"Okay, I want to try." Jiang Le answered.

Shi Lingmeng suddenly reminded them: "Use a plate to catch your food, don’t waste it. Take only as much as you can eat, even if you fail, don’t waste it."

"I know, Sister Meng." Jiang Le was aware of this; Sister Meng had already reminded them last night about not wasting food.

The boss, hearing their conversation, looked much friendlier: "Young people who cherish food like you are rare," he said while handing over the pastries, "There used to be young people who came to our Food Village for the festival, and if they ate something they didn’t like, they’d just toss it in the trash after having barely a bite. Isn’t that wasteful? We don’t welcome food wasters here; that young person was thrown out of the village."

Once again someone was thrown out for wasting food.

Everyone exchanged glances, taking note of this - no wasting food here under any circumstances.

Over here, Jiang Le had already started eating.

"Peanuts." He immediately tasted them on the first bite.

The boss chuckled: "That’s right, it’s peanuts. Quickly finish it; then you can try the second kind."

"Osmanthus."

"Cured meat."

"Candied winter melon."

"Red bean."

...

"Longan. This piece of pastry is filled with longan."

With Jiang Le guessing correctly one after another, he almost guessed them all, and everyone looked at him with a mix of admiration.

He guessed so accurately, and he could eat so much; no wonder he earned those 300 coins.

"Too bad I’m not a big eater," said Wei Wenlan with regret, "Eating five would be hard."

Although the pastries were delicious, having too much of them was overwhelming.

Jiang Le earned those 300 coins; no one present was envious, feeling it was his rightful reward.

"Young man, well done, you guessed them all," the boss laughed, clearly satisfied, "Great appetite, alright, these 300 coins are yours."

"Burp~ Thank you, boss." Jiang Le was indeed a bit full and quite overwhelmed; but victory was in sight, so he persisted.

With the reward of 300 coins, he felt this bit of nausea was nothing.

"Now I want some pickles to relieve the nausea."

This remark made the boss laugh, and he pointed across: "There’s all kinds of pickles over there, go ahead." With that, he turned to the others, "Do you want to try?"

He received a series of head shakes; this challenge is not for everyone. Even if they know what the fillings are, they still have to eat it all. Besides, the boss wouldn’t be foolish enough; probably the same type of pastry might contain different fillings.

"Let’s go elsewhere." Qin Lin said. Jiang Le’s challenge earning 300 coins had indeed stirred the others, eager to quickly find a challenge suitable for them.

Thus, everyone decided to split up, to avoid wasting time, and as long as they didn’t trigger any rules, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Li Chen, Wei Wenlan, and Bai Xingwen walked together.

Huo Jingchen, Wei Yao, Qin Lin, and Bai Qiaoqian walked together.

Jiang Le went off to eat pickles, not hurrying to try other foods.

Ma Qin initially glanced at Li Chen’s group but then noticed Bai Xingwen and headed in another direction. The remaining group was Shi Lingmeng, Yan Hui, and Shen Yunliang heading in one direction.

"I didn’t offend that Ma Qin, right?" Bai Xingwen was frustrated. Although he could be quite annoying sometimes, his first impression was usually good, and many women outside wanted to approach him; with his looks, he shouldn’t be that repulsive.

"Maybe she just dislikes men." Li Chen said.

Previously she noticed that Ma Qin always kept her distance from men and didn’t like women getting close to men either, but she couldn’t control others, just had to bear her own frustration.

At the pastry stall, everyone tried one or two pastries except Ma Qin, because the stall owner was male. She also noticed Ma Qin tried things at two neighboring stalls, both with female owners, separated by a stall with a male owner, which was very obvious.

But having been allocated to stay near Qu Zhicheng, there was nothing to be done, just endure.

As long as she survives in this world, avoiding men completely is not possible. But it’s Ma Qin’s issue, nothing to do with her. With so many people, all sorts of personalities are normal.

Bai Xingwen fell silent; is this really the case?

He was relieved; turns out she dislikes all men, not just him.

"There’s a scent of alcohol." Wei Wenlan inhaled with her eyes closed, "Smells nice."

Opening her eyes, she tugged on Li Chen’s arm: "Let’s find it and try the alcohol here."

"Alright, let’s go." Li Chen had no objections.

"Hey, if you want to go somewhere else, go by yourself." Wei Wenlan said to Bai Xingwen.

Bai Xingwen replied: "I’m a bit interested in the alcohol here too. Let’s go together."

Wei Wenlan had no complaints, pulling Li Chen along as they walked briskly, soon entering an alley where the scent of alcohol originated, leading to a small tavern.

"This is the place."

The tavern owner saw them and smiled: "Would you like to try some of our store’s wine?"

Wei Wenlan first picked up a cup and tasted a sip, then looked around the tavern and indeed saw a sign for a challenge: Taste all the wines in the shop, and win 300 coins.

As expected, not an easy task.

But she actually had a decent tolerance.

Wei Wenlan whispered: "Boss, how many types of wine do you have? How many cups in total?"

"36 types, 36 cups." The owner held a small cup in front of them, "In total, the quantity isn’t much, about the volume of a few large bowls of water."

Wei Wenlan retorted: "The volume isn’t much, but different wines are the most intoxicating. You’re not being honest, trying to trick me."

"The shop allows group challenges." The owner added with a smile, unfazed by Wei Wenlan’s words.

Wei Wenlan’s eyes lit up: "Three people, 36 cups?"

"Three people, 108 cups. Anyone who finishes can earn the reward, calculated as three times + 300 coins, meaning if you succeed, you’ll earn 1200 coins, but missing even one cup is considered a failure." The owner shook his head with a chuckle, "You’re also not being honest, trying to take advantage of an old man."

Wei Wenlan huffed: "You didn’t make it clear before."

"It’s clear now. Do you want to challenge?"

coins, very tempting indeed.

"Do you want to try?" Wei Wenlan asked Bai Xingwen.

Bai Xingwen said: "Let’s try."

This is the simplest way to earn coins, and not trying would be a waste. Drinking is one of his strengths; doing his share should be easy. He had tasted it just now, the alcohol content wasn’t too high; it’s just combining them that might be intoxicating, enduring should be enough.

Last time he benefited from Li Chen; this time drinking a bit more doesn’t matter, do his best.

"Chenchen, can you handle it? If you can drink, go ahead, if not leave it to me, don’t exert yourself." Wei Wenlan said, wanting to earn as much as possible. At her capacity, she could drink over forty cups; she glanced at Bai Xingwen, who also had a good tolerance, able to drink quite a bit. They exchanged glances, understanding each other’s thoughts, showing tacit understanding.

As for if they failed, they weren’t lacking; it would be just a gamble.

The food festival lasts three days; they can challenge other things tomorrow.

Li Chen nodded: "Sure."

"Then go ahead, young people." The owner already set up the wine, 108 cups in total.