In the Food Research Institute, Uncle Harrison and a group of researchers were leading the highly curious elves on a tour of the various facilities.
“This is our cultivation chamber, which allows ingredients to grow rapidly!”
“Oh, and this here is the growth monitor, which works like a thermometer to detect the growth status of plants…”
As the elves asked questions from time to time, Harrison enthusiastically introduced everything, drawing exclamations of surprise from the group.
“We never use such methods to check.”
“That’s right, we simply touch the plants and communicate with them to sense their emotions.”
Through their exchange, they quickly realized that their approaches to farming were completely different. The elves were more like romanticists, while the Food Research Institute was more like a rational realist.
However, thanks to the elves’ innate ability to perceive the plants’ conditions, the institute managed to overcome several challenges in the cultivation of different ingredients. In return, the elves received a generous number of gifts from the institute.
Of course, large gift packs of snail noodles were included, along with various seasoning and ingredient seeds for each person. Fresh fruits and vegetables were also packed abundantly into their luggage.
Moreover, from the very first glance, the researchers were deeply impressed by the elves, who had slightly pointed ears and an air of reserved elegance.
They had never expected the readers attracted to Fish Soup Noodles’ novels to have such stunning appearances.
Only Derqin, who remained at the back of the group, kept glancing nervously at his light brain to check the time. Occasionally, he would look behind as if expecting someone.
“Don’t worry, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles has already promised to come. He’s on his way right now and has even prepared an exquisite afternoon tea for everyone to enjoy during the discussion.”
Harrison immediately noticed that Derqin, the game developer, seemed to care a lot about Fish Soup Noodles. His thoughts were practically written all over his face.
Derqin: !
Caught off guard by Harrison’s accurate guess, Derqin missed a step for a moment.
“Hahaha, there’s nothing to be shy about. Back when Teacher Fish Soup Noodles first visited the Food Research Institute, we were even more nervous and excited than you are now.”
Recalling his first meeting with Yu Mian, Harrison couldn’t help but smile.
Even though Derqin hadn’t asked anything directly, he could tell from the tone of Harrison and the others at the institute that Fish Soup Noodles was very well-liked here.
“Director Harrison! Teacher Fish Soup Noodles and General Huo Ting have arrived!”
As the excited staff reported the news, the elves, who had maintained a slightly aloof demeanor until now, all widened their eyes in surprise, nearly running forward out of curiosity.
“Teacher Fish Soup Noodles! Can we really meet him in person?”
Derqin also nervously tightened his grip on the fruits and vegetables Harrison had just shoved into his hands and looked toward the entrance.
However, when staff at the Food Research Institute saw Yu Mian and Huo Ting, they immediately sensed that something was subtly off between the two today.
Normally, whenever they arrived together, they had a strong mutual understanding, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles only needed to glance at General Huo, and the general would immediately get the message.
But today, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles kept at least half a step of distance between himself and General Huo Ting. Meanwhile, General Huo Ting had an unusual hesitant expression on his face and his eyes were always on Teacher Fish Soup Noodles.
After greeting everyone, his eyes went back again.
“Welcome to the Federation Star. Was your journey across the universe exhausting?”
Ignoring Huo Ting’s gaze behind him, Yu Mian removed his mask and hat and greeted them simply. Then, he examined the excited and eager elf readers in front of him with a strange feeling in his heart.
Even though he had been informed in advance, seeing it with his own eyes still felt surreal.
These were the legendary “Children of the Forest” with ridiculously high appearance levels from so many books.
“Teacher Fish Soup Noodles!”
Upon seeing Fish Soup Noodles in person for the first time, the elves were all struck with disbelief.
They had seen screenshots and photos before, but seeing him in person was on a whole different level.
He fit into the elves’ aesthetics perfectly, who were hardcore face cons.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the entire Food Research Institute burst into liveliness.
“Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, can I get an autograph?”
“I even brought a gift for you! Look at me, I really love “God of Cooking”!”
The Food Research Institute staff found it amusing how these elves, who had seemed a bit aloof at first, had now completely transformed into enthusiastic book fans, swarming around Fish Soup Noodles.
