As the sole supplier, Shen Xin naturally didn’t have to pay for her meals, and she began to eat the free food without hesitation. Unlike everyone else, Shen Xin could take a bowl and combine the same types of dishes together, allowing her to eat on a grand scale.

She even commented while eating, “This is so much more convenient. Why make things so complicated?”

Zhuang Yi remained silent. Forget it, I dare not manage her.

Since Shen Xin ate for free, her close friend Jing Yan also enjoyed the privilege of eating without paying.

Unlike Shen Xin, who combined the dishes in a single bowl, Jing Yan simply took ten to twenty servings of dishes and placed them all on his table, clearly eating like he was at a buffet.

Zhuang Yi remained silent. You two had better—calm down, calm down. I can’t afford to manage you.

Shen Xin gave all her ordinary-quality crops to Zhuang Yi, and Jing Yan’s lunch box was still filled with her homemade dishes.

Shen Xin traded the dishes with Jing Yan and told him, “I’ll observe for now, and if everything goes smoothly, I’ll give Zhuang Yi the high-quality crops later. At that time, you can come here to get your lunch boxes; his food is quite delicious.”

Jing Yan paused for a moment, then said, “Yours are delicious too.”

“What’s my level? Isn’t a professional chef better?” Shen Xin took out his own thermos, which was filled with honey and passion fruit. “How are the clothes?”

“They’re warm!” Yesterday, Jing Yan had put on the yellow duck set before going down to the second level, never again fearing the chilling winds.

“That’s good.” Shen Xin handed over the saddle and horseshoes. “Here, they’re finished. You can ride horses now.”

“I’ve also got some drops for you…”

The two continued their conversation, exchanging goods, until an argument arose near the restaurant entrance.

“Can’t I just pay you after I get back into the game? Just tell me how much you want.”

Shen Xin and Jing Yan both looked toward the door, instantly laughing.

That familiar voice, that familiar tone—it must be Yun Yuwei.

However, Yun Yuwei’s hairstyle was still a hopeless mess. He hadn’t left his house these past two days because of it, but he had to go to the doctor today due to vitamin deficiency.

Just like Zhuang Jia, the doctor advised him to eat more vegetables.

And when it came to vegetables, Yun Yuwei’s first thought was Shen Xin. He had originally planned to go to the farm, but on his way there, he discovered a new restaurant in town that happened to sell vegetable dishes. Furthermore, he didn’t have much money on hand, so the scene earlier unfolded.

However…

“What’s with you, disciple?! Did you come out here to rob people? Ha ha ha ha!” Jing Yan looked at Yun Yuwei, who had wrapped his face so thoroughly with a towel that only his eyes and nose showed—certainly no look for a decent individual.

“What are you two doing here…and laughing?! Who’s responsible for this mess?!” Yun Yuwei’s anger was palpable even through the towel, but Shen Xin and Jing Yan weren’t afraid at all, and in fact, laughed all the more merrily.

Yun Yuwei stomped his foot in fury, then turned to the sight of the full plates on their table. He was stunned. “How can you eat so much? Are you this rich?!”

“Um…” Jing Yan replied, “Sorry to say, we didn’t pay for our meal.”

Yun Yuwei stared at him in disbelief.

“How shameless! Eating霸王餐 under broad daylight!” Yun Yuwei turned to Zhuang Yi. “Hey, boss, how can you stand this? Did they threaten you with knives?”

Zhuang Yi paused, then responded, “Aren’t you here for the same reason? Mr. Shen here is my supplier; it’s only right to offer him free food and drink.”

“What about him?” Yun Yuwei pointed at Jing Yan.

“Ah…” Zhuang Yi was at a loss for words.

“Jing Yan, was it because of Mr. Shen that you got your meal for free? They’re very close, right… Ah, wait… Is the boss having a secret affair with a pretty boy?”

If I say this, I’ll probably be killed on the spot (T▽T).

“He’s a good friend of Mr. Shen,” Zhuang Yi finally settled on a politically correct answer after much deliberation.

“A good friend?” Yun Yuwei pondered for a few seconds, then turned to Shen Xin. “Your friends get free meals, so as your secret crush, shouldn’t I get one too?”

Jing Yan stared, while Zhuang Yi’s eyes widened in shock.

Ah, what was happening here? So much information! What should he do? Should he run?!

“Don’t deny it, all those things you did to me, weren’t it to get my attention?” Yun Yuwei asked confidently. “Now I’m giving you a chance: treat me to a meal.”

Jing Yan was about to pull out his knife when Shen Xin stopped him and pointed at his own head, speechless.

“There might be something wrong with this guy’s head, don’t mind him… Are you done eating? Let’s go.”

Shen Xin completely ignored Yun Yuwei, leaving the restaurant with Jing Yan.

Yun Yuwei’s face filled with disbelief.

“Again? Using ignoring me to get my attention? You’ve used this trick too many times!”

After the saddle and horseshoes were fitted, the horse’s speed increased dramatically. A trip that would have taken an hour on foot could now be completed in ten minutes.

Chen Xingyun and his group originally wanted to follow Jing Yan, but the man swiftly left them in the dust.

“Damn, our equipment and resources are always falling behind! Do we really have to navigate the labyrinth ourselves?”

