"It's sweet and sour, nothing like vegetable juice, a bit like fruit juice... and it's so refreshing!"
One person chewed on the sediment in the drink, spitting out a small, dark red particle.
"Is this... a jujube pit? It has a strong jujube flavor!"
"No, it should be dried jujube flesh. It's a bit tough, but still chewable."
Old Mo really liked this drink. He immediately fetched a basin-sized cup and drank three large vats in one go.
Glancing at the scorching sun overhead, Old Mo chuckled, "On a hot summer day, what could be more satisfying than a cool drink? Zhang Wei, what's the secret to this stuff?"
It wasn't just Old Mo; all the other refugees looked revitalized after drinking it, seemingly unaffected by the intense heat.
Old Mo had learned his lesson and no longer dared to criticize Zhang Wei's cooking, fearing he might miss some deeper meaning and appear ignorant.
"There's no profound meaning. It's just a summer-relief drink modeled after chilled sour plum soup."
He scooped a cupful.
Zhang Wei explained, "The ingredients for this soup are 'Yizhong' original water, combined with the thousand-year-old unfrozen ice from the northern lands. The ice is crushed into powder and mixed with oranges, lemons, mint, calamansi, and other ingredients to form the base."
The ice from the northern lands was a veritable heat sink. To melt it required a significant amount of energy, which was precisely what was needed to dissipate the summer heat.
Its combination with fruit juice complemented the chilling effect.
The main ingredient was the juice of the Magic Pea Vine, providing maximum vitamins.
"Fat-soluble vitamins, water-soluble vitamins, this way, the replenishment is comprehensive."
"Calamansi, oranges, and the like are also rich in vitamin C. I doubt they'll have opportunities to eat fruit on their journey, so this can prevent scurvy."
Northern ice?
No wonder it was so cool and refreshing.
People came and went. The previous batch of refugees had already left, and new ones were approaching.
Old Mo was responsible for operating the steel cable, while Zhang Wei busied himself nearby.
"What else are you preparing?"
"Food!"
Old Mo was surprised. "Have the 18 million Green Vegetable Dumplings been consumed so quickly? Or do you have other giant cooking utensils?"
Zhang Wei didn't answer but instead dropped newly wrapped dumplings from the lid of the water kettle.
A mixed pot?
How could they tell which was cooked and which wasn't?
If they were all cooked at high temperatures, wouldn't some fried rice become too moist, affecting the texture?
This brought up another design feature.
Steam Density Suspension!
Inside the giant water kettle, ingredients entered from the opening and went straight to the bottom.
At the deepest point were the dense, high-temperature concentrate and settled spices. Here, the vegetable leaves would be flavored and cooked.
After the rice and leaves absorbed enough heat and expanded, their density would decrease with increasing volume.
They would float!
Evolving stage by stage, they would float and eventually gather near the spout.
Pulling the steel cable, the gathered steam would carry the vegetable dumplings upward...
Such a complex design!
Even after Zhang Wei's explanation, Old Mo remained utterly bewildered.
"What steam?"
"Cough cough cough, none of that is important. The point is, this batch of refugees is saved. I just don't know how the other locations are progressing."
Old Mo said sternly, "Don't underestimate this cooking competition. I've seen many familiar faces among the participants. These are beings who would normally never appear in the human world, and even I would be wary of them!"
"There are still strong contenders? That makes it more interesting."
Ever since Zhang Wei had devoured the Four Ancient Gods, he found it difficult to feel wary of anyone.
Even Old Mo had suffered minor injuries from a single punch from him. Conservatively estimating, Zhang Wei's current combat power would not be less than 350 levels!
Of course, this was just a guess; the actual figure might be far higher.
He took out a measuring tool, the Happiness Flower provided by Moritaro. The Happiness Flower was now brilliant, like a large red lantern.
Fifty thousand levels!
As long as this process was repeated, reaching three million would not be a problem.
It seemed that this competition, he was the undisputed number one.
However, if he set the questions himself and still couldn't get first place, he might as well smash his head against a wall.
At this moment.
The Concentric Grass in his embrace was faintly warm, indicating a message was being received.
He took it out to look. The message was from Xifeng.
Xifeng: Boss, it's a disaster! A gust of demonic wind just swept through the first floor of the Gourmet Bank, carrying away a full tenth of the ingredients! These ingredients were reserved for the competition, and many chefs are already unhappy!
Demonic wind?
Zhang Wei suspected he was watching Journey to the West; it all sounded like Sun Wukong stealing things.
Although the ingredients on the first floor were of lower grade, they were all perfect quality and still valuable.
Moreover, Zhang Wei's stock on the first floor was the largest, five times more than the second-largest floor. It was a terrifying quantity that could feed ten countries.
"Who exactly is causing trouble..."