Chapter 32: The Old, Weak, Sick, and Disabled

As soon as he stepped outside, Yan Jing spotted a familiar figure on her tiptoes. Her head was shoved into a nearby trash can, hands trembling as she rummaged for something.

The trash can was a bit too tall for her. The girl was half-buried inside it, her raised tiptoes quivering slightly.

Yan Jing stepped forward and steadied Mantou, his voice gentle.

"Careful."

Mantou went rigid the moment he touched her waist, but she quickly relaxed at the sound of Yan Jing's voice. She lifted her dirt-smudged face, breaking into a surprised smile.

"Yi... Ji... You... you're back..."

"Yeah, I'm back."

Yan Jing held her steady and naturally reached out to wipe the dirt from her cheeks.

"Dirty... it's dirty... I... I brought tissues..."

Blushing, Mantou rummaged through her pockets for a tissue and handed it to Yan Jing.

"Yi... Ji... You... you... wipe..."

"Thank you."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Want to head to the market together today?"

"O-okay!"

Mantou was so happy her eyes crinkled into a smile. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she said, "Yi... Ji... Yesterday, Grandpa... Liu... came looking for you... Seemed like he had something urgent..."

'Old Liu? What urgent business could he have? Did he want to treat me to a meal?'

Yan Jing pondered. Perfect timing—he also wanted to ask his two friends about the Sun-Swallowing Tower.

The two of them headed toward the market.

Before they even reached the stall, they spotted two figures sitting behind it in the distance, conversing loudly.

"So, are you going to agree or not, kid?"

Old Liu stood with his hands shoved in the pockets of his green military overcoat. His sunglasses had slipped down the bridge of his nose, and his mismatched eyes—one black, one white—stared at Chen Nian across from him.

"Didn't I already tell you? I'll go with the majority."

Chen Nian looked helplessly at Old Liu. He scratched his bandage-wrapped neck and coughed twice.

"Great, then it's a done deal!"

Old Liu beamed with joy.

"Majority rules. Nizi will definitely follow that kid Yi Ji, so now all we have to do is rope him in."

"Rope me in for what?"

Yan Jing's voice came from the side. Old Liu looked up in delight and clapped his hands.

"Perfect, you're here! Well? Are you in or out?"

"In for what?"

Yan Jing still didn't understand.

"Oh, right. I forgot you didn't know yet."

Old Liu picked up the latest newspaper beside his hand and pointed to the top headline.

"The annual Rotten Vegetable Festival, of course! Every year during the Rotten Vegetable Festival, our village selects the best rotten vegetable! An honor like this—I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss it! What do you say? Want to sign up and participate with this Old Man?"

Yan Jing ignored Old Liu's expectant gaze and looked directly at Chen Nian, his eyes asking a clear question:

'What is this Old Man making a fuss over now?'

Chen Nian sighed.

"This old geezer participated in the Rotten Vegetable Festival competition last year and lost to the old lady next door by a single vote. He's been holding a grudge ever since."

"But isn't the old lady already dead?"

Yan Jing didn't quite follow.

Chen Nian sighed again.

"Aside from the old lady, he also lost to paraplegic Grandpa Wang diagonally across the street by two votes, lost to armless Grandpa Li next door by five votes, and lost to Old Zhang by seven votes..."

"..."

Yan Jing turned his head to look at Old Liu.

"Old Liu, I have to criticize you here."

Chen Nian laughed.

"See, what did I tell you? Yi Ji definitely thinks you're being ridiculous too—"

"No matter who you lose to, you can't lose to Old Zhang!"

Yan Jing said, looking at him with utter disappointment.

"He cheated!"

"He bought some stuff called Sanhua evaporated milk from that condiment stall! It was an unfair victory!"

Old Liu looked fiercely unconvinced, then waved a large hand, his face full of fighting spirit.

"But this year will be different! Judging from how we cracked that serial killer case a few days ago, if the few of us join forces, we will definitely take first place in the Rotten Vegetable Festival this time!"

"So, what do you say, Yi Ji? Are you joining?"

The corners of Chen Nian's mouth curled up beneath his mask.

