Chapter 1 "That... Bento Box, What's the Gift?"

Under the angry stares of Lu Xiaoyao and Merita, Julian and Wang Wenfei successfully completed their transaction.

Then, Julian couldn't wait to ask Mingmei what the little gift that came with the bamboo shoot and preserved pork bento box was.

"Mm, it's something for going up the mountain. I'll prepare the little gift for you when you go up the mountain."

"How did you know we were going up the mountain?"

Merita immediately asked.

Although their background for this vacation included a visit to the Mountain God Temple on Crescent Moon Mountain, they didn't remember anyone saying they were going up the mountain after arriving here.

Thinking this, Merita looked at the others and asked, "Did any of you mention this?"

Everyone shook their heads, also finding it strange. Everyone then looked at Mingmei.

Mingmei wasn't flustered, and simply said, "Isn't the most famous thing about New Moon Village this Crescent Moon Mountain with the Mountain God Temple? Guests who come to my shop always climb the mountain."

"What if we don't climb the mountain? Wouldn't they lose out on buying this bento box?"

Lu Xiaoyao also questioned Mingmei, unwilling to accept this.

"Do you... also think my bento box is a loss?" Mingmei said, glancing at Wang Wenfei and Julian. Seeing them shake their heads repeatedly, she looked at Lu Xiaoyao, who had empty hands, and smiled, "If you think it's a loss, don't buy it. If you don't buy it, how can there be a loss, right?"

Lu Xiaoyao: "..."

[I told you, Zai Zai isn't buying the bento box again this round. I wonder if she'll regret it later.]

[See? There's no more feedback on the forum.]

[Huh? Didn't the price come out? Why isn't there any feedback in the later plot? No feedback from brothers who didn't buy the bento box?]

[It seems it's because some players refused to buy it because the bento box was too expensive, and then... then they died without buying it! So they came out to scold the game!]

[...So, those who bought it are still in the game and haven't come out yet?]

[Yes! That's right!]

[!!!]

[???]

...

After a lunch that couldn't really be considered lunch, Wang Wenfei hurriedly left again.

Lu Xiaoyao and the others went upstairs for a nap until the sun began to set, when Lu Xiaoyao woke up and went downstairs to look for food.

However, because they couldn't buy Mingmei's bento box for the time being, and they didn't plan to buy it anyway, they went straight out the door and went to the village in the direction Mingmei had pointed.

They planned to wander around and buy some vegetables from the locals to cook.

Before leaving, Mingmei reminded them to be sure to return before dark.

As for whether Lu Xiaoyao and the others listened, Mingmei could only find out through Lu Xiaoyao's livestream.

"No wonder the boss told us to go back before dark. This village doesn't even have streetlights."

Walking in the village, Merita looked around and realized that there weren't even streetlights on either side of the road.

"The houses in this village look pretty good, and the families don't seem to be doing badly."

Merita continued to look at the scenery around the village.

Blue bricks and black tiles, the setting sun, the afterglow illuminating the entire mountain village with wisps of smoke, the whole village exuded a sense of peace.

But for some reason, Merita, being in the village, felt a sense of disharmony.

This village seemed a little too quiet at this time?

"?!"

Merita's eyes were sharp, and she suddenly looked towards a villager's residence by the roadside.

But apart from the closed courtyard door, she didn't see anything else.

Just now, she clearly felt several gazes falling on her.

"Hmph, we'll talk about it later, what's the rush... to buy vegetables?"

Not noticing Merita's slightly neurotic reaction, Lu Xiaoyao pouted. She was still bothered by the bento box and what Mingmei had said earlier.

"We left in a hurry just now and didn't have time to ask the boss why we had to go back earlier..."

As the two were talking, they stopped in front of a small courtyard. Through the one-meter-high fence, Lu Xiaoyao and the others could clearly see a small vegetable garden in the courtyard, growing very well.

So, Lu Xiaoyao showed off her social skills and quickly made the aunt who came out of the house to feed the chickens very happy, buying a lot of vegetables and a few eggs.

When paying, Lu Xiaoyao was very sweet and said, "Auntie, your vegetables are growing so well. I've been walking all the way and your vegetables look the most beautiful!"

