Culinary Art of Light and Darkness

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Qin Yilan recounted the discussion she had overheard among the veteran platoon leader and the others to Yang Tang over the phone, and then hastily hung up.

"What is going on here?" Yang Tang was left somewhat bewildered. "Why would Qin Yilan tip me off? Could Qin Yijian not be her biological brother? Or is this entire thing some sort of conspiracy? But giving it serious thought, that makes no sense."

Yang Tang pondered for a long time without figuring out Qin Yilan's motives, so he simply put the matter aside, too lazy to overthink it. As for the possibility of Qin Xuewu trying to persuade him into military service, Yang Tang was even less concerned. China currently practiced a voluntary enlistment system rather than mandatory conscription. Therefore, in just a few days, once he turned eighteen, he could firmly refuse to enlist. Leaving aside Qin Xuewu, even Yang Jixue would be powerless against him.

Clearly, Qin Xuewu was thinking along the exact same lines. That evening, after listening to Qin Yijian's report, before his son could even offer any suggestions, Qin Xuewu waved his hand and said, "Jian'er, this cannot be done!"

"Why?"

"No particular reason. We are not currently in a time of war where every household must fight and everyone must be a soldier. This is a period of war preparation. The Yang family has a sparse lineage, with Yang Tang as their only male heir, and he has even been admitted to Peking University. Recruiting him into the Special Operations Brigade would just be sheer nonsense! Even if he were to be specially recruited, it should be into a military academy!"

"But Dad, isn't the Qin family's lineage sparse as well? I'm serving in the military just the same!" Qin Yijian argued unconvinced.

"How is our Qin family the same? Your uncle, your third uncle, and I have never separated our household, so in your generation, you still have three male cousins. Therefore, whether you serve in the military is up to your preference. Even by your logic, I only have you and your sister as children; even if you were to gloriously sacrifice your life, wouldn't you still have your sister? So, this matter cannot be done!"

Qin Yijian was somewhat persuaded by Qin Xuewu, but still felt a lingering reluctance. "But Dad, before the college entrance examination, when I called home to greet Mom, that's not what you told me."

Qin Xuewu raised an eyebrow and asked, "What did I say?"

"You said at the time that if Yang Tang failed the college entrance exams and didn't want to attend a sponsored enrollment program, we should just send him off to the army!"

"Indeed, I said that, but there was a precondition attached, wasn't there? Yang Tang didn't pass the exams. The problem is that now he has passed, and into Peking University at that! Besides, if I were to send Yang Tang into the military, it would be to a Class B unit or a logistics support unit, not the Special Operations Brigade! As for the veteran platoon leader, telling you to suggest a special recruitment for him is sheer madness!"

"Well... but..." Qin Yijian still wanted to discuss the matter of Yang Tang's fierce and violent gaze.

"Alright, alright, I still have work to attend to. This matter ends here!"

On the morning of the third day, Yang's parents, who had already scouted two properties, holed up in their hotel room browsing the internet, intending to purchase a property via online bidding.

Since he didn't need to go out, Yang Tang naturally accompanied his parents. Just as he brought his laptop into their room to check the bidding prices along with them, Wan Hailiu sent a text message notification stating that the list of all female residents in Yuijing over the age of thirty surnamed Gong had been uploaded to Yang Tang's email.

Yang Tang remained unruffled. While opening the auction property webpage, he input the list sent by Wan Hailiu into a small program he had pre-written to filter and analyze the data.

The program ran its course and filtered out only two women who met the criteria. When he opened their photos to check, neither of them matched, and Yang Tang didn't know either of them. In other words, if the list obtained by Wan Hailiu had no omissions, then such a person as Yang Tang's mother-in-law from his past life simply did not exist within Yuijing's household registration system, making the appearance of his "wife" an impossibility.

After twisting and turning, searching high and low only to arrive at this result, Yang Tang momentarily felt as though his entire being had been hollowed out. He could not help but recall Andy Lau's song "Destined Meeting in the Next Life":

"Searching and seeking
Fading away in silence and stillness
Always unable to find the memories
Unable to find the once-forgotten reality
A lifetime of the past
Discarded by you bit by bit
Sorrow, grief, heartache, hatred, and the agony of losing you
Perhaps parting is not easy
Perhaps loving each other is impossible

Sorrow, grief, heartache, hatred, and the agony of losing oneself
Deep affection and shallow fate, unable to have one's way
You and I both know to cherish
We can only wait until the next life
To step once more onto the beginning of each other's story"

"Xiaohong, what are you humming? It's quite mournful. The auction has already started over here!" Yang's father shouted from the sofa.

"Oh, I know, I'm looking right now!"

Yang Tang snapped back to reality, switched the screen back to the auction property webpage, and hurried over to his parents. "Mom and Dad, look at my laptop. My hands are faster, let me place the bids!"

Yang Jixue slapped the back of Yang Tang's hand. "Go on, go on. This isn't stock trading where failing to bid at a certain price causes losses. This is an auction, your mother and I can handle the bidding!"

Thinking about it, Yang Tang realized his father was right and didn't insist. However, as the auction progressed, he noticed his parents still suffered from the disadvantage of slow bidding. Much like playing Fight the Landlord, the speed of playing cards and individual hesitation were all factored in. A property that could easily have been secured for thirteen million was abruptly driven up to sixteen million before being won.

