Chapter 91: Super Energy

Xie Sen couldn’t see the pop-ups, but when he looked at the reaction of the audience in front of the stage, he could guess the reactions of the audience in the live stream. He looked at the aromatic boiled fish in the pot, and instantly felt that the people of Brandt Star were extraordinarily pitiful, and had very low standards for food.

Although, it really did smell good. The chili peppers grown from the seeds in the System were of very good quality, but the spices were still too few. If the ingredients were complete, together with the quality of the chili peppers, the aroma would definitely be even more appealing than it was now.

Suddenly, he was flabbergasted as many messages flew past his eyes like a screen, all ‘Energy 1’ or ‘Energy 2’.

He raised his eyes, and before him were many gluttonous faces, with glowing eyes glowing as they looked at the pot on the stage. Xie Sen was amazed at the amount of energy he had gained just from making a piece of boiled fish, and it was still growing.

Ma Qun walked up to him, and looked straight into the pot. “Is it cooked yet? Shall I taste it on behalf of everyone?”

Xie Sen came back to his senses. He turned his head and saw his special desire to eat, smiled and turned off the heat. “It’s cooked.” The fish was of medium thickness, and cooked very well.

Ma Qun quickly grabbed the bowl and chopsticks, and put a piece of fish fillet into the bowl. He blew on it haphazardly and then stuffed it into his mouth. The spicy taste under the high temperature was even sharper.

His mouth was stimulated by the unprecedented taste sensation. He held the bowl and chopsticks in one hand and fanned some wind around his mouth with the other, as he swallowed the fish fillet whole. His lips were red with spice, and had a light oily glow, which made it seem that what he ate was extraordinarily delicious.

Ma Qun inhaled and stretched out his chopsticks to continue to clip the fish. The spiciness was a little uncomfortable, but he couldn’t help but want to eat. This was a feeling he had never had before.

When he saw this, Xie Sen poured a cup of cold water, and handed it to him, then took the bowl and spooned it directly to him.

The launch audience, and the live stream audience all howled on.

“President Ma, I don’t want you to represent me, I want to eat it myself!”

“Ahhhhh! It’s too much! Leave some, let me eat half a slice. It’s also good!”

Xie Sen’s hand holding the bowl shook from fear at the howls, and the journalists and audience on the scene pushed desperately toward the front of the stage with their hands up, as they were firmly blocked by the security personnel in front. Their faces were so full of frenzy that if they didn’t know better, they would have thought they were rabid fans attending a concert!

Xie Sen sighed at the charm of the food, handed the bowl back to Ma Qun and asked, “President Ma, what about this?”

Ma Qun smiled with great satisfaction as he held the small bowl of fish fillets. “Let’s choose the lucky audience members and let the audience try it. There are only a limited number of fillets, so each one will get to try one piece.”

“Yes, yes!” The whole crowd echoed.

“Choose me, choose me!” They raised their hands in unison and jumped, and the venue immediately resounded with ‘dong, dong, dong’ beating sounds.

The audience in the live broadcast room was frantic, [Open the door, let me in!!!]

[I want to try it too!]

Ma Qun saw the crowd was too raucous, and raised his hand, “Everyone don’t get over-excited. If you disturb the order of the venue, we can only regretfully leave, so please observe order.”

When he said this, it was more effective than a school teacher training students. The scene was instantly silent. They had to use action to show that they were a good orderly audience, and did not need to be asked to leave.

Xie Sen hung his head and stifled his laughter. However he also felt very sad. Look at those people. They had been poisoned by food for how many years? They couldn’t handle the slightest scent.

He remembered when he first met Xu Da, and immediately felt that Xu Da’s reaction was normal.

Ma Qun’s words quieted the scene, and he was very satisfied. “Everyone who entered the venue swiped their bracelets when they entered. We will randomly select the audience from that.” He looked at Xie Sen. “About how many pieces are left?”

Xie Sen shook his head, took a large plate and placed the fish neatly on it. Before long he said, “Thirty-six more.” He used a spoon to ladle the chili oil from the pot onto the fish, which looked particularly delicious as it glowed red on the tender white fish.

Ma Qun continued, “Thirty-six people will be chosen at random. One slice per person.”

After he finished, the staff quickly dropped the random selection interface onto the virtual screen in front of the stage, quickly selected thirty-six audience members, ranked them, and sent information to the audience members’ bracelets.

