Yun Luohe thought she should study her menus for the finals.She needed to think through what to make so she could prep ingredients.She went to the study, spread a sheet of paper on the desk, listed the five judges one by one, then added her own ideas.The ideas weren’t mature yet, but anything that came to mind could be written down first.Peach: sweet tooth.She could make a honeyed red-bean puff—bean paste and honey as the filling, wrapped in puff pastry, then glazed with caramel after baking. The sweetness would certainly be there, but it still needed a little surprise.Captain Hilco: likes seafood and liquor.She could do Bluefin tuna three ways.Thick-sliced belly as sashimi.Seared mid-belly, finished with a pairing liquor for seasoning.Head and bones simmered into a soup.Vivira: likes floral honey, dislikes insects.She could consider a crystal honey lotus root—soak the lotus root in osmanthus honey tea, add Moonlight dew and Golden Royal Jelly, set the center into a translucent gel.Old Xu: master of forged iron; loves high-grade ores; food preferences unknown.Tentatively charcoal-grilled ribs with freshly matured honey durian sweet potatoes.Liya: no accurate information. @All the best reads, all at Jinjiang Literature CityTentatively two menus.One, a clear-soup jade fish balls: mince the highest golden-quality fish into paste, form into balls, simmer in a clear broth—bright and clean, easy to tune seasoning.Two, a medicinal mushroom chicken soup.Which one to do could be decided on-site after observing. @All the best reads, all at Jinjiang Literature CityYun Luohe set down the pen with a sigh. In truth, it was best to have two options ready for each judge.First, collect and prep the ingredients.——Autumn Day 24, early morning.Right at eight o’clock, a system prompt sounded: [Dock construction completed. Reef rating +600. Yacht docking permission unlocked.]With docking permission, the yacht could be safely moored here; no need to stow it in the backpack, and it wouldn’t be lost.“Nice. Looks great.”She looked at the brand-new dock—white railings flashing in the sun. The yacht fit the berth perfectly.The Mid-Level Architect arrived on time.A black-haired middle-aged man; the moment he set foot on the island he circled the site for Captain Hilco’s house with a tape measure.Yun Luohe laid out her requirements; he nodded all the way, saying no problem, rest assured.He really felt like an NPC.Yun Luohe: “Add a viewing deck here facing the sea. Inside, put a drinking bar counter, and add a cellar for storing spirits…”She had a lot of asks, but the man kept saying no problem.She figured since she was paying to bring him in, there shouldn’t be any issues.So Yun Luohe handed him full responsibility for the soft furnishings and took the yacht out to scout nearby islands.With the engine roaring, white wake blossomed behind the yacht.She couldn’t help marveling—so fast.The white dock shrank behind her as Yun Luohe sped farther from Leisure Cloud Isle.This trip, she brought Roubao and Fenfen.Before heading out, she promised she’d take Yuntun next time. Yuntun knew Yun Luohe hadn’t brought Roubao out to play for a long while—the last few times Roubao had stayed home—so it wasn’t upset.Today’s target was one of the small islands on the upper side of the nautical chart.The yacht ran steadily in that direction; with sextant positioning and Fenfen giving early-warning aloft, they avoided several hidden reefs and reached the destination quickly.Seeing the green island up ahead, Fenfen cried out on deck in delight.“We’re here, we’re here!”By eye, the island wasn’t large. Vegetation was mainly low shrubs and salt-alkali–tolerant trees; a low hill with sparse cover rose at the center.The edges were a belt of beach and reef.Yun Luohe had prepped well for this outing.She first took out some animal offal and tossed it into rock pools by the shore to bait a spot.She set a few fishing devices and crab pots; she’d come back for them before leaving—should be a decent haul.——Yun Luohe sent the spiders in first to clear the island’s insects, while she took Roubao to the outer mangroves to look for green crabs and horned sea snails.Fenfen followed the spiders to recon the island; the spiders could also guarantee Fenfen’s safety.The soil underfoot felt wet. Mangrove roots crisscrossed, like a giant net spread over the ground.Green crabs were hard to find in daytime, but horned snails filled the mud.If you didn’t mind dirt, one sweep of the hand and you’d hit them.Gloves on and high rubber waders, she wasn’t worried—she groped through the mud and quickly filled a basket with snails, and even caught a few green crabs.The green crabs were all Roubao’s work. It moved fast; the moment it spotted one, it pounced, pinning the shell with a paw, and then Yun Luohe clipped it up with tongs and dropped it in the bucket.Besides green crabs,The island had plenty of coconut trees,Which meant they’d return late today.Coconut crabs usually came out at night.“Smell—over there! Definitely something good.”Fenfen suddenly zipped over, excited.“Okay, take me.”She parted thick vines and broad leaves; a few oddly shaped trees came into view.Short trunks with thick boughs, hung with huge, football-sized fruits—rough-skinned, yellow-brown to deep red.