Chapter 79: The Story Isn’t Over Yet
After Boss Hu relinquished his position, Lu Yibei stood in front of the stove.
She closed her eyes, savoring the taste of the “Day of the Sugar Cake” that she had just experienced, then secretly contemplated what kind of dish would fully showcase her learning achievements from tonight and repay Boss Hu’s serious guidance.
Firstly, from the perspective of dish pairing, cold cucumber should be served with a glass of liquor, but since she was cooking and not brewing alcohol, she could only make a dish that included alcohol as an ingredient.
Upon careful reflection, her father’s beer-braised chicken wings had been quite popular in the past, so that would be a good choice.
Secondly, how to infuse the dish with emotions that fit the theme of a “Terrible Day” and elevate it?
After a terrible day, there comes despair, and after despair, is the final madness?
Thinking of this, Lu Yibei opened her eyes, told Yishu, who was quietly waiting beside her with a small bamboo basket, about the ingredients needed to cook beer-braised chicken wings.
After waiting for a moment.
When Yishu carefully placed the necessary ingredients on the kitchen counter and stepped back, Lu Yibei steadied her focus, took a slicing kn*fe from the kn*fe rack, and prepared to start processing the ingredients.
Recalling Boss Hu’s cooking technique, she mimicked him and stirred the spirit energy within her, then concentrated a strand of spirit energy between her five fingers. A faint red glow immediately appeared on the slicing kn*fe.
Next, Lu Yibei picked up a chicken wing and placed it on the cutting board, bringing the blade down swiftly and steadily to leave a cut for flavoring.
However, when the blade was less than a centimeter away from the chicken wing, she suddenly withdrew her hand, frowning.
She realized something serious.
What she wanted to cook was a dish infused with “the final madness,” but she had no idea what state could be called the final madness.
Without understanding, she couldn’t imagine that emotion, let alone infuse it into the dish.
d*mn it! What to do now?
If that doesn’t work, switch to a different theme?
Like “My Pigeon Friend,” or maybe “Born With My Child’s Surname” or something?
As Lu Yibei pondered, hesitating to backtrack, the surroundings suddenly fell into dead silence.
The barking and playful howls of the mountain spirits, the patter of Yishu’s tiny claws as they ran across the display shelf, the sound of Bai Laomu’s water splashing into the tank—everything seemed to have vanished in an instant, as if someone pressed the pause button.
Lu Yibei was taken aback, and before she could react, a hand silently rested on her hand’s back.
A soft, cool touch on her hand made Lu Yibei instinctively turn around and, with a whoosh, she sent the slicing kn*fe in her hand toward the owner of that hand.
“Ding——!”
The sound of metal clashing echoed as a delicate white hand, with just fingers, gracefully locked the blade in place.
“Oh my! After not seeing each other for a while, is this how you welcome me?”
A red-haired girl in a pristine chef’s uniform and tall chef’s hat had appeared behind her.
Lu Yibei stared at the girl, momentarily taken aback, “Proxy Player Sister? What are you doing here now?”
She had thought that the hand resting on her back was Boss Hu with his underhanded ways with the staff.
She had considered many possibilities as to why Boss Hu was so nice to her, one of which was that he was enamored with her beauty.
Speaking of Boss Hu.
Lu Yibei suddenly remembered Boss Hu was still nearby and quickly turned to look at him. Seeing him in a pose with one hand supporting his chin, the corners of his mouth slightly curved, as if petrified, with his body appearing to be weathered, she secretly sighed in relief.
“Don’t worry! That old fox wouldn’t notice my presence unless the core of the urban legend underwent three to five more upgrades.” It seemed Proxy Player Sister sensed Lu Yibei’s concern and pouted.
“And why do you think I’m here? Want to take a guess?”
Lu Yibei shifted her gaze back from Boss Hu and sized up Proxy Player Sister with a flat expression, “I guess you came to take a job.”
“But whether it’s the cooking methods of earthly smoke or hell, I want to learn them myself, not…”
While speaking halfway, Lu Yibei suddenly realized something, her eyes widening slightly, her tone rising, “Right! Speaking of which, I should have asked if you know how to cook earthly smoke!”
“If you knew, why would I need to learn?!”
Proxy Player Sister’s face displayed a hint of awkwardness, “This really isn’t in my line of duty. If you’d asked me earlier, I would have told you that Liao Zhai Tavern has openings for you to come and learn yourself.”
“So, you can’t cook then?” Lu Yibei rolled her eyes, coldly replied, “Then I’m sorry, there’s no need for proxy services today, you can leave!”
