Chapter 2

Seeing that Qian Jianing had agreed, Treasure Bowl, who had taken the form of a little child, visibly breathed a sigh of relief. “In that case, hurry up and get to sleep. Wake up early tomorrow to study.”

“Study? I thought we’re supposed to make money?” Although given a second chance at life, Qian Jianing didn’t want to give up the precious opportunity to study. But with only five years until her parents’ accident, and in this era where a month’s salary was only fifty to sixty yuan, making six hundred thousand was no small feat. Under such circumstances, her dream of getting into a good university would have to be set aside temporarily. The most urgent thing right now was to make money to buy Life Extension Talismans for her parents and younger brother to completely change her family’s fate.

Treasure Bowl wiggled his little white fingers. “If you don’t have an education or knowledge, how will you make big money in the future? Until you get into college, you’ll have to juggle making money and studying.” Looking at Qian Jianing’s dazed expression, Treasure Bowl proudly pinched his chubby belly. “You won’t find a more considerate treasure like me, right?”

Qian Jianing nodded earnestly. “I’ve never met one before, you’re the first.”

“Of course! I’m a celestial treasure.” Treasure Bowl grinned smugly, then counted on his fingers and looked a bit troubled. “But if you spend too much time studying, it’ll really cut into your money-making time.” He looked down and rummaged through the small pocket on his belly bib, reluctantly pulling out a wooden box about ten centimeters long and five centimeters wide and handed it to her. “I haven’t taken anything out of my pocket in ten thousand years. Doing this just to help you make money is really no easy task. Fine, I’ll be generous today and give you a welcome gift.”

The light disappeared, and the familiar darkness returned before her eyes. When Qian Jianing opened her eyes, she found the box Treasure Bowl had given her was on the bed. Carefully opening the bedroom door, she saw the lights in the living room were off and the house was quiet. She softly closed the door, turned on the bulb, and opened the seemingly antique wooden box.

Inside was a porcelain bottle and a book. Though there wasn’t even a label on the bottle, the moment Qian Jianing touched it, a message appeared in her mind: Enlightenment Pill – enhances memory and brain flexibility, refined by Taishang Laojun.

Qian Jianing swallowed nervously and gently removed the stopper, pouring out a round pill the size of a longan. She was turning it over in her hand when Treasure Bowl’s lazy voice sounded in her mind, “Celestial treasures can’t be exposed too long or they lose efficacy. If you don’t eat it soon, it’ll lose potency.”

Startled, Qian Jianing threw the pill into her mouth. Just as she worried she might choke, the pill turned into a sweet liquid that slipped smoothly down her throat. She blinked, and memories from the past came rushing back like a tidal wave—even the time she wet her pants at one-year-old was crystal clear. She had planned to go back and review her middle school textbooks, but now that seemed unnecessary—she even remembered what her summer homework was. This pill was incredible.

“Well, it was refined by a celestial, after all,” Treasure Bowl said smugly again, as if the craftsmanship belonged to him.

Qian Jianing set the empty bottle aside, and it flashed twice before disappearing. Just as she stood up to look for it, Treasure Bowl’s lazy voice came again. “Don’t look. I recycled it. That bottle’s expensive—it could be reused for storing elixirs and such. Can’t waste it.”

Her eyes drifted to the little booklet. Opening the first page, she saw lines of text: Culinary Arts, Martial Arts, Medicine, Carpentry, Beauty and Hairdressing, Electric Welding, Bicycle Repair, Feng Shui, Ghost Hunting, Fortune-Telling, Tomb Raiding…

Qian Jianing’s face darkened. “That’s quite a comprehensive list of trades.”

“Of course! We celestial treasures have to keep up with the times. If this were your previous life’s era, we’d have more categories—there was even eSports back then. My master’s attendant loved gaming and summarized a lot of useful experience.”

Qian Jianing no longer wanted to ask how the Immortal Realm connects to the internet. Faced with so many skills, she pondered which to choose first. The last few seemed unlikely, and among the first three, Culinary Arts was the most practical—it’s cheap, effective, offers flexible hours, and most importantly, one wouldn’t be chased by city patrol when running a food stall.

“I’ll choose Culinary Arts.” As soon as Qian Jianing said that, the words on the first page disappeared, replaced by a bolded line of text: Knife Techniques.

Suddenly overcome by sleepiness, Qian Jianing yawned. Before she could even get up to turn off the light, she slumped onto her pillow and drifted into a deep sleep. The hanging light cord swayed in the breeze from the window before suddenly dropping, extinguishing the bulb. In the dim silence, a child’s muttering voice could be faintly heard, “Electricity costs money. Can’t let it go to waste.”

Qian Jianing found herself standing in a mist, dazed. She had just been looking at the skill book from Treasure Bowl—how did a yawn change the scene? Still, after going through a rebirth and the Treasure Bowl incident, she felt her mental fortitude was rock solid—nothing much could surprise her now.

Looking around, she finally spotted a small door in the fog. Pushing it open, she found a spacious room inside, an enormous cooking table in the center, with two cutting boards and a pile of ingredients on top. An elderly man tying an apron looked up at her impatiently. “What took you so long? Hurry up and come slice vegetables.”

He wore his hair in a topknot, had snow-white whiskers, and was clad in a cartoon apron—Qian Jianing found the scene rather surreal. But since he appeared in this space, she figured he must be a celestial too. She quickly bowed. “Greetings, Master!”

