Chapter 17
When Jian Yunlan was little, he had a pet dog named Mao Mao.
And this new dog form of Taotie—so fluffy, so imposing—
Mao Mao seemed like the perfect name for him.
Such an adorable, fitting, and deeply meaningful name.
Jian Yunlan gave himself a mental thumbs-up for his impeccable taste.
Taotie was so enraged he nearly breathed fire. He lunged at Jian Yunlan, aiming to sink his fangs into him—only to be stopped mid-air by an invisible barrier, sending him stumbling back.
Under the constraints of the 100% Obedience Collar, he was unable to harm Jian Yunlan.
Taotie seethed, his golden eyes fixed on the human with burning hostility.
Jian Yunlan, though tense, met his gaze—praying Taotie wouldn’t decide to go down in mutual destruction.
“Alright, let’s make a deal.” Even as a dog, Taotie’s ancient, ferocious aura remained. With those golden eyes boring into him, Jian Yunlan spoke nervously, “When I’m not running my food stall, you can be in human form—but you’re not allowed to hurt anyone.”
“When I am running my stall, you have to stay in your dog—uh, beast form. And you’re not allowed to steal food from my customers.”
Taotie let out an indignant growl.
A deep, haughty male voice echoed in Jian Yunlan’s mind:
“And why should I agree to your terms?”
Taotie glared at him, his gaze chillingly sinister, as if contemplating the most efficient way to snap his neck.
Jian Yunlan: “Because… I’ll personally prepare all three of your daily meals.”
Taotie: “…”
He ground his teeth.
He was… slightly tempted.
Jian Yunlan sweetened the deal: “And if you help me run the food stall, I’ll even throw in extra meals as a bonus.”
“Wontons, egg fried rice, zha jiang noodles, roujiamo, roasted chicken drumsticks—whatever you want, I can make it.”
“So? What do you say?”
That long string of dish names made Taotie’s eyes turn red with desire.
The shrimp noodle soup Jian Yunlan had made in just fifteen minutes was already so delicious. He didn’t dare imagine how good the rest of the dishes would taste.
Taotie remained silent.
As the seconds ticked by, Jian Yunlan’s heart gradually tensed.
If Taotie still wasn’t satisfied, then he really had no other options left!
Just as Jian Yunlan was about to lose hope—
Taotie begrudgingly nodded. “Awoo.”
Surrendering to good food wasn’t shameful.
Wontons, roujiamo, roasted chicken drumsticks…
Just thinking about them made Taotie’s mouth water.
Jian Yunlan held out his hand. “Deal.”
Taotie, with an air of arrogance, reluctantly extended his paw and placed it on Jian Yunlan’s hand.
“Alright, you can turn back into your human form now.”
As soon as the words left Jian Yunlan’s mouth, the collar around Taotie’s neck loosened slightly. A ripple of air swept through the space.
The man in Warring States robes reappeared—his silver hair tied high, his golden eyes blazing with fury as he glared at Jian Yunlan.
Jian Yunlan instinctively took half a step back. “Don’t do anything reckless.”
“Hmph.”
Taotie sneered. “I do not engage in petty tricks.”
A deal was a deal. He never played double-faced games.
“Tonight, I want to eat that thing you mentioned—wontons.”
After placing his order with great self-importance, Taotie glanced around and spotted the half-finished bowl of shrimp noodles on the table.
Happily, he strode over and bent down to eat the leftover noodles.
Food came first.
Taotie: Munch, munch, munch.
His eyes narrowed in bliss.
Delicious.
Jian Yunlan: “…”
So easy to fool.
His phone vibrated, and a notification popped up from the God of Cooking app:
[Congratulations! You have completed the forced side quest! Your rewards have been issued!]
[You have obtained: Innate Divine Strength x1]
Note: The most important thing for running a food stall is physical endurance! Whether it’s buying groceries, setting up shop, stir-frying, training dogs, fighting, or even running away—you’ll need a strong body to support you!
[You have a new employee! Check your [Employee List] for details.]
Looks like the side quest was successfully completed—no divine retribution today.
As for the Innate Divine Strength…
Jian Yunlan felt a warm current surge from his dantian, spreading through his limbs. Wherever it passed, a tingling sensation followed.
When the sensation faded, he casually picked up a soy sauce bottle and gave it a light squeeze—
Crack!
