The voice sounded familiar. Qi Huan looked up and saw Lin Jian and Xue Ke.

“What are you doing here? I just went to your shop, but the door was locked tight. I couldn’t even send a message because of the light magnetic storm,” Lin Jian rambled on, then patted the empty seat in the passenger side. “Hop in, I’ll give you a ride back.”

“I’m not off work yet. I can only go back in the evening,” Qi Huan said with a troubled expression.

“Work? Aren’t you running a shop?” Xue Ke leaned forward from the back seat to join the conversation.

“The business at the shop isn’t doing well, and my hand isn’t in the best shape lately, so I’m doing some odd jobs at the unloading site,” Qi Huan explained awkwardly.

Seeing that they knew each other, Wan Lao Er came over with a smile, “Yes, Ah Huan has been helping us at the unloading site recently.”

Lin Jian raised an eyebrow and pointed at the stone beast in the trailer, “Can you let him off early today?”

“Sure, definitely,” Wan Lao Er said, rubbing his hands together and grinning widely.

“Alright,” Lin Jian deftly turned the steering wheel, and the airship spewed a gust of air as it turned and glided into the yard.

Wan Lao Er leaned over to Qi Huan and whispered, “Your friend?”

“A regular customer at the shop,” Qi Huan replied, touching his nose. They’ve been to the shop twice and even exchanged contact information, so they could be considered regulars, right?

Xue Ke jumped off the airship and quickly walked over to Qi Huan, starting to order food, “Later, I want to eat Chun Feng Bolo and Dongpo Pork.”

“Sure, I’ve also developed a few new dishes recently. You can try them too,” Qi Huan said, amused by his eagerness. “Didn’t you just go to the hunting area? How come you’re back so soon?”

“Got lucky. We didn’t go far before we encountered a C-level striped beast. The boss said to bring it back first,” Xue Ke pointed at the round, green-striped stone beast in the trailer.

Only then did Qi Huan understand why Wan Lao Er was so eager to close this deal. A C-level stone beast was a rare and big business.

Although the lunch break wasn’t over yet, a C-level stone beast meant a generous reward, so Lao Wu naturally had no objections to starting work early. He spread out his tools and got busy with Qi Huan.

The beast core they extracted was as big as a fist, green and shiny. From Qi Huan’s perspective, it was at least a C-level grade.

Lin Jian was generous as always. Seeing the good quality of the extracted items, he gave an extra tip of a thousand silver coins. Wan Lao Er, being a good sport, not only let Qi Huan off early as promised but also gave him the entire thousand as a bonus for bringing in the business.

Qi Huan was quite happy and went on a shopping spree at the food store in the front yard. He also went to the backyard to pack up the pile of beast feet and tails he had dismantled in the morning, taking them back with him. After all, with a tailwind airship today, he wasn’t worried about buying too much.

“Can you eat this stuff?” Xue Ke looked at the pile of beast feet and tails in the trailer with a particularly disdainful expression.

“Don’t judge a ‘meat’ by its appearance,” Qi Huan said confidently, raising an eyebrow. The purple-red sunset glow reflected in his eyes, like summer flowers in full bloom, making Xue Ke momentarily dazed.

Lin Jian, who had been dozing in the front row, opened his eyes and turned his head to look back, “Got anything light?”

“How about fish?” Qi Huan pointed to one of the baskets. He had noticed before that Xue Ke liked strong flavors, while Lin Jian preferred lighter, sometimes sweet, tastes.

Lin Jian shook his head in disdain, “Too many bones.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you a boneless one today,” Qi Huan said. He had been deboning every day recently and had a rough idea of why fish and shrimp were not popular here. They had bones, shells, and were troublesome to eat, so they weren’t favored. Smaller poultry were only used for soup, and the meat wasn’t eaten.

So he had planned to try making fish balls. He had looked it up last night, and the fish in the basket had fewer bones, tender meat, and was easy to debone and make into fish paste.

The food store was close to the Human World Restaurant, and with the airship, it was even faster. They arrived in just a few conversations.

