254

This is strange. Everyone comes here to get food, so why are the good dishes piled at the back and only the bad dishes are given to them?

And where was the food in his dining hall? Why didn't the steward give it to him?

Du Heng was originally waiting obediently for the steward to distribute the food, but after the steward gave the food for the second dining hall to Xiao Cai, he ignored them.

Du Heng could no longer hold his temper. He asked, "Steward, I am a handyman in the dining hall of Shenxiu Peak. Where is my ration for today?"

After hearing Du Heng's question, the steward looked Du Heng up and down and said, "Shenxiu Peak's First Canteen? I haven't received any application for the First Canteen. When will the First Canteen open for meals?"

Du Heng said: "We started eating at noon yesterday. The lunch dishes were provided by the Second Dining Hall. There was nothing left in the evening after noon."

The manager frowned and looked at Du Heng: "Is this true? Why didn't Ding Lu tell me?"

Ding Lu? Du Heng thought for a while before he realized that Ding Lu should be the name of Old Ding who assigned him to the First Dining Hall yesterday. Du Heng said respectfully, "Manager, although Old Ding did not inform you, the First Dining Hall of Shenxiu Peak has already opened for meals yesterday. There are still so many people waiting to eat today. You must order some dishes for me anyway."

The steward looked at Du Heng gloomily and said, "The vegetables I buy every day are all in quotas. You didn't apply to me yesterday, so how would I know to buy them? I don't have any vegetables for you today. If you want vegetables, come tomorrow."

Du Heng had something to say: "But Manager, there are so many dishes behind you, how come there are no more dishes?"

The manager looked at Du Heng as if he were a monster. "Where did this ignorant servant come from? Is this the dish you want? Your dining hall only has 20 seats for cultivators at most. The daily meals for low-level cultivators are standardized! The dishes behind me are for the Jindan Yuanying Zhenren from each main peak. Those Zhenren cultivate day and night to work hard for the development of the sect. How can the sect just sit back and watch them occasionally want to satisfy their appetite?"

Du Heng: ...No... Didn't they say that those who have established their foundation can take the Bigu Pill? Can't the Golden Core Yuanying cultivators just take the pills? It's too shameless to compete with low-level cultivators for food, right?

Moreover, why did his dining hall only have 20 seats? There were more than 30 people eating at noon yesterday. According to his observation, there were still more monks in the training ground next door. If those monks wanted to eat in his dining hall, would it be okay for him to take some food?

Du Heng wanted to explain, but Xiao Cai quickly pulled him back: "Stop talking! If you keep talking and irritate Steward Wang, you won't get any good food in the future. You don't understand the rules here when you first come here, but you will understand them after a while."

The manager looked at Xiao Cai with appreciation and said, "You should learn from him. He looks quite handsome. Why is he so unwise?"

Du Heng clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "Manager Wang, I just came here and I don't know the rules. Please bear with me. But there are really more than 20 people eating in my dining hall. Can you be flexible and give me some ingredients so that I can go back and make lunch and dinner?"

Manager Wang rolled his eyes and said gloomily, "The daily quota is limited. I can't give you ingredients today. If you want to come, come tomorrow and tell me the ingredients you want later. Remember, there are only 20 quotas for dining in the dining hall. I know you want to say that you are close to the training ground, so it is inevitable that some Jindan Zhenren will go to the dining hall to eat. Remember, if you meet them eating, ask them for proof, and bring the proof to me next time to exchange for ingredients."

Du Heng knew that he was being targeted by the steward. No matter how much he said, the steward could crush him with just the word "rules". He began to have a dilemma. Where should he get the ingredients for today?

Xiao Cai whispered to Du Heng, "I'll talk to Chef Zhu when I get back and see if I can give you some ingredients. We have more than 500 seats in the cafeteria, but not many people eat there." Du Heng nodded gratefully, "Thank you."

Xiao Cai pointed to a registration desk next to the flying boat and said, "Since you are here, you might as well report the ingredients you want. But you have to remember that the dishes you report every day cannot exceed the level. For example, there are 20 quotas in your dining hall, and these quotas are for inner disciples below the foundation-building stage in the training ground next door. Their daily standard is two kilograms of vegetables, one kilogram of meat, half a kilogram of oil, and two kilograms of rice. Don't exceed this level."

