Chapter 18: Cooking

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"Go ahead!" Eula replied nonchalantly, still chopping carrots with her hands.

"Today, Amber came to buy a phone from me, and I gave her your number so you two can stay connected," Lin Feng explained.

"Oh... So it was her. I wondered who could be that bored. Hmph, she owes me one now!" Eula chuckled; Amber was her only friend after all.

"Do you want to call her?" Lin Feng suggested.

"Hmph, no way!" Eula lifted her chin slightly, but in her moment of distraction, the knife accidentally cut her hand.

"Ah..." Eula let out a soft gasp, frowning as she saw blood flowing from her wound. She immediately started searching for the first aid kit.

Lin Feng quickly grabbed Eula's hand and said, "Don't move!"

He brought his mouth close to Eula's finger, gently sucking the blood from the wound.

Eula raised her hand to slap Lin Feng, but upon seeing his serious expression, she hesitated. A strange sensation briefly passed through her finger before disappearing swiftly.

Out of nowhere, Lin Feng produced a band-aid, carefully applied it to Eula's hand, and then explained:

"This method is highly effective for such wounds. If there was too much blood earlier, it wouldn't have worked as well, so I had to!" Lin Feng scratched his head, acknowledging that he might have acted impulsively.

"Hmph, you've earned yourself another grudge from me!" Eula slightly lowered her head, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks despite herself.

"Go rest now; I'll take over. Remember, don't let the wound get wet!" Lin Feng instructed, then picked up the menu and started chopping carrots. Although somewhat inexperienced, he managed without any issues.

Eula didn't leave, standing behind Lin Feng and watching him chop vegetables. Her thoughts began drifting, lingering on the moment when Lin Feng sucked the blood from her wound.

Soon, Lin Feng finished chopping. However, staring at the ingredients, he felt a bit lost, realizing he actually didn't know how to cook.

Noticing Lin Feng's predicament, Eula smiled briefly before quickly composing herself and calmly suggested, "Let me handle it!"

Lin Feng shook his head, took out his phone, and started browsing cooking recipes.

Curious, Eula also pulled out her phone. She noticed two new updates: Hilichurl language translations and shop reviews.

With his phone in hand, Lin Feng began preparing the meal at the stove. Meanwhile, Eula sat nearby, engrossed in reading the shop reviews.

Upon opening it, she found that the Westerly Cathedral was at the top with an impressive 9.9 rating, while the Good Hunter ranked at the bottom with only 4.4 points.

Eula felt puzzled; the dishes at Good Hunter weren't bad at all. Curious, she clicked through to see what had happened.

"The service here is terrible! They even chased away customers!"

"I waited so long, yet despite being first, I got served last."

"The food is truly awful; never coming back again."

After hesitating for a moment, Eula gently gave it five stars and commented, "The taste is still decent."

Although the staff at Good Hunter treated her poorly, it stemmed from the Lawrence Clan's past wrongdoings. Focusing on the quality of the food itself, she genuinely believed their dishes were good—certainly enjoyable each time she dined there with Amber.

Suddenly, a red message appeared, startling Eula: "System error, please re-rate!" What was going on?

Indeed, after receiving Lin Feng's favor, the System seemed determined to act accordingly.

Eula tried again, but the result remained the same. On her third attempt, the system displayed, "Rating attempts too frequent. Account locked. Please try again tomorrow!"

Meanwhile, Lin Feng followed the recipe meticulously, step by step. However, possibly due to the high heat, he started feeling overwhelmed and rushed.

After some time, Lin Feng finished preparing several dishes. He placed them on the large dining table, which now felt more inviting than the small one.

Hesitating for a moment, Lin Feng chose to sit next to Eula. With just these few dishes, sitting apart might make it difficult to reach them.

Eula observed Lin Feng thoughtfully. She stood up and walked towards him, asking:

"Lin Feng, did you do this? The Good Hunter's rating is at the very bottom!"

Lin Feng grinned widely and replied, "Of course! After how they treated you, I simply gave them a taste of their own medicine!"

Eula felt a warmth inside but couldn't condone such unethical behavior. She wanted the Mondstadters to accept her with integrity, not through petty revenge tactics.

"No need for that. My grudges, I will settle myself!" Eula slightly lifted her chin, closed her eyes, embodying her pride.

"What do you mean 'your grudges'? They're mine too! She refused me food late at night. Naturally, I have to repay her; I'm not someone to be bullied easily!" Lin Feng chuckled, asserting his stance on seeking retribution.

Eula opened her eyes, feeling somewhat awkward, and quickly said, "Oh, the dishes are ready. Let me try them!"

Eula suddenly felt her earlier warmth turn into awkward self-indulgence. Embarrassed, she could only taste Lin Feng's dish to mask her discomfort.

"Ugh..." Eula immediately sensed it tasted like charcoal. The burnt flavor overwhelmed her mouth, feeling even worse than consuming Slime mucus.

Lin Feng's face darkened; he had just been proud of completing three dishes. Unexpectedly, Eula showed no mercy, delivering a harsh reality check on the spot!

Quickly pointing at his other two dishes, Lin Feng pleaded with Eula, "This one...this might have a slight issue. Try these instead, I guarantee they're fine!"

Eula vigorously shook her head, pointing at Lin Feng and declaring, "Making me eat such disgusting food? You've earned my ire for this!"

To Eula, this was even more unpalatable than Good Hunter's subpar grilled steaks. Struggling to find any comparison, she concluded there simply wasn't one. If Mondstadt ever held a contest for the worst-tasting dishes, she wouldn't be surprised if Lin Feng emerged as the champion.

Curious, Lin Feng sampled his remaining two dishes - one lacked salt entirely, while the other had twice the necessary amount...

"Don't just stand there, come chop some vegetables!" Eula's voice echoed from the kitchen. Hastily, Lin Feng approached to assist with chopping.

***

After dinner, Lin Feng purchased another game from the System - Minecraft, but it cost him another 500,000 Mora.

"Eula, want to try out this new game?" Lin Feng asked with a grin.

Eula hesitated slightly, still remembering her previous gaming disaster and feeling unsuited for such activities.

"It's not difficult, and we can play together online!" Lin Feng quickly explained, determined not to let his half-million Mora investment go to waste.

Lin Feng had no intention of letting those 500,000 Mora disappear without return. He decided that once Minecraft launched, he would charge 100 Mora per purchase.

As for how players could recharge their accounts, that was the System's responsibility. However, even the recharged Mora would be split evenly between Lin Feng and the System, which felt quite unfair.