After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH31

Chapter 31

Scallion oil mixed noodles were delicious and easy to make. The ingredients were extremely simple—only slightly more complicated than scallion pancakes, because it needed a bit of soy-sauce–type seasoning.

The ingredients were common… but there was one headache:

The Star Alliance had very few seasonings, and soy sauce was even rarer.

Fortunately, ever since transmigrating into the interstellar era, Xie Xingchen had never stopped hunting for condiments. After months of searching, he finally found a substitute. The only problem was the flavor… it was probably only about eighty percent similar at best.

Limited by ingredient shortages, Xie Xingchen didn’t dare guarantee how the final product would turn out. Still, he was mentally prepared—even if the taste took a big hit, he could accept it.

While he was thinking this and that, a steaming, fragrant portion of scallion oil mixed noodles finished cooking.

He took the bowl from the food outlet and couldn’t help inhaling deeply.

The scent of scallions, oil, and noodles merged into a river of aroma—just one breath was enough to make him want to sink into it.

So fragrant!

Xie Xingchen was already dying to eat it.

[Scallion Oil Mixed Noodles (Good), with a slight dark-matter dispersal effect.]

The slightly hot noodles hit his mouth and gave him a level of taste-bud joy that was simply unreal.

Xie Xingchen sighed from the heart. “This is so good!”

It couldn’t beat the old legendary shop he used to eat at, but it was absolutely above standard—an excellent creation.

As expected: system products really were premium.

Both scallion pancakes and scallion oil noodles could dispel dark matter, but compared with pancakes, noodles were much easier to explain as “homemade.”

Finally, Xie Xingchen could send scallion oil noodles to the old butler without any burden!

Don’t ask—just know that extracting scallion oil was simple! And his plants had high green-matter content!

And compared to the more complicated technique of scallion pancakes, scallion oil mixed noodles clearly looked like something even a kitchen newbie could make.

With a solid excuse in hand, he wasn’t afraid the butler—who knew the original owner’s cooking level inside out—would interrogate him. He wasn’t afraid the butler would suspect him.

But honestly… it was still a bit risky.

Because the butler was different from Ni Kunqi.

The butler had watched the original owner grow up. He knew him too well.

Ni Kunqi was “just” a teacher—plus she viewed him through a filter. Even if she liked him a lot, her understanding was limited. And she had her own research career; their contact was even more limited.

So with Ni Kunqi, as long as Xie Xingchen was careful, it was fine.

After all, a “love-brain” changing drastically after being betrayed wasn’t unusual, right? Ni Kunqi herself had once been like that.

So—

If the butler hadn’t been so loyal and so devoted, Xie Xingchen would honestly have preferred to keep his distance for two or three years instead of taking this risk and interacting so soon.

After deciding where the noodles would go, another problem made Xie Xingchen hesitate:

How many takeaway containers did he need?

The system food machines could generate food with one click, sure—but they didn’t come with packaging.

Scallion pancakes came out one by one. And since Xie Xingchen wasn’t selling them loose, he’d been buying big boxes and reusing them—packing pancakes into fresh-keeping boxes whenever he sent deliveries, then having people ship the boxes back once he’d accumulated enough.

But scallion oil noodles couldn’t be handled like that, could they?

Was he supposed to ship someone an entire bucket of noodles?

By the time it arrived, it’d be one solid lump.

So noodles had to be packed as single portions, each with its own container.

That meant Xie Xingchen needed to find fast-degrading, eco-friendly takeaway boxes as soon as possible.

Still, this wasn’t a huge problem. The Star Alliance had countless planets—resources were abundant, and tech was advanced. Even if he couldn’t find suitable boxes quickly, he could commission a factory to manufacture eco-friendly packaging specifically branded for Earth Trading House.

Yes—Earth Trading House.

Xie Xingchen didn’t plan to sell these noodles only to the group-buy teams. He planned to expand Earth Trading House on the StarNet marketplace.

From what he’d seen, food machines didn’t appear that rarely in the game shop. Processing factories also popped up fairly often. That meant, in the short term, he might be able to increase his food output massively. If so, selling only through group buys would be pointless.

He wanted Earth Trading House to become the kind of ultra-large premium marketplace it used to be.

The idea was great—unfortunately, he still didn’t have enough products. So for now, all his grand plans were just dream-blueprints.

At present, he couldn’t even sell flowers freely. If he started listing food now, he was afraid he’d push the fans over the edge!

Because—

People could choose not to buy flowers.

But people had to eat.

Food naturally had a far larger audience than flowers.

If he released food, the demand would probably be even crazier than the flower rush.

