Chapter 39: Mango puddings

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Mango puddings

"Hey, can I actually use that nut milk machine I traded for?" Suddenly remembering he had traded for a nut milk machine, Liam asked the blue cat hurriedly.

The blue cat scanned the data for a moment, then answered: "I regret to inform the host that it can’t be used openly. There is some good news, though, which is that if you put that machine up for anonymous auction on the black market it would fetch at least two billion silver stars. Because it’s an antique."

The blue cat swished its tail: "I can help you age it a little, while breaking a few of the components inside. Contact that LS fellow to sell it for you. Antique electronics like this turn up on the market every so often, mostly found by mercenaries and adventurers in ancient ruins. So you needn’t worry about anyone tracing it back to you."

Liam folded his arms, looking at the blue cat with a great deal of meaning:

"Compared to a man who used to be in business like me, you’re even more the seasoned hustler. I suspect you’re a person in disguise."

The blue cat swiped a claw at him: "I’m the Cross-World Trading Hall system, if I don’t understand trade who does? It’s me who should suspect that the white stuff inside your skull is tofu dregs!"

Liam laughed: "I was only joking, you’ve got no sense of humor at all. Oh right, earlier I was so busy watching the progress bar I didn’t see what the other side traded. Move over and let me look."

The blue cat snorted, then hopped onto Liam’s shoulder. Liam opened the system storage bag, finding inside the image of a watermelon, with an x10 in the bottom right corner.

"Ten watermelons?" Liam exclaimed in astonishment. He hadn’t yet seen anything like watermelon appear on the system’s exchange list. So was this a blind cat stumbling onto a fried fish?

"Host, the stems still have the vine attached. That host probably collapsed in a melon patch at the time, so his system just grabbed whatever was to hand."

"... That must be it. Anyway there’s luck even in misfortune, he happened to be lying right beside something he could trade." Liam rubbed his hands, grinning: "The climate on planet Cygnus is perfect for growing watermelon, you could even grow it all year round. Woof Woof, I can see silver stars waving at me."

The blue cat swiped its claw furiously: "Stop calling me that, anyone who didn’t know would think you were practicing how to bark."

Liam rolled his eyes, paying it no further attention. He left the soul space, the second hand outside not having budged. The seedbed couldn’t be planted until evening, so he got up to wash his hands, heading into the kitchen to cook.

The fresh food Daniel had given them yesterday was enough for several meals for the whole family. Besides star-beast and sea-beast meat there was star-fowl too. Liam thought for a moment, deciding on ginger-steamed star-fowl.

As for greens, besides the Jade greens and Crystal Coral greens there was a vegetable shaped rather like a succulent rosette, the size of a cabbage, deep purple, called Amethyst greens. Liam recalled the taste of this vegetable from the original owner’s memories. Mm, crunchy like tien vua greens, with a scent rather like lettuce.

Amethyst greens cost even more than Crystal Coral, so Liam felt the mandarins he’d given Daniel were still too few. He weighed whether to send a few kilograms of mango as well. Though he had no idea whether Daniel was allergic to mango.

Daniel really was the sort of person who’d materialize if you so much as lit a mosquito coil. Liam had barely thought of him before he called. Liam put a hand to his ear, the smart system on his watch automatically transforming into an earpiece.

"Daniel? What is it?"

From the other end came a rustling like fabric rubbing together, Liam even catching Daniel’s lazy yawn. It seemed the young man had only just woken.

"Liam, Daddy says the robots are on their way to you now. I’ve sent you a crate of odds and ends too, bought off adventurers. You know so many unusual things, see if there’s anything in that lot that’s any use."

Liam was surprised: "Things bought from adventurers? What did you buy them for?"

Daniel yawned again before answering: "I didn’t buy them, my eldest and second brothers saw I kept looking at novelty things on the trading floor so they bought them for me. They’ve been buying since I was little and it’s piled up into a mountain, but I only look at each one once then toss it in a corner."

Liam was speechless. Being dirt-poor at present, he declined to try to understand the strange logic of the rich. He nodded:

"Mm, then I’ll accept them. Oh, I’m cooking right now, so I’ll make you a portion while I’m at it. The people delivering are your family’s people, aren’t they?"