"Oh! Not at all, just average, everyone's growing well! Mountain God bless, Mountain God bless~" When the vegetable-selling aunt mentioned the Mountain God, a flush of fanaticism appeared on her face, and she kept saying, "Mountain God is above, bless our village with good weather and a bumper harvest every year!"

"Ah... is that so?"

Lu Xiaoyao took a half step back, slightly taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm of the aunt who had been friendly just now.

"Is the Mountain God here so accurate?" Merita asked casually when she saw this.

"Of course! The Mountain God is omnipotent!" Hearing Merita's question, the other party looked directly at her and said, "As long as you sincerely make a wish, the Mountain God will hear it and fulfill it!"

Afraid that Lu Xiaoyao and Merita wouldn't believe her, she pulled them and rambled on, talking about the cases of villagers who had successfully made wishes to the Mountain God over the years.

"Take Wang Laosan's family, for example. They were so poor, and it was even more difficult to support their daughter to go to college in another city. As a result, they went to the Mountain God Temple to pray two years ago... and their family made a fortune!"

"If it works like this, why didn't they make a wish before?"

Hearing Merita suddenly say this, Lu Xiaoyao suddenly realized that Merita might be a contrarian.

People were talking about examples, and she was picking at words, asking others what they were doing before.

"Before?"

The aunt wasn't angry, but when she mentioned this, she curled her lips and said, "They didn't believe it before. Wang Laosan's family, since his father's generation, didn't believe in the Mountain God very much... Sigh! They were desperate, so they believed it? Although their family suddenly became rich and didn't say they had prayed to the Mountain God, but... who believes that?"

When the aunt mentioned Wang Laosan's family, Mingmei raised an eyebrow. She remembered that she had just seen Wang Laosan's wife crying with others this morning, complaining that her husband had run away, right?

"Wang Laosan... is a sober and pitiful person..." Mingmei carefully sorted out the memory information in her identity in this game, and no one heard a faint sigh...

Julian and the others, who had left earlier than Lu Xiaoyao, had already returned with the last rays of the setting sun. As soon as they came in, they saw that there was no one in the house except Mingmei.

"Boss, where are Lu Xiaoyao and the others?"

"They went to the village to stroll around and haven't come back yet."

As soon as Mingmei finished speaking, she saw Julian's face change. He looked back at the sun, which had already fallen below the horizon, leaving only a few rays of light in the sky to provide a bit of light for those who hadn't returned.

"They..."

Julian frowned, recalled what he had said to the villagers today, and immediately turned around to ask Mingmei if there were any torches in the shop, looking like he wanted to go find them.

"Damn it! What's going on with this village? Everyone goes back to their houses as soon as the sun sets. I haven't even bought flour yet!"

"You're still talking, if you hadn't been trying to get close to that aunt, would we have stayed so long?"

"You're still blaming me? It's clearly because you're a contrarian reincarnate, constantly arguing with the aunt about what she said, forcing her to argue with you!"

Just as Julian and the others were about to go out, Lu Xiaoyao and Merita finally entered the shop before it was completely dark outside.

As soon as she entered the shop, Lu Xiaoyao was startled by Julian's dark face.

"What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Julian was amused by Lu Xiaoyao's preemptive strike, "I'm just asking, didn't the boss remind you to come back before dark before you left?"

"She did..."

At this moment, Julian couldn't help but remind Lu Xiaoyao of the tone her tutor used to use when going over her papers when she was a child – "Didn't I tell you this before?"

But just because it was said doesn't mean you can remember it!

"We did come back before dark, it was just a little accident, why are you being so fierce?!"

Merita stepped forward and protected Lu Xiaoyao behind her, looking at Julian with a critical gaze.

In the past, she thought Julian was a good match for her except for his "bad background," and she even had a vague crush on him. However, after the Eight Schools Exchange, Merita had no feelings at all.

She even thought he was too ungentlemanly when he "bullied" Lu Xiaoyao!

And Mingmei was quietly watching from the side without saying a word, her gossip radar was already on full blast!

This kind of complicated shura field drama, how could she not enjoy it?