With a worried face, Xie Xingchen negotiated with the system:

“Xiao Mo… can these food machines be upgraded? One thousand portions a day isn’t enough…”

After deducting the turnover he’d spent on the noodle machine, Xie Xingchen still had 44.06 million in turnover.

Orange blossoms, irises, and lily-of-the-valley were still in breeding, so he hadn’t put them on sale. His daily turnover was still the same as before—about 16.01 million in ten days.

Add that to last month’s 48.05 million, and his turnover had originally been 64.06 million. But after buying ingredients and planting robots, and then buying another food machine, he’d finally dropped under fifty million again.

Still—don’t underestimate 44.06 million. Even if it couldn’t buy a single system robot, food machines were cheaper. One machine was only ten million in the game shop. Surely upgrading couldn’t cost more than buying a new one, right?

Wrong.

Upgrading was actually more expensive than buying a new machine.

When Xie Xingchen saw the “+” behind the machine and the upgrade note in parentheses, his whole mood collapsed.

He stared in disbelief. “Xiao Mo… are you kidding me?”

[Infrastructure Maniac System: The system never jokes. Player, mind your words.]

Xie Xingchen: ?
Xie Xingchen: ? smile.jpg

So a food machine cost 10 million. Upgrading to level 2 required 20 million. Level 3 required 30 million…

Was that… “reasonable”?

Xie Xingchen understood that in the long run, it was reasonable. A level-2 machine (total cost 30 million turnover including the initial purchase) produced 2,000 portions per day. At 100 per portion, it could pay itself off in about five months, then become pure profit. The ROI was crazy.

But—

He didn’t have that much spare cash.

And he still wanted to buy factories!

To be honest: he had his eye on the perfume workshop.

But a hundred billion…

Forget it. He’d better just farm and save like a good little peasant.

He gave up on upgrading. He also gave up on buying factories for now.

All he wanted was to farm properly.

[System Tip: When a food machine reaches level 10, its output becomes ten times that of level 9.]

Xie Xingchen didn’t fall for it. “Then does each level before that double the output from the previous level?”

The system went silent.

Xie Xingchen argued confidently, “Xiao Mo, why aren’t you talking again? Even you think your game shop is shady, don’t you? Who sells things like this? A new machine is only ten million turnover, but level 2 needs twenty million, level 3 needs thirty million—upgrades cost more than the machine itself! With that money, isn’t it better to just buy another machine?”

Take the pancake machine as an example: including the original ten million, upgrading to level 2 would cost him thirty million turnover total, for 2,000 portions a day. Ignoring ingredients, it took five months to break even. Level 3 cost sixty million total for 3,000 portions a day, and took over six months to break even… the higher the level, the longer the payoff period.

Sure, a max-level machine would outperform low-level ones. But where was he supposed to get that money?

If he had that much, he’d buy robots and workshops. Upgrade a food machine? In the startup phase? No way. That would strangle his cash flow.

He’d upgrade later. Right now, camping for new machines was the correct strategy.

If he was camping machines… maybe he should find a new ingredient?

Food machines had appeared only twice so far, but Xie Xingchen had still noticed a pattern:

The two machines didn’t feel random. They felt like the system was refreshing based on the ingredients he currently owned.

Both machines used ingredients he already had. That meant—

As long as he found new ingredients, didn’t that greatly increase the chance of refreshing new food machines?

After thinking, he asked the system honestly, “Xiao Mo, is there a rule to how food machines refresh?”

He didn’t have much hope—it was just a casual question.

But the system actually answered.

[System: Yes. If the player possesses the corresponding ingredients for a dish, there is a higher probability of refreshing the matching food machine.]

Xie Xingchen’s eyes lit up.

Since the system was willing to share, he hurriedly asked again, “Then if I find new ingredients now, will a food machine refresh tonight?”

[System: Please explore on your own.]

Xie Xingchen: 0.0

Alright. His system was still the same—taciturn as ever.

So taciturn that Xie Xingchen couldn’t help complaining: “Xiao Mo, other people’s systems are lively and cute. Why are you neither lively nor cute? Every time I talk to you, I feel like I’m talking to a robot.”

No—calling it a robot might even insult robots.

Robots in the Star Alliance had personality. Even low-intelligence ones often had distinct traits.

[System Tip: Please explore on your own.]

Xie Xingchen: Fine. One disagreement and it’s “please explore on your own.”

But now that he knew new ingredients could trigger new machines, he actually did feel motivated to explore.

With more planting robots in the fields, he no longer had to stay trapped in the dirt as a hardworking flower farmer.

And nearby areas had been pretty much explored. Only the far distances still had value.

So this time, he decided to take Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life farther out.

