Chapter 39

Chapter 039: The Chief's Dining Table

The next morning.

Yan Cang woke naturally from a dreamless, deep sleep.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched contentedly.

Then, he remembered the [Food Zone] that had quietly gone live before he went to bed last night.

Almost reflexively, without even bothering to wash up, his consciousness sank into the Fate Net.

He opened the Trading House and went straight in.

"Let me see what good food there is..."

"By now, quite a few shops should have joined, right?"

What greeted his eyes was a dazzling list of shops and pictures of dishes. Yan Cang felt a surge of joy.

But then, he noticed the surprisingly high number of completed transactions and records.

"A feature that went live close to 1:00 AM... In the middle of the night, and this many orders were completed?"

Yan Cang blinked, a little surprised. "People are opening shops late at night? And ordering food? What kind of sleep schedules are these..."

Then he remembered the charcoal-grilled wild boar skewers he'd had last night—satisfying, but already a bit cold by the time he finished the second half...

"If I'd known... I should have saved my appetite for a late-night snack and tried this new feature!"

He muttered with a hint of regret, "What were those cold skewers of mine compared to this? Barbecue is only good when it's sizzling with oil and hot enough to burn your mouth!"

Regret aside, his curiosity grew even stronger.

He quickly exited the Trading House and switched to the Fate Net Forum.

Yan Cang wanted to see what kind of stir this new feature had caused after going live last night.

Enough to generate so many orders.

Soon, various related discussion threads came into view.

It turned out the consumers were people stationed in team camps who needed to take turns on night watch, or solo dwellers too wary to sleep easily with beasts lurking around.

As for the chefs daring to cook late at night, they were mostly backed by the protection of large teams.

"So it's the power of teams... A solo chef really wouldn't dare to cook alone at night—too easy to attract trouble."

Yan Cang understood, regretting that he hadn't thought of this last night.

In the threads, many people were enthusiastically praising the new feature:

[The Chief is practically a god! The Food Zone is clearly a food delivery platform! Finally, we can eat freshly made hot food!]

[I feel like competition has increased; the prices of those ordinary cooked foods on the Trading House have dropped a bit?]

[Strongly recommend "Old Zhang's BBQ Shop." Ordered from them last night on watch. The meat skewers were incredible, still hot when they arrived!]

[+1 to the above. Also, "Sister Li's Noodle House" bone broth noodles—warmed me right to the core.]

[Has anyone tried "Song's Delicacies"? The menu prices... made my hands shake.]

[You mean that place? Word is the head chef is a real master who's cooked at State Banquets! Isn't it normal for it to be expensive? If you want good food, you have to pay up!]

"State Banquet?!"

Those two words, as if imbued with magic, instantly struck Yan Cang's food-loving heart.

Any lingering drowsiness was swept away, and he was fully alert.

"There's even a shop run by a State Banquet master chef?"

He quickly switched back to the Food Zone.

With a slight mental command, he began searching.

Soon, a shop named 【Song's Delicacies · State Banquet Heritage】 appeared at the top of the list.

The shop's introduction was concise yet powerful, clearly stating the background of the head chef, Chef Song.

He then looked at the menu...

The prices were indeed shockingly high.

A single serving of clear broth cost several dozen Fate Points, let alone those signature dishes that looked incredibly complex to prepare.

But Yan Cang merely raised an eyebrow at this.

"For a good meal, it's worth it!"

His gaze swept over the legendary dishes on the menu: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Boiled Cabbage in Supreme Broth, Clear Soup Lion's Head, Wensi Tofu...

Each one was a gem of Chinese culinary culture.

Just the names alone were enough to spark the imagination and make one's mouth water.

He wished he could eat them right now.

However, reality poured a small bucket of cold water.

Most of these top-tier dishes required advance orders due to the long preparation and meticulous cooking time.

For example, the legendary "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall," the shop's ordering instructions clearly stated: Must be ordered two days in advance, simmered using traditional methods, the entire cooking process exceeds eight hours, with unparalleled flavor.

"Over eight hours... I have to wait two full days?"

Instead of being discouraged, Yan Cang subconsciously swallowed.

The anticipation in his eyes grew even stronger. "Just how delicious must it be!"

He hesitated no longer and immediately began placing orders.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, scheduled for the evening of the day after tomorrow.

