Xie Sen couldn't see the live chat comments, but judging from the audience's reactions, he could roughly guess the reactions of the viewers in the live stream.
Looking at the fragrant boiled fish in the pot, he instantly felt sorry for the people of Brant Star; their standards for food were so low.
Although, it really did smell delicious. The chili peppers grown from the system's seeds were of excellent quality! However, there were still too few seasonings. If the ingredients were complete, and the quality of the chili peppers was better, the aroma would definitely be even more enticing.
Suddenly, he froze. A barrage of messages flashed before his eyes, like a screen being flooded with notifications, all saying 'Energy 1' or 'Energy 2'.
He looked up and saw countless hungry faces, their eyes shining as they stared at the pot on the stage.
The allure of food was just too great! Xie Sen was astonished; he hadn't expected to gain so much energy just from making a single dish of boiled fish, and it was still increasing.
Ma Qun walked over to him, staring intently at the pot: "Is it cooked? Let me try it on behalf of everyone?"
Xie Sen snapped out of his daze, turned around and saw his eager expression, and smiled as he turned off the heat: "It's cooked." The fish slices were of moderate thickness and easy to cook.
Ma Qun quickly grabbed a bowl and chopsticks, picked up a piece of fish slice, blew on it haphazardly, and ate it. The spiciness was even more intense under the high temperature. An
unprecedented taste stimulated his mouth. He held the bowl and chopsticks in one hand and fanned his mouth with the other, swallowing the fish slice whole. His lips were red from the spiciness, glistening with a faint sheen of oil, making it seem as if what he was eating tasted exceptionally delicious.
Ma Qun inhaled sharply, reaching for more fish with his chopsticks. The spiciness was somewhat unbearable, but he couldn't resist the urge to eat—a feeling he had never experienced before.
Seeing this, Xie Sen quickly poured him a glass of cold water, took his bowl, and scooped a spoonful of fish for him.
The audience at the press conference and the viewers in the live stream all screamed.
"Dean Ma, I don't need you to represent me, I want to eat it myself!"
"Ahhh, there's too much! Leave some, even half a slice would be nice!"
Xie Sen's hand holding the bowl trembled at the shouts. The reporters and audience members raised their hands and desperately tried to squeeze towards the front of the stage, but were firmly blocked by the security personnel. Their faces were full of fervor; if you didn't know better, you'd think they were enthusiastic fans at a concert!
Xie Sen marveled at the allure of the food, handed the bowl back to Ma Qun, and asked, "Dean Ma, what should we do?"
Ma Qun held the small bowl of fish slices, smiling very contentedly: "Let's choose lucky audience members. Let them try some. There's a limited quantity, so everyone can have a slice to taste."
"Okay, okay!" A chorus of agreement erupted from below.
"Pick me! Pick me!" They raised their hands in unison, jumping and bouncing, and the hall immediately resounded with the sound of their bouncing.
The viewers in the live stream were frantically spamming the chat: "Open the door, let me in!!!"
"I want to try it too!"
Seeing the crowd's agitation, Ma Qun raised his hand: "Everyone, please calm down. Those who disrupt the order of the event will have to leave, so please maintain order."
His words were more effective than a school teacher scolding students; the room instantly fell silent, and everyone showed their good behavior as obedient viewers who wouldn't be asked to leave.
Xie Sen lowered his head, suppressing a laugh, and was quite moved. Look at these people, how many years have they been poisoned by food? They can't stand even the slightest aroma.
He recalled the scene when he met Xu Da and suddenly felt that Xu Da's reaction was perfectly normal.
Ma Qun's words silenced the crowd. He was very satisfied: "Everyone who entered swiped their wristband. We will randomly select audience members from among them." He looked at Xie Sen, "About how many slices are left?"
Xie Sen shook his head, took a large plate, and neatly arranged the fish slices one by one. After a short while, he said, "Thirty-six slices left." As he spoke, he used a spoon to scoop chili oil from the pot and drizzle it over the fish slices. The chili oil glistened red on the tender white fish slices, making them look exceptionally delicious.
Ma Qun continued, "We will randomly select thirty-six audience members, one slice each."
After he finished speaking, the staff quickly projected the random selection interface onto the virtual screen in front of the stage, swiftly selecting thirty-six audience members, numbering them, and sending their information to their wristbands.
Cheers and disappointments rang out from the audience. The staff called out numbers one by one, inviting the audience members to the stage to taste the fish.
