Zhao Rat explained. "The administrator said that the old coins were inconvenient to use now, and the new silver coins will be used in the future."

Although he couldn’t tell why it was inconvenient, that was what the administrator said.

"Then what about the original silver coins?" Yu Hu remembered that he still had some at home. If they couldn’t be used, he had to ask his old brother to replace them with salt as soon as possible.

Anticipating that he would ask this, Zhao Rat waved his hand and responded skillfully. "Don’t worry, the administrator said that whether it’s new coins or old coins, the warehouses and banks will accept all, but they will no longer be given out."

Hearing that it would not affect the ones he had at home, Yu Hu was relieved and put the silver coins on the table into his pocket.

Looking at Yu Hu who was packing up, Zhao Rat asked, "Are you heading back already?"

Yu Hu said. "I’m not in a hurry. I’ll go see my little sister later. Do you have anything you want me to bring back for you? I can drop by for you."

Zhao Rat continued. "No, we are all paid monthly... But you can help me to pass a message to my family. Tell my father and mother to take care of themselves. It will be my turn to take a vacation after another two weeks, I’ll go home to visit them at that time.”

Yu Hu nodded. "Okay, I’ll tell them."

Upon receiving this promise, Zhao Rat showed a grateful smile on his face. "Thanks!"

At this moment, a few residents of the shelter came running not far away, pointing to the shelves and saying something.

It sounded like a quarrel.

"Pepper, I want pepper!"

"I also want it!"

"What the heck! Don’t cut the line, I’m here first!"

Looking at Elf Wang who had rushed to the forefront, Night Ten who didn’t beat him couldn’t help but shout at him, "What’s the use of you, a hunter, asking for pepper?"

Brother Elf Wang rolled his eyes and said confidently. "It’s none of your business! Are hunters not allowed to cook?"

How could he miss such an opportunity to enter the Hall of Fame?!

Although he couldn’t cook at all, that was not important!

It didn’t require much skill, did it?

As long as the seasoning was in place, would he still need to worry that the food would not taste good?

The key was to buy all the seasonings possible!

Zhao Rat glanced down at the VM, skillfully took the last two bags of peppers from the shelf, handed them to the person standing at the front, and said in a non-standard pronunciation, "This is the last… No more."

Hearing this sentence, the people behind them dispersed in an instant with disappointment.

Only the blue coat who bought the items looked happy. He said his thanks and generously took out the VM to pay for it, and then hurried away.

Watching him walking away, Yu Hu asked curiously, "What did he buy just now? Salt?"

"It’s pepper, a kind of seasoning that tastes weird, but I don’t really like it anyway." Speaking of which, Zhao Rat paused and added, "Unless it’s sprinkled on barbecue..."

Barbecue.

Yu Hu swallowed unconsciously and thought of the barbecue stall at the North Gate Market.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The food sold there was absolutely delicious!

When looking towards the north entrance, Yu Hu suddenly noticed that there was a different liveliness there. A lot of blue coats were busy running back and forth there, some took things from the granary, some brought things to be exchanged at the granary, and some people moved some wooden tables and sheds from the Woodworking Cabin there.

Usually, there were more people there in the evening. But why was it so busy at noon today?

"What’s the situation over there?" Yu Hu felt that the number of times he was curious today was far more than in the past week combined.

Zhao Rat said with a smile. "You mean there? There will be a celebration in a week’s time!"

"Celebration?!" Yu Hu looked at Zhao Rat in surprise, "Is anyone getting married?"

If the celebration was held a week in advance, it must be someone of high status.

Is it...

Is it Big Brother Chu?!

"Marriage? No. It’s called… New Year’s Day." Zhao Rat was not very familiar with the pronunciation of the word, and it took him a while to finally remember it, "Those residents of the shelter plan to celebrate the arrival of the new year, the last day and the first day of the year seems to be a very important festival for them. I don’t know the specifics, but it’s like a celebration."

Yu Hu knew what celebration meant.

For example, when the youngest son of the old town mayor was one month old, he gave them a shofar potato and told them to go to the castle to do free labor for half a day.

No one was happy except the old town mayor and his lackeys at that time.

But…

To celebrate the New Year? It was the first time he heard such a thing, so he was quite curious.

Seeing the expression on Yu Hu’s face, Zhao Rat said with a smile. "It’s not the busiest time yet. Wait until the last night of December. If you have time, you can come and have a look."

"I bet it will definitely be very lively!" Yu Hu nodded vigorously and said with interest. "Mhm! I will... But if it’s at night, then it will not be convenient to go back."

"Why go back? Just stay with me then," Zhao Rat patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I have enough space in my dormitory, it will definitely be able to fit one more person!"

...

It was extremely lively at the north gate of the outpost.

Many players showed their magical abilities. They were either busy setting up their booths or simmering something in a cauldron. The entire north entrance was filled with a peculiar smell that even the north wind passing through the forest could not blow it away.

Crouching next to her elder sister, Autumn Leaves blinked her eyes curiously.

She had never seen such a lively scene.

"I have a Night badger! Does anyone want it? Just caught it from outside Longevity Town! Give me an offer if you want it, hurry up if you want it."

