C18 Trust Between People(2)

"I'm so envious of you folks with a system; you get one even when you transmigrate." Wu Ziming couldn't contain his drooling as the aroma wafted over. He grabbed a spoon and dove in. Each grain of rice, bursting with flavor, exploded in his mouth, delivering a taste so divine that Wu Ziming couldn't help himself. His expression was so exaggerated, he nearly burst out of his clothes. "This egg fried rice is incredibly delicious."

"He's not the original guy. The system wiped out the original host, and he just lucked into it," Xiaoming said, quickly polishing off the last few bites of rice before adding, "The day he was chosen by the system, he laughed like a kid who weighed five hundred pounds."

"There's a trick to it, huh? When will I ever get my own system? It's just like the Europeans," Wu Ziming remarked, his face etched with envy upon hearing how Jefferson had effortlessly acquired a system. He was almost ready to go and bask in that European luck.

"Having a system is dangerous. This isn't some novel where you can just throw caution to the wind. When the system issues a dangerous mission, do you think you can just refuse?" Xiaoming's tone was a mix of disdain and sourness, but all Wu Ziming could taste was the bitterness of envy.

Xiaoming seemed to catch on to Wu Ziming's thoughts and proceeded to share the backstory of Jefferson's system. Three and a half months earlier, a small eatery named Yum Yum Kitchen opened up in a corner of Auspicious Lane in Eventide City.

The proprietor, Zhou Hong, had previously run an antique shop before inexplicably deciding to venture into the restaurant business. His culinary skills surpassed even those of the chefs at the City Lord's Mansion.

The owner was a bit eccentric, offering only six seats and selling just six servings a day. The menu was simple, featuring only egg fried rice, yet they accepted spirit stones as payment. Considering the modest spending habits of Auspicious Alley, it was a wonder how ordinary folks could afford such prices.

Initially, everyone thought the restaurant wouldn't last more than a few days. However, reality proved them wrong. Yum Yum Kitchen's business thrived, and soon people began scalping seats. In a mere fifteen days, the establishment had amassed a substantial collection of spirit stones.

"Is the system causing mischief?" Wu Ziming grasped the gist of the situation upon hearing this.

"Any regular person would notice; how could the cultivator families be oblivious?" Wang Xiaoming sighed in resignation.

Wealth tends to inflate egos. Zhou Hong, a modern-day man, had no sense of restraint, stirring up trouble wherever he went. His behavior led the major families to assume he had powerful backers, so they all remained silent, not daring to intervene.

"Everyone's hoping to catch a big fish. Zhou Hong nearly dragged us down with him. Xiaoming was all set to take down the cultivator families, but thankfully, Brother Ding intervened."

As Jefferson washed the dishes, he recalled the incident with a shudder of fear. He found it hard to believe that the usually jovial Wang Xiaoming could be so reckless, even frightening.

Zhou Hong's dispute with the House of Golden Virtue stemmed from an accidental meeting.

On the nineteenth day since his opening, he had gained some notoriety in Eventide City. He visited the House of Golden Virtue on Auspicious Lane, aiming to show off and embarrass others. He also had his eye on the prime location of the House of Golden Virtue, considering a purchase.

"I thought he was coming to express his gratitude, knowing we had helped him behind the scenes. Imagine the shock when a warm greeting is met with a cold shoulder."

At this point, Xiaoming struggled to contain his anger. Even Ziming, standing nearby, felt a chill. Jefferson sighed, "Let's not hold grudges against the dead."

"So, I'm a bit petty—so what?"

Zhou Hong demanded that Ding Fu cook for him at the House of Golden Virtue. With Ding Fu's hand injured, cooking was a challenge. Wang Xiaoming, harboring a negative impression, berated him, and they nearly came to blows. If Baihe hadn't held Xiaoming back, Zhou Hong might not have survived.

Later, Ding Fu prepared a dish of Dry-Fried Beef Ho Fun to ease the tension, a delicacy unique to Earth and unknown in the other world. They had to be subtle with their hints, as it was too busy during the day to discuss it openly.

Ding Fu's cooking was a revelation to the transmigrators, akin to discovering Martian coffee. The ensuing conflict reached a boiling point, and Zhou Hong became deaf to reason. Even Baihe's well-intentioned advice sounded to him like a veiled threat from a fellow villager.