Having already died twice, Meng Xianping complained incessantly, expressing his unwillingness to participate any further.

“If you guys figure out the route, there’s no need to call me. Just remember to give me my share when we split the loot… What’s with those looks? Isn’t the whole point of the help squad to share benefits and resources? You all made these rules.”

Chen Xingyun clenched his fists, itching to give Meng Xianping a couple of punches right in his disgusting face.

However, the rules of their help squad were indeed as such. Thus, Chen Xingyun and his group decided to stay above ground and stall out with Meng Xianping.

Zhou Xuan and Qin Chengyue had been walking around the cave for a while now. Qin Chengyue, holding a pen and paper, drew as he walked, and he had already mapped out more than half of the maze.

“Thank you for your hard work.” Zhou Xuan, holding a torch, handed him a bottle of water and commented as he looked at the map, “To be honest, Jing Yan really did clean up this maze; there’s nothing left.”

Qin Chengyue agreed, then continued drawing the map after finishing the water.

The hand-drawn map wasn’t precise, but it was helpful in identifying their location.

Using this method, Qin Chengyue and Zhou Xuan finally found the cave of the first level’s boss as well as the stairs leading down.

“If I’m not wrong, Jing Yan cleared everything in this maze, leaving nothing behind. Boss, shall we go down?”

Of course, Zhou Xuan wanted to go down.

The two entered the second level’s fluorescent lake. They were first stunned by the cold light of the lake water before suggesting a route to the entrance on the other side. “Boss, the water is too deep. Why don’t we take a boat?”

Zhou Xuan knew the handbook had a blueprint for constructing a wooden boat, but neither of them had much wood left, so they wouldn’t have enough torches to build a boat.

Qin Chengyue noticed Zhou Xuan’s hesitation and correctly guessed the source of his concern.

“How about this: I’ll go scout the area. Maybe the water isn’t as deep as we think. I’ll see if I can wade or swim across it.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

Qin Chengyue studied the situation on the other side of the lake, then walked to the edge of the water. Before he could even step into the lake, a man-eating fluorescent fish leapt out of the water and devoured him before he could react, leaving Zhou Xuan dumbfounded.

The fish swallowed not only Qin Chengyue but also everything he was carrying, including the map he had drawn.

Zhou Xuan stared at the spot where Qin Chengyue had disappeared, speechless.

Wait, Qin Chengyue’s map was still in there?!

Zhou Xuan stared blankly, never having expected such an outcome.

At most, he’d thought, the water might be too deep to pass, but he could still help rescue Qin Chengyue if that were the case. How could he have anticipated that this world would include man-eating fish?! Now how was he supposed to get back?!

Trapped in a dilemma, Zhou Xuan regretted not bringing more wood.

“I shouldn’t have tried to conserve that wood!”

He quickly set about building a wooden boat, repairing the pen after the sheep had escaped, and bracing himself to rely solely on his own abilities.

By the time Zhou Xuan set off, rowing his wooden boat across the lake, he saw the fluorescent fish swimming near the boat, occasionally leaping out of the water in pursuit of their prey.

Navigating this environment in a boat was terrifying; Zhou Xuan felt as if his feet were sweating profusely.

Wait, he didn’t have a habit of sweating when he was anxious, did he?

Zhou Xuan looked down only to discover that his wooden boat had been gnawed through by the fish, and several fluorescent fish were trying to swim inside through the holes.

“Oh no.”

As Jing Yan rowed his iron boat across the lake, he noticed that the frequency with which the man-eating fish rammed into his ship had significantly decreased.

“What’s going on? Did they learn their lesson? Realize they can’t bite through iron?”

The man-eating fish at the bottom of the lake: Burp.

Shen Xin rode her horse through the forest, clearing mobs. To conserve time, she didn’t bother with the small monsters on the ground, instead focusing on hacking away at the big slimes, stone monsters, and newly spawned skeletons.

In essence, she was playing a farming game as if it were Mount & Blade.

Shen Xin mainly wanted to farm the stone monsters, prioritizing the collection of ore. She longed for a watering can and a pair of hands to automate her farming.

Given how this game worked, since there were low-level sprinklers, there would most certainly be medium- and high-level sprinklers in the future. The demand for ore would only continue to grow, and Jing Yan’s efforts alone would not be enough to sustain her needs.

She’d have to get her hands dirty herself.

Luckily, she had a weapon with high attack power and Jing Yan’s intel on the stone monsters’ weaknesses, so Shen Xin cleared mobs like she was slicing vegetables. She collected a large quantity of drops from the monsters.

It was fortunate that her inventory could hold so much, or she wouldn’t have been able to carry it all.

After clearing the mobs, Shen Xin returned home, smelting the ore and organizing everything into chests. She then took a few flowers with her for a stroll around town.

The town mayor said that NPCs liked flowers, right? She planned on winning favor with them by gifting flowers.

She just didn’t know what kind of flowers each NPC liked.

Shen Xin first stopped by the shop to ask Old He, who had the highest favor with her, to avoid giving an NPC an unwanted flower and lowering her favor instead.

“Flowers? Let me think,” Old He fell into reminiscence. “Oh! I got it.”

Shen Xin leaned in close. “What?”

“My wife likes money flowers, and Grandma Wang likes broccoli.”

Shen Xin blinked, puzzled.