Chapter 32
Talk about perfect timing!
Chestnuts.
There were so many raw chestnuts here!
Chestnuts ripen from August to October. It was early August now, so these should be close to ripening… right?
Xie Xingchen wasn’t sure.
He hadn’t cracked any open yet, so he didn’t know whether they were fully ripe. But in his memory, chestnut season was usually around Mid-Autumn, and if you went by that, chestnuts didn’t really hit the market in large quantities until late September.
Meaning they might not be ripe yet—maybe they wouldn’t be ripe until September or October?
He lowered his head and carefully examined the spiky burrs that had fallen from the chestnut trees. Those bright green burrs looked like little thorn balls, scattered all over the ground.
Some had split open, revealing mature chestnuts inside. But some were still tightly closed, looking like they weren’t fully ripe yet.
Xie Xingchen was wearing protective gloves meant for exploration, so the burrs wouldn’t hurt his hands. Even so, he carefully picked one up. With a bit of force, he pried it open and took out the chestnut hidden inside.
Raw chestnuts had a distinctive scent. It wasn’t unpleasant—more like a faint, clean fragrance.
He didn’t need much strength to crack it open. So the unopened burrs that had fallen here were probably ripe too… except the nuts inside were kind of small.
He stared disappointedly at the ground—most of the burrs were still closed. Then he looked up at the trees, where most of the burrs hanging were also still closed.
His face filled with regret.
It felt like he’d walked into a treasure mountain… and was about to leave empty-handed.
But that loneliness came fast—and went just as fast.
Because Xie Xingchen’s real goal in finding ingredients wasn’t the ingredients themselves.
It was to make the game shop refresh a new food machine!
And if that was the goal, then he’d already achieved it. There was no need to get greedy and obsess over how much chestnut yield he could harvest.
When Xie Xingchen honestly shared this sudden “life insight” with the three realistic robot companions who had arrived, Prosperity—honest to a fault—looked baffled.
“But boss, these chestnuts are plants discovered on your planet. Even if they aren’t fully mature yet, once they ripen, they’ll still be yours.”
So Prosperity truly didn’t understand what there was to sigh about.
Not just Prosperity—none of the other two robots understood either. They were just smarter and knew the golden rule: silence is wisdom.
Xie Xingchen turned around and smiled. “Prosperity, what you said sounds really nice… but please don’t say it again.”
The confused Prosperity: ?
Xie Xingchen: “Come on, Prosperity. Stop thinking. Help pick up chestnuts.”
There weren’t that many burrs on the ground—just a thin scattering.
But the chestnut forest was huge.
So even with only a light layer of fallen burrs, it was still enough to keep them busy for a long time.
Sure enough…
One man and three robots spent two full hours picking up burrs, and they still didn’t finish.
They deliberately chose the burrs that had cracked open along a seam. And while they picked, those chubby squirrels curiously watched them—and even generously tossed them a bunch of chestnuts they’d picked up from the ground.
But compared to the chestnuts that had fallen everywhere, what the squirrels gave was just a drop in the ocean.
Xie Xingchen: It was… kind of envy-inducing!
Plenty of food, not many predators—those fat squirrels were living way too comfortably, weren’t they?
Look at them—each one plump and round. It made him… want to be naughty and make them cry, just a little.
Fortunately, Long-Life’s shout snapped Xie Xingchen out of his sudden evil streak.
He turned to look at those little cuties and grinned, mischievous. “Bye-bye, little cuties. Hope you’ll still be living happily!”
Xie Xingchen had planned to camp overnight today, so his hovercar had plenty of supplies.
But he hadn’t expected his luck to be this good—auto-navigation randomly brought him to a place where he found exactly the ingredients he wanted.
In that case… time to head back.
The first thing he did after returning to the starship: Xie Xingchen led the robots to—extract chestnuts.
Robots didn’t fear getting poked. Those green spikes were basically a massage to them. And with labor this good, how could he not use it?
Meanwhile, Xie Xingchen also had to collect samples, do spot-check testing, and gather data.
After confirming the chestnuts were fine, he went onto the StarNet marketplace and ordered food-grade black iron sand.