“Cocoa!” Yun Luohe blurted, thrilled.This was a highly practical ingredient. With cocoa beans, she could make cocoa powder, and from that, chocolate.Chocolate opened up all kinds of desserts.Some desserts on the Advanced Cooking Station required cocoa powder and beans. You could buy them at the Trade Hub, but in tiny quantities—nowhere near enough for batch work—so she rarely bothered.Also, Peach loved sweets; she would certainly enjoy chocolate-flavored desserts.The slight bitterness of chocolate perfectly balanced sweetness, enriching the flavor.The ripe fruits were heavy. She carefully cut one open; inside, dozens of deep-purple beans nestled in white, sticky pulp.She tasted a little of the pulp—sweet-tart with a distinctive fragrance.She carefully collected the beans inside.There were more than a dozen cocoa trees here. With spider help, she quickly swept all the ripe pods off every tree.Pushing deeper inland, Yun Luohe also caught a few beautiful butterflies.Two Moonlight butterflies, three large pale butterflies, and she found some wild ornamental flowering plants.The island wasn’t big, but being small had its perks—easy to explore; she could comb the whole place in short order.Fenfen also found a special flower with sweet nectar inside.That mattered, too—Vivira loved floral honey; collecting more varieties of nectar was definitely no downside.At dusk, as the sky went dark, coconut crabs came out.Yun Luohe made a dozen-odd traps for them.Coconut crabs loved coconuts—hence the name—so just crack some coconuts and rig simple traps and you could catch them.In just one hour, she’d bagged over a dozen large coconut crabs.Two females were already carrying eggs; Yun Luohe released those and didn’t take them.On the return leg, she tallied the haul in the yacht’s cargo hold.Everything she’d gotten this time was top-notch.Even the fishing devices and crab pots were brimming—She’d caught two big octopus, more than a dozen black-spot grunts and rockfish, plus green crabs in the pots and an eel.Humming, Yun Luohe sorted and stowed the materials.It was already 21:30 when she got back to the island.But in just one day, Captain Hilco’s house had taken clear shape.Stone-and-wood construction on the slope beside the Brewery Workshop; the main frame and perimeter wall were up.The Mid-Level Architect held blueprints and directed several Gold-Shell Spiders moving selected timbers.At this pace, finishing tomorrow night should be about right.“Happy with the layout?” the architect asked, pointing at the house.Yun Luohe stepped inside. The first floor was a living room and bar; the shelves behind the counter were already lined with the fruit wines she’d brewed before, and a door beside them led down to the cellar.The second floor was a bedroom and a viewing deck. From here the sightlines were superb—you could see the white beach and the blue sea in the distance..“Excellent. Thanks for the work.” Yun Luohe nodded, satisfied. The house matched her expectations; Captain Hilco should like it.She continued to stroll around outside.The reserved garden plot had been leveled.A few Horticulture Nanny Spiders were binding and bracing roof beams with tough silk.Gemstone °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Miner Spiders were finely carving the stone pillars of the porch.This architect knew how to arrange things.Even without her present, the spiders listened to his commands.After returning, Yun Luohe didn’t rest—she immediately started preliminary processing of the cocoa beans.To turn pods into chocolate, the beans had to be separated from the pulp, then spread on clean grass mats. When the sun rose the next day, they’d be moved to a sunny, airy spot to dry.When that was done, Yun Luohe received today’s Association Exchange materials and a large load of trash from Mu Zitang.She tried a few trash combinations herself to level up the recycling—a small upgrade, but no surprises.However, today’s lottery yielded a nice blueprint—the Carbonated Beverage Workshop Blueprint.That was interesting.Which meant the island could produce carbonated drinks.Coke, lemon-lime soda, orange soda flashed through her mind…She opened the Trade Hub and began today’s sweep. @All the best reads, all at Jinjiang Literature CityShe needed to buy a few currently missing materials.For example, Advanced Lubricant.With that, she could make the motorcycle.She typed “Advanced Lubricant” and found it quickly.The other party wanted five portions of golden-quality fish meat for a bottle. Yun Luohe traded three bottles without hesitation—enough to craft the motorcycle with some to spare.Next, she wanted some ceramic wares.First she searched the keywords “high-grade plates” and “drinkware.”Plating mattered—a good plate or vessel could boost a dish.For the cooking finals, her standards would be even higher.Soon, a meticulously designed ceramic set caught her eye.The glaze was deep as a night sky, spangled with fine silver points that seemed to flow; the forms were elegant and fluid.Especially a ten-piece plate set and two slender-neck wine ewers—perfect for serving Captain Hilco’s courses.Afterwards, she could gift them to Captain Hilco—he would definitely like them.Might even add a good chunk of Favorability.If this maker could craft such beautiful tableware, he could probably take custom orders for other styles, too.Yun Luohe messaged the seller proactively, hoping to commission several additional sets.

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