Chapter 67: Can This Rice Buy Dozens of Catties?

Zhao Moqing parked the car neatly in the residential compound.

The residential area was old and somewhat messy, but parking spaces were plentiful because most apartments were rented out, with few owners choosing to live here, let alone own cars.

"Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister-in-law, let's go up!" Zhao Moqing closed the car door and led her family into one of the buildings.

The hallway was somewhat dim, and the environment clearly looked quite poor at a glance.

Arriving outside the apartment rented by Qin Lin, Zhao Moqing took out her key and opened the door. The interior was cramped at a glance, with an environment just as poor as the outside.

If it were in the past, seeing this kind of environment, Chen Xiao and Zhao Xianhong would undoubtedly have worried about whether their daughter would suffer hardships. Now, however, their hearts were filled with admiration for Qin Lin.

Without help from parents, with the family burdened by so much debt, living in this kind of environment and yet managing to turn things around so quickly commanded respect, regardless of the reasons behind it.

As long as a person succeeded, all past hardships would become the finest backdrop, making that success even more glorious. Otherwise, why would so many successful people always love to recount their grueling past experiences?

In the living room.

Qin Lin and Lin Fen were busy at work, while the dog lay quietly on a mat in the corner.

That was specially bought by Lin Fen for it to sleep on.

Seeing Zhao Moqing arrive with her family, Qin Lin immediately hurried forward: "Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister-in-law, you're here. Come on in."

"Wow, there's a dog! Qin Lin, when did you start keeping a dog?" As soon as she entered, Li Jiawen spotted the dog and walked up with a surprised look on her face, trying to reach out and pet Wangcai's head.

However, the dog clearly had no desire to pay attention to her and tilted its head to the side.

That treatment was completely different from when it first met Zhao Moqing and Lin Fen.

"..." Li Jiawen.

"Please sit, in-laws." Lin Fen stood nearby, feeling somewhat at a loss. After all, what her son had done wasn't quite proper; he had secretly obtained their marriage certificate behind the family's back.

After guiding Chen Xiao, Zhao Xianhong, Zhao Moyun, and Li Jiawen to their seats, Lin Fen added, "Well... I'll go make dinner."

Zhao Moqing pulled Lin Fen back and made her sit down: "Mom, today Qin Lin and I are going to cook for you. Just wait here."

"That's right. Today, Moqing and I will personally prepare a delicious meal to thank you for bringing us into this world and allowing us to meet." Qin Lin smiled and chimed in, pulling Zhao Moqing into the kitchen with him.

Outside, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward instead.

Lin Fen felt a bit embarrassed because of what her son had done, fearing she might be blamed.

Chen Xiao and her husband also felt a bit awkward; they had often told their daughter in the past that following Qin Lin would lead to hardship, and they feared the tension.

She glanced at her usually eloquent husband, son, and daughter-in-law, hoping the three of them would ease the awkwardness.

Zhao Xianhong, Zhao Moyun, and Li Jiawen, however, sat calmly at that moment, waiting for Chen Xiao to take charge, since she was the one who ran the household.

Even the dog seemed to sense this unusual atmosphere and raised its head in puzzlement.

"Well... In-law, would you like to watch TV?" As the host, Lin Fen spoke up first, picking up the remote control to turn on the television.

As soon as the TV was turned on, the plot of two women pointing fingers and shouting at each other blared out—it was precisely that melodramatic drama happening on a rooftop with twist after twist after twist.

"In-law, you watch this show too?" Chen Xiao was actually surprised this time.

Lin Fen nodded and said, "Yes, the identity of the killer seems about to be revealed now. I think Number 3 might be the murderer."

Chen Xiao nodded vigorously as well: "I think so too. She's the most suspicious one of all."

The two suddenly started chatting happily, even sitting close together, as if they had instantly become super close acquaintances.

"..." Zhao Moyun!

"..." Zhao Xianhong.

Seeing this scene, the two grown men failed to process it with their train of thought.

Only Li Jiawen looked at the two of them with words resting on the tip of her tongue.

She also thought Number 3 might be the bad guy.

However, since the elders were chatting and today was somewhat special, it wasn't her place to interrupt.

She desperately wanted to join in, and holding it back felt so uncomfortable.

...

Inside the kitchen, a mellow fragrance of rice was already wafting in the air, intoxicatingly pleasant.

Zhao Moqing asked with a face full of surprise, "It smells so good, Qin Lin. What special rice did you use today?"

"This was specially prepared to treat our parents. Other people wouldn't even get to eat it if they wanted to." Qin Lin smiled, giving an evasive answer.

This was naturally the Quality 2 Xiangshui Tribute Rice taken from the game, possessing attributes of +Rich Nutrition +2, +Mellow Aroma +2, +Deliciousness +2, and +Vitamin VPP Anti-Aging +2.

The Xiangshui Tribute Rice had been harvested over the past two days, and quite a bit was stored in the game, along with some harvested Quality 2 Xiangshui Tribute Rice, but he simply hadn't taken them out.

This kind of item wasn't suitable for mass release.

