After the day’s business ended, Luo Huai’an closed the cafeteria doors and returned to Fragrant Mountain with the wenyao.

As soon as Third Fish and his group of young Fish returned to Fragrant Mountain, they rushed to the vegetable field impatiently.

Most of Fragrant Mountain was covered in lush greenery, with a wide variety of vegetables. As night fell, the moon was dim and the stars were sparse, while fireflies with their lanterns danced among the greens, emitting flickering lights. Following Luo Huai’an’s instructions, the wenyao dug holes, planted seeds, and tilled the soil…

They worked very efficiently, even more efficiently than before, not because they fell in love with growing vegetables, but because of the computer in the game room.

Although Luo Huai’an asked Third Fish to let his younger siblings play with the computer occasionally, Third Fish was obviously not a generous older brother. Luo Huai’an had never seen him put down the computer.

His younger brothers and sisters could only stand behind him and watch him play games.

However, these little Fish have obviously gotten used to it and were even very satisfied. After all, they could only watch their older brother playing with flip phones before, but now they could watch big 3D productions.

Moreover, the little Fish were keen to serve as think tanks for their older brother, and they were elegant and easy-going when laning.

Third Fish’s random teammates often found him strange. His trash-talk was so prolific, like a barrage of words, so complex it didn’t seem like it could be spoken by a single person. Faced with this machine-gun barrage of abstract language, his foul-mouthed teammates were often so enraged that they shut their mics and surrendered.

Luo Huai’an didn’t like to discipline others. After all, they were all free-spirited beasts, and she was very empathetic. She used to love playing games, but she was always annoyed by the Kitchen God, who was like the head of the family.

As long as Third Fish and the others completed the tasks she assigned them, she would not care about them.

However, one time when she passed by, she came over to check their screens on a whim, and saw the messages sent by the little Fish. She couldn’t help but worry about their opponent’s psychological endurance.

In a sense, this group of Fish was too strong.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

It was already September in Jiangcheng, and the weather showed no signs of cooling down. Although Luo Huai’an’s constitution wouldn’t make her feel unbearably hot, she could still clearly feel the rising temperature.

Her strength has been compromised by the collapse of the Heavenly Dao, but the wenyao‘s cultivation was less than one ten-thousandth of hers, and they were still aquatic creatures that preferred low temperatures. Faced with such unbearable heat, some of them were inevitably affected, lessening their work efficiency.

Luo Huai’an couldn’t help but frown when she saw that they looked dehydrated.

This wouldn’t do. Their work efficiency would decrease, and the one that would be most directly affected was her money!

Luo Huai’an added mung bean soup to the staff meal to cool down the heat, which was unanimously loved by the employees. However, having only one thing to cool down the heat was not enough, so Luo Huai’an thought about it and decided to make another drink to cool down the heat.

It just so happened that due to the recent limited mung bean production, the sales of mung bean soup have reached a peak, but now was the time when summer-heat-relieving drinks were selling the best.

Ahem, it would be a shame to empty students’ wallets without cold drinks.

Luo Huai’an used her little brain to think for a long time, and a drink appeared in her mind.

Although mung bean soup was chilled, there was no real ice in it. However, how could you not eat ice in summer?

A summer without ice lacked soul and was an incomplete summer.

Thinking of this, Luo Huai’an looked at Big Fish next to her who was sweeping the trash, a strange look of expectation in her eyes. “By the way, Big Fish, your aquatic characteristic is to control water, right?”

Yu Da didn’t think anything was wrong. It was a rare occasion for him to be asked about his special skills, so he puffed out his chest and said proudly, “Of course, if our aquatic tribe is second in water control, then no one would dare to claim first place.”

“So, can you freeze the water?”

The fish snorted, feeling that he was being looked down upon, and was very disdainful in his heart. “Of course, that’s mere child’s play.”

Big Fish thought he would be praised, and things were indeed as he imagined. He heard Luo Huai’an’s excited voice, “That’s great!”

“I’ll leave the ice-making job to you!”

Big Fish: “???”

Luo Huai’an prepared to make shaved ice.

Shaved ice was a very common cold drink in the summer. To make shaved ice, you needed to use an ice maker to make such fine ice. You could make use of any ingredients you want, such as fruits or sesame seeds. Shaved ice had a very delicate taste and it melted in your mouth. It was very effective in cooling down the summer and was very popular.

Eating ice has a significant relationship with social productivity, and the history of eating shaved ice was almost parallel to the history of social development. Eating shaved ice was known since the Tang Dynasty, and even became a symbol of showing off wealth during that era. On the tomb murals of Prince Zhanghuai of the Tang Dynasty, a maid was holding a plate with two ‘sushan’.

To make sushan, the ‘su’ was first heated until it was almost melted and very soft. Then it was dripped onto the crushed ice in the plate, making it into a mountain shape while pouring. Then, flowers and other decorations were added, and finally it was placed in the ice cellar for refrigeration.

Later on, shaved ice with a finer texture came onto the historical stage.

Mythical Beast Cafeteria translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: I’m keeping Sushan in pinyin because there’s no English equivalent and the literal translation makes no food sense (silky mountain).

Su is a dairy product roughly similar to modern day cream and butter. It was introduced to China’s Central Plains by the nomadic peoples of the North.

This is the portion of the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) mural mentioned in  the text:

Historians originally thought she was holding a bonsai, but a closer look at the ancient texts showed it was a banquet dessert decorated with flowers.

Sushan is made by melting the su then pouring it over crushed ice to make a mound, then letting the concoction freeze in the ice cellar. It’s a 1000-year precursor to modern day ice cream. 

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Chapter 17.2 — Shaved Ice
Chapter 17.3 — Shaved Ice
Chapter 17.4 — Shaved Ice