“No need to call me Master, just call me Food Elder.” The old man snorted and continued speaking. “Cuisine is about color, aroma, taste, form, texture, nutrition, and vessel. The ‘form’ part comes from knife skills. Today we’ll learn twelve common cutting techniques: slicing, dicing, shaving, chopping, scoring, splitting, trimming, pounding, hollowing, swirling, scraping, and food carving.”

Qian Jianing watched as the old man picked up a potato. His hands moved so fast only afterimages were visible—before she could even swallow her saliva, the round potato had already become neat, hair-thin julienne strips.

Food Elder spoke and moved quickly. In just over twenty minutes, he had explained and demonstrated all twelve knife skills. Taking off his apron and tossing it to Qian Jianing, he brushed off his snowy robe. She thought he might stand by and monitor her practice, but instead, he summoned a massage chair, crossed his legs, fished out a smartphone, and started playing games.

Hearing the sound effects of violent battle coming from the phone, Qian Jianing looked around in confusion. “You even have signal here?”

“Get to work. If you don’t finish cutting ten baskets of potatoes, don’t expect to leave tonight,” Food Elder said without even looking up, as he popped an ice cream bar into his mouth.

This batch of celestials sure has an odd vibe…

Trying to ignore the blaring game sounds, Qian Jianing grabbed a heavy kitchen knife and recalled what Food Elder had taught. Picking up a potato, she began to slice it into strips. It turned out that no matter how well you remember the theory, things fall apart in practice. She recited the cutting points ten times over, yet her potato strips were still thicker than fingers.

In her past life, Qian Jianing focused all her energy on making money and never cared much about food. She once ate nothing but buns for a month during busy periods. Even when she had time, she was frugal—boiling simple dishes like potatoes and cabbages into one pot and calling it a day. She never developed any culinary skills.

But she was no stranger to hardship. In her previous life, she’d even worked hauling bricks on construction sites when money was tight. Slicing potatoes wasn’t labor—it was nothing. She quietly cut through the night. Gradually, her overly thick cuts evolved into finer strips. Eventually, the emptied basket held evenly cut potato shreds—not perfect, but consistent at least.

After who knows how many game rounds, Food Elder finally lifted his head lazily as she finished the first basket. “Tired?”

Rubbing her sore arms, Qian Jianing gave a pained smile. “A bit sore.”

Seeing she was tough and not a whiny girl, Food Elder’s tone softened. “Come eat something and rest for a bit.”

Removing her apron, Qian Jianing washed her hands in a side sink before walking over. Food Elder waved his hand, producing a steaming bowl of porridge. “Finish this, then continue.”

This large, empty room didn’t have much furniture. Qian Jianing gave thanks, took the bowl back to the prep table, and took a small sip—“So fragrant!” The rice grains were translucent, with nothing else added, yet the porridge was wonderfully sweet and aromatic.

There wasn’t much of it. In under two minutes, she had finished the bowl. Recalling how even a medicine bottle was recycled, she figured celestials didn’t have it that easy either. She cleaned the bowl thoroughly under the tap, then let it dry before returning it to Food Elder.

After the porridge, her fatigue vanished. Putting her apron back on, she picked up another potato. On the very first cut, she noticed something was different—it was as if her body control had become more precise. Quietly reciting the key points again, her knife speed visibly doubled. A batch of potato shreds that originally took three minutes was now done in under one. Although not yet at Food Elder’s level, her skill was already on par with professional chefs.

She looked up at Food Elder, who was still energetically gaming, and decided against asking him to judge. Instead, she obediently returned to slicing. Time passed unknown—she only knew she went through three bowls of Food Elder’s porridge before she finished all ten baskets.

“Jianing, wake up.” A gentle hand touched her forehead and softly called her awake.

Opening her eyes, she saw Li Wanzhen’s face and immediately broke into a bright smile. “Mom.”

“Be good. Dad and I are heading to work. Breakfast is in the pot—get up and eat later,” Li Wanzhen said before adding, “There’s not much happening at work today, so I’m bringing your brother along to do his homework. You focus on reviewing your schoolwork.”

Since entering the third year of middle school, Qian Jianing hadn’t liked her brother Qian Jiafeng always tagging along. The little rascal was thirteen and full of energy—more than half a day together and she’d lose her temper. So every summer, her parents tried to keep the boy out of her hair to avoid upsetting their daughter.

But after being reborn, Qian Jianing deeply cherished every family member. Her brother was just mischievous—not a nightmare kid by any means, and way better than she remembered. Now, she wouldn’t even mind watching him for a whole year, let alone a single day.

She was just about to ask her parents to leave him at home when Treasure Bowl’s voice rang in her mind. “Don’t keep him here. We’ve got money to make today.”

Swallowing her words, Qian Jianing got out of bed and surprisingly felt full of energy, not at all like someone who had sliced potatoes all night.

After seeing her family off, Qian Jianing didn’t even stop to eat and immediately asked, “So how are we making money today?”

Treasure Bowl waved his hand in her mind, and several vats filled with potato shreds appeared in the room. “Potatoes cost money, you know. You sliced all of these—can’t let them go to waste. Today, sell all the potato shreds and earn back the money I spent on them!”

Qian Jianing nearly blacked out. “You’re the Treasure Bowl! And you’re fussing over potato money?”