Du Heng was not very good at arithmetic, but he had a helper. Xiaoxiao reminded Du Heng and he remembered it. He would help Du Heng calculate the weight of the things he could carry in a while!

Du Heng walked to the registration desk next to the flying boat. As soon as he opened his mouth, he heard the person behind the registration desk say, "Manager Wang just told me. You can go back. I will purchase ingredients for the dining hall starting tomorrow. You won't lose a pound of meat, nor will you gain a grain of rice."

Du Heng touched his nose. It seemed that Xiaoxiao didn't need to calculate, no matter how much Xiaoxiao calculated. The decision was in the hands of Manager Wang and others.

On the second day after arriving at Shenxu Palace, Du Heng received friendly assistance from Chef Zhu. He received four baskets of not-so-juicy vegetables and two arms-long pieces of meat. Du Heng sat on a chair in the dining hall and stroked Xiaoxiao, who came to comfort him: "It's okay, it will be fine tomorrow."

Du Heng finally experienced the pain of a good cook having no rice to cook. The ingredients were only eggplant, radish, cucumber and cabbage. Even if he racked his brains, there were only a few dishes he could cook. The only breakthrough was the taste of the food. To make the food taste different under limited conditions, it required a certain level of skill.

So at noon, the monks in the cafeteria tasted fried shredded radish meatballs, cucumbers with sauce, hot and sour cabbage, and only one piece of eggplant box with a little bit of minced meat inside for each person.

The soup was made from the scraps of cabbage stalks. Du Heng thought it didn't have enough oil, so he specially fried it with lard.

They were all very homely dishes. Unexpectedly, everyone enjoyed the food so much. Not only was no one picky about food, but everyone also praised Du Heng's cooking for being delicious.

Du Heng was in a heavy mood. He felt very sorry for the monks who came to the cafeteria to eat, but he had to tell everyone that they would not have dinner again.

Because there were sixty people having lunch at noon, not even the soup was left from the dishes Du Heng prepared.

Du Heng looked a little depressed today, so Jiang Shangzhou asked him curiously, "What's wrong?"

Du Heng sighed: "There are only 20 seats in the dining hall. If so many people come to eat tomorrow, I still won't have enough ingredients."

Jiang Shangzhou smiled and said, "Isn't this easy? You wrote on the sign at the door that the food is only for twenty people, first come first served."

Du Heng shook his head frantically when he heard this: "No, no, how can we do things this way?"

He was shy, and people came to eat and praised him. He couldn't stand at the door and say to everyone: Come on, show your status, you can't come to eat if you are not an inner disciple in the Qi Refining Stage. He couldn't write a sign like Jiang Shangzhou said to tell everyone that there were only 20 servings of food. His food was not a treasure, and people coming to eat was a recognition of him. It was wrong for him to write that.

Du Heng would never do such a thing, even if he were beaten to death. Even if it was not his fault, it would become his fault if he wrote it like this.

Du Heng said, "Manager Wang, who is in charge of preparing dishes, said that if there are Jindan or Yuanying Zhenren who are not included in the quota and come to eat in the dining hall, they can be asked to provide a certificate, and I can take the certificate to exchange dishes. Do you know what kind of certificate that is?"

Jiang Shangzhou hesitated for a while after hearing this: "Proof? What is that?" After a while, he suddenly realized: "I see, they are talking about the seal of the inner disciples of Shenxu Palace, right?"

Du Heng didn't know what it was, Jiang Shangzhou said: "Originally, cultivators above the foundation building stage can take the fasting pill. After reaching the golden elixir stage, cultivators can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth without eating. However, not needing and not wanting are two different concepts. Even cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage occasionally have a desire for food.

"After reaching the Golden Core stage, monks can open caves and assign servants or sword boys to serve them. When monks want to eat, servants or sword boys will take the monks' seals to the main dining hall of Shengu Peak to exchange for ingredients. If monks don't want to cook by themselves, the main dining hall will cook for them and let the servants take it over. In order to save trouble, monks usually keep their seals directly in the main dining hall. Hmm... So, having an extra monk come to eat at your place does cause you trouble."

