---o---
"Thank you all for your participation. Today's 'Try Not to Cry Challenge' is now over."
After the last challenger finished the food on the tablecloth, Chen Li shook it out and addressed the crowd still gathered around his stall.
Gathering for a spectacle was one of the greatest characteristics of the people of the Xianzhou. As word spread from person to person, the crowd in front of Chen Li's stall had only grown larger and larger.
"Aww, is it over already? It wasn't even my turn yet."
"Please, just let me try once! Just once! I know I can win."
"I'm still just a 50-year-old kid, so can I have my 1,000-Credit challenge fee back?"
"What, 50 years old? That really is just a kid. Probably still a student, right?"
"Student? It wouldn't matter if you were a beast; you still wouldn't get a turn."
The crowd was quite disappointed by Chen Li closing up shop, especially those who were next in line.
Although every challenger had to pay 1,000 Credits and not a single person had succeeded so far, on the other hand... all the challengers had only ever said that the food from the tablecloth made them want to cry; no one had ever said it tasted bad.
For 1,000 Credits, you get a whole tablecloth full of delicacies. You couldn't lose out, you couldn't get scammed, and on the off chance you actually won the challenge, there was a 1 million Credit prize waiting.
Because of this, Chen Li, for once, didn't use the Approbation of Sublime Morality for this stall event.
He wasn't being unethical this time. This was a welfare event for the family!
A "mother" is also "family"... I forgot the beginning, I forgot the end, but anyway, it's hilarious.
After Chen Li repeatedly emphasized that the day's challenge was over, the crowd of Xianzhou natives and some Outworlders, seeing there was no more spectacle to watch, slowly began to disperse.
Chen Li was quite satisfied with how the event had turned out. The onlookers got their entertainment, the challengers got delicious food, the orphans got a mother, and Chen Li got Credits, Starstones, Entry progress, and a full user manual for the tablecloth, all while feeding the Herrscher of the Void a massive amount of food.
Everyone had a bright future!
Thanks to the experimental data kindly provided by the challengers, Chen Li now had a basic understanding of how to use the tablecloth.
For instance, under normal circumstances, the tablecloth was a 2-meter by 2-meter square that would be covered with food upon activation. The type of food would change depending on the user's personal preferences. However, if the tablecloth was folded, the smaller it was folded, the less food would appear.
And as he casually acquired food from various customers to feed the Herrscher of the Void, he not only figured out her tastes but also compiled more instructions for the tablecloth.
Firstly, if you use the tablecloth to summon food and then waste it yourself, you will definitely be the one to suffer.
Secondly, if you use the tablecloth to summon food and someone else wastes it, the one who wastes the food is the one who suffers. However, if that person wastes the food because they were disturbed while eating, they won't be punished. Also, considering that "Mom's Punishment" isn't very harmful but is extremely humiliating and could lead to the target becoming enraged after a mental break, it's not recommended for use against enemies.
Thirdly, the figure that appears when you waste food isn't necessarily your mother. Chen Li only discovered this after multiple experiments. Some people didn't cry out for "Mom" but for "Grandma," "Nanny," and so on—in short, any figure that fit the motherly archetype. So, if Kaguya Houraisan were to use the tablecloth and waste food, the figure to appear probably wouldn't be Tsukuyomi, but Eirin Yagokoro.
Finally... if you have two people in your heart who fit the motherly image equally, and they are neck-and-neck in terms of "Mom Value," then congratulations... you will receive a double punishment. Waste food once, get two moms. You're the real winner here, kid.jpg.
---o---
Just as Chen Li was packing up, planning to find a random passerby to bestow some free kidney deficiency medicine upon, a small hand tugged at the corner of his clothes.
"Hmm? Guinaifen? Do you need something?" Chen Li turned to see Guinaifen, her eyes still a little red.
"Can I use your tablecloth again? I'll pay," Guinaifen said, her tone filled with three parts desolation, three parts sorrow, three parts hope, and ninety-one parts nostalgia.
"You're not planning to spend 1,000 Credits just to get my Curio for free, are you? Can you tell me why?" Seeing Guinaifen's expression, Chen Li's interest was suddenly piqued.
"No, that's not it! Although the food from the tablecloth is really delicious... I... I just want to see my mom again," Guinaifen quickly explained.
"Huh?" Chen Li tilted his head.
He quickly understood what she meant and immediately summoned The Guide to Forging Curios, adding another note to his memo.
The Orphan Tablecloth is addictive.
The "Mom's Punishment" from the Orphan Tablecloth was certainly enough to break a person's spirit, but at the very least, it allowed an orphan to see their mother. This wasn't an insult; it was just a statement of fact.
