Chapter 187 - 130: A Leader’s Awakening: Integrating the School Personnel

Chapter 187: Chapter 130: A Leader’s Awakening: Integrating the School Personnel

The Lion-headed Goose and the Tiger Striped Dog looked toward the main door.

The Blade-Limbed Assassin Insect hidden on the ceiling also aimed its blade-like forelimbs that way...

"Who’s knocking at this hour?"

Xu Jun stood up in confusion, grabbing the Snakebone Giant Axe.

He walked over to the peephole and looked out, and was instantly speechless.

CREAK—

"What took you so long to open the door?"

"Brother Jun, on the way here I made a bet with Brother Meng about whether you guys were awake or not. Looks like I won!"

The visitors were none other than Zhang Meng and Huang Mao.

"Damn, I’m starting to suspect you two have a hidden camera in our room. How do you manage to show up right when we’re eating every single time?"

"Hehehe, we’ve just got good noses. We smelled the aroma..."

The two squeezed through the door, their mouths watering as they saw the food on the table.

"Have you eaten?" Chen Chong asked.

"Not yet."

"Want to join us?"

Seeing the offer, the two didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately sat down.

Jia Wen went to the kitchen to get two sets of bowls and chopsticks and handed them over.

"Huh?" Huang Mao was just about to grab some meat when he suddenly noticed something. "What’s this? Wild vegetables?"

Zhang Meng looked over too and immediately grew excited.

"What wild vegetables? These are clearly sweet potato leaves!"

Even though there were only two or three leaves left on the plate, Zhang Meng snatched them up with his chopsticks, popped them in his mouth, and was instantly filled with satisfaction...

Huang Mao had a strange look on his face. "Isn’t this stuff for feeding pigs?"

As soon as he said that, Chen Chong, Xu Jun, and Zhang Meng all turned to look at him at the same time.

"Feeding pigs?"

"You’re not exactly wrong, but it’s also a vegetable dish."

Sweet potato leaves are a regional delicacy. Most people only eat the sweet potatoes, while the leaves are used as feed for pigs and chickens—even in places where people do eat the leaves.

But the greens for pig feed are usually the older stems and leaves, while the tender shoots at the tip can be used in cooking.

When stir-fried, they have a very crisp, tender, and refreshing taste, not at all inferior to other leafy greens.

In the eyes of many gourmands, sweet potato leaves are far more delicious than the sweet potatoes themselves...

Crucially, the growth pattern of sweet potatoes allows them to continuously produce new shoots, resulting in an astonishing yield that has made them a staple on many dinner tables...

"Seeing as you’ve never had them, don’t say your big bro doesn’t look out for you. Here, you can have the last one."

Zhang Meng reluctantly placed the last sweet potato leaf into Huang Mao’s bowl.

Huang Mao, who had never eaten this vegetable before, put it in his mouth dubiously...

The moment it entered his mouth!

His eyes lit up.

"Delicious!"

"Good, right? Too bad it’s all gone."

With a look of regret, Huang Mao poured the last bit of oil from the plate into his bowl. Zhang Meng immediately started scrambling for it and managed to take half.

Even though the sweet potato leaves were gone, the oil, infused with their faint, fresh fragrance, became a delicacy even more prized than Moose or Fear Wolf meat in that moment...

Seeing their pitiful display, Chen Chong couldn’t watch any longer. He got up, walked over to the farm plot, and started picking more.

Although there weren’t many sweet potato plants in the plot—only fifteen—the tender shoots from each one were enough to stir-fry a whole plate.

He couldn’t say for sure how much that was, but it was at least enough for one person to eat their fill, no problem.

The amount on that plate had just been from two plants he had casually picked and fried; there were still plenty more in the plot.

Besides, picking the leaves wouldn’t affect the growth of the sweet potatoes underneath, and new shoots would sprout every day, so there was no need to be too frugal.

What’s more, if he waited too long to pick them, the shoots would grow old and tough, and then they’d really only be good for feeding to chickens and ducks....

Before long, with the help of Zhang Meng and Jia Wen, the three of them had picked the shoots from a good four or five plants, not stopping until they had nearly filled a plastic basin.

Soon, after being flash-fried over high heat by Jia Wen, two more plates of sweet potato leaves were served.

Zhang Meng and Huang Mao immediately dug in, and Xu Jun quickly joined the scramble for the vegetables.

Seeing this, Chen Chong just smiled calmly, then turned and took one of the plates to enjoy by himself....

...

Half an hour later, the food on the table had long been swept clean.

The three plates of sweet potato leaves had vanished without a trace, not even a drop of oily broth remaining.

As for the wild boar, Moose, and Fear Wolf meat, they had also been devoured completely.

Everyone was completely satisfied, lying back on the sofa and patting their full, round bellies.

"That was an amazing meal. It’s been so long since I’ve eaten this well."

"Seriously! Especially the sweet potato leaves. I’d never had them before, but they’re absolutely divine!"

"I guess people really do need to eat vegetables. You can’t just live on meat all the time."

"Don’t worry, we can have sweet potato leaves every day from now on. The things grow fast on their own, and with the farm plot’s accelerated growth effect, the parts we picked will probably grow back in a single day."

"That’s great! Brother Chong, can I come over to bum meals every day from now on...?"

Hearing this, Chen Chong seemed to remember something and suddenly sat up straight.

"Zhang Meng, Huang Mao, it’s a good thing you’re here. I have something to tell you both."

Hearing this, Zhang Meng and Huang Mao immediately dropped their playful attitudes and sat up straight as well.

"Chen Chong, what is it?"

"Are we getting ready to hunt a third Extraordinary Creature? Brother Chong, you just make the call. I’ll follow your lead, no questions asked!"

Chen Chong shook his head slightly. "We do need to hunt Extraordinary Creatures, but not in the next couple of days. I have to deal with the problem at the school first. Do you remember what I talked about last night?"

Zhang Meng thought for a moment before asking tentatively, "You mean... rally the people at the school and get rid of the Bloodthirsty Vine?"

"Mhm."

Chen Chong nodded.

"The Bloodthirsty Vine is the biggest problem. It has already infiltrated the school and parasitized a double-digit number of people. If we just let it be, I’m afraid the consequences will be unimaginable...."

And that was just the intel from yesterday. By his estimation, after another day had passed, the number of parasitized people had probably only grown.