“Wan Shu, calm down and tell us what’s going on.” Lundo half-blocked in front of Qi Huan, explaining in a gentle tone about Qi Huan’s injury and memory loss in the hunting area.

“What else could it be? Over half a month ago, he took several batches of ingredients on credit from me, promising to settle the bill by the end of August. But when the time came, he didn’t show up, didn’t respond to messages. I even went to the shop twice in the past few days, but couldn’t find him.” The shop owner, though he had let go, was still fuming, eyeing Qi Huan up and down, seemingly skeptical about his memory loss.

“At the Human World Restaurant, the monthly ingredient cost is usually around seven to eight hundred silver coins. How could it be so much?” Lundo, having helped at the shop for years, had a rough idea of the business. September was the stone beast’s restless period, and the Waste Star entered the hunting peak season, which could double the business, but that was last month’s account, and it couldn’t possibly reach over three thousand silver coins.

The shop owner pointed at Qi Huan, gruffly saying, “Because he ordered a lot of C-grade ingredients.”

“C-grade?” Lundo was surprised. On the Waste Star, D-grade ingredients were the norm, and C-grade was ten times more expensive. Unless a customer specifically requested it, the shop usually wouldn’t stock it.

“Do you think I’m lying? If I can’t find him in a few days, I’ll go to the Command Hall at the base!” The shop owner went back inside, rummaged for a while, and threw a stack of ordered invoices in front of Lundo and Qi Huan.

Underneath were several categorized receipts, each with detailed dates and the original owner’s signature. Qi Huan flipped through them; the signature and the later handwriting in the diary were very similar, indeed listing many C-grade ingredients. The top one was a summary settlement sheet, totaling three thousand five hundred seventy-two silver coins.

The shop owner sat nearby with a dark face. If it weren’t for his ten-year friendship with Lin Sen, he wouldn’t have agreed to give this kid a credit period. But several thousand silver coins were no small amount for a shop like his.

“Wan Shu, don’t worry, I’ll find a way to pay this debt.” After verifying the amount, Qi Huan held the stack of receipts and made a statement.

Since he was now ‘Qi Huan,’ he should bear all the responsibilities.

“Pay? How will you pay?” The shop owner glanced at him sideways. Good-looking people always liked to say pretty words.

After taking over, the business plummeted, and he was a frail human. He couldn’t even find a spot to pick up garbage.

“Of course, by continuing to run the Human World Restaurant.”

Although the situation was difficult, the business that came in this morning made Qi Huan realize that the location of the Human World Restaurant was actually quite good for Base No. 3. Uncle Lin Sen must have considered this factor when choosing the shop’s location near the west gate. With good culinary skills and some live streaming as a supplement, there was still hope for profit.

He needed some time to recuperate and slowly gather information before considering future plans. Although the conditions on the Waste Star were backward and harsh, the cost of living was low, which was actually suitable for him at the moment. On high-tech planets, the situation was unclear, and if he went there rashly, what if some machine detected he wasn’t ‘original’? To be safe, it was better to plan carefully and make decisions after understanding the situation.

Moreover, inheriting this shop was also the original owner’s wish. Although it seemed challenging, he was willing to give it a try.

The shop owner frowned tightly, his expression full of disbelief. If he remembered correctly, he had heard people mention before that Lin Sen’s adopted son had failed several times to pass the chef certification, with no talent for cooking at all.

“This money is what I earned from the morning market today. I was planning to use it to restock, but you can take it first. I’ll pay the rest daily once my arm heals and I resume business.” Qi Huan took out the bag of silver coins he brought, sincerely handing it to the shop owner. “As for the time while I’m recovering, I’ll find some odd jobs.”

“Wan Shu, don’t worry. If it comes to it, I’ll help him pay it back.” Lundo patted his chest.

The shop owner sighed deeply and took the money bag, counting it.

Inside the bag were one hundred ninety-two silver coins, not even enough to cover the debt’s interest. But their attitude made the shop owner feel a bit better. It was already the worst situation, and pushing them to a dead end wouldn’t help. Giving them a chance could at least reduce some losses.

Seeing the shop owner’s expression soften, Qi Huan and Lundo exchanged a glance and also breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing them standing there dumbfounded, the shop owner pointed to the right side of the shop’s shelves, “What are you standing there for? Didn’t you come to pick ingredients?”

“Ah, right.” Realizing the shop owner was willing to continue supplying him with ingredients, Qi Huan quickly pulled Lundo towards the shelves.