As far as he was concerned, there was no way Yan Jing would be bored enough to agree.

"I'll join."

???

Chen Nian's eyes widened as he stared at Yan Jing, looking at him as if for the very first time.

"I said it last time: it's all thanks to you, Old Liu, and Old Chen that I was let out! If you guys need anything, I'm on call."

Yan Jing's tone was sincere. Hearing this made Old Master Liu extremely excited, and he abruptly stood up.

"Great! This time, we will absolutely present the ultimate dish and leave those old fogeys in the village utterly dumbfounded!"

'As expected, it really is because he got mocked last year...'

Yan Jing's reason for agreeing, of course, wasn't merely out of a sense of obligation. During such a critical period, he chose to agree because of the final line of small print on the newspaper's headline:

[As in previous years, the top three teams in this Rotten Vegetable Festival competition will win a five-day tour of the Sun-Swallowing Tower!!!]

In the Cameraman's memories regarding the Sun-Swallowing Tower, that tall building across the way was not easy to enter.

As a dining location catering to the elites of Old Sin City, residents from a small Domain like Rotten Vegetable Village lacked the qualifications to enter at all. Even if someone happened to get in after navigating layers of approvals, they could only stay for half a day at most.

But now, things had worked out perfectly.

"Are you going to participate, Mantou?"

In a good mood, Yan Jing looked at Mantou beside him.

Hearing this, a sliver of hope rose within Chen Nian again. Perhaps this little girl would refuse...

"O-okay!"

Mantou nodded happily, completely shattering Chen Nian's fantasy.

"According to majority rule, you're automatically on the team too, Chen Nian!"

Old Master Liu flung his military overcoat back in the wind.

"Our goal this time is the top three!"

"Charge!!!"

Yan Jing clapped enthusiastically, showing his full support.

Chen Nian let out a mournful sigh.

Suddenly, his downcast gaze swept over the contents of the newspaper, and hope flared once more in his despondent eyes. He grabbed the paper and pointed at it.

"It says right here that registration requires five days' advance notice."

"So... the deadline should have been yesterday, right?"

He truly didn't want to participate in this Rotten Vegetable Festival. As far as he was concerned, lying on a lounge chair and basking in the sun was the optimal choice.

Seeing a glimmer of hope now, he was so excited that he began to stammer.

"The deadline was indeed yesterday."

Old Master Liu's tone started low before abruptly soaring. Chuckling, he pulled a registration certificate from his military overcoat.

"Which is why I registered in advance yesterday morning!!"

'Old Master Liu is a badass!'

Yan Jing secretly gave him a thumbs-up.

Chen Nian took the certificate in disbelief.

[Registration Certificate]

[Your team has successfully registered for the Rotten Vegetable Festival's Best Rotten Vegetable Competition.]

[Team Name: Old, Weak, Sick, and Disabled Team]

[With this certificate, you may participate in the Rotten Vegetable Festival competition on September 30.]

[Thank you for your support.]

"The Old, Weak, Sick, and Disabled Team."

Yan Jing leaned in to look, then immediately froze.

His gaze swept over the other three people.

"Old... Sick... Disabled..."

"Who's the 'Weak' one?"

Hearing this, Old Liu pushed his sunglasses up, his gaze naturally shifting skyward.

"I didn't notice just now, but the sun is really round today, huh..."

Chen Nian didn't speak. He stared at the ground, but the mockery in his eyes was undisguised.

Only Mantou reached out with both hands and gave Yan Jing a comforting hug.

"Yi... Ji... isn't weak... Yi... Ji... is amazing..."

"..."

The situation had been somewhat under control, but the moment Mantou said that, Chen Nian violently pinched his own thigh to keep from laughing out loud. Old Liu didn't bother hiding it at all; his head tipped back, a wide grin splitting his face.

"The sun is so round today, so round..."

Being told something like that by a girl who liked him—how was it any different from hearing 'three minutes isn't bad'?

Yan Jing immediately gave them both the middle finger, then pulled the clueless Mantou closer to his side to shield her from the corruption of these two dirty old men.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Chen Nian coughed from laughing so hard. He finally suppressed his amusement and asked, "Since we're already registered, what dish are you planning to enter into the competition?"

