Scientific Travel

If the system were in front of her, Deng Yin would definitely sew its mouth shut!

But now that it's gone, Deng Yin can only transfer his hatred to others.

"I didn't disguise myself. Why would I need to disguise myself? It wouldn't do me any harm if others recognized me. By the way, it's been a long time, hahahahahaha."

As Deng Yin spoke, he punched Gao Ruizhe's left shoulder with his fist.

The topic shifted abruptly, and her fist clenched just as abruptly. Gao Ruizhe didn't even need to look to know that his shoulder was at least red, and might even be tinged with purple.

She's definitely getting revenge because she was recognized!

"Yes, it's been a long time." Gao Ruizhe took two steps back, freeing his shoulder from Deng Yin's fist.

Deng Yin's outstretched hand hovered in mid-air, but she didn't feel embarrassed and naturally withdrew it.

The surroundings became unusually quiet for a moment, until Deng Yin spoke up first: "What are you doing here?"

This is near Deng Yin's house, surrounded by high walls and courtyards. The location isn't great; it's on the edge of town. Unless you live nearby, very few people come here.

Gao Ruizhe didn't expect Deng Yin to ask this. He couldn't very well say that he came here because he missed her, could he?

“I have an old friend who lives here, and I just went to visit him.”

Deng Yin nodded, having no doubt about the answer.

"Then you go ahead, I'm leaving now."

Gao Ruizhe's face darkened. He suspected, or rather, he was certain, that Deng Yin hadn't heard what he was saying.

Or perhaps it was intentional, but Gao Ruizhe was very confident in himself. He preferred to believe that Deng Yin had hearing problems rather than accept that she didn't want to talk to him.

Gao Ruizhe took a few deep breaths to mentally prepare himself, then jogged to catch up with Deng Yin.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? It's about time for dinner. How about I treat you to a meal?"

"Why not take advantage of it?" Deng Yin agreed without hesitation.

This meal alone shows that Gao Ruizhe has some money in his pocket; not a single dish on the table costs less than five silver coins.

Sometimes expensive doesn't mean delicious. None of the dishes on this table could compare to Li Pingle's cooking. Deng Yin had become quite picky about food lately, and he would only taste each dish once before putting down his chopsticks.

Seeing that she wasn't eating anymore, Gao Ruizhe said, "The food here is really just so-so, not as good as what I make. Why don't you come to my house for a bit? I'll show you my cooking skills."

Deng Yin thought about Gao Ruizhe's cooking skills. His dishes were indeed superb; he could make even the most bland-looking dishes taste delicious.

"Okay."

Gao Ruizhe's house is in the center of the city. Although it is not very big, it is more expensive than Deng Yin's house.

There is a pond in the yard, but there are no lotus flowers in it, only a few golden fish.

It's clear that there used to be trees in the yard, but now they've been cut down, leaving only a stump.

Gao Ruizhe poured Deng Yin a cup of tea and said, "I'll go cook first, you can wander around as you like."

Deng Yin didn't stand on ceremony with him; he left before Deng Yin even stepped outside.

After touring all the rooms, Deng Yin had only one thought:

This line of work is really lucrative!

Each room has at least two vases made of celadon, the bookshelves and tables and chairs are all made of golden ebony, and even the handles of the calligraphy brushes are made of purple jade.

To put it simply, the stuff in just one of Gao Ruizhe's rooms is enough to buy two courtyards of Deng Yin's property.

Deng Yin's eyes turned red with envy. This kid is so rich, why is he pretending to be a beggar?

In comparison, Deng Yin's meager sum of money made him look more like a beggar.

Gao Ruizhe was worried that Deng Yin would get impatient, so he prepared dishes that could be cooked quickly. Just as Deng Yin finished his tour, the dishes were ready.

Most of the meal ended up in Deng Yin's stomach. Gao Ruizhe used Deng Yin as a snack, glancing at her every few bites.

"It's been so long since I've had this, and your cooking is still so good," Deng Yin said. "Especially this white amaranth ball soup, I've made it many times but it's never tasted as good as yours."

The dishes tasted familiar, similar to what Uncle Li makes.