“Today’s pick will be deducted from this,” the shop owner tossed the money bag in his hand, still with a stern face, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you, from now on, you must pay for ingredients upfront. No credit.”

“Of course, of course.” Qi Huan nodded repeatedly. This shop owner was clearly a good person with a tough exterior but a soft heart.

In the ingredient cabinet, there were over a dozen types of eggs alone. Besides chicken eggs and star eggs, Qi Huan didn’t recognize most of them, so he picked the familiar ones or consulted Lundo. The dietary habits were quite different too. For example, there were chickens in the cabinet, which, apart from being larger, didn’t look much different from the chickens in Qi Huan’s memory. But since people here didn’t eat bones, most chicken meat was used for making soup bases.

Qi Huan estimated Lin Jian and the others’ appetite, picked twelve pieces of beast meat, three trays of eggs, and two boxes of shrimp. After selecting almost everything, Lundo’s time was almost up, so he hurried back to open the shop after giving a few reminders.

Qi Huan circled around twice, added a box of tofu and a box of small greens. The greens were too expensive, and he couldn’t bear to buy more.

Seeing his pained expression, the shop owner shook his head, “In this place, over ninety percent of the ingredients have to be transported long distances from other star domains. Especially those that need to be kept fresh, the transportation cost is high, and the loss is significant, so the price is naturally high.”

No wonder the most expensive dishes on the menu were Kung Pao Chicken and Stir-fried Purple Melon with Eggs. It turned out that the cost of vegetables was too high. Qi Huan’s mouth twitched slightly, silently placing the items into the thin wire basket on his back. The basket was borrowed from the shop owner. Delivering goods to the door would incur additional shipping fees, which he couldn’t afford with his current debt.

“Why don’t you check out the discount cabinet in the back?” The shop owner pointed to the passage behind him.

Discounted? Qi Huan’s eyes lit up. For customer orders, he needed to prepare good ingredients, but for himself, he could take a look. This body was too thin, and just eating low-grade nutritional agents wasn’t enough. He needed to nourish himself as much as possible.

It was probably late, and the discounted ingredients left in the cabinet were in poor condition. While he was picking through the discount cabinet, a tall, skinny man came running breathlessly from the backyard, “Bro, when is Zhu Jiehu coming? Another hunting team is here waiting to skin and debone the stone beasts, and Lao Wu can’t handle it alone.”

“He’s sick and won’t be coming for a few days. Lao De is over in East City, and he said he’ll come over after finishing the one he’s working on.” The shop owner slapped his thigh, “I better hurry and urge him.”

“If it doesn’t work out, let’s hire a temporary helper. In a few days, it’ll be hunting season again, and there’s always a lot of work during these two months.” The tall, skinny man rubbed his hands and sighed. His thinness was mainly due to his height, but upon closer inspection, he was actually ‘sturdier’ than most people at the base.

The shop owner grimaced, “A temporary helper? Skinning and deboning is hard and tiring work. After spending half a day learning, there won’t be much work left. How many people would be willing? If it doesn’t work out, we should learn it ourselves. At least we’ll need it every year.”

“I’m scared of cutting into that thing, even if it’s dead.” The tall, skinny man half-covered his face in avoidance.

The shop owner scratched his head anxiously, “Do you think I’m not scared? People are forced into it.”

“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll come over tomorrow and give it a try.” Qi Huan volunteered from the side.

The two brothers looked over in unison, and the shop owner asked in surprise, “You know how to disassemble stone beasts?”

“I dare to cut.”

Shop owner: …

Not sure if Qi Huan was just being brave, the shop owner directly took him to the backyard for ‘on-site inspection.’

The courtyard of the ingredient shop was much more spacious than where Qi Huan lived, with a three-entry courtyard and a cross-yard on each side, converted into a preservation and freezing storage. The backyard was also fully utilized, with a disassembly site built.

Lifting the heavy curtain, a strong smell of blood hit them.

On the left side of the courtyard stood a row of giant iron racks with adjustable heights, with several wrist-thick iron chains hanging sporadically with various sizes of beast meat.

In the middle were three large black stone tables, one of which had a half-split Duoduo beast piled on it. Besides the outer skin, its bones seemed to have turned into jade, white and translucent, with blood that was white with a hint of green, spreading a layer of green light on the table. A thin, dark-skinned man wearing a leather apron, bare-chested, was holding a sharp knife, moving along the semi-transparent bone seams.