Du Heng blinked and said mysteriously, "Let me tell you one thing. Actually, I am very happy that they come to my place for dinner. I don't think that they are causing trouble for me by coming to my place for dinner."

Jiang Shangzhou was surprised. He smiled brightly and asked, "Why?"

Du Heng said happily, "For someone who likes to cook, the happiest thing is to have my cooking recognized by everyone. If there were any leftovers from my cooking, I would doubt my cooking skills. You see, the dishes I made these past two days were very ordinary, but everyone was very considerate and ate them all. I am really happy."

When he was cooking at home, Jing Nan and Feng Gui would complain about whether the food was salty, bland, sweet, or spicy. But here, they ate whatever Du Heng cooked, without complaining or nagging, which was better than anything else.

Especially today's shredded radish meatballs, everyone who has eaten them has praised them highly. Where can you find such good diners? Just for such cooperative diners, Du Heng has to stubbornly keep the canteen going.

Jiang Shangzhou was shocked by Du Heng's answer. He was stunned for a long time before he laughed: "Hahahaha, Du Heng, you are the funniest person I have ever met. Okay, you hold on for now. If you really can't hold on any longer, tell me and I'll go to the main dining hall to transfer my seal."

Du Heng smiled and bowed: "Okay, thank you in advance. By the way, why didn't Xiaoye come to dinner today?" Du Heng had saved food for him, but he didn't expect that the child didn't show up.

Jiang Shangzhou smiled mysteriously: "He went into seclusion."

Du Heng sighed, "The sword cultivators in Shenxu Palace are really hard-working." Even a child as young as Ye Wenqiu had to study and practice hard, and the calluses on his palms were so thick at such a young age. Compared with these hard-working sword cultivators, what Du Heng encountered was nothing.

255

Well, it still counts. At least the next day when Du Heng saw the twenty portions of food that Wang Guanshi had distributed to him, he felt a lump in his throat.

His stuff filled two baskets, and in terms of weight, it was indeed not less than the amount, but in terms of quality, it was terrible.

There was only one kind of vegetable in the basket, which was yellowed greens. Even if you feed it to ordinary animals, they would not eat it. The meat was just a piece of fat, with no lean meat at all.

Even someone as good-tempered as Du Heng was angry. He suppressed his anger and asked Steward Wang: "Steward Wang, why are my dishes different from others?"

Steward Wang put his hands on his waist and looked at Du Heng expressionlessly: "What's the difference? Aren't these meat dishes and vegetarian dishes? They are all distributed according to the number of people in the dining hall, not one ounce more or one ounce less."

Du Heng took three deep breaths and said slowly, "Meat dishes are okay, but vegetarian dishes are really inedible."

Manager Wang sneered, "Why can't we eat it? It's obviously your fault. You should reflect on why other people can make delicious dishes with the same vegetables, but you tell me that we can't eat it?"

Next to Manager Wang came the manager who had registered yesterday. He scanned Du Heng with his slick eyes, and Du Heng's hair stood on end. He felt that the look was like stripping him of his clothes and licking his whole body, and he felt so sick that his stomach was churning.

The man said, "Can you do it? If not, get out of here as soon as possible. There are so many people trying their best to get into the Yicantang at Shenxiu Peak. Don't be ungrateful." As soon as the man said this, Du Heng understood why he was being targeted. He probably got in the way of others in the Yicantang.

Manager Wang snorted coldly: "You are not strong enough and you still say our dishes are not good. If you have the ability, go out and buy them yourself. If you order dishes from us, they are top-notch dishes."

Du Heng still remembered the first rule in the handbook: handymen were not allowed to leave Shenxu Palace except during the rest period. If he really wanted to go buy groceries, he would probably lose his handyman job as soon as he left the mountain gate.

Du Heng didn't come to work for the few taels of silver, and the sense of honor was secondary. What he needed was to gain a firm foothold, and then find a way to find out the situation of the forbidden area in Shenxu Palace. He couldn't be driven away like this without knowing the reason.

Seeing that Du Heng remained calm, Manager Wang provoked him, "Anyway, I can only buy dishes like this. If you want other ingredients, go get them yourself."

