Chapter 11

When Cen An turned his head, he saw Su Rui, his nose reddened, digging into the spicy rabbit dish with chopsticks.

…Who said this dish smelled inedible?

Su Rui paid no mind to his gaze, solemnly lifting his chopsticks to find meat in the pot brimming with vibrant red.

Alright, at first, he did think the dish was inedible. As a Silvermoon Wolf with a keen sense of smell, just the aroma nearly overwhelmed him, let alone eating it.

But once the dish was cooked and served, Su Rui found the fragrant, numbing, spicy aroma of the braised rabbit continuously invading his nostrils…

So, he couldn’t resist taking a bite, and eventually, he couldn’t stop himself.

Cen An shook his head, picked up some spicy rabbit meat as well.

Rabbit meat, after all, tastes best when spicy!

The rabbit pieces had been stir-fried until their moisture was gone, fully coated with chili and seasonings—numbing, spicy, fresh, and aromatic… The more you chew, the more flavorful it became!

Cen An hadn’t eaten anything spicy for days, and he let out a sharp exhale, grabbed a pancake, tore it in half, stuffed some spicy rabbit into it, and took a big bite.

Then he took another large helping of crisp baby bok choy, making this the most satisfying meal he’d had since arriving.

Su Rui followed suit, imitating the way of eating—he stuffed the pancake with spicy rabbit, then combined it with the braised rabbit meat, his appetite wide open.

Two large pots full of meat, vegetables, and pancakes—altogether about ten pounds or so. Cen An only ate three pancakes with meat and was full; the rest all went into the bellies of the dog owner and pups.

Even the gravy was wiped clean with the pancakes by Su Rui.

Cen An looked at the pot—it was spotless, not a trace of oil left.

Once both man and dog were satisfied, it was time to leave. Su Rui, adhering to his principle of abducting humans, even collected all the remaining wheat grains before departing.

Grain flour needs protection against insects and moisture, so Cen An casually carved two wooden tubes to store it carefully.

The seasoning gift pack that Su Rui brought still had plenty left, along with four rabbit pelts, which he gifted to Cen An.

Cen An packed everything away neatly, then took a basket and gathered twenty baby bok choy heads to bring to the marketplace.

Yesterday, Tian Yuan had told him the morning was for chores; the marketplace was busiest in the afternoon.

Since he was out hunting and didn’t come every day, today he was the only vendor at the market.

Before he reached the market entrance, someone called out, “You finally came!”

Cen An looked up to see Qu Yuefeng rushing over in a hurry. “We’ve been waiting for you forever!”

Behind her were Zhao Wu and several young men. One of them, a round-faced youth, came forward with familiarity. “So this is Brother Cen? Where’s the baby bok choy? Let me see.”

Cen An glanced at Qu Yue and asked for confirmation.

Qu Yue whispered, “Your bok choy works wonders. Selling it at the market wastes too much time, so I brought some from the superpower squad. You can sell to them.”

The people here were trusted members of the squad, those closest to Captain Liao. Because they often visited him, they already knew this morning about Liao’s potential superpower recovery and Cen An’s miraculous bok choy.

This kind of thing—any superpowered person would want it.

A group of them had come looking for Qu Yue and her husband early, but Qu Yue had seen that Cen An didn’t want anyone going to his home, so she firmly held them here at the marketplace to wait.

Hearing this, Cen An nodded and set down the basket.

The round-faced youth immediately lifted the mouse skin covering it, revealing the fresh green bok choy beneath.

Though it looked ordinary, Cen An plucked one out and tore a few leaves. “You can try it.”

The superpowered individuals eagerly nibbled the leaves like rabbits.

“Damn, this really works!” one said. “Do you feel it? I feel my superpower calming down!”

“Me too…”

“Really? I don’t feel anything.”

“You punk, get lost! You just awakened not long ago and haven’t absorbed many crystal cores yet!” the round-faced youth retorted joyfully.

“This stuff’s good. Sis Qu and Brother Zhao didn’t lie to us! Brother Cen, how many bok choy do you have left?”

Cen An thought briefly. “Eighty left.” There were actually over ninety, but he wanted to keep some for himself.

The round-faced youth grinned, “Brother Cen, I’ll pay one crystal core per head. Just sell them to me?”

Cen An was surprised. “You want them all?”

“Not exactly,” he chuckled. “We’ll split them. There are five of us here, two more haven’t arrived. Seven in total. Tsk, eighty isn’t even enough to go around… Brother Cen, there can’t only be this one batch, right? When’s the next?”

Nearby, Qu Yue slapped her palm and said, “Go on, you sly one! Wang Lie, why’re you prying? If you want to buy, buy. If not, step aside—there are others waiting!”

Wang Lie quickly stepped back. “Spare me, Sis Qu! I won’t ask anything else! I’ll buy! Right now!”

Cen An found it amusing; it wasn’t a secret anyway. “The next batch of vegetables will be ready in about seven days, though it might not be bok choy.”