He had no idea which civilization would eat black iron sand.
But since it was labeled edible and didn’t mention any toxin content, buying it felt reassuring enough.
The edible-grade black iron sand really lived up to its name—so clean it skipped the washing step entirely.
The hard part was scoring the chestnuts.
He carefully cut slits into several and quickly realized his speed was nothing compared to Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life. So he immediately stood up and made room.
As expected—professional work should be left to professionals!
A talent like him using his hands just to score chestnuts was a waste. If anything, he should be out running a roasted-chestnut stall.
Without hesitation, Xie Xingchen took over the remaining steps. He washed the pre-slit chestnuts in clean water and soaked them.
They didn’t need long—about ten minutes. Once the chestnuts were moist, he drained them briefly.
He poured a bit of cooking oil into a custom large iron wok, then dumped in a big basin of black iron sand. Fire on—let’s go.
After the sand warmed up, he poured in the soaked raw chestnuts and began stirring constantly.
He didn’t know how long he stirred. He only knew that when his arms felt like they were about to die, the chestnuts in the wok finally started splitting wide open.
And then—the rich chestnut aroma spread out from the wok.
The moment he saw those big cracks, Xie Xingchen knew they were basically done. He immediately added the sugar he’d prepared and continued stirring evenly.
A few minutes later, the sugar fully melted and coated the chestnuts, forming a glossy sheen on the surface.
They looked so delicious!
He turned off the heat and reached in without thinking.
The scorching chestnut slipped out of his hand instantly, and Xie Xingchen was burned wide awake.
He rushed cold water over his hand, then had Long-Life bring burn spray and mist his fingertips. Once it stopped hurting, he finally used a spatula to scoop a few chestnuts onto a plate to cool.
When the steam faded, he picked one up and peeled it.
Soft and glutinous, rich with a faint sweetness—
The flavor instantly conquered him.
“This is way too good!”
Xie Xingchen could hardly believe he’d roasted these himself.
He knew his own cooking. He was better than the average person, sure, but he couldn’t compare to a true chef or an old legendary shop.
But honestly? The sugar-roasted chestnuts he made today were even better than what those old shops sold!
Xie Xingchen: !
Xie Xingchen: So… was this the chestnuts’???
That was the only explanation that made sense.
Without thinking, he grabbed a raw chestnut nearby, peeled it in three moves, and tossed it into his mouth.
The raw chestnut was soft and slightly crisp at the same time—and he could even taste a hint of sweetness.
They really were excellent chestnuts.
Way better than the overpriced “premium chestnuts” from that so-called boutique supermarket he’d once worked at part-time.
Thinking of that, Xie Xingchen looked at the three robots and sighed, “It’s a shame you can’t eat, Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life.”
He patted the three hardworking robots and suddenly had a wild idea:
“How about I make you guys a sugar-roasted-chestnut–flavored energy drink?”
Sugar-roasted-chestnut–flavored energy fluid?
That sounded incredibly weird.
Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life all shook their heads in unison, refusing.
Xie Xingchen wasn’t annoyed. He shrugged, bent down, pulled out two large fresh-keeping boxes from the cabinet, then divided the whole batch of sugar-roasted chestnuts into four portions.
One portion for himself.
One for Ni Kunqi.
One for the old butler.
And the last one for… the kid?
After all, sugar-roasted chestnuts were a full-on childhood memory!
If he ever found the ingredients to make candied hawthorn, he’d send the kid another childhood-memory package too.
Without sparing a thought for the kid’s miserable older brother, Xie Xingchen happily finalized the destination of the chestnuts.
As for the kid getting addicted and throwing a tantrum for more?
Heh. That would be Boss Xie’s problem. What did that have to do with Xie Xingchen?
After stirring until his arms nearly died, Xie Xingchen had zero desire to do this again!
If the game shop didn’t refresh a sugar-roasted-chestnut machine in the next few days, then this batch would become limited-edition food.
Xie Xingchen cheerfully slapped the title “limited-edition delicacy” onto it, then happily shipped the packages out.
“Young Master Landy! Your delivery is here!”
A cheerful attendant’s voice sounded at the door to Landy’s bedroom.
