The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm [Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG]-Chapter 258 – Stew. Yep. It’s just a chapter about making stew.
[Quest Available: Fragrant Flower Sanctuary]
“Wait, guys, there’s another quest!”
I read it out loud to them.
[Fragrant Flower Sanctuary:
Plant Fairy Flower Seeds near your Animal Pens to neutralize the bad odor coming from the farm animals.
Reward: Farming Exp]
“Fairy flowers!” Mo was ecstatic. “I love it already!”
“Are they flowers
from
the fairies or flowers
for
the fairies?” asked Lari.
“We should check the item description,” I said.
Once again, when I clicked on the underlined words saying “Fairy Flower Seeds,” I got another pop-up where I could buy the item.
[Fairy Flower Seeds:
A delightful mystery assortment of flower seeds, ranging from common beauties to rare botanical gems. Each seed promises to blossom into a vibrant, fragrant, and visually stunning flower. Can only be planted in a Fragrant Flower Sanctuary.]
Kharli frowned. “It doesn’t say if it’s for the fairies…”
“It’s fine. We should put the [Vineheart Fairy House] in the middle of the garden.” Mo’s eyes were sparkling with excitement.
“And some bees. They’re sure to produce high-quality honey if you feed on fairy flower nectar,” said Lari.
“That’s a great idea. This is yet another awesome quest.” I paused. “But I think we can do this later. We should finish planting our crops first.”
The others nodded their agreement.
“Honey is nice, but rice is better,” said Lari.
“Teacher, shall we plant border and trap crops in every field?” asked Kharli.
“Yes, I think we should.”
And so we continued working.
Later that day, Lari, Kharli, and Mo sketched a plan for the flower garden, which involved diverting water from the river to flow into a man-made stream in the southern part of the farm. We would keep some of the prettier trees and have winding garden paths with rustic wooden benches in strategic places for us to use, as well as a nice little garden gazebo from the Cash Shop.
That part of my land was pretty undeveloped; therefore, we would need to clear it of trees, weeds, fallen logs, and large rocks before we could start.
“It will be a lot of work,” I said.
The planting season lasted for two weeks, and it followed directly after the harvest season, so by the end of it, we would all be tired and in need of a break. Thus, we decided to postpone the planting of the flower garden until after the Booyah Festival and the Fox clan’s Temple Festival.
***
Two days after the planting season ended, it was time to attend the Shang family’s event. Wearing casual clothes for a rural village festival, I set off in good spirits on the flying carriage with my apprentices and most of the household staff. Shuye and Prince Baiyu, along with the Demon Chef and his assistants, were going to meet us there. They had gone on ahead with the required ingredients since the cooking started before dawn.
According to what the others said, the Booyah Festival wasn’t exactly a high society event, and even foodies avoided it since the food was often mediocre or outright terrible. The general consensus seemed to be that the ticket price wasn’t worth the two bowls of stew people received. Prince Baiyu’s family only attended out of duty, and they frequently resorted to dumping the stew into their interspatial storage to discreetly get rid of it. He told me that the event mostly drew rubberneckers and scholars who wanted to examine the Jade Cauldron’s formations.
“I hope the stew is good this year,” I said as we boarded the carriage.
“The Demon Chef will be there. That means it’ll be great,” said Lari.
I smiled and said nothing.
What he didn’t know was that the Shang family was fiercely protective of their treasure and never allowed outsiders to handle it. Deming would only prepare the ingredients, but the Shang family members would be the ones to cook the stew.
We arrived in the village after an hour of flying.
I’d visited clan members’ villages and the city of Anwei, but this was my first time seeing a human farming village. The path to the village square was made of packed earth, and the courtyard houses I saw around me had clay tile roofs and thick, textured walls built from compressed layers of local soil. The houses sat low to the ground, rarely more than a single story, with doors of rough-hewn planks that were decorated with flowery wreaths and green garlands. Beyond the houses, I could see paddy fields divided by narrow earthen dikes that channeled water between the planted sections.
“Nice place,” I said to the others.
It was true. Though the homes were small and made of humble materials, everything was neat and tidy, perhaps because there was a festival today.
We continued down the main path as it widened into the village square, which was full of wooden tables and benches. The tables were constructed of rough planks balanced on trestle legs, and the villagers, dressed in their finest hemp and cotton garments, were already seated around each one. In this world, clothes were a lot more expensive relative to a person’s income compared to clothes on Earth. Thus, instead of buying a special outfit for the event, it looked like the villagers had decorated their everyday outfits with cute flowers and ribbons, all made of scrap cloth colored or stained with natural dyes. The maids had shown me how to do it, but I was too busy to actually participate on the days when they dyed cloth scraps for decorations.
Kids were running around playing a sort of ball game while the adults sat at the tables chatting and drinking tea.
“Everyone looks festive,” said Mo.
“We fit right in,” said Kharli.
I didn’t say anything because my eyes were naturally drawn to the Jade Cauldron in the middle of the open space. I was expecting a cooking pot made of jade, but it was, in fact, an enormous three-legged iron pot of ancient design that was over five feet tall and twelve feet wide. A complex, meaty scent wafted from it.
