North gate.


    Under the spacious shed, there was a long table. There were two braziers ced beside the table, and the charcoal inside was burning intensely.


    Chu Guang, wearing a blue exoframe, stood in the shed, looking at the yers busy in the market, with a father-like smile on his face.


    <em>Good.</em>


    <em>Making an empty promise and letting the yers realize it themselves. Sure enough, this is what a game designer should do.</em>


    Originally, Chu Guang thought that holding the celebration would consume a lot of inventory, but now it seemed that his worries werepletely unnecessary.


    Those yers had obviously read his event n several times, and they even excavated what he wanted to express but was embarrassed to write in the n from the perspective of the game background.


    After all… They were about to be wastnd gourmets.


    They obviously had to use some authentic ingredients that came from the wastnd. Otherwise, how would they have the confidence to say that the dishes they cooked were "the most authentic wastnd cuisine?"The crispy stove cricket meat, the fried mutant cockroach legs, the leech pot, and the glowing blood-sucking worm steak, there were all kinds of variety!


    Of course, Chu Guang himself would not try it. He didn’t have many lives like those yers.


    He had to eat things that were healthy and hygienic!


    There were three prizes in thepetition.


    One was for the delicacy in the minds of the wastnders, the other was for the delicacy in the minds of the yers, and thest one was to win the approval of the administrator.


    The three prizes had different selection criteria and different judges, but the awards were mostly the same.


    That was… A huge amount of event points, and a limited title!


    They would also enter the Hall of Fame, shining bright on the entire forum!


    Like the previous events, yers could earn points bypleting missions in the event, and the points could be used to redeem event-limited rewards, as well as New Year’s red packets. Actually, it was a just lottery with a different name.


    Prizes included but were not limited to the 1st prize of 666 silver coins, but also the special prize. A Carbon Nano Bulletproof Vest worth 6666 silver coins.


    This item had never been put on the shelves of the NPC store, and the price was arbitrarily set by Chu Guang. Anyway, even if he added a zero, no one would oppose it.


    In addition to the lottery, what the yers were interested the most was of course the limited title and the chance to enter the Hall of Fame.


    And ording to the administrator himself, if they were awarded the title of Wastnd Gourmet, the dishes they designed would be included in the menu of the New Year’s party.


    For Lifestyle Profession yers, this temptation was simply too great.


    Topete for the title, condiments other than salt in warehouses were nearly sold out.


    As a result, Chu Guang had to adjust the event strategy, temporarily removing seasoning from the warehouse shelves, and changing it to be only avable afterpleting the mission.


    Thanks to this, the rate of thepletion of the daily missions had been quite gratifying in the past few days, and he, the administrator, had also received reward points from the system.


    In order to meet the cooking needs of yers, Chu Guang had spent almost all his points on the elementary blind box in the past few days, and got a lot of seeds of high-yielding crops because of this.


    This could also be considered a surprise gain.


    Looking at the wooden sign on the table, Xia Yan asked Chu Guang with a puzzled face. "What does being a ‘judge’ mean?"


    She had never heard such a strange word.


    Chu Guang exined after a little thought. "Simply put, you need to walk around the North Gate Market, and if you think something looks good, you can take a portion back. If it’s delicious, you need to give it thumbs up."


    Of course, before he ate it, Yaya had to try it first.


    As a perception type yer, her talent was Toxin Intuition, which allowed her to easily tell if something was poisonous or not at a nce.


    In addition, her constitution attribute was not high, so if she was fine after eating something, others would basically be fine after eating it as well.


    Yaya was over the moon when she found out that she had be an official taster.


    Chu Guang still remembered how the yer puffed her chest out and patted them to assure him that she would do her best to maintain the order of the celebration, and asked himself to hand over the honorable and arduous mission to her.


    "Oh, okay." Xia Yan nodded, still slightly confused about what it meant.


    <em>Does he mean that... I can just take whatever I like to eat when I see it? I don’t even need to pay for it?</em>


    <em>How can there be such a good thing in this world?! Muaha… Muahahaha!</em>


    Xiaoyu, who was sitting behind the long table, looked a little embarrassed.


    She secretly nced at Chu Guang and said in a low voice, "But… Is it really okay if I don’t give money?"


    To be honest, the question was a bit redundant.


    <em>Why would judges pay for their food?</em>


    It was already generous enough that he didn’t charge those yers an entry fee!


    Not to mention that there were points rewards for participating, even the worst constion prize was definitely enough to pay for the little meal.


    Chu Guang originally intended to exin it to her that way, but seeing Xiaoyu’s guilty expression, he changed his phrasing.


    It was more than enough to have him act like an evil exploiter to the crazydy. He shouldn’t teach children bad things.