Daniel shook off his drowsiness at once, saying happily: "They are! Then I won’t hurry to eat, I’ll wait for your cooking!"

Having cheered, Daniel suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper: "Hey... You still haven’t told your brother that White Narcissus is me, have you?"

Liam raised an eyebrow: "Of course not. My brother’s very proud, if I told him it was you, he’d guess I’d asked you to go and support him. He wouldn’t be happy, he’d even start doubting himself."

Liam had never been in the habit of talking about his friends with his brother and sister, besides which on the day he sent the Grass Worms he had gone into the locker area alone to leave them, so the two of them had no idea exactly who he had sent Grass Worms to. When he talked business with Daniel on the ship that day he hadn’t let slip that Daniel was the top gifter either. Honest to a fault as his brother and sister were, they would never connect the two.

Daniel seemed very satisfied with this answer, saying haughtily: "Hmph, I’m not one to throw money around carelessly. Your brother’s videos really are outstanding. Oh, is he filming anything new today?"

Liam looked out at the field through the window, seeing his brother and sister bent over the soil out there, cameras both beside them and overhead. He answered:

"Of course, he films every day. But finishing a video takes several days, some take a month or even a year. The next video probably won’t be ready for half a month."

A touch of disappointment showed on Daniel’s face, then as though thinking of something, his cheeks flushed faintly. He coughed lightly:

"Ahem, then I won’t keep you from your cooking. Are you livestreaming, though?"

"No, I’ve already done two broadcasts this week. Tomorrow I start the drawing streams. But I’ve set up a food channel linked to the broadcast channel, so I’ll film videos and post them there. The videos don’t have the scent simulation the livestream does, but at least everyone can watch them any time."

Daniel was startled: "Really? Then I’ll have to go over and support you. Go and cook then, I have to get up."

Remembering the dark rings plainly visible under Daniel’s eyes, Liam couldn’t help advising him quietly: "You should break the habit of staying up late too. Even sleeping in the mornings to make up for it isn’t enough. Staying up late ages the body early, by forty you’ll have gone completely bald. That’s before you count that staying up late over a long period raises the risk of sudden death."

Daniel scratched his cheek in embarrassment. He really had been in the habit of staying up late browsing or gaming, until over time it had turned into insomnia. But yesterday he had gone to bed very early, sleeping so soundly he’d known nothing of heaven or earth. Of course Daniel couldn’t tell Liam about the absurd thing he’d done, or Liam would think he was taking advantage of Benjamin.

"Ahem, I know, I’m fixing it. I went to bed very early yesterday, I just slept so well I’ve only now woken up." Daniel said quietly: "Honestly, you’re only eighteen and you carry on like somebody’s old mother."

Liam snorted a laugh: "It’s because I care about you. I don’t want to have only just made a friend then have him kick the bucket before long."

"All right, all right, go and cook. I’m still waiting on your food! Hanging up." Daniel said to Liam with a giggle, then hung up. He jumped off the bed, stretching then shaking himself out. Every joint in his body cracked, wonderfully satisfying.

He hurried into the bathroom to wash.

On the other side, Liam shook his head helplessly. He switched on the smart camera on Sunflower, beginning to film a cooking video. Filming cooking wasn’t as complicated as filming landscapes, so partway through Liam only stopped two or three times to adjust the angle, leaving the rest to Sunflower.

Today Liam didn’t cook the porridge in the stewing pot but in the steamer. Porridge cooking below, star-fowl steaming above. When the water boiled, the juices from the steaming basket above would run down below, giving the plain porridge the flavor of meat porridge.

The star-beast meat he minced fine with the back of the knife, then stir-fried it with the potatoes.

As for the Amethyst greens, he separated each petal-leaf, washed them, then cut them into batons. Tender star-beast ribs blanched briefly, fried with shallots and ginger, covered with water then simmered over low heat.

In the meantime, he made a few mango puddings as well.