Du Heng said nothing, he picked up the basket and turned to leave. Xiao Cai and the others hurriedly followed him up with their loads on their shoulders. Du Heng said nothing on the way up the mountain. Xiao Cai comforted Du Heng and said, "It's okay, I've already talked to Chef Zhu, I'll give you 40 more servings of food today. Don't take Wang Jian's words to heart, he just wants to squeeze you out so that he can arrange for his family to work in the dining hall."

Du Heng said calmly: "I'm not angry."

Xiao Cai thought Du Heng was just making a perfunctory comment, so he kept on talking: "Everyone knows that the First Canteen is a lucrative place. In the past, there were 300 people in the First Canteen alone, so there was too much money, and so many eyes were on it. But they didn't cook well, and made the First Canteen a mess. Master Gu in the training ground couldn't stand it anymore and closed the First Canteen. Now that you're here, the First Canteen has reopened, and they're thinking again. You'd better be patient."

After hearing Xiao Cai's explanation, Du Heng was no longer angry: "It's okay, I will keep calm. By the way, Xiao Cai, can you give me a copy of the Shenxu Palace Kitchen Notice and the Miscellaneous Servants Notice later?"

Xiao Cai scratched his head in confusion: "Hey? What do you want that for?"

Du Heng said calmly: "Let me take a look." Xiao Cai was confused: "Huh? What are you looking at that thing for?"

Du Heng added: "I didn't study it carefully when I came in. Now I have to take a closer look to avoid falling into their trap."

Xiao Cai nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, we have plenty of that kind of stuff in the second dining hall. I'll give it to you later."

When Du Heng returned to the dining hall, Jiang Shangzhou came over again. He saw the vegetables and meat in the basket and couldn't help but frowned: "Why did you only take so little?"

Du Heng was reading the instructions for menial jobs, and he didn't even raise his head: "Xiao Jiang, why are you here again? Others are practicing but you are running around. If you are caught by your master, you will be punished."

Du Heng thought Jiang Shangzhou should be a foundation-building disciple who was practicing in the training ground. Other cultivators were strict with themselves and reflected on themselves three times a day, but after he got to know Du Heng on the first day, he slipped over on the second day. Today, it was not even the end of the morning hour, and he slipped over again, so Du Heng said this casually.

Jiang Shangzhou laughed loudly. He sat down next to Du Heng, hugged Xiaoxiao and rubbed her: "My master? My master has ignored me for a long time."

Xiaoxiao laughed so hard from being rubbed. Du Heng looked at the sunny boy and said, "Your master must have given up on you."

Jiang Shangzhou looked at what Du Heng was holding and asked, "What do you think of this thing?"

Du Heng closed the manual for menial tasks, with a blazing fire in his eyes: "Of course, we have to find a way to get the ingredients!" Jiang Shangzhou was confused: "Huh?"

Du Heng put down the chores, stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Jiang Shangzhou followed him carrying rotten vegetables: "You forgot to take the vegetables."

But Du Heng didn't go to the kitchen. He opened the backyard and stretched his muscles: "Come, let's grow some vegetables."

Jiang Shangzhou: ...

There is a formation next to the dining hall. Although it is not a gathering spirit formation, it can isolate a lot of golden spirit energy. Du Heng would not feel suffocated and uncomfortable living in the wing room. In fact, he always thought that although the front yard was elegant, it could not compete with growing vegetables. He did not need rockery and strange rocks or small bridges and flowing water. He would rather see a yard of healthy growing vegetables when he opened the door.

Du Heng's hand flashed with spiritual light, and he slapped his hand on the ground, and the bluestones on the ground were moved by the spiritual energy. Du Heng piled the bluestones one by one beside him, and then moved the rockery in the yard to one side. Now there was a piece of land in front of him, and it was estimated that there might be one acre of land. If it was properly configured, he could grow a lot of vegetables.

In the middle of the land, there is a small ditch flowing diagonally.

The spiritual energy circulated in the ditch, and Du Heng cleared the silt in the ditch and piled it on the ground on both sides. The land under the bluestone slab was a little dry and lacked water, so Du Heng poured two baskets of rotten leaves on the ground and used the spiritual energy.

The stream water in the ditch was pumped into the yard, and the grayish yellow soil was wetted and turned into dark blue. After plowing, it was quite fertile.