Every audience member who went up on stage looked delighted. Several people, after eating, looked at the remaining fish slices with teary eyes, and were then reluctantly asked to leave the stage.
Some cheerful people even jumped up and down after finishing their food, fanning themselves and shouting, "So refreshing!"
Among them were several celebrities whom Xie Sen didn't recognize at first, but he knew their identities after the reporters started discussing them as soon as they came on stage.
When number twenty-eight was called, no one reacted. Xie Sen was surprised when the crowd suddenly cheered, all with gossipy faces.
Before he could react, someone grabbed him from behind. He was slightly startled, then smiled, turning his head with a smile that met Mei Yin's gaze as he looked down.
He laughed, "You're lucky!"
Mei Yin looked at him intently, "Very lucky."
Xie Sen smiled and turned back, picking up a piece of fish with new chopsticks, placing it in a small bowl, and bringing it directly to Mei Yin's lips. Mei Yin's eyes flashed with amusement as he ate it.
Seeing his fair skin flush red, Xie Sen put down the bowl and handed him a glass of cold water and a tissue.
Mei took a tissue, wiped her mouth, drank a few sips of water, and kissed Xie Sen on the cheek: "I'll wait for you backstage."
Xie Sen nodded: "Okay, almost there."
Viewers in the live stream felt utterly devastated: "Not getting to eat chili peppers is tragic enough, but now we have to be fed dog food?"
"Single people are so tired!"
"Waaah, these two are such a perfect match, I give up..."
"July 1st, 2088, no chili peppers, my crush showing off his love in public, life suddenly feels so bland, I'll remember this day of heartbreak!"
The audience joked loudly. Xie Sen blushed slightly, coughed lightly, changed chopsticks, and prepared fish slices for the next lucky viewer.
The tasting session ended, and the press conference drew to a close. Staff moved all the kitchen utensils away, and Xie Sen returned backstage for Ma Qun's final thank-you speech.
After delivering a brief and sincere farewell speech, Ma Qun addressed the issue of everyone's relationship with the chili peppers: "The peppers will be sold at Fuyou Supermarket, in limited quantities, so the price won't be cheap. I guarantee that once mass production begins, the price will drop significantly, and that day is not far off."
"When will they be available?" someone immediately shouted.
Ma Qun replied, "The first batch will be sold at 10:00 AM tomorrow. For specific details, please check the Fuyou Supermarket website. Thank you everyone. Here, I would like to thank Xie Sen, the discoverer of the chili peppers, and everyone who has contributed to the plant cause. This press conference is now concluded."
Xie Sen, sitting backstage, noticed the increased energy in his notifications scrolling faster after Ma Qun mentioned his name, almost like a phantom.
He was slightly taken aback, deeply feeling the public's emphasis on plants.
Ma Qun returned to the backstage area, and the audience gradually left, the live stream also shutting down. The viewers, still wanting more, went to the forum to post and discuss.
Xie Sen bid farewell to Ma Qun and left the research institute with Mei Yin.
Xie Sen sat in the passenger seat, opened the system panel, and was stunned to see the energy value approaching 10,000 and still rising. "
Stay calm!" he reminded himself. This number was far less than the number of viewers in the live stream!
However, he couldn't help but smile. Maine raised an eyebrow: "What are you thinking about? So happy?"
Xie Sen chuckled: "Good news."
He calculated that each of the five colored plants formed a round, requiring 10, 100, 200, 400, and 800 energy respectively to activate, totaling 1510 energy per group. He had already activated the sixth plant, so the second group only needed 1500.
Looking at the remaining energy, Xie Sen used 1500 energy to activate the remaining four plants in the second group: soybeans, peas, glutinous rice, and eggplant. He was somewhat surprised; the eggplant, which was purple, had been counted as a blackish hue.
Seeing soybeans, his eyes lit up, immediately thinking of a bunch of bean products. Soybeans were a great thing—one plant could make so many dishes! Right, they could also be used to make bean sprouts! He silently swallowed, thinking that adding bean sprouts to boiled fish would taste quite good!
With more food options available, he realized that to enjoy delicious food, he needed seasonings. Thinking about the limited variety of condiments, he opened his bracelet to search for recipes for soy sauce and vinegar. He quickly found the results, and his eyes lit up instantly.