After all, even most wealthy people couldn't afford to eat such things. If you couldn't finish it, wouldn't people blow you up?

Especially the Quality 2 Xiangshui Tribute Rice, which defied common sense even more. It was best to keep this stuff at home for the family to eat themselves. As for the Quality 1, aside from keeping a portion, the rest could only be sold within the game.

Unless he could use game seeds to grow this kind of tribute rice in Yucheng, he wouldn't be able to bring it out in large quantities.

Nearby, a Quality 2 wild silver carp head and a Quality 2 wild crucian carp had already been prepared.

The standard of this meal could safely be said to be something that 90% of wealthy people in the country couldn't afford with all their money.

As for the ordinary seafood nearby, it was entirely just padding.

"Cut the watermelon and take it out to them along with the strawberries. I'll handle the cooking." Zhao Moqing said as she picked up the nearby black carp head to process it, planning to make a fish head soup.

Her cooking skills couldn't compare to a professional chef's, but cooking ordinary family meals was no problem. Furthermore, with ingredients of such high quality, as long as one knew how to cook, under the attributes of +Deliciousness +2 and +Taste +2, it was bound to taste fantastic.

Qin Lin also picked up a watermelon to slice, then carried it out along with the washed Quality 2 strawberries.

Arriving at the living room, he was visibly stunned to see Lin Fen and Chen Xiao sitting close together and chatting happily.

When had his mother and his mother-in-law gotten along so well?

As soon as the Quality 2 watermelon and Quality 2 strawberries were placed on the table, Zhao Moyun and Li Jiawen were immediately drawn in.

Both of them had tasted that special quality of watermelon and strawberries at the resort.

Li Jiawen picked up a strawberry directly and put it into her mouth. The delicious flavor instantly rippled across her taste buds—it was just as delicious as before.

Zhao Moyun also picked up a slice of watermelon to taste.

Having eaten it once before, he had been yearning for the deliciousness of this watermelon ever since.

Lin Fen also said to Chen Xiao and Zhao Xianhong, "In-laws, have a taste. This is a special variety of watermelon and strawberry sold at Xiaolin's resort. The taste is simply wonderful."

As she spoke, she even personally handed pieces of watermelon and strawberry to the couple.

Hearing Lin Fen say this, the couple also tried a piece, and then expressions of surprise appeared on both of their faces. It really was exceptionally delicious.

They had eaten plenty of watermelons and strawberries in the past, but truly none of them could compare to this.

Before long.

Dinner was ready.

When Lin Fen invited the family to sit down, Qin Lin also brought out the rice cooker. As soon as it was opened, the mellow aroma of the rice stewed inside drifted outward.

Catching this mellow aroma, the dog instinctively stood up.

"Why does this rice smell so fragrant?" Li Jiawen asked with surprise.

As a certified foodie, she was extremely curious.

"Xiangshui Tribute Rice. I got some by good fortune," Qin Lin offered a half-true, half-false explanation.

"Xiangshui Tribute Rice? I've never even heard of it. Sounds like a big deal." Driven by curiosity, Li Jiawen took out her phone to search for it; the name alone had piqued her interest.

However, after typing in "Xiangshui Tribute Rice" and seeing the row of information that popped up, she was dumbfounded: "Is this rice seriously that insane?"

Having lived this long, her horizons were truly broadened today.

Imperial tribute rice, scarce in yield, unobtainable even for the wealthy, a single portion once selling for tens of thousands on a certain e-commerce platform...

These pieces of news were far too shocking.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Moyun looked at his wife's expression and asked quizzically.

Without a word, Li Jiawen handed her phone over for him to see.

"Holy shit..." Zhao Moyun directly blurted out a vulgarity; he had no idea there was rice this expensive either.

No wonder it was called tribute rice.

Damn it, he ran a KTV and was about to open a milk tea shop; among young people in their twenties, could he be considered a frontrunner? Yet looking at this data, he felt like he had instantly become someone who couldn't even afford to eat regular rice.

"Making a fuss over nothing, so lacking in manners." Zhao Xianhong was a teacher and cared deeply about such propriety.

Without arguing, Zhao Moyun handed the phone straight to his father.

Zhao Xianhong looked at the introduction of the Xiangshui Tribute Rice, and he wasn't calm anymore either.

What the hell...

"In-law, try this rice." Lin Fen, now on extremely good terms with Chen Xiao, scooped a bowl of rice and handed it to Chen Xiao: "The rice Xiaolin brought back is delicious. Even without any side dishes, it gives me a huge appetite."

Hearing this, Chen Xiao curiously took the bowl and took a bite. In an instant, that mellow aroma overflowed in her mouth, along with that texture and deliciousness, making her blurt out: "This rice really is exceptionally delicious. Where was this bought? Our family should go buy a few dozen catties of it tomorrow."

"..." Zhao Xianhong.

"..." Zhao Moyun.

"..." Li Jiawen.

The three of them simultaneously turned to look at Chen Xiao.

A few dozen catties?

Did she think this was Chinese cabbage?