After being relentlessly farmed day and night by the elf, Barov’s vegetable garden was undoubtedly top-tier among the players in “Taoyuan Restaurant”.
The garden was filled with an array of high-grade and rare seeds and planted in an orderly manner. It looked really tempting and dazzling, clearly the work of an advanced player.
Whenever he posted screenshots on the forum, people would flood the comments section, begging him not to just focus on his own garden but to help them plant theirs too.
Because of this, stealing crops from a high-level player like Barov was simply too satisfying.
One click, and a whole bunch of high-quality rare ingredients were harvested instantly.
Derqin had been coveting it for a long time. He practically timed it immediately when the update was made and took a stroll through his father’s garden.
[Barov: You little brat!?? You even stole from your own father!?? Do you have any idea that I was just one durian away from unlocking a new recipe? Now, thanks to you, I have to wait another cycle!!]
Barov, heartbroken to the point of near collapse, bombarded Derqin with messages.
Their already fragile father-son relationship became even more unpredictable.
[Derqin: Dad, you can steal from mine too. This is the core principle of game interaction, it strengthens friendships.]
However, when Barov went to check out Derqin’s garden, he realized that this kid was the epitome of bad luck.
Even though Derqin was the developer of the game, he still hadn’t picked up a single rare seed.
His entire plot was neatly planted with cheap, common seeds that a high-level player like Barov wouldn’t even bother with.
The outcome of their crop-stealing competition was obvious at a glance.
[Barov: I think you better hold off on contacting the family for a while. See you next month.]
Just as Derqin finished fixing a few bugs, he checked his light brain and found a message from his father, sent with no context.
[!][Derqin: ?]
[You are no longer friends with this user. Please verify before sending a message!]
The moment Derqin tried to reply, a glaring red question mark appeared on his screen.
Derqin: !?
‘Teacher Fish Soup Noodles said this game would strengthen friendships, what happened?’
[You have a new friend request][Barov: Surprised? Scared? Brat, if you dare steal again, you’re finished.]
A few seconds later, Derqin, whose emotions had just gone up and down like a rollercoaster, saw the latest message pop up on his light brain. He couldn’t help but smile as he held the device.
Because of “Taoyuan Restaurant”, this had been the most frequent contact he had with his family in years.
Maybe it was time to take a break and visit home, check in on his parents.
But it wasn’t just Barov and Derqin. As this wave of crop-stealing madness swept through the game, no one experiencing it for the first time could resist its mysterious allure.
Friends became increasingly wary of each other, constantly on guard while secretly eyeing the fruits and vegetables in each other’s gardens.
Setting an alarm just to log into “Taoyuan Tavern” gradually became a trend.
[I woke up at 4 AM just to steal some crops, then went back to sleep feeling completely satisfied. Why is this so fun?!]
[For some reason, stolen crops just taste better than the ones I grow myself. But I can’t be too greedy, I almost got unfriended by my sister.]
[This is crazy. I got up to go to the bathroom and found a faint light coming from the study room at home…it turned out to be my grandma who got up in the middle of the night to steal crops. God knows she originally just wanted to log in and learn how to cook!]
During the initial promotion of “Taoyuan Restaurant”, “God of Cooking” played a huge role in boosting its popularity. As a result, many older fans of the original novel downloaded the game, hoping to learn cooking in the immersive environment.
Unexpectedly, these retired elders suddenly found a whole new lease on life within “Taoyuan Restaurant”.
Who has more free time than retirees?
No one!
The speed at which this crop-stealing frenzy spread was so rapid, and the craze was so wild that even media outlets across the Federation took notice and began reporting on it.
The positive side of all this was that it undeniably boosted the popularity of “Taoyuan Restaurant”, a life-simulation game adapted from the original novel “God of Cooking”. It was enough to prove that many novels had the potential to be turned into games as well.
For a time, game companies and platforms of all sizes scrambled to contact various publishing houses, hoping to purchase copyrights. Who knew? The next “Taoyuan Restaurant” might just fall into their hands.
But the most sought-after works were, without a doubt, the other completed novels under Fish Soup Noodles’ name.
Huanyu’s contact lines were practically exploding with inquiries.
“But none of the other books are being considered for external game adaptation rights at the moment. Derqin plans to develop more game types, but for now, the main focus is still on updating “Taoyuan Restaurant”.”
Unfortunately, during a recent live broadcast on handmade chocolate making, Yu Mian also received a flood of messages from companies trying to reach out and book fans asking about other adaptation rights. He then directly stated that none of the game copyrights would be sold externally.
