Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 83 Tasting Delicious Food

After triggering the fishing game, Han Qiwu clearly felt that its activity level was much weaker this time compared to last time when he reeled it in.

Black bream: "What nonsense! Who gets smacked in the forehead with an elbow and walks away unscathed?"

Once he reeled it in with ease, Han Qiwu stowed the black bream and took out some bait to try out the idea he just had.

This time, when casting his line, Han Qiwu intentionally didn’t use full strength, only casting the hook a distance of three to four squares, just enough to see the situation around the hook.

With the bait in place, the nearby black bream quickly began to gather around.

Han Qiwu acted quickly, raising the fishing rod to take off the bait, planning to cast again and target those black breams that were drawn toward the bait.

But when he finished casting his line, those black bream had already disappeared without a trace.

The "bait-saving ambush fishing method" failed on the first attempt.

"Too slow. To make this method effective, it’s best to have two fishing rods—one to place the bait and one strictly for ambush fishing." Han Qiwu summarized his experience. He did have two rods: one was [Bronze Blade] and the other was [Training Rod], but the latter couldn’t be equipped with bait, was awkward to use, and hardly fit for ambush fishing.

"I need to get another rod that can be equipped with bait." Han Qiwu frowned as he thought about it. The trading post did display fishing rods before, but the prices were in the five-figure range, which Han Qiwu couldn’t afford in the short term.

"Oh right, Mr. Tang has a good rod—wonder if I can borrow it and see if it’s usable?" Han Qiwu suddenly recalled [Gentle Breeze].

The stats on that were truly outstanding.

Glancing at the time, Han Qiwu decided to ask Tang Qingying about it later in the evening. Anyway, he couldn’t enter the mine today, so he might as well practice some fundamentals for now.

Reflecting on the earlier scenario, relying on the "ambush fishing method" every time would be far too mentally draining—currently, it was impossible for him to fish like that all day.

Han Qiwu pondered, "I’ll stick to the previous ’go-with-the-flow fishing method’ for casual fishing, switching to the ambush technique only in special situations."

To get a tiny hook into the mouth of a fish swimming in ever-flowing seawater requires both skill and luck.

Luck isn’t something Han Qiwu can improve, but skill is.

"Let’s practice here for the morning, do my best to combine Fisherman’s Secret Technique Part 1 with [Rising Sun], and at the very least, get to where I can cast the soft fishing line and hook accurately into the target location."

Two hours later.

Inside a narrow rocky cave, Han Qiwu, with his shirt off, was sweating buckets.

Competing with himself was exhausting.

Glancing at the time, Han Qiwu packed up his things and left the rocky cave. Passing by the pier, he took about ten minutes to reel in two sardines.

Lunch is going to be Stargazy Pie!

Just as he was about to bike home, Han Qiwu heard someone holler from the direction of [Fisherman’s Drink].

"Catch something good again? Let me try!"

Han Qiwu immediately recognized it was Brother Jing. He turned the bike around and rode to the entrance of [Fisherman’s Drink]. As he dismounted, he pulled out two sardines and the black bream from the storage compartment and placed them in a bucket.

"Brother Jing’s back, huh? Today I just reeled in two sardines and a black bream—time for another round in the afternoon," Han Qiwu said cheerfully. "Brother Jing, I recently learned a dish using sardines. Wanna try it?"

"Why not! I’ll take care of the black bream—this fish is something Qingying used to catch all the time as a kid." Tang Jing laughed heartily, the memory of Han Qiwu’s previous squirrelfish dish flashing in his mind, making him wonder what delicious creation he’d get to taste this time.

Han Qiwu could already predict Brother Jing’s thoughts.

This time’s going to be different!

Heading into the kitchen, Han Qiwu took out a large red-skinned potato and started peeling it.

"Whoa, huge potato! Where’d you get it?" asked the surprised Tang Jing, who had just stepped into the kitchen. "Which market stall did you buy this from? Tell me about it."

"That’s a secret. Next time I get some, I’ll send you a couple," Han Qiwu deflected with a casual wave.

Market stall? No way.

Han family courtyard!

As he sliced the potato, Han Qiwu thought to himself that Brother Jing seemed really interested in potatoes. When the potato harvest was ready in a few days, he’d definitely send some over.

Compared to the price of a new fishing rod at the trading post, this [Bronze Blade] was worth at least 5,000 gold. Han Qiwu owed him for this favor—it was a debt that needed repaying.

After prepping the potato, Han Qiwu skilledly made two potato pancakes.

While the pancakes turned golden crisp, Han Qiwu swiftly processed the two sardines. The process was simple: cut off their heads, then debone and fillet the rest.

Once the pancakes were done, he poured in some oil and fried the fish heads until they held their shape. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

With all the ingredients ready, Han Qiwu started plating. He used one pancake as a base, sprinkled a layer of sardine meat on top, and placed the two fish heads strategically. To achieve the stargazing effect, Han Qiwu made sure the fish heads were positioned just right. Then he topped it with the second pancake—careful not to cover the fish heads.

Otherwise, it would lose its soul.

After plating, he placed it into the oven for a 15-minute bake.

Fifteen minutes later.

Stargazy Pie was complete!

Golden-brown potato pancakes served with two defiant sardine heads staring straight at Han Qiwu.

"So this is what dead fish eyes look like. Quite unique." Han Qiwu couldn’t help but avoid their gaze—it felt a bit unsettling.

[Stargazy Pie (Ordinary Quality)]

[Stamina +120]

[HP +50]

[Fishing level +2 for five hours after consumption]

[Note: The quality of sardines and potatoes determines the dish’s quality]

Looking at the system message, Han Qiwu was already satisfied. Despite being of ordinary quality, as long as the Buff effects didn’t get nerfed, it was fine.

"Looks like I need to save the Gold Star crops in the future. Who knows—a Gold Star version of Stargazy Pie might add +3 levels," Han Qiwu anticipated, quietly excited. Once he ate the Stargazy Pie later, his fishing specialization would jump to +5. How long would the floats be? Would his casting range also increase?

"Time to eat!"

"Alright, my steamed black bream is just ready, too," Tang Jing said as he brought the fish to the table. But as he lowered his gaze to set the dish down, he froze.

"What is this?" Tang Jing wondered if he was hallucinating—why did it seem like...

"Stargazy Pie," Han Qiwu said with suppressed laughter. This was already his modified version. If he truly copied the original, Tang Jing might start questioning his life choices.

"Stargazy Pie? Shouldn’t this be eaten at night, then?" Tang Jing joked for once.

"No need, no need. Strictly speaking, the sky above us is always filled with stars." Han Qiwu chuckled. "Let’s start with the black bream."

"Alright, alright. Black bream first," Tang Jing agreed, grabbing the serving chopsticks and offering Han Qiwu a large piece of fish.

After being steamed, the black bream had become tender and mild, its texture exceptionally smooth and silky.

Tang Jing had thoughtfully added some calabash powder during cooking, giving the fish a richly layered flavor that made Han Qiwu unable to stop eating, one bite after another.

As for Tang Jing, however, his eating pace gradually slowed down.

Perhaps it was the angle, but he couldn’t help feeling like those two sardine heads were staring at him.