Chapter 97: Weaver Girl (Part 1)
Jiang You was confused, and she once again felt the cultural gap between herself and this different world.
In her previous life, when people ate delicious food, they would often ask, "How is this made?" after taking photos and sharing them. Even if she couldn't learn it herself, it would be good to write down the recipe, just in case she suddenly mastered it one day.
If you really have no talent, you can still rely on your elders, relatives and friends at home; even if you can't rely on anyone and can only go to the store to eat every time, you can type the recipe on your mobile phone and feel the comfort of "my hands may not know but my eyes know".
Foodies are always happy to learn, and even more so to share. Jiangyou has many recipes of his own, which he learned by listening to the passionate descriptions of the village elders while returning to his hometown during the holidays.
She also didn't think sharing a basic marinade recipe was a big deal. To promote a product, people had to learn how to use it. If they didn't even know how to use it, how could they become dependent on her soy sauce?
Not to mention the ever-changing variety of marinade recipes. There are salty, sweet, sweet and spicy, numbing and fragrant flavors all over the country. Even within a village, each household can cook a thousand different versions—one day they put in less soy sauce, the next day they put in more rock sugar, the day after tomorrow they just happen to have all the ingredients on hand and throw in a few bay leaves and star anise…
The Chinese cooking style is casual and everyday. After all, for most seniors, cooking is just a daily task: use whatever's on hand, make do, and it'll still taste good. Occasionally, a whim leads to a change, which can lead to unexpected surprises.
——Of course, if the food turns out to be a surprise, all the family will do is sit at the table and mutter a few words, "It's not tasty," and that's it.
Just a basic marinade recipe wouldn't threaten Jiangyou's braised food business. On the contrary, the more people recognize this unique delicacy, the more customers she'll have. Furthermore, she can also create a variety of advanced marinades with spicy, sweet, and sweet flavors, ensuring she'll capture the hearts of diners.
However, these customers clearly had little interest in the recipe. But judging by their expressions, it didn't look like they were unwilling to try. Jiang You scratched his head, bewildered.
"I used to think these offal, claws, and wing tips were fishy and smelly, so I always threw them away." Two women were chatting while holding the marinade they had just bought. "Just think about it! If we could use this marinade to make dishes, we'd save so much money on meat! Oh, my heart aches when I think about how those parts I once threw away can be transformed into such delicious food."
Takumi: Yeah, that's a normal reaction, right? But why don't you want the recipe?
"Me too! Those offal are so delicious! And can you feel it? With all the fat and nutrients in those offal, I feel like I could hatch another clutch of eggs after eating all of this!"
Takumi: Hmm? Wait, hatch...hatch what?
Perhaps sensing Jiangyou's confusion, Lolisa pulled the lich aside and whispered, "Giving them the recipe is useless. They can't read, let alone identify herbs—they think that's the work of witches. The Discipline Cult is very particular about how they use magic, and they're afraid of violating the rules."
"Ah?" Jiang You was even more confused.
"Simply put, they can use sauces, medicine bags, and prepared potions directly, but they can't and won't mix them from raw materials themselves. They have no education, lack the skills, and the risks are too great."
Lolisa sighed. "Some people have cooked unflowered daffodils as garlic, and some have stewed monkshood as taro... After so many deaths, they've learned their lesson. They never look for herbs themselves, but buy our pre-mixed stuff."
"Ah?" Jiangyou didn't expect this to be the reason, but as Lolisa continued to explain, she gradually understood.
The very words of this world are themselves "records of magic." In ancient times, when there was no written language, people only gradually established names for things through babbling and gestures, gradually developing a "spoken language."
After that, the wisest among humans discovered the existence of magic. By simply drawing specific symbols and placing them within a magic circle, they could connect and mobilize magical elements to achieve specific effects.
So over the next hundreds and thousands of years, people continued to study these magical symbols and apply them in their lives, and gradually writing came into being.
As long as they are not placed in a magic circle, the magic symbols are just 'words', but when placed in a magic circle, they become part of the 'spell'.
For example, the word "fire" written on a book is just a single character, but written within a magic circle can activate the element of fire magic. There's no difference in the writing method; it's simply the placement and medium of writing that creates the complete opposite effect.
——Because of this consistency, every year there are many novice magic apprentices who cause accidents because of writing words in strange places. It can be regarded as a kind of joke that is required for beginners of magic.
Because of this, upon arriving in this world, the lichsmith Yuichi was able to understand the language through his [Magical Affinity]. Magic and writing are inextricably linked here.
The people of the Discipline Sect fear the loss of control and madness brought by magic, so they are also afraid of magic. They will not use it if possible, and even if they do use it, they have to abide by various disciplines and rules.
As such, it was naturally impossible for them to learn the characters closely related to magic. It could be said that both men and women were illiterate and could not read a single word.
"So even if you give them the recipe, they won't understand it at all! Plus, the same herb has many different names, and there are so many similar-looking herbs that they can't tell them apart. Instead of wasting time trying to mix them one by one, it's better to just buy ready-made marinade packets." Lolita said confidently, "I saw through this a long time ago, so I quickly went to work with the uncle at the vegetable stall. Let's split the money we made today~"
Jiang You was still a little confused: "But why do people from the Discipline Sect think that magic represents madness?"
"Racial traits, there's nothing we can do about it! Their magic resistance is so low, and once affected, they turn into giant, unconscious spiders, eating everything they see, even their own kind..."
"Wait! Wait a minute!" Jiang You's soul fire burned brighter and brighter. She sensitively realized that she seemed to have missed some important information. "W-What giant spider?"
"Ah? Didn't I tell you before?" Lolita propped her chin up with her index finger and said cutely, "The people of the Discipline Sect are all loyal followers of the eight-eyed spider goddess Acraine. These ladies are all half-human, half-spider weavers~"
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