Chapter 145
As he stood at the entrance of the alley outside Shen Yushi's courtyard, a sense of danger washed over him, as if his sixth sense was warning him that now was not the time for mischief.
The last time he felt this way... well, to be honest, he had been experiencing this feeling quite often over the past six months, especially whenever he entertained ill thoughts about Yu Xunge.
He had always trusted his luck and instincts, so he decided to back off.
At that moment, Shen Yushi's home was brightly lit.
Dressed in a white apron, Shen Yushi was kneading dough, while players from the Special Affairs Bureau stood guard by the windows, on the roof, and near the courtyard well. In the side room, two colleagues were taking turns resting.
She was the only player in Huaxia with a divine gift rated A, and she possessed the ability to increase players' attribute points.
Her culinary skills had reached a master level since the game invasion, and her experience bar was nearly full, just a step away from reaching the epic level.
It was precisely because of her culinary talent, combined with her divine gift, that she became a treasure-level player in B City! Even though this old lady had hidden for nearly half a year after the game invasion, she only approached the Special Affairs Bureau after the pet ranking was opened.
The Bureau immediately dispatched five high-level players to provide close protection for the old lady, and they were also responsible for helping her level up.
【Divine Gift】【Clocking Out, Then Becoming a Culinary God】 (A Rank)
【Skill 1】Golden Opening Smile: When you earn a sum of money that makes you smile, any dish you prepare within the next hour that scores above 98 points has a chance to grant the consumer additional attribute points. The more the consumer enjoys the dish, the higher the chance of gaining attribute points. (Each target can only trigger this once per day)
【Skill 2】As a chef, timing is everything: After use, you can create a container that lasts for 72 hours, where the flow of time can be adjusted by the creator. The required mana cost depends on the size of the container, and the dimensions (cm) cannot exceed your highest attribute value or fall below your lowest. The adjustment range of the time flow is influenced by the user's intelligence.
【Skill 3】I’ve made dinner, and you tell me you want McDonald's?: When you ask this question, all teammates who respond with "I only eat what Grandma makes!" and whose voices exceed 80 decibels will receive the Culinary God's blessing, doubling their highest attribute for the next five minutes. If a teammate shouts "I want McDonald's!" at over 19 decibels, everything you throw will explode for the next five minutes, dealing magical damage influenced by your intelligence. Cooldown: 30 minutes.
【Skill 4】The Culinary God is just a joke (Passive): When you use items or equipment previously used by the Culinary God, due to overwhelming excitement, for each piece of equipment, you can double one of the six stats: health, mana, strength, constitution, intelligence, or agility (limit: 0/3).
This was Shen Yushi's divine gift.
It was incredibly comprehensive, with skills to increase attribute points, special creation skills, and even combat applications.
A player standing on the roof of the courtyard jumped down and approached the captain by the well, saying, "Just now, someone named Yu Xunhuan was standing at the alley entrance for a long time."
The captain replied, "Yeah, that's Grandma Shen's grandson."
The Su family had traced Yu Qingshan and Yi Qiuguo all the way to Shen Yushi, so the Special Affairs Bureau responsible for her protection was certainly aware of this. However, they only assumed that Yu Xunhuan was looking for his parents through Su Yitong.
As for where Yu Qingshan and Yi Qiuguo were...
The player who jumped back onto the roof glanced at Yu Qingshan, who was tied to the eaves: "Cough... your health is down to 30%. Remember to take your medicine."
Since arriving at his biological mother's house, Yu Qingshan had been hanging on the roof every night, calmly sniffing: "Not dead yet."
He pulled out a cold, healing rice ball and began to munch on it.
The position of this roof was quite clever; from here, one could see the surroundings and also catch sight of Shen Yushi working in the kitchen across the way.
Naturally, Shen Yushi could see Yu Qingshan as well.
She flipped the meat patties in the pan and cast a scornful glance at Yu Qingshan's pitiful state.
He was just like his father, but while his dad's teasing was mostly for fun or to make her happy, Yu Qingshan's pitiful act seemed calculated in her eyes.
Shen Yushi remembered the look on Yu Qingshan's face when he discovered that she was being protected by the Special Affairs Bureau.
