Chapter 22: Alluring in Color, Aroma, and Taste

There was a lot of meat, too much to stew all at once, so Yusheng processed it into several different dishes with different cooking methods.

As the saying goes: first time is unfamiliar, second time is familiar, third time you add scallion, ginger, and cooking wine—ancient humans in the early days of civilization probably explored and experimented with nature's gifts following this very progression.

Humming a little tune, Yusheng cut the largest portion of meat into chunks, blanched them in boiling water to skim off the blood foam, then placed star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, and other stewing spices into a clay pot. He added the meat, poured in enough water, salt, soy sauce, and cooking wine to remove the gamey smell, then set it on the stove to simmer slowly.

While the stew was cooking, he took the remaining meat and stir-fried two plates with chili peppers and garlic scapes respectively. He tasted a bit and found it savory and palatable—not tough, not undercooked, the slices tender and smooth. But he couldn't quite identify what kind of meat the flavor reminded him of. Texture-wise, it was a bit like very tender beef.

As for what was left, he planned to wait until after he finished eating this batch and confirmed it was safe before processing it into preserved meat for storage… or maybe cure it and then dehydrate it in the air fryer to make jerky? He had never tried that before, and didn't know if it would work…

All kinds of ideas swirled through Yusheng's mind. He felt like a daring scientist exploring possibilities in a territory no one had ever set foot in before.

And so he spent nearly two hours exploring in the kitchen. After all that bustling, he finally opened the door and carried the cups, plates, bowls, and the clay pot of stew to the dining table, one trip after another.

Eileen in the oil painting watched Yusheng busy himself with a horrified expression, her face displaying two contradictory emotions at once: “Fine, I give up, let him do what he wants” and “You can’t, you freaking can’t.” After a long while, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore and spoke up: “You're not seriously planning to eat that, are you? That stuff came out of the Otherworld! Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Yusheng looked up at Eileen. “What if I told you I've already eaten it twice over 'there'?”

The conflicted expression on Eileen's face instantly vanished, replaced by sheer horror: “…What?!”

“See? I'm still alive and kicking, so it should be fine. It was hard-won spoils—such a waste to throw away,” Yusheng said matter-of-factly. “You know what hunting is? This is my catch. One day, I'm going to bring that whole thing back and teach it who's on top of the food chain!”

Eileen didn't respond. Yusheng looked at the dumbfounded expression of the doll lady and, out of curiosity, pressed further: “But seriously, hasn't anyone in the Otherworld 'tasted' those 'entities' before? Didn't you say they come in all shapes and sizes? There should be plenty of things that look edible.”

“Who would try that?!” Eileen said, exasperated. “You never know what weird properties they carry. Poison would be the best-case scenario. Who in their right mind would put that in their mouth?! And you ate it two… you really ate it twice?”

“Yep. But both times were sashimi. The situation was pretty urgent then, no time to cook. It was the kind of emergency where if you don't eat it fast, you won't live long enough to eat anything else.” Yusheng said casually as he sat down across from Eileen. He picked up a slice of meat with his chopsticks, threw it into his mouth, and chewed with relish.

Eileen was stunned speechless for a moment. “Then… then what happened after you ate it?”

“I died right after,” Yusheng said with utter honesty.

“Then how are you still…” Eileen started to exclaim instinctively, then realized something was off—but she didn't know about Yusheng's “resurrection,” so she just thought he was teasing her. She glared angrily. “I'm being serious!”

Yusheng grinned and laughed out loud at the furious doll in the oil painting.

He found himself starting to enjoy bickering with this doll.

After all, she couldn't jump out of the painting and headbutt him.

He still didn't explain to Eileen about his “resurrection.” For one thing, at this stage, Eileen couldn't even perceive his death process, so explaining would sound like he was messing with her. For another, there were too many hypotheses about the changes happening to him that needed verification. He hoped to figure out a few more things before discussing them with Eileen.

Eileen, unaware of the chaotic thoughts behind Yusheng's mischievous smile, couldn't help but glance again at the lavish meal on the table. Then she stared blankly at Yusheng's chewing motions.

It did look… quite appetizing. And after processing, the color was no different from ordinary meat—you couldn't tell at all from the original grotesque appearance.

“…Is it good?”

The doll in the painting finally couldn't hold back and asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Yusheng burst into laughter, as if he had expected this moment. He casually picked up the empty bowl and plate he had placed on the table earlier, served Eileen a portion of rice, vegetables, and meat soup, and set them in front of the painting.

