Chapter 53: Pre-Match Turmoil

Chopping, heating the wok, pouring the oil, stir-frying, tossing the pan... Yan Jing carried a plate of fried rice over to the group that had been waiting at the table.

"Give it a try," he said.

Old Liu and Chen Nian stared at the fried rice on the table. Its colors were vibrant and its aroma tantalizing. Every grain of rice was distinct, with the ingredients evenly distributed.

The two of them exchanged glances.

Their eyes communicated a single thought:

'Can this guy actually cook?'

"Eat up. Why aren't you eating?"

Yan Jing reached out and scooped a bowl for Mantou.

"Mantou, you eat first. Ignore them," he said.

"Careful, don't burn yourself."

"O-Okay!"

Mantou tried her best to control her trembling hands. She scooped up a spoonful of fried rice and put it in her mouth. Her eyes immediately flew wide open.

"It's... so... delicious!!!"

It wasn't just her. Even the voice in her head let out an involuntary sigh of admiration.

[Truly not bad.]

The moment that spoonful of rice entered her mouth, it felt like a multitude of rare delicacies bombarding her taste buds all at once. It was more than just delicious; it brought an extraordinary sense of satisfaction.

It was as if she had swallowed half the world in a single bite.

Seeing Mantou's reaction, Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction.

He hadn't cooked in so long, but it seemed his skills hadn't rusted.

In his previous life, he had worked a whole slew of part-time jobs just to survive college, ranging from waiting tables to prepping vegetables in the back kitchen, working at a milk tea shop, and bartending.

Coupled with the fact that he was entirely alone, cooking for himself was a routine part of life.

Hearing Mantou's review, Chen Nian and Old Liu exchanged another glance.

They immediately served themselves a bowl each.

They took a bite.

The two stared at each other in sheer disbelief.

"Heh."

Seeing the look in their eyes, the corners of Yan Jing's mouth curled up. He felt great.

Soon, the entire plate of fried rice was polished off.

Yan Jing also tried a bowl. It really was quite good.

He hadn't expected these seemingly dreadful ingredients to blend together in such unexpected harmony.

At any rate, he had never eaten such delicious fried rice in his past life.

He also quickly sensed the effect that the Heavy Pollution Herb he had gathered brought to the dish.

Neutralization.

This herb, grown in a polluted environment, successfully masked the flaws of the other bizarre ingredients, replacing them with a faint trace of bitterness.

And miraculously, this hint of bitterness didn't detract from the fried rice at all. Instead, it gave the dish a much richer depth.

This recipe was truly a rare treasure.

"It's in the bag!"

Old Master Liu patted his belly, speaking happily.

"With your skills, Yi Ji, my boy, a top-three spot in this Rotten Vegetable Festival is absolutely guaranteed!"

"The competition starts tomorrow. Do you have any intel on the other contestants?"

Yan Jing asked as he and Mantou cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.

It was a pity that Chen Nian's place lacked a dishwasher.

"I do, of course I do."

While Yan Jing and Mantou washed the dishes, Old Master Liu pulled out the notebook he always carried with him and said, "There are a total of five potential rivals for us this time!"

"Aside from the stall owners of the four stalls right at the front of the Rotten Vegetable Market, there's also an old fisherman."

"This old fisherman's surname is Yu. He's away from Rotten Vegetable Village most of the year, spending his days fishing over by Virtue Bridge, but he makes it a point to come back every year for the Rotten Vegetable Festival without fail."

"Furthermore, he takes first place in the festival every single time."

"His culinary prowess can only be described as... unfathomable!"

Hearing Old Master Liu's words, Chen Nian stopped wiping the table and added, "So, it looks like it's our team plus those five competing for the top three spots. But in reality, it's five teams fighting for two."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Then our goal should be to knock out three of the other four."

He knew of this old man surnamed Yu; there was information about him on the forums.

He was regarded as a hidden NPC who would spawn irregularly in Rotten Vegetable Village.

If a player ran into him, they could discuss fishing techniques with him.

If the player gained his approval, he would take them fishing.

As for what would happen after he took you fishing, the forums didn't say.

"Yeah, just knocking out three. Three is enough..."

Old Master Liu slouched back in his chair, repeating those words.

Inside the room, aside from Mantou, the eyes of the other three flickered with hidden thoughts.

