After she used those things that were clearly just two small wooden sticks, but which the youngster insisted on calling chopsticks, to clumsily pick up a piece of food and tentatively put it in her mouth,
Her usually picky tongue suddenly burst with enormous enthusiasm for the food.
Delicious!
Just as tasty as the crunchy, shiny things.
Watching the speed at which she was wielding the chopsticks, Lin You'an, who had been crouching nervously to the side, finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Thank goodness!
She had indeed become so foolish that she couldn't tell the difference between tasty and unpalatable!
He quickly continued grilling meat while shamelessly boasting about his skills.
"I didn't lie to you, did I?
Cooked meat is really delicious, right? Actually, this isn't even at its best yet. We don't have any seasonings now, so we can only make do with cooking it through.
Later, when you come back home with me, we'll find a way to get all the seasonings. Then I'll make all sorts of delicious things for you every day, with different flavors! Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, steamed, stir-fried, braised, roasted, stewed - whatever you want to eat, I'll make it for you!
How does that sound?"
As he spoke, he secretly observed her reaction. Unfortunately, Chu Chi, whose eyes were now filled only with food, showed no response at all.
Lin You'an didn't dare to press for an immediate answer.
Although she seemed foolish, she wasn't completely senseless. What if she caught on to the trap he was setting in his words and ran away?
Or worse, what if she became frenzied and clawed at him? With his frail body, wouldn't he end up more shredded than this black snake?
The poor little monkey was really putting all his wit and wisdom to use, coming up with different ways to phrase things.
"I saw you brought back another wild chicken earlier. How did you know that my wild chicken dish is unparalleled? You don't even know that when you chop up the wild chicken and simmer it with mushrooms, the flavor is so rich it'll make your eyebrows fall off!
Ah, it's such a pity we're not at home right now. Without pots and pans and such, it's not very convenient. There are so many delicious things I can't make for you to eat. Just thinking about it makes me feel really regretful.
After all, young wild chicken stewed with mushrooms is so delicious!"
Although Chu Chi's mouth and hands were busy, her ears weren't idle. She heard every word the youngster said, not missing a single one.
So that colorful thing was called a wild chicken.
Hmm, it should be very tasty too!
Young wild chicken stewed with mushrooms, is it? What are mushrooms?
She felt that this youngster was truly a treasure trove, able to make so many different foods. It was just a pity that she still remembered that although she was generally similar to humans, she wasn't exactly the same.
As a zombie, she couldn't live together with humans. This rule was firmly etched in her mind.
Lin You'an's lips were dry from talking, but she hadn't made a sound or shown any reaction. His heart grew increasingly panicked as the snake meat slices dwindled.
This woman, wasn't she supposed to be foolish? Then why wasn't she agreeing? I can cook for you every day, I can even wash your clothes, comb your hair, make the bed, fold blankets, clean the house - I can do it all! Please agree to stay, won't you protect me and my sister?
If it weren't for the fact that his rationality still maintained a semblance of normalcy, he would have been ready to kneel down and kowtow to beg her!
Only after the entire snake had gone into Chu Chi's stomach did she feel somewhat satisfied, about three-tenths full.
She turned her head to look at the youngster who had been busy all this time, then glanced somewhat reluctantly at the wild chicken on the ground. The usually fastidious zombie Chu Chi finally steeled herself and put down the two small wooden sticks in her hand.
Pointing at the wild chicken on the ground, she looked into the youngster's eyes and spoke each word as if squeezing them out between her teeth, sounding so painful it made one's heart ache for her.
"Wild chicken, for you, payment."
After speaking, she stood up, leisurely wiped her mouth, and was about to leave. This panicked Lin You'an so much that he dropped the makeshift chopsticks he was still holding, quickly took two steps forward to block her path, and called out in a small voice, swallowing his pride.
"Don't go!"
But the rest of his pleas, he found embarrassing and didn't know how to voice them.
Chu Chi lowered her head and looked at the youngster whose mouth was trembling slightly. Her usually vacant beautiful eyes blinked several times in confusion, then after quite a long time, a glimmer of understanding flashed across them.
Pointing at the colorful heap on the ground, she reminded him.
"Payment, already given."
"I don't want your payment!"
Lin You'an, hearing no impatience in her tone, finally gathered his courage and, without a stutter, said,
"I want you to stay and come home with me. From now on, you'll be the adult in our family, and we'll live together. Is that... is that possible?"
Live together?
With a human youngster?
This time, Chu Chi's reaction was very quick, directly shaking her head in refusal.
"No!"
I'm a high-quality zombie, how could I live together with a human youngster? If those ability users from the base found out, wouldn't they come in droves to blow my head off?
"No, no, no!"
Important refusals must be said three times by zombies.
She liked this clean world, she liked this newly grown brain, she liked this place that supposedly had many, many delicious foods.
She definitely didn't want to have her head blown off by those ability users!
Having said that, she lifted her leg to walk towards the door.
She had originally thought about putting down the food and returning to where she first woke up, to continue lying there like a corpse. But now, she'd better leave this place quickly.
This human youngster's idea was far too dangerous for a zombie.
Slowly lifting her right leg, hmm?
Noticing the weight on her leg, Chu Chi looked down again.
"Please! Don't go, okay?"
This time, Lin You'an was truly crying, tears streaming down his face. He had completely abandoned his manly pride, throwing himself forward to hug Chu Chi's leg, crying and speaking.
"You've already been poisoned by those servants sent by the Gu Family, which means there must be danger waiting for you there! Even if you run back now, you definitely won't be treated well, believe me!
And I'm also in a terribly pitiful state!
My father is dead, my mother has remarried. The family business my father left behind has been snatched away by my uncle and elder uncle.
But I still want to live well, to live like a human being. I don't want to be that stray dog kicked around by everyone anymore!
Anyway, you're all alone now, so why not just stay? You can be the pillar of our household, and I'll be your junior, no! I'll be your son, okay?
I beg you!
Mom!
Mother!
Please!"
This child had indeed gone all out.
Thinking about all the blood and tears he had shed since his father's death, and the bumpy experiences waiting for him in his dreams, where he would have to crawl and stumble through,
Lin You'an's tears fell endlessly, as if they cost nothing.
