Chapter 4: The Voracious Tom

"Guests, your food is here." A waiter walked over, carrying a large covered clay pot, and placed it on the dining table.

From the gap between the lid and the edge of the pot, a thin, yellowish steam slowly wafted toward Tom.

Unintentionally, Tom caught a whiff of the aroma, his eyes lit up, and he took a deep, forceful sniff through his nose. The yellow steam was entirely inhaled by him.

As soon as Tom finished inhaling, his eyes widened, and his whole body floated into the air, displaying a look of pure bliss.

He hovered in midair for a moment, then swiftly returned to his seat at an incomprehensible speed, pulling a napkin from thin air and tying it securely around his neck.

He also mysteriously produced a pair of forks, and drools began to drip from the corners of his mouth.

Seeing Tom like this, Li Huan smiled.

"Don't worry, this whole pot is yours. No one will take it from you." He had specifically instructed the waiter earlier to use an entire chicken to make this yellow braised chicken dish, so there would definitely be enough.

He also made sure to request that it not be spicy.

As the lid of the clay pot was lifted, the heat and aroma hit them directly. The invigorated Tom licked his lips with his large tongue, quickly spearing a piece of chicken with a fork and popping it into his mouth.

"Hey, Tom, be careful eating that; it might be too hot." Li Huan kindly reminded him, but Tom didn't pay any attention. He simply spat out the bones and moved on to the next piece of chicken.

Tom's hands moved so fast they became a blur as he devoured the yellow braised chicken in front of him.

Seeing this, Li Huan put his hand down again.

Although he had heard that cats' tongues are sensitive to heat, Tom seemed to completely disregard this rule.

After all, when he watched *Tom and Jerry* Back in the day, he rarely saw Tom burn his tongue while eating cooked food.

"Guests, your claypot rice is ready." Hearing the waiter's call, Li Huan acknowledged and took the claypot rice.

As he was about to start eating with his chopsticks, he glanced at Tom. Tom had already finished the entire pot of yellow braised chicken, leaving a pile of bones on the side.

From the time the chicken arrived to the time the claypot rice was served, it seemed like hardly any time had passed.

Just as Li Huan was about to dig into his meal, his hand paused, and he stared at Tom in disbelief.

He was stunned but he quickly snapped out of it.

He shook his head and calmly placed his chopsticks into the bowl.

Stay calm. This is just standard behavior.

After taking a few bites of rice, Li Huan looked up again. The pile of bones had disappeared, replaced by a complete, lifelike—chicken skeleton. It was obvious that Tom had assembled it.

It seemed that after finishing the chicken, Tom, feeling a bit bored, had decided to play a game of bone assembly.

We know that yellow braised chicken is made by chopping the chicken into pieces, and the bones are often cut into irregular shapes with some pieces missing. It's nearly impossible to reconstruct a complete skeleton.

But Tom, being Tom, defied logic. Somehow, he had managed to piece the entire chicken back together.

The bone claws, which shouldn't have been able to stand up at all, were now firmly planted on the table, supporting the entire skeleton.

The hollow chicken head was proudly raised, as if the chicken were still alive, ready to crow at any moment.

Just looking at this skeleton, one could easily imagine what the chicken must have looked like in life.

It was undoubtedly a work of art. But it was also incredibly creepy.

Noticing that Li Huan was looking at him, Tom puffed out his chest, proudly displaying his handiwork.

At the same time, a mysterious *da-da-da-da~* sound effect played, and an inexplicable spotlight shone down on the chicken skeleton.

To further highlight the skeleton, the surrounding lights even went out for a moment, leaving only the spotlight.

In this eerie atmosphere, the illuminated chicken skull seemed to glow, its eyes appearing to emit light. It became even more unnerving.

But that wasn't the only issue.

The real problem was—"What's going on?" "Did the power go out?" "I'm still eating!" "My food fell into my collar—" Instantly, the entire restaurant erupted in complaints, curses, and screams. The whole place turned into a scene from hell.

"You did a great job." Li Huan quickly praised Tom, knowing he had to keep the spotlight on; otherwise, things would only get worse.

Tom withdrew his hands, and the restaurant was once again filled with light.

Seeing the surroundings return to normal, Li Huan let out a sigh of relief.

After this little incident, Li Huan was finally able to eat his meal properly. Meanwhile, bored, Tom started tinkering with the chicken bones again.

He disassembled the previously assembled chicken and began creating various bone sculptures. He made sculptures of himself, Spike (the dog), Jerry, and even Li Huan.

Li Huan looked at them and saw that they were incredibly lifelike.

Fortunately, he had chosen a relatively secluded spot, and it seemed that many customers were still too shaken by the sudden blackout to notice what was happening on their side.

Otherwise, it would have definitely caused a commotion.

"Guests, sorry for the delay earlier." Just as Li Huan finished his claypot rice, the waiter arrived with a plate and a bottle of milk.

"Earlier, when the lights went out, the kitchen almost had an accident. The chefs were in a bit of a panic, but luckily your fish is fine."

"Alright, just leave it here." The plate was placed in front of Tom, and under his expectant gaze, the waiter lifted the cover.

Inside the plate was a steamed fish, perfectly cooked. Tom's eyes turned into fish shapes, and he drooled once again, showing no signs of having just devoured an entire pot of yellow braised chicken.

The bottle of milk was also placed on the table, and the waiter left without another word.

Tom didn't bother with utensils this time. He grabbed the fish by the tail with his paw and stuffed the head into his mouth.

He swallowed the entire fish down to the tail in one go, then moved his mouth, and as he pulled the fish out of his mouth, it came out as a completely intact fish skeleton, with no flesh left on it, he casually tossed it back onto the plate.

After pulling out the fish bones, Tom grabbed the bottle of milk, unscrewed the cap, and downed the whole thing in one gulp.

After finishing the milk, he even licked the inside of the cap a few times, savoring every last drop.

Having done all that, Tom let out a satisfied burp, then leaned back in his chair with a blissful expression on his face.

His belly suddenly swelled up, indicating that he was truly full.

Seeing this, Li Huan only had one thought

This Tom really can eat!