Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 14 - 13 Drought and Famine (2)_2

"Rice is white."

Hui Niang curiously asked, "Even the young ladies in the city are fleeing?"

"...Fleeing, they're all fleeing."

Hui Niang nodded, "Sister Chun also told me that the master of the household she served before had died, and then everyone in the family escaped. Several concubines snatched a lot of jewelry, and Sister Chun even picked up a silver hairpin, but was caught by the Manager and it was taken away."

Seeing the topic drifting away, Chen Huihong proactively asked, "Why didn't the human trafficker sell you, and why did your parents take you along when they fled from famine?"

This question was rather piercing and left Hui Niang silent.

After a long time, Hui Niang quietly said, "Mom said she couldn't bear to leave me behind."

"Anyway, I don't eat much, and I can find food. On the road, I can take care of my brother, so it's better to bring me along. In case... I might still be useful."

"You know how to find food?" Chen Huihong looked at Hui Niang.

Hui Niang nodded repeatedly, "I do. I can dig up roots in the field. I can find insects, I know how to find water, and I can even locate rat holes. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can not only find food hidden by black rats but also catch the rats."

"Although many rivers have dried up, there are always some places with water. No matter how severe the drought is, if you dig the well deep enough, you can always find water." Saying this, Hui Niang took another look at Chen Huihong, "Sister, it seems like you don't have a water jar."

"It broke." Chen Huihong said perfunctorily, "Go on."

Hui Niang thought for a moment and added, "If it weren't for the high grain prices, and the promised disaster relief grain not being seen, plus the extra taxes this year, my dad wouldn't have sold the land and fled."

"I know." Chen Huihong said calmly, "I know about you people... the rural tenants who farm. Families with fields are considered to have decent conditions. Many have no land and rent from the landlord's house. If they can't pay the rent, they borrow money with high interest from the landlord, which keeps rolling over until the family is ruined, selling sons and daughters."

After speaking, Chen Huihong added, "I heard people talk about it at the tea stand."

"Where are you going now?" Chen Huihong asked.

Hui Niang was somewhat confused, yet a bit hopeful, watching Chen Huihong cautiously like a deer, "I don't know where to go."

"Sister, can I follow you?"

"I also don't know where to go, so following me won't help." Chen Huihong said.

"Then... can I still follow you?"

"Up to you." Chen Huihong, like a heartless gamer, was indifferent to the NPC's sad past, caring only about her task progress.

Even though she seemed to have no tasks needing urgent attention.

"Thank you, Sister." Hui Niang gladly followed behind Chen Huihong, merging her shadow entirely with Chen Huihong's shadow, as if this would give her a sense of security.

"Sister, what's your name?"

"My name is... Hong Niang."

"Then Sister, what's your surname?"

"What's your surname?"

"My surname is Chen."

"What a coincidence, my surname is Chen too."

"Then Sister, where are you going?"

"I don't know." At this point, Chen Huihong paused and asked, "Where... are there many people and it's safe?"

Hui Niang thought for a moment, "Beiping."

"The Emperor used to live there."

"What about later?"

"Later, there was no more Emperor." Hui Niang said, "But there are many other masters. Sister Chun told me that if you accidentally offend a lady, young master, madam, or master in the city, you'd kneel and kowtow. When the opera troupe came to our village to perform, the characters would kowtow to the Emperor in the play. Maybe the Emperor and those masters are similar."

Chen Huihong frowned, "I don't like kowtowing to people."

"You're a young lady, Sister, of course you don't need to kowtow." Hui Niang said, showing her first smile since meeting Chen Huihong, "I also don't like kowtowing. Mom always scolds me for being pretentious and crazy. I even avoid the landlord when I see him in our village. When Sister Chun went to the city to work, I refused to go, not even when my parents beat me."

Chen Huihong said nothing, continuing forward.

Hui Niang followed closely behind her like a small shadow.

"Sister, are we going to Beiping?"

"I don't know."

"Then where are we going?"

"I don't know."

"Sister, it's so strange. I was really hungry, but after you gave me tree bark yesterday, I'm not hungry anymore."

"Tree bark staves off hunger."