Lin Jian had ordered two tables for eight people this time. Hearing Qi Huan say it would take about two hours to prepare, he asked Xue Ke to help bring the stuff into the kitchen and then left, saying they’d be back at six-thirty.

“Those guys can really eat, make sure there’s plenty of meat and main dishes,” Xue Ke reminded Qi Huan before leaving.

Qi Huan patted his chest, assuring him it was all taken care of.

After putting everything away, Qi Huan went upstairs to check on Tuan Tuan. The little fellow was still curled up in bed, sleeping. His porcelain-white face nestled among the dark pillows, looking like a carved jade. Actually, for a moment yesterday, he thought of the child the silver-haired youth and his companion were looking for, but although the child was a child, the hair color didn’t match at all. Plus, those two didn’t leave any contact information, so there was no way to reach them. The fastest way would be to check the base’s missing person announcements.

The little fellow opened his eyes at the sound, saw it was him, and closed them again, reassured.

Seeing those sleepy eyes, Qi Huan’s tone unconsciously softened. He squatted by the bed and whispered, “Later, there will be two tables of guests downstairs. It might get a bit noisy, but don’t be scared. I’ll bring you some food later.”

Tuan Tuan nodded drowsily, and Qi Huan tucked him in before heading downstairs to prepare dinner.

In the kitchen, Qi Huan first checked on the hidden star coins before starting to sort the ingredients. In less than five minutes, Quan Hai knocked and came in, carrying a basket made from an old helmet.

“Food?” Qi Huan curiously glanced at the helmet in Quan Hai’s hand.

“If your teeth are good, you can try it,” Quan Hai joked, taking out a box and placing it in front of him. “Brother Mang said the money can’t be taken for nothing, so here’s a return gift for you.”

Qi Huan opened the box to find three F-level energy stones on the left and a thin silver metal plate on the right. The metal plate had a tiger head engraved on two-thirds of it, with the tiger wearing a helmet-like armor, looking particularly majestic. At the bottom was the character “Wei,” and on the back was the character “Er.”

“What’s this?”

“A 50% discount card from the Vino family. He’s the best artificer in our base, especially good at making metal components. He can make weapons, knives, and all sorts of things, but they’re a bit pricey.”

An artificer who makes metal components? Qi Huan remembered Wan Lao Er mentioning someone living in East City at noon, “Is he from the Tata tribe?”

“Not sure about that. Do you know him?”

“No, just happened to hear someone mention him.”

Quan Hai’s face lit up with gossip, lowering his voice, “I heard many people from the Nomad Base spend a lot of money to have him make weapons.”

“Do they have that much money?” The base’s residents live so hard, it should be even tougher outside.

“What do you think the Nomad Base is like?” Quan Hai’s voice dropped even lower, almost a whisper, “There are plenty of destitute people, but also plenty of blacklisted and desperate people. Those people aren’t short on money.” Outside the base, without a protective shield, the more powerful the weapon, the greater the chance of survival.

Qi Huan clicked his tongue. Thinking about it, a place like the Waste Star, with poor signals and almost no management outside the base, is indeed very suitable for interstellar pirates and desperados. No one would check on them, and as long as they have strong self-defense capabilities, this place might be paradise for them.

“In any case, if you ever want to make a new knife or something, you’ll probably find it useful,” Quan Hai patted the card.

“Thank Brother Mang for me,” Qi Huan put the metal plate back in the box. Brother Mang had clearly thought it through, giving him things that were practical for him.

Quan Hai then pulled out a bag and handed it to him, containing two brand-new white masks, “These are the masks you asked Quan Yu to make. They’re all cleaned.”

“I’ll make a special dessert for our sister later,” Qi Huan said, putting on one of the masks to test its breathability.

“What do you mean ‘our sister’? That’s my sister!” Quan Hai ‘angrily’ punched him on the shoulder.

“Stingy.”

“What are you doing with all this?” Quan Hai looked around at the table full of ingredients. This amount could last five or six days, right?

“A regular customer ordered dinner for tonight, two tables for eight people,” Qi Huan said proudly, raising his chin.

