Chapter 97: The Charm of a Rice Bowl

Indeed.

Judgement had initially only raised a question. Lan Qingyou then stated her opinion, and after that, the old man, The Hierophant, had jumped out and started tallying the votes without giving Chu Yuan any time to explain.

The Hierophant: "Hahaha, it seems this old man was too impatient."

The Hierophant gave an awkward but polite laugh.

Judgement: "Since it passed unanimously, then let Wheel of Fortune divine their locations. The Tower, you can notify them first so they'll be mentally prepared. The Fool will go find them tomorrow."

The Tower: "Why go through all this trouble when I can just negotiate directly?"

Lan Qingyou genuinely couldn't understand Judgement's line of thought.

The Fool: "Hey, hey! Don't steal my job! If you do that, aren't you directly rendering me unemployed?"

Wheel of Fortune: "Yeah, our contributions weren't included in the newbie gift package, so we still need to do these little things."

With their explanations, Lan Qingyou also understood.

No wonder there were so few items in the gift package. It turned out everyone had their own division of labor.

She was the one who had misunderstood.

The Tower: "Apologies, then I'll go contact them."

I, Lan Qingyou, will correct my mistakes upon learning of them.

Seeing her proposal pass, Lan Qingyou breathed a sigh of relief before reaching out to Gu Xiaobei's trio.

Gu Xiaobei: "Mm! Boss, do you mean you want me to join this organization?"

Lan Qingyou: "Right, because it's a recommendation system, I recommended you. Besides, the food you make is pretty good, and it just so happens there's someone in Tarot Manor who grows vegetables."

Lan Qingyou: "Weren't you constantly complaining about the lack of vegetables before? It's a perfect fit right now."

Because she lacked any fertile fields, Gu Xiaobei's dish compositions during this period essentially relied on the wild vegetables, wild fruits, or herbs she foraged herself.

Therefore, when she heard Lan Qingyou invite her to that Tarot Manor, she was also quite excited.

Especially so when she heard that the rice and cabbage had been grown by the people in Tarot Manor.

It was just that...

Gu Xiaobei was somewhat worried: "Is it really suitable for me to go?"

Lan Qingyou: "Of course it's suitable. After all, you're also a titled contributor recognized by the world's will."

Gu Xiaobei: "Alright then. He'll come tomorrow, right?"

Lan Qingyou: "Yes, tomorrow, but I'm not sure of the exact time."

Gu Xiaobei: "No problem. At worst, I just won't go out to forage wild vegetables tomorrow. Oh right, the food is ready, hold on a moment, Boss."

Saying that, Gu Xiaobei sent the prepared food over to Lan Qingyou.

Lan Qingyou took a look, and wow! Sure enough, things made with proper ingredients were simply different.

Thus, in order to show off Gu Xiaobei's prowess, Lan Qingyou sent the food into the group chat.

The Tower: "[Claypot Baked Red Black Eel Rice Bowl (D)]"

The High Priestess: "Wh-Wh-What is this!!!"

The Chariot: "Why did you send this? Are you flexing on us?"

The Hierophant: "Haha, this was made by that chef you mentioned earlier, right? Looks pretty good. Didn't waste my time sitting by the bay all day."

Judgement: "Eel, monster meat, wild garlic, cabbage, and a layer of rice underneath. It's indeed well-made, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, and it even amplified the fire resistance effect of the Red Black Eel."

The Empress: "Pretty good. At least there's someone who can put my vegetables to good use now."

The Magician: "...Empress, those words of yours sound like they're directed at someone, but I won't say who."

The Fool: "The grilled eel in my hands suddenly doesn't taste good anymore. But thinking about how I'll be able to eat this tomorrow makes me a little excited inside."

Wheel of Fortune: "Why can't it be right now? @The Tower, ask her if she has any more, I'll buy one! I'll give her a divination quota!"

The High Priestess: "I want one too! For one magic crystal!"

The Chariot: "Bring me one too. Since she's a chef, she definitely needs kitchen utensils, right? Let her choose whatever she wants! I'll make it for her!"

Lan Qingyou's post was akin to tossing a single stone to stir up a thousand ripples.

The people who were originally able to endure the 'darkness' had seen the 'light', and so they chirped with open beaks like a brood of fledglings waiting to be fed.

Seeing their replies pop up one by one left Lan Qingyou trembling in fear.

Especially The High Priestess.

Wait, how did you have magic crystals on hand, and you're even using them to pay for a meal? Are magic crystals actually worthless?

The Tower: "Alright, I'll ask her for you guys. By the way, The High Priestess, where did you get your magic crystals? Do you have any extra? Sell ten of them to me."

The High Priestess: "Magic crystals? I made them myself. If you want them, just give me whatever you feel like. They're not worth much anyway, so just consider it internal consumption."

...

Made them herself?

Magic crystals?

She remembered getting magic crystals during the monthly grading.

However, because she had received so few, Lan Qingyou thought they were very precious. In the end, the other party didn't even name a price and just told her to name one herself?

No!

What was truly valuable might indeed be valuable. It was just that because the other party could make them themselves, they appeared worthless.

Or perhaps because the group was filled with researchers, things that might be extremely valuable outside appeared much less so in here.

For example, wasn't her talent potion exactly like this?

She really didn't think it was that valuable; it was just something she crafted in passing.

The Tower: "It's hard for me to appraise the value when you put it like that. How much mana does making one of those magic crystals require?"

The High Priestess: "One requires about eighty or ninety mana points. I just rub them out casually when I have nothing better to do."

The Tower: "Then how about this: ten elementary mana potions for one, or five elementary healing potions for one."

The reason she offered ten times the mana value was because Lan Qingyou knew this thing definitely wasn't cheap. After all, the world's will only handed them out one by one.

The High Priestess: "Sure, but can you serve up the rice bowl first? I'm so hungry."

...

So in your eyes, all of this combined was still inferior to a rice bowl?

Oh, right. Food was the most vital necessity for the people, after all.

Lan Qingyou smacked her lips, obtaining eight portions of food from Gu Xiaobei while chatting.

After all, the eel meat traded over by The Hierophant was simply too much. Let alone eight portions, making fifty portions would be more than enough.

The Tower: "Here it comes, one rice bowl for each of you. Consider it an advance return gift for tomorrow on her behalf."

[Ding! The Tower sent a red envelope to the group 8/8]

The High Priestess: "It's here, it's here!"

The Hierophant: "This old man shall also taste the delicacies of the Dragon Country. I had only heard of them in the past; this is the first time I'm eating one."

The Empress: "You haven't been to the Dragon Country before, Hierophant?"

The Hierophant: "Nope. When I was young, I thought about how we're all federated member states, so there's absolutely no need to run everywhere. When I got older, I completely stopped wanting to move."

The High Priestess: "So you ended up becoming an angler?"

The Hierophant: "Hahahaha, that's exactly it."

Perhaps because everyone had a delicacy in hand, they all appeared exceptionally excited.

These fellows were chatting while eating, making things feel extremely cozy.

Of course, Lan Qingyou felt the same at this moment.

However, she was secretly observing and didn't participate in their chat.

The Chariot: "By the way, old man Hierophant, have you finished that night fishing shelter you mentioned before? Show it to us so we can take a look."