Chapter 122 – Hotpot Everywhere

Chapter 122: Hotpot Everywhere

“Cook this together with meat and you can make braised meat, braised vegetables, and braised eggs. Bring this one to a boil in water and you can cook vegetables and meat in it. This one is for marinating meat to remove the gamey smell…”

As Mo Lan explained, she also added usage instructions to each card, lowering the barrier to entry. “They’re just a few mana each. Want to give them a try?”

She somewhat regretted not preparing some braised meat and hotpot in advance so the young witches could sample them.

Without having tasted it, it was hard to truly understand the essence of these cards.

Her head had been so full of practice workbooks lately that she wasn’t even as smooth at selling cards as before.

“Braised meat? Is that another specialty from your previous world?” Iris was still quite interested.

“That’s right!” Mo Lan said.

“Then give me a braising spice card to try!”

Only Iris bought a card.

“Alba, don’t you need one? The food you can make with these is really delicious!” Mo Lan tried to sell a few more.

Alba shook her head. “I still haven’t figured out how to use the seasonings from the Ingredient Collection Station, let alone seasonings from another world. I’m afraid I’d buy one and still not be able to cook anything good.”

Her Culinary Magic talent was lacking, and her cooking studies had been full of stumbles. She didn’t think she could handle these cards.

Vasida, who had just returned with a fresh selection of ingredients, overheard and immediately gave a passionate recommendation. “If you can’t cook, buy a Hotpot Base Card! Boil a pot of water, drop it in, and once it’s bubbling, toss in sliced meat, vegetables, and mushrooms. Let them cook, then fish them out and eat. It’s even easier than making thick soup!”

“I recommend the spicy chili oil hotpot base. It’s a little spicy, but it’s really delicious!” Sylph added.

The young witches looked skeptical. “It’s really that simple?”

“Of course it’s that simple!” Vasida said. “Besides, one card is only 2 mana. Buy one and try it—you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“We’ve only watched Moira make it once. The hardest part is stir-frying the base, but the card comes with a ready-made base,” Sylph said.

Under the two of them going back and forth with their enthusiastic pitches, several young witches took the bait. Two mana—they could afford that. Why not give it a try?

Mo Lan sold several more Hotpot Base Cards. Thanks to Vasida and Sylph, every young witch who bought one chose the spicy chili oil flavor.

She quietly reminded them, “For your first time, you can cut off a quarter of the base block and cook it in a small palm-sized pot—that’s about enough for one person. Don’t eat too fast. Prepare a teapot in advance, and it’s best to bring back some milk and fruit to cool the spiciness…”

The young witches who had bought hotpot base cards went back and reselected their ingredients to suit hotpot.

*

Room 59. Lilith had finished dinner, taken a bath, and changed into a nightgown before sitting down at her desk to read.

As she read, she sniffed the air. “That smell… Is Moira making hotpot again?”

Remembering the meal from several months ago, even though her stomach was already full, she couldn’t help swallowing hard.

“Wait, that’s not right! Why is the smell so strong?” Lilith got up, went outside, sat sidesaddle on her broom, and flew up to the rooftop. She circled around following the scent of hotpot, and grew even more confused.

The hotpot smell wasn’t coming from Mo Lan’s room. There was the aroma of food from her place too, but it wasn’t hotpot. The hotpot fragrance was coming from other first-year witches’ rooms.

“One, two… nine, ten? Ten first-year witches are all eating hotpot?” Lilith was thoroughly baffled.

Hotpot aroma was everywhere, and it had awakened her cravings too.

Knock knock! She rapped on Vasida’s door.

“Coming!” Vasida was in the middle of cooking hotpot. She dropped a chopstick-load of meat into the pot first, then hurried over to open the door. “Upperclassman?”

“You’re eating hotpot?” Lilith asked.

“Yes! Moira made a Hotpot Base Card… Hey! Upperclassman!” Vasida watched Lilith turn on her heel and head straight for Mo Lan’s room. She shook her head. “I wasn’t even finished talking! The allure of hotpot really is something else.”

Mo Lan had just finished making dinner and was about to enjoy it when Lilith, craving hotpot, called her out. “Give me ten Spicy Chili Oil Hotpot Base Cards! And don’t forget to tell me next time you come up with something this good!”

No wonder so many underclassmen’s rooms smelled like hotpot—so this was why.

Mo Lan was stunned. “I haven’t even told you the price yet! You’re not going to haggle?”

This was completely unlike Lilith’s usual card-buying style!

“If I haggled, would you give me a discount?” Lilith asked.

Mo Lan shook her head and said firmly, “No.”

Lilith said irritably, “Then why are you even bringing it up! Hurry it up—write the contract and give me the cards! I still need to go get ingredients and make a late-night snack!”

Urged on by her upperclassman, Mo Lan wrote out the contract while saying, “I have other food cards too. Want to take a look?”

Lilith refused adamantly. “I’m only interested in hotpot!”

Mo Lan sold her the cards she wanted, silently thinking that once she made some other delicious dish, her upperclassman’s interests wouldn’t be limited to just hotpot anymore.

The moment Lilith had her cards, she hopped on her broom and flew off toward the Ingredient Collection Station, refusing to spare even a single extra glance at the little witch who had just cost her another 20 mana, terrified that one careless moment would mean losing even more mana.

The hotpot base was wonderful, but spending mana still stung.

Mo Lan watched Lilith’s figure rapidly disappear into the distance and shook her head. “Is hotpot base really that powerful? She didn’t even haggle! I’m honestly not used to it!”

She even felt that she had underestimated the charm of Earth cuisine.

“If I didn’t hand over my Earth cuisine recipes to the Witch Council for the Academy library, could I make a fortune just by selling food cards?”

Food cards were cheap individually, but a little here and a little there would add up to a lot!

Mo Lan was starting to regret telling the young witches that she would compile Earth recipes.

In the end, it was the memory of her Earth mother’s words that kept her from going back on her promise.

Earth hoped that these souls who had left their original world would live well in their new one, carrying the flame of Earth’s civilization forward.

Recipes were a form of civilization too. Getting more witches to learn Earth cuisine was another way of keeping that civilization alive.

Besides, even with recipes available, the impact on her business would be minimal. Witches with serious Culinary Magic talent were a minority, after all.

Mo Lan also recognized the potential of food cards. Earth cuisine was far more than just hotpot.

She ate her dinner while mulling it over.

The more she sold, the more mana she could accumulate, bringing her one step closer to an unlimited-use Energy Storage Card.

With an unlimited-use Energy Storage Card, the disposable mana she earned from selling cards and stored in her Purple Gemstone could be transferred into it at any time for her own use in casting spells.

Lady Amisha wouldn’t let her sell finished dishes, but just like hotpot, there were plenty of convenient, easy-to-cook options. She could simply sell seasoning packets.

It wouldn’t interfere with the young witches’ Culinary Magic studies, and it would spark their interest in good food. That was a good thing all around.