"Ask him?"

Mingmei's expression froze for a moment.

Had she been too nice to Mu Chen recently? Was he getting carried away just because she showed him a little kindness?

Mu Chen, who only wanted to tease Mingmei a little, immediately realized he might have gone too far when he saw the coldness in her eyes.

So, after only a second of thought, Mu Chen obediently stepped forward, a smile on his face as if he hadn't noticed anything. He leaned over to look at the lunchbox in Mingmei's hand, and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, that looks like a really exquisite and delicious lunchbox!"

Mingmei: Hmph! What terrible acting.

With that acting, he definitely deserved the Interstellar Golden Raspberry Award this year.

Idiot!

Mingmei couldn't bear to watch Mu Chen's enthusiastic but unskillful attempt to play along. Couldn't he see the disdainful looks around them, as if everyone was thinking, "Ew! How exaggerated!"

But Mu Chen continued as if he didn't notice anything, "This lunchbox looks so delicious, I think I could eat two boxes. Can I? I won't eat for free, I can pay you."

Mingmei let out a light, haughty huff, but in the end, she still started a transaction with Mu Chen.

Don't get the wrong idea, she just wanted to earn credit points!

Seeing the credit points enter her account, Mingmei couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, revealing cute little dimples on her cheeks.

Mu Chen had been staring at Mingmei's face throughout the entire transaction, and his smile deepened as he saw the changes in her expression.

Sure enough, he still loved seeing her happy.

Whether she was happy but kept a straight face with bright, sparkling eyes, or her eyes were lively and the corners of her mouth gradually curved into a smile, he loved it all.

As long as she was happy.

But this sweet and sugary scene between the two of them made Lu Xiaoyao feel stifled, and Lu Xiaoyao's viewers felt even more stifled!

[This man... really, can't he be a little more focused?!]

The viewers in the live stream were unhappy. It was obvious that Mu Chen felt something special for Mingmei, but the current Merchant Miss was different from the original!

In their eyes, she had been replaced!

They felt heartbroken, as if their CP had broken up and the male lead had moved on!

[Wuwuwuwu, no more knives, no more knives! The child is about to cry!]

[Every piece of candy is a knife to the heart of what once was!! Wuwuwuwuwuwu...]

[I thought he was a dedicated man, but it turns out... wuwu! You渣男 (zhā nán, scumbag)! You'll be nice to whoever sells you a lunchbox!]

[渣男 (zhā nán, scumbag)! Have you forgotten the former Merchant Miss who was like a goddess from Tianshan?]

[Ahhhhh! I want to ship this pair too, but my previous CP can't rest in peace!!]

Mingmei, who took a moment to glance at Lu Xiaoyao's live stream, felt amused and annoyed at the same time.

Did people have to be so invested in shipping CPs?

Wise people don't fall in love, CP shippers abstain from worldly affairs.

Thinking this, Mingmei glanced at Mu Chen beside her, and secretly asked Guigui [Do you think this face goes better with Mu Chen, or the original one?]

Guigui: [Host, you're selling lunchboxes, don't think about personal matters during work hours!!]

Mingmei: ...Why so irritable?

"Wait!"

Zhen Hu couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward to stop Mu Chen's hand from taking the lunchbox, temporarily halting the transaction.

Mu Chen: ???

Mingmei: ???

Zhen Hu put his arm around Mu Chen's shoulder and said, "What's so good about this lunchbox? I have some excellent roasted meat, and it's free. Are you going to eat it? You're a scholar out in the world, shouldn't you be frugal? Why are you spending money to buy lunchboxes?"

Seeing the increasingly incredulous expression on Mu Chen's face, he turned Mu Chen around so that his back was facing Mingmei, and whispered, "Brother, I see that you're strong. Be careful not to fall for her tricks, understand?"

"You mean..."

"She's not just anyone."

"I know, she's an NPC." A lunchbox-selling NPC.

"No! I mean, her character in this story isn't human."

Seeing that the other person wasn't "getting it," Zhen Hu quickly explained, exposing Zhen Po's true identity and saying that the Celestial Master had discovered that Mingmei wasn't human.

After Zhen Hu finished explaining, he saw that Mu Chen wasn't saying anything and assumed that he was scared, which pleased him.

He remembered that Mu Chen was quite strong. If he and his brother could win him over, the subsequent tasks would be much easier. They couldn't let someone like that be eliminated so easily.

"You're too kind."

Just as Zhen Hu was imagining Mu Chen being touched by his offer to form an alliance after he had saved him, Mu Chen turned around and bought a lunchbox again!

"You you you you..."

Zhen Hu was so angry that he couldn't speak properly. He pointed at the lunchbox Mu Chen was holding with a trembling hand, looking incredibly disappointed.

He had said so much, why was this person still so stubborn?!

Zhen Hu glanced at Mingmei again, seeing that she had walked away and was resting under the shade of another tree. He then turned back and questioned, "I told you all that, why did you still buy it?!"

"I'm hungry~"

Mu Chen almost didn't even look at the lunchbox's stats before diving in with his eyes closed.

Appeasing Mingmei was the priority, who cared what he said?

Thinking this, Mu Chen brought the rich, dark braised pork and rice to his mouth in front of Zhen Hu. Zhen Hu was about to say something, but when he saw the braised pork rice, his eyes almost popped out.

Damn!

It smelled so good!

It must be delicious!

Just one more look!

Damn, it was his dream meal!

The distinct, glistening grains of rice were coated in a reddish-brown sauce and shone under the sunlight. Zhen Hu was completely mesmerized.

Zhen Hu: Suddenly, he felt like eating it (¯﹃¯)

But Zhen Hu's appearance was really affecting Mu Chen's appetite.

Mu Chen took a step back and turned around, noticing a stick on the fire not far away with a charred, black lump on it.

He fell silent and took another bite of braised pork rice.

After a while, Mu Chen turned back to Zhen Hu, who was still staring blankly, and asked, "That... is that the roasted meat you were talking about?"

Following Mu Chen's finger, the expression on Zhen Hu's face instantly cracked!

"Ahhhhh! My roasted meat! Zhen Po!"

Zhen Hu had come to "save" Mu Chen earlier and told his younger brother to watch the fire!

But in the end, the person was gone and the meat was burnt!

Zhen Hu, who had confidently boasted about his delicious, free roasted meat, felt like his face was being slapped repeatedly.

"Ahhhhh! My roasted meat!!"

"Serves you right~"

Mingmei sat there watching the commotion, feeling a little angry. When she was in a bad mood, she wanted to eat, so she planned to take out a lunchbox for herself.

While she was at it, she browsed the effects of the two lunchboxes:

[Soul-Reaping Braised Pork Rice: 1 credit point/portion. After consumption, the consumer will dream of a beautiful dream that is the opposite of reality and will never come true.]

[Cola Chicken Wings Lunchbox: 1 credit point/portion. The consumer can double the level of their best skill!]

"Hmm, this game..."

Looking at the effects of the lunchboxes, Mingmei began to sort out the story plot again.

Logically speaking, this game wasn't that difficult, but after thinking about it carefully, the player's task was a bit of a trap—

[According to the setting and memory of your character, find the legendary fox spirit, make a wish, and successfully fulfill the wish. That is, the fox spirit appears.]

Fulfill the wish, but who was going to fulfill it wasn't stated?

Also, how was Zhen Po, with his Celestial Master role, going to find a fox spirit to make a wish?

Wasn't he supposed to be an exorcist?

Just those two things alone made Mingmei feel that this game was not so simple.

Then, she glanced at the second lunchbox again, the level of their best skill doubles.

What was the use of doubling their skills here?