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If there had been a scale, one portion would have weighed 900g, and the other 300g.

Qiu Shuyu took one look and froze. "That won't do. We each get half."

As she spoke, she started pouring some into Song Xiaozhu's bowl.

Song Xiaozhu wouldn't dare accept it. She had already eaten 600g and only dared to eat another 300g now.

She took the Synthesizer's instructions very seriously.

But Song Xiaozhu had no way to explain any of this.

She couldn't exactly say she had heard a "notification" while cooking, advising her not to eat more than 1,000g a day!

She was certain that "craftsmen" didn't have notification sounds in their heads.

Thinking fast, Song Xiaozhu hurriedly said, "You've worked hard all day. Eat more. I haven't done anything all day, so I can't eat that much."

People in the scavenger community went hungry every day. When did they ever have more than they could eat?

Qiu Shuyu wouldn't listen and insisted on pouring some for her.

Song Xiaozhu covered her bowl tightly, leaving no gap at all, while Qiu Shuyu

didn't dare pour, afraid she might accidentally scald her hands. They remained at an impasse for ages, leaving Song Xiaozhu unsure whether to laugh or cry.

She had been careless this time. Next time, she would wait and eat with Qiu Shuyu.

"Sister Shuyu!" Left with no choice, Song Xiaozhu could only make her nose sting and her eyes burn, choking out, "You brought back so much wood, and right now I don't... don't have any money... Please just eat more. I'll only feel at ease if you eat more."

Qiu Shuyu's hand froze.

Song Xiaozhu looked up at her, her eyes brimming with tears.

How could Qiu Shuyu fail to understand her intentions? Her heart instantly melted.

That's right...

Song Xiaozhu was very uneasy.

Song Xiaozhu wanted timber, but clearly had no money to buy it.

She was filled with guilt, which was why she had used her Force to make dinner for her.

Song Xiaozhu wasn't indulging a craving. She had willingly expended her Force to cook for her sake.

If she refused to eat, she would be rejecting Song Xiaozhu's kindness.

Qiu Shuyu sighed softly. "You don't have to do this..."

There was no point saying any more. She would put Xiaozhu at ease through her actions instead!

Qiu Shuyu stopped declining and took a large gulp from her bowl.

Only when Song Xiaozhu saw her start eating did she breathe a sigh of relief. She had finally bluffed her way through.

After just one large gulp, Qiu Shuyu went rigid.

Then, without another word, she held the bowl, which was practically a small basin, and gulped down its contents.

She looked as though she hadn't eaten in ten days or half a month.

In the blink of an eye...

All 900g of simple meal had gone into her stomach, yet Qiu Shuyu still wanted more.

Gone...

It was gone already...

She hadn't even had a chance to taste it!

Qiu Shuyu looked at Song Xiaozhu. "It's... it's delicious!"

She had never had such delicious wild vegetable gruel-Qiu Shuyu had assumed from the outset that it was wild vegetable gruel. As for why it was purplish-black, that was probably the enhancement from Force.

Song Xiaozhu brightened along with her. The tears, which had been feigned to begin with, vanished at once. "I'll make you more tomorrow."

Qiu Shuyu was about to tell her to conserve her Force, but couldn't bear to discourage Song Xiaozhu, so she said instead, "An awakener really does make things differently. This wild vegetable gruel isn't just delicious, it's richer, too. Drinking a bowl was like taking a sip of strong liquor. My body warmed up instantly. I feel full of strength, like I could chop down three trees with one swing of an axe..."

"Ahem..." Song Xiaozhu couldn't listen any longer. "Sister

Shuyu, that's too much!"

Qiu Shuyu scratched her head and gave an awkward laugh. "Anyway... it's really delicious."

Song Xiaozhu had been drinking "simple meal" all day, so of course she knew exactly what it was like.

The cooked "simple meal" tasted a little better, like rich rice porridge. It was less grainy and thicker, filling her mouth and sending waves of warmth through her as it slid down her throat into her stomach...

As for warming up and chopping down three trees with one swing...

How was that possible? It wasn't Popeye's spinach juice.

After they finished dinner, Song Xiaozhu briskly cleared away the bowls and utensils, her gaze falling on the three large bundles of wood.

With wood this good, the success rate would surely be much higher.

She wasn't expecting that 99%. Anything over 60% would do.

"Sister Shuyu... could you help me process the wood?"

"Sure. Tell me how big you need the pieces, and I'll chop them."

Song Xiaozhu had synthesized [raw wood material] so many times over the past few days that she had picked up some experience and had a rough idea of the length the wood needed to be.

"Split each one into four."

"No problem!"

Qiu Shuyu was strong. With a few swings of her axe, she finished the job in no time.

Song Xiaozhu was terribly envious.

In this wasteland world, Eldest Miss Li's beauty was not only useless but fraught with hidden dangers. Qiu Shuyu's sturdy, powerful build, surpassing that of many men, was what was truly precious.

Song Xiaozhu didn't hide anything from Qiu Shuyu. She summoned the "workbench," set a piece of wood on it, and selected the [raw wood material] recipe.

From Qiu Shuyu's perspective, she could only see Song Xiaozhu pick up the wood, after which a cloud of white mist spilled from her palms and enveloped the huge piece of wood.

Qiu Shuyu pondered, This must consume quite a lot of Force...

She looked at Song Xiaozhu's expression again and found her face calm, without the slightest sign of fatigue-Qiu Shuyu had seen awakeners use Force before, with their bulging veins, murderous eyes, and savage expressions-nothing like Song Xiaozhu's peaceful serenity, which put people at ease.

Was this the difference between a "craftsman" and a "warrior"?

She really didn't like "warriors."

A notification sounded in Song Xiaozhu's ears:

"Synthesis successful. Obtained [raw wood material] ×2."

"Evaluation: one of the basic raw materials."

"Use effect: none."

She had synthesized two units of [raw wood material] at once...

This had never happened to Song Xiaozhu before!

Sure enough, the better the materials, the better the synthesis results.