Cheers and sad voices rang out from the audience as the staff called out the numbers one by one, as they allowed the audience members to come on stage and try the food. Each audience member who came on stage had a joyful face, and several ate with tears in their eyes as they looked at the remaining fillets before being kindly asked to leave the stage.

Others were cheerful and jumped up and down, as they covered their mouths and shouted, “That’s good!”

There were a few celebrities that Xie Sen didn’t know, but once they were on stage, the reporters started talking about them and he found out who they were.

When number twenty-eight was called, there was no response from the crowd. Xie Sen was surprised when the group suddenly shouted and cheered, all with gossipy faces. Before he knew it, he was grabbed from behind. He was slightly stunned, then smiled, as he turned his head with arched eyebrows and met Maine’s eyes as he looked down.

Xie Sen laughed, “You’re lucky!”

Maine looked at him intently. “Yes. Very lucky.”

Xie Sen smiled and turned his head back. He took a new pair of chopsticks and gave him a piece of the fish fillet in a small bowl, and held it directly to his mouth.

Xie Sen saw the red color on his fair skin, put the bowl down, then handed him a glass of cold water and a paper towel.

Maine accepted the tissue and wiped his mouth, then took several sips of water and kissed Xie Sen on the cheek. “I’ll wait for you in the back.”

Xie Sen nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

The viewers in front of the live room said they were hurt by 10,000 points, [It’s sad enough that you can’t eat the chili, but then I have to be fed dog food?]

[Single dogs are very tired!]

[Ahh, when these two stand together it’s too much. I give up …]

[July 1, 2088, the astrological calendar. Did not eat chili, male god held a public show of love. Life is instantly tasteless, lost love day. I will remember!]

The audience also joked loudly. Xie Sen blushed slightly, then coughed a little and changed the pair of chopsticks and prepared a fish fillet for the next lucky audience member.

As the tasting stage finished and the event came to an end, the staff removed all the kitchen utensils and Xie Sen returned to the back room while Ma Qun gave his final thank you speech.

After a short and sincere thank you speech, Ma Qun concluded with the question on everyone’s mind. “The chili will be sold in rich supermarkets in limited quantities, so the price isn’t cheap. However, I promise that the price will be reduced significantly when they are produced in large quantities, and that day is not far away.”

“When will they be sold?” Someone immediately asked aloud.

Ma Qun said, “The first batch will be sold tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Please pay attention to the official website of Rich Supermarket for more information. I would like to thank Xie Sen, the discoverer of the chili peppers, and all the people who contributed to the plant.”

Xie Sen sat in the back room. After Ma Qun mentioned his name, the information alert of the energy increase scrolled even faster in front of him, it was comparable to a phantom.

He was slightly stunned, and deeply felt the importance of plants to the viewers.

Ma Qun returned backstage, and the crowd retired one after another, while the live broadcast was closed at the same time. The audience was very impatient, and turned to the forum, as they posted and discussed.

Xie Sen bid farewell to Ma Qun, and left the Institute with Maine.

Xie Sen sat on the passenger side, opened the System panel, and was stunned to see the energy level was approaching 10,000 and still rising.

Calm down! He reminded himself that this number was much better than the number of people in the live room! However, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up. Maine raised his eyebrows, “What are you thinking? Why so happy?”

Xie Sen smiled, “A good thing.”

He calculated it. With five colors of plants in a round, the energy required to activate them were 10, 100, 200, 400, 800, respectively. That meant that one group needed 1,510 energy. He’d already activated the sixth plant, so the second group only needed 1,500.

Xie Sen looked at the remaining energy, and immediately used 1,500 energy to activate the second group of plants. The remaining four activations were soybeans, peas, glutinous rice, and eggplant. He was a little surprised. Eggplant was purple, but it actually counted as an off-color black plant.

When he saw the soybeans, his eyes glowed, and he immediately thought of a bunch of soy products. Soybeans were a good thing. They could make many kinds of dishes! Plus, he could also make bean sprouts! He silently swallowed. Boiled fish with some bean sprouts. The taste was very good, ah!

There were more kinds of food, but if he wanted to eat good food, he still needed seasonings. He thought about the monotonous condiments, and opened his bracelet to check the preparation methods for soy sauce and vinegar. Soon there was a search result, and his eyes instantly lit up when he took a look.

