Magic Chef of Ice and Fire

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Nian Bing agreed and followed this green-clad servant through the Stone House and into the depths of Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant. The deeper he went, the more he was influenced by the elegant atmosphere here. Every arrangement revealed the owner's unique ingenuity. The architecture's layout gave people a sense of refined beauty.

The servant led Nian Bing out of the front courtyard to a row of houses on the side and stopped at the door of the innermost room. The servant respectfully asked, "Manager, are you there?"

A clear voice answered, "Come in."

The servant signalled Nian Bing with his eyes and led him into the room, which was clean, with a suite of two rooms. They could not see inside, but the outer room was filled with a scholarly atmosphere, with several scrolls hanging on the wall, and various stationeries arranged on the broad carved-wood desk. A man, who looked to be in his thirties, was sitting behind the desk in a white robe, writing something. Even though Nian Bing could only see his profile, he was surprised to find that this man had an ordinary appearance, but he had an extraordinary temperament. He exuded nobility. Was this man the manager of Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant?

The servant told the middle-aged man, "Manager, the Miss asked me to bring this man over and said that we need him to help out in the firewood room, so I've brought him over for registration."

The man in white looked up at Nian Bing, and their eyes met. Nian Bing could see the intelligence in his bright eyes, and thought to himself that this man would not be easy to deal with.

The man in white was slightly taken aback by Nian Bing's handsome appearance and tall stature. He asked, "What's your name and where are you from? What skills do you have?"

Nian Bing replied, "My name is Nian Bing, and I originally come from the Huarong Empire. I have learnt the art of cooking for a while."

The man in white smiled faintly, and asked, "So, have you ever attended a culinary school?"

Culinary school again. He should really visit this culinary school to see what it teaches. Nian Bing shook his head and answered truthfully, "No, I haven't."

The man in white said, "Xiao Si, take him to get a uniform. Let's go with the Miss's suggestion for now, let him work in the firewood room and if he does well, we can consider training him to become a junior chef."

Xiao Si respectfully said, "Yes, Manager. Follow me."

After Nian Bing changed into the green robe and trousers Xiao Si found for him, he was taken to a separate courtyard in the backyard where a lot of firewood was stacked. Some of them were nicely chopped and neatly piled. A cover was laid over the firewood, obviously to avoid getting it wet in the rain. As Xiao Si entered the courtyard, he shouted, "Uncle Li, Uncle Li, here's a newcomer."

A booming voice replied, "A new comer eh! Good, my old bones could use a little break." As the voice approached, a man in his fifties, also dressed in green, appeared. He had a few wrinkles on his face, was tall and was holding an axe in his hand. He had an ordinary appearance, a friendly smile on his face, and looked easy to get along with at a glance.

Uncle Li's gaze fell on Nian Bing. He examined him from head to toe and said, "Hmm, you seem quite fit, but I don't know if you can handle tough labor. All the firewood used in Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant are chopped here by me. Boy, if you don't finish your work, you'll have to work overtime."

Nian Bing smiled and said, "Hello Uncle Li. I've worked hard since I was a child, so I'm used to it. Don't worry about the work."

Uncle Li smiled and said, "That's good, Xiao Si, you can go back now, I'll take care of him. Now that we have a newcomer, I won't have to look for other people to help me in the future. Together we should be able to provide enough for the kitchen. Come, let me show you where you'll be staying."

Once Xiao Si had left, Nian Bing followed Uncle Li to a corner of the small courtyard where three rooms were located, Uncle Li said: "Traditionally, the job of chopping wood should be done by three people. But since the opening of Dacheng Restaurant, our business has been taken away in parts and I have been left to do this on my own, only looking for help when I couldn't cope. You can stay in the room on the right, the room in the middle is a bit messy, it's hard to clean."

Even someone who chops wood has his own room, Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant really does provide well. Nian Bing thought as he went into the room on the right and put down his bundle before immediately coming back out.

Uncle Li was waiting for him at the door, "Boy, have you ever chopped wood before?"