“Wow! So heartless!” Proxy Player Sister clutched her chest with one hand, expressing her pain, “The proxy business isn’t easy! Winning without the boss doesn’t work, and winning with a serious boss doesn’t work either!”
“The more often a boss participates in high-level games, the better her skills become, leaving no jobs to take, just like that heartless j*rk!”
“You’ve never taken Jumeng!” Lu Yibei shrugged, “If it were her, you could take her a thousand times, and she wouldn’t make any progress; she might even get worse.”
She had just experienced this a few hours ago.
In gaming, some people are story lovers, some are scenery lovers, some enjoy the challenge of defeating high-difficulty bosses, while Jumeng is merely a freeloader who enjoys the instant gratification from treasure.
Hadn’t taken her, but tasted her; very hard to eat, Proxy Player Sister thought, pouting.
With just above B-level combat power, she managed to hunt down a Cataclysm Grade Jumeng; her method could be summed up simply as some underhanded tricks to accelerate Jumeng’s corruption process.
And the core of the corrupting urban legend was undeniably delightful to devour.
“Speaking of which, what exactly are you here for?” Lu Yibei inquired.
“Can’t see the good in people!” Proxy Player Sister rolled her eyes, “I noticed you were in trouble, so I actively came to take a job!”
Hearing that, Lu Yibei frowned, “Take a job? But didn’t you say you can’t cook earthly smoke? Can you cook hell then?”
Proxy Player Sister shrugged, “Neither can I. Why should I?”
She spoke confidently as if saying, “I can’t do it, and I’m proud of it!”
“I’m not like you, unable to handle my own business, yet still have the leisure to do side quests for catching turtles!”
But maybe that’s how it had to be; meddling in others’ affairs rather than conquering everything with brute force was the way to achieve an HE! Proxy Player Sister thought.
Lu Yibei,
It was proven that although Proxy Player Sister could truly fight, she wasn’t omnipotent, and she couldn’t fight in every “position.”
At least, the “chef” position was one she could not manage.
After a few seconds of silence, she shot an annoyed glare at Proxy Player Sister, “If you can’t cook, then what job are you here to take?”
“Although I can’t cook, I can tell you a story about the final madness!” Proxy Player Sister replied, “Weren’t you troubled about this just now?”
And this story, you’ll quickly find useful. Proxy Player Sister thought, not voicing this.
“Oh?” Lu Yibei examined Proxy Player Sister and asked, “Is it your own story?”
“Not quite, it’s a friend’s story.”
“Friend?” Lu Yibei narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
“I know what you’re thinking, but this so-called friend is really not me.” Proxy Player Sister sighed.
With her understanding of Lu Yibei, even if Lu Yibei didn’t speak, she would know what was on Lu Yibei’s mind.
“Alright!” Lu Yibei nodded doubtfully, “Then go ahead, I’m listening.”
“Don’t just listen!” Proxy Player Sister pointed to the cutting board behind Lu Yibei, “You should chop while you listen; it’ll have better results.”
“Oh, oh!”
Lu Yibei responded a couple of times, turned around, refocused on the cutting board, concentrated, and prepared to listen carefully to Proxy Player Sister’s story. The various sounds from the kitchen once again infiltrated her ears.
It was as if the paused video had been pressed to play again.
Proxy Player Sister began? Wasn’t she supposed to tell me a story? Lu Yibei frowned, and the next moment, the familiar voice echoed in her mind.
“Actually, this isn’t my friend’s story, but one I heard from an old friend about a Siye Society proxy operative.”
The mention of this left Lu Yibei momentarily stunned, and then she came back to her senses, gripping the slicing kn*fe tightly, as she skillfully completed the first chicken wing’s trimming.
“The story starts over forty years ago when a baby boy named Huo Qianli was born into this world. He was born in the coastal areas of Z Country, and his family was quite wealthy, having millions in the eighties.”
Proxy Player Sister’s calm voice flowed almost monotonously, yet it seemed to contain some kind of magic; as Lu Yibei listened, a scene emerged of a chubby boy born with a golden spoon, howling loudly in the delivery room, ready to embrace his happy life.
What kind of “final madness” is this?
Don’t tell me rich people have troubles too!
I’m afraid I won’t be able to control my urge to hit someone.
While processing the chicken wings, Lu Yibei thought.
“Huo Qianli’s father was thriving in business, and his mother was a professor in the dance department, and the family was harmonious; his parents had high hopes for him.”
“He was an only child who got everything he wanted since childhood; his parents provided him with the best resources, allowing him to live a life many would not dare to dream of.”
