Chapter 52

The sauce and fish milk are mixed together to form a thick broth that coats each piece of food evenly.

With the addition of the sauce, the ingredients become fragrant, spicy, and fresh.

The furry creatures happily picked out their favorite ingredients to eat.

The fish fillets were smooth and tender, the shrimp meat was sweet and bouncy, the mushrooms were crisp and juicy, the sausages were fragrant and bursting with juice, and the vegetables were fresh and sweet...

Each bite offers a different texture.

The furry creatures ate without even looking up.

The Tata Fish in the river, seeing these disloyal creatures, cried out anxiously in the water.

Several impatient Tata Fish were almost gushing water at them, splashing the water with their fins with a "plop, plop" sound.

"Don't rush." Xie Juanhan carried the food over. "Will you be able to eat it if we leave it on the shore?"

The Tata Fish watched him and Telingewei longingly from the water, clearly unable to see each other.

They're too big to get ashore; if they try to jump up to eat, they might accidentally tip over the vegetable bowl.

"Aww--" The Tata Fish opened their mouths wide, indicating that the two dragons could pour the food into their mouths.

Xie Juanhan: "I added a few Spicy Clam for flavor, so it's a bit spicy. Try it first and see if you can handle it. If not, I'll change the soup base for you."

Tata Fish: "Click-clack!"

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei picked up fish slices and fed them to each Tata Fish.

The Tata Fish smacked their lips in the river, savoring the food intently, their eyes filled with wonder.

Xie Juanhan asked them, "Do you want to change the soup base?"

The Tata Fish immediately shook their bodies, expressing their refusal with a "click-clack!"

Xie Juanhan sneered, "So we're going to pour it into your mouths? Wait a minute, let me cool it down."

Xie Juanhan released some cold air to lower the temperature of each bowl of "mala tang" before feeding the Tata Fish.

The Tata Fish accepted everything offered, and each one ate several bowls.

Xie Juanhan was worried that their stomachs would be upset, so he forced them to switch to a non-spicy soup base, but there was plenty of fish slices.

The three Greystone Fish that Xie Juanhan caught were large and plump.

Even with so many Tata Fish, they still manage to provide enough fish fillets.

The Tata Fish, rarely able to enjoy such delicious food and have such a hearty meal, were so happy that they kept circling around in the river.

Finally, all the little ones were so full they were drowsy and sleepy.

The Companion Beast and the little Demon Wolf were asleep under the eaves.

The Tata Fish are sleeping in the river.

Xie Juanhan listened to the intermittent snoring as he and Telingewei ate spicy hot pot in the kitchen.

Xie Juanhan specifically set aside two portions of each type of food.

He hadn't had spicy hot pot in a long time.

Although this otherworldly mala tang didn't contain sesame paste, it had Spicy Clam, fish milk, and a rich sauce, making it taste very similar.

He squinted his eyes contentedly.

Telingewei looked at him, hesitating whether to give him the sausages, mushrooms, and other ingredients he liked in his bowl.

Xie Juanhan waved his hand. "You eat."

After saying that, Xie Juanhan said, "I want you to try it too."

Telingewei picked up the bowl. "Okay."

After taking a couple of bites, Telingewei said, "Three gold coins would have bought more ingredients; Harper and the others must have kept one gold coin for themselves."

Xie Juanhan looked up and laughed, "What's wrong with hiding a gold coin as a running fee? Let the little guys squeeze some money out of us."

Telingewei: "He hid quite a bit."

Xie Juanhan: "That's enough. Let them hide."

==========Author's Note:=========

See you tomorrow!

Chapter 52 [VIP]

Xie Juanhan carried a bucket of wild river shrimp as he crossed the ridge between the fields.

His Companion Beast and the little Demon Wolf hopped and skipped along behind him.

When they reached the pond, Xie Juanhan peered into the water to see what was happening beneath.

The furry creatures also peered out to see what was happening underwater.

A group of silverfish quickly rose from the bottom of the water.

It rushed up to the furry creatures and jumped up, soaring into the air.

Xie Juanhan reached out and grabbed the little Demon Wolf by the scruff of its neck, pulling it backward.

The fish tail, which had arched in mid-air, snapped open with a "snap," grazed the little Demon Wolf's mouth, and fell back into the water.

The little Demon Wolf almost got slapped in the face by the silver fish, and its eyes widened in surprise.

Several seconds passed before it looked at the silverfish, then at Xie Juanhan, and complained, "Aww--"

Xie Juanhan gently rubbed its head. "Puff puff fur, don't be scared."

The little Demon Wolf nudged Xie Juanhan's hand with its head, its voice filled with aggrieved whimpers.

Xie Juanhan: "These silverfish are indeed ferocious. Let's keep them for a while longer, then we'll eat them."

Little Demon Wolf: "Awooo!"

Xie Juanhan: "Now, can you help me look for the shrimp we put in yesterday? Are they still there?"

Upon hearing his words, the furry creatures immediately began running around the pond, diligently searching for shrimp at the bottom.

