Chapter 93 The Singer, Oh, Singer 26

"Where is your cousin?" the Old Lady asked again.

"She is in the house getting ready to cook. We don't have many groceries at home, so my cousin thought she would just throw some rice and vegetables into a pot and make do with that."

"Oh my, how can you two young people have the energy to work if you just eat whatever? Here, I just stewed a pot of pork ribs. You wait there, I'll ladle a bowl for you."

【9. Your neighbors are all very friendly. You may exchange food with them at will, and you may enter a neighbor's home after obtaining their permission, but please be careful not to mess up their belongings. You are merely a Guest.】

It's here.

The opportunity to verify Rule Nine.

Lin Xiangjun hurriedly waved her hands: "How could I do that? Pork ribs from the supermarket are so expensive! How could I have the nerve to take your things? Besides, my cousin has already made food, and we don't have a refrigerator at home. If we can't finish it and it goes bad by tomorrow, that would be a waste."

The Old Lady seemed not to understand Lin Xiangjun's refusal and continued to say cheerfully: "It's fine. I'll just ladle out a couple of pieces for you to taste. It's only a couple of bites; it won't go to waste."

"If your cousin hasn't cooked yet, why don't you both just come over to my place for dinner? Today I made braised pork ribs and sweet and sour fish—the kinds of things you young people love to eat."

Just as Lin Xiangjun was about to refuse, she suddenly smelled a sweet and sour, oily aroma. It was exceptionally enticing and fragrant, so much so that Lin Xiangjun felt her stomach rumbling loudly, as if she hadn't eaten for three years and would starve to death if she went hungry for even one more second.

The Old Lady's smile also became exceptionally kind and amiable, like the grandmother next door who would give her a piece of candy every time they met back in elementary school—gentle and lovely.

"Are you hungry? Good child, come to Grandma's house and eat."

Lin Xiangjun swallowed her saliva. Her reason was instantly half-hooked away by the sweet and sour aroma. Her mind was filled with that enticing scent. She could even imagine that big carp, fried golden and crispy, making a crackling sound like shaking potato chips when she dragged her chopsticks across it.

The thick sweet and sour sauce was bubbling and sizzling as it was poured over the fish. The golden crispy skin softened a bit from being soaked in the sauce, but the porous structure of the skin absorbed the sauce fully, just like the fried egg in snail rice noodles. One chopstick down, and it brought up the crispy, flavorful skin along with the snow-white, tender fish meat, all wrapped in the sweet and sour sauce…

Ah, a delicacy of the world!

"Come on, Grandma has made so many dishes, enough for the three of us to have a good meal together. Good child, come quickly."

Just as Lin Xiangjun was about to nod foolishly, the Old Lady's words "Good child" made her hesitate.

Good child…?

Why does this form of address feel a bit strange?

This smell is so fragrant…

Is this what she called me before?

I want to eat sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour fish!

What did she call me before?

Sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour fish…

She called me…

Sweet and sour fish! Sweet and sour fish! Sweet and sour fish!

She called me…

Sweet and sour fish!!!!

Xiao Lin.

Sweet and sour fish!

Xiao Lin!

That form of address is wrong!

Lin Xiangjun's consciousness, which had been mostly lost, was suddenly partially awakened. She was suddenly frightened into breaking out in a cold sweat.

The Old Lady's smile hadn't changed, but the smile she had just found kind and amiable now looked incredibly eerie, like the old witch in fairy tales who lures children with a candy house.

However, the most terrifying thing was that although Lin Xiangjun had sobered up and realized that this rule was wrong, her mind was still screaming over and over again: sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour fish, she wanted to eat sweet and sour fish!

Contamination! Mental contamination!

Lin Xiangjun dared not be careless. She immediately took two bottles of 【contamination clearing potion】 out of her pocket and downed them.

Drinking two bottles didn't feel like enough, so she took out another one, tilted her head back, and gulped it down just like drinking oral liquid.

Three bottles were enough to completely clear moderate contamination.

Lin Xiangjun felt that her level of contamination shouldn't have reached moderate, but what if it had? She still cherished her own life very much.

Sure enough, after the three bottles of 【contamination clearing potion】 went down, the craving for sweet and sour fish that had been circling in her mind vanished instantly. Her head wasn't dizzy, her eyes weren't blurred, and her mind was so clear that she felt she could write a whole advanced mathematics exam paper right then and there!

But the aroma of the sweet and sour fish was still there. Lin Xiangjun judged that this thing was the source of contamination, so how could she dare to keep smelling it?

Her Wangzai mask could block contamination sources like germs and blood, but it couldn't block the contamination itself! She immediately held her breath, put on a perfectly polite smile, and quickly threw out a sentence: "No need, Grandma. I'm going to go help my cousin. I'll come find you to play when I have time!"

Before she even finished speaking, she had already dashed back home in one stride.

With a "bang," she closed the door and leaned against the door panel, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"It would be great if I had something for anti-contamination," she muttered to herself.

Wait, something for anti-contamination… she seemed to have one?

But it seemed that for some reason, she had never taken it out to use? She couldn't remember clearly.

Lin Xiangjun rummaged through all her props, picking and choosing, and truly dug out two items.

【Sakamoto Ryota's Glasses (Replica): These glasses are a replica of the male lead's from a film work. When you loudly shout, 'I am XX (your game nickname), what do you want?', you will briefly gain the ability to not be eroded by external contamination. This prop can be effective once every ten hours. Of course, no one can erode you, you king of posing! You will only use deliberate acts of posturing and showing off to contaminate everyone around you! You are the new source of mental contamination!!! Note: This prop is a replica of an anime product. When you use it, the same special effects as the anime male lead will appear behind you.】

Lin Xiangjun: …

Lin Xiangjun remembered why she had buried this b-grade prop—which could resist contamination and wasn't a one-time use item—at the bottom of her storage.

Because every time you use this thing, you have to make a fool of yourself!

And you have to shout out your game nickname every time!

Can you imagine it? In an instance filled with crises, everyone is tensely and excitingly fighting against anomalies, and at this moment, a person with red underpants on their head suddenly shouts loudly:

"I am Perfect Chrysanthemum Thirty-Six Folds, what do you want?"

Then, a bunch of colorful, flashing four-pointed stars suddenly appear on her body, the wind inexplicably blows her hair and clothes, and the scene inexplicably starts to move in slow motion…

Isn't that embarrassing?

Isn't that making a spectacle of oneself?

She is, at the very least, a big shot ranked first on the global leaderboard. Is it really okay to lose face three times in one go?

A man needs face! (Wu Jing slapping face)

(A man needs face is a Douyin meme; this is the original sentence, not the author using male pronouns for the female lead, and not pandering to men. Please do not attack the author, thank you.)

Lin Xiangjun looked at the black-rimmed glasses in her hand with an indescribable expression. She endured and endured, but still didn't have the courage to put them on.

Black glasses on the upper half of her face, red underpants on the lower half, wearing black silk stockings—what kind of thunderous outfit is this? If you were to grab a pervert from a train in a hentai manga and compare him to her, she would be the more suspicious one, right?