Chapter 5: Jealousy

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The soldiers, who were residing on Planet Trash, could only maintain their energy through the tasteless nutritive solutions. As a result, they had long forgotten the taste of delicious food. A new delicacy which smelled like heaven would obviously tempt them.
Those who had been hesitating about whether one cutlet was worth two bottles of low-level nutritive solutions, did not dither any longer. Soon, they gathered around the iron plate that held the cutlets.
Since the cutlets were in limited supply, every exchange would make the number smaller. Anyone who did not make haste would simply miss the opportunity.
When Lan Jiao finished exchanging all the cutlets, there were still some soldiers left who did not get any.
But Lan Jiao, on the other hand, was now holding 36 bottles of low-level nutritive solutions. It was enough for her to stay full for one whole month!
Although low-level nutritive solutions were not a match against the Rat-meat Teppanyaki. Still, for those who lived on Planet Trash, staying full was the most crucial thing.
With these bottles of low-level nutritive solutions, she did not need to dig for food on Mountain Trash in the near future.
Seeing how delighted Mi Lai had become when he found half a bottle of low-level nutritive solution earlier, now she held more than 30 of them in her arms!
She would have burst into wild laughter but for the crowd gathered around.
She was thoroughly satisfied with the exchange this time. But it was not going to happen too often, since she had told them that the condiments were in limited supply.
But, henceforth, she was no longer worried that she would starve in this place.
She had spotted a business opportunity through the Teppanyaki episode. Now, she knew exactly what these soldiers needed.
With her superior cooking skills, she would be able to get enough bottles of nutritive solutions as long as she managed to make a few good dishes.
After the cutlets were distributed, the soldiers walked away reluctantly, seeing that Lan Jiao had nothing else to offer.
Those who did not get to eat the meat repeatedly told Lan Jiao that she should save some for them next time.
A few smart ones left one bottle of low-level nutritive solution as the down payment for the next instance. In this way, they were guaranteed to get a share next time.
Due to this development, Lan Jiao got 20 more bottles of nutritive solutions. Now, she had 60 bottles in total!
Before everyone left, Lan Jiao said that those who had tried the cutlets this time won’t be getting any the next time. This was to ensure that everyone could get to taste some. Had she not announced this, she would definitely have got more bottles as down payment.
When all the residing soldiers were gone, a few locals also started to leave seeing that there were no more cutlets left on the iron plate.
But many locals stayed back. They gazed at the pile of low-level nutritive solution bottles in Lan Jiao’s arms in a greedy manner.
Majority of these people had never seen so many bottles of nutritive solutions in a go.
And these bottles now belonged to only one person – a criminal exiled to Planet Trash!
This made many locals feel angry and jealous at the same time.
The criminals who were exiled to this planet should be dead. They didn’t deserve to get the precious nutrient fluid and that too in so much quantity!
These bottles were not just food to fill up the stomach, but were like a fortune.
They did not think that criminals had the merit to own this windfall!
Judging from the expression on the locals’ faces, Lan Jiao more or less understood their thoughts.
But she was not bothered. She had earned these bottles rightfully. These people’s greed had nothing to do with her!
Lan Jiao knew that in every world, there was an unwritten rule – knowledge was power, abilities changed life.
If those people had her abilities and could make better food than her, she would work harder to exceed them, instead of feeling jealous of what one could not possibly get.
So Lan Jiao gave a cursory glance at the locals and then started to walk towards her room with the pile of nutritive solution bottles.
Before leaving, she looked at Mi Lai, who had been gazing at her all this while, transfixed.
“Come with me.” Lan Jiao said.
Hearing what Lan Jiao said, Mi Lai obeyed subconsciously.
He had already decided to treat Lan Jiao as his closest friend, but now, his feelings were undergoing a change. He was full of admiration for her!
Yes, admiration!
She had managed to get dozens of bottles of nutritive solutions because of a rot-eating rat, the vile creature on Planet Trash.
Before today, he would not have believed that such a thing could happen. He would have considered it to be a joke, something that was conjured up by people with a mental problem!
But now, this happened right in front of him. It was real, it was magnificent.
Mi Lai felt that Lan Jiao was the only one who could have done something like this.
He was in awe of her!
Those soldiers, who had given away the low-level nutritive solutions were completely focussed on the cutlets. They seemed to have forgotten that the delicacy was actually a rot-eating rat, which was considered to be ordinary and disgusting!
After witnessing what happened, Mi Lai started to believe that his friend, Lan Jiao, could truly turn rot into magic!
The excitement had reduced a little bit by the time Mi Lai followed Lan Jiao back to her tiny room. The place was big enough for just one bed to fit in.
Suddenly he was confronted with reality.
Even if Lan Jiao got those bottles of nutritive solutions with one single rot-eating rat… so what?
This would not change their current status – they were criminals exiled to Planet Trash.
Mi Lai had no idea why Lan Jiao was sent to this place, but he felt sorry for her and found it to be unfair.
After spending a month together, he felt that even if Lan Jiao was an introvert, she was too nice to have been a criminal.
Were they exiled to this place under similar circumstances?
“What are you thinking?!”
Lan Jiao’s voice brought Mi Lai back from his contemplation.
He looked up suddenly and saw Lan Jiao grabbing a handful of bottles from the bed. She stuffed them into his arms without any hesitation.
“Lan Jiao, what are you doing?”
Lan Jiao said calmly, “These are for you. I have got so many that I won’t starve anytime soon. With these bottles, you would not need to dig food on the filthy Mountain Trash anymore, either.”
Mi Lai could tell that she was being kind to him without expecting any gain in return. She was giving him the gift unconditionally.
Mi Lai, who was holding the bottles, was shocked. He felt moisture filling up his eyes.
He truly had no words to express his emotions about this girl, whom he had known for just one month.