Chapter 4: Shockingly Delicious Country-Style Bacon Stir-Fried with Wild Mushrooms
The rest of the conversation took place at the dining table.
The villagers were extremely hospitable. On the table was a brick-built stove, its fire burning fiercely with firewood. In a huge iron wok—large enough to resemble a satellite dish—there was a generous scoop of lard sizzling hot. Minced garlic and dried chilies were tossed in and quickly stir-fried until fragrant, then slices of lurid bolete mushrooms were added.
Once cut open, the creamy-white surface of the mushrooms revealed a mesmerizing blue-purple hue, like Van Gogh’s starry night.
The cured pork belly was three parts fat to seven parts lean. After being blanched in hot water, it was sliced thin. The fatty pieces turned glossy and translucent, curling slightly at the edges as they were seared in oil. The mushroom and bacon slices sizzled together, releasing rich, heavy aromas as the mushrooms shifted from green to golden yellow. The fragrance burst out with overwhelming force.
The villagers’ simple, earnest faces still lingered in her mind. Everyone smiled warmly and urged her to eat more, saying it was good stuff, that the “boss” should have more.
But eating it meant trouble. The “boss” was only in her early twenties, yet she had already tasted something so delicious—this country-style bacon stir-fried wild mushroom dish—that her life might as well be set from that moment on.
The moment the food entered her mouth, a red-and-yellow supermarket discount label suddenly appeared in her mind, with a red thumbs-up and four bold words: “Shockingly Delicious.”
It was like always sleeping on the top bunk of a 1.2-meter dorm bed, with a roommate snoring below—then suddenly one day switching to a five-star hotel, with a different man sleeping beside you every night.
For those who loved games, there was an otome-game male lead beside them. For drama lovers, a top-tier movie emperor. For novel readers, the exclusive JJ-style offering: a flamboyant young general, a brilliant and unruly emperor, or a cold-faced prince who has taken vows at a monastery…
She had always thought of herself as someone with very little desire, but just as she was picking out the Sichuan peppercorns and garlic slices from her plate with lingering enjoyment, she suddenly felt as if a cat was knocking at the door. After she said “come in,” it actually walked in.
Her little black cat from a past life had turned into a 188 cm tall adult man with a perfect model-like face—somewhat resembling Ling Yue Di Si Nian, and also a bit like “Bu Ke Zhui Gai.”
It should have started going wrong the moment the cat knocked on the door. After that, a few more Godzillas walked in. She grabbed a transformation device and fought the monsters for several rounds, and the light on her chest kept flickering as it lit up. Just as she was preparing to explode herself for the sake of Earth—
She opened her eyes and was already in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xihai University.
That whole “pinpoint timing” almost got her killed. This cursed place really had something wrong with it—it clearly couldn’t be developed properly. Getting hit by a truck hadn’t killed her, yet she nearly died here instead.
Xiang Yu deeply felt that her fate was tough enough to cut down trees. On the hospital bed, she immediately reached for her phone and opened the Hama Green App.
As expected, the one extra day she had barely earned was gone again.
[Tianbai Snow Mountain Hama Valley Glacier Park Beginner Mission Settlement: Hot Spring Renovation Pack Issued. Current remaining lifespan: 28 days.]
[Hot Spring Renovation Pack has been issued. Please schedule a team visit time as soon as possible.]
[[First Friendly Contact] mission completed. Please claim your reward.]
[[Satisfy 50 visitors] reward: +5 days lifespan. Current progress: 0%]
At this stage, the exchange rate between satisfaction points and lifespan seemed to be 10:1. The worst part was that, according to the details page, the hot spring renovation itself required 7 days.
At a moment when lives were literally at stake, the system still insisted on maintaining its “game realism.”
Xiang Yu immediately booked an on-site visit. Since visitor satisfaction could be exchanged for lifespan, if there were any bugs to exploit, she would have loved to drag a few classmates into a public restroom tonight and “boil” them like hot pot just to farm reviews.
Even though she was already juggling assignments, deadlines, job hunting, and exam prep, she really did not want to become a half-dead receptionist at opening day with an empty HP bar.
She then opened the system reward page again. It was a shop, roughly divided into three categories. One category contained conceptual items like “Ice of Sorrowing Mist,” “Fire of Joy Hot Spring,” “Soul-Summoning Bell,” and “Tailor of Clever Hands.”
One category consisted of items whose functions were obvious at a glance: “Fast-Acting Herbal Medicine,” “Repellent Sulfur Ore,” “Mold-Cleansing Pomelo Leaves,” and “Pure Water Lotus,” among others.
