Chapter 22: A Perfect Balance of Color, Aroma, and Taste

There was a lot of meat, too much to stew all at once, so Yu Sheng processed it into several dishes using different methods.

As the saying goes, "The first time is a stranger, the second time is an acquaintance, and the third time requires ginger, scallions, and cooking wine"—it was likely that ancient humans, in the early stages of civilization, explored and experimented with nature's gifts following a similar progression.

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

While the meat was stewing, he used the remaining portions to stir-fry two plates of meat, one with chili and the other with garlic scapes. He took a small taste and found it savory and delicious—not tough, yet not raw. The slices were tender and smooth, though he couldn't quite pinpoint which specific meat the flavor resembled; in terms of texture alone, it was somewhat close to very tender beef.

As for what was left, he planned to process it into cured meat for storage once he confirmed it was safe to eat after this meal... Or perhaps, after marinating and aging, he could use an air fryer to dehydrate it into salty meat jerky? He had never tried that before and wasn't sure if it would work...

Various ideas swirled in Yu Sheng's mind. He felt like a daring scientist, exploring possibilities in a realm where no predecessor had ever stepped.

Thus, he spent nearly two hours exploring in the kitchen. After a flurry of activity, he finally opened the door and carried the plates, bowls, and the clay pot of stewed meat to the dining table, trip after trip.

Inside the oil painting, Irene watched Yu Sheng's frantic busyness with a horrified gaze. Her face displayed two contradictory, conflicting expressions: "Forget it, he's tired, let him be" and "You can't, you damn well can't." After a long while, she finally couldn't hold it in any longer and spoke up: "You don't actually intend to eat that, do you? That stuff was brought out from the Otherworld! Don't eat yourself to death!"

Yu Sheng looked up at Irene. "What if I told you I've already eaten it twice 'over there'?"

The conflicting expressions on Irene's face vanished instantly, replaced by pure horror. "...Huh?!"

"Look, I'm still bouncing around quite lively, so it should be fine. It's a hard-won trophy; it would be a waste to throw it away," Yu Sheng said with an air of absolute certainty. "Do you know about hunting? This is my prey—sooner or later, I'm going to bring the whole thing back and make it realize who's at the top of the food chain!"

Irene did not respond. Seeing the doll lady looking dumbfounded, Yu Sheng asked out of curiosity, "But seriously, has no one actually 'tried' the 'entities' in the Otherworld? Didn't you say they come in all shapes and sizes? There shouldn't be a shortage of things that look edible."

"Who would try that!" Irene cried out in frustration. "You never know what kind of bizarre traits they might have. Being poisonous would be a blessing compared to that! Who would just shove it into their mouth like you! And you ate it twice... you actually ate it twice?"

"Yeah. But the first two times were sashimi. The situation was quite urgent then, no time for processing—the kind of emergency where if you didn't eat it immediately, you wouldn't get the chance to eat at all." As Yu Sheng spoke casually, he sat down opposite Irene, casually picked up a slice of meat with his chopsticks, and tossed it into his mouth, eating with great relish.

Irene was stunned. "Then... what happened after you ate it?"

"I died," Yu Sheng said with blunt honesty.

"Then why did you..." Irene instinctively let out a cry, then realized something was wrong. Since she didn't know about Yu Sheng's "resurrection," she thought he was just teasing her, and glared at him with some irritation. "I'm being serious with you!"

Yu Sheng grinned, laughing at the exasperated doll in the oil painting.

He realized he was starting to enjoy bickering with this doll.

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

He still didn't explain his resurrection to Irene. On one hand, Irene was currently unable to perceive his death process, so explaining it would sound like he was making things up; on the other hand, he had too many conjectures about the changes occurring within himself that needed verification. He hoped to discuss them with her once he understood things better.

Irene, however, had no idea how many messy thoughts lay behind Yu Sheng's mischievous smile. She could only resist the urge to glance once more at the sumptuous meal on the table, then watched Yu Sheng's chewing motions with a somewhat dazed expression.

It... actually looked quite appetizing. And after processing, the color was no different from ordinary meat; there was no trace of its original, eerie appearance.

"...Is it good?"

The doll in the painting finally couldn't help herself and asked, pretending not to care.

Yu Sheng immediately laughed. As if he had expected this, he casually picked up an empty bowl and plate from the table, served a portion of food and meat broth for Irene, and placed it in front of the oil painting.