Liam secretly took two mangoes, a carton of milk and gelatin out of the spatial bracelet, setting them in front of the camera.

Setting the gelatin to soften in cold water, Liam began peeling the mangoes. The kitchen system had a fruit peeler, but Liam always preferred to do everything himself. To him, cooking was a ritual, one where cutting out any step would make the dish fail.

The alloy knife glided lightly across the surface of the mango, the yellow skin parting, revealing flesh of deep orange, so juicy that the moment the blade touched it the juice welled out running across the board.

The smart system zoomed in close at once.

Next, Liam put the flesh into the smart blender, the machine puréeing it for him automatically. The fresh milk he had poured into a measuring cup beforehand to keep the packaging out of shot, which would have caused needless trouble.

The milk went into a pot, warmed over a low flame, then in went the gelatin squeezed dry, stirred until it had dissolved completely. Throughout, he kept the milk hot but never letting it reach a boil.

Once the gelatin had fully dissolved, he immediately poured the milk mixture slowly into the puréed mango, stirring steadily. The liquid in the bowl gradually turned a smooth pale yellow, thick as silk.

Finally, he strained it once through a sieve to remove the foam, then poured it into moulds. On Earth, it would need four hours of chilling before it could be eaten. But in this age of hyper-technology, Liam only had to put the puddings in the smart fridge and set it to cut the time from four hours down to fifteen minutes.

By now the ribs were tender, so he added the Amethyst greens. The broth turned pinkish purple at once, looking extremely beautiful. Boiling a while longer, once the Amethyst greens were fully cooked, Liam lifted out a piece to taste.

The chewy crunch in his mouth made Liam narrow his eyes in enjoyment despite himself. The steamed star-fowl and the porridge were done too, so Liam seasoned the porridge to deepen it, adding coriander and chopped spring onion. Then he turned off the stove, took from the cupboard a high-end picnic lunch box set that had never been used, putting it into the sterilizer. Next, he ladled each dish into its own box, closed the lids then set them in the time-freeze storage box.

Once the main dishes were packed, the fridge let out a crisp "ting". Liam took a pudding out of the fridge, turned it upside down into a lunch box, tapped the base of the mould lightly twice with a spoon, then slowly lifted it away.

A glossy golden mound slid out, landed on the plate, wobbled back and forth a few beats before settling.

Liam put the lid on, writing a few words on it in marker: [Dessert. First have a smart unit scan the ingredients in the pudding then simulate their effect on the body, if you’re not allergic then go ahead and eat], only then placing it in the storage box. He closed the box’s lid, pressing the finish button. The box, as big as a basin, gradually shrank to fit exactly the space its contents took up, becoming very small and neat.

Liam set the storage box aside then cleaned the kitchen. Once the kitchen was spotless, he switched off the camera then carried the box outside.

"Brother, sister. I’m going to the west clearing to pick up the delivery, you two stop for a break too, wait for me to get back then we’ll eat!" Liam called loudly out toward the field.

Benjamin’s voice came back: "Remember to pull the roof down so you don’t get sun!"

"I know!"

That said, Liam went into the garage, driving the utility vehicle out to the west clearing.

This vehicle wasn’t a flying car, only a ground vehicle made for farmers, driven exactly like a car in his previous life, so Liam had tried it a few times and could drive it straight away. Seeing him learn so fast, driving very steadily too, Benjamin and Isabella were comfortable letting him drive around on his own.

Liam had only just reached the clearing when the Mason cargo ship arrived too. They brought the ship down skimming the ground, unloading the goods then setting them in the vehicle for Liam.

Beside the Mason goods there was also a package the baby cot company had delivered that morning, so Liam asked them to lift that into the vehicle for him while they were at it.

"This is lunch I made for Daniel, would you take it back to him for me."

The Beta staff member reached out to take it at once, saying solemnly: "Yes, we will certainly deliver it into young master Daniel’s own hands."

That said they took their leave of Liam, flying the ship away.

Once the ship was out of sight, Liam furtively hauled out all the stock in his spatial bracelet, including the ten watermelons in his system storage bag. With his cover arranged, Liam drove home well pleased.