Nian Bing nodded, regarding chopping wood, he was quite experienced.

Uncle Li smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't bully a newcomer. From now on, we'll share the work evenly. Here at Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant, we are particular about how we chop wood. The wood will be delivered, so we need to try to make each piece as even as possible when chopping, like this." He pointed to a pile of wood. "I'll finish today's work, you can watch for now. From tomorrow, you'll start to share the workload. Also, what's your name? Who recruited you?"

Nian Bing simply explained what had happened on the main street. After listening to his account, Uncle Li chuckled, "Although Miss has a temper, she is very kind-hearted. Don't worry, even though we just chop the wood, our treatment isn't bad; we get food and lodging, plus a gold coin every month. You could say we are the happiest woodcutters. Moreover, our time is fairly flexible. As long as we finish chopping the wood required for the day, we can do other things. You can also go out from the back door."

While listening to Uncle Li's introduction to Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant, Nian Bing was observing his surroundings. His impression of the place gradually formed under Uncle Li's guidance. The restaurant occupied a vast area, just as much as Dacheng Restaurant, yet due to its focus on elegant sceneries, it could accommodate fewer customers. Not far from the woodshed was the kitchen. There, wood was fetched by a specific person every day. According to Uncle Li, the food provided by Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant was really good, even the dishes cooked by its junior chefs for their servants were decent and included both vegetables and meat.

"Uncle Li, let me chop, you should rest a bit." Nian Bing took the axe from Uncle Li, picked up a piece of wood, and struck it with a controlled pace. A few moments later, eight chunks of evenly sized wood appeared. Uncle Li praised, "Indeed, you've done this before. Nian Bing, you seem very skilled, you must have chopped wood for quite some time. Miss has really found a great helper this time." With Nian Bing's help, he could relax more and became more talkative.

Nian Bing gave a wry smile, "Add all that up, and I've done it for about eight years. Uncle Li, I heard Xiao Si and the others mentioning a Great Archmage called Long Ling who came to see the Miss. Are Great Archmages very powerful?"

Uncle Li nodded profoundly, "Of course they are, not your average kind of powerful. Our Bing Yue Empire's Mage Guild is established in Bing Xue City in order to maintain the prominent status of the Ice God Tower. It's said that Miss Long Ling is the daughter of the Guild President. Despite her young age, she has already attained the realm of a Great Archmage and is very close with Miss."

The information that the Bing Yue Empire's Mage Guild was located in Bing Xue City was extremely helpful to Nian Bing. He wasn't sure of his current magic strength level, but it should be almost equivalent to that of a Great Archmage. What he lacked the most right now were magic books related to ice magic. Magic spells were crucial. Without spells, no matter how high one's magic power was, it would be useless. Having only fire magic spells, he guessed a few low-ranking ice magic spells. but all the spells above level three were unique. He felt uncomfortable possessing strong ice magic powers but lacking spells. If he could visit the Mage Guild and look at the magic books, it would be of great help to him.

With Nian Bing's help, the task of chopping wood for the day was completed without taking long. He had carefully observed Uncle Li's woodcutting speed and maintained his own at a similar pace. The resulting pieces of wood, although uniform, were not as meticulously chopped as those he'd done in Peach Blossom Forest. Halfway through chopping, two people in white chef uniforms came to take some of the wood.

Uncle Li laughed heartily, "Having you around really does make a difference, you're a diligent young man, and your chopping speed is similar to mine. It's getting late, we should have dinner soon."

Nian Bing said, "Uncle Li, I'm not going to eat here. I just arrived at Bing Xue City, I want to take a look around and buy some things I need for living."

Uncle Li, being an open-minded person, didn't ask any further questions. He told Nian Bing where the back door was and let him go out.

After leaving Qingfeng Vegetarian Restaurant, Nian Bing's eyes were shining. Now that he knew the location of the Mage Guild of the Bing Yue Empire, he decided to visit first and at least ask about the conditions required to access the resources there. With that in mind, he proceeded along the main road, asked a passerby, and found out the location of the Mage Guild.