But after he read it carefully, he couldn’t help but frown a little. Soy sauce needed soybeans and wheat. He only had soybeans. It was a good thing that he at least had rice and glutinous rice to make the vinegar. He held his chin, and carefully pondered the process of vinegar making. He saw the steps of putting in the currants, he went to check how to make currant wine. After taking the time to read it, he realized that he might not be able to make it.

Maine kept an eye on him. When he saw him frown, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Sen said, “I want to make some seasonings, but it looks so hard.” He had a twinkle in his eye, “I’ll go back later, and I’ll ask A’Jiao where he is. He always makes medicine, and can handle all kinds of ingredients. He might be able to make it.”

As he said that, he contacted Bai Jiao, who was at home making medicine. When he heard him say he had something to find, he said they could come over anytime.

Xie Sen gave Maine the address Bai Jiao had sent, and the two went directly to Bai Jiao’s house. It was a small two-story building with a large backyard. Bai Jiao was standing at the door waiting for them. They greeted each other, and he welcomed them inside.

Xie Sen opened the conversation, and directly explained his intentions. Bai Jiao smiled, “Vinegar can also be used medicinally.”

Xie Sen immediately asked, “Then I will provide the rice. Can you make it?”

Bai Jiao pondered, “There should be no problem. Why don’t we try making some first?”

Xie Sen used twenty energy to exchange for two pounds of rice. “This is two pounds of rice, is that enough?”

Bai Jiao’s eyes glowed as he looked at the rice. “Yes. We’ll make more after we succeed.” 

Xie Sen smiled, and thanked him.

Bai Jiao said, “You’re welcome. I like to make things with plants, and I especially like to work on products that change a lot.”

Xie Sen immediately nodded. “I also want to make soy sauce, but I don’t have the ingredients yet. I’ll come back to you when I have them.”

Bai Jiao laughed, “Good,” he picked the rice, and was obviously very impatient. “It will take almost three months from assembly to the finished product, so I will take care of it as soon as possible to save time.”

Xie Sen asked, “Do you need my help?”

Bai Jiao shook his head. “No, I’ll do it.”

Xie Sen and Maine then said goodbye, and didn’t bother him anymore.

Back at home, they had lunch, then Maine went to work in the workshop while Xie Sen went to see the contract beasts. When Xie Sen went to the courtyard, he saw the giant crocodile was lying on its back with its tail hanging out of the doorway, and a bundle of vines on its back. Not far from it, the contract beasts were gathered together as they watched it, while the flying eagle was soaring in the air.

He was confused, so he reached out and touched the head of the giant crocodile beast. “What’s wrong?”

The giant crocodile looked up at him and its voice dropped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it, I can pay for it part-time!”

Xie Sen, “… What happened?”

The giant crocodile beast looked backwards, turned over and started crawling. Xie Sen followed it to the land next to the accommodation area. The other contract beasts barked softly, and followed not far behind. They were all a bit absent-minded, and the contract beasts with fur were still very wet.

Xie Sen was even more confused when the System gift announcement came, [‘Starry Sky’ gave the anchor a watermelon rain, “hahahaha, I’m just dying of laughter. Don’t be mean to them, they’re blaming themselves.”]

[‘Moon’ gave the anchor a watermelon rain, “I’ll pay for it! Don’t blame them!”]

Xie Sen opened his bracelet as he walked, and cut into the live stream. He was about to ask what happened, when he saw the scene in front of him and understood.

The artificial river was built only yesterday, but the section in front of him was destroyed. The white tiles were all in pieces, and when he looked closer, not surprisingly, the tiles at the bottom of the river were also quite broken.

The giant crocodile’s tail gently touched his leg. “I really didn’t mean to do it. I was just too happy, and wagged my tail. They broke. The giant tiger beast tried to help me put the pieces together, but the rest also broke…Flying lion beast told me to apologize, and said you wouldn’t be angry with me.”

Xie Sen looked at the wet fur of the contract beasts next to him, and thought about the chaotic scene of them trying to put the pieces together. He reached out to lift the crocodile’s tail and found it to be quite heavy. “It’s okay, I didn’t think it through. The tiles look good but don’t hold weight. It has nothing to do with you guys.”

The beast stretched its long mouth and bit the rattan, as it looked at Xie Sen shyly. Xie Sen laughed and let go of its tail, and the beast threw the rattan to the side.

Xie Sen took the contract beasts to wash them down, then led them back to the living quarters. He put the water from the river into the cistern at the corner of the land, to save it for irrigating the plants, then called the construction company and asked them to take out the tiles and replace them with a strong load-bearing floor.

