Chapter 21 Part 2: Don’t you have it?

One, sensing her dislike, barked in protest.

Jiang Heng pressed her hand on its head.

The puppy’s back legs went soft, flopping down and quivering.

Jiang Heng raised an eyebrow, “Aw, what’s wrong? Not barking anymore?!”

Caramel: Wanted to bark, but too scared, so it just drooped its head and looked up at her, as if checking her mood.

Pudding was much smarter, never ‘challenging’ its owner. Sensing the situation, it quickly scooted over, flopped at her feet, and whimpered for affection.

Jiang Heng held back her laughter, rubbed their soft bellies, and soon both puppies had forgotten all about earlier, tails wagging happily as she finally let go to head to the kitchen.

She’d had noodles for breakfast, just something casual, but for lunch she wanted to eat well.

She went to the backyard, where she had a small patch of various vegetables.

Even though she’d planted them half a month ago, they were still only halfway grown, so whenever she needed, she’d speed things up with her Spiritual Power.

Looking around, today she wanted tomatoes, so she urged the Tomato Plant to grow.

A flash of green Spiritual Power entered the tomato plant, and it immediately began to grow, bloom, then—she stopped in time for manual pollination.

Yes.

Manual pollination was still needed or there’d be no fruit.

Luckily, tomatoes are self-flowering, so she didn’t need several plants.

She confirmed the pollination, then continued urging growth—it only took five minutes in all, just slowed by the pollination.

Soon, a tomato vine bent under the weight of bright red tomatoes appeared before her!

Jiang Heng promptly staked the vine with a stick and tied it up.

Then she picked two tomatoes.

This variety, which she had specially bought from a seed store, was thin-skinned and juicy—not good for transport since it spoils easily, but the juice content and taste were fantastic.

She could tell just by touch—any pressure and it felt like it would burst.

Unable to resist, Jiang Heng took a bite.

Juicy, sweet and tart, the explosion of flavor made her eyelids flutter.

But delicious!

Tomatoes are magical—they can be used in dishes or eaten as fruit, and they’re always good, especially these thin-skinned ones.

The flesh had a grainy texture, and every seed pod was a tart surprise—bite into it and the sourness doubled, tingling her taste buds and making her want more.

……

So much juice!

Jiang Heng hurried to eat before the juice could spill too much.

But she was already too late—juice was dripping everywhere.

Caramel and Pudding, ever at her heels, instantly came over, licking curiously.

“Woof~”

Their round eyes lit up, looking at her hopefully for more treats.

Jiang Heng: Can puppies eat tomatoes?

Should be okay?

Her tomatoes weren’t ordinary—ripened with Spiritual Power, full of more energy than the fish in her pond. It shouldn’t hurt them.

Still, to be safe, she only cut two small pieces for them to nibble on.

She finished the rest in a few quick bites, then used Dust Removal Art to clean up the spilled juice—she didn’t want to be so messy.

But it was impossible to eat a tomato like this and still be elegant.

Caramel and Pudding now had tomato juice all over their little faces, still happily eating away.

Their tiny tails wagged, and they made soft little snuffling noises of contentment.

A bit messy.

Jiang Heng couldn’t watch, so she went back to the garden. She’d just eaten one, and one tomato wouldn’t be enough for cooking.

The vine had about thirty tomatoes, with five already ripe, so she could eat them for a while.

To be safe, she set a small Illusion Array—if someone wandered in, they wouldn’t spot the odd, fruit-heavy tomato vine.

With tomatoes in hand, deciding what to cook was easy.

Tomato Egg Stir-fry and Tomato Egg Mushroom Soup.

Today was an all-tomato feast!

She liked her stir-fried tomatoes and eggs savory—salty and tart. The tomatoes had to release their juice, and the eggs had to set before mixing; when the eggs soaked up the tomato juice, it was extra tasty with rice.

If it felt a bit dry, a sip of Tomato Egg Mushroom Soup would do.

The taste was similar but lighter, and with the addition of mushrooms, the soup became even more flavorful—just right for soothing the throat.

Perfect!

Magic City, a certain company.

After a tiring morning, as lunch break approached, everyone began discussing which takeout to order.

