Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Jiang Bai suggested, "Just having a fishing competition is a bit boring. How about we make a bet on who will win, and the winner treats us to dinner?"

Why does the winner treat everyone to dinner?

"He won by himself, and we all lost. Shouldn't the winner comfort our wounded hearts?"

“That makes sense…then I…I guess Shen He will win!” Paimon was the first to make his choice.

"I bet the hall master will win!" Jiang Bai chose Walnut without hesitation.

With the luck of fishing with walnuts, you won't catch a single fish in half a day, and you're bound to lose.

"Did you deliberately choose me because you thought I wouldn't win?" Hu Tao said, hands on her hips.

"How could that be? Do you think I, Jiang Bai, am short of money for a meal? Of course, I genuinely believe that the Hall Master will win!"

"You have good taste. I, the hall master, will also choose myself."

"Where's Kong?"

"I bet Jiang Bai will win."

Shen He didn't think much and directly chose empty.

She felt that Kong should be able to win.

Finally, Ah Mao spoke calmly: "I bet I'll win."

Chapter 814 Inviting You to a Whole Fish Feast

The competition was tough; after fishing all afternoon, everyone had only a few fish left in their buckets.

"Hu Tao, is this the fishing paradise you were talking about?"

Paimon couldn't help but question it.

"How could it not be? Look, the few of us together have caught more than a dozen fish. Where else could you possibly catch ten in an afternoon?"

Hu Tao felt that the problem wasn't with the fishing spot, but with their technique.

Jiang Bai glanced at the two fish in the walnut bucket, then looked at the three fish in his own bucket.

As expected, the master's fishing skills were as poor as ever.

"Only half an hour left! It all comes down to these last half hour, everyone keep fishing!"

Ah Mao, bored out of his mind, propped his chin up and down, watching the fishing float bob up and down in the pond from time to time, too lazy to cast his line.

He already has five fish in his bucket, and the most an empty bucket can hold is only four. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he's bound to win.

Bored Paimon was wandering around when he flew over to him.

"A fish has taken the bait, why aren't you casting your line?"

"Why fish so much? We can't eat it all, it's a waste."

Paimon scratched his head, "But isn't fishing all about catching a lot? And our competition is about who catches the most."

"I already have more than all of you."

Ah Mao didn't care about treating people to meals.

Anyway, Morado, the Fools don't feel the pinch when spending their money.

"Looks like you're all set to treat us!"

"Well, I'll treat you to fish, but I hope you don't get sick of it."

"what!"

After counting the fish they had all caught, Paimon suddenly lost interest in tonight's dinner.

Eating one fish is fine, but who can eat more than a dozen?

"Alright, time's up. Our Ah Mao caught the most fish, a total of six!"

Jiang Bai held a twig to Ah Mao's lips, his voice rising and falling in a rhythmic tone:

"Let's interview Ah Mao. Do you have any fishing secrets? Why do the fish bite your hook?"

"...This is talent, something you can't learn."

Ah Mao answered his question politely, but the words he used weren't so polite.

"He actually has such talent! Ah Mao is truly amazing! Luckily, our Ah Mao didn't want to catch too many fish, otherwise we probably wouldn't have caught a single one."

Ah Mao crossed his arms and nodded seriously.

"Indeed, being too popular with animals is a troublesome thing. Even if it means going to their deaths, they will rush to bite my hook."

Jiang Bai hesitated for a moment.

This Versailles-like place is so infuriating!

"Speaking of which, since you already knew you had this kind of constitution, it means you were already prepared to treat us to a meal. So, where are you planning to take us to eat, Ah Mao?"

Ah Mao gestured with his chin to the empty space in front of him, "This will do. We just happened to catch so many fish, so I'll treat you to a whole fish feast."

Jiang Bai, who was fantasizing about a lavish meal, was caught off guard and hit hard by reality.

"This can't be called treating everyone!!"

"Then what should we do with these fish? Throw them back into the water?" Ah Mao asked rhetorically.

Jiang Bai looked at the plump fish and really couldn't bear to give them up.

Although each person didn't catch many fish, the fishing spot recommended by Walnut was really good, and the fish were quite plump.

"Okay, let's have fish tonight... I'll treat you next time."

Jiang Bai walked over to Kong's side and solemnly patted him on the shoulder.

"Our head chef is counting on you!"