They searched for a long time but couldn't find any shrimp.

"Chirp chirp." The Companion Beast stopped at a certain spot on the pond embankment, gesturing for Xie Juanhan to come and take a look.

Xie Juanhan glanced over and saw the shrimp shells sunk to the bottom of the pond.

It seems that the shrimp we put in yesterday have been eaten by the silverfish, leaving only a few scraps.

Xie Juanhan looked at the silverfish in the pond, then at the river shrimp he had just caught in the bucket.

Alright, there's no need to put any more river shrimp in.

Putting them down is just feeding the silverfish.

It seems we still need to get some level 2 or higher magic shrimp.

Otherwise, I'll have to give up on the idea of raising shrimp.

Xie Juanhan picked up the bucket again. "Let's go home, I'll make you shrimp noodles."

The little ones cheered, "Aww!"

Xie Juanhan led the little ones back along the paddy field ridge, intending to go back for breakfast.

I'm not home yet.

Orfrey carried his basket and hurried from the other side of the river toward his house.

Xie Juanhan stopped and called out, "Orfrey? Good morning."

"Good morning, sir!" Orfrey hurried over to them. "I was just thinking of going straight to your house."

Xie Juanhan chuckled, "I was expecting you to come today, so I made sure to go home early to wait for you. Why are you here so early?"

"The head of the village took some men to check on the rye in the field yesterday and said it's reached the waxy ripening stage and ready for harvest," Orfrey said. "The village will be harvesting together these next few days, and I won't have much time to milk the cows, so I wanted to let you know in advance that milk deliveries will be temporarily suspended."

Xie Juanhan could see the rye, wheat, beans, and other crops ripening on the opposite bank of the river.

The air was filled with a unique aroma of wheat.

It's not surprising that they're starting to harvest the wheat.

This morning, when the Tata Fish left, I milked him a lot of fish milk. At this time, his milk supply is plentiful, so there's no need to rush.

Xie Juanhan nodded. "It's alright, you can bring me the milk after you're done with your work."

Orfrey apologized, "It might take quite a while. After harvesting the rye and wheat, we still have to harvest the beans and hay. We're really too busy."

Xie Juanhan: "Then I'll think of something later."

Orfrey: "Okay, you can also buy it at the market. There are a lot more things at the Star Market lately, including pure wheat flour."

The local winters are quite cold, so there are few farmers growing wheat, but many grow rye.

Xie Juanhan bought flour locally, but what he got was mostly mixed wheat flour.

Xie Juanhan became quite interested and asked, "Is tomorrow market day at the Star Market?"

"Yes, it's tomorrow," Orfrey said. "It gets light early, and people will be setting up their stalls very early. This is also when there are the most witches and adventurers, so going early will allow you to buy many interesting things."

After delivering the milk, Orfrey left.

Xie Juanhan handed the basket to the little Demon Wolf to carry, and asked, "Would you like to visit the Star Market?"

The little ones' eyes lit up. "Wow!"

Harper: "Chirp."

Xie Juanhan: "Haven't you visited the Star Market in many years?"

The Companion Beast immediately started chattering, complaining. "Chirp chirp chirp!"

Before they could finish speaking, Telingewei's deep voice came from the woods. "What do you mean I won't take you around?"

The Companion Beast immediately chirped guiltily.

Telingewei's tall figure emerged from the Magic Forest.

Xie Juanhan turned to look at Telingewei, a smile in his eyes, "You're here? I had shrimp noodles for breakfast, want some?"

Telingewei nodded. "I'll peel the shrimp."

Xie Juanhan changed the subject. "Don't you guys usually go to the Star Market?"

Telingewei: "The Star Market mostly sells fairly common agricultural products and groceries; I go to Teme Port more often."

After saying that, Telingewei added, "But you'll probably be more interested in the many local specialty products."

Xie Juanhan: "If you put it that way, I'd like to go shopping. How about we go to the Star Market together tomorrow?"

The Companion Beast reached out and scratched at Xie Juanhan's trouser leg. "Chirp."

Xie Juanhan added with a smile, "Bring the little ones along too."

Telingewei: "Let's go shopping. I'll come earlier tomorrow."

Xie Juanhan snapped his fingers, "Perfect timing, we'll have breakfast at the market tomorrow."

The two agreed to go to the Star Market, and they met up before dawn the next day.

Their eyesight was quite good, so they didn't bring whale oil torches.

As they left the Magic Forest, they encountered more and more pedestrians, and the surroundings became increasingly bright.

Among the pedestrians, some carried torches, and others carried oil lamps.

People were hidden in the dim light, indistinct and unclear, and the tiny orange flames looked like fireflies.

Eventually, these flames merged into one, as if igniting the entire Star Market.

Harvest season.

The Star Market was indeed much larger than before.

People set up stalls from the market to the suburbs, and everywhere was packed with people.

Besides humans, many other intelligent alien creatures have also appeared in the Star Market.