“With the right conditions, it certainly wouldn’t be wrong for his parents to invest thoroughly in his upbringing. However, as he grew older, his parents’ divorce, the shattering of his cradle, and the rapidly changing world around him made him realize he was powerless in many matters, which slowly changed his mindset.”
As Proxy Player Sister spoke, Lu Yibei seemed to see a youth in a coastal city in the early nineties, around seven or eight years old, deep in confusion amid the waves of the changing times and family upheaval.
Though she hadn’t lived through that era, she had gleaned some understanding from various films and novels.
That was a time of barbaric growth, filled with miracles and abundant crimes.
As Lu Yibei pondered, the story from Proxy Player Sister was predictably taking a turn for the worse.
“One day, Huo Qianli began to stop returning home. He felt it was better to hang out with his streetwise friends than return to that cold home. It was during that period that he started drinking, developed a gambling addiction, and eventually even touched drugs.”
*Clap——!*
Lu Yibei smashed a clove of garlic, chopping it into minced garlic, shaking her head.
Gambling and drugs, but no yellow? I don’t quite agree with that!
However, a person like him, born into wealth, could probably weather those vices for a while without losing everything easily, right?
Unless his father went bankrupt? Lu Yibei pondered.
“Huo Qianli’s father saw him falling into depravity; he tried to dissuade him, even locking him at home and hiring someone to monitor him closely, but received little success, only earning heartbreak after heartbreak.”
“In the end, his father, who had started a new family and had a second child, lost hope and chose to ignore him, figuring that with his wealth, he could support such a wasted son until d*ath.”
“From then on, Huo Qianli began a life of excess and debauchery. He was aware that the friends around him were only after his money, but he didn’t care; he simply enjoyed the feeling of being at the center of the crowd.”
“However, the good times didn’t last long. When Huo Qianli turned twenty, his father faced a business crisis due to a poor decision, which put the family business in a tough spot, even risking bankruptcy.”
Lu Yibei,
Don’t look at me; it has nothing to do with me!
How can what has already happened be counted as my bad luck?
Lu Yibei thought as she mixed minced ginger, garlic, cooking wine, soy sauce, and other seasonings with the prepared chicken wings, starting to marinate them.
As she evenly mixed the chicken wings with the various seasonings, Boss Hu, who had been quietly observing, suddenly grew serious.
It seemed like an illusion; on the marinating chicken wings, he saw an oppressive dark cloud, as if brewing a storm.
Seeing the emotions poured into the dish by the maker was his power, his special ability.
So this is indeed the genius of cooking hell?
Just seeing me do it once, and you can learn to this point? Boss Hu thought.
As Boss Hu pondered, the story echoing in Lu Yibei’s mind continued.
“What crisis did his father and the family business encounter? Huo Qianli didn’t care at all; he thought it had nothing to do with him, living however he wanted. Until one day, a new friend took him to a magical place, where he saw things he had never seen before.”
“Could it be the Dream Come True adventure?” Lu Yibei asked Proxy Player Sister in her mind.
“BINGO! Exactly the Dream Come True adventure.”
“So he went to gamble like my father-in-law?” Lu Yibei pressed.
“What father-in-law? Did they agree to marry you?” Proxy Player Sister retorted.
“It’s only a matter of time!” Lu Yibei declared confidently.
“Shut up!” Proxy Player Sister spat, steering the topic back on course, “Huo Qianli didn’t participate in the gambling at Dream Come True Entertainment City, but he got involved with the treasures of the Dan Sha Gu Shi pharmacy, which in a way might be worse than participating in the gambling.”
“So this Mr. Huo bankrupted his family because he dabbled in drugs?” Lu Yibei asked, “I just knew with his kind of background, it wouldn’t be possible to go broke without getting involved in urban legends.”
“Not exactly!” Proxy Player Sister said, “Huo Qianli did secretly misappropriate a large sum of money from his family to buy the treasures, nearly putting the family business into bankruptcy, but in the end, his father managed to weather the storm, though his assets were greatly diminished.”
“Just that, after this, his father finally realized his eldest son was beyond saving and directly cut off Huo Qianli’s financial support, severing ties with him.”
“I get it, I get it!” Lu Yibei said, “It’s like the big account got ruined; he directly deleted the account and concentrated on leveling the small ones, right?”
Proxy Player Sister didn’t comment, remaining silent for a few seconds before continuing, “After losing his father’s financial support, Huo Qianli finally realized how useless he was, lacking any survival skills, ignorant of many matters in society, and plagued with detrimental vices, leading to his streetwise friends gradually deserting him.”