After he contacted them, he turned on the powerful fans in the living area, opened them all at once, and let the contract beasts stand in a row to blow dry.

[Wow! This scene is so spectacular!]

[Hahahaha! The new residence is really good. The facilities are so comprehensive!]

[Want to comb the mane of the giant lion beast. Anchor, let me volunteer!]

[I want to! I’m not a senior contract beast owner, I just want to play with them, pick me!]

Xie Sen stood aside and waited for the contract beasts to dry. He watched the pop-ups and smiled, as he thought, I’ll discuss with them. If there is a plan, I’ll notify them in advance.

The construction company came quickly, Xie Sen explained the problem to them and they went out to check it, and then he came back to the living area. After the contract beasts’ fur was blown dry, he discussed the fan meeting with them. The contract beasts all said that it was okay, and it was quite nice to have someone to play with.

The giant crocodile beast was particularly active, “Hold it! I want to make money to pay you back!”

Xie Sen laughed, “I’ll make plans first.” 

After letting the contract beasts discuss what ideas they had, he headed back to his home. He walked into the hall, didn’t see Maine, raised his lips and smiled, then gingerly went to the second floor. He bent down and moved quietly from the gym to the workroom.

To his surprise, Maine really didn’t notice him. He came up behind Maine’s seat and saw Maine had headphones on, as he looked down at something. He glanced up and saw that the wall screen was broadcasting the live stream, but it was obvious that Maine wasn’t watching it.

He got up, looked over Maine’s shoulder, curiously followed Maine’s line of sight, and was stunned.

Maine was looking at his bracelet screen. In the middle of the screen was a smart-looking middle-aged man with a few big words over his head ‘Emotional Question: Why do couples refuse to get married?’

The middle-aged man was talking eloquently, and as he spoke, a few big words popped up on the screen every now and then. ‘no love’, ‘distrust’, ‘spare tire’…

In his heart, Xie Sen silently cursed, shit!. Even if he couldn’t hear the man’s words, just by seeing those big words, he could guess the specific content.

The man was wearing a nameplate on his left chest, which read ‘Senior Emotional Expert.’ Xie Sen scowled. Garbage expert!

The next moment, the screen disappeared. Maine’s face tightened as he removed his headphones, but he didn’t turn around for a moment.

Xie Sen then realized that he had just cursed out loud. When he saw Maine in that state, he was both hurt and amused. He put his hand on Maine’s shoulder, and realized that Maine’s body was like a drawn bowstring, his muscles were so tense.

He stepped forward and slid his hand down. He hugged Maine from behind with both arms, and rested his chin on Maine’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to scare you and joke with you. I didn’t mean to peek.”

Maine lowered his eyes slightly. “It’s okay.”

Xie Sen tilted his head, and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t believe that garbage expert, did you?”

Maine grabbed his hand fiercely, his voice hoarse, “I don’t believe it.”

Xie Sen walked around the seat and stood across from Maine. He realized that the angle of sight wasn’t good, so he simply sat on Maine’s lap. Maine subconsciously held him around the waist, then looked at him intently.

Xie Sen cupped his face, and kissed him. “Don’t believe it. Just ask me if you have any questions. Don’t read all that nonsense!” He laughed. “Even if you want to get married, you should at least get your diploma.”

Maine held him tighter, and Xie Sen was dragged forward due to the force. The two of them were almost stuck to each other, in an incomparably suggestive position.

Maine suppressed his excitement, and looked at him hotly, “Really? You promise to marry me?”

Xie Sen blushed slightly, and moved uncomfortably. “Well, I always wanted to. I just thought we were too young.”

“Mn…” Maine’s voice was husky, as he held the back of Xie Sen’s neck and kissed him. “Don’t move.”

Xie Sen felt his reaction, and immediately didn’t dare move.

After a while, Maine nibbled on his earlobe. His whole body trembled. Maine picked him up, and said in a low voice, “A’Sen, I can’t help it. Let’s take a nap together!”

The real nap started almost two hours later. Afterwards Xie Sen woke up straight away, ready for dinner.

Maine, with an insatiable look on his face, hugged and kissed Xie Sen intimately. “A’Sen, you promised to marry me.” He stared at Xie Sen. “You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Xie Sen nudged Maine’s head in amusement. “I don’t have Alzheimer’s yet.” He glanced out the window. It was getting dark. “Is the river bottom finished?”

