Mountain and Sea Canteen - Chapter 14

The baking tray was neatly lined with halved Danmu fruits. They were round and red, resembling little festive lanterns.

The sweet aroma filled the air as the juicy liquid flowed.

In front of each of the three people was a cup of Danmu fruit juice. The liquid, after being juiced, was a translucent pomegranate red, with an even color and a natural sweet fragrance.

The juice received unanimous praise, and Golden Crow particularly liked it. Although he said it was “decent,” he drank it quickly. While Ying Linglong was still savoring it, his cup was already empty.

When asked how Chongming felt about the taste, he commented seriously, “If the fruit is left a bit longer before juicing, it would taste even better.”

Ying Linglong was momentarily stunned. Left longer? That’s because it ferments! If you want fruit wine, just say it directly, you cunning alcoholic.

The Danmu fruit juice tasted good, but Ying Linglong obviously couldn’t hand over juice as the final product. Even if Qinggeng Bird couldn’t cook, she could still afford a juicer.

Ying Linglong wanted to experience the sweetness of the Danmu fruit more. Ordinary fruits tend to lose their sweetness when juiced, but Danmu fruit has a high sweetness level. The juice was very palatable without adding anything, with a special kind of sweetness that was refreshing, not sticky or heavy.

Ying Linglong said to Golden Crow, “Let’s try making some dried fruit first.”

Golden Crow put down his empty cup and reached for the tray with the Danmu fruits.

The heat evenly covered every inch of the baking tray, and the round fruits began to wrinkle and shrink. Every now and then, Ying Linglong would pick up a piece of dried fruit to taste and then instruct Golden Crow to adjust the temperature.

Only when the fruit flesh had shrunk to one-third of its original size, turning into a translucent pink with a light layer of sugar frost on the surface, resembling a piece of fruit gummy, did Ying Linglong call for a stop.

Success! It seems this 【Danmu Fruit Strip】 can be added to the order.

Opening the shop during the day and experimenting with making snacks using the ingredients specified by Qinggeng Bird at night, the day to deliver to Qinggeng Bird quickly arrived. This was the first order from a Yaoguai, and Ying Linglong took it very seriously, also looking forward to Qinggeng Bird’s feedback.

Ying Linglong had asked her through the forum account if she wanted to use Di Jiang Express for delivery. The other party said it wasn’t necessary as she could pick it up on her way to work.

Nowadays, Yaoguai are really pitiful, not only needing to get certified but also having to find a job.

Xu Qing was on her way to pick up the snacks she had ordered, feeling quite anxious.

There were so many Yaoguai living among humans, yet almost none of them were good at cooking. Otherwise, Luo Youyu’s fishery wouldn’t have outlasted five consecutive Yaoguai restaurant owners, and the Yaoguai Employment Office’s warehouse wouldn’t be filled with so many mortgaged catering equipment.

Perhaps it was because they had no interest in human food, but it seemed especially difficult for Yaoguai to learn cooking.

Humans have countless ways to cook food: stir-frying, deep-frying, steaming, boiling, braising, roasting, and so on. But even if Yaoguai tried to learn, they could only grasp the surface, mimicking these methods to cook spirit fruits and spirit beasts, and the results were always unsatisfactory.

Xu Qing’s friend, Sang Xuanxuan, had specifically gone to learn cooking. Her instructor once said in a very puzzled tone, “You have no interest in food at all. You don’t even want to taste what you make. Why bother entering this field?”

Sang Xuanxuan was very embarrassed. The spirit energy in ordinary food was negligible, and eating it felt like chewing wax to her. How could she be willing to taste it?

As it turned out, Sang Xuanxuan indeed wasn’t cut out for this. She followed an online tutorial to brew wine using spirit fruits. A month later, she excitedly called Xu Qing over to taste it. When the wine jar was opened, a smell reminiscent of slowly simmered rotten rags wafted out.

Still unwilling to give up, she caught a ranyi fish and stewed it. When she lifted the lid, the overwhelming fishy smell almost knocked Xu Qing out. In Xu Qing’s words, even eating raw fish wasn’t as bad as this.

After these traumatic experiences, Xu Qing only ate fresh fruits for several years, never again thinking about processing spirit ingredients.

A few days ago, she happened to see a video posted by Ying Linglong on the Mountain and Sea Forum. In the video, snow-white fish balls floated in a soup pot, steam rising from the surface. Golden crab roe dripped over rice like liquid gold. Xu Qing clicked on it immediately.

Finally, a Yaoguai who knew how to cook?!

After watching several of Ying Linglong’s videos multiple times, Xu Qing confirmed that she seemed genuinely skilled at cooking. She placed an order right away and waited eagerly for several days. Today, she could finally pick it up.

As long as it’s not hard to swallow, Xu Qing thought to herself.

Arriving outside the Mountain and Sea Canteen, Xu Qing saw a young girl hurriedly run into the shop, muttering, “I’m going to be late again.” Shortly after, the girl came out with a sealed cup of ham and egg noodle porridge in one hand and a freshly made sesame paste pancake in the other. She blew on the pancake, took a bite despite the heat, and squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

Early in the morning, half of the seats in the shop were already occupied. Near the door, an elderly man was recording a video. With a delighted expression, he lifted the lid of the steamer, and a thin mist of steam dispersed, revealing five soup buns with skins so thin they were almost translucent, perfectly round and smooth.

