Chapter 59: Festival Attribute

Laba porridge began in the Song Dynasty; on the eighth day of the twelfth month, the great temples of Tokyo boiled porridge from glutinous rice mixed with seven treasures and five flavors, and households imitated the practice.

Rice, beans, walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmons, and millet—these were the seven ingredients in the original version of Laba porridge, called the Seven Treasures; the five fruits besides rice and beans added five flavors to the porridge.

Of course, the porridge Ma Ma Zhaodi made was neither so particular nor so luxurious.

Rice, millet, glutinous rice, corn, coix seed, milky kidney beans, mung beans, red adzuki beans, red kidney beans, red dates, peeled lotus seeds, peanuts, longan, and even a bag of dried fruit were added.

Anyway, the point was to emphasize the mix; whatever was available went in.

At this moment, Ma Ma Zhaodi silently thanked the System Shangcheng for its thoughtfulness; it even included an ingredient-processing function. A few dollars of asset points could process these bags of grain, beans, and fruits—peeling, shelling, drying, and even shortening an overnight soaking time to mere seconds.

Jason stared in shock as he watched Ma Ma Zhaodi add one strange-shaped ingredient after another, both familiar and unfamiliar, into the pot, and unconsciously swallowed his saliva.

Whether it tasted good would only be known after eating, but this pot of porridge at least looked colorful and smelled fragrant.

As water was added to the simmering porridge and the large ladle stirred, the chef's clothes, originally soaked by snow water, were now dried by the stove fire, while he hummed a tune no one could understand.

"Little children, little children, do not crave; after Laba comes the New Year;

Laba porridge, drink it for a few days, la la la, the twenty-third..."

He did not understand what he was humming, but Jason felt that at this moment he looked exactly like Santa Claus in a fairy tale, riding a reindeer, sitting in a sleigh, flying down the chimney, and then giving gifts to children—and he even sang nursery rhymes.

Saliva was swallowed again and again, the large ladle stirred again and again; the peanuts, beans, lotus seeds, and other ingredients in the pot were finally cooked into a paste by the high heat, blending into one, gradually becoming part of the thick, dark-red porridge liquid. The increasingly intense grain fragrance wafted out, making Jason almost unable to resist tasting it first.

"Don't reach out; the porridge is very hot." Seeing the children around him fidgeting and seemingly unable to hold back, Ma Ma Zhaodi could not help but speak up to remind them: "The porridge is not ready yet; do not rush. If you get scalded, you won't be able to drink the porridge."

So the children could only withdraw their hands and instead stare at the porridge in the pot, imagining its taste.

Ma Ma Zhaodi could hear the sound of swallowing saliva rising and falling around the pot; he could not help but smile, but immediately afterward he sighed.

He did not know how many homeless children in Gotham were like those in this small hut—or even worse off.

Then again, he had received the mission by reading a newspaper, which meant the odd job would probably have to be done at the relief center; this pot might not count toward mission progress. Of course, he was not too disappointed, only felt a bit regretful, as he had originally wanted to see what the festival attribute of the food was.

But now, he thought that perhaps the matter at the relief center could be put off for a while—the mission was optional anyway; what did it matter if it was done later? He had not intended to push the progress to the maximum from the start.

"Alright, alright, the porridge is about to be served—do not worry; you will not be allergic to the ingredients inside. Now, go to my car to get spoons and bowls."

The second benefit of the Horn of Plenty was that the healing effect of the produced food could cover the adverse reactions it caused, including the nut allergy phenomenon common in the United States—a problem equally common in Gotham. Ma Ma Zhaodi could not determine how many of the thirty-plus children in this room suffered from nut allergies, so all his ingredients were produced using the Horn of Plenty.

The older children cheered as they took a bundle of wooden spoons and bowls from the car and distributed them one by one. Everyone gathered around the stove fire, watching the chef lift the large ladle and begin serving porridge into each bowl, filling every bowl to the brim.

Jason held up his bowl impatiently; he felt he was really like a child waiting for Santa Claus to distribute gifts back when his parents were still alive, when they would sing to him on Christmas and even make a small Christmas tree for him.

"Do not rush yet—"

Before Ma Ma Zhaodi could finish speaking, dozens of spoons had already plunged into the bowls. After waiting a full half hour, they could finally drink the hot porridge; how could this group of children hold back?

"Hiss, ha, ha, ha—"

The next second, the sound of panting rose and fell throughout the room. A group of small children tilted their heads back, exhaling the scorching breath from their mouths toward the ceiling, rapidly cooling the hot porridge in their mouths with cold air.

"It burns the mouth; do not rush."

The chef, seeing the children one by one tilting their heads back and panting from the heat, grinned shamelessly and chuckled: "Hehe, I said do not rush, yet you still did not listen."

Jason, quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbed a wooden spoon, scooped a bit of porridge from the pot, and stuffed it directly into his wide-open mouth.

"Hiss, ha, ha, ha—"

Instantly, another mouth tilting back and panting appeared in the small hut.

Ma Ma Zhaodi sucked in several sharp breaths before recovering; fortunately, Jason had only scooped a tiny bit, otherwise he really could not have stood it.

"At such a young age, you do not learn to be good; you hold such a grudge. Next time, I will add lotus seed cores to your porridge!"

The chef was not much magnanimous either.

However, no one had time to argue with him; everyone buried their heads and drank the porridge in their bowls—or, more accurately, wolfed it down.

This was the first time they had tasted such delicious porridge. Although they did not know what was inside, the porridge was truly thick and sweet. Every mouthful of hot porridge entering the stomach brought a tangible sense of fullness.

The raisins were sweet and sour, the peanuts were crunchy, the red beans were soft and mushy, and the red dates were beautiful. While eating the porridge, a warm feeling flowed from the stomach throughout the entire body; cold hands and feet gradually warmed up, gaining a rosy complexion, and even the frostbites originally on their hands and feet gradually healed into healthy skin.

Horn of Plenty: A horn of plenty that can continuously produce food. Relying on it, one can survive in the most extreme environments. The food it produces can even provide a certain amount of life recovery ability and blood-sucking effects when killing enemies.

Ma Ma Zhaodi chased Jason running through several blocks; his stomach was also a bit hungry, so he took a bowl of porridge and drank it slowly. Before he had taken a few sips, a system prompt suddenly popped up before his eyes.

"Gotham City Winter

Status: In Progress (0.037%)

Reward Activated

'Festival' Attribute Effect Activated. Cooking festival food 'Laba Porridge' grants attributes 'Harmonizing Nourishment' and 'Warming the Body, Dispelling Cold'.

Harmonizing Nourishment: Mixed grains and mixed porridge, harmonizing and nourishing; Laba porridge enhances the nutritional supplementation effect for the eater.

Warming the Stomach, Dispelling Cold: Ingredients are warm in nature, warming the body and dispelling cold; Laba porridge enhances the cold resistance effect for the eater.

Attribute Enhancement Currently Obtained: 0.037%

Note: The mission did not specify a location for progress; why is your imagination so good?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi could not help but give the System a thumbs-up.

Special thanks to the readers who tipped; thank you, many thanks.





(End of this chapter)