Boiled Cabbage in Supreme Broth (cooking time marked at about eight hours), ordered for tonight's dinner.

Clear Soup Lion's Head (cooking time about three hours), just right for today's lunch.

Just these three main dishes cost him nearly two thousand Fate Points.

Following the shop's recommendations, Yan Cang also paired each meal with corresponding exquisite cold dishes, specialty snacks, and matching soups.

All added up, it came to a total of over two thousand eight hundred Fate Points.

Payment complete!

Watching the order status change to "Order Received, Preparing," Yan Cang felt an unprecedented sense of anticipation.

This long wait for fine food itself seemed to become a unique kind of enjoyment.

It just made him feel even hungrier.

After the excitement faded, a practical issue emerged.

Those big dishes couldn't be eaten yet.

"So... what should I eat for breakfast today?"

His gaze fell back on the menu of 【Song's Delicacies】.

Besides those signature dishes requiring advance orders, the shop also offered relatively everyday breakfast items and snacks.

"State Banquet Breakfast?" Yan Cang grew interested.

The breakfast items on the menu were indeed quite homely: freshly ground soy milk, small soup dumplings, crispy fried dough sticks, and so on.

But the prices... were at least two or three times higher than those of other breakfast shops in the Food Zone.

"Let's give it a try. I want to see what's different about the homely flavors made by a state banquet master chef."

He decisively placed an order for these three items.

During the gap while the breakfast was being prepared, Yan Cang quickly got up to wash up.

By the time he came to the table, the breakfast was almost ready.

He took it out from the space.

The soy milk, served in an exquisite wooden bowl, had a natural pale yellow color, with an extremely thin layer of bean skin forming on the surface, its aroma rich and natural.

The soup dumplings were delicate and exquisite, their skins as thin as paper, with the soup inside faintly visible as it swayed.

The fried dough sticks were golden and crispy, uniform in size.

He first took a sip of the soy milk, then ate a soup dumpling, and took a bite of the fried dough stick.

The soy milk was smooth and creamy, with a rich and gentle bean aroma and a faint natural sweetness, completely different from the watery or overly sweet soy milk he remembered.

The soup dumplings were bursting with savory broth, the meat filling firm and springy, with seasoning that was just right.

The fried dough sticks were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with an even hollow center. Each chew was full of the fragrance of wheat and oil, without any greasiness.

To be fair, this was the most refined and nearly perfect breakfast he had eaten since arriving at the Trial Ground.

Every bite revealed the maker's precise control over ingredients and cooking heat.

But after savoring it with relish, he only felt barely satisfied.

"The taste is good, but it's just at the level of being very tasty..."

Yan Cang put down his chopsticks and rubbed his chin.

Looking at the breakfast that had cost him a fortune, he gave his final verdict: "It's passable."

After all, the price was what it was.

This evaluation was based on extremely high expectations tied to the name "State Banquet."

It was delicious, but it didn't have that "groundbreaking" wow factor he had imagined.

Perhaps the real skill would have to be seen in the dishes that took days to prepare.

Still, the sense of fullness and pleasure from this breakfast was real.

After a short rest following the meal and a walk to aid digestion,

he returned to the wooden house and sat cross-legged on the large bed again.

He calmed his mind and began a new day of practicing the Sword Nurturing Art.

His consciousness sank into his body, guiding the Essence Qi to slowly circulate along the meridians.

He continued to warm and nurture the sword shadow in his Dantian as usual.

The cultivation process remained as tedious as ever.

After completing another Cycle, Yan Cang let out a soft breath of stale air and once again had the urge to slack off:

"This water-grinding effort is still too slow..."

"It's too boring; games are more fun."

"I hope the Golden Chest at noon has something like an AFK training treasure!"

...

A little earlier in time.

Just as Yan Cang was placing his breakfast order,

in a distant forest, Yu Jing had already received a report about that large order.

The logistics personnel in charge of liaising with Chef Song relayed the situation: "Chef Song reported that five minutes ago, an anonymous order was placed, totaling nearly three thousand Fate Points."

"It ordered several banquet dishes that require long preparation times, such as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and Boiled Cabbage in Supreme Broth, to be delivered over three days."