Wang Lie smacked his lips. “Doesn’t matter, as long as it works.”

The bok choy tasted good, but what they valued most was its ability to soothe superpowers.

Cen An said nothing. His next crop would be white radishes. The reason was simple: higher-grade vegetables gave more experience, helping the farm level up faster.

His livelihood depended on the farm system, so leveling up quickly was naturally better.

Both parties were sincere, and the deal was quickly made. Wang Lie and the others pooled eighty crystal cores, and Cen An borrowed Qu Yue’s small cart to deliver the eighty bok choy heads.

That left Cen An with 118 crystal cores in hand. After setting aside 100 to buy white radish seeds, he had 18 left.

…Why did he feel poorer?

Cen An had planned to stroll around the market in the afternoon. Seeing his balance, he thought better of it and went home to work.

First, he bought the white radish seeds.

Then he took out his hoe and planted the seeds.

[Congratulations! Experience gained x8]

[Congratulations! Experience gained x8]

…

This was the advantage of higher-grade vegetables. Planting one baby bok choy seed gave only 5 experience points, but white radish gave 8.

After planting a whole plot, Cen An earned 1,200 experience points.

He tapped lightly: [White Radish: Maturity time 5 days 4 hours]

Then he opened the system panel:

[Farm Name: Abundant Harvest Farm

Level: 1

Experience: 2700/5000

Wealth: 18 Crystal Cores

Owned Land: 1

Fish Pond: Unlocks at 1000 Crystal Cores

Livestock Shed: Unlocks at 3000 Crystal Cores

Inventory: Axe x1, Hoe x1, Pickaxe x1, Iron Sword x1, Baby Bok Choy x15, Mouse Meat x22]

Once this batch of white radishes was harvested and the next planted, he could level up.

Cen An then took out today’s mountain harvest: [Wood x60, Dry Grass x30, Tree Resin x18]

Additionally, there was a packet of herbs used for tanning pelts and wild wheat already ground into flour.

The mouse skins had been left untreated for some time, but there was no rush.

He took the wood and tree resin first and began making wooden barrels and basins.

Six wood and four resin made one barrel; four wood and three resin made one basin.

Cen An made two barrels and two basins in one go, then went to the spring at the mountain’s foot to fill two large buckets with fresh water.

Looking at the water buckets in the corner of his room, he thought it might be better to make a water tank in the future…

With water secured, Cen An took his last four iron pieces and made a kettle.

From now on, he wouldn’t have to boil water in the big iron pot, which always tasted like dishwater.

Placing the kettle over the fire, the evening sky darkened outside.

By the warm, bright light of the fire, Cen An began processing the mouse and rabbit pelts.

He didn’t know exactly how skins were treated in his previous life, but the method Tian Yuan taught was simple enough.

Though inexperienced, Cen An managed to finish the first mouse pelt.

The treated skin was smooth and glossy, with a pleasant grassy aroma, warm and soft to the touch.

How to describe it? It was even more comfortable than when it was on the Sharp-Toothed Mouse itself.

Feeling inspired, Cen An worked without pause, processing over twenty mouse pelts and even the four new rabbit pelts from today.

Animal hides could be made into items. Cen An had not only equipment recipes but also patterns for ordinary clothing.

Though at this temperature, wearing animal skins wasn’t really necessary.

He thought for a moment, took eighteen mouse pelts, and made a mouse skin mattress. Then he used four rabbit pelts and four mouse pelts to make an animal skin blanket.

Caught up in excitement, he lost track of time. By the time he finished, night had fallen.

He boiled two pots of hot water, used the new wooden basins, and took a thorough, satisfying bath before crawling into bed.

After sleeping on dry grass for who knows how many days, his rickety bamboo bed finally had a proper quilt.

The furry hide brushed against his skin, warm and cozy, somewhat like the feel of a puppy’s paws.

Ah, thinking of it that way, they really were the same material.

Cen An thought irresponsibly, nestled in his comfortable bed, and gradually drifted into sleep.

—

In the following days, Cen An’s life was regular: after breakfast, he gathered resources on the mountain until sunset before returning.

With such hard work, firewood and dry grass quickly piled up, filling half the wall in his small hut. He also collected plenty of common foods like fruit and fermented beans.

However, other materials were scarce.

He still needed quite a few things: first, stone and lime to build a hearth in the center of the room, so he wouldn’t have to sweep ash daily—only every few days.

Second, some clay. Wooden barrels for water were few; he wanted a water tank inside.

Also, he wanted to find a bamboo grove. Many tools required bamboo as raw material—fishing rods, traps…

Though he wanted these things, he simply couldn’t find them.

That afternoon, Cen An left the mountain two hours earlier than usual to visit the market. Even if he couldn’t find what he needed to buy, he could gather some news.

By coincidence, as he emerged from the forest, he ran into a familiar face.

Tian Yuan, tanned even darker than before, grinned, flashing a row of white teeth. “I thought it looked like you, so I came to check. Haven’t seen you for days; did you sell out your vegetables?”