384. Starve to d*ath!
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As the saying goes, to win a woman’s heart, you first have to win her stomach.
Before the New Year, Chen Yao didn’t know the first thing about cooking. He had barely stepped into the kitchen more than a handful of times, with his culinary expertise maxing out at instant noodles.
But what could he do? This greedy Lin Nan had a serious appetite.
His parents had snagged a future daughter-in-law with their cooking skills, and if he couldn’t even fry an egg without burning it, who knew how much Lin Nan would resent him in the future?
So, after confessing his feelings, Chen Yao spent months learning the ropes in his family’s restaurant, practicing like a madman.
Now, he could almost call himself a master chef. Sure, his dishes might not rival a hotel chef, but they were at least home-cooked respectable—not exactly shameful. If Lin Nan wanted to eat something, he’d understand the recipe well enough to give it a shot.
About an hour later, a trio of meat dishes and one vegetable dish were neatly arranged on the coffee table, with a shredded chicken breast in a bowl on the floor for the cat.
In their rental apartment without a rice cooker, Chen Yao had no choice but to head downstairs and grab three takeout boxes, conveniently bringing Lin Nan a bottle of cola too.
“Dinner’s ready!” he announced, placing the cola on the table.
Lin Nan had been hungry for ages; upon hearing the call to eat, she hurriedly opened the door from her room, only to be walloped by the greasy aroma that filled the living room.
Even with the windows fully open, there was no exhaust fan to save the day.
At that moment, Lilith and the cat made a break for it too, completely unfazed by the smoke, her cheeks flushed as she bounded over to the sofa, her eyes gleaming as they feasted on the spread.
After surveying the table, she looked up at Chen Yao, bewildered. “This is it?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting that steak I bought for you?” Chen Yao maintained his cool as he pushed the steak towards Lilith.
“And just one piece?!”
“What do you want me to do, buy a cow?”
Lilith wilted like a deflated balloon, collapsing onto the sofa. “This isn’t enough to fill me up!”
“You downed several bottles of pineapple beer and you still have an appetite?” Lin Nan gritted her teeth as she emerged from her room, wincing from the greasy smell.
“Of course I can still eat!”
Lilith lounged on the sofa, totally embodying a drunkard with a dazed, mushy expression, practically drooling. Lin Nan wasn’t sure what kind of sight she was in Chen Yao’s eyes after drinking; if she looked like this too, then from then on, she’d never touch a drop of alcohol again.
Getting a bit more accustomed to the greasy smell, she sat beside Lilith.
Chen Yao pulled over a small stool and settled beside the coffee table, serving some green pepper and shredded pork into Lin Nan’s bowl. “Try it, hope it’s not too spicy.”
“Hmm…” Lin Nan took a bite and shook her head, “Not spicy at all, but pretty tasty!”
“I picked special bell peppers, it’d be weird if they were spicy,” Chen Yao grinned, knowing Lin Nan couldn’t handle too much heat.
This was his first time buying vegetables, and having zero clue about spice levels, he just went for peppers that were practically devoid of heat.
Lilith glanced at them both, feeling like she was being hit with a wave of show-off, a deep envy bubbling within.
Lowering her head, she dove into her steak, though its texture was odd, at least it had the beefy taste she was after. Still, she had to voice her dissatisfaction: “This steak is too little! Next time, buy seven or eight pieces.”
“Can you even finish that much?” Lin Nan shot her an incredulous look. “You have to finish your food today, or you’re not leaving!”
She plopped a box of takeout in front of Lilith, fully skeptical that Lilith could still eat much after guzzling so much fizzy beer.
However, Lin Nan was blindsided when Lilith refueled her efforts at meal-time, practically inhaling her food.
She tossed that steak right into her bowl and within minutes, both the rice and steak disappeared as Lin Nan had only managed a few bites while Chen Yao had barely made it through half a bowl himself.
After finishing, Lilith wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked up. “What’s for dessert?”
“……”
Lin Nan stared at her in confusion—hadn’t Lilith’s appetite ever been this enormous before?
“Still hungry?” Lilith asked, eyeing Lin Nan’s untouched food. When Lin Nan didn’t reply, Lilith simply grabbed the bowl, covered it with green pepper and shredded pork, and dove back in.
She ate like a fearsome beast, bowl lifted high, mouth wide open, chopsticks flying with a speed that made chewing a mere suggestion; everything went down in a blur, and that bowl of rice along with the pork was gone again.
Lin Nan glanced at her stomach, baffled. Did she have a four-dimensional stomach or something?
Chen Yao was left speechless. He thought Lin Nan could eat a lot, but here was someone who put that to shame!
Did girls really all eat this much?
He looked dazedly at Lilith, who was licking her lips like a hungry wolf.
Usually, in the cafeteria, wouldn’t those girls eat less? Were they all just pretending?
Lilith burped but was still not done, pinching her chopsticks toward the other dishes. Lin Nan finally woke up and rushed to snag some food back.
With the rice already commandeered, if they didn’t grab a few more bites of the dishes, they’d definitely be starving by afternoon.
Thanks to Lilith’s ravenous energy, they’d demolished four big plates of food, leaving only soup and scraps on the table in ten minutes flat. Then, Lilith’s eyes darted to the cat, who was happily munching on the shredded chicken breast on the floor.
Chen Yao gulped. “You’re not actually planning to fight the cat for its food, are you?”
He couldn’t help but suspect Lilith hadn’t eaten in a week and was saving it all for her lavish feast today.
“Not quite…” She stretched, lazily lounging back against the sofa and casually swiped Lin Nan’s cola, downing it in a few gulps without a care in the world.
Lin Nan’s face darkened.
This girl could really put it away, couldn’t she?
With her flat belly rubbed and realizing the cola was gone too, Lilith stood up, cradling the cat. “Not full yet, so let’s cook up more tonight. We’re running low on meat.”
“???” Chen Yao watched her astonished.
She finished saying that, turned around, and left the room. Almost immediately, Lin Nan heard a knock on the neighboring door, followed by Wang Rui’s wail ringing out in the hallway.
“What do you want now! I just bought snacks…”
“Move aside! Where are my potato chips?!”
Lin Nan stepped forward to close the door, blocking out the hallway noise, and turned back to Chen Yao, offering a bittersweet smile.
“I really didn’t know she could eat this much.”
“It’s fine; it was just one meal. No biggie,” Chen Yao asked with concern. “Want me to order takeout for you?”
She shook her head, her stomach still empty but her appetite sinking: “I think I’ll take a nap. She might be back in the evening…”
“Just two meals…”
But if Li Na didn’t come home, it seemed Lilith would be settling in for three square meals a day at their place.
Lin Nan didn’t have the heart to voice this brutal reality. With a sigh, she wondered why she was being so sympathetic and butting into things.
Lilith should just starve to d*ath on the street instead!
She nearly wanted to slap herself.