However, after reading them carefully, he couldn't help but frown slightly. Soy sauce required soybeans and wheat, and he only had soybeans. Fortunately, he had rice and glutinous rice, which he could use to make vinegar.
He rested his chin on his hand, carefully studying the vinegar-making process. Seeing the steps for adding yeast, he then looked up how to make yeast for brewing. After reading, he realized that he might not be cut out for this.
Mei Yin, who had been watching him closely, noticed his frown and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Sen said, "I want to make some seasonings, but it looks so difficult." His eyes lit up. "I'll go back later and ask where A-Jiao is. He always makes medicine and knows how to handle all kinds of materials; maybe he can make it."
He then contacted Bai Jiao directly. Bai Jiao was at home making medicine and, upon hearing that he needed to speak, indicated that they could come anytime.
Xie Sen gave Mei Yin the address Bai Jiao had sent, and the two went directly to Bai Jiao's house. Bai Jiao's residence was a two-story house with a large backyard. Bai Jiao
was waiting for them at the door, and after exchanging greetings, she welcomed them inside.
Xie Sen got straight to the point, explaining their purpose. Bai Jiao smiled and said, "Vinegar can also be used medicinally. I've researched it before, but the materials required are few and precious, so I had to give up."
Xie Sen immediately asked, "Then I'll provide rice. Can you make it?"
Bai Jiao thought for a moment, "It shouldn't be a problem. Why don't we make a little to try?"
Xie Sen exchanged twenty energy points for two jin of rice: "Here are two jin of rice. Is that enough?"
Bai Jiao's eyes lit up when she saw the rice: "Yes, it's enough. We'll make more after we succeed." Xie Sen smiled and thanked her.
Bai Jiao said, "Don't mention it. I like making things with plants, especially researching products that can change a lot."
Xie Sen immediately nodded, "I also want to make soy sauce, but I don't have the raw materials. I'll come back to you when I have the materials."
Bai Jiao smiled, "Okay," he said, carrying the rice, very eager, "It takes about three months from production to finished product. I'll process it as soon as possible to save time."
Xie Sen asked, "Do you need my help?"
Bai Jiao shook his head, "No need, I can do it myself."
Xie Sen then said goodbye to Maine and didn't bother him anymore.
Back at the apartment, the two had lunch. Maine went to work in the workshop, while Xie Sen went to see the contracted beasts.
As soon as Xie Sen stepped out of the courtyard gate, he saw the giant crocodile beast lying listlessly at the door with its tail drooping. It had a bundle of vines on its back. Not far away, the contracted beasts were gathered together looking this way, and the flying eagle beast was circling in the air.
Completely bewildered, he reached out and touched the giant crocodile's head: "What's wrong?"
The giant crocodile looked up at him, its voice low: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I can pay for it with my work!"
Xie Sen: "...What happened?"
The giant crocodile glanced back, turned around and started crawling. Xie Sen followed it to the land next to the accommodation area. The contracted beasts chirped softly, following at a distance, all looking somewhat listless, and the furry contracted beasts were quite wet.
Xie Sen was even more confused. At this moment, the system gift announcement came: "'Starry Sky' sent the streamer a watermelon rain, hahaha, I'm dying of laughter, streamer, don't be angry with them, they feel very guilty."
"'Moon' sent the streamer a watermelon rain, I'll pay for it! Don't blame them!"
Xie Sen walked and opened his bracelet, switching to the live stream. He was about to ask what had happened when he saw the scene in front of him and understood.
The artificial river had only been built yesterday, but the section in front of him was dilapidated, the white tiles broken into pieces. He walked closer and, unsurprisingly, many of the tiles at the bottom of the river were also broken.
The giant crocodile's tail gently touched his leg: "I really didn't mean to. I was just too happy, and when I slapped it with my tail, they shattered. The giant tigers tried to help me put the pieces back together, but the rest shattered too... The flying lion made me apologize, saying you wouldn't be angry with me if you saw this."
Xie Sen looked at the row of contracted beasts with wet fur beside him, the chaotic scene of them trying to piece the pieces back together flashing through his mind. Looking at the vines on the giant crocodile's body, he glanced up at the flying lion and couldn't help but laugh.
He reached out to lift the vines, only to find they were quite heavy: "It's okay, I didn't think it through. Tiles look nice but don't bear weight. It's not your fault."
The giant armored beast stretched out its long snout, bit the vine, and looked at Xie Sen shyly. Xie Sen smiled, let go, and the giant armored beast tossed the vines aside.
