Chapter 35: The City Lord’s Returning Son

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: The City Lord’s Returning Son

As a sub-female, Yang Yan had always carried herself with poise and calm ever since marrying into the North District of Nantong City. She spoke softly, took small, delicate bites when she ate, and maintained her elegance even during her pregnancy.

Mao Ping and all their relatives had never heard her speak loudly—until now.

A glint shone in Yang Yan’s eyes. Completely forgetting her decorum, she opened her mouth wide—her crimson lips parting to reveal her teeth—and devoured a large piece of meat and pickled cabbage in a single gulp.

Mao Ping stared, dumbfounded. The chopsticks she was holding slipped from her fingers.

CLATTER—

Yang Yan picked up a handkerchief to wipe her mouth. She smiled, her words slightly muffled, "Pardon me, my appetite has been rather large since I got pregnant... The pickled cabbage you brought is absolutely wonderful!"

’She really is full of surprises,’ Mao Ping thought, almost believing her eyes were playing tricks on her.

She finished dinner in a daze. As she was about to leave, Yang Yan pulled her aside to ask for the address where she could buy the pickled cabbage. Afterward, Mao Ping went home as if in a dream.

...

Having given away her method for serving grilled meat with pickled cabbage, Feng Si had no intention of selling the same dish the next day. Not when she had a mastery of countless modern delicacies.

The previous afternoon, Feng Si had made a trip to the North District and bought a crucial sweet condiment for cooking—honey.

The people here weren’t particular about food. If their technology and construction were considered marks of a high civilization, then their cuisine could only be described as prehistoric.

Since it wasn’t mass-produced, sugar—a naturally scarce resource—was very expensive.

A jar of honey weighing about two pounds cost two thousand coins.

Feng Si steeled her heart and bought twenty jars for forty thousand coins.

This was her biggest expense since the Incubator.

On the way, thinking about her long-term grilled meat business, she increasingly felt that it wasn’t a sustainable plan.

’All the ingredients still come from foraging in the wild. Hasn’t anyone here ever thought of farming or animal husbandry?’

’Wait a minute—I can do it!’

Feng Si narrowed her eyes, a thrilled glint flashing within them.

’The reason they don’t pen up the animals they hunt for meat is because those dinosaur-like creatures are too dangerous.’

’But farming is different.’

’There’s a vast plain stretching from outside the city to the foot of the foraging mountains. Such a wide-open flatland, located in the middle ground between the city and the foraging area—what a safe location!’

’And besides, even if resources are abundant here, the wild vegetables and fruits foraged every day could never taste as good as carefully cultivated crops.’

’If she had a piece of land, she could plant green potatoes and mustard greens, and set up a few beehives on the side...’

Feng Si’s heart beat faster the more she thought about it. There were no Beastmen farmers here, which meant she could become the first.

As soon as she got home, Feng Si immediately messaged Mao Qiu from her contact list: [Can you buy land outside the city here?]

Mao Qiu replied in a second: [What do you want to buy land for?]

Feng Si: [To plant vegetables.]

Mao Qiu: [...]

Mao Qiu was stunned by Feng Si’s extravagant idea.

[The land around Nantong City belongs to the City Lord, Niu Ding of the Green Bull Clan. You know how much a single room costs. Land big enough for farming could house hundreds of thousands of families, so you do the math. Aside from the nutrient-pack factories belonging to the Empire, who has enough money for farmland or ranches?]

’Over ten million. And that was just for the smallest top-floor unit. Hundreds of thousands of families...’

Feng Si’s heart instantly went cold. [Oh.] ’My mistake. Guess my wallet was getting a little too full of itself.’

The fire of her farming dream was extinguished by poverty. She hadn’t even earned a fraction of the money for the Jade Pendant yet, so how could she possibly afford to buy land?

Resignedly, Feng Si started thinking of other ways to make money.

The honey was expensive. Brushing it on the grilled meat would raise her costs significantly.

