“Well, you can, but…” Wan Lao Er looked puzzled, “What do you need these for?”

“Thanks, boss!” Qi Huan ran to the corner of the yard, found an empty basket, and happily started picking out thick-skinned beast feet, tails, and bones to fill it up. “I want to see if I can make something edible out of them.”

Seeing Qi Huan planning to eat ‘garbage,’ Lao Wu frowned, and Wan Lao Er also looked a bit uneasy. “That stuff doesn’t taste good, it’s mostly bones. If you’re really short on money, I can talk to my brother about letting you pay a bit less every day.”

“It’s fine, I just want to try.” Qi Huan was busy rummaging through the beast bones, completely oblivious to the expressions of Lao Wu and Wan Lao Er. Finally, when the small basket couldn’t hold any more, he reluctantly stood up.

With the thought of the aroma of braised beast feet in his mind, Qi Huan’s steps home were a bit more cheerful.

The sun had already set, leaving only a smudge of grayish yellow in the sky, casting heavy shadows on the houses along the way, like an old painting with faded ink, dim and desolate.

A squad in red uniforms flew by in a low-hovering airship, as usual, acting like the whole world had to make way for them. Qi Huan skillfully stood against the wall with two passing base residents.

“What a sin,” sighed the black-haired man standing in front of Qi Huan.

“Just bear with it, we won’t be here much longer,” replied another man, who looked gaunt.

Qi Huan listened to their conversation for a bit and learned that those people were the private guards of the Star Lord, the ruler of the Waste Star, brought over from the Jiufang family when he took office. It seemed the Star Lord had lost something recently, and they were out looking for it.

Carrying a basket full of beast feet and tails, Qi Huan reached his doorstep and suddenly noticed that the notice he had posted in the morning about finding a home for a kitten was gone.

After searching around and not finding it, he rubbed his sore shoulder and went inside, deciding to write another one and stick it more securely tomorrow.

The little fellow sleeping on the second floor heard the commotion and quickly ran down to the first floor, squatting on the third-to-last step, looking at him eagerly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you something to eat right away.” Qi Huan put down the basket, glanced at the empty food dish, and reassured it. In the morning, he had specially cut some beast meat and marinated it with egg whites in the fridge. Now, he just needed to put it in the oven and set a timer to roast it.

The little fellow seemed to understand his words, obediently squatting on the steps, its fluffy tail tapping against the railing, making a thudding sound.

So cute! Qi Huan couldn’t help but reach out to pet its head, but the kitten nimbly dodged.

“That’s not right,” Qi Huan said with a serious face, “There’s no such thing as a free dinner. I’m a businessman, and everything is about returns. You’ve been freeloading at my place for two days now. Even if you’re just staying temporarily, you should contribute a bit, right?”

The kitten’s tail stopped moving, and it lay down with a pitiful expression, its big, glassy eyes blinking as if it was really considering his words.

“You’re so small, I won’t ask you to earn money or do chores, but at least you should do something within your ability, like letting me pet your head and stroke your fur, providing some emotional value. People say fair exchange, and my request is even a discounted exchange.”

He was naturally talkative, always full of banter while gaming, and could chat about cooking tips with his quiet roommates for half a day. After years of live streaming, his self-talking skills had reached new heights. Now, he was giving the kitten a PUA-style lecture.

“Tell me, is that too much to ask?”

The kitten: …

Qi Huan reached out again, his fingertips just touching the fur, but the little fellow jumped back at the last moment.

“If you don’t behave, I might have to consider selling you,” Qi Huan threatened, rubbing his fingers.

The kitten twitched its ears, and after a moment of stalemate, it lay down with a look of grievance.

Too adorable, Qi Huan’s inner self was screaming with delight, but he kept a straight face, “We humans have many sayings, like ‘a wise man submits to circumstances,’ or ‘a man under the eaves must bow his head.’ It’s the same for cats; you need to assess the situation.”

He reached out for the third time, tentatively petting the cat’s back. The fur was silky and smooth, with an excellent texture. The little fellow’s tail flicked twice but ultimately stayed put.

“Ah~ that’s more like it.” A forced melon is still sweet! Qi Huan, getting greedy, wanted to pet more, but the little fellow bared its teeth at him and moved away. Qi Huan understood it as one pet per meal!

“Stingy! You’d make a shrewd businessman,” Qi Huan teased, pointing at its head from a distance before turning to the kitchen to roast the beast meat. Well, at least he got to pet it this time, which was progress. Plus, chatting with the little fellow seemed to have eased most of the day’s fatigue.

The kitten was upstairs eating, and Qi Huan continued to deal with the pile of stuff he brought back. He threw the cleaned spine bones into a pot to blanch and remove the blood foam. Although the bones had little meat, they contained marrow, which was nutritious and could supplement calcium, beneficial for his arm’s recovery, so he took some.

For the braising spices, he picked seven or eight from the original kitchen’s seasonings and spices. Although some spices were missing, the flavor was still about seventy to eighty percent of what he wanted, which was acceptable. Plus, he had plenty of time now, and slow-cooking the meat would make it more flavorful.