Xie Sen called his contracted beasts to go into the water to wash themselves clean, then led them back to the living area. He drained the river water into a reservoir in the corner of the land to irrigate the plants. Then he called the construction company to have the tiles removed and replaced with a load-bearing floor.
After making the contact, he turned on the powerful fans in the living area, one row at a time, so the contracted beasts could stand in a line to dry.
"Wow! This scene is spectacular!"
"Hahaha, the new place is really nice, the facilities are all complete!"
"I want to groom the giant lion beast's mane, streamer, let me volunteer!"
"Me too, I'm not a high-level contracted beast master, I just want to play with them, pick me!"
Xie Sen stood aside waiting for the contracted beasts to dry, laughing at the comments. He thought for a moment, "I'll discuss it with them, and if there are any plans, I'll let them know in advance."
The construction company arrived quickly, and Xie Sen felt at ease entrusting the matter to them. He went out to take a look, then returned to the living area.
After drying the contracted beasts' fur, he discussed the fan meeting with them. The beasts all agreed, saying it would be nice to have someone to play with.
The giant crocodile beast was particularly enthusiastic: "Hurry up and hold it! I'll make money to pay you back!"
Xie Sen smiled: "I'll make a plan first." After letting the beasts discuss their ideas, he returned to his apartment.
He entered the living room, didn't see Maine, smiled, and tiptoed upstairs to the second floor, moving discreetly from the gym to his workspace.
To his surprise, Maine didn't even notice him.
He went behind Maine's seat and saw Maine wearing headphones, looking down at something. He glanced up; a live stream was playing on the wall screen, but clearly, Maine wasn't watching.
He stood up, his gaze passing over Maine's shoulder, following Maine's line of sight with curiosity, and then froze.
Maine was looking at the screen of the wristband. In the center of the screen was a shrewd-looking middle-aged man, with the words "Relationship Problems: Why Do Couples Refuse to Marry?" at the top. The
middle-aged man was speaking eloquently, and as he spoke, words like "Don't love," "Don't trust," and "Backup plan" would occasionally appear on the screen...
Xie Sen silently cursed in his mind, even if he couldn't hear the man's words, he could guess the content just by seeing those words.
The man wore a nameplate on his left chest that read "Senior Relationship Expert." Xie Sen pursed his lips, "Trash expert!"
The next moment, the screen disappeared, and Maine, her face tense, took off her headphones, not turning around for a moment.
Only then did Xie Sen realize that he had just cursed aloud. Seeing Maine like this, he felt both sorry for her and amused. He put his arm around Maine's shoulder and found that Maine's body was like a drawn bowstring, her muscles taut.
He stepped forward, his hands sliding down to embrace Maine from behind, his chin resting on Maine's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to scare you, to joke with you, I didn't mean to peek."
Maine lowered his eyes slightly. "It's okay."
Xie Sen tilted his head to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "You don't actually believe that rubbish expert, do you?"
Maine suddenly grabbed his hand, his voice dry. "No."
Xie Sen walked around the seat to stand opposite Maine, then, realizing the view wasn't good, simply sat on Maine's lap. Maine instinctively wrapped his arms around his waist, looking intently at him.
Xie Sen cupped his face and kissed him. "That's right, you don't believe me. Ask me if you have any questions in the future, don't look at this nonsense!" he laughed. "Even if we're going to get married, at least get your diploma."
Maine hugged him tighter, and Xie Sen moved forward because of his pull, the two almost touching, their posture incredibly ambiguous.
Suppressing his excitement, Maine looked at him intently, "Really? You agreed to marry me?"
Xie Sen's face flushed slightly, and he shifted uncomfortably, "Yes, I've always wanted to, but I felt we were too young."
"Mmm..." Maine let out a low moan, wrapped his arms around Xie Sen's neck, and kissed him, his voice husky, "Don't move."
Xie Sen noticed his reaction and immediately stopped moving.
After a while, Maine nibbled on his earlobe, and he trembled all over. Maine picked him up and said in a low voice, "Ah Sen, I can't control myself, let's take a nap together!"
The actual nap didn't start for about two hours, and when Xie Sen woke up, it was time for dinner.
Maine, looking utterly satisfied, hugged and nuzzled Xie Sen affectionately. "Xie Sen, you agreed to marry me," he said, staring at Xie Sen. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Xie Sen chuckled and pushed Maine's head away. "I don't have dementia yet," he said, glancing out the window at the approaching dusk. "Is the riverbed finished?"