“Yeah, it’s done. Want to get up for dinner?” Maine asked.

Xie Sen nodded. As he got up, the blanket slipped off, and Maine’s eyes became stormy. Xie Sen kicked him. “Turn your head, and close your eyes.”

Maine laughed lightly, took him by the back of the neck and kissed him on the lips. “Don’t worry. I won’t mess around.”

The two of them had dinner, then sat on the couch together to watch the news. Xie Sen wasn’t surprised to see the news about the chili launch, but he had mixed feelings when he looked at the bolded and capitalized ‘pregnancy rate.’

Ma Qun, was this considered false propaganda? In case it didn’t work, wouldn’t it be disappointing?

Just by looking at the energy value that kept on rising, he knew how much hope the Brandt Star people had for the chili. But on second thought, how could vegetables not be good for the body when added to the current daily diet?

In addition to the chili pepper launch, there was another piece of news that caused a stir. Brandt Star announced to the public that the sale of contract beasts was now prohibited on Planet Blue, and that such behavior had been deemed illegal and the offenders would be severely punished.

The official of the Contract Beast Institute forwarded this message, while expressing gratitude to Blue, and appealed to everyone to love contract beasts, resist forced contracting, and reminded them that selling contract beasts on Brandt Star was also illegal.

Xie Sen flipped through the comments, saw his name, and he paused for a moment.

[Ban on trafficking? As far as I know, Gold Medal, as well as that anchor named Xie Sen, are selling contract beasts, right? They are also using them to make money, live!]

This comment stood out among the slurry of copy and paste, and there were many replies underneath.

[What about looking for trouble? Did they force a contract? Did they hurt the contract beasts?]

[Couldn’t be the vest of a contract beast dealer, right? Don’t bring rumors. Gold Medal and the contract beasts in the live room are living normally, unlike you dirty people who drug the contract beasts!]

Xie Sen frowned, and didn’t continue to read the comments. He returned to look at the homepage comments. The comment appeared again, and there were quite a few different voices.

[Most of the senior contract beasts are found in the wild. Maybe they are also drugged!]

[Yeah, what’s the criteria? Can’t use drugs to capture contract beasts? Or is it possible to capture them without forcing a contract? It doesn’t make sense. In that case, the senior contract beast masters wouldn’t have to go to the wilderness to find contract beasts themselves? In addition to beast masters, how can senior contract beasts honestly follow people back?]

The more voices of doubt were drawn out, the more the first people who blindly copied the comments would think carefully, and also believe that it made sense.

The first was to prohibit the sale of contract beasts, then banning the current forced contract drug was easy, so what counted as legal?

Xie Sen looked through for a while, and saw that someone mentioned President Mu had sent a message. He clicked on the link, and went to Mu Lin’s private account.

Mu Lin, [There is only one standard. To ensure the contract beast’s health. A contract beast’s intelligence is very high. They know who hurts them. Do not hold a fluke, feel free to report false comments!]

[President Mu. Handsome, clean and sharp!]

[Yes, someone actually broke the rhythm of the live room, cannot stand! Go see how happy and smart the contract beasts are, and you’ll know how ridiculous these words are, silly.]

Xie Sen saw this and laughed. “President Mu still speaks simply and rudely.”

Maine laughed lightly, “Very useful.”

After he watched the news, Xie Sen looked at his remaining energy level, and it was already over 23,000!

He couldn’t help but think about it. Just because he gave the chili pepper, he got so many people’s energy back. If he activated all the energy in the plant book and bred them, wouldn’t he never have to worry about energy again?

Soon, he dismissed this idea, 23,000 energy could activate fifteen groups of plants, which was seventy-five different species. To bring out so many plants all at once was too eye-catching.

He examined the problem. It was safer to discover a few plants each trip out, and also to leave more energy to exchange plants, in case of an emergency.

So with that thought, he left 5,000 energy, then spent more than 18,000 energy, and exchanged a total of twelve groups, that was sixty plants.

As he listened to the System’s incessant beeps, his smile grew deeper and deeper. Sixty kinds of plants. In addition to vegetables and fruits, there were also many flowers and trees, and the most delightful thing was that onions, ginger and garlic were activated!

The noise was so loud, that Adam woke up from his slumber and was stunned, “Ah, A’Sen, what happened?”