    "It’s part of the celebration, and the cost of the event will be covered by the shelter... You can understand that the money has actually been paid." He paused here for a moment.


    Looking at Xiaoyu who had a confused face, Chu Guang smiled gently and continued. "Be sure to say thank you to them before tasting it. They’ll definitely be happy all day."


    Xia Yan, who was standing beside him with her arms crossed, nodded as if she understood.


    <em>Right… So it’s not free food.</em>


    <em>Everything is already paid for by the shelter.</em>


    ...


    The foodpetition to wee the New Year was in full swing. In order to get the limited title, both Lifestyle Profession yers and Combat Profession yers were trying their best.


    The event continued until thest day of December.


    It was a rare sunny day as the roaring north wind and blizzard had died down, and the harsh winter seemed to havee to an end.


    Everything indicated that the dawn wasing, and victory was at hand!


    In order to wee the uing year 212 of the Wastnd Era, the outpost was full of colorful lights and it was extremely lively.


    The doors of many houses were pasted with red paper and hung with red cloth strips and ribbons.


    In order to make the festive atmosphere stronger, Chu Guang also specially released a mission, and asked Woodworking Cabin to make more than 40nterns, which were hung from the square in front of the nursing home to the North Gate Market.


    At dusk, more than fortynterns were lit.


    The hazy light, against the ming torches, made the entire outpost lively and at the same time added a bit of festive color.


    Chu Guang found that his yers were really geniuses.


    In just one week, his yers unlocked hundreds of recipes in an astonishingly short period of time.


    Some were extremely creative, and even amazed him when he saw them.


    It was especially when he saw what Teng Teng made.


    It was said that she gained experience from nomads. With the help of Autumn Weed and Autumn Leaves, she boiled shec from Devil Moth’s pupae and made something simr to sipunculid worm jelly.


    What she made was crystal clear, white, soft, and tasted like jelly. If no one mentioned it deliberately, no one would think of Devil Moth.


    Without any suspense, this dish won the most popr wastnd food amongst yers award.


    After all,pared to Irene’s salt and pepper charcoal-grilled mantis legs, and some realistic food that had nothing to do with the wastnd at all, the dish cleverly found a bnce between the two.


    And the taste and texture of this dish weren’t bad, it belonged to the Lawful Neutral part of the spectrum.


    The only pity was that there was no chili sauce, otherwise, it would definitely be more delicious.


    However, not everyone was satisfied with the results.


    Especially for those who “almost" won thepetition...


    "Damn it! Why is the Wastnd Gourmet not me?! Mine is obviously very delicious!"


    "That’s right!"


    "This is uneptable!"


    The judging session ended as early as noon, and it was quickly time for celebration.


    Unwilling to ept the results, Escaping Mole, Elf Wang, and Irene grilled all the unfinished mantis legs, trying to prove that their dish was the most delicious food.


    Unfortunately, there were barely a few people standing before their stall, and even fewer people actually buying the food from them.


    Even after confirming that it wasn’t poisonous, Yaya still shook her head vigorously. "Sorry, I feel physically ufortable with it, I really can’t ept this kind of food!"


    The kind-hearted Teng Teng took a closer look, thinking about buying a little tofort them, but when she was about to pay, she couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, "Speaking of which… there is really no Horsehair Worm inside it, right?"


    Hearing what she asked, Brother Mole suddenly felt like his wound was being sprinkled with salt. He couldn’t help replying with a look of grief and indignation. "How can there be Horsehair worms! Not all praying mantises have iron worms, alright!"


    Elf Wang yelled, "That’s right! It’s already been cooked to this extent! And it’s clearly not poisonous!"


    Irene also screamed as the side, "Damn it! Do you know how hard it is to find these things in the winter!"


    "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I won’t ask again..." Teng Teng hurriedly took out her VM. Although she didn’t know why she had to apologize, she decided to pay for it first.


    Unable to watch it any longer, Night Ten walked over, patted Irene on the shoulder, and sighed, "Forget it, Irena, I think it’s time to give up and stop struggling."


    Irene said sadly and indignantly, "Go away! If I don’t sell all of them out, I won’t log out!"


    Night Ten let go of his hand silently.


    <em>My goodness. Turns out that he’s ready to stay up all night...</em>@@novelbin@@


    ...<blockquote>


    Blip’s Thoughts


    <strong>[Announcement IRL: </strong>Merry Christmas!<strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[Blip: </strong>Ho Ho Ho<strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[Little Seven’s friendly tip of the year: </strong>Hmm... Hmm... It’s not like I enjoy spending Christmas with all of you anyway~~<strong>]</strong>


    <strong>[Your friendly Boss Xia reminds you to wish the little dumb robot a Merry Christmas in case it ignores you for 24 hours...]</strong></blockquote>