"Yes, it's finished. Shall we get up for dinner?" Maine asked.
Xie Sen nodded, and as he got up, the blanket slipped off. Maine's gaze deepened. Xie Sen kicked him. "Turn your head and close your eyes."
Maine chuckled, wrapping his arms around Xie Sen's neck and kissing him on the lips. "Don't worry, I won't do anything rash."
The two ate dinner and sat on the sofa watching the news. Xie Sen wasn't surprised to see news about Chili's press conference, but his feelings were complicated when he saw the bolded 'fertility rate'.
Was this false advertising? What if it didn't work? Wouldn't that be incredibly disappointing?
Just looking at the constantly rising energy value, he knew how much hope the Brant aliens had for Chili. However, upon further reflection, adding vegetables to one's daily diet is always beneficial to health.
Besides the chili pepper press conference, another piece of news caused a sensation: Blue Star announced that the sale of contracted beasts was prohibited on Blue Star, and such behavior was now considered illegal, with severe penalties for offenders.
The Contracted Beast Research Institute officially reposted this information, expressing gratitude to Blue Star and calling for the protection of contracted beasts, resistance to forced contracts, and reminding the public that selling contracted beasts was also illegal on Brant Star.
Xie Sen scrolled through the comments and paused when he saw his name.
"Banned from selling? As far as I know, Gold Medal and that streamer named Xie Sen are both selling contracted beasts, and even making money through live streaming with them!"
This comment stood out among a string of copied and pasted comments, and there were many replies below.
"Are they trying to cause trouble? Are they forcing contracted beasts into contracts? Are they harming contracted beasts?"
"Could this be a fake account used by contracted beast dealers? Stop stirring up trouble. The contracted beasts in the gold medal and live stream are living normal lives, unlike you dirty people who drug them!"
Xie Sen frowned, ignoring the comments in the main page and returning to the comments section. This particular comment had sparked numerous dissenting opinions.
"Most high-level contracted beasts are found in the wild. Where did they get their beasts? Maybe they were drugged too!"
"Yeah, what are the standards? Is it that you can't use drugs to capture contracted beasts? Or is it that you can capture them but not force them into contracts? It doesn't make sense. If that's the case, wouldn't all high-level contracted beast owners have to find their own in the wild? Besides the owner, how could a high-level contracted beast obediently come back with them?"
The questioning grew louder, and even those who initially blindly copied the comments started to think it over and realized it made sense.
If the sale of contracted beasts is prohibited, then how can the current market for contracted beast trading be considered legal?
Xie Sen scrolled through the messages for a while and saw someone mention that Dean Mu had sent a message. He clicked the link and went to Mu Lin's private account.
Mu Lin: "There's only one standard: ensure the health of the contracted beasts. Contracted beasts are very intelligent; they know who has hurt them. Don't take chances. Reports are welcome anytime. Those who try to stir up trouble, go to sleep!"
"Dean Mu is cool and decisive!"
"Yeah, someone actually tried to stir up trouble in the live stream. We can't tolerate this! Go see how happy and smart the contracted beasts are, and you'll know how ridiculous these words are. Fools."
Xie Sen laughed when he saw this: "Dean Mu's words are still simple and direct."
Main chuckled: "Very useful."
After reading the news, Xie Sen looked at his remaining energy value, which was already over 23,000!
He couldn't help but think that just because he discovered the chili pepper, he had received so much energy in return. If he used all the energy to activate the plants and cultivate them all, wouldn't he never have to worry about energy again?
Soon, he dismissed this idea. 23,000 energy could activate 15 groups of plants, which is equivalent to 75 kinds. Providing so many plants at once would be too conspicuous.
After much deliberation, he decided it was safest to find a few different plants on each outing. He also needed to reserve some energy to exchange for plants, just in case.
With that in mind, he set aside 5,000 energy and spent over 18,000 energy to exchange for twelve sets of plants, a total of sixty kinds.
Listening to the system's constant notifications, his smile deepened. Among the sixty plants, besides vegetables and fruits, there were many flowers, grasses, and trees. What pleased him most was that the onions, ginger, and garlic had all been activated! The
commotion was so loud that Adan woke up from his slumber, stunned: "Ah, Ah Sen, what happened?"