“Then I’ll help you,” Quan Hai rolled up his sleeves and familiarly took the basket of beast feet and tails.

“Start by washing the beast head,” Qi Huan tapped the nearby freezer door with his long fingers, then smiled and made a fist-bumping gesture to Quan Hai, “Much appreciated~”

“Double the labor fee, okay?” Quan Hai joked while moving the beast head. Since losing his memory, Qi Huan seemed to have become more ‘playful,’ but it made interacting with him easier.

“Absolutely,” Qi Huan replied quickly, continuing to sort the half-finished baskets of ingredients.

At the bottom, he found two extra packs of spices and a few boxes of fruit. The spices were the two he had hesitated to buy yesterday because they were expensive. The fruit included a box of lychees he had been craving, a box of the more expensive Wen pears, and two boxes of Shan Hong fruit, totaling at least forty or fifty silver coins.

Qi Huan shook his head. He had bought a lot today, and Wan Lao Da had helped pack them. These must have been slipped in by him.

“Besides the boiled beast head and braised beast bones, what else is on the menu today?” Quan Hai asked, scrubbing the long-faced beast head.

“There’s a lot: Golden Brick and White Jade, Fish Ball Soup, Boiled Sliced Meat, Dongpo Pork, Pear and Shrimp, Boiled Beast Head, Mushroom and Green Vegetables, Chun Feng Bolo, Braised Beast Bone Noodles, plus a sweet and sour snack to cleanse the palate—Sugar-Coated Red Fruit. Six dishes, one soup, two main courses, and one snack, ten dishes in total, a perfect ten,” Qi Huan listed off while skimming the blood foam from the pot.

The menu was based on Xue Ke’s instructions and Lin Jian’s taste, with a focus on meat and lighter dishes as a complement, ensuring everyone was full. Dongpo Pork, Boiled Beast Head, and Braised Beast Bones were the most time-consuming, and Quan Hai’s help saved him a lot of effort.

“What’s Golden Brick and White Jade?” Quan Hai asked, wide-eyed.

“Fish and tofu cut into cubes and fried until golden and crispy,” Qi Huan explained. The dish was inspired by a Michelin restaurant he had visited, originally made with pure cod. He had once whimsically recreated it with fried tofu and fish cubes for a dual texture version, crispy on the outside, soft and juicy inside, popular whether eaten plain or with sauce.

“And Pear and Shrimp?”

“Wen pear stir-fried with shrimp,” Qi Huan pointed to the box of pears. He had originally planned to make sweet and sour shrimp but changed his mind when he saw the Wen pears Wan Lao Da had slipped in.

There are quite a few recipes using pears, from desserts like the therapeutic rock sugar stewed Sydney to the sobering and refreshing Orange Jade Life, and even braised Buddha’s hand citron pears. But in Qi Huan’s personal ranking, one of the top three pairings is the pear stir-fried chicken from “Suiyuan Shidan.” Pear and Shrimp is a variation of that, with the sweetness of the pear and the tenderness of the shrimp ‘colliding’ to create a super delicious flavor, likely more suited to Lin Jian’s taste.

“Better than meat?” Quan Hai, like Xue Ke and the little dumpling, was a meat lover.

“Depends on who you ask. Everyone has different preferences,” Qi Huan said, deboning fish and removing fish bones. Wearing a mask, his voice was muffled, “Some people like meat, some like shrimp, some love sweet, some love spicy. Taste and aesthetics are very subjective things.”

“True, my sister loves your Sugar-Coated Red Fruit,” Quan Hai nodded. “By the way, Brother Mang said your luck is better than his, so you should join us for more scavenging when you have time.”

“That’s great, but can you let me know earlier? It’s hard to take leave otherwise,” Qi Huan replied, not stopping his work. He divided the deboned fish into two parts, one cut into mahjong-sized pieces, the other scraped into fish paste with fat and de-scented spice water.

With a blender, making fish balls isn’t difficult, but gathering the raw materials requires patience. To ensure the texture and color of the final product, besides removing fish bones, you also need to remove the skin, membranes, and the red-blooded areas near the skin.

