Xu Lin stared at the food in front of him and swallowed hard.
In the end, he still picked up his chopsticks.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of Noxis’s threat; rather, he had noticed Li Zhi Ran’s gaze.
She was eating bite by bite while looking at him with eyes full of anticipation.
What would happen if he didn’t respond to that expectation right in front of her?
Yesterday he had refused her request to live together, and today he had been forcibly brought to her home.
Next time, wouldn’t she personally feed him bite by bite?
…Still, since she was eating it with such relish, it probably wouldn’t be a big problem.
Moreover, perhaps because he was too hungry, he actually caught a strange, alluring fragrance wafting from the dishes. It made his mouth water.
Finally steeling himself, he lifted his chopsticks, picked up the grave-mound bowl, and took a piece of the same meat Li Zhi Ran had just eaten.
Anything she hadn’t touched yet, he truly didn’t dare try.
He stuffed a piece of meat and a clump of the black mound into his mouth.
The moment it entered, he planned to just chew a few times casually and swallow, lest some bizarre flavor ruin his taste buds.
But his swallowing motion quickly stopped.
He slowly opened his eyes and chewed a few more times.
A flavor he had never imagined exploded across his tongue.
Delicious.
Only now did he realize that the black stuff was actually rice.
But why did it look like a grave mound?
The meat had the texture of beef; the chaotic mix of colors on top turned out to be various seasonings.
The instant he swallowed that first bite, his stomach seemed to sense the deliciousness of the food and began writhing even more vigorously, eagerly awaiting more.
At that moment, Xu Lin completely let go of all defenses against the dishes before him.
He reached his chopsticks toward “Cthulhu from the Deep”—the secret name he had given the plate of octopus tentacles.
Octopus tentacles were just octopus tentacles, and the abyss was simply its ink.
Talk about cooking it in its own juice!
The flavor was still exquisite—an oceanic taste.
As for the “Enchanted Forest,” it was just a strangely plated stir-fried green vegetable.
Delicious!
And so, one bite of the mound, one bite of the sides—he didn’t need Li Zhi Ran’s urging and simply dug in on his own.
Halfway through, he nearly choked and hurriedly drank the purple soup.
It was vegetable soup, with a distinct purple cabbage flavor.
He remembered there really was such a thing as purple cabbage.
…
In less than a few minutes, everything in front of Xu Lin had been wiped clean.
Delicious. Truly delicious!
He rubbed his now-bulging belly.
“I just…”
Only after finishing the feast and leaning back comfortably in the chair to digest did he suddenly wake up as if from a dream.
His eating manners just now had been a bit… unseemly. He had wolfed everything down.
Yet he had been like a man possessed—he simply couldn’t stop.
This… this was still just food?
Did she add something extra?
No, this was witch food!
He had almost forgotten: that meal had been system-certified to have special effects.
“Heehee, just now you looked so reluctant, yet in the blink of an eye you finished it all. Now you know how good Minerva’s cooking is, right?”
Noxis’s smug voice came from the side.
But Xu Lin didn’t look at Noxis; he was staring at Li Zhi Ran across from him.
She was still calmly eating her own food, bite by bite.
Her portions still looked almost untouched.
He had eaten way too fast.
“Young Hero, are you not full?”
“Why do you ask?”
Li Zhi Ran’s voice brought him back to reality.
“Because you were staring at my food with a thoughtful expression.”
“I’m already full.”
Xu Lin hurriedly shook his head, refusing.
Although the food was fragrant and delicious, the way he had scarfed it down earlier had genuinely scared him.
“Young Hero, if it’s not enough, you absolutely must tell me. Next time I’ll prepare a sufficient amount for you.”
At his words, she set down her bowl and chopsticks and spoke to him seriously.
“I’m really full. And besides, isn’t overeating bad for your health?”
Xu Lin talked her out of it with great difficulty, finally dispelling the idea of seconds.
She resumed eating her own meal.
…
Finally, Li Zhi Ran finished the food in front of her and set down her bowl and chopsticks.
Unlike at Kentucky Fried Chicken, she hadn’t spoken much during this meal.
Only occasionally, while eating, would she glance at Xu Lin.
