Morning light filtered through the wooden window slats, falling in thin streaks on the soft white pillow.
Xia Zhi opened his eyes, sat up from his bed, and rubbed his sleepy eyes.
He heard many popping and crackling sounds coming from outside the window, filled with a festive atmosphere.
Xia Zhi was momentarily dazed, then got out of bed and pushed open the closed window.
A cool breeze brushed his face, carrying a faint smell of the sea and the slight gunpowder scent of firecrackers.
Liyue's annual major festival — the Moon Chase Festival — had arrived.
Xia Zhi leaned on the windowsill, quietly "watching" the street scene for a while before returning inside.
Opening his inventory, he counted his gains from last night's dream world as usual.
36 Twilight Mushrooms, 6 Sweet Dream Flowers, 1 Nightmare Fruit, totaling 43 points.
Available points once again exceeded 100.
Xia Zhi changed out of his sleepwear, put away the [Dream Pillow], glanced at the wall adjacent to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and went downstairs.
It was still early, around 7 AM, but Zhu Zi, Shenhe, and Ganyu were already up, sitting together chatting.
"Good morning, Boss!"
"Good morning, Boss."
"Good morning, Mr. Xia."
"Good morning, everyone."
Xia Zhi smiled and nodded, then went to the back room to wash up.
After washing up, he called from the kitchen doorway: "I need someone to tend the fire."
"Okay!"
A moment later, all three girls entered the kitchen.
"I'll do it."
"Let me do it! I tend the fire every day!"
"I can do it too..."
Xia Zhi smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"No need to argue, I'll assign tasks. Zhu Zi, you help me tend the fire."
"Yay!"
"Miss Shenhe, you're stronger, please help me grind the beans."
"Mm."
"Miss Ganyu, please be my assistant. This morning we're having eight-treasure porridge with scallion pancakes. Please bring me the flour and wash some green onions."
"Alright."
Xia Zhi kneaded two smooth dough balls, brushed one with sesame oil and set it aside to rest, then made a sesame oil roux.
Ganyu watched from the side, somewhat puzzled.
"Mr. Xia, isn't that too much dough? The four of us can't eat all that, right?"
"Only half is for scallion pancakes. I'm planning to use the other half to make mooncakes."
"Mooncakes... Don't we still have many in the cupboard?"
"Those mooncakes were made with lard roux. Miss Ganyu, you can't eat those."
"Ah... It's okay if I don't eat them. Mr. Xia, you don't need to make special ones for me, it's too much trouble..."
"Of course we need to eat mooncakes during the Moon Chase Festival. I'm not making them specially for Miss Ganyu. Fresh mooncakes taste better, so I was planning to make more today anyway. I just happened to use vegetable oil instead."
"I see..."
Ganyu nodded. Although Xia Zhi's explanation made sense, in her heart she still believed he was making these mooncakes especially for her. She didn't dwell on it further, silently keeping his thoughtfulness in her heart.
While the dough was resting, Xia Zhi began cooking the eight-treasure porridge, adding the washed ingredients in proportion to the boiling water, stirring slowly with a large spoon, covering the lid, and waiting for the beans and rice to bloom and the soup to thicken.
Then he cut the rested dough into strips, rolled them into thin sheets, spread the oil roux on top, sprinkled salt and chopped scallions, folded both ends, folded the middle again, coiled it into a ball, and re-rolled it into a pancake shape. He started another pot with a layer of vegetable oil and slowly fried the pancakes until golden brown.
By the time all the scallion pancakes were fried, the eight-treasure porridge was also ready.
When he lifted the lid, a bright light flashed briefly, followed by the rich aroma of porridge wafting out.
(Melk Star Powder changed to Melk Stardust)
Xia Zhi took out the small bottle of [Melk Stardust] and sprinkled a little on both the porridge and pancakes, making the already rich aroma even more enticing.
"Alright, breakfast is ready."
"Great!"
Soon, the four of them sat at the table in the front hall, each with a large bowl of steaming porridge. In the center was a large plate of golden scallion pancakes, with a small bowl of sugar and spoons on the side.
"This is just a simple breakfast. I'll make you all a feast for lunch. Please eat up."
"Thank you for your hard work, Boss (Mr. Xia)!"
Zhu Zi picked up a small spoon, scooped some eight-treasure porridge, blew on it gently, and put it in her mouth. It was sweet and smooth.
"Mmm~ So good~"
Ganyu took a scallion pancake, carefully tore off a piece, and put it in her mouth. It was savory, fragrant, and crispy.
"Mmm~ Delicious~"
Both girls couldn't help but make small sounds of delight, their faces showing expressions of satisfaction and happiness.
Shenhe remained silent, but after finishing one bowl of porridge, she immediately got up to get a second bowl from the kitchen, and came back to start on a second pancake.
Before long, the large pot of porridge and plate of pancakes were completely finished.
"Is everyone full?"
"Yes."
Ganyu couldn't help but blush, as she had eaten the most.
It was just too delicious; she couldn't control her appetite.
And Mr. Xia had called this just a "simple" breakfast.
If she could eat like this every day, she'd probably soon return to her round, plump childhood figure.
After resting a while, Xia Zhi looked outside and said, "While it's still early, we should go buy ingredients. They'll be fresher now. But not everyone needs to go - just Zhu Zi and Miss Ganyu."
"Boss, what should we buy?"
"You pick out some meat ingredients, and Miss Ganyu can choose vegetarian ingredients. Don't worry about specific types, just make sure they're fresh and good quality."
"Okay!"
As the two girls left together, Xia Zhi turned to Shenhe: "Miss Shenhe, are the beans ground?"
"Yes."
"Thank you for your hard work. Let's start making tofu then."
Going to the back of the shop, they filtered the ground bean paste several times through cheesecloth, producing a basin of snow-white soy milk with a beautiful layer of oil flowers on top.
Xia Zhi "looked" at it and nodded with satisfaction.
This wasn't soy milk made from ordinary beans, but from [Great Tuna Belly Soybeans], a supernatural ingredient he had bought from the [Shop] last night for 1 point.
These soybeans, besides being rich in oil, had no other special characteristics, but they could be used to make another supernatural ingredient called [Frost-Marbled Tofu].
[Frost-Marbled Tofu]
Quality: Iron
Type: Consumable
Properties: None
Effect: Contains premium marbling like high-grade frost-marbled beef, with a rich, fresh bean aftertaste. +30% deliciousness for vegetarians.
Hidden Effect: None
This high-quality tofu ingredient would be perfect for making the magical mapo tofu he had always wanted to try.
Spicy, fragrant, colorful, hot, numbing, crispy - six flavors in one.
And it would give Miss Yanfei, who loves tofu, a little shocking surprise with some glowing cuisine.
----
Read 30+ chapters ahead on my patreon.com/rivyura
Thank you for 200 Powerstones