Sure enough, all good dishes taste the same.

Gao Ruizhe was a little shy from the compliment and blurted out, "If you like it, I'll make it for you often in the future."

Deng Yin refused. He felt that Uncle Li was enough to cook at home; there was no need for two chefs. "No need," he said, "My house is too small for us right now, and besides, we already have someone who cooks very well."

Gao Ruizhe subconsciously tightened his grip on the chopsticks in his hand, his fingers turning white from the pressure, before he could barely suppress the urge to ask, "Who is he?"

"So...is his cooking as good as mine?"

Probably not... He spent a year and a half learning to cook, and the person who taught him was once a royal chef in the palace.

"It tastes better than your cooking."

Despite the bright sunshine outside, Gao Ruizhe felt a bit cold.

It's not just because the prey is defiant after escaping control, but also...

have no idea......

Gao Ruizhe didn't know what was wrong with him, and finally concluded that he couldn't accept that someone's cooking skills could surpass his.

Whether it was the blind spot of love or superior skills that was more damaging to him, his pride ultimately led him to choose the former.

“I’ll have to try it when I have the chance,” Gao Ruizhe said. “Let’s see if it’s really as delicious as you say.”

Deng Yin: "You don't need to wait until later, you can eat it now."

Li Pingle was worried that Deng Yin would get hungry while she was out, so he specially prepared a lot of dishes for her to take with her before leaving home.

In order to prove to Gao Ruizhe that Li Pingle's cooking skills were indeed better than his, Deng Yin brought out dishes that Gao Ruizhe had just cooked.

Li Pingle brought five dishes for Deng Yin, and Deng Yin took out two of them.

The system saw that she had only taken out two dishes and said, "Didn't Li Pingle make five dishes for you? Why are you so stingy and only took out two?"

Deng Yin retorted, "It's not that we're stingy. It's just that we've both eaten our fill, so we're just taking out two dishes to try."

Gao Ruizhe didn't believe it was that delicious, but he tried a bite of each dish.

Okay, now I believe it.

Gao Ruizhe's method was the most authentic, and even the imperial chefs couldn't find fault with it. Li Pingle's method was a modification of the original, which not only didn't affect the taste, but actually made it taste even better.

They did almost the exact same thing, the only difference being that Li Pingle added a secret seasoning.

Seeing that he was just eating without saying a word, Deng Yin couldn't help but ask, "How is it?"

Although he was reluctant to admit it, he answered truthfully, "He is indeed very good. Did he learn from the imperial chef?"

Deng Yin replied, "I don't know, I've never heard of it."

Rich people talk differently. Judging from what he said, he's even eaten food prepared by the imperial chef.

Having gotten two meals for free, Deng Yin left him two plates of grapes as a thank you gift before leaving.

Gao Ruizhe looked at the two plates of grapes, and couldn't help but smile.

I still like him, after all. Knowing he likes grapes, I specially brought him two plates.

Gao Ruizhe only focuses on what he wants to focus on, selectively ignoring the fact that grapes and vegetables appear out of thin air.

......

The rabbits Deng Yin had caught before were all wild rabbits, which had very bad tempers; three of the six rabbits died from anger.

Taking advantage of this trip to the city, she went to East Street and bought a few.

East Street is the largest livestock market in West City. Whether you want to buy animals specifically for food or functional animals like horses or cows, you can find them here.

In the Kingdom of Baichu, eating beef is forbidden; cattle can only be used for plowing.

But once the plants started to mutate, not only weeds were wiped out, but also crops.

Those who are still willing to farm are those who might be killed by the crops that grow from the land, but would certainly starve if they didn't farm. These families are already poor, and their only possession, the ox, is the most valuable thing they own.

Drought is far more harmful than plant mutations. In the past, they had a chance to fight for their lives to survive, but now the ground is barren, and not only are they starving, but even the cattle are starving to death.

Selling them might be a difficult decision, as most families have raised cattle for generations, taking them to farms to conceive when they reach a certain age. It's no exaggeration to say that some families have had this cow for generations.

But if we don't sell it, we'll lose both our money and our lives. Selling it now will at least provide for a while, but once the cow dies, it will be useless.