“But where is Derqin? I don’t see him.”
After signing several books and holding a pile of gifts in his arms, Yu Mian finally couldn’t help but glance around, looking for his game developer.
“Derqin, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles is looking for you!”
His elf friends immediately started calling out to him.
It didn’t take long to spot Derqin standing silently a short distance away.
The moment everyone’s eyes fell on him, especially when Yu Mian’s gaze turned toward him with curiosity, Derqin almost froze on the spot.
His old friends, however, had no patience for whatever nervous thoughts he was having. They simply dragged him over and brought him along to the lounge for afternoon tea.
“Derqin, have you run into any issues with the latest version update?”
On the way there, Yu Mian glanced at Derqin beside, trying to start a conversation. To his surprise, this cold and aloof game developer seemed quite cool in real life too.
How was he supposed to talk to someone like this?
He really wasn’t good at this.
[But his crystal ball shows his favorability is full.]
The system’s sudden reminder made Yu Mian glance at Derqin again with curiosity and surprise.
“N-no, everything is fine.”
Under the weight of numerous gazes, Derqin struggled for a long moment before finally managing to squeeze out a response.
“Derqin, you’re acting so distant, are you sure that’s a good idea?”
His friends quietly came to him and whispered, puzzled as to why someone who clearly admired Fish Soup Noodles was behaving so strangely after meeting him.
“If you keep this up, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles will think we elves are rude and dislike us.”
“Yes, exactly!”
“…”
Hearing this, Derqin felt like his mental state was about to collapse.
No one had ever warned him that meeting his favorite author in person would be this overwhelming.
Just from making eye contact, he was certain that if his hat wasn’t covering his ears, they would have already exploded from the heat.
In the end, Derqin quietly tugged at the brim of his hat, hoping to hide his nervousness and avoid embarrassing himself.
But this initial tension quickly vanished when Yu Mian suddenly decided to start grilling cumin barbecue.
The table had originally been filled with delicate pastries and small cakes, but the moment Yu Mian took a small packet of cumin powder from Harrison and eagerly tried it out, everything changed.
As soon as the scent of sizzling barbecue filled the air, no one paid attention to the desserts anymore. Instead, they all stared at the skewers sizzling over the grill while drooling.
They couldn’t even imagine how delicious the grilled meat would be with cumin and chili powder!
When growing, cumin has crescent-shaped green fruits with pale pink flowers blooming at the top. Once dried and processed, the fruit turned into small brown granules.
When ground into cumin powder, its aroma became even more intense.
“Both vegetables and meat can be grilled, such as mushrooms, baby cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and so on.”
Yu Mian knew that elves preferred vegetarian dishes, so aside from grilling small skewers of meat, he also prepared a large variety of grilled vegetables.
No one had expected that after brushing the vegetables with oil, adding seasonings, and flipping them over the grill, their flavors would become so rich and enticing.
The first plate of barbecue that Yu Mian personally grilled was emptied within seconds, with everyone eagerly grabbing a skewer, savoring the hot and fragrant bites.
“Hiss… Why does this meat taste so amazing?”
Uncle Harrison felt the perfectly grilled, slightly charred meat tendon, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, sizzling with oil and infused with the fragrance of cumin. Just one bite, and he was instantly addicted, he could probably eat dozens of skewers in one go.
“This baby cabbage is incredible too. How could it taste like this?”
The elves took a bite of the grilled vegetables, unable to believe that this was the same vegetable they usually enjoyed. The taste was completely different.
“Speaking of which, does anyone want to try some beer? This is a brand-new variety we just brewed recently. If you can’t have alcohol, there’s fruit juice available too.”
Simply eating barbecue wasn’t enough, so soon, someone brought out ice-cold beer and fruit juice.
How could you enjoy barbecue without a cold drink?
At first, the elves and the people from the Food Research Institute were still a little reserved around each other, but under the influence of barbecue and beer, the atmosphere quickly became lively and enthusiastic.
Everyone excitedly exchanged planting techniques, their discussions growing more animated.
Food truly was a catalyst for friendship.