Yuan Shu also got a message from a colleague.

Having worked here, she’d tried all kinds of takeout—cheap, expensive, all of it.

But too much takeout really gets old.

They were all so busy; unless you lived with family, there was no time to pack lunch, so ordering takeout was the only option—back to square one.

Eat enough, and no takeout sounded appealing anymore.

Yuan Shu was usually one of them, racking her brains for what to order, finally picking something at random.

If it tasted good, she ate more. If not, just a little.

As long as it filled her stomach, that was enough.

But today was different. She was a little smug as she replied, “I brought my own lunch today! Not ordering with you all.”

Colleagues: ?

“What’s up? What happened?”

“Got a boyfriend making you lunch?”

Yuan Shu quickly denied it three times, “No, no, absolutely not!”

Her colleagues politely dropped the topic and turned to others for advice.

In the end, they picked a light Japanese place—working overtime causes acne, so lighter food is best. Magic City has lots of Japanese restaurants, and this one was pretty good.

Ordering takeout was quick.

Soon, everyone was busy again, until lunch break came and people started collecting their orders or heading to the company cafeteria to heat their food in the microwave.

The air in the cafeteria filled with the smells of different meals.

Yuan Shu lounged as she waited for her lunch to heat.

The microwave hummed softly.

As time passed, a delicious, clean aroma wafted from the microwave.

People waiting nearby couldn’t help but sniff and break the silence.

“What’s that smell? So fragrant!”

“So fresh!” another chimed in.

Several people all took another deep breath, leaning in toward the scent.

Yuan Shu, now surrounded: ?

People exchanged glances; Yuan Shu laughed awkwardly and pointed to the microwave, “That’s my lunch, it does smell pretty good.”

Everyone nodded vigorously. “Yeah!”

“What is it? Smells amazing!”

Right then, “ding!” The timer ended. Yuan Shu opened the microwave, and the aroma instantly became even stronger. She pointed, “It’s mushrooms, my friend brought them for me.”

She carefully took her food out.

These were freshly picked wild mushrooms from the mountains, dried and sent to her.

Half of her glass lunchbox was rice, the other half Little Chicken Stewed with Mushroom.

She also had a small box of Mushroom and Meat Soup—one rich and savory, the other incredibly fresh. The others stared—looked delicious!

Yuan Shu showed them, then quickly turned to leave. “I’m off!”

With everyone staring, she couldn’t risk it—this precious meal had to be protected!

The others weren’t close enough with her to ask directly, so they just sniffed the lingering aroma, muttering, “Wow, didn’t know Yuan Shu could cook this well!”

“Yeah, why didn’t she bring food before? Such a shame.”

“Maybe it’s the ingredients?” one quietly suggested.

She loved to cook and knew about good ingredients—the most tantalizing thing about that aroma was the fresh savoriness.

With quality ingredients, you hardly needed any seasoning, and if the mushrooms were especially good, even a simple dish would outdo any MSG.

But… She’d bought plenty of high-quality wild mushrooms before—even Torch Termitomyces, which smelled good, but never like this.

She wondered where Yuan Shu got them—she’d have to ask later.

Back at her table, Yuan Shu rejoined her lunch buddies.

As she approached, the others, originally eating with heads down, all twitched their noses and looked up, thinking some colleague had scored amazing takeout.

But they looked up to see Yuan Shu’s lunchbox.

The three were stunned for two seconds, then looked at the box: Little Chicken Stewed with Mushroom and Mushroom and Meat Soup.

Honestly, it didn’t look great—she’d added potatoes, which had cooked down and turned mushy, and the soup was simple, just a sprinkle of green onion.

You could see mushrooms and lean meat floating through the transparent glass.

But the aroma!

Too enticing!

These three were all old lunch buddies—they instantly burst out, “What the—did you make that yourself???”

“Yuan Shu, didn’t you say your cooking was so-so?!”

“Yeah! Last time at the team event, you grilled chicken wings that were burnt outside and raw inside!”

Yuan Shu: That’s too much!

Why bring up my black history!

She sat down, exasperated. “My cooking really is average.”