Chen Li suddenly recalled that Kaguya's guide to "training" the Herrscher of the Void had mentioned using an addictive item to control her. This tablecloth seemed quite suitable.
"Please help Little Gui. I can chip in some of my salary, too, although I'm just a rookie, so my pay isn't very high," Sushang, who had been standing by Guinaifen's side the whole time, finally spoke up again.
"Well... it's not that I need money," Chen Li said, looking Guinaifen and Sushang up and down. Both of them looked like they wanted to say more but hesitated.
Chen Li wasn't short on money. He had the entire Disciples of Sanctus Medicus backing him; if he needed cash, he could just get it from Danshu.
"Th-Then what do you need? An autograph?" Guinaifen asked tentatively.
"I already have one of those. Unless it's a signature with special meaning, there's no need to collect a second one. Let me think..."
Standing opposite Chen Li, Guinaifen felt his gaze sweep over her and couldn't help but clutch her hands in front of her chest. For some reason, his gaze seemed a little mischievous.
"Little Gui, you're a street performer, right?"
"That's right."
"I want to see you shatter a boulder on your chest!" Chen Li held up a single index finger.
"Eh? Right now?"
"Yep. Because if we wait, I might not be on the Xianzhou anymore," Chen Li nodded.
"But shattering a boulder on the chest requires two people to coordinate..." Guinaifen thought for a moment, then turned to look at her best friend.
"Wh-Why are you looking at me?" Seeing her friend turn towards her, Sushang instinctively took a step back.
"Sushang, we're best friends, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"Best friends for life and death, right?"
"Best friends, yes. Life and death, let's not," Sushang shook her head. A short-life species and a long-life species swearing to live and die together was a bit too presumptuous.
"Then Sushang, perform 'Shatter a Boulder on the Chest' with me! Please? This is the request of a lifetime!" Guinaifen grabbed Sushang's hand.
"Eh, but shattering a boulder is dangerous! And I'm pretty strong. What if I can't control the force of the hammer... I'm the one with the hammer, right?" Halfway through her sentence, Sushang suddenly noticed Guinaifen's expression seemed a little off.
"..."
"Right?!"
"Sushang, you said it yourself, shattering a boulder is dangerous, and you're very strong..." Guinaifen trailed off.
"It would be dangerous for me to be the one smashing the boulder, too! No way!" Sushang flatly refused Guinaifen's request. All you ever think about is yourself!
"Ah, I have a plan." Just as Sushang was feeling the peril of the situation, Chen Li suddenly jumped in.
"What is it?"
"Sushang, have you heard of Bailu?"
"Oh, you mean the Dragon Lady Healer, Bailu? I've heard she's a divine healer, that she can even bring people back from the brink of death," Sushang nodded. Although she had only recently been transferred to the Luofu from the Yaoqing, she had heard of such famous figures.
"Since you're afraid of the danger, why don't we just perform it in front of Bailu? Even if something happens, you can get immediate medical attention," Chen Li suggested.
"Now that you say that, I'm even more scared. And Lady Bailu probably doesn't have time to entertain our nonsense, right?" Sushang shook her head repeatedly.
Because I might get hurt, I should perform a dangerous act right in front of a famous doctor? Then why not just ban the dangerous act altogether? That way, the person getting hurt would suffer less. Don't you people have any consideration for the person who's about to get hurt? Namely, me?!
"Don't worry, I have another plan."
"How many plans do you have?"
"Never mind all that. Come on, follow me!"
---o---
"..."
When Sushang saw Chen Li, now in a different set of clothes, sitting at a stall for treating kidney deficiency with the Dragon Lady Healer Bailu sitting right next to him, looking at her and Guinaifen with an expectant expression, she knew she was doomed.
There was no escaping this calamity!
"Don't worry, Miss Sushang. If you're going to perform 'Shatter a Boulder on the Chest,' it shouldn't be a big problem. The people of the Xianzhou have very strong constitutions. And with me here, I guarantee nothing will go wrong."
Upon hearing that the two were going to perform the stunt, Bailu, who had been a bit bored, instantly perked up.
Sushang, please, you must believe in your self-healing ability as a Xianzhou native! Humans have their limits, but the people of the Xianzhou do not. Superbeasts feel pain, but the people of the Xianzhou... well, they do feel that.
"Er... I... I... I'll do it! I'll perform!" Realizing she was cornered, Sushang steeled her resolve.
"Really?"
"But I have one condition," Sushang said, hands on her hips.
"What condition?"
"You be the boulder," Sushang said, pointing at Chen Li.
I'm not going down alone! I can be the one on the bottom, but someone has to be more miserable than me!
"Huh?"