"Am I going to die? People who fled with us from our village kept shouting they were hungry, but the day they were about to die, they suddenly weren't hungry anymore, and then they died."

"No, people who are about to die don't talk so much." Chen Huihong paused, turned around, glanced at Hui Niang, and reluctantly took out a piece of bark slightly larger than the one from last night, handing it to Hui Niang, "Eat."

Hui Niang immediately stuffed the tree bark into her mouth. Her hesitation seemed far more resolute than yesterday, even her swallowing motions quicker than last night.

"Sister, you're so kind!"

Just got a good person card.

Chen Huihong frowned, seemingly hating this phrase, sharply saying, "Find your own food in the future."

"Sister, I..."

A flash of white light, Qin Huai left the dreamscape.

"Ding, congratulations player for unlocking the almanac."

Qin Huai after waking from the dream:...

Qin Huai after a moment of thought:...?

While dreams are bizarre and varied, Chen Huihong's dream was too realistic, and the ten days of journeying passed without a second accelerated, Qin Huai straightforwardly watched the barren scenery alongside Chen Huihong for over ten days.

And what did Chen Huihong's dream mean?

Mother and daughter transformed into sisterly love?

In real life, they're a wealthy mother and daughter without worries, but in the dream, they're a poor fleeing duo—focusing on experiencing life, contradictively cute + growth.

The most crucial part––

Sister Hong, your dream wasn't even finished!

The character was broken.

Chen Huihong was not someone with indifference mixed with a hint of warmth like in the dream. If people were compared to things, Chen Huihong would definitely be the sun, burning herself brightening up the world, passion as fierce as fire, yet not like a candle that burns out—it has excellent endurance.

Besides...

The dream was a bit too real.

Qin Huai recollected scenes and clips from within the dream, they were outrageously authentic. If the conversations didn't indicate it was during the period of the Republic of China, with a young Chen Huihong and Hui Niang at Chen Huixi's current age, Qin Huai would almost suspect it wasn't a dream, but memories from Chen Huihong's past.

Even if it was a dream, it felt like a vivid dream of a previous life.

Contemplating, Qin Huai opened the game panel.

The unlocked almanac showed an addition.

Unlocked almanac: 1/12

The highlighted entry was Chen Huihong's portrait, clicking into it.

Surname: Chen Huihong

Species: ??? (pending unlock)

Dreamscape: 1/3

Recipe: Tree Bark (Click for details)

Gift: None

Qin Huai: What the heck is 'Species ????!'

Are you telling me that Chen Huihong isn't human?

So our system isn't a regular day-in-the-life management system, it's a Spiritual Revival System/End Times Arrival System/Secret Invasion System?

Then what's the use of recipes?

If Spiritual Revival, End Times Arrival, or Secret Invasion occurred, how could cooking solve anything, are you supposed to beat the opponent with a rolling pin? Or flatten them with a mold? Or maybe stuff them to death with enough dough?

Qin Huai, full of questions, clicked on the recipe.

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[Tree Bark, Grade F]

Maker: Chen Huihong

Dish details: Although hard to admit this as a dish, let's consider it one. Unsavory, dry, hard to swallow, and not recommended for raw consumption unless on the brink of death. Eating more than 3g can quickly fill you up, a real light meal. (Due to the horrific taste, it is recommended to use as a seasoning)

Daily possible production: 0/50g

What a light meal, what a recommendation to use it as seasoning.

Even capitalists would applaud.

Qin Huai thought mixing a few lettuce leaves, some salad dressing, two shrimps, a slice of avocado, and some cheap fillers to sell as a forty-dollar light meal was bold enough, yet something even bolder showed up here.

Guess what, straight up offer tree bark.

It even fills you up.

Healthy and slimming, truly a good light meal.

Also, it perfectly aligns with Chen Huihong's culinary skills.

Oh no, during Chen Huihong's preparations for the parent-child cooking day, might she actually take a bold, innovative step, fearlessly trying to use tree bark as seasoning?

But, where to buy tree bark?

Is the tree bark sold on Taobao edible?

One couldn't really go peel it off the landscaping downstairs, could they?

Qin Huai felt if he dared, within three minutes, Chen Huihong would catch him on the spot, even with the title of "Chen Huihong's Approval," tending to bias.