The final category was especially bizarre: “Tearing Apart Japanese Soldiers,” “Lightning Five-Strike Whip,” “Spinning Top Mastery,” “Crotch-Hidden Lightning,” “Why Do I Even Need This Iron Rod”…
In such a civilized society, there was actually a combat module. Every skill gave off the feeling that using it would lead to complete social ruin.
Xiang Yu clicked through them one by one to check the details. The first two categories were for operating and managing the scenic area, while the last row seemed to be for improving her own personal abilities.
Most of the items—such as tools and attribute cards—could be exchanged using visitor satisfaction points. The conceptual ones likely required triggering related quests to unlock; the entire section was greyed out.
The reward system was a roulette wheel in the upper-right corner, like a slot machine. With a tap, different skills, items, and cards would light up in sequence.
Xiang Yu tapped it. The greyed-out items flickered on and off like a rapid slideshow, jingling and flashing in a dizzying burst of effects. After a wave of visual chaos, two items popped out with fireworks:
[Perfect Hot Spring Egg (100% Success Rate): Egg whites tender and silky, yolks golden and sweet—an ideal egg that can only be made in active-eye hot springs.]
[Smooth Skin-Whitening Volcanic Mud: Natural volcanic minerals from geothermal zones, rich in sulfur, diatomaceous earth, and other skin-cleansing components. It has strong antioxidant properties and excellent oil and impurity absorption, helping to cleanse pores, control oil, and brighten skin tone.]
……
Nice.
Volcanic mud didn’t even need marketing—there were plenty of beauty brands that would happily exaggerate its “tightening” and “anti-wrinkle” effects for her. If its actual effects were real, it would definitely sell well and help retain customers.
As for hot spring eggs, they weren’t very filling, but they weren’t bad either. When you’re begging for food, you don’t get to complain about whether it’s stale.
Although the wild mushrooms in the mountains had an excellent flavor, something that could easily kill people needed a safer way to be put on the menu. The villagers’ cooking techniques were basically on the level of Breaking Bad—far too unreliable.
The most immediate problem right now was manpower.
She could temporarily act as the front desk herself. The hot spring renovation package provided by the system included maintenance services. But under the most simplified configuration, she still needed to recruit additional staff for professional accounting, hot spring service operations, and back-end work such as managing the cleaning and disinfection of slippers and bathrobes.
All of these jobs required some degree of professionalism—or involved direct contact with customers.
Rather than blindly searching the talent market, Xiang Yu preferred energetic young women or men—those with a bit of education, polite and not thick-skinned, and ideally with some knowledge of first aid for drowning or fainting.
But who in their right mind would come to a remote mountain valley?
If the business failed, others would just go bankrupt. For her, it would be “game over.” Not only would there be no severance pay, she might also end up owing wages and social insurance contributions, delaying other people’s employment.
Just as she was thinking about where to “catch” such readily available talent, her phone suddenly rang with a cheerful ding-ding-ding.
On the other end came Old Hao’s booming voice, full of the kind of energy that comes when good news arrives:
“Hey, Xiao Xiang? You seen your Senior Sister Ji? Busy?”
“Let’s get to the point—can you come back to school? I’ve already reported your Chengguang Plan to the Party Secretary. Your materials are in excellent condition, so we’ve helped you apply for the highest loan amount, with interest-free terms for the first two years. It’s going through the fast-track approval process and should be disbursed next month. When you come back, you really need to thank the Party Secretary in person.”
This was like handing a pillow to someone who was already drowsy. Xiang Yu quickly thanked him repeatedly, a wave of gratitude rising in her heart toward the unseen Party Secretary and this counselor she had never gotten along with.
“Finding you something to do has also relieved a big worry of mine,” Old Hao sighed. At this point, Xiang Yu had clearly become his model graduate. In a rare moment of sincerity, he began to speak from the heart.
“I know what you all say about me behind my back. Being a counselor isn’t easy either. Every year there are a few stubborn cases—students preparing for a second attempt at exams, or civil service exams…”
“People who refuse to work, won’t sign contracts, won’t even answer phone calls. The ones studying for exams are still manageable, but now there’s also this trend of ‘gap years’… I’m about to give up on them! It’s like I’m the one begging them to work!”
“Ah.” Xiang Yu’s attention sharpened as she listened.
Stubborn cases… how stubborn exactly?
“Alright, alright,” she said, already calculating. “Teacher, could you introduce me to those classmates who refuse to sign contracts…?”