“Finally, on the night of his twenty-first birthday, his dependency on those ‘treasures’ kicked in, and in great pain, he thought of d*ath. Thus, he used his last hundred thousand to buy a box of wine.”
“Wait! How much?” Lu Yibei interrupted.
“One hundred thousand. What’s wrong?” Proxy Player Sister replied calmly.
“Excuse me, I just can’t picture the world of the rich; continue.” Lu Yibei said.
“That night, Huo Qianli, carrying the wine, went to the rooftop of a half-finished building, planning to get drunk and end his life. However, after just one bottle, he encountered a petty thief of alcohol, who happened to be the only one he had ever loved in his life.”
“Huo Qianli had never seen such a beautiful girl; just one glance, and he was captivated by her somewhat shy smile, which was even more intoxicating than top-notch red wine.”
Noticing that Proxy Player Sister had used the word “existence,” Lu Yibei couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t she human?”
“She’s a low-level spiritual ability user with spirit patterns for making money,” Proxy Player Sister explained, “but there was a glitch in her spirit pattern drawing that made her somewhat inclined to urban legend characteristics, so she can’t fully be considered human.”
“Mr. Huo wouldn’t change his ways because of that girl, would he?” Lu Yibei inquired.
“Exactly!”
Lu Yibei,
Some say love at first sight is merely lust.
So this Mr. Huo fell in love at first sight and kicked the habit of dependence on the Dan Sha Gu Shi pharmacy’s treasures?
The power of LSP is indeed terrifying!
As Lu Yibei thought, she mentally urged Proxy Player Sister, “And then?”
“Then, they had a small wedding not long after and lived happily. Three years later, that girl became pregnant.”
Lu Yibei, “???”
How did it go from a story to happy endings? What’s going on? Where’s the plot twist? Do something!
Lu Yibei thought fiercely, as if the thought of someone else living a good life hurt her more than her own descent into the abyss.
Watching with similar disbelief was Boss Hu.
He watched as the dish Lu Yibei was making became increasingly enveloped with dark clouds, looking like it would burst into a sensational storm. Yet, just as the rain was about to fall, a rainbow appeared within the dark clouds?
What the hell is going on? Boss Hu wondered.
At that moment, the rainbow suddenly shattered as if gripped and crushed by invisible hands, and instantly, the dark clouds gathered again, becoming even denser, with terrifying lightning flickering between the layers of clouds.
“Just as Huo Qianli worked hard, earning a meager salary, patiently awaiting the arrival of his child, his wife died that night, the day after their daughter was born, her heart ripped out by a group of members of an illegal spiritual ability organization.”
“Perhaps life became too good afterward, or perhaps Huo Qianli was high on drugs, even he forgot that after his father cut off his financial resources, he had promised the Dan Sha Gu Shi pharmacy to offer up his beloved.”
“When making the promise, he thought the so-called beloved must be his parents, never imagining he would one day meet a woman he truly loved.”
“Just as he felt completely despairing, a Siye Society operative investigating that illegal spiritual ability organization appeared in front of him. Seeing that he had high spiritual energy potential, she explained the situation and invited him to join the Siye Society.”
“He probably agreed without a second thought, right?” Lu Yibei asked.
She put herself in his shoes; if someone hurt Jiang Li, she’d go to any lengths for revenge. Jumeng’s stinky sister could at least somewhat handle it!
“Exactly!” Proxy Player Sister said, “Without hesitation, he joined the Siye Society, paying a heavy price, quickly becoming an A-Class Spiritual Ability User, transforming into a vengeful ghost hunting that illegal organization all the way to the headquarters in Dawn City.”
“Dawn City? The chaotic place that even the Siye Society can’t manage?” Lu Yibei remarked.
“That’s the one,” Proxy Player Sister mocked, “Didn’t expect you to have quite the knowledge!” Did he succeed in destroying that illegal organization’s headquarters?”
“He did! And he even took his young daughter to that hellish place, lurking there for years.”
“Then?” Lu Yibei pondered, “Is the story over here? After all, with the final obsession gone, the person will likely collapse in an instant.”
As she spoke, she began the final preparation for the beer-braised chicken wings.
From her perspective, the negative emotions drawn from this story had been ample enough for Boss Hu to fill a pot.
At one moment, she was even tempted to rename the dish “A Terrible Life.”
However, just then, she heard Proxy Player Sister say, “He indeed collapsed, but the story is not over.”
Lu Yibei, “???”
(The story of Huo’s father was initially planned to be completed in one day, but it accidentally turned out too lengthy, and there’s not enough time, so it can only be split into two chapters!)
