167: Chapter 167 Jiang Chen: Stop! Let's eat first. Doesn't this braised pork taste delicious?

Inside the dining room of Yunding Villa, the lights were blazing.

A rectangular European-style dining table had, at this moment, become a battlefield divided by the Han-Chu border.

Jiang Chen sat at the head of the table, chopsticks clutched in his hand, feeling as if he weren't sitting on a leather chair, but on a torture device bristling with sharp knives.

On his left was the Wasteland Empress, Jiang Wanqiu, who hadn't yet shed her armor and was still redolent with the scent of gunpowder. She sat rigidly, her hand habitually resting on the hilt of the dagger at her waist, her eyes vigilantly fixed on the woman opposite her, as if ready to strike at any moment.

On his right was Academician Chen Shuyin, who had changed into loungewear yet still radiated an aura that spanned eight feet tall. She elegantly spread her napkin, pushed up her glasses, and returned Jiang Wanqiu's gaze with the look of someone "watching a country bumpkin who has never seen the world."

The air was thick with a sour, gunpowder-like tension.

"Ahem." Jiang Chen cleared his throat, attempting to break the almost suffocating awkwardness: "Um... let's eat, let's eat. Heaven and earth are vast, but eating is the most important thing. Whatever grudges you have, let's talk about them after we've filled our stomachs, okay?"

"Hmph." Both women snorted coldly in unison, yet neither moved their chopsticks.

Just then, the kitchen door opened. Ikaros, dressed in a maid outfit with mechanical cat ears atop her head, walked out carrying a massive tray, her footsteps precise and mechanical.

"Master, dinner is ready." "According to big data analysis, when carbon-based organisms ingest high-sugar and high-fat foods, their aggressiveness decreases by 40%, and dopamine secretion increases by 60%."

Ikaros recited the data with a straight face, then placed the plates of fragrant and appetizing dishes onto the dining table.

Sweet and sour pork ribs, bright red in color, their sweet and tangy aroma drilling straight into the nostrils. Steamed grouper, tender and fresh, topped with vibrant green scallion shreds. And that final, show-stopping dish—trembling and glistening with oil—Shanghai-style braised pork belly.

Rich oil and red sauce, the fat and lean meat perfectly layered. Each piece of meat was cut into a perfect square, coated in thick sauce, exuding an alluring luster under the lights that could only be described as "sinful."

That overpowering aroma of meat instantly swept through the entire dining room, forcefully diluting the tense, murderous atmosphere.

"Gulp." Jiang Wanqiu's throat moved. She stared fixedly at the plate of braised pork, her gaze shifting from initial vigilance to confusion, and finally to profound shock.

In the Wasteland, food only came in two colors. One was dark green synthetic nutrient paste, made from mutated insects and moss, which tasted like chewing moldy rubber. The other was grayish-black mutated beast meat, a luxury only the nobility could enjoy. Although it had a hint of meat flavor, its texture was as dry as wood, and it always carried an indelible, acidic stench of radiation.

But these things in front of her... "What... what is this?" Jiang Wanqiu pointed at the plate of braised pork, her voice trembling as if she had witnessed some incredible miracle: "This color... this luster..." "No green glow of radiation? And no rotting black spots?" "And... it smells so good."

She twitched her nose, and that rich, savory aroma traveled through her nasal cavity deep into her lungs, stirring the most primal instinctual desire within her as a human. It was something carved into her genes, a craving for delicious food that wouldn't be forgotten even after three thousand years.

"This is called braised pork." Jiang Chen looked at her naive expression and suddenly felt a pang of heartache. This silly girl, who ruled as a queen in that world, had never even eaten a proper hot meal. "It's made with the best pork belly, paired with rock sugar, soy sauce, and star anise, slow-stewed over low heat for two hours."

Jiang Chen picked up the serving chopsticks and lifted a trembling piece of braised pork. The meat swayed gently on the tip of the chopsticks, crystal clear, resembling a piece of red agate. Academician Chen Shuyin watched from across the table; although she rarely ate such high-calorie foods to maintain her figure, she couldn't help but swallow her saliva as she smelled it. However, she remained reserved and didn't make a move, only stealing glances from the corner of her eye.

"Come, Wanqiu." Jiang Chen ignored Academician Chen Shuyin and directly moved the piece of meat to Jiang Wanqiu's lips. His movements were natural, just like feeding his own kitten: "Open up." "Ah—" Jiang Wanqiu subconsciously opened her mouth.

But immediately after, she hesitated. As an Empress, every bite of her food had to be tested by a taster. In the Wasteland, the brighter something was, the more poisonous it usually was. "Is... is this really edible?" She looked at the piece of meat, which was a somewhat bewitching red, her eyes filled with a trace of instinctive fear. "This color... it looks like the core of a high-risk mutant..."

"What mutant!" Jiang Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "This is pork! It's just cooked in a more sophisticated way!" "Do you trust me?" He looked into Jiang Wanqiu's eyes, his tone gentle yet firm: "If you trust me, then eat it." "Taste it, this is... life—without radiation, without war, only the warmth of a home."

Jiang Wanqiu looked at Jiang Chen. In those pitch-black eyes, she saw encouragement, she saw doting, but absolutely no deception. He was the Father God. The god who bestowed upon her life and power. A god would not harm her.

"Mm!" Jiang Wanqiu nodded vigorously, like a soldier about to rush into battle, closed her eyes, and bit into the braised pork. Her teeth closed together. In that instant. The tender skin melted on the tip of her tongue, the fat of the pork belly and the savory flavor of the lean meat perfectly fused, and the rich sauce instantly exploded in her mouth. Sweet. Salty. Savory. It was the taste of something she had never experienced in her life, a taste called "happiness."

Jiang Wanqiu suddenly opened her eyes. At that moment, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck her soul. Her pupils contracted sharply, and she froze in place as if cast under a petrification spell, even forgetting to chew. Time seemed to have stopped. Only that smear of sauce remained, still hanging on her rosy lips, looking exceptionally alluring.

"How is it?" Jiang Chen looked at her somewhat nervously. "Is it good? Or... is it too greasy?" Jiang Wanqiu didn't speak. Her body began to tremble slightly. It was a physiological reaction after her taste buds had been subjected to an extreme impact, and it was also the... confusion of someone accustomed to bitterness tasting sweetness for the first time.