From his tone alone, you could tell how interested he was in Landy’s delivery.
After all, this was a package from the owner of Earth Trading House!
That shop everyone fought tooth and nail for, and still couldn’t buy anything from!
He personally couldn’t get any Earth Trading House products. But every time Boss Xie sent a package to the young master, the generous little master would share some with them.
So delivering the young master’s package was basically the best job ever!
A job you normally had to fight hard to earn!
Jack—smiling warmly, kindness at 100%—watched as the tightly shut door opened instantly.
Used to this by now, he respectfully yet warmly handed the parcel to Young Master Landy, then obediently waited in place, expecting the adorable, beautiful young master to open the door again and share a bit.
But—
The door shut like always… and it never opened again.
Jack waited outside for a full half hour.
Aside from occasionally catching a whiff of that irresistibly tempting food aroma through the crack in the door, he got nothing.
“Hahahahaha, Jack—serves you right! You went too hard and got karma!”
“You’re so bad at seizing opportunities! If you’re this dumb, you should’ve just let us have the chance!”
“Exactly! If it were us, the little master would definitely share. Unlike you—big and tall, but totally useless!”
The attendants and maids—who couldn’t beat Jack—teased him nonstop. After all, Jack had won the “deliver the package” role through sheer combat power.
But strangely, this time Jack didn’t get angry. Instead, he looked completely dazed.
“Jack, what’s wrong?” they asked, confused.
Jack stared off for a long time. After a moment of silence, he glanced at them—with an oddly lingering, almost savoring tone.
“So fragrant.”
Everyone: ?
So fragrant?
What was fragrant?
They wanted to press for details, but this big dummy Jack refused to say another word.
In the end, it wasn’t until Ludwig came back—and Landy handed him the few remaining sugar-roasted chestnuts he’d been saving—that everyone finally learned what Jack’s “so fragrant” meant.
Everyone: 555 it’s really so fragrant!
Little Landy clung to Ludwig’s leg, his round little eyes blinking, his chubby face full of reluctant sorrow. But in the end, he still handed the sugar-roasted chestnuts to Ludwig.
“Big brother, you can eat them.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help swallowing. Watching Ludwig eat, he couldn’t hold it anymore—his lips trembled into a pout.
Ludwig didn’t notice the kid’s expression. His little brother told him to eat, so he obediently ate each chestnut, one by one.
When he finished, he saw big teardrops filling the child’s eyes—and he was shocked.
He didn’t even have time to savor the chestnuts’ taste. He quickly picked his brother up and asked softly, “Landy, what’s wrong?”
Being held by his brother, Landy wasn’t as sad anymore. He even felt like he’d been a bit stingy.
The little guy got embarrassed. He buried his chubby face shyly into Ludwig’s neck, both arms hugging him tight, refusing to speak.
Ludwig, never good at communication, saw his brother wouldn’t talk and didn’t press.
Because he knew everyone had their own secrets. Even if his brother was small, he could still have secrets too.
A secretless Landy—who was simply greedy and shy: QAQ
Ever since finding chestnuts, Xie Xingchen had been dying for time to fast-forward straight to midnight.
He first stopped by Earth Trading House, listed the flowers with one click, then opened the game control panel.
His heartbeat rose and fell with the refresh countdown on the shop page.
When the timer hit the last two minutes, he couldn’t sit still anymore.
Now he finally understood what “counting seconds like years” felt like.
It was only two minutes, but it felt like two days.
That painful feeling of waiting for something that just wouldn’t arrive—only those who’ve waited know!
Finally, when the countdown reached the last ten seconds, his heartbeat was practically jumping out of his chest.
10, 9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1!
The game shop refreshed instantly.
Looking at the futuristic machine on the page, Xie Xingchen’s lips couldn’t stop curling upward.
He—Xie Xingchen, heaven’s favored child—finally got his wish and saw the food machine he wanted most on the system shop today!
[Name: Sugar-Roasted Chestnut Machine
Output: Sugar-Roasted Chestnuts (Good)
Effect: Enhanced physique (Weak)
Output efficiency: 1000 pieces / 24 hours
Required level: Level 2
Required turnover: 10 million]
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