Captive of Gourmet Food
Half an hour later, Murong Qing glanced at the gun tip that was so close to her neck, then turned to look at the wax-stick gun that had been knocked out of her hand and rolled into a corner, and gave an expression that said, "Is this still the world I know?"
"... You really haven't learned the Snow Swallow Spear Technique before?"
Si Ming wiped away his cold sweat. He had inadvertently gotten serious and couldn't hide his shortcomings, thus becoming a destroyer of his worldview.
"Perhaps... I have a natural talent for marksmanship. After all, I'm one of the best marksmen in the Mohist Knight Guard, that's common knowledge, Dr. Huang Gang can vouch for me."
Although this marksmanship is different from that marksmanship, they are both guns, so there's no need to take it too seriously.
Chapter Sixty-Six: The Prisoner of Gourmet Food
Si Ming had hastily learned marksmanship, and Murong Qing looked uneasy, took a bus to the venue. As soon as they got off the bus, they smelled an enticing aroma, and their bodies, which had burned a lot of calories from martial arts practice, immediately reacted instinctively.
"Speaking of which, we haven't had dinner yet. There's still half an hour until the draw, so why don't we grab something to eat first?" Si Ming thought for a moment and added, "Of course, it'll be on me. Consider it a thank you for teaching me marksmanship."
Murong Qing had no objection, so the two began looking for a suitable restaurant.
"Delicious and affordable roast duck rice noodles, authentic Shijia Food School duck rice noodles, money back guarantee if you don't like it!"
A hawker's cry came from the entrance of the venue. The voice sounded quite familiar. Si Ming turned his head and saw that it was the boy named Lu Mao, who had fought on stage before. Because the weapon he used was so bizarre, it left a very deep impression on him. At this moment, the boy was pushing a vendor's cart and selling roast duck noodles at the entrance of the competition venue.
Filled with curiosity, Si Ming went up to him and asked, "Aren't you going to have a competition tonight? Why are you selling duck powder at the entrance?"
Lu Mao didn't refuse the friendly greeting at all. He spread his hands and said helplessly, "I have no choice. If I don't earn some extra money, I can't even afford to pay for my accommodation tonight. I borrowed these cooking utensils from a kind auntie."
Murong Qing also came over and asked, "If you're short of money, you can go to the True Qi Recharging Station to exchange it."
True Qi charging stations can be found in every city. Citizens of Su State can exchange True Qi for money. Generally speaking, the amount of True Qi from a level four Internal Cultivation can be exchanged for fifty yuan. That is to say, even if a person has no job, he can have an income of 1,500 yuan per month.
Of course, people living alone usually don't trade their True Qi, because they also need to maintain the daily consumption of household appliances. If they use it all to recharge their energy, they won't even be able to use the lights or the TV at home.
Although there are power plants in this world, the cost of electricity is extremely high due to environmental protection fees, making it unaffordable for ordinary households. Generally, only companies and factories will install power cables.
In addition, there are no gas pipelines or natural gas pipelines, as these would cause environmental pollution and are all prohibited from civilian use.
An average family would install a True Qi conversion energy machine in their home, connecting it to all household appliances. Every day, School of Names member would input True Qi into the energy machine, which would be converted into electrical energy, light energy, and heat energy to sustain daily life.
Therefore, the concept of a large-scale power outage does not exist in the world; each household uses its own electricity.
Lu Mao said helplessly, "I've thought of this method; that's how I got through the past few days. But tonight we're drawing lots, and if I happen to be drawn as the one to play, without True Qi, we're already halfway to defeat."
Si Ming asked curiously, "You're a disciple of the Food School, right? How did you end up like this?"
Lu Mao sighed and said, "It's all my dad's fault. One day, for some reason, he suddenly went crazy and wanted to travel all over the world to taste delicious food and hone his skills. He only left me with an admission notice and then disappeared. I took the notice to look for him, but I didn't expect it to be a foreign school. So, like an idiot, I came to your country's Eastern Academy."
Not all chefs who can cook are disciples of Food School, just as it is not true that those who are not disciples of Food School cannot cook.
Food is the most important thing for people. Everyone needs to eat, and the disciples of the Mohist School were no exception. They also hoped to eat their fill and eat well, so it was common for them to pursue gourmet food and open cooking schools.
Eastern Academy is considered one of the best culinary schools in the Su State. Their graduates can even compete with the apprentices of Food School and rival the World King of Chefs Competition.
The Mohist School had done this more than once: eliminate their opponent in their field of expertise. Their last defeated opponent was the Lu School Lu School, who had hated the Mohist School for thousands of years and, in order to seek revenge, had allied themselves with the Military School, which was specifically opposed to the Mohist School.
