Shu: It's Familiar...

Six excruciatingly long hours later, at 8:30 PM, two figures with identically messy hair lay sprawled on the metal floor.

They looked like comrades on a battlefield, finally meeting after countless hardships, relaxing together.

And positioned above their heads was a plate of dangerous...

Farmer's Stir-fried Pork?

Wait, isn't something wrong here?

Shu wasn't lying there because he feared the stir-fried pork would spontaneously explode. As bad as Kiana's cooking was, creating food that was inedible and explosive required a bit of luck.

Besides, Kiana had practiced for a full six hours, every step completed under Shu's watchful eye. This plate of stir-fried pork shouldn't have that kind of issue.

Shu was simply tired and wanted to lie flat.

Just hurry up and destroy me... Shu truly regretted curiously taking a bite of Kiana's "results" two hours ago.

Why did he "knowingly walk into the tiger's den?" [Chinese idiom: deliberately taking a risk]

He didn't know! Kiana said it seemed edible, so he ate it...

Can you imagine a volcano erupting in your throat, an earth dragon turning over in your stomach, your esophagus irrigated by a mixture of landslides and mudflows, your internal organs experiencing tectonic shifts, your entire body condemning your eyes for not seeing the danger in the dish, cursing your mouth for welcoming the "devils into the village"?

Only the brain was completely blank.

Shu immediately lay down and started convulsing.

Fortunately, he was tough enough and recovered in just half an hour.

"Will it be successful this time?" Shu's face was etched with exhaustion now, his voice low as he asked Kiana beside him.

Kiana nodded confidently, giving Shu a thumbs-up. "Absolutely!"

"I don't believe you," Shu slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with sagely wisdom.

You can't fool me again, Kiana!

Having witnessed Shu being poisoned by her own cooking, Kiana scratched her head sheepishly. "It definitely won't happen this time. I followed exactly what you said for every step!"

"Two hours ago, you could already follow the steps accurately down to the second without my reminders," Shu's voice held no emotional fluctuation. If Shu weren't lying right next to her, Kiana would have thought some AI was beside her!

Faced with the facts, Kiana's "eloquence" and assurances were useless.

Kiana rolled onto her side, propping her head up with her hand. "But if you don't taste test it, how will you know if I've passed the assessment?"

Such righteous-sounding reasons, such venomous intentions!!

Shu's eye twitched. He ignored the turned-over Kiana and continued staring at the ceiling. "Otto only said your dinner tonight would be cooked by you. He didn't say it was a test for you.

"So, I don't necessarily have to taste it. You just need to fill your own stomach."

"Uh... That seems right..." Kiana rolled over again, this time resting her chin on both hands.

Compared to the half-dead Shu beside her, Kiana actually seemed somewhat energetic. She lay prone on the floor, kicking her little legs in the air.

After staring at the plate for a long time, Kiana finally reached out, pulled the plate towards her, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and tentatively put a piece of meat into her mouth.

Shu finally turned his head. He tilted his head up, watching Kiana carefully savor her "masterpiece." His heart, devoid of worldly desires, actually rippled slightly.

"Mmm..."

Kiana closed her eyes, repeatedly chewing the meat in her mouth.

Shu watched Kiana's mouth, watched the chopsticks dabbed with a bit of sauce hovering in the air, and unexpectedly felt a flicker of nervousness.

Could it really be successful this time?

One second, two seconds... This was probably the longest a piece of meat had ever stayed in Kiana's mouth in this world.

Delicious food slid right down her throat; disgusting food was spat out the instant it entered... or was quickly chewed twice and swallowed whole by Kiana, followed by dry heaving or sticking her tongue out.

Finally, after meticulously analyzing the piece of meat with her mouth, Kiana opened her eyes wide with pleasant surprise.

"Shu! It's really delicious this time!" Kiana quickly picked up another piece of meat and held it to Shu's lips.

For a split second, Shu almost sprang up from the floor and scrambled away to escape this "flood and fierce beast".

But seeing Kiana's expectant eyes, then looking at the stir-fried pork that showed no discernible problems, Shu paused silently, then resignedly opened his mouth.

He no longer had the heart to distinguish right from wrong. If he died, he died. Anyway, that guy Otto was definitely watching. If he noticed something wrong, he'd surely come running with a defibrillator.

Kiana fed the stir-fried pork into his mouth. Shu closed his eyes, quickly chewed twice, and swallowed the piece of meat whole.

The expected discomfort didn't arrive. Only a faint meaty aroma, some slightly excessive saltiness, and the taste of the other seasonings remained in his mouth.

It was surprisingly... edible?

As if injected with adrenaline, Shu, who was barely breathing moments ago, suddenly flipped over, reached up, and snatched a pair of chopsticks that flew seemingly out of nowhere from nearby.

This time, he picked up a piece himself and put it in his mouth.

As a gourmet dish, this plate of stir-fried pork had many problems.

The meat was overcooked, the seasoning almost completely masked the meat's flavor, it was very salty—the first taste was salt, and the aftertaste was still salt—and the sauce wasn't evenly coated on the meat, instead forming thick clumps like a lottery draw...

But as a plate of food... it was edible, not bad. Shu could eat it with a normal expression, even serve it to someone with peculiar tastes.

If paired with a large bowl of white rice to dilute the slightly tough texture and overly strong flavor...

"How is it?" Kiana watched Shu pick up his third piece, resting her chin on her hands with a wide smile, her legs kicking faster in the air. "Not bad, right?"

Shu nodded, raised his eyebrows, and gave Kiana a thumbs-up. "Not bad, it's a familiar taste!"

"Huh?" Kiana's head lifted slightly in surprise. "Familiar taste... Could it be...!"

Saying this, Kiana turned to cup her slightly blushing cheeks with both hands, squirming bashfully. "Did I make it taste like your mom's cooking~?"

"It's okay~ If you want to eat it in the future..."

"It's the taste of my school cafeteria," Shu delivered the death sentence before Kiana could finish her fantasy.

"Tch," Kiana immediately turned her head away in disgust, clicking her tongue softly.

She'd heard about the cafeterias in those places in Shenzhou!