Chapter 17: Four Precious Delicacies

Chapter 17: Four Precious Delicacies

At noon, a plate of sweet potatoes and some other organic foods, along with a few meat dishes, were placed on the dining table. However, Yun Shuang's eyes were drawn only to the sweet potatoes.

She picked up a sweet potato, peeled off its thin skin, revealing the golden interior. The aroma, trapped by the heat, instantly wafted out, and she couldn't help but salivate.

Such an unladylike gesture would never normally appear on her, but today was an exception.

The charred skin was a bit sticky, and she, who had a cleanliness fetish, couldn't care less at this moment.

The golden flesh entered her mouth, and the soft, creamy texture instantly captured her heart.

A sweet sensation that warmed her soul slid down her throat into her stomach, gradually filling it up, and her heart felt as content as her full stomach.

She ate three or four in a row, her mouth a bit dry and her stomach somewhat full. Finally, she reluctantly stopped, saving two for later.

"Save these for Mom and Dad."

Yun Shuang instructed the servant to take the two sweet potatoes away to keep them warm, and quickly opened her smartphone to leave a message for her parents.

[I've saved something special for you, remember to eat it.]

[Okay.]

[Okay, thank you, dear daughter.]

In the evening, Yun's mother and father returned to the villa, having nearly forgotten their daughter's message. It wasn't until the servant brought out a plate that they remembered.

"What is this?"

Yun's father examined the sweet potato for a moment, finding it soft and messy to the touch, but he could smell a peculiar aroma, seemingly emanating from within.

"Sir, this is a sweet potato."

The servant explained how to eat the sweet potato, and Yun's parents suddenly understood, but they weren't particularly fond of this messy little thing.

It was something their daughter had specifically left for them, so of course, they couldn't waste her kind intentions.

Peeling off the skin, they tentatively took a bite. The soft, sweet flavor made their seasoned minds momentarily go blank, and they quickly sped up their eating.

After finishing, Yun's father wiped his hands with a napkin and said, "Not bad at all. Why haven't we heard of sweet potatoes before?"

The servant happened to know the origin of the sweet potatoes and explained, "It's a new variety cultivated by the young lady's classmate. If it weren't for the young lady discovering the recipe online, the chef wouldn't have known how to prepare it."

Hearing that no one had seen it before, Yun's father nodded in contemplation.

Suddenly, he asked, "Madam, what do you think about including this in the royal gift?"

Yun's mother nodded in agreement, "Good idea, we were just concerned about not having a unique gift. Given Shuang's connection with the crown prince, we should send something different."

Having decided, Yun's father immediately sent a message to Yun Shuang. Seeing no reply, he immediately made a series of urgent calls.

"Hello, Dad?" Yun Shuang was attending a gathering in her circle and was surprised to receive her father's call.

Generally, her father rarely contacted her by phone, so she was quite puzzled.

"Does your classmate still have any sweet potatoes available? How can we buy them?"

Yun Shuang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

The sweet potato was tasty, but the Yun family had tried all sorts of natural foods, and the sweet potato was just a bit tastier. Besides, their family wasn’t big on food, so Yun Shuang was pretty surprised when her dad wanted to buy sweet potatoes.

Was it really that good?

"I’m not sure, she just gave it to me," Yun Shuang replied truthfully.

"Then hurry up and ask her. If she’s got more, we’ll add the sweet potato to the royal gift list."

Adding it to the gift list, huh?

Yun Shuang started to take it seriously.

She was set to marry into the royal family, and the gifts for the royals were super important. The sweet potato, of all things, could actually make it onto the gift list.

Her dad definitely wouldn’t steer her wrong. If he set it up like this, it meant the sweet potato was worth it.

"I’ll check with her."

Yun Shuang got ready to contact Yun Wan right away, but found that Yun Wan wasn’t on her friend list.

Remembering Yun Wan’s ties to the Qin family, she didn’t want to hit up Qin Yan for the contact info. Instead, she found Yun Wan in the class group and sent her a friend request.

Yun Wan didn’t accept the request until the next morning.

*

As soon as Yun Wan woke up, she couldn’t wait to grab the Treasure Basin.

Big treasure, here we go!

She reached into the basin and pulled out five small bottles lined up, each containing powders of different colors.

What’s this? Just this?

Soon, after figuring out what was in the small bottles, Yun Wan wasn’t so calm anymore.

The first treasure was the FiveSpice Jar, filled with five spice powders: star anise, cinnamon, vanilla, cumin, and fennel. The spices would refresh daily, refilling the jar to the brim regardless of whether they were used up the previous day.

As a seasoning, no matter how tiny or inconspicuous the FiveSpice Jar might be, it was a very fortunate treasure for Yun Wan.

The interstellar culinary culture had declined, and spices were particularly scarce. Simple condiments like soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and oil were not lacking, but when it came to spices, even the plants had gone extinct, let alone the possibility of mass cultivation.

With the FiveSpice Jar, Yun Wan could now enjoy braised pig trotters, braised pig ears, cumin potatoes... it was no longer a problem!

How many delicacies were contained in these few small bottles!

Yun Wan carefully stored the FiveSpice Jar and then took out the second treasure.

It was a strange disk with an irregularly shaped, tooth-like hole in the center.

The name displayed by the system was also very peculiar—it was actually something with an owner.

[Mountain Gate Grand Array of the Joyous Sect: Are you still worried about being harassed by suitors? Are you tired of avoiding lecherous gazes? The Mountain Gate Grand Array of the Joyous Sect is worth having. Inside the array, there are maze traps that will make those annoying suitors lose interest.]

