Chapter 118: The Riverside Water Town Tavern

Xiaozong was used to eating all sorts of rare delicacies, but he never expected the sweet and sour fish skin to be so crispy, tender, and delicious—far better than the imperial cuisine he was accustomed to. He couldn’t help but praise, “What a truly exquisite dish!” and immediately rewarded Madam Song with a hundred bolts of colored silk.

Receiving such a reward from the emperor himself, Madam Song’s reputation for her sweet and sour fish soared, becoming known far and wide. The people even honored her as the “Grandmaster of Sliced Fish.”

In just a few short, vivid sentences, most of Madam Song’s life was sketched out, allowing people to feel the brilliance of her past and her journey to fame.

A person who should have only existed in Earth’s history had come alive, appearing here, living in this interstellar era—on this trash planet.

A deep glint flashed through Yun Qimu’s eyes. What exactly was the mainframe trying to do?

This “Nuwa Molding Humans from Clay” card had never appeared in the holographic online game in her previous life.

And after being turned into a real person, had Madam Song truly come back to life from Earth’s history? Or was she, like the mainframe, a super artificial intelligence?

“Holy crap, holy crap, this is some real-life magic!” Pei Yu ran over, eyes wide, circling around Madam Song, inspecting her from head to toe—even her hair—but couldn’t find a single flaw.

If he hadn’t just witnessed Madam Song’s appearance with his own eyes, he’d never have believed she was drawn out of a card.

Clutching his pounding heart, he swallowed hard and retreated to Yun Qimu’s side, rubbing his hands together and whispering, “Chief Yun, what on earth is going on? When did you learn to pull people out of thin air?”

Yun Qimu shot him a glance. “I didn’t. The card did.”

She nudged the card in her hand toward Pei Yu. He leaned over to take a look, then compared it to Madam Song standing before him, clicking his tongue in amazement.

“What kind of godly game is this? It can even conjure people! Is there anything it can’t do?”

Yun Qimu blinked, then spread her hands. She wanted to know too.

Meanwhile, the matchstick-shaped mainframe rolled over lazily in the space, crossing its legs with a smug little look.

Don’t ask. If you do, the answer is: the mainframe is multi-talented, can do anything, and could even perform childbirth for you on the spot~~

Wu Xingyu silently drifted over and squeezed between the two, bumping Pei Yu aside, then said in a low voice, “The restaurant is finished.”

Pei Yu rubbed his shoulder, grumbling but not daring to protest. He turned to look at the restaurant, his peach blossom eyes going wide. “Whoa, this looks… so gentle and elegant.”

He struggled for a long time before coming up with that description.

Before them stood a restaurant with whitewashed walls and gray tiles, two exquisite red lanterns hanging at the entrance—a classic little Jiangnan water town tavern, exuding a delicate, graceful beauty.

But that wasn’t the most important part. The real surprise was that with the appearance of this two-story tavern, a small river had also appeared, flowing right past the entrance, its gentle waters winding toward them in wave after wave.

“Quick, move aside, move aside!”

Everyone hurriedly stepped aside to make room for the stream.

They watched as the little river flowed on, past Wu Xingyu’s cabin, past Yun Qimu’s cabin, and into the village square.

The layout of the square changed as well. The stream circled around the “Ancestor Stone,” forming an enclosed area, with a delicate little bridge spanning it—just wide enough for two people to cross.

The river continued, flowing out of Earth Village’s boundaries, where it turned from an open stream into an underground one. It seemed that as the village expanded, the river would grow with it.

At the restaurant’s end, the source was invisible; all they could see was water trickling out from beneath the ground, forming the open stream.

It was truly magical—a restaurant that came with a river running through Earth Village.

No wonder it cost five million spirit coins.

Yuan An and Yun He craned their necks over the riverbank, peering down with delight. “Do you think there are any fish in this river?”

Pei Yu’s face was full of barely concealed longing. “I heard you can grow a plant called lotus in water. The leaves can be used to wrap zongzi, the pods have edible seeds, and the roots can be used for soup. I wonder if our river can grow them.”

“You country bumpkin, lotus leaves aren’t for wrapping zongzi—they’re for weight loss! The noble ladies of the Empire love elf lotus leaf tea. I heard a tiny packet can fetch ten million energy coins at auction.”

Yun Qimu, who had just sent Madam Song into the restaurant to check things out, widened her eyes in surprise. “It can really sell for ten million energy coins?”

Yuan An nodded vigorously. “Really, really! That auction was run by my family. Lady Demesa Garcia from the Duke’s estate won it, and Lady Fiona Lopez from the Marquis’ estate was bidding against her. Too bad Lady Demesa was more generous.”

Garcia and Lopez—those were the two great noble houses of the Empire. Especially Garcia, the only remaining duke.

If she guessed right, these two noble ladies were probably the birth mothers of the Empire’s first and second princes.

Even Yun Qimu, always sickly, often heard stories from the Norman Empire about the rivalry between these two princes’ mothers. The two of them bidding up a packet of lotus leaf tea to ten million energy coins—far beyond its actual worth—was entirely believable.

But the one profiting from all this…

Yun Qimu glanced at Wu Xingyu, standing off to the side, and instinctively felt he must be the mastermind behind it.

Such a bold, almost reckless money-making scheme—one that could easily offend both princes—there were very few in the Norman Empire who would dare pull it off. Wu Xingyu was one of them.

Wu Xingyu’s dark, lifeless eyes slowly focused on her, his cool, clear voice tinged with suspicion. “Why are you looking at me?”

“It’s nothing,” Yun Qimu looked away, coughed lightly, and said, “I was just thinking how easy it must be to make money off those interstellar nobles.”

“Mm.” Wu Xingyu nodded in agreement.

Those rich, foolish nobles were indeed easy marks. Too bad they couldn’t go back.

He sighed regretfully, feeling the loss of a fat sheep slipping away.

The two fell silent, sharing a mutual understanding between money-grubbers, and Yun Qimu found herself less annoyed with him.

Still, if there were a way, they’d have to go out and do business. On this backwater exile planet, how much money could they possibly make?

Yun Qimu thought coldly, her ambitions growing.

“Aren’t we going to eat? Let’s check out the tavern—Madam Song’s already inside.” After admiring the river, Pei Yu and the others happily made their way toward the restaurant named “Louwailou.”

“Since the restaurant just opened, won’t it need some ingredients? Should we bring some over?”

Good night, good night~"