Chapter 125

The next morning, Xia Zhi got up, counted his dream world gains, took out the [Hourglass of Time] and the [Enhancement Crystal].

He attempted enhancement five times in a row, all failures.

Indeed, even deliberately choosing early morning for enhancement provided no mystical bonus.

The [Hourglass of Time] still had some sand left, enough for about two more time reversals.

Xia Zhi put away both items, choosing not to use up the remaining sand.

Since time stasis consumed much less power than time reversal, this amount of sand could maintain time stasis for several minutes.

This effectively meant several minutes of invincibility, allowing Xia Zhi to calmly handle most unexpected situations.

After all, Liyue had recently experienced an Archon attack, and no one could guarantee it wouldn't happen again. Being cautious was always good.

Then Xia Zhi took out the [Blazing Incense Burner], made some [Euphoria Incense], went downstairs to wash up, and went out for breakfast with Zhu Zi and Shenhe.

They went to the same old noodle shop at Chihu Rock.

Three bowls of Mountain Delicacy Noodles.

The two girls ate slowly, with Zhu Zi even showing signs of frowning.

No help for it - after eating glowing cuisine for two days straight, the after-effects were starting to show.

"Boss, I can't eat much."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to eat..."

"Then what do you want to eat?"

"Egg fried rice! Like yesterday morning, where every grain was golden yellow! So fragrant!"

"We don't have leftover rice from last night."

"Ugh..."

"Eat up, or you won't have energy to work this morning and might faint."

"Oh..."

Zhu Zi lowered her head pitifully but eventually managed to finish her bowl of noodles.

Back at the shop, they started the morning's business at nine.

Business remained excellent.

At noon, they locked up and walked toward Wanmin Restaurant.

"Boss, it's Friday today, are we taking tomorrow off again?"

"Yes."

"Time goes by so fast!"

"Because we had Wednesday off, it feels faster."

"That's right!"

They were almost at Wanmin Restaurant when they could hear noisy voices from ahead.

"Boss! There are so many people!"

"Hm?"

"In front of Wanmin Restaurant, there's such a long queue!"

"How long?"

"Very very long! About the same as our morning customers!"

"...Probably out-of-town visitors attracted by Xiangling's new Chef Champion title."

"Boss, should we go queue at the back?"

"Let's not, we need to work this afternoon and don't have time to wait."

"Then what should we do?"

"Let's go to the market instead, buy some ingredients, and I'll cook for you."

"Okay (Okay)!"

Xia Zhi couldn't help but "look" at Shenhe.

She had been completely quiet since they left, only now suddenly saying "okay."

Seeing her expressionlessly asking to be fed, Xia Zhi found it somehow adorable.

The three went to Chihu Rock market and picked some relatively fresh ingredients.

"The weather's so hot, and the market smells strange."

"Late autumn is like this. After these few days, the weather will cool down quickly."

"Boss, do we need to buy anything else?"

"Let's look around more. Buy extra vegetables since Wanmin Restaurant will surely have long queues tonight too, so we won't join the crowd. We can get some almonds and milk, and coconut milk too - I'll make almond tofu for you this afternoon."

"Okay!"

Back at the shop, Xia Zhi made three simple dishes. Both girls, unlike their lack of appetite in the morning, had two extra bowls of rice each.

"Boss, what about tomorrow? Wanmin Restaurant will surely be crowded too."

"We can either eat at another restaurant or eat at home. Which do you prefer?"

"Eat at home (Home)!"

"Then we'll need to buy ingredients early tomorrow."

"I'll go (Me)!"

"You two work it out between yourselves. I won't manage the shopping, I'll just cook. Buy whatever you want to eat."

"Thank you for cooking, Boss!"

"It's nothing."

After lunch, Xia Zhi took out the almonds and milk to make "almond tofu."

Although "almond tofu" has "tofu" in its name, it actually has nothing to do with soybeans. It's a dessert made from ground almonds, with a uniquely smooth, sweet texture and rich, lasting almond fragrance. It's named tofu only because it resembles it in appearance.

Making almond tofu was also simpler than making real tofu.

Xia Zhi finished quickly and had Shenhe add some Cryo power to chill it slightly.

In this hot weather, having such a cool dessert was quite a treat.

Both girls loved it.

Xia Zhi also made a small vegetarian version using coconut milk instead of regular milk, chilled it and put it in a food box in the cupboard.

At 2 PM, the shop opened for normal business.

Around 3 PM, Yaoyao came, earlier than yesterday.

The little girl was eager to work right away.

"Big Brother, Yaoyao's here for part-time work!"

"Don't rush, Yaoyao. Go to the kitchen first, I made almond tofu and saved some for you."

"Wow! Thank you, Big Brother!"

"Go eat first, you can work after."

"Okay!"

Around 4 PM, like yesterday, Zhongli walked into the shop.

Xia Zhi made two high-concentration juices and had Yaoyao bring out a portion of almond tofu, serving them to Zhongli.

"Please enjoy, Mr. Zhongli."

"Thank you, Yaoyao."

Zhongli nodded to Yaoyao, his eyes showing slight approval.

Ping certainly had good eye for choosing disciples.

Then he began slowly enjoying the dessert and juice.

At the counter, Xia Zhi selected Zhongli's figure in his god's eye view.

"Use [Skill Steal] on target?"

"Yes."

"[Skill Steal] successful, learned skill [Rex Lapis] from target."

"[Skill Steal] has entered cooldown, usable again in 24 hours."

"[Rex Lapis]: Automatically master Geo expertise, understand all properties of rocks perfectly, become a Sculpture Grandmaster."

Like suddenly using an experience book, Xia Zhi felt his mind fill with all sorts of knowledge about rocks and sculpture-related information.

Xia Zhi closed his eyes, digesting this knowledge, then slowly opened them after a while.

Sculpture Grandmaster...

He hadn't expected his second Grandmaster skill to come so quickly, thinking it would be Massage Grandmaster or Culinary Grandmaster.

Xia Zhi couldn't help but think again of the legend of Rex Lapis and Azhdaha.

Legend said Rex Lapis once gave life to underground rock, carving it into a lifelike giant dragon, engraving eyes for it, bringing it from death to life, and having it fight alongside him across the land...

Since Rex Lapis was a Sculpture Grandmaster, that carefully carved dragon must have been extraordinarily beautiful?

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