“The main reason is that each of my books would likely have very different game styles, and working directly with Derqin makes it much easier to bring these ideas to life.”
Originally, investing a portion of his royalties into Derqin’s indie game company had been an impulsive decision.
But now that he was certain this approach worked, it only made sense to keep those copyrights in his hands and let Derqin, who had both technical expertise and a strong sense of aesthetics, handle the development.
[The main thing is that Boss Derqin really puts a lot of heart into this. He knows every detail and plot point of “God of Cooking” inside and out. Honestly, I doubt another company could have adapted it this well!]
[I noticed that too, hahaha. Isn’t Boss Derqin basically a big Fish Soup Noodles fan? Every day, all he posts on Starblog is his game development schedule.]
[But I have a question, is Teacher Fish Soup Noodles also playing the game? This crop-stealing craze is getting out of hand. My garden is almost completely wiped out, wuuu.]
Yu Mian couldn’t help but laugh at the comments about crop-stealing.
“I am indeed playing too. Do you want to see my garden?”
Chocolate-making was actually quite complex and took much longer than most of the previous dishes, so for this live broadcast, Yu Mian had coordinated with the Food Research Institute in advance to have the cocoa beans fermented and dried.
At this point, they were in the process of roasting and grinding the beans with vanilla pods and cream, waiting for the mixture to liquefy.
Since there was some waiting time, Yu Mian suddenly mentioning an in-game interaction in “Taoyuan Restaurant” immediately sparked excitement among the viewers.
[Yes! Yes! We want to see Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ garden!]
So Yu Mian picked up his light brain and shared his game interface on screen.
[Wow, this looks amazing! And the layout seems really well-planned!]
[Taking notes! Everyone, take notes! Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ restaurant and garden are so perfectly arranged.]
[Hehe, but it looks like Teacher Fish Soup Noodles is just like us, he hasn’t found any of the high grade seeds yet.]
“My luck is just average, so I’ve only managed to pick up a few. I haven’t gotten most of them yet.”
Yu Mian glanced down at his screen.
However, as someone who had never live broadcast his gameplay before, he failed to realize one crucial issue.
[Feather Monster: Blur it out… Don’t forget to blur it! Your ID is showing!]
Noel, who was also watching the live broadcast, immediately sent a private message to remind him. As a professional game anchor, he knew all too well what kind of chaos could unfold if a game ID was exposed.
Not to mention that stealing vegetables is still the trend these days!
“Huh?”
Was his ID showing?
By the time Yu Mian realized what had happened, it was already too late.
[Fuck, I found it! His ID is really ‘Dozing Off’, code 2937723. Friend requests, activate…]
[Hahaha, I added him too! Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, can I be your friend? Let me steal some of your crops!]
As the barrage exploded, Yu Mian’s light brain was immediately bombarded with notifications. The friend requests in his inbox refreshed endlessly, like a flood.
“But my garden doesn’t have any high grade seeds… Stealing from me isn’t worth it, really.”
Yu Mian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry for a moment.
The barrage, however, clearly didn’t care about efficiency anymore. Soon, his game ID in “Taoyuan Restaurant” spread beyond the live broadcast room.
Before long, a group of players erupted in excitement as they discovered that they had unknowingly added Fish Soup Noodles as a friend.
[Shocked. Teacher Fish Soup Noodles is actually on my friends list! Back when I was a newbie crying for a single cilantro seed, someone randomly added me and gifted me one…ahhhhh!! If I had known, I would’ve saved that seed instead of planting it!!]
One particular player’s overexcited post quickly became the hottest topic of the day.
[What!? You actually managed to add him!? Fortunately, you already used the seed, otherwise, my corpse would be rolling in discomfort.]
[If I had known I could run to the novice zone and cry for help to meet Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, I would’ve done it! Now my level is even higher than his. If I cry now, do you think I can get him to pat my head…?]
Under Derqin’s development, “Taoyuan Restaurant” had incredible replay value, so Yu Mian had been playing like any regular player and casually adding friends along the way.
Now that his gaming vest had fallen off, his home’s popularity skyrocketed. His small garden was suddenly packed with a crowd of chibi-style holographic avatars.
[So jealous I could cry. I want to add him too and visit his garden! And Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ chibi avatar is so cute! How did you design it?]
Yu Mian’s in-game character had also been revealed alongside his home interface.
With the latest update opening up social interactions, avatar customization had shot up in popularity. The newly accessible Taoyuan Town map allowed players to modify their avatars, buy outfits, dye their hair, and get haircuts…adding even more to the game’s appeal.
Aside from obsessing over stealing crops and home design, Many high level players were now completely obsessed with character customization and outfit collecting.