Derqin also tried beer for the first time. His ears twitched inexplicably as he tipsily stared at the barbecue grill. He found the taste strangely intoxicating.
“I think barbecue is on par with snail noodles!”
Another elf held up a skewer of grilled green peppers, just short of declaring that he wanted to bring a barbecue grill back home.
And plant cumin all over the elven forest.
“But if you do that, the elders might want to kill you.”
The younger elves imagined the scene and quickly realized how difficult it would be.
“Cumin… cumin! We could add some random NPCs in “Taoyuan Restaurant” too, like a mysterious spice merchant!”
As Derqin sipped on his beer, he suddenly had an epiphany.
A lot of the recent updates in “God of Cooking” could be fully adapted into the game.
Every time he caught up with the latest chapters, he couldn’t help but imagine how fun it would be to turn many of the interesting plots into in-game elements.
Yu Mian listened to Derqin’s various ideas with great interest. He felt that Derqin’s dedication to work was definitely reassuring for any investor.
And interestingly, after Derqin got a little tipsy, he became much more talkative.
He was like a completely different person, and the way he excitedly pulled Yu Mian aside to share his thoughts was quite cute.
Just as Yu Mian was about to grab another glass of beer, Huo Ting pressed down on his hand and reminded him:
“That’s your third glass.”
Although the beer developed by the Food Research Institute was indeed delicious, it was clear that it shouldn’t be consumed in excess; several elves who had become tipsy already had flushed faces.
Since the incident in the study where Huo Ting hadn’t returned his scale, the two found themselves making eye contact in a subtle atmosphere again.
“…I have an amazing alcohol tolerance, okay.”
Yu Mian was quite confident about this.
Besides, it was just beer, no big deal at all.
“And aren’t you going to try some? Maybe your tolerance is even worse than Derqin’s.”
Yu Mian noticed that Huo Ting hadn’t taken a single sip, so he teasingly handed his glass over.
Upon hearing this, Huo Ting glanced at Derqin, who was still babbling excitedly about various game ideas, and clearly found that unlikely.
Uncle Harrison, who was observing from a distance, found the scene rather amusing.
That kid Huo Ting had refused to touch the beer earlier, but now he was actually giving it a try?
However, Yu Mian, who originally had some bad intentions, soon discovered that Huo Ting seemed to have no reaction at all after drinking a glass, which was quite boring.
Could it be that the strength of one’s mental power influenced their resistance to alcohol?
Or maybe beer just wasn’t that intoxicating to begin with?
That afternoon’s barbecue gathering significantly strengthened the bond between the Food Research Institute and the visiting elves.
Uncle Harrison even laughed heartily as he exchanged shoulder pats with the middle-aged elf leader, who was clearly in charge of the team.
They discussed the possibility of exchanging and supplementing crop seeds, as well as sharing various planting techniques.
Moreover, if they could establish a specialized transport channel to bring the fruits and vegetables from the elven star system to the Federation Star for sale, this import route would undoubtedly offer people a richer variety of ingredients to enjoy.
It was an absolutely brilliant idea.
Ironically, none of this would have happened if it weren’t for the novel, “God of Cooking”, which had lured out Derqin, an elf hidden in the heart of the Central Star.
Otherwise, no one would have expected that elves even existed within the Federation’s star system.
When it was time to part ways, many elves held Yu Mian tightly and didn’t want to let go. They happily chatted about various topics from “God of Cooking”, even trying to ask Yu Mian whether Taoyuan Mountain actually existed.
If it did, how could they find it?
Some even invited Yu Mian to visit the elven star system next time.
Surrounded by these beautiful elves, Yu Mian found the situation amusing yet overwhelming.
It turned out that the beer Uncle Harrison had brewed was unexpectedly entertaining.
Especially, it turns out that Derqin’s coldness was just an appearance?
Seeing Derqin’s pointy ears twitch from time to time, Yu Mian’s fingers itched to touch them.
However, for many special races, touching such areas was clearly a major taboo.
In the end, Yu Mian suppressed the urge.
But when Derqin woke up from his afternoon nap, he immediately opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling blankly, and memories of everything that had happened came flooding back.