"We are going to sweep the building on 76th Street, are there any brothers who want to join us? I heard that there is a hyena den there."

"The three-man team is waiting for a perception type player to join, newcomers are welcome."

"Irena, what did you just throw in the pot?!"

"Boss Ya, help me check if this is poisonous!"

"Me too, me too!"

"Wait! Just put it on the table, don’t put it in my mouth!" Yaya’s pitiful wailing echoed on the mushroom stall, causing the guards to look over there one after another, and they only walked away finding that it was nothing serious.

At the market entrance not far away.

Elf Wang shook the two bags of pepper powder in his hand towards Night Ten and walked towards his teammates proudly, Escaping Mole and Irene were waiting for him.

Spitting behind him, Night Ten cursed and walked to the side of his teammates. "Damn it! I didn’t get the seasoning! It’s ridiculous that pepper is sold out!"

When did these people become so rich?

Each gram of pepper powder would cost 1 silver coin, but that asshole bought two packs in one go. It was simply outrageous!

Old White comforted him. "It’s okay, it’s fine if you didn’t get it, anyway, it may not be useful in the end."

Gale also mumbled, "Mhm, we’d better try to use some simple materials. I feel that the probability of winning will be higher that way."

The seasoning was sold out, which Gale expected.

After all, the reward of the event was not only the annual limited title, but also entry into the Hall of Fame.

It could only be said to be reasonable that it became a fierce competition. Everyone wanted to be the first, after all. Not to mention in a game.

If no one wanted to win, Gale would seriously doubt if he was playing a game or not.

At this moment, there was a Crackleclaw Crab next to them.

The newbies who passed by nearby all involuntarily turned their eyes to them, and while envious, they couldn’t help but scolded those hateful lucky people in their hearts.

All the roads were buried in the snow during the winter, but they could still find the nest of the Crackleclaw Crab.

They were so damn lucky!

Carrying a bag of flour and walking out of the north gate, Zhang Hai’s eyes almost popped out when he saw the big crab.

Stepping up to take a look, he couldn’t help asking. "Where did you get such a big crab?"

Night Ten didn’t plan to conceal it, showing off lazily. "There is a cave on the north bank of Linghu Lake. That Crackleclaw Crab was hibernating in it. We saw that it was sleeping, so we launched an RPG at its face."

It cost a little money, but it was worth it.

Zhang Hai cursed enviously, "God damn it! Why do you guys always find good things?"

Seeing how envious he was, Night Ten smiled. "Perhaps because of our luck?"

"#%@!"

Ample Time and Tomato Eggs stood together, staring at the Crackleclaw Crab on the ground and discussing cooking methods.

One was super good at eating, and the other was super good at cooking. Standing together, they could be regarded as a strange combination.

"I’ve carefully studied the event announcement. The requirements were just for the dish to be simple and delicious. We have to try our best to use easy-to-get ingredients, so that the probability of winning the prize should be higher."

Tomato Eggs shook his head. "This requirement is too abstract."

Ample Time mused, "Yes, and how to preserve the crab meat is a problem."

Even in winter, the crab meat was still difficult to keep fresh until the third day, and on the fourth day, even if the meat did not deteriorate, the taste would be much worse due to dehydration.

But there were still 7 days until New Year’s Day!

Finding the crab was purely accidental, and he was not confident that he would find another.

Tomato Eggs touched his chin and said suddenly, "Preserving the crab meat... I have some ideas for this."

Ample Time looked at him. "Oh?"

Tomato Eggs continued, "I have observed those workers in the brick factory before. They will pick up some grass from the lake and use it to process the unfinished fish, so that it can be kept fresh even if it is until the second or third day. I don’t know if it will work on the crab meat, but I feel like we should give it a try."

Ample Time had never heard of such a strange plant. "What grass?"

Tomato Eggs continued to explain, "According to the description on the official website, it’s called Buffalo Grass, but there is no specific description on its effect."

Ample Time immediately asked the most crucial question. "Can you find it in winter?"

Tomato Eggs shook his head and sighed, "That’s not clear, but after I found out about it at the time, I picked a lot out of curiosity, dried it, and put it in the locker to study it slowly, but I haven’t found the opportunity to use it."

Hearing this sentence, Ample Time was instantly overjoyed and said excitedly. "Good brother! Here’s your chance to use it!"

Tomato Eggs scratched the back of his head. "But even if the problem of preserving crab meat is solved... What should we make? We can’t just grill it on charcoal, right?"

Although it was not impossible, it was too unskilled, and it was estimated that it would still be a bit difficult to win the prize like that.

"That’s easy," Ample Time continued with a confident smile on his face, "I just noticed that the warehouse’s restrictions on green wheat and shofar potatoes have been temporarily lifted."

Tomato Eggs was dazed for a moment, not understanding. "What do you mean..."

"Obviously, the answer to the dish being cheap and delicious is these two ingredients! Otherwise, why would the game lift the restrictions at this point in time?" Ample Time looked at Brother Scrambled Egg excitedly and continued, "Brother, have you heard of crab cakes?"