A robust man stood by the table, and although he wasn’t wearing the iconic jumpsuit, it was clear he was from a hunting team.

The reason was simple: most of the base’s natives were skinny and dark-skinned, lacking the healthy, well-nourished physique and imposing presence of the hunting teams.

On the right side of the open space were two airships. The one in front was empty, while the one behind had two people sitting with their feet propped on the handlebars, chatting lazily. The trailer behind the vehicle was piled with several fiery red stone beasts, their sharp teeth and claws stained with residual blood, clearly ferocious beasts, their scales shimmering like rubies, dazzlingly beautiful.

“Found it!” As they approached, the bare-chested man pulled out a light green stone the size of a tangerine, handing it to the man standing by the table.

The man took out a small box, placed the stone inside, and within three seconds, the box emitted a mechanical electronic prompt, “D-grade.”

“There’s another one.” The bare-chested man extracted another grape-sized stone.

Hearing him pull out a second stone, the two people by the airship also turned to look.

The tall, skinny man rubbed his hands joyfully, “It’s rare to find two stones. Lao Wu has good luck.”

The man by the table also smiled a bit, tested it with the box, and it was also D-grade.

At this time, the person called Lao De also arrived, and both tables started working simultaneously, speeding up the process. Qi Huan instinctively moved closer to the stone table. Seeing no discomfort on his face, and even observing Lao Wu’s knife angle and position seriously, the shop owner felt slightly relieved. But then he noticed Qi Huan’s arm in a splint and sighed lightly. With his left hand still injured, even if he was willing to learn, he probably wouldn’t be much help.

Needing to return to the shop to prepare Lin Jian’s dinner, Qi Huan arranged with the shop owner to come over the next morning and then hurried back.

On the way home, he encountered several people in red uniforms carrying ray guns, reeking of alcohol and seemingly searching for something, arrogantly barging around. Qi Huan, mimicking others, obediently stood against the wall for a while, waiting for them to pass before continuing on his way.

At the entrance of Jinwan Street, he happened to meet Quan Hai returning from the other side, his body covered in black oil stains, looking like he had just finished work.

Quan Hai, as usual, carried that helmet basket, filled with about ten tubes of nutritional agents and a few bottles of purified water. He glanced at the full iron basket on Qi Huan’s back, a bit surprised, “You’re cooking tonight?”

“Someone ordered dinner.” Seeing a familiar face, Qi Huan felt much more at ease.

Quan Hai was momentarily stunned, his expression as if saying, “It’s so bad, and someone still ordered?”

“Did you find anything good this morning?” Qi Huan’s lips curved slightly. This kid probably went straight to work after visiting the garbage dump in the morning and missed the beast meat pancakes he sent over. But it didn’t matter; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

“A half-full E-grade energy stone and a piece of gray iron.” Quan Hai proudly puffed out his chest.

“Awesome!” Qi Huan didn’t really understand the specific value of these things, but judging by Quan Hai’s demeanor, it was clearly a fruitful harvest.

“If you want to go, I’ll call you next time.”

“Okay.” Qi Huan nodded. Since he couldn’t open the shop normally, having some extra income was good.

“Do you know anyone nearby who keeps a cat? I found a kitten at home.” Qi Huan remembered the ‘unexpected guest’ at home.

Cat? Quan Hai shook his head. It’s hard enough for people to survive, let alone keep a cat.

After chatting for a bit, they soon reached Quan Hai’s doorstep.

“Almost forgot.” Quan Hai took out four tubes of nutritional agents and two bottles of purified water from his basket, stuffing them into Qi Huan’s basket.

“Thanks, I’ll pay you back later.” Unable to refuse the kind gesture, Qi Huan accepted. After all, if he didn’t eat tonight, he could eat when he went to work at the ingredient shop tomorrow.

Quan Hai waved his hand, “No need to pay back. It’s just a work meal. I was supposed to get it for me and Quan Yu, so I got yours too.”

“Work meal?” The Human World Restaurant’s owner and staff were just him, and it wasn’t open now, so where did the work meal come from?

“Provided by the base,” Quan Hai patted his forehead, remembering Qi Huan’s memory loss, and rolled up his patched sleeve, revealing the same Z-shaped red mark on his wrist as Qi Huan’s, “Those with this ‘N’ mark are all base staff.”

So it wasn’t a Z, but an N? Qi Huan glanced at his wrist, then looked at Quan Hai in confusion. Wait, wasn’t the original owner running a restaurant? How did he become a base employee?