"Chef Song emphasized that he will do his utmost for normal dish preparation, but if there are tasks beyond a chef's duties, he will not comply, as he doesn't want to offend a major client."

When Yu Jing saw the amount, she understood Chef Song's implication and caution.

"A large order of nearly three thousand Fate Points... no wonder."

This number was a huge sum in the current Trial Ground, enough to buy hundreds of kilograms of quality meat or a large pile of basic survival supplies.

For Chef Song, back on Earth, a meal he personally cooked was worth far more than this.

But this was the Trial Ground, where all value systems had been restructured.

A major client willing to pay such an astronomical price for his culinary skills was naturally of immense importance.

Chef Song was understandably reluctant to cause any unnecessary complications for the sake of a potential "Official Mission."

As for the authorities' demands?

In the face of survival and profit, especially in this lawless frontier where rules were just being established, the original authority and binding power had indeed been greatly weakened.

Chef Song's caution was completely understandable.

Of course, Yu Jing herself had never intended to assign any excessive tasks.

Her goal was simple and sufficiently roundabout: "Inform Chef Song that after the dishes are meticulously prepared and delivered, he should, under the guise of a satisfaction survey, attempt to strike up a conversation with that Anonymous Customer, just to get familiar."

"No need to probe for identity; just casual chat is the main thing."

After issuing the command, Yu Jing's thoughts did not linger there.

Sitting in the wooden cabin, the faint blue Data Stream flickered in her eyes as she began high-speed analysis.

An Anonymous Customer willing and able to spend nearly three thousand Fate Points just to satisfy their palate...

First, rule out the possibility of a large team procurement. Team resources were limited; they would never be so wasteful on personal enjoyment.

So, among individual Trial Participants, those who could possess such a massive amount of Fate Points and be willing to spend them like this were few and far between.

Even with her status as "Second on the List" and the efficient hunting capabilities granted by her Digital Heart, her rate of accumulating Fate Points already far surpassed the vast majority.

Yet even so, she would never be willing, nor could she afford, to squander such a huge sum of Fate Points all at once on just a few meals.

This wasn't stinginess; it was rationality.

In the early stages of survival and development, every resource should be invested in more critical areas.

So, in the current environment of the Trial Ground, who could and would be willing to be so extravagant?

The answer was almost obvious.

Besides the [Chief], who controlled the Fate Net, had Contribution Points in the hundreds of millions, and for whom Fate Points might just be a background number...

Who else could it be?

"Highly likely," Yu Jing judged inwardly.

But unfortunately, the anonymity mechanism protected the customer's privacy, making it impossible to confirm with 100% certainty.

Even more regrettably, because of this, even Chef Song could only contact them through orders in the Food Zone.

The only thing known was what the other party had eaten.

After lamenting this, Yu Jing couldn't help but recall the "Namesake" discovered earlier by the information team.

However, they had already been cleared of suspicion.

After reviewing the data earlier, Yu Jing had agreed with the assessment of "low likelihood of suspicion."

The reason was simple and sufficient: they lived too ordinary a life.

Given the [Chief]'s abilities and resources, it was impossible for them to let themselves and their family struggle for basic survival in the Trial Ground.

As for the possibility of "deliberately doing so to hide their identity," it was even more negligible.

If the [Chief] truly wanted to hide, they could simply use their Fate Net permissions to block or modify the relevant information.

That would be enough to leave any investigator completely in the dark.

Why would they let their family suffer?

Thus, she agreed to let the information team contact their family and even attempt to reach the person directly.

This was to gather more information.

The result spoke for itself.

This lead could essentially be ruled out.

Setting aside this inconclusive episode, Yu Jing quickly handled the remaining few requests regarding the framework setup and personnel coordination for the People's Union Association.

Then, she stood up and walked out of the wooden cabin, stretching her shoulders and neck, which had grown slightly stiff from sitting for too long.

Outside, the morning mist in the forest had not yet fully dissipated, and sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled spots of light.

It was time to start the day's work.

She picked up the silver long-barreled pistol and stepped once again into the faintly lit forest.

Her destination was still the nearby area.

The Trial Ground was quite remarkable—the beasts in the forest would be replenished with each daily reset.

They would neither increase nor decrease, maintaining a dynamic balance.

At least, that was the case for now.