He loaded enough nutrient solution and energy fluid. One man and three robots boarded the hovercar and turned on auto-navigation.

Since he had no fixed target, he decided to go “whatever happens happens”—pure luck mode.

From the hovercar, looking down, he saw endless flower fields—soothing and expansive.

That linked, seemingly endless world of blossoms was overwhelming with just one glance.

And with it came a surge of pride that practically burst from his chest.

Who had decorated this wasteland with beauty?

Him.

He had personally draped this land in nature’s gorgeous veil.

He kept watching those hundred-plus mu of fields—land watered by his sweat—like a ruler inspecting his territory. Even after leaving the fields behind, the sense of awe still lingered in his heart.

If he’d been uncertain before whether he could truly restore Earth’s vitality, now he was completely certain.

He could.

Reclaiming flower fields from barren land. Giving silently in the quiet.

He believed he would make this land—one that carried countless people, cultures, joys and sorrows, stories upon stories—become a synonym for beauty and longing once more.

He would make Earth the most precious place in everyone’s hearts again.

This was the mission of an Earthling, and the promise he made to the place he had loved his whole life.

The hovercar flew for a long time before finally landing in a dense primeval forest.

This forest was far larger than any he’d encountered before.

Towering trees soared into the clouds, countless and massive—walking in felt like entering a land of giants.

From ancient times to now, forests had always been rich and alive with animals and plants.

Just standing at the edge, Xie Xingchen already saw many small animals that weren’t afraid of people.

It was as if they’d never seen humans before. When Xie Xingchen entered fully geared, they didn’t even run—just stood on branches or beside trunks, staring curiously.

Pheasants, wild rabbits, monkeys, sika deer, clueless roe deer, squirrels, birds… an endless variety.

Their synchronized, curious gazes made Xie Xingchen feel awkward the moment he stepped in.

Like… he’d never imagined he’d experience something like this.

Being watched like a monkey by animals?

That was so weird.

But then another thought struck him:

These “audience members” were all delicious.

So the awkwardness vanished instantly.

Xie Xingchen even felt hungry.

He moved fast—caught a mountain chicken, tied its legs, tossed it into the hovercar—smooth as flowing water. After that, he acted as if nothing happened and strolled deeper into the forest.

Mm. If he could find some mushrooms too, it would be perfect.

Chicken stew with mushrooms!

He hadn’t eaten that classic northeastern dish in ages.

Just imagining the taste, Xie Xingchen swallowed. Then he said excitedly, “Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life—come on! Let’s go find mushrooms!”

The three robots responded immediately and followed him into the forest’s depths.

The damp forest was full of mushrooms.

Before long, Xie Xingchen found a great patch.

He crouched down and carefully harvested half a basket of edible mushrooms, then stood up reluctantly.

Whoosh—something flew.

Xie Xingchen dodged on reflex.

A chestnut dropped from above.

Xie Xingchen blinked, stunned.

He slowly looked up and saw a squirrel on the tree—peeking and preparing to throw another chestnut at him.

Xie Xingchen: ?

What kind of grudge was this?

He was pretty sure the thing he’d caught earlier was a pheasant, not a squirrel.

So why was this squirrel attacking him with chestnuts?

Even if it wanted revenge, it shouldn’t be looking for him!

In the span of a moment, Xie Xingchen’s mind raced through countless possibilities.

But when the squirrel threw another chestnut, he froze.

Wait.

Chestnuts?

There were chestnuts here!

Realizing that, Xie Xingchen’s eyes lit up.

“Chestnuts! There are chestnuts here! There are actually chestnuts!”

Was he just too lovable or what? This adorable squirrel was basically delivering chestnuts to him!

Holding the chestnut the squirrel had tossed down, Xie Xingchen didn’t even turn his head as he instructed:

“Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life—spread out and search nearby. Find the kind of tree that grows those spiky burr balls. Once you find it, tell me.”

The three robots replied in unison, “Yes, boss.”

Then they split into three directions, while Xie Xingchen naturally chose to head toward the direction the squirrel had been in.

He gently tossed the chestnut back up.

The squirrel got startled.

It turned and bolted.

Xie Xingchen immediately chased after it without thinking.

After a while, as he followed the squirrel, the dense undergrowth gradually thinned out. Sunlight—previously blocked—began to filter through leaves and reach the forest floor.

Another ten minutes passed.

The squirrel darted into the trees and vanished.

Xie Xingchen stopped, staring blankly.

And what he saw made his mouth fall open.

An endless chestnut grove stood before him—naturally, casually, like it had always been there.

The trees were heavy with dense clusters of fruit. Those terrifying spiky burrs formed a vast green ocean.

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