Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Towards Mado’s issue, Sui Xiong had simply offered minimal intervention, but it was a good opportunity for him. All along, most of the people under him were not sufficiently knowledgeable about the food industry. There were many chefs, but for a restaurant to reach a higher level, it needed culture and expertise. What did this constitute in China? The key was in the fact that not only did the Chinese enjoy eating, but they also savored plentiful dishes, and this was a key marker of their culture.
Previously, Sui Xiong had watched the show A Bite of China and followed several food programs. To him, food was not just an interest but something he could explore culturally. If he had the means to, he would also want to create a foodie culture in his world and promote the low-quality restaurants to “cultured” ones. However, this was merely a vision in his mind for now.
Wolfman Miramon was someone who loved food, and he had the powers to promote a foodie culture given his Legendary Master status. However, he was still seen as a barbarian and could only explore food in terms of taste. Even though he was a famous foodie and was known for his interest in food, Sui Xiong knew that he was only able to grade food as well as understand how to prepare good food. As to why the food was good, he was not sure, and this meant that he had not yet reached the true level of a master of food.
The culture of food did not lie in just gourmet food or what people enjoyed consuming but was more linked to its connections with history and culture as well as how it promoted health. These three factors of history, culture and health made up the art of food. In this area, scholarly Mado, who had been studying all sorts of food and its relationship with health, could help Miramon with his understanding.
The relationship between food and health was not something often discussed in this world. In this world, one did not really discuss a “healthy diet” or “healthy recipes.” This was because before Sui Xiong arrived, the world had not explored food culture enough, and this was only beginning to develop now.
Mado’s previous research methods were slightly ambiguous. They were not hopeless but… they were rather narrow and not far-sighted. Be it from an economic angle or from a scholarly angle, investigating this subject in relation to how one could eat healthily was the best approach. After all, every individual had to stay healthy. Of course, his narrow scope was due to limited resources previously. However, now, with the help of Legendary Master Miramon as well as Sui Xiong’s resources, he was able to change the course of his research and produce some valuable results.
As to his relationship with Miramon, Sui Xiong was not worried. Although Mado Kong had a foul mouth, how much he cursed depended on who he was dealing with. Towards a Legendary Master, he would definitely not be brave enough to be rude to him. Furthermore, if he did not behave, Miramon would teach him a lesson for sure. Thinking about the ways in which Miramon treated those who were rude to him, Sui Xiong couldn’t help but laugh.
With all these things in mind, Sui Xiong headed for Garth City. He felt someone call him there and wanted to check whether anyone was looking for him.
In the entire Kingdom of the Blue Moon, Garth City was the busiest. Although it was far from the capital, this was an important trading center for the people and sea race. Many products from the deep sea were only easily found here. This was especially so for some extremely precious items; they were snatched up almost immediately after being marked for sale. Outside of Garth City, they were seen as priceless and could only be obtained through barter trade with other priceless goods.
This city was originally seen as trash, it had been developed until it had a structure similar to the shape of the three Chinese words of “door, mouth, door.” The first Chinese word for “door” symbolized the shape of the city, and the second word for “door” symbolized the entryway of the city. This city was divided into living quarters, the internal city and outer city and the east side of the outer city were connected to the port area. Garth City’s main trading activities were centralized around the living quarters with a central axis, and many shops lined this axis. Almost everything that was legal could be found in these special shops. In the South, there was an embassy behind the specialty shops. This unique pink building was this entire world’s one and only embassy, the Sea Race Embassy.
Of course, Garth City also had several small and medium-sized shops, which were scattered around the city. The smaller ones sold everyday items, while some of the medium-sized ones sold black market items on the low. The city lord, Kalisa Riley, was merciful, and apart from the harmful businesses, he generally left these shops alone. Thus, the black market thrived here as well, especially those of illegal weapons and magical materials.
If Governor Leon wanted to, he could definitely halt all these operations. However, he was not particularly strict about the secret businesses as they were minor. Whenever someone suggested that he set up laws against these businesses, he would answer that it was not serious enough to take action as it would run the greater risk of scaring off other trade.
Furthermore, for this city, trade with the sea race regarding spices, artistic products, and luxury goods were the real sources of income. They did not care much about other unimportant side businesses.
Garth City had an extremely special bulk business, which was the trade of grain. As the city was located on the east side of the Main Plane, it was near to the famous eastern plain, which had fertile land all year round. The plain was known for its agricultural harvest. Every year, when grain was harvested, Garth City would buy it in bulk and use magic to ship and store it in Void City. This business alone was the backbone of the city’s earnings and was managed by merchants from the nearby four to five cities. It also brought at least twenty small leaders their most stable income for the year.
Every autumn in the past, the merchants were low on grains. This was something that didn’t just happen on Earth but also here. However, Garth City’s business principle was to maintain its prices despite the high demand. Instead, they would use a more reasonable price to buy the grains, especially when negotiating with the farmers. This, of course, was not the usual way of doing business, but it was a direct order from the Void Mask Lord. He felt that allowing the commoners to earn money would allow for the prosperity of the country and thus took care of them.
Every year, when grain was harvested, giving Garth City a good name, it also allowed the generous gods to be admired by all the farmers and common folk. To date, all the farmers’ houses would include a strange statue, and this statue was of a man in robes holding an axe with a round jellyfish on his shoulder.
This was the God of Agriculture and the Void Mask Lord. Although their church was not widespread, in the peoples’ hearts, they were still full of faith.