"I heard that the benefits at the Eastern Academy are very good. If you become one of their students, at least you won't have to worry about food and lodging," Murong Qing asked, puzzled.
Lu Mao smiled bitterly, "You have to become a student of the Eastern Academy first. On the day of registration, I encountered the entrance qualification exam. The person in charge of the review was the dean's granddaughter. This woman was extremely unreasonable. Even though I made fried rice that the other jurors approved, she insisted that it was unqualified and kicked me out. Plus, I was penniless and couldn't even afford a ship ticket back home, so I could only wander here. Fortunately, you can exchange your True Qi charging station for money. In our Su Kingdom, we pay taxes on a voluntary basis."
Si Ming already knew the gist of it and said, "Then you heard about the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and learned that the prize money was as high as a million, so you signed up to participate, planning to earn the prize money to buy a ship ticket back home?"
Lu Mao said solemnly, "I do have the idea of earning a living this way, but I don't intend to return to China in such a sorry state. I'll get back up from where I fell. How dare the Eastern Academy look down on me like this? I'll make them regret it!"
The beginning was a shonen manga, but the end turned into a web novel style. The difference in art style is too big!
Si Ming seemed to hear the familiar narration of "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years Hexi" and "Never underestimate a young man's potential" again. He gave a thumbs up and said, "Since you're so ambitious, I'll support you too—give me two bowls of roast duck noodles."
As he spoke, he glanced at Murong Qing, worried that the well-off girl would look down on such a roadside stall. As it turned out, he had worried too much.
The Confucian School saying "one should not be too particular about the fineness of food or the delicacy of meat" originally referred to matters related to sacrifices, but later generations have long since changed the interpretation to suit their own needs.
Among the various schools of thought during the Hundred Schools of Thought period, the Confucian School had the most gourmands. Although they said things like "a gentleman keeps away from the kitchen," their bodies were ultimately more honest than their words.
Murong Qing, whose father was a Confucian School scholar, naturally had an above-average appreciation for food. Just smelling the aroma filled her with anticipation for Lu Mao's roast duck noodles, and she said directly, "Give me two bowls, one sweet and one spicy."
Si Ming immediately realized that Murong Qing wasn't the kind of delicate girl who kept saying she wanted to lose weight. As a martial artist, she did a lot of exercise, so two bowls of food was relatively little. He quickly changed his mind and said, "Then let's have four bowls."
"Okay, just a moment!"
It's clear that Lu Mao is very experienced in serving everyday food. He knows that these customers prioritize speed and timeliness, unlike those in upscale restaurants who patiently wait at the table. So, it doesn't matter if the presentation is a little rough around the edges.
After a few quick movements, four bowls of steaming roast duck rice noodles were ready. Si Ming and Murong Qing couldn't wait to grab a bowl and gulp it down.
The moment he put the rice noodles in his mouth, Si Ming suddenly felt a magical force explode in his mouth. The elasticity of the rice noodles was beyond imagination. When he bit into them, they seemed to bounce up and hit his gums. The rich sauce also splashed out, bringing an unparalleled sense of impact.
Each slice of duck meat was incredibly tender and had a superior texture, leaving a Higher Vehicle fragrance on the lips and teeth. Even if Si Ming wasn't Gourmet School, he could tell that this duck meat was not some high-end material created out of thin air by some culinary system, but rather came from ordinary poultry. The more obvious this was, the more it proved the chef's extraordinary skills.
A person who can make delicious food with the finest ingredients is just an ordinary cook; a person who can make exquisite dishes with ordinary ingredients is a true master chef.
The duck noodles he swallowed exuded abundant Primal Qi, expanding from the inside out, giving Si Ming an urge to burst out of his clothes. In his previous life, when he read food-themed comics, he always felt that the depiction was too exaggerated, with each character acting as if they had taken aphrodisiacs. Now that he had tasted it himself, he realized that aphrodisiacs were definitely not as stimulating as this bowl of duck noodles.
Even though the bowl of duck noodles didn't glow or give him any illusions, he did indeed feel the power of the food. It seems that, at least in this world, the incredible power of food truly exists.
At that moment, he almost wavered in his resolve, wondering if becoming a Grandmaster skilled in cooking might not be such a bad thing after all?
Lu Mao asked, "How does it taste? I referenced the recipe for 'Pissing Beef Balls,' a famous dish from my hometown, and filled the glass noodles with sauce to make them more elastic and the flavor more impactful."
"It's so delicious! I can guarantee that if the Eastern Academy rejects you, it will be a huge loss for them! With skills like this, why would you need competition prize money? You could open a shop and make a fortune every day!" Si Ming said excitedly.