points," she continued to raise the price.

"Three-point system".

"Four-point system"

"Five points"

The points kept increasing, and the system excitedly awaited She Ning to raise the price further.

"Four points," She Ning shouted.

The system was dumbfounded.

"Three points," She Ning continued.

"Yes, the Lost Gourmet Continent is a parallel line to the current planet. At some point in history, it began to branch out. After the planet's spiritual energy was revived, all kinds of food contained spiritual energy, and humans were able to enter the Dao through food. The tattered books were the introductory cultivation manuals compiled by the God of Food, the highest ability user at that time."

With She Ning's intelligence, she would definitely figure this out later; it's not a secret. Fearing that her points would plummet after she realized it, the system, whose points were already depleted, quickly began to explain.

Will this planet experience a spiritual resurgence?

After listening to the system's explanation, She Ning had a feeling that it was indeed true. She thought that everything could branch out, and that she had also encountered something as mysterious as a system. She asked curiously.

"No, this world is themed around scientific development, and it continues to follow a technological path. From the early steam engine to later quantum technology, every step humanity has taken has been about exploring the unknown boundaries through technology. In the future, whether it's interstellar travel or artificial intelligence, this planet will be primarily driven by technological development, and technology will be the core force propelling the world's progress."

The system answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

Hearing the system's words, She Ning paused, her fingers gripping the pages of the tattered book. She recalled that when she transmigrated, artificial intelligence, drones, and other technologies in China were already quite advanced. Various AI software functions were available on the market, and the technological development was so advanced that people felt they might enter the interstellar era at any moment.

Without the blessing of spiritual energy, this tattered book can only be used as a cookbook. However, it contains a wide variety of cuisines and can be considered a cookbook encyclopedia. It describes the best ways to cook dishes, and the details it mentions are very important and useful.

Later, She Ning processed the ingredients for the braised meat according to the method described, adjusted the ratio of the braising liquid, and the braised meat became so fragrant that it could be smelled for miles around, and the taste was even better. This directly solidified the title of the number one braised meat dish in Xiahe Town and Mumian City.

Even the braised meat from Judinglou Restaurant, which has always had a mediocre reputation, has to avoid competing with it.

The braised food shops that Shejia Restaurant represented opened one after another, and the orders for the cannery were so high that the factory immediately purchased additional production lines and started selling the braised meat cans out of the province, radiating from Xiahe Town to all parts of the country.

She Hongmei's business is booming and thriving.

At this moment, She Ning learned the information she wanted to know. She agreed to let the system deduct three points from her available points, leaving her with 324 available points. After receiving the points, the system immediately hid back in the depths of She Ning's mind.

As the night grew quiet, She Ning quickly turned off the light switch, left the bathroom, and went back to her room to sleep.

The next morning, She Ning arrived at school before morning exercises and won first prize in the speech contest. The principal said he would praise her during the morning exercises and let her speak on stage as an outstanding representative.

She Ning initially refused, but the principal insisted, saying that he wanted to set a good example for his classmates and younger students. Unable to refuse his earnest request, She Ning finally agreed.

After receiving praise and giving a speech, She Ning returned to Class 1 of the third grade with the rest of the group. She usually doesn't come to class except for monthly and final exams. Now that she has Olympiad tutoring, she comes to school more often, but she goes to the Olympiad class. Even so, the classroom in Class 1 of the third grade still specially reserved a seat for her.

The seats were clean and neatly arranged.

Sitting in her seat, She Ning lowered her head and began to read attentively. She was quite focused when she read, automatically blocking out external distractions.

The students in the class rarely saw She Ning, so when she was in class this time, they couldn't help but secretly turn their heads to steal glances at her.

Seeing their idol up close, they didn't dare to disturb her. Seeing how amazing She Ning was and how diligently she studied, they were instantly inspired and started working on their materials.

Wang Weiwei and her classmates sat at the same table as She Ning. They exchanged a glance and then tacitly started working on their practice problems.

When Director Xia came over to call She Ning, she had just finished a test paper.

"Ah Ning, there's been progress on Lin Hongwei's matter." Standing in the corridor outside the classroom, Director Xia turned around and said to She Ning, who was behind her.

The No. 1 Middle School reported that Lin Hongwei was unfortunately hospitalized and hasn't returned to class yet. They also heard that he fractured both hands, which is terrible, but it won't affect the school's punishment of him.

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished.

The No. 1 Middle School of the city has imposed severe penalties on him for stealing other people's speech drafts, maliciously harming the interests of others, and for his egregious behavior of insulting classmates.

She Ning hummed in agreement, pursed her lips, and asked, "What exactly is the punishment?"

"You will be placed under observation at school and will also have to publicly apologize to both you and Xiaomin in front of all the teachers and students," Director Xia said. "According to the teachers at No. 1 Middle School, Lin Hongwei has always been seen as an excellent student with outstanding character and academic performance. Our actions in demanding an explanation have shocked them."

However, the school has always adhered to the motto of seeking truth from facts and fairness in running the school. After investigation, they found that Lin Hongwei did indeed have such problems. They did not care about Lin Hongwei's background and directly punished him.

Although she hadn't had much contact with Lin Hongwei, based on that one day alone, She Ning felt that Lin Hongwei wouldn't accept the punishment so easily.

She Ning guessed correctly. After learning of the school's punishment, Lin Hongwei caused another scene in the hospital room.