“I didn't say I wanted any…” Eileen muttered.

Yusheng said offhandedly, “Well, you can't actually eat anyway, so it doesn't matter what the ingredients are, right?”

Eileen thought about it and realized that made sense. “Yeah, I guess so?”

So she relaxed again. In front of the chopsticks and bowls Yusheng had arranged, she once again projected an expression of “alive and well, smiling as before.”

Halfway through the meal, their topic of conversation drifted back to the earlier discussion about “professionals.”

“Actually, there's another possibility why no one has come looking for you yet,” Eileen said, holding the teddy bear and sitting close to the edge of the painting frame. She thought for a moment before continuing: “Maybe some organization or official has already noticed something strange around here, but based on professional judgment, they decided not to act immediately. Or maybe they haven't precisely located the Otherworld connection point or gathered enough intel, so they can only set up surveillance for now.”

“Surveillance?”

“Right. For all you know, there could be a bunch of plainclothes agents staking out your house right now. Since you came back from the Otherworld before anyone could rescue you—whether because of strength or luck—the people who handle this stuff didn't have time to act, so they probably didn't have time to pinpoint the location either. The natural move is to set up monitoring around the area… Over the next couple of days, you could keep an eye out for any unfamiliar faces around here. They might be plainclothes operatives, plainclothes detectives, plainclothes investigators, or something like that. It's just something to note—won't interfere with you looking for those flyers on telephone poles…”

Yusheng ignored the comment about “flyers on telephone poles” and glanced out the window.

Eileen made it sound simple—just keep an eye out for unfamiliar faces. How was he supposed to know which faces were unfamiliar? He had only been here for two months, and for the first month, he had basically stayed home the whole time. Plus, he was already somewhat face-blind. Half the people here looked unfamiliar to him!

After staring suspiciously out the window for a long time, Yusheng muttered to Eileen, “Do you think the guy selling pancakes at the intersection looks like a plainclothes agent?”

“How would I know? I can't see.”

“Oh, right, I forgot.” Yusheng realized his mistake. He quickly got up, picked up Eileen's painting frame, moved it to the window nearby, and pointed outside. “That guy over there…”

“Doesn't look like one.”

“That sure?”

“Duh. He makes a pancake with sausage and egg in fifty seconds flat. If he were a plainclothes agent, he probably wouldn't even be able to spread the oil in fifty seconds.”

“…Fair point. Then what about that guy by the phone screen protector stand?”

“Doesn't look like one either—too nimble.”

“Oh… Hey, what about that…”

“Stop looking. Freaking out over nothing won't help. And if they're real pros, you won't be able to tell anyway,” Eileen cut him off. “Instead of guessing blindly, you should go out more over the next couple of days. You've been tainted by Otherworld aura. If you get close to them, the pros will spot you instantly.”

“…Yeah, I guess.”

Yusheng sighed. He couldn't argue with that, so he turned around to clear the dishes from the table.

But just as he turned, he heard Eileen yell from behind: “Put me back first! I'm still stuck on the window!”

Yusheng sighed again helplessly. He turned back, lifted Eileen down from the windowsill, and grumbled, “Tch, so troublesome.”

“Then hurry up and make me a body, and I'll be able to move around on my own,” Eileen in the oil painting raised her eyelids and looked at Yusheng, who was placing her back on the dining table. She added, “I feel like we're a bit more familiar with each other today, so I'm asking again…”

Yusheng's mouth twitched when he heard that.

Earlier, when Eileen discussed “escape plans” with him, she had said they weren't familiar enough yet, and that cooperation in that area would have to wait until they knew each other better. But he hadn't expected this doll's criteria for “familiar” to be so flexible.

“We'll see, we'll see. I've got a million things to deal with right now. At least let me get through this busy period…”

“Fine, okay,” Eileen was easy to persuade, nodding with a hint of disappointment. “But don't forget!”

Then she quieted down for a moment. Watching Yusheng clear the dishes, she started chattering again: “What are you going to do next? Ready to go out and look for telephone poles?”

“Are you never going to let go of the telephone pole thing?” Yusheng glared at her. “I'm going upstairs to sleep now! After everything that happened, I'm practically dead tired!”

Eileen made an “oh” sound and pointed at the TV opposite the painting frame.

“Well, can you fix the TV first? It suddenly lost signal. Can't watch anything…”

Yusheng: “…”

A moment later, he let out an especially heavy sigh.

After such a short time with this Chatterbox, he was already starting to miss his carefree, happy solo life.