Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 66: Good Times

Han Qiwu froze for a moment.

The hotpot base has already been bought—how exactly is that cooking?

Is this about the culinary art of ’how to stir-fry hotpot base’?

How is that any different from the "craft" of cooking instant noodles?

Of course, while his mind was full of complaints, Han Qiwu still replied, "Hotpot, I guess."

At least hotpot just needs to be cooked thoroughly to eat.

At this moment, Tang Qingying was quite pleased. After so many failures, she had finally discovered a dish that suited her:

Spicy hotpot!

Compared to hotpot, Tang Qingying felt all the dishes she had tried learning before were totally unreliable—they either required mastery of heat control, knife skills, or seasoning.

Who could master all that?

Also, constantly remodeling the kitchen was way too much of a hassle.

Spicy hotpot reigns supreme!

All it takes is the base and ingredients to create an unbeatable flavor!

"This is the secret hotpot base I found—it’s crazy spicy!" Tang Qingying handed the hotpot base to Han Qiwu with pride, while she hugged a big box of ingredients to her chest. "If Uncle hadn’t gone out, this would’ve been perfect; he loves spicy food."

"Let me carry that." Han Qiwu reached over to take the big box from Tang Qingying’s arms and walked into the house with ease.

"I bought all prepared ingredients. Once the water boils, we can eat. After we’re full, we’ll go fishing, and I’ll give you a little guidance too—I’m a professional angler." Tang Qingying pulled a brand-new induction cooker from the trunk of her car.

"Alright," Han Qiwu nodded. If he remembered correctly, Old Huang had said something similar last time—yet he didn’t catch a single fish.

This sea might be cursed.

Better sneak in some system bait for Mr. Tang later; it’s a good chance to test if it works for other people.

Han Qiwu had it all planned out: as long as Mr. Tang didn’t catch anything, he absolutely wouldn’t cast his own line.

Just play the supporting role—it’s enough!

A while later, the two began sampling the hotpot.

When it comes to hotpot, you absolutely shouldn’t savor it slowly. You’ve got to eat fast and swipe fast—eat quickly enough and your taste buds can’t catch up with you.

"By the way, have you planted anything? Still potatoes this time?" Tang Qingying asked, her cheeks glowing red from the heat of the feast.

"Haha, no, not potatoes—this." Han Qiwu said as he tossed four or five pieces of cauliflower into the hotpot.

Potatoes are already big enough. If I grow some sort of giant potatoes, wouldn’t they end up weighing ten-plus pounds each?

They’d turn into winter melons.

"Cauliflower? A variant of Brassica oleracea from the Brassicaceae family? That’s an interesting thought. I’ll go check it out at your place later," Tang Qingying said curiously. "What made you think of using cauliflower?"

Han Qiwu felt a bit helpless—how could he tell her it was a reward for completing a mission? Besides, showing her wasn’t an option either; he’d have to find a way to distract her.

Well then, I have no choice—I’ll have to use my secret weapon!

The Shamelessly Rambling Whip!

"Mr. Tang, you know that the edible part of cauliflower is formed by densely clustering undeveloped flower buds and their stems into a creamy, fleshy head. Among the buds, the small peripheral flowers measure 2–3 cm in diameter, while the central buds are under 1 cm. If we can induce these buds to grow longer, thicker, or increase the number of them, it could significantly enlarge the cauliflower’s size." Han Qiwu explained with an utterly sincere expression. After saying it, even he felt it sounded like a viable concept.

"Not bad—a creative approach! My uncle was worried that your research progress might be suffering since you’re always out and about, so he specifically asked me to check up on you. But looking at this, you’ve delved deep into your work," Tang Qingying said brightly, giving Han Qiwu a pat on the shoulder.

Han Qiwu: "...Never in a million years did I expect Tang Jing to be such a tattletale!"

But here she thinks I’m on the fifth layer of research, while in reality, I’m on layer zero.

This isn’t how it works at all!

"It’s all thanks to Mr. Tang’s teachings, and Water Buffalo Town is really helpful too," Han Qiwu said modestly, waving his hand.

"No need to be humble—it’s a solid idea. If you ever need technical support, feel free to look me up; I’ll help you out," Tang Qingying replied with a smile.

Han Qiwu: "...I have no choice but to stay humble... If I don’t, I might actually end up believing it’s true myself..."

"Alright, let’s go fishing then. The weather’s nice today—do you have bait?" Tang Qingying asked as she stood up, running her hand over her flat stomach. "Oh, my dear Five Internal Organs, you’ll have something delicious for dinner tonight."

Han Qiwu couldn’t help but feel deeply helpless listening from the side.

Mr. Tang, even if your skills are great, you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself like this.

Why not jinx me instead?

If Mr. Tang really didn’t catch any fish, Han Qiwu couldn’t go out of his way like Director Ma during the Spring Festival Gala and dive into the water to hand-fasten fish onto her hook!

It’s February at the beach.

The water’s too cold—easy to catch a chill.

The sea’s too deep—hard to come back up.

After quickly tidying up the table, Tang Qingying fetched her fishing gear from the trunk.

"I haven’t fished much in this section of the sea. Let’s use some generic bait for safety," Tang Qingying said as she prepared the bait, while Han Qiwu quietly took out twenty pieces of bait from his stash.

"I’ve got some bait Brother Jing prepared—want to use it?" Han Qiwu suggested. Those twenty pieces were originally his rainy-day stock.

"Uncle made these? Sure!" Tang Qingying pulled out her fishing rod from the backseat. "By the way, this rod, Qingfeng, was custom-made by Uncle for me. Just like your Bronze Blade, it’s a beach-fishing rod."

Han Qiwu glanced over and was stunned to find he could actually view its stats.

[Metal Fishing Rod: Qingfeng]

[Exclusive to Tang Qingying]

[Attribute 1: Fishing Range +5]

[Attribute 2: Float Length +8]

[Attribute 3: Rod Durability +10]

[Equipment Level: No Level Restriction]

[Compatible with Bait]

[Remark: Qingfeng Supports Qingying]

Han Qiwu felt sour.

Heart-wrenchingly sour.

A biological niece really makes all the difference. Not only does the metal rod have ten additional points of durability,

but its float length is four times that of the Bronze Blade.

And there isn’t even a level restriction.

If only my uncle had some craftsmanship skills too.

"Let’s go—I’ll take you to my old fishing spot. There’s a black bream nest there," Tang Qingying chirped, holding her rod happily. To be fair, she hadn’t gone fishing in ages. Ever since becoming a teacher, she hadn’t come back often.

Han·Tool Man·Qi Wu obediently held the fishing box and followed behind. He hadn’t caught a black bream before—looks like there’s a chance to add a new entry to his fish catalog.

Treasure trove of a teacher, Mr. Tang.

Walking around the rocks surrounding the tidal flats for a solid fifteen minutes, Tang Qingying finally stopped beneath a craggy outcrop of sedimentary rock.

"I found this spot while exploring as a kid. Luckily, the surrounding terrain hasn’t changed much; otherwise, I might not have been able to find it again," Tang Qingying explained softly to Han Qiwu.

"Brother Jing has done an excellent job preserving this place," Han Qiwu replied as he plopped down onto the fishing box, panting.

No wonder he’d never caught black breams here before—who could stumble upon such a hidden spot?