Chapter 74: Little Chi’s Imaginary Enemy

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Little Chi’s Imaginary Enemy

After her unhurried introduction, Feng Si’s next movements were gentle as she began her work on a large, five-jin fish that Mao Qiu had acquired and prepared that afternoon for two thousand coins.

She placed the fish on the countertop.

Her back was perfectly straight. With her luminous white hands, she held the fish down with one and used the other to grab a towel, wiping the fish dry. Then, she reached up and pulled a long, wide Bone Knife from the knife rack.

With nimble movements, she split the fish, removed its head and bones, and sliced it into pieces.

It all looked incredibly elegant.

Because—

Her cub was nestled at her collarbone, its small body pressed tightly against Feng Si’s skin beneath her clothes. Peeking out from the collar of her top, by her shoulder, one could see a small, adorable white bear head.

Yun Chi was finally wearing his long-desired little round hat. His mother had washed it by hand, dried it with warm air, and told him it carried the scent of the sun.

The little guy was obediently nestled at his mother’s collarbone to keep her company, his little paws tucked under his belly. He tilted his little head, resting it against his mother’s collarbone, his big eyes peering out from under the round hat.

He seemed interested in the floating live stream camera, or perhaps he sensed danger from the black sphere.

’Why is it following my mommy around!’

Yun Chi glared at the little black ball floating in front of him, treating the object chasing his mother as a mortal enemy. He furrowed his brow with all his might, his round eyes narrowing into golden slits, looking adorably fierce.

Unaware that her cub was on high alert, Feng Si finished preparing the fish. She marinated it for a while with oil, salt, and a ginger-scallion juice before setting it aside on a plate. Since she hadn’t yet found any chili peppers or Sichuan peppercorns, she could only make a simplified, Beast World version of fish with pickled cabbage.

Next up was the main event—the pickled cabbage.

Feng Si reached for a jar from the pyramid of pickled cabbage at the front of the counter. As she twisted open the lid, she explained, "Fish with pickled cabbage. As the name suggests, the key ingredient is the pickled cabbage. While it’s great with minced meat, the pairing of pickled cabbage and fish is also incredibly delicious."

She took out the pickled cabbage and rinsed it under cool water to remove some of the saltiness. After squeezing it dry, she sliced it into thin shreds. Having been pickled for a long time, the cabbage had a translucent, vibrant yellowish-green color.

She poured the shredded pickled cabbage into the hot wok. The soup base had been made by pan-frying the fish bones in hot oil, then adding hot water to create a milky-white broth. After the bones were removed, the fish soup was rich and creamy.

To let the pickled cabbage absorb more flavor, she simmered the shreds in the soup for a while. This would make the sour taste more prominent, which would in turn mask any lingering fishiness and make the final dish even more savory.

Next, she slid the marinated fish slices into the boiling broth piece by piece, gently stirring to prevent them from sticking together. After cooking for just a short while, she poured everything into a bowl and finished it with a sprinkle of chopped scallions.

Her movements for making the fish with pickled cabbage were as fluid as running water. The finished dish was intensely fragrant and savory—a delicacy that would make any Beastman drool. The rich broth was bursting with umami, and a single bite of a fish slice released a uniquely sour, aromatic, and savory flavor that exploded in the mouth.

After tasting it, Feng Si—a modern person—was stunned by how good it was. On her shoulder, Yun Chi stuck out his long, slender tongue, sniffing the fragrance in the air as he watched his mother eat.

Yun Chi stretched his neck, his hidden paws twitching beneath his belly. He turned his head toward the "enemy" black sphere, then snapped it back, glaring determinedly at the orb. ’I have to protect Mama.’

Feng Si raised her hand and placed it gently on her shoulder, giving Yun Chi a reassuring pat. ’He’s just a newborn cub, I can’t just feed him anything.’

’No matter how easy male beast cubs are to raise, they still need to drink milk for a while after birth before they can start on solid food.’

On the light screens of every viewer, the three-dimensional holographic visuals of the fish with pickled cabbage appealed to both the vegetable-lovers and the meat-loving Beastmen.

Feng Si carried the fish with pickled cabbage to the dining area and sat on the grass. She glanced at the light screen next to the black live stream orb. A dense flood of comments filled the screen, all asking about the pickled cabbage, interspersed with the occasional firework effect from a gift.

User Mang has gifted Streamer Xiao Si one Giant Tree!

The notification flashed repeatedly. Small green trees began to appear in quick succession, one popping up before the last had faded, their overlapping images creating the illusion of a forest.

’Which tycoon just gifted me an entire forest in one go? One tree is worth ten thousand coins. A forest must be at least a hundred trees, right?’

"Let me ask on behalf of everyone, how do we buy the pickled cabbage?"

"Even her fish dish is so exquisite. Xiao Si is even more amazing than the cooks in the Imperial Palace!"

"Oh, Beast God, I want to eat at the streamer’s house so bad. I’ll bring my own containers, coins, bowl, my entire family fortune! Just give me the address!"

"The streamer has great taste! I love fish. The meat is delicious, rich, and tender, and it’s packed with energy. A perfect way to build up fat reserves."

"I’ve been eating fish for so long, and I never knew it could be prepared in such a fancy way???"

"Hurry up! If you don’t put the pickled cabbage up for sale soon, I’m going to starve to death!!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Feng Si sat on the grass, her eyes bright and alert.

She gave a faint smile, like someone sharing a delicious dish they’d just discovered. Amidst the barrage of questions, she picked up a jar of pickled cabbage and finally began her sales pitch:

"This is pickled cabbage from Si Shi. It’s 1500 coins per jar, shipping not included. Xiao Si only managed to get her hands on one thousand jars, so it’s a limited quantity—first come, first served~"

Catching fish by breaking through the ice in the cold season was no easy task. On rivers where the ice was thin, one could easily fall through into the frigid water. The icy chill would soak one’s fur, and in the cold season, this could easily make a Beastman sick.

Therefore, everyone knew that the fish used to accompany the pickled cabbage was very expensive.

Therefore, when Xiao Si announced that a small jar of pickled cabbage was 1500 coins—not even including the extra cold-season delivery fee—the audience found the price quite easy to accept.

Express delivery used special shortcut routes that bypassed city entry, and the service was entirely controlled by the Empire. During the cold season, prices were calculated by distance, starting at one thousand coins, with an additional three hundred coins charged for every hundred kilometers traveled.

Even so, the one thousand jars of pickled cabbage that had just been listed were sold out in an instant. The many foodies who missed out saw that Feng Si had also listed Green Potato for 60 coins a pack, though she hadn’t promoted it. Out of frustration, they started revenge-buying them.

In the blink of an eye, the mere two thousand servings of Green Potato also sold out. Feng Si’s planned one-hour live stream ended ahead of schedule.

After the live stream ended, the camera drone located its docking base in the corner, descended automatically, and the room fell silent.

With the disappearance of the black sphere that had been circling his mother, Yun Chi’s little heart let out a huge sigh of relief. He lowered his head, snuggling back into the hollow of Feng Si’s collarbone and panting. It had been very, very tiring holding his head up for so long.

"Yun Duo, that black sphere that follows us around? Mommy set it up. It’s not dangerous to us, okay?" Feeling the sudden little weight press against her collarbone, Feng Si gently poked her cub with a fingertip, explaining softly.