"The most terrifying thing is the suspicion between people," a resonant voice suddenly interjected. Wu Ziming turned to see Ding Fu, with a Xishi teapot in his right hand, wafting the aroma of tea.

In the days that followed, Zhou Hong's system went haywire. What was once limited became unlimited, and the prices took a nosedive.

This chaos was triggered by a system-issued mission: to make Yum Yum Kitchen the sole restaurant in Lucky Alley. The condition was that the turnover of House of Golden Virtue had to drop to zero.

Lucky Alley had just two eateries: House of Golden Virtue and Yum Yum Kitchen. The former, targeted by ruthless competition, was left deserted. This tactic also cleared House of Golden Virtue of any suspicion of harboring transmigrators.

Zhou Hong had never anticipated that House of Golden Virtue was no ordinary restaurant. Initially, Ding Fu had catered to cultivators by selling talisman formations. It was only after Xiaoming stumbled upon Jefferson, a rich second-generation expert in international cuisine, that Ding Fu transitioned to running a restaurant due to recurring pain from an old injury.

The system, unyielding and blind to context, recorded an increase, not a decrease, in House of Golden Virtue's revenue, which infuriated Zhou Hong.

There's an old saying: "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." In a desperate gamble, Zhou Hong priced his dishes at a mere yuan, but to no avail.

As the deadline for mission settlement loomed, the dread of failure finally broke him. He was about to approach House of Golden Virtue to negotiate with Ding Fu when he was intercepted by officials from the Bureau of Commodity Pricing, the Drug Administration, and the Tax Office.

At the doorstep, they declared Zhou Hong's offenses:

First, he had engaged in malicious competition, disrupting the market with arbitrary pricing.

Second, he had defaulted on tax payments, most of which had been absorbed by the system.

Third, he had used an unidentified addictive substance in his restaurant operations.

He was convicted of multiple offenses and escorted to prison, his shop sealed off in the process. As they passed by the market, they encountered Xiaoming and Jefferson, who were out buying groceries. Coincidentally, at the moment Zhou Hong was eliminated by the system, it transferred to Jefferson. Zhou Hong's transmigration had lasted less than a month.

Listening to Ding Fu's story, Wu Ziming felt a pang of regret. As an Earthling, to die in a foreign world before having a chance to make his mark—and in such a bizarre way—was incredibly frustrating.

"That ungrateful wretch got what he deserved, but we can't put too much trust in 'our own people.' Uncle Ding Fu, I'm off to get a psychological evaluation," said Wang Xiaoming, his complexion ashen, as he hurried out of the kitchen.

"Uncle Ding Fu, what's wrong with Brother Xiaoming?" Wu Ziming asked, confusion written all over his face after Xiaoming rushed off.

Back in his room, Wang Xiaoming quickly stepped into the hibernation pod. "Zhuo Er, clear away the negative emotions."

The system began the cleansing process...

"This is PTSD from the time we were besieged by the alliance of monks. Xiaoming was once a sunny, kind-hearted kid who couldn't bear the thought of killing. That changed after the six-month-long siege that decimated our large family in Riverfall, leaving only a few of us behind. A person who had always seen Xiaoming as a younger brother died in that siege, and since then, Xiaoming has been like a changed person," Ding Fu recounted, his face etched with sorrow and resignation, ending with a heavy sigh.

Wu Ziming was taken aback by the revelation. Xiaoming, always seen with a smile, harbored such deep-seated anger.

"We don't get to choose whether we transcend or not; all we can do is survive," Ding Fu said before leaving the kitchen.

Wu Ziming saw Wang Xiaoming again that evening. After finishing the dishes, he was about to head upstairs when he saw Xiaoming greeting guests at the front door, his smile betraying none of the bitterness within.

In the days that followed, Wu Ziming, still unaccustomed to the ancient world's rhythms, was roused by Xiaoming for another day of labor. Sitting on the donkey cart, Wu Ziming mused that perhaps transmigration wasn't the relentless battle he had read about in novels.

Xiaoming had made up his mind: after finishing up with the purchases today, he would send Wu Ziming back on his own. He planned to stay at the butcher Zhang's house to lend a hand. Once Zhang Xiaolan's wedding was over tomorrow, he would return home.