“There’s really no way around that. Getting a few hours’ notice is already good, and it only happens once or twice a month. There’s no way to do it more often.”

Once or twice a month doesn’t sound too bad. Qi Huan nodded silently.

“Also, Lao Pi lives not far from here. Be careful if you run into him. He’s very petty and might cause you trouble…”

Quan Hai’s last words were drowned out by the noise of the blender mixing the fish paste. Qi Huan clicked his tongue. It’s better to offend a gentleman than a petty person, but he didn’t regret it. You have to stand your ground when necessary. People like that will only push further if you give in, and it would only lead to more bullying later.

The two chatted while preparing the ingredients, and time flew by. Before they knew it, it was six-thirty.

Outside the restaurant, the engines roared as two airships landed at the entrance. Lin Jian and Xue Ke walked in with a few others.

The two tables were already set with several dishes. The white-cut beast head meat, three fingers wide, was rolled into petal shapes, arranged into a flower on the plate, with a small dish of salt and pepper dip in the ‘flower heart.’ The vibrant Shan Hong fruit was round and bead-like, its crystal-clear sugar coating sparkling under the warm yellow light. The green vegetables were laid out in a fan shape, with round mushrooms piled at the leaf tips, resembling a phoenix’s tail feathers gently spreading in the wind, pleasing to the eye. The fried fish cubes and tofu were wrapped in a thin golden crust, neatly stacked in a tower, with tiny bubbles of oil constantly seeping from the crispy shell, shimmering like flowing gold, clearly just out of the fryer.

“Wow, what’s this dish?”

“Even the three-star chef’s restaurant doesn’t present dishes this well.”

“How could a chef from the Waste Star have this skill? Is it fake? Is it even edible?”

“Is there a signal yet? If there is, let me take a picture first.”

The eight people looked at the two tables of dishes, discussing animatedly. The previously quiet restaurant was suddenly filled with noise.

“Did the chef here put all their effort into presentation?” Qin Huai glanced at Lin Jian. He had seen the sign outside earlier. It looked so good, how bad must it taste to get a Rotten Egg Rating of six eggs? He figured his cousin must have been scammed and wanted to come here to cause trouble.

Lin Jian couldn’t be bothered to respond, waiting for someone to get slapped in the face later.

“If you think it looks good, I’ll take it as a compliment,” Qi Huan said, coming out to greet them and pouring a few cups of barley tea.

Xue Ke scratched his head, “Are these all new dishes?”

Qi Huan was about to remind them about the long-faced beast and introduced each dish, “This is Sugar-Coated Red Fruit, sweet and sour, to cleanse the palate. This is Boiled Beast Head Meat, from the long-faced beast’s head, recommended to be eaten with salt and pepper. This is called Golden Brick and White Jade, made with fish cubes and tofu cubes…”

The clinking of cups and chopsticks filled the air as everyone started to dig in. Some reached for the Sugar-Coated Red Fruit, others picked up the beast head meat or Golden Brick and White Jade. For a moment, the surroundings were so quiet that only the crunch of sugar shells and crispy fish cubes being chewed could be heard.

Lin Jian’s table was too busy to speak, while Qin Huai’s table was questioning their life choices. How could something this delicious have a Rotten Egg Rating of six eggs? Those who rated it must either have a problem with their taste buds or their brains!

Just then, Quan Hai, playing the role of a waiter, brought in the Fish Ball Soup and Dongpo Pork, each portioned individually. Qi Huan and Quan Hai served the two tables, and everyone’s attention was once again lost in the aroma of fish and meat.

The fish balls in the soup bowl were as white as porcelain, smooth and adorable. Wei Jin eagerly reached out with his chopsticks, but the fish ball slipped away with a ‘whoosh.’

The round fish ball bounced high on the table, heading straight for Lin Jian’s handsome face.

That was the restaurant’s VIP! Qi Huan instinctively tried to reach out with his left hand to stop it, but his arm was in a splint, and he could only flail uselessly.

The next second, the fish ball stopped mid-air.