There was too much meat to stew at once, so Yu Sheng decided to prepare a few different dishes with it.
The saying goes, "Once raw, twice cooked, and thirdly, add scallions, ginger, and cooking wine"—the ancients likely explored and experimented with nature's gifts in a similar gradual way.
Humming a little tune, Yu Sheng cut the largest portion of meat into big chunks, blanching them in boiling water to remove the blood foam.
Then, he placed star anise, fennel, cloves, and cinnamon into a clay pot, added the meat, pouring in enough clean water, salt, soy sauce, and a dash of cooking wine to eliminate the gamey smell, and set it on the stove to simmer slowly.
In the meantime, he stir-fried the remaining meat with chili peppers and garlic sprouts, creating two plates of dish.
He tasted a bit and found it fragrant and pleasing; the meat was neither tough nor raw, and the slices were tender and smooth.
It had a flavor that was hard to pin down, but in terms of texture, it was somewhat similar to very tender beef.
As for what was left, he planned to wait until after this meal to confirm everything was fine before turning it into cured meat to store away… or perhaps he could dry it in an air fryer to make jerky after marinating it.
He had never tried making it that way before and had no clue if it would work…
Yu Sheng’s mind was swirling with possibilities.
He felt quite like a daring scientist, exploring a field untouched by previous generations.
Thus, he spent nearly two hours in the kitchen, busying himself, then finally opened the door and began carrying the cups, plates, and stew pot to the dining table one after another.
The oil painting's Elin stared wide-eyed at Yu Sheng as he bustled about, her face displaying a mix of exhaustion and a strong disapproval, as if caught between “let him be, he’s tired” and “you can’t do this, you absolutely shouldn’t!” After a while, she couldn’t help herself and exclaimed, “Are you really going to eat? This is something brought back from another realm! Don’t kill yourself over it!”
Yu Sheng looked up at Elin. “What if I told you I’ve eaten it twice already over there?”
Elin's conflicted expression vanished in an instant, replaced with sheer shock. “... Huh?!”
“See? I’m still alive and kicking, so it should be fine. Throwing away such a hard-earned prize would be a pity,” Yu Sheng said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You know about hunting, right? This is my catch—sooner or later, I’ll bring it all back and let it know who’s at the top of the food chain!”
Elin didn’t respond, still at a loss, so Yu Sheng, driven by curiosity, asked, “But seriously, has nobody ever ‘tried’ the ‘entities’ from the other realm? Didn’t you say there are all sorts of them? Surely there are things that look edible?”
“Who would try something like that!” Elin was almost frantic. “They say you can’t know what bizarre qualities they might have; poisons are the least of your worries! And you actually ate it twice… you really did eat it twice?”
“Yeah, but the first two times were sashimi. The situation was pretty urgent, no time to cook. It was the kind of moment where if you didn’t eat right away, you might not live to see another meal.” As Yu Sheng said this, he casually sat down opposite Elin, picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, and enjoyed it with relish.
Elin was momentarily stunned. “So… what was your reaction afterward?”
“I died."
Yu Sheng stated this outright.
“Then why…” Elin instinctively let out a gasp, but then something felt off—she didn’t know about Yu Sheng’s ‘resurrection’ ordeal, so she assumed he was joking.
Frustrated, she glared at him. “I’m serious!”
Yu Sheng grinned, unable to hold back his laughter at the painting’s frustrated figurine.
He found himself beginning to enjoy their banter.
After all, she couldn’t jump out of the painting and hit him.
He still didn’t explain to Elin about his ‘death and revival.’ On one hand, it was clear that she wouldn’t be able to comprehend what he had gone through, and explaining it would sound like trickery; on the other hand, he had too much to ponder regarding the changes happening within himself, which he hoped to understand more before discussing with her.
Oblivious to the jumble of thoughts behind Yu Sheng’s grin, Elin couldn’t help but glance at the table full of delicious dishes, then stared at the animated expression on Yu Sheng as he chewed.
It looked rather appetizing, and after the preparation, it bore no resemblance to its initial strange form.
“... Is it good?” Finally unable to hold back, the painted figurine asked nonchalantly.
Yu Sheng burst into laughter, as if he had expected this moment.