Kong glanced at the people around him. Living a life of eating flowers and grass in the mountains, it was unlikely that they would know how to cook. Hu Tao's cooking skills were hard to describe, Jiang Bai's cooking was occasionally edible, and only Ah Mao, who knew if he could cook at all.

He reluctantly accepted the fact that he was now the head chef.

Hu Tao was the first to raise her hand, "I'll order first, I want to eat boiled fish!"

For Hu Tao, whether or not they go to a restaurant to eat is not important; when friends get together, it's all about having fun.

Besides, doing it yourself has its own unique charm.

"I want to eat spicy fish in a pot!" Jiang Bai said.

"Hehe, Paimon wants to eat Mondstadt grilled fish."

"Shen He, what about you?"

"I don't know, I'm fine with anything."

"I'm fine with either."

There were eighteen fish in total, which seemed like a lot, but after removing the inedible parts, there wasn't that much fish meat left.

"I'll handle the fish."

Ah Mao took off his straw hat and brought the fish to the stream.

He skillfully bled each fish, scraped off the scales, and removed the guts, processing each fish in an average of three minutes.

Paimon, who was watching, seemed to have a completely new understanding of him.

Wow! How come you're so skilled?

"I'm from Inazuma, is it strange that I know how to handle fish?"

Inazuma lives by the sea, and most of their daily diet consists of various kinds of fish and seafood.

He had specifically studied cooking in Taman Tassa, which naturally included methods for preparing fish.

Five hundred years is a long time; even if he only occasionally makes food himself, it is enough for him to become proficient.

"This is the recipe for spicy fish in a pot. You can learn it first. I'll get any missing seasonings."

Jiang Bai tossed a cookbook to Kong and prepared to go pick some Jueyun peppers.

Spicy fish in a pot, the essence of which is the Yunnan pepper.

While flipping through the recipe, Kong said to Ah Mao:

"Could you please slice these three fish into thin slices for me while you're at it?"

"can."

What can I do?

Shen He, who was standing idly to the side, didn't know what he could do.

"Let's go into the woods to collect some wood, and while we're at it, find some fruit to make some drinks..."

Hu Tao pulled Shen He into the woods.

"What kind of firewood do you need? Can't you just cut down a tree?"

Walnut shook her head. "Living trees contain a lot of moisture, making them difficult to ignite and producing a lot of smoke, which makes them unsuitable for firewood."

Although it would be more convenient and faster for her to start a fire directly using fire elements, the head chef is empty, and she can't control the flame to the temperature that empty wants at any time.

Shen He said he had learned something.

"Just pick up some dead, dry trees."

Shen He understood. While Hu Tao was picking raspberries, she brought over a whole withered tree from somewhere.

Is this okay?

"...It's too big; it needs to be cut into smaller pieces before it can be used."

"About this long, and this thick..." Hu Tao gestured with her hands.

"no problem."

Shen He put down the large tree he was holding, and it fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Not long after, Hu Tao returned carrying some raspberries and sweet flowers, while Shen He carried a large stack of chopped firewood in one hand.

"No...not so much..."

He swallowed hard.

"It's alright. If you don't use it all, just leave it here. If anyone around here needs firewood, they can come and get it."

Hu Tao sighed.

She said she didn't need so many, but Shen He chopped them so fast that she simply brought them all.

Shen He neatly stacked the firewood in the empty corner, then looked at the group again and asked if there was any work that needed to be done.

Chapter 815 The Lost Kingdom

"Please make me some juice and then chill it."

Although she's not very good at cooking, Walnut is quite talented at making her own drinks.

As the sun completely set, the aroma of fish filled the air, its spicy fragrance whetting the appetite.

Place the large basin of fish in the center of the table, and then arrange the other grilled fish, fish head with chopped chili, boiled fish, braised fish, and steamed fish in that order.

From spicy to sweet, there's something for everyone; it's a true all-fish feast.

"Try my raspberry mint drink and my chilled sweet drink!"

One of them is sweet and sour, and the other is purely sweet.

Jiang Bai chose Sweet Sweet without hesitation.

Steaming hot food paired with delicious drinks makes the afternoon's work taste especially good.

Happy Lantern Festival, everyone! Cheers!

Happy Lantern Festival!

The clinking of glasses rang out, and everyone began to feast.