After preparing the braising spices, he filled a basin with warm water and used two boning knives to pin down a tail, starting to boldly remove the remaining scales. Lacking the professional pins, hooks, and clamps of a disassembly site, he didn’t worry too much about the integrity of the meat skin since he would cut it into pieces later for his own consumption.

“What are you doing?” Quan Hai came over to deliver nutritional agents and was surprised to see the beast feet and tails piled on the cutting board and in the basin.

“Cooking.” Qi Huan grinned, raising his knife covered in scales towards Quan Hai.

Smelling the aroma of braised bones from the pot, Quan Hai sniffed and hesitantly looked at the beast feet, “Are you sure it’s edible?”

“Qi’s secret recipe, even braised insoles taste good.” Having tasted the braising spices earlier, Qi Huan confidently raised his chin fifteen degrees, “If you’re free, help out a bit, and I’ll share half with you when it’s done.”

Quan Hai was even skinnier than the original owner, so it was a good opportunity to nourish him too.

“Okay.” Quan Hai put down the nutritional agents and rolled up his sleeves to sit down.

“Aren’t you afraid it won’t taste good?” Qi Huan was puzzled by Quan Hai’s straightforwardness, considering he used to be wary whenever Qi Huan offered to treat him to a meal.

“Quan Yu talked about it all night, saying the Biluochun you sent was particularly delicious. She originally wanted to save half for me but couldn’t resist eating it all.”

“If she likes it, I’ll make more for her next time.” Qi Huan tossed the cleaned beast foot into the basin and pinned down another tail.

“She’ll be thrilled. By the way, where did you go this afternoon? You came back early today. I wanted to find you and Lundo to go to the Command Hall.”

“I can’t run the shop normally for now, so I went to do some part-time work.” Qi Huan explained his situation of being heavily in debt and owing the food store money, planning to temporarily work as a disassembler for two months.

However, he still planned to visit the Command Hall when he had time. The personal terminal he had was too basic, good for checking base announcements or some data, but it turned into a slideshow when watching live streams. If he wanted to do food live streaming, he needed to save up for a more advanced personal terminal.

“If you’re really in a hurry, I still have 500 silver coins, and Quan Yu doesn’t know about it.” Quan Hai lowered his voice, glancing nervously at the kitchen door as if afraid his sister would suddenly appear.

“No need for now. If I need it, I’ll let you know.” Qi Huan smiled wryly. Even if he emptied Quan Hai’s little treasury, it wouldn’t solve his debt problem, so why drag his friend into it? “But there’s something else. Can you ask Quan Yu if she can make me two masks?”

The internal organs and blood of the stone beasts had a foul smell that he wasn’t used to.

“Of course.” Quan Hai agreed on behalf of Quan Yu.

“I often see those red-uniformed guards on my way home these days. I heard the Star Lord lost something?” Qi Huan casually inquired about the gossip.

“Haven’t heard anything, but I guess he’s about to be replaced and is looking for trouble to vent his frustration.”

“Replaced?” The kitchen was steamy, so Qi Huan went over to open the side window. He had only seen such round moon-shaped windows in the painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” never expecting to use one himself.

“Yeah,” Quan Hai lowered his voice, “I heard the transfer order has already been issued. Once the new Star Lord arrives, he’ll have to pack up and leave.”

“For him, leaving here is probably a good thing, right? Who would want to stay in such poor conditions?”

“Don’t know about him, but for us, it should be a good thing.” Quan Hai clicked his tongue, “He’s been lording over us, and everyone’s had enough. We’re all hoping for a better Star Lord.”

“Better not get your hopes up too high. All crows are black under the sun.” Qi Huan didn’t believe a change of person would make things better. People had to rely on themselves to change their lives, not pin their hopes on others.

Quan Hai was as efficient as three people, and after learning the method, his speed increased significantly. By the time the beast feet and tails were chopped into small pieces and put in the pot, the braised bones were almost done. Following Qi Huan’s ‘guidance,’ Quan Hai tasted a bit of the marrow and immediately took the few pieces of braised bones Qi Huan had set aside for him home to ‘show off’ to Quan Yu.

Qi Huan also tasted a couple of pieces and found the flavor a bit strong on its own, so he decided to make a pot of noodles to go with the braised beast feet. On a hungry night, nothing was more comforting than a bowl of hot red soup beast foot noodles.

Fortunately, the original owner had spent a lot of money ‘loaning’ a flour cooking machine, making noodle pressing convenient. With the right ratio of flour and water, it kneaded, rested, and cut the noodles automatically, and the extra could be stored in the freezer.

He personally preferred the one-finger-wide ‘Er Kuan’ noodles and was adjusting the noodle mode settings when the little fellow upstairs, drawn by the aroma, ran down and squatted at the kitchen door, meowing at him. After a few lessons, it finally understood that the kitchen was its ‘forbidden zone’ and didn’t rush in.