’Then I’ll just have to raise the selling price.’

And so, the next day, a Beast World version of Orleans-style grilled meat appeared at Feng Si’s stall, alongside the plain boiled meat and Green Potato.

"Grilled meat for sale, meow~ The Aomi Grilled Meat that all the females love, meow~ 399 coins for a leaf bowl, meow~" Standing on a stool after having eaten some of Feng Si’s delicious meat, the little kitten, Mao Ge, was doing a very diligent job of hawking the wares.

The crowd, who had been waiting since morning to buy pickled cabbage, heard this and were somewhat dismissive. Everyone knew how to grill meat. Even without the owner’s special sauce, they could use that money to buy a jar of pickled cabbage and feed their whole family.

But then they smelled the aroma of the meat Feng Si was grilling!

On impulse, they bought a portion. The texture was indescribable. A sweet flavor mingled with the savory saltiness, and the taste of caramel and meat exploded perfectly in their mouths. Tasting meat like this for the first time, they were utterly blown away. The new Aomi Grilled Meat was quickly sold out.

The crowd that had originally been clamoring for pickled cabbage was now fighting over the expensive grilled meat. Standing on the stool inside the stall, Mao Ge was nearly crushed flat. His smooth fur was all ruffled, leaving him with the pitiful appearance of having been petted too aggressively.

In the end, Feng Si placated him with a piece of grilled meat. As Mao Ge held the meat with both paws and gnawed on it, his pupils dilated in sheer delight.

Mao Qiu watched Mao Ge with a hungry expression. "Feng Si, your cooking skills are even better than the sub-females in the Imperial Palace at Pantian City!"

"Of course," Feng Si said, the corners of her lips turning up in a confident smile. "And someday, I’ll earn enough to buy a piece of land of my own."

Her fair face was dotted with dark speckles, and her slightly upturned eyes were round and bright. The arch of her brows held a beauty that couldn’t be concealed, giving her a youthful, harmless appearance.

Mao Qiu found she couldn’t be put off by Feng Si’s brazen confidence; in fact, she admired the sub-female from the bottom of his heart. He had never imagined it was possible to earn so much money in such a remote little city.

In the days that followed, Mao Qiu worked with even greater diligence. The green potatoes and green mustard she brought back were washed so clean they could be used for cooking immediately.

She did it all just to get a bowl of that incomparably delicious food—a delicacy so fragrant you might swallow your own tongue. It had become her favorite food in the world.

Thanks to its unique food, business at Feng Si’s stall grew better and better.

The grilled meat was a given. Everyone had tried to replicate the flavor of the Aomi Grilled Meat from Feng Si’s stall, but no one could manage it, so they had no choice but to dutifully pay up and buy it from her.

As for the pickled cabbage, after a few days, word had spread among the pregnant sub-females, and demand exceeded supply every single day.

Ever since the Beastmen had tried pickled cabbage paired with fried meat, its unique, sour, fermented flavor was no longer something only pregnant sub-females enjoyed.

The Beastmen discovered that not only did this side dish make the meat taste better, but it also allowed them to eat more of it at every meal. And as everyone knew—

the amount of food eaten at each meal could be converted into energy. Since the pickled cabbage allowed them to eat more, they could store up more energy for the cold season. Thus, they too became incredibly fond of this food.

This led to Feng Si’s stall becoming wildly popular.

On this day, she closed up early as usual. Feng Si was about to head home with Mao Qiu when she saw the crowd in the marketplace suddenly grow excited, surging toward the gate.

"What’s going on?" Feng Si asked, watching a neighboring stall owner run past her. Amidst the crowd, she subconsciously placed a hand over her lower abdomen and asked nervously, "What happened?"

The neighboring stall owner was a sub-female whose wild fruit stall had also gained many customers thanks to Feng Si’s booming business. Seeing that Feng Si was asking, she stopped and patiently replied: