Her Celestial Farm on the Scrapyard Planet (by Kay Lucas) novel Chapter 352

Chapter 352 Staff Meal

The smell was almost aggressive.

It was just food, simple food, but it moved through the pavilion like something with intent, and every person who caught it swallowed without meaning to, eyes pulled toward the meal carts before they’d made any conscious decision to look.

The containers were clear, divided into three sections. One held a generous mound of herbed grain pilaf, each kernel distinct and fragrant with butter and fresh herbs. The two sides held sautéed garden greens and crispy skillet potatoes tossed with rosemary and sea salt.

Beside each container sat a small separate cup of broth, clear and bright, with thin rings of onion and a few sprigs of thyme drifting through it.

Two sides, a soup, all vegetarian. Nothing elaborate. But the presentation was clean and inviting, and the smell coming off it was something else entirely.

“This is… for us?” Hector Hewitt, who’d eaten his way through every top restaurant and private chef Centría Planet had to offer, was staring at the cart like he wasn’t quite sure what was happening to him. His stomach answered before he could.

“That’s right.” Fiona smiled and began handing out containers and utensils. “The boss said you’ll be helping the farm with logistics going forward, so we couldn’t very well send you off hungry.”

The First Military guests broke into broad smiles, thanking her as they took their portions. When the warm containers settled into their hands and the smell hit at close range, any remaining restraint evaporated. They sat, opened their lids, and ate.

A senior matron had barely gotten a piece of sautéed greens past her lips before a low, involuntary sound escaped her.

The vegetables were crisp and vibrant, carrying a clean natural sweetness, lifted by just the right touch of seasoning and the particular depth that comes from a properly heated pan. Simple technique, but the ingredients were so good that nothing more was needed.

And after she swallowed, there was no heaviness, no grease coating the back of the throat. Just a light, settled warmth that spread quietly through her chest.

“The potatoes.” A young man was eating without lifting his head, words coming out around a mouthful. “I don’t think I’ve ever had potatoes this good. Crispy on the outside, soft all the way through, that rosemary smell. Why does something this simple taste like this?”

“The pilaf.” A woman across from him looked genuinely startled. “I’ve had grain dishes my whole life and none of them smelled like this. The herbs, the texture. Something this simple shouldn’t taste like this.”

“The broth looks like nothing and tastes like everything. That’s pure natural sweetness. Nothing artificial.”

The pavilion went quiet after that, quiet in the way that only happens when a group of people are all fully absorbed in the same experience. Utensils tapped against containers. Someone sighed. Someone else made a small sound of contentment that they probably didn’t realize they’d made.

The smell drifting outward, combined with the expressions on the faces inside, was the most effective advertisement the farm had never planned to run.

It didn’t take long for a crowd to form at the pavilion’s edge. Visitors from the other military delegations, guests who hadn’t left yet,

who caught a thread of that smell on the air and followed it. They stood there craning their necks, watching the First

everyone

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10:49 am PPPP

Chapter 352 Staff Meal

ontingent eat with an intensity that bordered on suffering.

“What is that? What are way

“Is the farm doing lunch service? Why only them?”

*That garden greens, those potatoes, aren’t that the same stuff we just bought?”

“It’s not the same. Cooking is completely different. That smell is on another level.”

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Eventually, someone cracked. A young man near the front, the straightforward type who didn’t have much patience for watching other people enjoy things he couldn’t have, pushed to the edge of the pavilion and caught Fiona’s eye. “Excuse me. That food. Is it for sale? Whatever it costs, I’ll pay double. Actually, five times, whatever you want.”

That was all it took.

“Yes! Can we buy some? We want it too!”

“Name the price. Just tell us.”

“One for each of us, I’ve got a family of five right here.”

“You can’t only feed some of your guests! We’re customers too!”

The crowd pressed closer, voices overlapping, every face turned toward Fiona and toward the meal containers still in hand among the First Military guests.

Fiona hesitated, genuinely uncertain. This hadn’t been part of the plan. She was about to reach for her communicator to check with Elizabeth when a familiar voice came from outside the crowd.

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