133: Chapter 131: I really made a profit!

Twenty-nine karma points, spent down to the last one.

Pots, knives, cutting boards, bowls, and dishes didn't require karma points for now; the team already had them on hand.

Ingredients and seasonings were the core expenses—one jin of marinated tenderloin, two bundles of seaweed, a small bottle of soy sauce, half a pack of chili powder, ginger powder, salt, and vinegar. These consumed all the karma points she had saved up until now, and she even had to borrow extra from a friend.

Therefore, she could only succeed; she could not fail.

She squatted in the corner of the deck of her rotten wood class houseboat and laid everything out.

A man in his thirties from the team passed by and peeked over.

"Sister Xiulian, what are you busy with?"

"Making something to eat. You all can have a taste in a bit."

"Alright then." The man didn't ask any more questions and turned to leave.

Li Xiulian rolled up her sleeves.

She sliced the tenderloin thinly, using a diagonal knife technique, keeping each slice to about three millimeters thick. She washed the seaweed and cut it into sections. She mixed the ginger powder and salt, rubbed them into the meat, and let it marinate—without a refrigerator, she wrapped the marinated meat in a cloth dampened with seawater and placed it in a cool spot at the bottom of the boat.

While it was marinating, she set up the pot and heated the oil.

The Bronze Grade small wok heated very evenly, and the oil temperature rose quickly. She tested it with a chopstick—dense little bubbles appeared around the chopstick; the temperature was just right.

She put the tenderloin slices into the pot.

With a sizzling sound, the aroma of the meat and oil mingled together and drifted away on the sea breeze.

Two old ladies on the boat next door turned their heads at the same time to take a look.

Li Xiulian was fully focused. Flipping, controlling the fire, adding seasonings. She drizzled the soy sauce along the edge of the pot, stirring up a puff of white steam. She added the chili powder last—it couldn't be too early, or it would burn.

Three minutes later, it was done.

The seaweed was the other dish. She blanched it, rinsed it in cold water, and mixed it with vinegar and ginger powder.

Two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, were neatly arranged in the bowls and dishes.

She tasted a bite herself first.

The meat was cooked perfectly—crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, savory with a hint of spice. The seaweed was crisp and refreshing, with a tangy, spicy flavor that whetted the appetite.

It was a bit worse than before her Transmigration—the seasonings weren't complete, and the quality of the meat was just average. But on the Magic Sea, this was already her top-tier level.

Li Xiulian picked up the bowl of meat, took a deep breath, and opened the upload interface of the food god shrine.

Her finger hovered over the "Upload" button for two seconds.

She pressed it.

A golden light enveloped the food in the bowl, dissipating after three seconds.

A line of text popped up on the interface.

[Evaluating deliciousness...]

[Evaluation complete.]

[Deliciousness: 4]

[Can be directly converted into 4 karma points, or listed for consignment on the food god shrine free trading platform.]

Li Xiulian stared at the number.

4.

She quickly did the math.

Of the total investment of twenty-nine karma points, the pots and dishes didn't cost any, and the seasonings, which cost twenty-two, could be used repeatedly and weren't counted in the single-serving cost for now. The main ingredients cost about seven karma points. She had allocated the ingredients appropriately, and there was enough left to make another meat and vegetable dish.

Four servings, 4 karma points each.

16 minus 29.

Still a loss of 13 karma points.

But that wasn't how the math worked.

Her hands began to tremble.

Those seasonings could be used many more times. She only needed to spend these twenty karma points to buy main ingredients, and she could make another twelve servings, which would be 48 karma points.

No, that wasn't right; the deliciousness rating would fluctuate—but even if it averaged out to only 3.5 karma points per serving, twelve servings would still be 42. Subtracting the 29-point cost, she could net a profit of at least 10.

10 karma points.

In one day!

The Bronze Grade Survivors in her team who went out with knives and guns to hunt sea beasts could, for the most part, only save up twelve to fifteen karma points a day.

As long as her cooking skills were good enough, she was almost matching the income of those Bronze Grade Survivors in the team who were risking their lives hunting sea beasts.

Li Xiulian squatted on the deck, covering her face with both hands.

Tears seeped out between her fingers.

She made no sound, but her shoulders were shaking.

Her family had hope now.

Thirty seconds later, she wiped her face and stood up.

No time to cry.

She had to hurry and cook, take advantage of the fact that others hadn't realized it yet, earn more money, and then stock up on more seasonings.

There was no need to think about it; once everyone realized the potential of the food god shrine, the already scarce and expensive seasonings on the Karmic Trading Realm would definitely be snapped up.

You have to know that apart from sea salt, many of the spices on the Fate Platform were obtained by opening treasure chests; every bit used was one bit less.

These spices were treasures for making gourmet food; without the aid of spices, her cooking income would likely decrease.

It would definitely not be as exaggerated as it was now.

Over the next forty-plus minutes, Li Xiulian turned into an accelerated machine. Buying meat and vegetables, slicing meat, stir-frying, seasoning, plating, and uploading. She was fully focused on every portion, never cutting corners.

She finished another 6 portions.

Two of them were made with the remaining ingredients from before.

The deliciousness ratings were 4, 3, 3, 5, 4, and 4 respectively.

A total of 23 karma points were credited to her account.

Subtracting the 8 points for ingredient and seasoning costs.

A net profit of 15 karma points.

This was one point higher than her initial highest estimate. The deliciousness rating of the food god shrine would fluctuate based on the actual taste; she had put extra care into one portion, and it was rated a 5.

Two of the food items with only a 3 rating were because she had been in a rush and hadn't cleaned the cookware properly, causing the flavors to mix and lowering the score; she only realized it after making two of them.

After that, she had to slow down.

The moment Li Xiulian saw her karma point balance jump from 8 to 23, her eyes turned red again.

She suppressed her emotions and opened her private messages.

Sending item: Zhang Lijuan.

"Lijuan! It worked! The second function of the food god shrine! Cooking can be exchanged for karma points! I just made 6 dishes and exchanged them for 23 karma points. Excluding the cost of seasonings, I netted 2 karma points in one hour. It was a success—"

On the other end of the line, Zhang Lijuan was squatting on the edge of the boat, inspecting a mooring rope. Listening to Li Xiulian's rapid-fire voice message bombardment, her face clearly read, "Here we go again."

"Slow down..."

"Wait, I'm sending you a screenshot!"

The screenshot came through, showing that although the karma point balance was lower than before, it was a solid 23 karma points.

Zhang Lijuan stared at the screenshot, and the rope in her hand dropped into the sea.

"...Is this for real? Did you really get all this from selling the things you just cooked to the food god shrine?"

"Why would I lie to you! Just wait, I'm paying you back your karma points now. Do you see it? Did it arrive?"

Ding.

10 karma points, received.

Zhang Lijuan looked at the transfer notification, her head buzzing.

"Xiulian... is it really profitable? Didn't you spend 29 karma points? You only have 23 left now. Can you really afford to pay me back ten?"

"Dummy, didn't I just tell you? Part of it was buying seasonings. Seasonings are expensive, but they can be used many more times. If I use these twenty-three karma points to buy main ingredients now, I can make at least a dozen servings. With my cooking skills, I don't even need to consign them to others; I can just sell them directly to the food god shrine and get at least forty or fifty karma points. If I spend a few hours a day on this, I can steadily earn over a dozen karma points."

"Is this for real? Say it again, how does it work?"

Li Xiulian took a deep breath, her speaking speed slowed down, but she couldn't suppress the tremor in her voice.