The bottle shattered in his hand!
So this was Innate Divine Strength!
This golden finger had arrived at just the right time. Now, if Taotie ever turned on him, he wouldn’t be completely defenseless.
Nodding in satisfaction, Jian Yunlan let out a breath of relief.
So exhausted. Time for a nap.
*
Universal Live Stream Room
Taotie’s sudden appearance left the viewers in shock.
[Holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP!!!]
[That’s Taotie—THE Taotie! (shivering)]
[Taotie has been the apex predator of the Shan Hai realm’s food chain for tens of thousands of years. Terrifying.]
[I’m from a Western fantasy realm—who is Taotie?]
[An ancient mythical beast, the embodiment of gluttony. Taotie recently committed crimes across the Universal Realms. It took every elite law enforcement unit in existence a full 49 days to capture him. Just think about how high his threat level is.]
[I wonder how long the streamer will survive.]
[Since Taotie is serving a sentence, the Universal Realms must have given the streamer some protective artifact… right?]
[Forget that—hurry up and figure out how to conquer Gu Xingzhou!]
Sigh. One wave hadn’t even settled before another one rose.
The viewers sighed in frustration.
Other streamers had already made significant progress with Gu Xingzhou. One, who had chosen the Super Intelligence cheat, had pulled every trick in the book to infiltrate Gu Xingzhou’s company and was now his right-hand man.
Meanwhile, Jian Yunlan…
Hadn’t even met Gu Xingzhou yet.
If he didn’t start advancing the plot soon, then, then—
Wait.
Hadn’t they said this exact same thing many times already?!
Sunday passed without incident.
Although Taotie had a terrible temper, he kept his word and didn’t cause any more trouble. Jian Yunlan had the butler take him to buy modern clothes, and despite some grumbling, he obediently changed into them.
At 5 a.m. on Monday, as soon as Jian Yunlan opened his eyes, he received a new mission notification from the God of Cooking system:
[Main Quest: For six days, set up a food stall outside the Yuanzhou Group building, where the protagonist Top, Gu Xingzhou, works. Every day before 11 a.m., sell 100 portions of fried rice, each priced at 50 yuan.]
[You have obtained: Complete Guide to Fried Rice Recipes x1]
[Do you accept this main quest? Accept/Decline]
Jian Yunlan’s eyes lit up.
A food stall! He could finally run his stall again!
Not setting up the stall for an entire Sunday had left him feeling restless, even making food taste bland.
He jumped out of bed, started steaming rice, then hopped on his tricycle and rushed to the market.
To sell 100 portions of fried rice by 11 a.m., he needed to set up by at least 9 a.m. But it was already 5 a.m.—time was tight.
For the first day, he’d start with a classic: egg fried rice!
At the market, he bought fresh carrots, onions, corn, and free-range eggs. Then he hurried back to the villa and began prepping for the stall.
Freshly made fried rice was always more enticing, so Jian Yunlan decided to prepare all the ingredients in advance and cook each portion on the spot when customers ordered.
By 9 a.m., everything was packed and loaded onto his cart.
Time to go!
Just as he stepped out the door, he came to a screeching halt.
A majestic silver dog blocked his path. Lord Taotie looked down at him, lifting his chin in an entitled manner. His golden eyes gleamed as he spoke:
“How dare you try to sneak off and set up a food stall without informing me?!”
If Jian Yunlan was going to cook something delicious outside, Taotie had to have a taste.
Before Jian Yunlan could respond, Taotie gracefully leapt onto the tricycle’s backseat and casually groomed his fur.
Jian Yunlan suddenly remembered a certain Shiba Inu meme—“Is running a food stall too easy? Take this with you.”
He sighed. “Mao Mao, you better behave.” Then he warned, “If you don’t, I’ll dump you in the trash.”
Taotie: “…”
Human, do not push your luck!
At exactly 9 a.m., Jian Yunlan and Taotie arrived at the stall location.
As the prime spot below a major corporation, this area was already bustling with street vendors. There were stalls selling jianbing guozi (savory pancakes), soup dumplings, and soy milk with fried dough sticks…
But fried rice?
Jian Yunlan was the first one selling it.
He set up a large wok on his food cart and neatly arranged his ingredients—carrots, onions, eggs, seasonings. Once everything was ready, he stood and waited for his first customer.
