Waiting (2)

<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>

A couple of minutes later…

The sky stopped raining.

Nathan and Zita were done cooking and currently seated at the table.

"For now, let's just stick spoon and fork," Nathan said and grabbed pair of spoon and fork.

Thanks to the history of Muwin, the people in this country have two eating styles -- spoon and fork, and hands.

"And plus, based on the dishes we prepared, spoon and fork is the ideal way."

"Okay," Zita said and grabbed her spoon and fork as well.

"Also, don't forget to balance out your meals. Be sure not to skip the vegetables. You're a growing lady after all. You need to eat vegetables for that beautiful skin."

Zita's eyes widened.

She originally intended to stick with rice and the ground pork with vegetables only.

"Mister --"

"You've never eaten a Muwinian dish before, right? I'll teach you how to eat this," Nathan said as he picked up the bowl of rice.

"Okay…" she said dispiritedly.

"First, you put some rice on your plate," he said and scooped some rice to his plate before putting the bowl down.

"..."

"Next," he grabbed the bowl of vegetable soup, "You add some soup and vegetables on your rice. Make sure you don't add too much soup. Just enough to not make it watery."

Zita watched him add soup and vegetables to the rice on his plate.

He put down the bowl of vegetable soup and then said, "You don't need to crush the vegetables or mix them together if you don't want to. In my case, I prefer not to. Unless it's fried rice. Hmm… I think I'll cook fried rice tomorrow."

She didn't say anything and just stared at the small mountain of vegetables on Nathan's plate.

"Next," he grabbed the bowl of ground pork with vegetables and took two large scoops, "this here, take a few scoops and put them at the side. They are like -- Um… How do I say this? Although this is the main dish, the way we brown-skinned Asians, especially Muwinians, eat this, well, I guess you could say they're like appetizers to counter the tastelessness of the white rice. The same goes for the vegetables."

"..."

"Speaking of white rice, kid, don't ever tell an Asian that you love eating fried rice over plain old white rice. If you want to be friends with Asians, tell them that a meal without white rice is not a real meal. Trust me, they will love you for that."

"..."

He placed down the bowl of ground pork with vegetables.

"And then --"

With the help of his fork, on his spoon was 50% rice, 25% was vegetables and 25% was ground pork.

" -- this is how you eat it," he said and placed it inside his mouth.

"..."

"Got it?"

"Yes…"

"Now let's eat. Come on, you really need it because you're a growing lady."

"Yes…"

***

A couple of minutes later…

Nathan was already finished eating and was drinking a glass of water.

Zita, on the other hand, she already finished eating the rice and pork on her plate. However, she still had some vegetables remaining and she was struggling to finish them.

Nathan grabbed a pitcher of water on the side which was filled with tap water and poured it into his empty glass.

He took a few sips before putting it down.

"If you just did what I showed you earlier, you wouldn't have that problem."

Zita scooped a piece of vegetable with her spoon and placed it inside her mouth.

Her face looked like she was about to cry and vomit at the same time as she chewed until finally swallowing it.

Gulp.

Nathan chuckled and said, "And plus, the colder the vegetable gets, the worse its tastes get."

After he said that, he couldn't help but smile as he recalled a memory of how his father trained him to eat vegetables.

Just like most Asian kids, he too had to learn the hard way to eat vegetables.

"Kid, let me tell you two techniques that I've learned on how to eat vegetables."

Zita looked at him, her face still looking like she was about to cry.

"First technique: You can add more rice and meat. But if you're already full, well, of course, this technique will be hard to pull off."

"..."

"The second technique: Now this one, it can be a little tricky to do and needs a little practice. You can swallow them in one go with the help of water. But be careful that you won't vomit or choke."

He remembered one time trying this technique and failed. He vomited all over the table.

And of course, he got slapped in the head by his father.

Zita's face looked like she was just half-step from breaking into tears already.

Nathan smiled and said, "So which technique do you prefer?"

"Mister… Huhu… I'm already very full… I can't eat anymore… Can I finish this later? Huhu…"

"No, finish it."

"Huhu…"

She scooped a spoonful of vegetables, put it inside her mouth and then quickly drank water to push it down her throat.

"Elk…" she made a choking sound and water dripped from her lips.

She put down her glass and wiped the water and saliva that fell from her mouth and running down to her chin.

Nathan let out a sigh and said, "Well, it is your first time eating a normal Muwinian dish and you're still a kid. Don't finish it."

When she heard Nathan said that, the expression on her face brightened immediately and she put down her spoon and fork.

"But next time you have to finish your meal whether you like it or not, okay?"

The bright expression on her face immediately vanished.

"And plus, do you know why despite having the System and having more than 30 points in VIT you still collapsed? It's because you're not healthy. I wonder what your parents have been feeding you. And you just kept eating the candies and junk food that I gave you. Having a proper diet is very important, especially during these dark times. What are you to do if you're going to collapse again because of malnutrition and it will be in the middle of the fight? Call a timeout? Do you think the enemy, especially the zombies will stop? Has that possibility ever crossed your mind?"

She held her head down and stared at the remaining vegetables on her plate.

"Always remember to keep your body in top condition. Because even if you have the highest level, the best items and even the most powerful spell or skill, if you can't perform well because your body isn't in top condition then it's all useless."

Her eyes started to water and she sniffled.

She grabbed her spoon and fork and was about to scoop another spoonful of vegetables.

"You don't have to eat that anymore. Any more of that and you're going to vomit for sure."

She stopped and looked at him.

Nathan saw the tears gathering in her eyes.

"Ugh…" he massaged his forehead for a moment and then looked at her, "I'm sorry for what I said. I truly am. Please forgive me. That was such a mean thing for me to say, especially about your parents. Again, I truly am sorry. Please forgive me. Um… You can stop eating that already. Just go to the living room and play or something. I'll wash the dishes."

"Okay…" she said as she put down her spoon and fork and then stood up to leave.

Nathan stared at her as she left her seat and head for the living room.

'Ugh… Fuck me sideways…'

'What I did, that was uncalled for…'

'My God… Ever since this zombie apocalypse has happened, my temper has been --'

'Oh shit! I forgot that there's no electricity and this kid is from a first-world country…'

'And even if she's one of those rare first-world kids who would rather go outside and play, it's not like I can let her do that, not with the zombie threat and other things lurking around. Especially during the night…'

'Reading a book with just an emergency light or candle is also out of the question. She would only destroy her eyes…'

"Kid, wait."

Zita was already near the living room when she stopped and turned to him.

"Um… While I'm washing the dishes, can you maybe be cover the windows with blankets or something? Although there is a wall surrounding the house so people can't see through the windows if there's anyone inside even if we have the emergency lights on, it's better to be safe than sorry. There's got to be some blankets inside the rooms. Use the Bolts as nails. And take this flashlight with you. Thanks."

Nathan summoned a flashlight and placed it on top of the table.

"Okay," she said before grabbing the flashlight on the table using [Lift] and leaving.

Nathan then proceeded to clean the table and wash the dishes.

'And come to think of it, I need to find a solar panel or generator or something…'

'Yeah, I could find one at the local appliances shop…'

'If not, there's got to be a generator in the vulcanizing shops…'

*********************************************

Author's thoughts:

Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!

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