80: Kitchen Terminator

In the end, He Jingrui still couldn't clearly explain how his Gourmet Cells awakened, or how he entered the current 'autophagy' state.

Lu Chuan reluctantly gave up and could only take him back home first.

But just before they were about to leave the crevice, Lu Chuan suddenly looked at He Jingrui, his expression becoming very serious.

"He Jingrui, there's something I need to tell you; it's very important to me!"

He Jingrui nodded dazedly.

"If you return to your unit and others ask how you escaped, you absolutely must not mention anything about me. If possible, it's best not to talk about this crevice either. Can you promise me?"

He Jingrui scratched his head, looking a bit troubled.

Having spent several years in the military, he had long ingrained obedience to orders and adherence to discipline into his bones, unlike people in society who have flexible bottom lines.

However, he also knew that this crevice connected two places. Once the higher-ups found out, having heavily armed guards would be an understatement; it was possible that the entire hundred-li radius around Yinhua Mountain would be designated a forbidden zone.

And Lu Chuan, who had entered the crevice and was able to cure him, would also become a key focus of the higher-ups, potentially losing his freedom in minutes.

So He Jingrui was extremely conflicted at the moment.

If he agreed, he couldn't get past that mental hurdle... if he didn't agree, what if he harmed his friend... He Jingrui bit his finger, looking conflicted, unable to make a decision for a long time.

Lu Chuan sighed, knowing that He Jingrui couldn't wrap his head around it for now, so he stopped pressing him.

"How about this: you stay at my place for now, recover from your injuries, and slowly consider it. How does that sound?"

Hearing this, He Jingrui's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

Lu Chuan then told him to follow, and they passed through the crevice together.

As they were about to exit the crevice, Lu Chuan was preparing to walk ahead when He Jingrui suddenly tugged at his clothes, making him stumble backward unexpectedly.

"What are you doin'—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the angry grunts of a wild boar had already sounded from outside the crevice.

"Oink oink!!"

Hearing the boar's grunts, Lu Chuan's forehead immediately darkened with frustration.

You stubborn, pig-headed beast, I kindly let you off, and now you've come to block my door, have you?

He quickly stood up, exited the crevice, and saw that He Jingrui had already started fighting the wild boar.

Facing the incredibly arrogant wild boar, He Jingrui wasn't going to humor it.

With a few agile dodges, he seized the opportunity while the wild boar was disoriented, pouncing on it with a flurry of punches and kicks.

Under the heavy blows that surpassed human limits, the wild boar immediately squealed and grunted from the beating.

This scene made Lu Chuan sigh with emotion.

"What a man-boar battle! Splendid, splendid!"

Two minutes later, even with the wild boar's tough hide and thick flesh, facing He Jingrui's powerful military combat moves, it had to kneel and sing its surrender.

He Jingrui scratched his head, looking back at Lu Chuan for help.

Lu Chuan was also a bit dumbfounded.

He had never seen a wild boar kneel and beg for mercy in his entire life.

That's right, the wild boar really did kneel and beg for mercy.

The scarred, incredibly robust wild boar bent its front legs and knelt on the ground, its rump sticking high up, completely in a posture of submission.

Seeing that Lu Chuan also had no idea, He Jingrui could only feign an angry expression and scold the wild boar:

"Scram, scram, scram! If you don't scram, I'll eat you."

Provoked by the killing intent He Jingrui inadvertently exuded, the wild boar immediately trembled, got up, and scurried away into the distance, disappearing from sight.

Lu Chuan watched the wobbly little antenna quickly move away, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Is it really true that every dog has his day?

The wild boar that had repeatedly caused him trouble was so afraid of this simpleton just after getting a beating from him?

Shaking his head, Lu Chuan stopped thinking about it and continued down the mountain with He Jingrui to go home.

On the way, they passed a clothing store and bought a set of clothes.

Half an hour later, they arrived home.

He Jingrui retreated into the bathroom to wash up, while Lu Chuan washed his hands and started a fire to cook.

Considering that both of them had awakened their Gourmet Cells, their appetites were several times that of an ordinary person.

Clearly, four dishes and one soup wouldn't be enough; even the rice would require two pots.

If it were an ordinary chef, they would probably be busy all afternoon.

But Lu Chuan appeared very relaxed and casual.

With several stoves on full blast, it only took him an hour and a half to fill the entire dining table with five meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and one soup—a total of eight dishes.

As for the cuisine, it was his specialty, Cantonese cuisine, including representative dishes from Guangzhou, Chaoshan, and Hakka.

There was White Cut Chicken, Steamed Pork with Preserved Vegetables, Hakka Stuffed Tofu, Salt and Pepper Mantis Shrimp, Boiled Shrimp, Oyster Sauce Lettuce, Lotus Pond Stir-fry, and Corn Carrot Pork Bone Soup.

The dishes were rich, with a good balance of meat and vegetables, and nutritionally balanced.

He Jingrui, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately picked up a large chicken leg and placed it in Lu Chuan's bowl after Lu Chuan sat down.

Lu Chuan was startled, then reacted, looking at He Jingrui with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"Let's eat. And also, you don't need to be so formal at my house."

He Jingrui chuckled, and only after seeing Lu Chuan take a bite of the chicken leg, he could no longer resist. His chopsticks flew, picking up dishes and stuffing them into his mouth.

All eight dishes were cooked with top-notch skill; not only did they look excellent, but the taste was also superb.

He Jingrui ate with oil dripping from his mouth, exclaiming how satisfying it was.

After the meal, He Jingrui eagerly offered to clean up, and Lu Chuan let him.

He still had to set up his stall today, and he figured there would only be one or two customers.

The grilled fish prepared yesterday should have been enough, but Lu Chuan looked at the more than sixty River Catfish in the tank, which were increasingly lacking vitality, and felt a sudden surge of anxiety.

Each one was nearly thirty yuan; two weeks ago, he would have been heartbroken for a long time if even one died.

He quickly moved the fish that could no longer swim to the yard and began a physical 'super-euthanasia' ritual.

He Jingrui, smelling the blood, came out to look, then silently retreated.

The even longer processing time than yesterday made even Lu Chuan's current physique feel a bit overwhelmed.

Fortunately, what followed was all skilled work.

He Jingrui helped carry basins of cleaned fish into the workshop, then curiously watched Lu Chuan's entire process of marinating and grilling the fish.

He swallowed, smelling the fragrant grilled fish, and couldn't help but ask Lu Chuan.

"Can I try?"

Lu Chuan looked at him questioningly, thought for a moment, and then agreed.

However, fearing that He Jingrui's skills weren't good enough to waste ingredients, he carefully guided him from the side.

It started well, but as it progressed, Lu Chuan's voice grew louder and louder, eventually even self-teaching himself the true meaning of the 'Lion's Roar'.

"The heat absolutely cannot be too high."

"Move some charcoal over here; can't you see it's almost burnt?"

"So clumsy! Are you performing surgery on the fish? With so much force, go move bricks?!"

"Brush oil, brush oil, quickly brush oil, it's getting burnt!"

"What are you doing, what are you doing? I told you to brush oil, why are you brushing baijiu?"

"It's on fire, it's on fire!!! No, why are you pouring oil to extinguish the fire?! Are you the kitchen terminator?"

"This lump of charcoal, are you sure it was grilled according to the steps I taught you?"

Lu Chuan held up the hard lump of charcoal in his hand, looking at He Jingrui with a face full of dark lines.

He Jingrui offered a fawning smile, but finding that this trick didn't work, he could only hang his head, preparing to receive a 'baptism' of scolding.