Spiritual energy surged in the land, and square pieces of land were divided out. Du Heng cut the bluestone slabs that had been piled up on one side into four-inch wide strips and inserted them between the ridges. Except for the small ditch in the middle of the yard that destroyed the integrity of some ridges, the entire yard was divided into sixteen square pieces of land.

When the spiritual energy surged in the soil, many colorful beetles emerged from the ground. The shells on the backs of these beetles were very beautiful, or as the fashionable saying goes in my hometown, they were colorful black.

The insects were as big as a thumb. After being dug out of the ground by Du Heng, they fled in panic in the yard. Although they were small, they were quite fast. Several of them had already climbed over the wall and flew away.

Jiang Shangzhou reached out and grabbed a beetle. He was happy: "I didn't expect there would be a black gold cicada here. This is a good thing." Du Heng turned his head and looked at him dimly: "Can this thing be sold for money?"

Jiang Shangzhou nodded: "Of course it can be sold. The dead black gold cicada can be exchanged for fifty spirit stones or half a bottle of fasting medicine at the Spiritual Medicine Hall..."

Before Jiang Shangzhou finished speaking, Du Heng had a bunch of bamboo sticks in his hand. He raised his hand and the bamboo sticks flew towards the insects in the garden. The insects within his sight were stabbed by the bamboo sticks and fell to the ground.

Nian Nian Sui Sui and Xiao Xiao hurried out to help pick up beetles. They put the picked up insects into the bamboo tubes next to them. Soon the bamboo tubes were most full.

Jiang Shangzhou's mouth twitched: "You guys are too fast, aren't you? I didn't see that." He looked Du Heng up and down, then looked at Du Heng's weapon and found that it was just an ordinary bamboo stick. He was amazed: "Your control of the bamboo stick is amazing. Many sword cultivators are not as precise as you."

Du Heng felt a little embarrassed and said, "It's all the result of practice. My family members are better than me." Not to mention Xuan Yufenggui and the others, even the bamboo stick thrown by Xiaoxiao could pierce the head of a fish swimming in the stream. His level was not as good as Xiaoxiao's.

Du Heng asked the question he wanted to ask the most: "Can you buy food ingredients in your spiritual medicine hall? Is there rice and flour?"

Jiang Shangzhou hesitated for a moment: "You caught the black golden cicada... to buy food?"

Du Heng nodded: "Yes, it would be best if we could buy a spirit gathering array and put it in the yard, so that the vegetables can grow faster. If I rely on myself to grow the vegetables, my spiritual energy will not be able to handle it. It would be much better if there is a spirit gathering array."

Jiang Shangzhou said: "You can only buy spiritual plants and elixirs in the Spiritual Medicine Hall. If you want rice and the Spirit Gathering Array, you have to go to the Beast Taming Garden and the Equipment Refining Room."

Du Heng nodded: "Oh, I understand." He had no time to waste now. He had to quickly sow the seeds, water them, and then go out to exchange them for spirit stones.

Jiang Shangzhou curiously watched Du Heng take out seeds from the storage bag. He stretched his neck and asked, "What are these?"

Du Heng casually said, "Seeds, there are cabbages, green vegetables, chrysanthemums, chives, radishes and the like. I will plant some that germinate quickly first. Once the spirit gathering array arrives and I combine it with my skills, we should be able to have fresh vegetables to eat."

Jiang Shangzhou watched Du Heng skillfully scatter the seeds and cover them with soil. He asked quietly, "Why?"

Du Heng didn't understand what he meant by this question: "Hmm?"

Jiang Shangzhou said, "The servants outside the gate bullied you so much, why didn't you leave and seek justice from the higher-ups?"

Du Heng was planting chive seeds on a ridge near the wall. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "There are always a lot of injustices in the world, but not all injustices can be dealt with by someone. I just arrived at the sect and I am unfamiliar with the place. The servants who bullied me have been working here for a long time, and their connections and qualifications are far better than mine. Instead of wasting my time and energy seeking fairness, I'd better find a way to solve the problem."

Du Heng poured water on the chives again. He said slowly, "Besides, this is not a matter of life and death. I will try it first to see if it works. If it doesn't work, I will think of other ways. Unless I have no other choice, I will not ask others to do justice for me."