Li Yi was holding four bottles of Wangzai Milk. However, the labels were blank, with most of the text removed. Even the ingredient list and the place of manufacture were missing—basically, it was a no-name product. The packaging was similar to Wangzai Milk, with its festive red color and the large-eyed doll on the front.

Next to the milk, there was a clay jar filled with a mixture of spices. This was the seasoning for barbecues, though it was priced much lower than the white salt. It seemed that some of the spices here could also be obtained. The price was still quite high, likely because salt had also been included in the mixture.

He put the items down and took a scroll from the cart. On it was a picture of an old man standing at a podium, waving his hands and shouting, "No one knows better than me..."

After purchasing the item, Li Yi understood how it worked, but he hadn’t used it yet. This item was a bit of a gamble, based on probability. If he got lucky, he could gain a powerful ability. But if it turned out to be something like, "Every year on August 24th at 3:15 PM, when it rains heavily, you’ll find five dollars at the market in Zhaoyang District," then it would be completely useless.

He shook off the thought, walked outside, washed his face with a basin of water, and then went over to the "Willow God" statue, hands clasped together as he silently prayed, "Willow God, please bless me. Even if I don’t get a powerful skill, at least give me something useful. Don’t let it be like I thought it would be."

After completing the ritual, he went back inside and stood in front of the stone table. He tore open the scroll, raised his hands, and shouted, "No one knows better than me about barbecuing."

He froze for a moment after saying it, realizing that the skill he had acquired wasn’t as impressive as he had hoped. It was clearly about barbecuing, but that was all it did.

At least it was something, though it was a bit disappointing to spend fifty energy points on it.

Li Yi wasn’t too upset, though. After all, the things he purchased were random, and his energy points were plentiful. If he didn’t use them, they would be wasted. The task on the book also said his earnings would be counted based on the total funds from trading, so it didn’t matter if he spent all his energy points or not. As long as he kept making trades, it would still count as earning.

With that in mind, Li Yi decided to try to spend as many energy points as possible. He grabbed two pieces of refined iron and walked over to the village to trade some meat for lunch, intending to test out his new barbecuing skills.

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By now, many households in the village were preparing lunch, with smoke rising from chimneys all around. Shi Yunfeng, along with several other elders, was still gathered together, studying the book. They had no time for lunch.

Shi Hao, of course, couldn’t get any milk since no one was cooking, but he wouldn’t go hungry. With so many households in the village, he could easily grab a bite here and there.

Li Yi walked up to Shi Linhu’s house. Shi Linhu was busy preparing supplies. Many of the strong men in the village were also preparing for another hunting trip.

Although the meat from the previous hunt was more than enough for the next ten days or so, Shi Yunfeng had instructed that, since they had already received a huge favor by being given the book, they should try to repay the debt as soon as possible.

Shi Linhu didn’t really understand what "money" was, but he figured it had something to do with skins, beast bones, and perhaps the like. So, the logical next step was to go hunting again to gather more.

"Give me some meat," Li Yi said, tossing the two pieces of iron at Shi Linhu.

Shi Linhu caught the iron with ease, immediately noticing that the material was much better than what they usually had. Instinctively, he brought it to his mouth and bit down, surprised by its superior quality.

Shi Village had some iron tools, but the iron ore was scarce, and their refining techniques were limited, so their weapons were not very high quality. They had to rely on the size and weight of their tools to hunt the fierce beasts.

Shi Linhu knew the iron Li Yi had brought was of high quality. Although it couldn’t be made into large weapons due to its size, even small items like arrowheads would make hunting easier.

However, he couldn’t accept it. Since he had already agreed to take care of Li Yi’s food and lodging, it wouldn’t make sense to accept more goods now.

"I can’t take this," Shi Linhu said, trying to hand the iron back.

Li Yi sighed. The people of Shi Village were so simple and honest. But that honesty was precisely why he felt safe making such large trades with them.

"Take it, just take it. Don’t give it back to me," Li Yi insisted, grabbing a piece of meat from the drying rack nearby.

The meat wasn’t fresh, but it had been dried for just a day, so it wasn’t too tough. It was fine for barbecuing. Li Yi quickly got to work, setting up a barbecue stand by cutting a few branches and lighting a fire. As the flames rose, he started grilling the meat, occasionally sprinkling some of the spices into the fire.

The smell of the roasting meat soon filled the entire village, drawing Shi Hao over. He was eagerly watching the meat cook, occasionally swallowing saliva. If Li Yi hadn’t warned him that the meat wasn’t cooked yet, he might have grabbed it and eaten it raw.

Not only Shi Hao but many other villagers were drawn in by the aroma. They were accustomed to stews and simple dishes, but barbecuing was a rare luxury. The meat usually didn’t taste as good when grilled, especially because the salt they used was bitter and harsh. The meat would often taste even worse, so they preferred stews.

However, watching Li Yi roast the meat and seeing how incredibly delicious it smelled made them reconsider their assumptions about barbecuing.