"I didn't say I wanted to..." Irene muttered.

Yu Sheng said casually, "Since you can't actually eat it anyway, there's no need to worry about the ingredients, right?"

Irene thought about it and felt it made sense. "I... I guess so?"

Thus, she became composed again, returning to her state of "everlasting smile and presence" before the tableware Yu Sheng had set out.

Halfway through the meal, their conversation inevitably drifted back to the previous discussion about "professionals."

"Actually, there's another possibility for why no one has come looking for you yet," Irene said, sitting close to the edge of the frame while hugging her teddy bear, thinking aloud. "That is, some organization or official personnel might have already noticed something is wrong here, but based on professional judgment, they believe they cannot act immediately, or they haven't precisely located the connection point to the Otherworld and the relevant intelligence yet. So, they can only arrange surveillance for now."

"Surveillance?"

"Yeah. Maybe there's a whole bunch of plainclothes officers staking you out right outside this house. After all, you ran back from the Otherworld by yourself before anyone could rescue you. Whether it was due to your strength or luck, the specialists who handle these matters didn't have time to step in, so they likely haven't located it either. Naturally, they can only arrange monitoring around the area... You could keep an eye out over the next couple of days for any unfamiliar faces. They might be plainclothes agents, detectives, or investigators. It's just something to keep in mind while you're looking for small advertisements on nearby telephone poles..."

Yu Sheng ignored her comment about "small advertisements on telephone poles" and looked out the window.

Irene made it sound simple—just watch for unfamiliar faces. How was he supposed to know which one was unfamiliar! He had only been here for two months, and for the month before that, he had been holed up at home almost the entire time. Combined with his natural face blindness, half the people in his eyes were unfamiliar faces!

"Do you think that pancake vendor at the intersection looks like a plainclothes officer?" After staring suspiciously out the window for a long time, Yu Sheng whispered to Irene.

"I don't know, I can't see."

"Oh, right, I forgot," Yu Sheng realized. He quickly stood up, picked up Irene's frame, and placed it in front of the nearby window, facing outward. "That one over there..."

"Doesn't look like it."

"You're so sure?"

"Duh. Fifty seconds for a set with sausage and egg? If he were a plainclothes officer, he probably wouldn't even have time to spread the oil properly in fifty seconds."

"...True. Then what about that guy applying phone screen protectors next to him?"

"Doesn't look like it either—his hands are too quick."

"Oh... hey, look at that..."

"Stop looking. Being suspicious is useless, and if it really is professional surveillance, you definitely won't be able to tell," Irene interrupted him. "Instead of wasting time guessing, you'd be better off going out and walking around more these next few days. You've been tainted by the aura of the Otherworld; once they get close, the professionals will spot you instantly."

"...Yeah, you're right."

Yu Sheng sighed, unable to argue. He turned back to prepare to clear the dishes from the table.

However, as soon as he turned, he heard Irene shouting behind him: "Put me back first! I'm still leaning against the window!"

Yu Sheng let out another helpless sigh. As he turned to move Irene down from the windowsill, he muttered, "Tsk, what a hassle."

"Then hurry up and get me a body, and I can run around myself," the Irene in the oil painting said, lifting her eyelids to look at Yu Sheng as he placed her on the dining table. She then added, "I just feel like I've become a bit more familiar with you today, so I'm asking again..."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng's lip twitched.

When Irene had previously discussed "escape plans" with him, she had indeed said they weren't close enough yet and that cooperation would have to wait until they were more acquainted. But he hadn't expected this doll's standard for "acquaintance" to be so flexible.

"Later, later. I have a mountain of things to do right now. At least wait until I'm through this busy stretch..."

"Yeah, fine," Irene was easy to persuade. After a brief moment of disappointment, she nodded. "Just don't forget!"

She was quiet for a short while, but as soon as she saw Yu Sheng clearing the dishes, she started chirping again: "What are you going to do next? Preparing to go out and look for telephone poles?"

"Are you obsessed with telephone poles or something?" Yu Sheng glared at her. "I'm going upstairs to sleep! After everything that's happened, I'm exhausted!"

Irene gave an "oh," then pointed her finger at the television opposite the frame.

"Then can you fix the TV first? It suddenly lost its signal, and now I can't watch anything..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

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

After such a brief encounter with this chatterbox, he already began to miss his carefree and happy life living alone.