The other street vendors glanced over, shaking their heads.
This young man must be crazy.
Who eats fried rice in the morning?
Fried rice was heavy and filling—clearly more suitable for dinner or late-night snacks. Most of the white-collar workers here kept their breakfasts light, usually just a cup of coffee and a small portion of dumplings.
When it comes to work, just staying alive is enough.
Lin Tianqiu thought the same thing.
As he walked out of the Yuanzhou Group building, his steps were unsteady, and he was radiating enough resentment to feed a dozen evil spirits.
His colleagues who saw him were startled.
…Most people were just arriving for work, but Lin Tianqiu hadn’t even left work yet.
Not just him—his entire team had pulled an all-nighter at the office.
It was the peak of the financial reconciliation period, and with the deadline approaching, upper management was expecting final reports. His team had spent the whole night verifying the accounts—
And they still weren’t done.
Desperate from hunger, they had finally agreed to send Lin Tianqiu, their intern, downstairs to get food.
Anything would do—soy milk, fried dough sticks—just something to eat.
With hollow eyes, Lin Tianqiu scanned the nearby food stalls, looking for one without a line.
Then he noticed the fried rice stall in the corner.
The vendor seemed to be a first-timer here—very good-looking, but clearly inexperienced.
He had chosen the worst possible spot, far from the company entrance, where most white-collar workers wouldn’t bother walking. Unlike the other stalls, which were filling the air with tempting food aromas, his cart was cold and unvisited due to the lack of customers.
It didn’t look like a place anyone would want to visit.
These days, just surviving was tough. So young, so good-looking, yet forced to set up a street stall—what a miserable fate.
Lin Tianqiu couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy, a kind of shared misfortune.
If he ever got laid off, he’d probably end up like this too.
But sympathy alone wasn’t enough to make him buy something he had no interest in.
Instead, he went to a nearby bun stall and bought a few buns. The vendor was about to close, so the buns were slightly cold, and he got them at a discount.
Just then—
The fried rice stall owner in the corner suddenly moved.
There were no customers, so why was he starting to cook? Lin Tianqiu was puzzled.
Jian Yunlan poured oil into the large wok, heating it up before cracking in three free-range eggs.
A sizzling sound erupted as the eggs hit the hot oil, turning golden brown almost instantly. He swiftly scrambled them, then added the chopped vegetables, and finally, a generous bowl of rice.
Each grain of rice remained distinct, glistening as it absorbed the fragrant golden egg. The rich aroma of seasoned fried rice and perfectly cooked eggs, mixed with the sizzling heat of the wok, filled the air.
It smelled amazing!
With a flick of his wrist, Jian Yunlan sent the fried rice soaring into the air, flipping it with the wok in a perfect arc—just like in a cooking manga.
Lin Tianqiu didn’t know much about cooking techniques, but the surrounding street vendors immediately recognized skill when they saw it. Their gazes changed in an instant.
That was pure showmanship.
…Still, no matter how impressive, it wouldn’t matter if there weren’t any customers.
The street vendors sighed regretfully.
When it came to running a food stall, technique was secondary. What mattered was whether the food tasted good.
While they were talking, Jian Yunlan had already finished his first batch of fried rice.
But with no customers, who was he cooking for? Lin Tianqiu grew even more confused.
The next second—
A large, fluffy silver dog appeared out of nowhere and snatched the bowl from the stall owner’s hand.
What a majestic and handsome dog! Its silver-white fur shimmered under the sunlight, with streaks of bluish-red, and its golden eyes gleamed like rare gemstones. Its ears were perked up, exuding the arrogance of a creature born into luxury and privilege.
The dog carried the steaming bowl of golden fried rice in its mouth and sauntered over to a sunlit spot. After lazily settling down, it lowered its head and began eating.
Its movements had been graceful before, but now, as it ate, all sense of elegance was gone. It buried its entire face into the bowl, as if flaunting its meal to everyone around. The scent of the fried rice wafted through the air, carried by the breeze.
The crowd started to waver.
Many people couldn’t help but sneak glances at the dog’s bowl, swallowing involuntarily.
Lin Tianqiu looked at the cold buns in his hand, then at the golden, fragrant, and steaming fried rice in the dog’s mouth.
Suddenly, life felt meaningless.
Even a dog was eating better than him!
