Chapter 8: Turning Waste into Treasure

When Wen Nanxi met Su Muyao's eyes, he felt those eyes were incredibly beautiful and spirited.

When she smiled, her curved eyes seemed to hold a pool of moonlight, clear and pure.

Exquisite and delicate, they were like layers of spreading sunlight that could easily shine into a person's heart.

Wen Nanxi's gaze shifted slightly, and a hint of softness appeared on his gentle and elegant face. "Alright."

After he sat down, Su Muyao handed him the chopsticks and spoon.

Only then did she begin to eat.

Su Muyao used her chopsticks to eat the fish noodles, taking bite after bite, unhurried and without making a single sound.

She was very focused while eating and did not look at Wen Nanxi.

In the Beast World, everyone only ate two meals a day. Having worked hard all day, she was starving.

The fish noodles were topped with bird eggs and cooked sweet potato leaves.

It tasted delicious.

As Wen Nanxi ate his dinner, every single thing felt incredible to him.

So, fish meat could be deboned to create such delicious food.

There wasn't even a hint of fishy smell.

Furthermore, she was very quiet and elegant while eating.

Every dish astonished Wen Nanxi.

Once Su Muyao had eaten most of it, she seemed to realize something and looked up at Wen Nanxi.

She noticed that every movement Wen Nanxi made while eating was refined and noble, as if he were a distinguished young master from a prestigious family.

In truth, she wasn't clear about Wen Nanxi's origins or background.

She only remembered that the predecessor's father had once brought him home and instructed her to treat him well.

"Does the food suit your palate?"

Wen Nanxi said softly, "Yes, it is very delicious."

"If Consort wishes to eat something, you can just tell me the steps and I will cook it. You don't need to work so hard."

Su Muyao smiled and said, "It's fine, I have nothing else to do anyway."

"Besides, I enjoy making delicious food."

In the apocalypse, ingredients were limited and extremely precious; sometimes they had to rely on nutritional fluid.

Coming to the Beast World, although the culture and cuisine were backward, the air and environment were natural and pollution-free, and resources were so abundant that all ingredients were organic.

She could make all sorts of delicacies.

This made her very happy.

She could even build a fire to cook traditional wood-fired meals.

In the apocalypse, it was impossible to cook with firewood like that anymore.

Looking at Su Muyao's bright and moving expression, Wen Nanxi knew she was telling the truth.

"Then in the future, I will be your assistant."

"Alright."

Su Muyao did not refuse. Wen Nanxi had special abilities, so many tasks would be easier for him to do than for her.

After finishing the meal, Wen Nanxi naturally cleared the dishes.

This was also the first full meal Wen Nanxi had eaten since being exiled.

Su Muyao went to the courtyard to prepare wood ash; she wanted to use the ash to wash the pig offal.

Based on the timing of her previous life, it was currently the beginning of the seventh lunar month.

The weather was still somewhat hot during the day, and if this pork wasn't handled properly, it would spoil easily.

It wasn't easy to hunt for food in the forest now, and it was dangerous.

Therefore, she didn't want to waste even a bit of food.

The only issue was the lack of spices; if she had spices, she could make braised dishes.

It was said that nearby cities had various shops and pharmacies. Some people in the tribe would exchange hunted prey at the nearest city for salt, pottery, and other daily necessities.

Pharmacies might have spices, but exchanging for them would likely require a lot of meat and animal skins.

She planned to dry all the mushrooms she had gathered and grind them into mushroom powder to use as a seasoning.

She would also dry the wood ear mushrooms and store them; when it was time to eat, she could simply rehydrate them.

...

On the other side.

After Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye had finished eating, they both fell silent as they looked at the empty bowls and plates.

They hadn't expected there to be such delicious food.

Hua Linye said, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe she made this meal."

"It's actually this good. I've never eaten delicacies like this even within my own clan."

Xiao Jihan said in a low voice, "According to the rules, we should be taking care of her. She shouldn't be cooking for us."

Although Su Muyao had insulted and beaten them in various ways and acted ruthlessly, making them loathe her, they had a deep-seated mindset ingrained in their bones since childhood.

It was their duty to cook for their Consort.

Hua Linye said helplessly, "Is it that we don't want to cook for her? It's that she's always critical of the food we make."

"After we work hard to prepare a meal, she flips the table in a fit of anger, preferring to throw it all away rather than let us eat it."

"And the three of us take turns cooking."

Even when the three of them went out hunting, one person always had to stay home to protect and care for Su Muyao, while the other two went out to hunt for food.

Although they were within the tribe and it was safer than the outside, some violent and crazed mutated beasts might still break into the tribe to kill.

Therefore, everyone was exceptionally cautious.

"The sun must have risen from the west today."

At this moment, Hua Linye felt a sense of unreality.

After a pause, Hua Linye asked suspiciously, "Wen Nanxi said she is different today than before. Could it be true?"

A flicker of emotion rose in Xiao Jihan's cold eyes.

He hadn't thought much of it before, but thinking back now, it seemed that her gaze had become different ever since she woke up after hitting her head against the wall.

At the time, he thought she was just coming up with a new scheme to deal with them.

Could it be?

Realizing the suspicion in his heart, Xiao Jihan's expression changed.

But he couldn't be sure.

"Let's wait and see. Don't fall into her trap."

Hua Linye suddenly felt dejected. "True. Let's clean up the dishes first!"

Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye cleaned up the items and brought them to the kitchen.

As they stepped out of the house, they saw Su Muyao busy working in the courtyard.

They both thought they were hallucinating.

Hua Linye even used his ability to look, but even with his ability, it was still Su Muyao.

Su Muyao heard the sound behind her but did not turn around.

Wen Nanxi finished cleaning the dishes, wiped the table and floor, and only came out of the kitchen after everything was spotless.

Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye went in to wash the dishes.

Seeing Su Muyao in the courtyard, Wen Nanxi also showed a hint of surprise. He walked up and said softly, "What does Consort need? Let me do it!"

"Nothing much right now, just need to wash these clean."

When Wen Nanxi saw what Su Muyao was scrubbing in the basin, his expression shifted. "Usually, when beasts are brought back from a hunt, these parts are thrown away."

"They aren't edible."

But after eating Su Muyao's food today, Wen Nanxi knew she had her own way of preparing food, turning waste into treasure.

Su Muyao explained patiently, "These are actually good things. As long as they are scrubbed clean with wood ash and prepared properly, they can be eaten."

"In the future, we can keep all the offal from the beasts."

"Wen Nanxi, I won't let you all go hungry in the future."

Hearing this, Wen Nanxi looked into her serious eyes, and his heart softened. His features became gentle.

"Mhm, I believe you, Consort."

"However, it is our duty to ensure you do not go hungry."

"Is there anything you need me to do?"

Su Muyao said, "I plan to cut all those sweet potatoes into small pieces."

This way, she could use a small portion to make sweet potato sugar to use as seasoning for future meals.

The majority would be used to make sweet potato starch, which she could use to make various delicacies later.

At night, she would plant more sweet potatoes in the space's fields; crops in the space grew quickly and had high yields.

"Alright, I will do that."

...

Meanwhile, after Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye had finished cleaning the dishes, the two of them remained in the kitchen without moving.

It seemed they wanted to do something.

"In the past, she liked to take a bath after eating."

"Then let's boil some water first!"