Could there be a mother who doesn't love her child?
Shen Yushi didn't know how other mothers felt, but she certainly didn't like Yu Qingshan.
When she proposed remarrying, it was her last chance for Yu Qingshan, and she hoped to distance herself from the child.
She didn't want to live under the same roof as Yu Qingshan, even if he seemed filial and good to his wife and children. She had heard how he taught Yu Xunhuan.
— "Those people laugh at you for always following your sister around, and when you're bullied, you only go to her. You feel sad, but why?"
— "I want to play with my sister, I want her to protect me, but I don't want to be laughed at."
— "Good, you don't like those mocking voices, you like your sister protecting you. Have you thought about using her as a weapon to teach those you dislike a lesson? Your sister is so excellent; she can be your shield or your sword."
At that moment, Shen Yushi felt a chill run down her spine.
She knew that the incident with Yu Zhaohai had completely twisted Yu Qingshan's character, to the point where he would think of Yu Zunxun and Yu Xunhuan whenever he saw Yu Zhaohai and himself.
Leaving B City was fine; she couldn't monitor every word Yu Qingshan said to Yu Xunge. It was better to let him leave, at least he could calm down and recognize that Yu Xunge was his daughter, not his sister Yu Zhaohai.
Shen Yushi stopped looking at Yu Qingshan. She lowered her head and placed the cooked meat patties onto a plate. The tongs made a crisp sound as they touched the patties, which were golden and slightly charred, revealing the meat filling and bamboo shoots inside.
She picked and chose, ultimately selecting one from the five patties and placing it in a food box, sealing it tightly.
It was just a simple meat patty, seemingly common on the roadside, but its score—100!
She picked two more and placed them in another food box, both scoring 99 points.
The last two, scoring 98 points, were tossed to the Special Affairs Bureau personnel outside for them to handle.
Having enjoyed the benefits provided by the Bureau, she naturally had to work for them, but this work wasn't mandatory; she could freely choose the tasks she wanted to undertake, and the Bureau would present her with various tasks.
The Bureau's approach was somewhat reciprocal; initially, the tasks assigned to Shen Yushi were mostly mid to high-level, not overly burdensome but certainly not light.
Shen Yushi always tried to choose tasks that would benefit more players, but she wouldn't overexert herself. She would take on a task every two days, and sometimes when she had to join a team for a dungeon, it would stretch to three days.
Eventually, the Bureau got a good sense of Shen Yushi's character; she wouldn't slack off or let others benefit from her work, but she also wasn't interested in burning herself out to help others.
Moreover, she avoided making food for individual players, no matter how generous the reward, likely to steer clear of faction disputes.
Later, the tasks assigned to Shen Yushi varied widely, allowing her to pick and choose.
She remained the same; if she was in a good mood, she'd make more, and if she was tired, she'd take a break.
After all, she was a 72-year-old lady; what more could they expect from her?
Given Shen Yushi's nature, she should have been asleep by this hour.
But that day, when she saw a task on her list to prepare dishes that would increase Yu Xunge's attribute points, she accepted it without hesitation. During the day, she would go out to level up, and at night, she would busy herself with this task at home.
Even she couldn't guarantee that every dish she made would score above 98 points.
In fact, this task had been forcibly brought over from S City and specifically presented to Shen Yushi—only she in B City could see this task.
In gaming terms, this was a unique hidden quest.
Shen Yushi's family background had long been investigated, and her family relationships had been laid out on the leader's desk.
Her "only" son had severed ties with her, leaving B City with his wife and child for 19 years, never to return. Even when he had to come to B City for work, he would pass by her door without entering.
On August 29, when Yu Qingshan knelt crying at the entrance of Shen Yushi's courtyard with his wife, the B City Special Affairs Bureau even held a meeting about it!
Was this not a scheme concocted by the treacherous and despicable folks at the S City Bureau to poach talent from B City?
If this mother and son reconciled, could they bring Yu Xunge to B City to settle down? Would this little family achieve a grand reunion?
However, less than ten minutes after Yu Qingshan and Yi Qiuguo were let inside, Yu Qingshan found himself tied to the roof, exposed to the wind and mosquitoes...
The hearts of the B City Special Affairs Bureau sank...
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