Half a dozen people, whom I assumed were members of the Shang family, were adding ingredients and stirring the pot. There were also five tables around it where people were chopping miscellaneous fresh ingredients. By this time, the meats must have already been put in, and the fresh vegetables were next to be added. Deming was nowhere to be found.
“Lady Violet!” Shuye waved at us from the other side of the Jade Cauldron.
He went to meet us and showed us our table, where Prince Baiyu and Scholar Wu were seated with members of the White Tiger clan. Looking around, I saw this space was for ticket buyers, since most were clan members or humans dressed in fancy silk robes.
After we exchanged introductions and greetings, I frowned and sat down. “Where’s Deming?”
Scholar Wu smiled wryly and said, “He's inside the chief's house grinding fresh spices for the curry paste.”
“It's gonna be a curry? It will surely be delicious.” I turned to Prince Baiyu. “It smells okay.”
“It should be fine.” He bent down and whispered in my ear. “So you're the kind who likes spice?”
I giggled. "Yes, but not too much. I don't like it when it's so hot it burns my mouth."
This time, I wasn't too worried about too-spicy food since the stew pot was gigantic. Surely they wouldn't have enough chilis to make it overly spicy.
Shuye introduced us to various people. It seemed he knew everyone, from the pie seller from Anwei to the second cousin of the Lord of the Wolf clan. Thankfully, this was a casual occasion, so I didn’t have to get up and bow to everyone every time. Instead, we verbally greeted each other and left it at that. I made some small talk with a cousin of Shuye’s who had a fishpond business and was growing a few of the [Rice Carp] I had sold last year.
“The carp have hardly grown at all, much less reproduced, but at least they’re not dying,” he said. “And their presence has made the qi in my land much stronger, and the other fish have thrived.”
“That’s good to know,” I said.
“Yes, and I’ve consulted a formation master who says he can boost it even further.”
“I heard other farmers are doing that.”
“I’ve decided against it.”
“You have? May I ask why?”
“The cost is prohibitive, and the qi is rising naturally anyway. I can afford to be patient.”
Soon, the lunch bell was rung, and the Shang family members started serving the stew.
“Oh my,” I said as I looked down at the large bowl of mushy brown stuff. I tried not to grimace.
It didn’t look appetizing at all, but I had faith in the Demon Chef.
As expected from the mushy look, the meat was so tender it fell apart at the gentlest touch, and the vegetables had broken down into the broth. A layer of fragrant oil covered the surface. However, it turned out to be good! The first spoonful was silky and comforting, coating the tongue with warmth. The flavor was complex and deeply satisfying, a rich, aromatic blend of meats infused with warm spices, grounded by the subtle earthiness of root vegetables and brightened by the distinctive notes of the curry spices and herbs, all bound together in perfect harmony. The salt was perfectly balanced, enhancing rather than overpowering, making you want another spoonful before you'd even finished the first.
I quickly finished a bowl and even sopped up the brown remains with a piece of bread. It was that good!
As I was eating, I read the System pop-up.
[Booyah Cooking Festival: Quest Complete
Result: High-grade stew
Reward: Premium Ingredient Basket and Cooking Exp]
The Cooking exp was very nice indeed, and I'm sure the kitchen staff will love the [Premium Ingredient basket]. It had a lot of the usual meats, but high grade, and a bunch of herbs. The rarest item was a [White Truffle].
I finished the stew, and we all said goodbye to our new acquaintances. When we were back at the flying carriage, Lari heaved a great sigh and said, “That was a wonderful stew. But it looked so bad! I thought it would be like the brown mush we used to have at the orphanage.”
Prince Baiyu’s lips twitched while Kharli and Mo burst into laughter.
“No, that’s unfair, the orphanage stews weren't always bad!” said Mo.
“I once had a bite that had a bit of a crunch. There was a tiny bit of leek.” Kharli held her fingers a centimeter apart.
“I’m glad the Booyah stew was good this year,” said Prince Baiyu.
“I had fun. Thanks for getting the tickets for us,” I said to my Farm Guide. “What did you think of the Jade Cauldron?”
I directed the last question to Scholar Wu.
“It’s an interesting antique. The spatial formation inside it is not rare nowadays, but it must have been revolutionary when it was created,” she said.
“It would have been more fun if we had been allowed to participate,” said Shuye.
“Yeah, it was a community event, but all we did was eat the stew since we’re outsiders.” I thought about it a bit and smiled. “Hey, maybe next year we can have our own potluck community stew event at the farm. Everyone will bring one item and we can cook it together.”
“Yes! I’ll Hunt a big rabbit and contribute it,” said Lari.
“I could easily Fish something that tastes great,” said Kharli.
“And I shall Forage a basket of fresh mushrooms from the forest,” said Mo.
“I should start pickling vegetables this fall,” said Prince Baiyu.
“You like to pickle vegetables?” I asked.
He smiled modestly with downcast eyes. “I learned how to do it from my bridegroom classes.”
That did it. Everyone started teasing us unmercifully about our future married life and asking how I planned to turn a fierce tiger prince into a tame househusband.
Chapter 258 – Stew. Yep. It’s just a chapter about making stew.
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