She hesitated, then grinned a little smugly. “But you can’t beat good ingredients! Remember a few days ago when I told you about the mushrooms Song Ming kept recommending? Well, I bought some, got them yesterday, tried them out, and—wow—even I was surprised by my own cooking!”

She never thought she could make something so delicious.

The three finally understood and looked unimpressed. “All because of mushrooms?”

“Isn’t that an exaggeration?”

“Yeah, can mushrooms really do that?”

Yuan Shu snorted and handed over the soup container, putting it in the middle. “Try it for yourselves—this soup—” She didn’t even finish before all three had already grabbed spoons and helped themselves. After the first taste, they all exclaimed, “Huh???”

“Wow!”

“Hey!”

The soup was light and savory—very little salt, so if not for the intense umami, it’d taste like plain water, but the freshness was enough to make up for it. One sip, and their taste buds lit up.

“Another bite, another! Haven’t figured out the taste yet!”

“Yeah, let’s try another spoonful.”

“Let me taste again, is it really as good as you said…?”

Yuan Shu: “:)”

She’d thought they didn’t believe her—turns out, they just wanted to steal her soup!

Forget it, she’d already had plenty last night and this morning. She only reminded, “Save some for me!”

Then picked up a piece of chicken—honestly, though it didn’t look great, it tasted amazing.

The broth was thick from the potato starch, clinging to the chicken. The flavor was salty and savory, hitting her soul!

A bit too salty, so she’d added less salt to the soup itself—ended up a bit bland.

Luckily, the umami made up for any flaws.

Yuan Shu happily took a big mouthful of rice—delicious! The savory broth with sweet rice slid down her throat before she even realized it.

She picked up a mushroom—since it had been dried, it was chewier than fresh, and after soaking up the broth, a bite squeezed out all that flavor.

The three devoured half a bowl of soup before reluctantly saving the rest for Yuan Shu.

When they pushed it back to her, she was happily eating her food.

The heavy aroma of stewed chicken and mushrooms lingered at their noses, and looking at their light Japanese lunches, they couldn’t help but feel a sharp contrast.

Eating another bite, they realized the Japanese food, once known for freshness, now tasted… a bit lacking after that soup.

One of them tentatively raised their chopsticks, “Dear~~~”

Yuan Shu instantly shielded her lunchbox, gritting her teeth, “You all didn’t buy any when you could!”

Her colleague across from her pulled a long face. “But I did! I was just lazy—the package came yesterday and I haven’t opened it yet!”

Yuan Shu: “Pfft!”

The other two: “Tsk!”

Just then, another familiar aroma wafted over.

They all looked around and saw another colleague carrying Mushroom Braised Pork and Mushroom Soup, sitting down beside them. She also took out a jar of sauce in a fruit preserve container.

Once opened, the aroma was even stronger, with a hint of numbing spice that totally broke the last two’s resolve.

“You got some too?!”

She replied naturally, “Of course, I bought it. Her Circle of Friends post was too tempting, so I asked her to help me get some.”

“What’s with the sauce?”

“Oh? You don’t know? Song Ming made it herself, said it’s a sample for us to try. If you bought mushrooms, you should have some too.”

Yuan Shu nodded, “Yeah, that Mushroom Sauce is amazing!!!” She turned to the colleague who had also bought mushrooms, “You didn’t get any?”

The colleague’s face went blank. “…I don’t know. I haven’t opened my package! Not yet!!!”

If she’d opened it, caught a whiff of that aroma, she wouldn’t be stuck here drooling over others’ food!

She nearly cried.

She’d never be lazy about unpacking a delivery again!

The other two immediately whipped out their phones, saying in unison, “Buy! I’ll order right now!”

A few seconds later, Song Ming replied:

【There are mushrooms, but I don’t have any dried ones. The boss only has freshly picked mushrooms, which can’t be shipped directly—they spoil easily. If you need some, I can help reserve them, but can’t guarantee when they’ll ship.】

The two:

Then another message came:

【But I do have Beef-Mushroom Sauce in stock. Want some? Handmade by me.】

Instant delight: 【Yes!!!】

【Please ship by express! Thank you!】