It made him—who had finished early and didn’t know if he was allowed to leave the table—feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Noxis, on the other hand, kept teasing him from time to time.
Xu Lin somewhat regretted finishing so quickly. He resolved that next time he would definitely eat slowly.
He absolutely could not finish first again; he had to synchronize with Li Zhi Ran.
Otherwise, every time he’d be stuck at the table, subjected to her strange gaze—he really couldn’t handle that.
“Minerva, let me wash the dishes.”
Seeing Li Zhi Ran about to stand and clear the table, Xu Lin quickly got up, ready to gather the bowls and plates.
He had been treated to a meal; it would be embarrassing to do nothing at all.
“Young Hero, there’s no need. There is a dedicated dish-washing familiar for that.”
Hearing her refusal, Xu Lin first thought she insisted on washing them herself.
But then another term jumped out of her mouth, causing his hands—already reaching for the dishes—to freeze.
Dish-washing familiar… does she mean the dishwasher?
It has to be that!
Xu Lin had the system, could see the tags on Li Zhi Ran and the others, and those tags even had special abilities.
But ever since interacting with Li Zhi Ran, he had discovered that basically everything described with magical terminology still fell within the realm of science.
The purple-blue flames were ambient lights, the candles on the table were ambient lights, the messenger familiar was her WeChat…
Noxis was the only questionable one.
So this dish-washing familiar should just be her magical term for a dishwasher…
“Then let me at least clear the table.”
With that, Xu Lin moved again, quickly gathering his own dishes and reaching for Noxis’s next.
But the moment he remembered there was still food in her bowl, his hand stopped.
Yet he had already looked toward where Noxis sat.
?
The bowls and plates in front of Noxis were completely empty.
When did that happen?
When they had first sat down, they had been full, just like everyone else’s.
And now her bowls and plates were spotless—cleaner than even his or Li Zhi Ran’s, as if they had just been washed.
“Young Hero, I’ll take care of Noxis’s.”
Li Zhi Ran’s voice came from the side. When he looked, she had already cleared Noxis’s dishes.
“Young Hero, please come with me.”
Li Zhi Ran carried the dishes and gestured for Xu Lin to follow.
Though he still had questions, he hurriedly picked up his own things and followed.
After walking a short distance, Li Zhi Ran brought him to the sink in the kitchen area.
She placed the dishes into the sink.
“Young Hero, just leave them here.”
“Ah, shouldn’t they go in the dishwasher… familiar?”
“Leaving them here is fine. The dish-washing familiar will come wash them itself.”
It’s… that advanced?
Or is the dish-washing familiar actually magical code for a cleaning lady?
And that meal earlier—was it really cooked by Li Zhi Ran?
But Xu Lin didn’t sense anyone else in the apartment!
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind, but in the end he followed her instructions and placed his dishes in the sink as well.
“Minerva, that dinner was really delicious. Your cooking is amazing.”
Xu Lin tried praising her.
He wanted to see whether she would happily accept the compliment or push it all onto some familiar.
“As long as the Young Hero likes it.”
Li Zhi Ran gave a faint smile.
“I will continue cooking for you in the future. If there’s anything the Young Hero wants to eat, you can tell me in advance.”
So it really was her cooking?
“Young Hero, let’s go.”
Li Zhi Ran called him to leave.
But he stared at the stacked dishes in the sink, unwilling to move.
“I kind of want to see how the dish-washing familiar washes the dishes.”
After thinking it over, he finally steeled himself and said it.
He was genuinely curious. Without a definite answer, he probably wouldn’t sleep well tonight.
Though tonight he probably wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep anyway.
“Young Hero, the dish-washing familiar is shy. If you stay here, she won’t dare come out.”
Ah, that excuse…
Xu Lin couldn’t tell if she was brushing him off or genuinely believed it; either way, her meaning was clear: “No peeking.”
Thus, he had no choice but to follow her away.
On the way, they passed the spot where they had just eaten.
The original candlelight had vanished; even in the darkness, the square table was nowhere to be seen.
What was going on now?
Some kind of legendary hidden furniture design?
While he was still puzzled, from the direction of the kitchen came the sound of rushing water, followed by the clinking and clanging of bowls and plates colliding.
It had really started washing the dishes!