"Achoo—"

Mantou suddenly sneezed.

For some reason, she felt a little cold.

It was strange, considering the temperature wasn't low today.

...

After eating, the group suggested going for a walk together.

They called it a walk, but it was actually a scouting mission to check on the enemy.

Old Liu led the others past the stalls and front doors of their potential competitors one by one, exchanging intel with others along the way.

After a round of information gathering, they received one piece of bad news and one piece of good news.

The good news was that aside from those they already considered potential rivals, the rest of the contestants were extremely mediocre. They didn't even have the qualifications to compete with the Heavenly Fried Rice; they were basically just there to make up the numbers.

The bad news came from Old Zhang.

"Old Liu, I'm not participating this year."

Old Zhang hunched his back, sorting through the rotten vegetable leaves he had gathered from the market.

"How can you do that?!"

Old Liu grew anxious.

He was still waiting to wipe away his past humiliations this year!

Yan Jing understood the feeling. It was like losing three games of pool in a row to a buddy, and just when you finally pull yourself together and sink shot after shot, your buddy tells you, 'I'll just let you have this one.'

Anyone would be pissed.

"I won't be able to win this year."

Old Zhang washed the rotten vegetable leaves under the water over and over again.

He immediately looked left and right, and after confirming no one was around, he spoke to Old Liu:

"Didn't Elephant BBQ, one of the four front stalls, close down this year?"

"I heard the other three stalls have joined forces, vowing they absolutely must snag the top three spots in this Rotten Vegetable Festival."

"To do that, they've already contacted the two judges from Sun-Swallowing Tower. They've also arranged meetings with plenty of competitors they consider strong, using threats or bribes to force them to withdraw."

Hearing this, Old Liu immediately expressed his disbelief.

"Impossible! They never came looking for us."

"..."

"..."

Old Zhang let out a long, gloomy sigh.

"Anyway, I'm not taking part this year. I accepted some money from them."

"Besides, if I didn't agree, my days ahead would probably be even harder."

"My granddaughter is growing up fast, and I want to save enough money to send her to school in Solitude Lane."

Hearing this, Yan Jing saw Old Liu open his mouth, only to slowly lower his raised hand.

He had heard Old Liu mention Old Zhang's 'granddaughter' before.

She was a child picked up at the Fear Station.

Fear Station would occasionally see abandoned children appear. This wasn't anything new in Old Sin City.

"Alright then, we'll just consider this your forfeit. I'm out of here!"

Old Liu fished a half-empty pack of Hongtashan out of his military overcoat and tossed it next to Old Zhang.

The group went to find several more of Old Liu's friends, only to get the same result: they had all been threatened by those three shops and had decided to withdraw from the competition this year.

Walking back, everyone could clearly feel that Old Liu's mood was off.

Mantou stepped forward and tugged at the corner of Old Liu's jacket.

"Grandpa... Liu... don't... be sad... we will... win..."

Old Liu lowered his head and looked at Mantou, who struggled just to speak. His clenched fists finally relaxed, and he smiled.

"Don't worry, Nizi. Grandpa isn't sad. We're going to win tomorrow, so what's there to be sad about!"

"So what if they play some petty tricks? Tomorrow, we'll win fair and square and show those old geezers!"

"Charge!!!"

Clap, clap, clap—

Yan Jing began to clap.

"Then let's charge ahead."

For once, even Chen Nian spoke up.

...

...

Nightfall.

Having logged back into the Inner World, Yan Jing looked at the night sky outside the window. He found an overcoat among the Cameraman's meager collection of clothes, draped it over his head, and walked out the door.

He looked at the complex, winding streets, rummaging through his memory to confirm the address of the Golden Sand Tangyuan shop.

He had barely walked a few steps when he reached a three-way intersection. There, he saw a guy with a leather jacket covering his head and another guy with his head wrapped in bandages approaching from the other two directions.

Upon seeing each other, the three of them froze for a second.

"Good evening. The moon is quite nice tonight."

Yan Jing spoke, pinching his throat to disguise his voice.

"Yeah, the moon is nice." "Mhm."

The other two replied, also disguising their voices.

The three of them brushed past one another in tacit understanding.

Indeed.

If the other side didn't cheat and you did, that was called being despicable.

But if the other side cheated and you didn't, that was called being a dumbass.