If Cooks Don't Pilfer, the Grain Won't Grow

At Chen Ping's words, his heart first leaped with joy.

"Mhm, mhm."

Chen Ping hesitated for a long while without speaking. Elder Xuan even grinned, assuming that Chen Ping was simply young and too afraid to make any demands of him.

After all, the boy did not even count as a First Year New Student at Shrek yet. For an eleven- or twelve-year-old child to voice his own thoughts was already quite an accomplishment.

But Elder Xuan had fallen into the trap of habitual thinking.

He had previously told Wang Yan that Chen Ping had struggled his way across the Douluo Continent from a young age, possessing both courage and ruthlessness.

How could such a child be frightened speechless by a filthy old man like him?

Just because he had made the ingredients fly into his mouth while eating Buddha Jumps Over the Wall earlier?

Chen Ping was actually considering what price would be appropriate to fleece Elder Xuan for!

According to Chen Ping's initial plan, he would sell each jar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for fifty Gold Soul Coins to wealthy seniors acquainted with Bei Bei and wealthy senior sisters acquainted with Tang Ya.

If he made it once a week, five jars at a time, Chen Ping could earn a gross profit of one thousand Gold Soul Coins per month.

After paying Bei Bei and Tang Ya one hundred Gold Soul Coins each per month as referral fees and deducting costs, he could still make five or six hundred Gold Soul Coins a month.

During the one-month holiday, there would not be many Shrek students staying on campus. Even if business were cut in half, earning one thousand Gold Soul Coins in two and a half months would not be a problem.

That money would be more than enough for Chen Ping to live extravagantly during his first year at Shrek. He could even directly inject himself with potions he had previously been reluctant to buy.

His current rate of improvement was still too slow. Once he had money, he definitely needed to give himself a few proper injections.

However, that was the ideal outcome for selling to senior students.

Selling to Elder Xuan was a different matter entirely.

A stewed mountain chicken could indeed fetch a higher price in the eyes of someone who needed nourishment, but no matter what, it could never be sold for the price of stewed phoenix.

Even if Elder Xuan was rich, how much could Chen Ping possibly charge?

Seventy Gold Soul Coins per serving?

One hundred Gold Soul Coins per serving?

That was basically the ceiling. Elder Xuan might still pay if the price went higher.

But then not only Elder Xuan, even Wang Yan would likely label him as insatiably greedy.

Chen Ping would never ruin his relationship with Elder Xuan over such a small amount of money.

Elder Xuan might be unreliable, but he was still Shrek's future Sea God Pavilion Master.

For the sake of making a living, Chen Ping could occasionally be shortsighted and disregard long-term plans.

But once he had escaped the harshest struggle for survival, he had to possess the vision for long-term development.

For Chen Ping, even doing this business at a loss would be better than fleecing Elder Xuan once.

What Chen Ping was considering, however, was whether there might be a third option better than either of those.

Glancing at the last thousand-odd Scholar Points he had left, Chen Ping made up his mind.

Stewed mountain chicken naturally could not command a high price, but if he could make stewed phoenix, that would be an entirely different price.

Quick, spend one thousand points to derive a Soul Beast version of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for me!

With that thought, the Scholar Points in Chen Ping's account were instantly deducted, leaving him with only a pitiful few points.

"Elder Xuan, making Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for you is no problem. However, what you and Teacher Wang are eating now is merely the most ordinary version of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

Chen Ping revealed an inscrutable smile, took out a spoon, and drank a mouthful of soup. The rich freshness made him narrow his eyes.

It was so fresh!

Chen Ping praised it inwardly, feeling even more confident about what he was about to say.

"Actually, our Coiling Dragon Sect has a Secret Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Its ingredients are completely different from those of ordinary Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. As for its flavor..."

Chen Ping paused. Seeing Elder Xuan's eyes light up, he knew the old man had taken the bait. He chuckled and said, "Naturally, it is a level above!"

"Then there's nothing more to say. This Old Man naturally wants to eat this Secret Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. A higher price is no concern."

Elder Xuan immediately waved his hand, looking every bit like someone who had money to spare.

Chen Ping was secretly delighted. Those were exactly the words he had been waiting for.

If Elder Xuan had not said them, Chen Ping would have been too embarrassed to raise his knife.

For a moment, Chen Ping put on a troubled expression. "Elder Xuan, you may not know this, but the ingredients for this Secret Buddha Jumps Over the Wall are not easy to gather. Everything needed comes from Soul Beasts."

"The ingredients for this Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall are divided into the Ten Treasures Eight Delicacies. Even a single pork elbow cannot be from an ordinary pig. It has to be..."

At this point, Chen Ping suddenly drew out his words. Not only Elder Xuan, but even Wang Yan pricked up his ears, curiously waiting for Chen Ping to continue.

Chen Ping dragged it out for so long not because he was deliberately keeping them in suspense, but because the system had not yet finished deriving the recipe for Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

"It has to be..."

Chen Ping swayed his head as he continued to keep them in suspense.

Only once the system rapidly finished deriving the recipe did Chen Ping finally breathe a sigh of relief and say, "The hind elbow of an Ironhide Wild Boar is best."

"Besides that, it also requires Five-Colored Brocade Chicken eggs, juvenile Great King Sea Cucumbers..."

When he mentioned Great King Sea Cucumbers, Chen Ping's tone suddenly changed, carrying a hint of gritted teeth.

Only after Chen Ping had listed all eighteen rare ingredients did he look nervously at Elder Xuan.

He truly feared that the ingredients he had named were too complicated, and that the old man would grit his teeth and decide not to eat Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall after all, settling for the ordinary version instead.

Then his one thousand Scholar Points would have been spent for nothing.

But if Chen Ping thought that, he was truly underestimating Xuan Zi's reputation as the Taotie Douluo.

Hearing that so many rare Soul Beast Ingredients could be gathered together to make a single dish, Elder Xuan nearly began drooling.

"Why should you concern yourself with the ingredients, boy? Leave everything to This Old Man."

"It is not easy for you to make only a few jars of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall after so many days of work. Tell me what compensation you need."

At this point, Chen Ping was not particularly concerned about compensation anymore. The money he wanted to earn was already infinitely close to being in his hands.

That was right. What he really wanted to earn was the surplus ingredients from making Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

As the saying went, if cooks don't pilfer, the grain won't grow.

The hind elbow of an Ironhide Wild Boar was naturally a supreme delicacy as an ingredient for Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, but who said the front elbow would not do?

Chen Ping was a bastard with a heart as black as coal!

For every serving of Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall he made for Elder Xuan, he could quietly scrape together enough extra ingredients to make another serving and a half.

There were eighteen kinds of Soul Beast ingredients!

"Compensation..."

Chen Ping pondered for a moment before hesitantly saying, "Could I be so bold as to ask you, Elder Xuan, for the right to eat for free at our academy's Eighth Window for a period of time?"

"Six months would be enough. I want to replenish my Vital Energy, so I do not get left too far behind by the other students."

Upon hearing Chen Ping's condition, Elder Xuan and Wang Yan could not help exchanging glances. They were clearly quite surprised.

Chen Ping's request was clever and well measured.