He grabbed an empty bowl and plate from the table, served Elin a portion of food and broth, and set it in front of the oil painting.
“I didn’t say I wanted...” Elin mumbled.
Yu Sheng replied casually, “Well, you can’t actually eat it, so why worry about the ingredients, right?”
Elin pondered this and found it made a bit of sense. “True, you’re right?”
Feeling a bit bolder, she returned to the familiar look of a character full of life, a warm smile that seemed to linger.
As they were halfway through their meal, their conversation inevitably shifted back to the previous discussion about "professionals."
“In fact, nobody has come looking for you yet, and there’s another possibility,” Elin said, hugging her toy bear and sitting closely to the edge of the painting’s frame. “Maybe some organization or official has noticed something amiss but thinks it’s best not to act immediately. Perhaps they still haven’t pinpointed the exact connection to the other realm and related intel, so they can only set up surveillance for now.”
“Surveillance?” Yu Sheng asked, intrigued.
“Yeah, maybe a whole bunch of undercover agents are watching your house right now! After all, you returned from the other realm without waiting for help. Whether by strength or luck, those specialized in dealing with such matters didn’t have the chance to act, so they likely haven’t located anything yet.
Naturally, they would first arrange monitoring in the area… Spend the next couple of days seeing if you spot any unfamiliar faces. They might be lurking around just to keep an eye on you.
Just keep a lookout, it won’t interfere with your search for flyers on the nearby telephone poles…”
Ignoring her commentary about “flyers on telephone poles,” Yu Sheng looked outside.
Elin had put it simply—just keep an eye out for any unfamiliar faces.
He had no idea who was unfamiliar! He had only been here for two months, with the first month spent cooped up at home and he was a bit face-blind, so in his eyes, half of the people around seemed unfamiliar!
“Do you think that pancake seller at the corner looks like an undercover?” After staring suspiciously out the window for a while, Yu Sheng murmured to Elin.
“I don’t know, I can’t see.”
“Oh, right, I forgot,” Yu Sheng realized, hurriedly picking up Elin’s frame and moving it to the nearby window facing outside. “It’s that one…”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“How so?”
“Duh, fifty seconds for a set with sausage and egg; if it were an undercover, they probably wouldn’t even handle the oil right in that time.”
“... That’s true. What about that person by the phone case shop?”
“Also doesn’t look like it—too quick with their hands.”
“Oh… then how about that one over there…”
“Stop looking! You’re being paranoid for no reason. Besides, if they were actual professionals, you wouldn’t spot them easily,” Elin interrupted. “You’re better off spending the next couple of days exploring outside. You’ve got the scents of the other realm on you; those experts will spot you in a heartbeat when you get close.”
“... True.”
Yu Sheng sighed, unable to argue against her point, and turned to tidy up the bowls and plates on the dining table.
Just as he did, he heard Elin yell behind him, “Put me back! I’m still leaning against the window!”
With a helpless sigh, he turned, lifted Elin off the windowsill, and grumbled, “Geez, what a hassle.”
“Then just hurry up and get me a real body! I could run off myself then,” the Elin in the painting looked up at Yu Sheng placing her back on the dining table and added, “I just feel we’ve gotten a bit more familiar today, so I’m asking again…”
At this, Yu Sheng's mouth twitched slightly.
During their previous discussion about “escape plans,” Elin said that they weren’t quite familiar yet, so they should wait until they got to know each other better before working together.
He hadn’t realized how flexible her understanding of “familiarity” was.
“Let’s talk about this later. I have so much to do right now; at least wait until I’m done with this wave…”
“Sure, fine,” Elin replied readily, though a bit disappointed as she nodded, “Just don’t forget!”
After a moment of silence, she watched Yu Sheng clear the table and then asked, “What are you planning to do next? Preparing to go find those flyers?”
“You really have a thing for telephone poles, don’t you?” Yu Sheng shot her a glare. “I’m going upstairs to sleep! After all this, I’m exhausted!”
Elin made an “oh” sound and pointed at the television across from the painting.
“Can you fix the TV first? Suddenly it has no signal, and I can’t watch anything…”
Yu Sheng: “…”
After a moment, he let out a particularly heavy sigh.
Having spent such a short time with this chattering companion, he was already starting to miss his carefree and happy solitary life.
(End of Chapter)