Fortunately, it was his parents spending extra money, so Yang Tang had nothing to complain about; he could always earn it back later when the opportunity arose.

At this moment, Yang Jixue said, "Xiaohong, since we've already won the property, shall we go get the title transferred this morning?"

"Dad, there's no rush. I've arranged with Lawyer Mao from Shenhai; he'll arrive at noon, and we can have him offer some professional advice when we go process the transfer this afternoon!"

"Is this Lawyer Mao reliable?" Yang's mother asked.

"When I sold software in Shenhai previously, he was the one who handled all the legal matters."

"That's good, that's good!"

In the blink of an eye, the afternoon arrived. With Lawyer Mao present, the property funds were transferred and all related procedures were smoothly completed.

Before parting ways, Lawyer Mao remarked with a hint of emotion, "Mr. Yang, the property your family has purchased is wonderful in every respect, except that the property rights are only for fifty-five years. Still, the minor flaws do not obscure the virtues. See you around!"

The property Yang's family had purchased was located right along Guang'anmen Inner Street, directly facing the Guang'anmen Hospital, and was named Guangxin Jiayuan.

The apartment was non-street-facing, featuring three bedrooms and two living rooms with fine decoration. The layout was decent, though the floor was a bit high up—on the twelfth floor. Fortunately, there were six units per floor and two elevators servicing the building, making it quite acceptable.

After parting ways with Lawyer Mao, the three members of the Yang family took a rented car from the Yuijing Hotel to Guangxin Jiayuan. After inspecting the interior and exterior of the apartment, Yang's mother immediately made the executive decision to go buy new bedding and bedsheets to replace the old ones, declaring they wouldn't stay at the hotel tonight. After all, the hotel cost several thousand per night and was simply too expensive!

Hearing this, Yang Tang quickly dissuaded his mother. "Mom, why are you so impulsive? Newly bought bedsheets still need to be washed and dried, and besides, it's yet to be determined whether this place needs any renovation!"

Yang Jixue put on a stern face and said, "Xiaohong, you're the one staying in Yuijing. Your mother and I will stay for a few days and then head back to Chongqing. What renovation?"

"Exactly!" Yang's mother chimed in.

"Still, we shouldn't move in today," Yang Tang said, feeling a headache coming on. "How about this? Taking advantage of the fact that there's nothing in the apartment yet, I'll immediately hire some hourly workers to do a thorough cleaning, and then buy new bedsheets, wash them, and leave them to dry tonight. We can move in tomorrow, alright?"

Yang's parents exchanged a glance and said, "Let's do that!"

After moving into Guangxin Jiayuan, Yang Tang requested a person and a vehicle from Wan Hailiu and spent several consecutive days properly showing his parents around the scenic spots within Yuijing's main city, such as Houhai, the former Imperial Palace, and Yuyuantan Park.

Returning home that evening, both of Yang's parents complained of fatigue from walking and expressed their intention to rest for a day or two before visiting the Great Wall, after which they would return to Chongqing.

Yang Tang naturally agreed without hesitation.

That day happened to be the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival. That night, he entered the eighth dream, randomly drawing *Chūka Ichiban!*. His mission was to protect Kaiyou from being shot dead by a volley of arrows during the final duel.

Being ruthless, Yang Tang exploited a loophole in the mission control. Utilizing his two slots for replicable skills, he first copied the culinary skills of master chef Mao (Xiaohong) prior to the final battle, and then copied Kaiyou's culinary skills as well. The moment the final duel in the capital commenced, he smashed Kaiyou's head into a pulp like a rotten watermelon, successfully fulfilling the mission requirement that "Kaiyou must not be shot dead by a volley of arrows during the final duel."

Upon returning to the golden haze, the prompt of comprehension chimed consecutively.

Since dream level 8 is not an integer multiple of five, skill exchanges cannot be amplified and strengthened. Please confirm?

"Confirmed."

Currently possessing zero merit points and a certain amount of sin points! Would you like to deduct merit points or sin points when exchanging skills?

"Deduct sin points!"

Deducting 194.8 sin points to exchange for Kaiyou's culinary skills!

Deducting 194.8 sin points to exchange for the protagonist's culinary skills!

A single skill exchange in the ninth dream will consume 214.3 merit or sin points!

Would you like to solidify the skills?

"Solidify."

Warning: Physical fitness does not meet the requirements for solidifying Kaiyou's culinary skills. Please expend 168 sin points to enhance physical fitness!

Yang Tang was momentarily stunned and very much wanted to ask why, but ultimately couldn't help himself. "Then deduct sin points and help me enhance my physical fitness!"

Deducting 268 sin points!

Current sin points remaining!

Physical fitness will gradually improve over three days, and Kaiyou's culinary skills will also gradually solidify over three days!

Reminder: The dreamer's physical fitness has reached the requirement for marrow-cleansing and tendon-transforming. This process can be completed at any time by expending 100 merit points and 100 sin points!

"Hey, hey, what on earth is marrow-cleansing and tendon-transforming?"

Comprehension offered no explanation and continued on its own accord. After the skill "Kaiyou's culinary skills" finishes solidifying, the protagonist's culinary skills will automatically begin solidifying, taking six hours and thirteen minutes.

Skills cannot be used until solidifying is complete.

Using skill solidification slot two!

Solidification begins...

Currently possessing 58 skill solidification slots!

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