“You little glutton, this flavor is a bit strong. I’ll make you a plain one to chew on later.” Qi Huan remembered hearing from friends that cats shouldn’t eat too salty food. He wasn’t sure if cats in this world could eat it, but to be safe, he decided not to add any seasoning.

The little fellow wagged its tail pitifully and assumed a ‘waiting’ posture.

After scooping out a few pieces of chopped tail and washing them, Qi Huan finally had a moment to rest.

He lay on the bed for about ten minutes, unable to stay idle, and opened his personal terminal to start clearing the pile of messages.

The original owner’s account was called ‘The Third Chef Under Heaven,’ and the diary explained the meaning behind it. In the original owner’s mind, the master chef was the first under heaven, Uncle Lin Sen was the second, and he was the future third.

The account style was quite juvenile, but the social connections were simple. There were only about ten accounts with frequent contact, mostly a few friends like Quan Hai and Lundo, and restaurant-related ones, even one for base announcements.

After Uncle Lin Sen passed away, the original owner was probably tied up with restaurant matters and had even less contact with others. The messages were mostly about buying energy stones, repairing kitchenware, and arranging times to pick up ingredients.

Further back, there were two accounts without notes, one called Ji Tian Mo Di and the other Kai Sen. Curious, Qi Huan clicked into the contact box and found that these two were ‘online friends’ the original owner had met while playing star games at the Command Hall.

Ji Tian Mo Di lived in the Threefold Star Domain and claimed to be a technician repairing the star network, often traveling to different star domains but frequently losing internet connection. The original owner happily mentioned having a restaurant on No. 7 Waste Star and invited him to visit next time, promising to treat him.

Kai Sen lived in the Ninefold Star Domain, the center of the Alliance, and was a first-year student at the Southern Military Academy, a Level 3 Sentinel. The two had chatted enthusiastically, even mentioning forming a hunting team with friends during holidays and visiting the original owner. Although many were voice calls without recordings, the scattered text messages still conveyed a sense of ambiguity.

Additionally, Qi Huan vaguely felt that Kai Sen’s tone had an inexplicable sense of superiority. A Sentinel was just a lookout position, so what was there to be proud of? He was about to search when the terminal’s light green interface suddenly distorted and disappeared.

Qi Huan was stunned for a moment, then ran to the window to look at the sky. Sure enough, bright silver light clusters were exploding on the base’s hemispherical transparent shield, the light magnetic storm was back.

Well, that’s the end of tonight’s internet time. Qi Huan sighed and turned to the kitchen.

The noodles were ready, and the beast feet were almost done. He tasted a piece, finding the soup smooth and flavorful, the skin and tendons tender and delicious, even better than pig’s feet.

Such delicious things being thrown away was a waste. Qi Huan shook his head, determined to ‘save’ them in the future. Although the cost of braising spices wasn’t low, old braise could be reused, making it cost-effective in the long run.

Diligently, he brought the little fellow’s plain version of the beast tail to the second floor, where it was already asleep. Qi Huan placed it in the food dish and returned downstairs.

Scooping out some braising sauce to cook the noodles separately, Qi Huan sent a message to Quan Hai, inviting him back for beast foot noodles. Just as he sent it, he heard a knock on the door, “Is anyone there?”

“Yes.” Qi Huan wiped his hands and walked out of the kitchen, turning on half the lights in the hall.

Apparently, Quan Hai hadn’t closed the door properly when he left, leaving the restaurant door half open. In the thick night, two young men stood at the entrance, one tall and one short.

The one in front was just over 1.7 meters tall, looking very young, not much older than Qi Huan. He wore a black jumpsuit, with red hair reaching his jawline, a black mask perched on his head like sunglasses, with the mask’s edge hooked onto a small braid of hair on the left side, playfully sticking up like an antenna. He had a faint smile on his face, his eyes round and bright, like a clever little animal, with a natural, cute slyness.

The one behind him was a head taller, wearing the same jumpsuit. Although it was a common style in the base, equivalent to a hunting team’s uniform, it accentuated his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, visually comparable to the best-proportioned figurine in his home’s glass display case.

The man wore a fierce beast mask, covering most of his face from forehead to nose, revealing only his dark eyes and smooth, jade-like chin.

The light from the exploding light magnetic storm reflected on the cold metal mask and his beautiful silver hair, creating a starry brilliance, making him look elegant and otherworldly.

For the first time in his life, Qi Huan experienced a sense of awe from a real person in the three-dimensional world, and the phrase “stunningly beautiful” inexplicably popped into his mind. Even though he couldn’t see the man’s face, he still felt that the person before him had an extraordinary aura. If placed in a game, he would definitely be the kind of top-level boss or most important NPC meticulously crafted by the game’s art director.

Unfortunately, now he was the NPC who had to serve the players.

“Excuse me, have you seen a silver-gray-haired kid around here in the past few days? About twenty years old.” The red-haired one spoke with a smile, breaking the silence in the shop.

A twenty-year-old… kid? Qi Huan, the NPC, was baffled by the question.