This Mountain Gate Grand Array seemed very powerful, likely a type of protective formation. The disk's center could hold spirit stones, and it would activate when spiritual power was injected.

She didn’t have any spirit stones, so she thought of trying with ores. She drove her flying car to search for a new mine, collected some ores, and brought them home.

Placing the blue crystal ore into the small hole, the disk instantly activated, glowing brilliantly and hovering in mid-air. The disk opened, its components reassembled, and finally, it deeply embedded itself into the ground.

System notification:

[The Mountain Gate Grand Array has been activated, with an energy capacity of one day. The energy driving capability allows the Mountain Gate Grand Array to cover a radius of a hundred miles.]

Wow, awesome!

Yun Wan clapped her hands excitedly, finally adding a new defensive facility!

She entered Yun Ge and Miao Miao's information into the Mountain Gate Grand Array, and the disc then produced two diamond-shaped jade tokens, functioning as access cards.

Yun Wan hung the jade tokens around Yun Ge and Miao Miao's necks, telling them not to remove them, or they wouldn't be able to return home.

"Okay."

Knowing that losing the jade token would mean no access, Yun Ge's face turned serious. He ensured the string holding the token was secure before carefully hanging it around his neck and tucking it inside his clothes.

Both items were fantastic, and the next two also left Yun Wan very satisfied.

[Safe House: A very secure house, constructed from durable materials capable of withstanding a strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator.]

[Life Flower: Planted in the flesh, once it blooms, it grants you an additional life.]

Especially the Life Flower, which Yun Wan immediately planted on her wrist as per the instructions. Unexpectedly, the flower didn't like being exposed and instead took root at her waist.

A small sprout pattern appeared on the skin of Yun Wan's waist, showing no signs of growing.

She didn't know the conditions for the Life Flower to bloom, like a millionaire whose assets are frozen, sitting on a fortune but unable to access it. Yun Wan couldn't help but sigh.

On the upside, at least she had such an item, and she would eventually discover how to use it. If she couldn't figure it out in her lifetime, it wouldn't matter much, as the interstellar realm was relatively peaceful, except for the threat of The Swarm.

Being not particularly strong, Yun Wan wouldn't risk her life unnecessarily by deliberately seeking out The Swarm. As long as she didn't cause trouble, living well wasn't a problem.

But having the Life Flower as an additional insurance would be even better.

With no progress on the Life Flower for now, Yun Wan prepared the Safe House and planned to move.

The Safe House was a rather basic structure, with four compartments and a slightly larger living room, with no other furnishings.

Yun Ge was intrigued by the house that had suddenly appeared, but he didn't ask many questions, as such details weren't important to him.

What puzzled him was—

"Hey sis, why are we moving?"

This question didn't really have much meaning, but he just wanted to call her "sis" and talk to her.

"This house is sturdier! Not even a cannonball could break it!"

"Really?" Yun Ge's interest piqued, as if he wanted to test it with a cannonball if Yun Wan said so.

The lord's mansion remained in its original place, serving as a storage room, while the Safe House was placed next door.

With this arrangement, Yun Wan practically had a duplex villa.

After arranging the placement of the various treasures, Yun Wan finally had time to replan the vegetable garden.

The previous garden was small, just right for the riverbank, but now it had expanded more than tenfold, and the flat area by the river wasn't wide enough anymore. She needed to clear land towards the forest.

Yun Wan couldn't possibly cut down trees and clear weeds herself; that would be too time-consuming. She directly purchased three land-clearing robots on the Starnet, ready to work hard the next day.

Today, she planned to take a day off, neither live-streaming nor farming.

After finishing up, she started browsing on her smart device, seeing many messages from fans and some friend requests.

Most of the fans' messages were sweet potato requests, and one was from the students who supplied pig feed.

[Hi, Landlord, when can we visit Shennong Star? Do we need to apply? There’s no application channel for Shennong Star on the Starnet.]

[You can come anytime. The Starnet application channel isn’t open yet, so you can just come directly.]

There was also a standout message, which was actually a request for cooperation.

Yun Wan was thrilled.

Already, someone’s noticed her potential?!

Bringing Shennong Star’s veggies to the high-end market?

If someone could open more channels for Yun Wan's vegetables, she’d be happy. Although her focus is on the everyday market, the high-end market could bring in a lot of cash for her, and she’d be happy to sell her products to the wealthy.

But she couldn’t just agree right away; she still needed to see if they had the qualifications.

Yun Wan replied carefully.

[I’m open to exploring the high-end market, but I don’t know which company you are from or your experience.]

After replying, she checked the friend requests.

She didn’t plan to add fans, but there was one request from the class group, so she accepted it. The other person seemed to have been waiting and replied instantly:

[Is this Yun Wan? I’m Yun Shuang, thank you for the sweet potatoes, they were all delicious.]

Yun Wan was puzzled.

Are sweet potatoes that charming? Even the usually distant Yun Shuang couldn’t resist the temptation and directly contacted her, the vegetable grower?

She knew that there might not be many people in the class who had Yun Shuang as a friend, after all, the Yun family built their wealth on military mechs and had many connections with the military, making them highly sought after.

As the leader of the Four Great Families, there were too many people who wanted to curry favor with her, so to avoid trouble, Yun Shuang wouldn’t add people she wasn’t familiar with.

Yun Wan hadn’t been in the class for long, but she knew this because people often whispered about Yun Shuang being stuck-up.

Could it be that Yun Shuang added her just to express her gratitude?