In a tone brimming with pride, the old man said, “Today’s breakfast is Crab Roe Soup Buns.”

The buns were nearly transparent, so delicate they seemed like they might burst at the slightest touch. The man gently prodded one with his chopsticks, and the soup inside swayed gently. It was hard to imagine how such a thin, crystal-clear skin could hold such a pool of savory broth.

Even without eating them, just looking at the buns was a treat. After thoroughly showing off his soup buns from every angle, the old man carefully picked one up, bit a tiny hole in it, and the rich broth immediately gushed out. The savory soup, infused with the flavor of crab, instantly filled his mouth.

It was no easy feat to encapsulate this clear, flavorful broth in a bun. The soup was made by simmering fresh pork bones and free-range hens together, then adding pork skin to help the broth solidify into a gelatin. This gelatin was then mixed with pork, crab meat, and crab roe, all wrapped in a thin dough skin to create these small, delicate buns.

After savoring the broth, the old man expertly peeled back the skin, drizzled it with vinegar, and began to enjoy the delicious filling.

“The skin is thin but doesn’t tear, the soup is full but doesn’t spill, and the crab flavor is rich but not fishy,” the old man commented. At the end of the video, he added with a mischievous tone, “The Crab Roe Soup Buns are sold out today. The owner says they’re too much trouble to make, so they won’t be available this month. If you’re craving them, don’t bother coming. Just watch my video a few more times, hehe.”

Old Zhang posted the video in their group chat. The group members were practically drooling over the screen, and even the breakfast in front of them lost its appeal. Elder Ma angrily scolded, “He’s gloating after getting the good stuff! Old Zhang has truly reached the pinnacle of shamelessness!”

After his outburst, Elder Ma replayed the video from the beginning, watching it again while thinking to himself, If I place an order in advance, maybe the owner would be willing to make a few more batches. Then I’ll bring the group members with me to eat, and I won’t tell that Old Zhang about it!

Xu Qing’s gaze shifted further inside the shop, where a young boy was looking conflicted as he spoke to his friend. “This is the first time I’ve gotten up this early for breakfast. But the Fish Slice Porridge sells out so fast-if you’re late, you won’t even get the leftovers at the bottom of the pot.”

His friend nodded. “My place is even farther than yours, so I had to get up even earlier. If only this shop had delivery!”

Passing through the tables of diners, Xu Qing felt as if she was traversing through the bustling human world. Arriving at the counter, she momentarily forgot what to say. It was Chongming who noticed her and asked in a low voice, “Qinggeng Bird?”

Xu Qing snapped back to reality. “I’m Xu Qing, here to pick up my order.”

“My name is Chongming. Wait a moment, I’ll get your order for you.”

Xu Qing understood-he was the Chongming Bird. Yaoguai had two schools of thought when it came to naming themselves. One was like Xu Qing, who chose a completely new name. The other was to use their species name or a more memorable homophone. For rare Divine Birds like Chongming, there was no risk of confusion since there was only one of him in the world. If Xu Qing had used her species name, to distinguish her from other Qinggeng Birds, people would have called her “Qinggeng of Jiangyu.” If there were two Qinggeng Birds in Jiangyu City, it would have been even more troublesome. That’s why Xu Qing decided to create a new name.

Chongming returned with two exquisitely packaged gift boxes. Stacked together, they were almost the size of a small suitcase.

“They’re a bit bulky,” Chongming said. “If it’s inconvenient to take them to work, I can ask Di Jiang to deliver them to your home.”

Xu Qing waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll just keep them in my office.” At the hospital, she maintained the persona of someone with severe allergies and a strict vegetarian who never visited the cafeteria. Every day, she simply nibbled on fruits and chewed on grass in her office.

Hearing this, Chongming stared at her with such intensity that Xu Qing began to feel uneasy.

“Uh, what’s wrong?” she asked.

Chongming looked at her with an earnest expression. “How can I become as wealthy as you?” He was referring to her ability to casually order snacks worth thousands of yuan and have her own private office.

Before, when Chongming was holed up in his rented apartment, he hadn’t realized how many fascinating things there were in the human world. Now, he understood that without money, one couldn’t go far-and he was a penniless debtor.

Xu Qing didn’t hide the truth. The reason she was one of the few wealthy Yaoguai was because she had three sources of income: her salary from the logistics department of Jiangyu City First Hospital, a fixed subsidy from the Yaoguai Management Bureau for her role in guarding the infectious disease hospital, and a shop selling pigments on the Mountain and Sea Mall.

These three points could be summarized as [Lucky Charm Constitution], [Iron Rice Bowl Job], and [Family with Resources].

It was something others couldn’t easily replicate.

Chongming was filled with envy. “I don’t have my own mountain.” He couldn’t sell spirit fruits, spirit grass, or pigments.

He also didn’t have a special constitution, so he couldn’t be a lucky charm. The most he could do was risk a fine from the Yaoguai Management Bureau by performing a “contact lens slip” trick for everyone.

As for the iron rice bowl, he had one-but only because he couldn’t quit until he paid off his debt to Ying Linglong.

Life was tough for Yaoguai these days. Xu Qing comforted him with practiced ease. “The job market is tough right now, and making money is hard. You see, I’m only living this comfortably because I’m working three jobs, right?”