He paused. Seeming to recall something terrible, his expression stiffened.

"Don't tell me you're planning on making those salted eggs from last year."

"What eggs?"

Yan Jing thought he'd misheard.

"Salted eggs."

As if he were still deeply traumatized, Chen Nian's already pale face grew a few shades whiter.

"This old geezer made a whole jar of salted eggs last year. There must have been something wrong with his curing method, because they stunk up the entire street."

"Bullshit salted eggs, those were Phoenix Eggs! Even the wealthiest aristocratic families in their grand five-courtyard manors haven't necessarily tasted them! What do you guys know? That dish is famous for its stench!"

Old Liu was highly indignant.

"I didn't expect the people around here to have such poor taste. I overestimated them."

"But it's fine. I've made thorough preparations this time—there's no way we'll lose!"

After saying this, he mysteriously pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his military overcoat. Glancing left and right to ensure no one was watching, he leaned down and unfolded the paper in front of everyone.

It appeared to be a recipe. The paper had already yellowed, its rough edges bearing gaps from natural weathering.

The characters on it were written with an Ink Brush. Though the ink had faded slightly, one could still tell the writer had excellent calligraphy skills—the strokes were vigorous and powerful, with clean, sharp finishes.

[Wang Family Recipe Manual: Thirty-Seven]

[Heavenly Fried Rice]

[Take the first batch of Michen early rice from the sunny third lunar month, cultivated by an agricultural cultivator of at least the Seventh Trade or higher, and add Eighth Grade refined salt...]

[He who eats this rice will feel as if seated upon the clouds, looking down upon the mortal realm; his heart like a god's, his joy like an immortal's.]

[You have seen an item of significant origin. It does not belong to this Great Domain, and even if it is merely a replica, it remains incredibly precious.]

The system's broadcast echoed in Yan Jing's ears, confirming the extraordinary nature of the item Old Liu had brought out.

"Not bad, Old Liu. To think you had something this good."

Yan Jing subconsciously lowered his voice.

"Is this recipe very powerful?"

Chen Nian's eyes were full of doubt. This exceeded his area of expertise.

"Look at you, just look at you! You don't have this kid Yi Ji's eye for quality at all!"

Old Liu carefully tucked the recipe away and said with disdain, "You can't even recognize a treasure like this. No wonder you called Phoenix Eggs 'salted eggs.'"

The group was currently hunched over, their heads huddled close together. Yan Jing raised a question:

"But from what I saw, we don't have a lot of those ingredients here, do we?"

"I prepared for that long ago!"

Old Liu pulled out another piece of paper. It had the names of some ingredients written on it with a ballpoint pen, accompanied by scribbled illustrations:

"I've been preparing for this competition for a whole year. These are cheap substitutes for the missing ingredients."

"I've already found most of them, but there are still three or four missing. I've marked them with red circles."

Though amazed at how much free time this Old Man had to spend a whole year preparing just to avenge his past humiliation, Yan Jing stared at the contents marked in the red circles and couldn't figure out what a single one of them was.

The main issue was that the sketches were entirely too abstract; they looked like the casual doodles of a young child.

Compared to Yan Jing's silence, Chen Nian next to him was much more direct:

"Old geezer, are you messing with me with these drawings?"

"The drawings aren't important! Aren't the names written right next to them?"

Old Liu pointed to the name at the very top of the red circles.

"Heavy Pollution Herb! This thing is the most important of the missing ingredients, and the hardest to get. It's our primary target."

"Heavy Pollution Herb... That should be a plant that only grows in extremely polluted places..."

Chen Nian seemed quite familiar with this type of herb, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Usually, only the emissions from chemical factories and laboratories would cause this thing to grow. Is there even a place like that in all of Old Sin City?"

Yan Jing looked at the drawing next to the Heavy Pollution Herb.

It looked like a weed with numerous massive, tumor-like pustules growing at the top, drooping to one side like a stalk of rice.

Just as he was wondering if the Cameraman's memories contained anything resembling this, Mantou's halting voice sounded from beside him:

"This... this... herb... I... I've seen it..."