Li Ao hesitated as he made his way to the dining hall for dinner, but he did not see Han Yanyan there.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"She said she didn’t want to eat the long-frozen expired meat. She only ordered porridge and vegetables and asked me to bring it to her room," the system replied.
Did she not want to see him? Li Ao felt a pang of regret; he shouldn’t have lost his temper with her. What she said was not about him and his mother; it was about the life that she was supposed to have.
This life had been forcibly altered by him.
Li Ao casually ordered some food and asked, "Did she download the drama series? Has she watched it? Did she like it?"
“She spent the entire afternoon in her room watching soap operas. According to facial expression analysis, it cannot be said that she liked them,” the system responded. “It cannot be said that she disliked them either; her expressions were very flat, almost devoid of any nuance.”
Yes, she had that "indifferent" expression, as if she saw through everything.
Li Ao suddenly began to understand the frustration that Yao Chen had felt. Back then, Yao Chen had been so angry that he had bitten her shoulder until it bled, likely because he was driven mad by her "indifferent" demeanor.
The food was quickly served. Unlike natural cooking, the high-speed cooker used laser heating, finishing the cooking process in a few seconds.
The food Li Ao ordered today was the same as what he ordered yesterday. Most of the time, he ate the same kinds of food.
He truly had little desire or preference when it came to food, clothing, housing, or travel. When he was young, his mother was busy with work. She would cook a large basin of food, and he would simply serve himself a portion each day until he was full. Every day eating the same food, the taste grew worse by the day. Until his taste buds became numb, finishing one basin of food was just right.
Speaking of which, the food from the cooker was much better than what he ate when he was a child. He lived in solitude, alone, and eating such food every day did not feel bad at all.
Until he tasted the food made by Han Yanyan.
A living woman personally cooking and carefully preparing the food awakened his dormant taste buds and desires.
Suddenly, as Li Ao looked at the perfectly roasted steak on his plate, he lost his appetite.
Han Yanyan's dinner consisted of light porridge and side dishes. After dinner, she stayed in her room, turning on dozens of screens with various soap operas.
The plots could be called cliché, but Han Yanyan ignored these stories. She primarily sought to observe the details of people's lives and some values from the dramas. Overall, there was little difference in values compared to her hometown. Different dramas from various star domains and countries had some subtle distinctions between them.
For instance, the drama "Domineering Commander" from the Yamin Empire, Harkling’s homeland, continuously spoke of the bossy starship commander and "my" melodramatic love story. Yet, it subtly communicated the values of "loyalty." Loyalty to the nobility, lords, and the royal family’s inviolable supremacy.
Controlling people’s hearts was merely that set of ideas.
Han Yanyan nibbled on her dessert and smiled faintly.
Li Ao had granted her permission to use the atomic synthesizer, and she did not hold back, transforming her room entirely.
This had originally been a standard single room, small in size. Upon entering, to the left was a cupboard, and to the right was a small two-person sofa with a tea table. Inside the room, one side had a plain square single bed, while the other side featured a desk. The desk was quite spacious, wedging itself against two walls. On the front wall was a porthole that revealed the starry sky, while the side wall had a movable mirror, which Han Yanyan had smashed before.
Now, everything had been removed based on Han Yanyan’s requests to the system's robots.
Now, underneath the porthole stood a large bed that took up the entire area of the original "single bed + desk." Near the foot of the bed, a new sofa and tea table were placed, and even decorative curtains hung over the porthole. The entire room had turned from a single dormitory into an exquisite boudoir, with comfort and aesthetics beyond compare.
Han Yanyan leaned back on the sofa, watching the screens, receiving messages with effortless ease.
Li Ao Parker’s uniquely formulated genetic enhancer was truly no exaggeration.
Just then, the system's electronic voice came from above: "Han Yanyan, the administrator requests you to go meet him."
"He doesn’t have a mouth himself?" Han Yanyan asked.
"The administrator commanded me to deliver this message," the system answered.
"Is he in a bad mood?" Han Yanyan teased.
"The administrator has experienced endocrine disruption and slowing since yesterday," the system reported seriously.
Han Yanyan put down her dessert. "Understood."
Following the system's instructions, she met Li Ao, who had a gloomy expression.
"Come here," he said darkly, "Let me show you how you ended up captured here."
Han Yanyan paused briefly before walking over to his side.
In front of Li Ao, countless light screens opened, densely stacked. He gazed at those screens and said, "About forty years ago, I began to release exploration vessels, and by now, I have sent out around a hundred thousand."
"These exploration vessels help me scout the universe. Of course, I have been constantly improving them."
"Over the years, I began the business of resurrecting the dead, needing builders. Not just anyone can become a builder; one would be lucky to find one or two among ten thousand people. I later studied this closely and discovered that those who can become builders have different active brain regions, and their brainwaves also differ from ordinary people."
"This made things convenient; I just need to search for specific brainwaves. That's how I discovered these builders."
"However, finding builders in economically developed areas is quite troublesome. One time, I brought in a man, a middle-aged man, who was a good builder. But he was also a businessman! He brought me a mountain of trouble."
"Why does a businessman's brain need to be so active?" Li Ao complained. "It made me pursued for so long."
"…." Han Yanyan had no words to respond. "That really was inconvenient for you. How about I apologize on his behalf?"
Li Ao snorted, ignoring her sarcasm. He swiped his finger, locking onto a screen.
The screens displayed various locations across the universe, some with civilizations and cities, while others were barren and desolate. Li Ao focused on a planet that appeared very primitive.
The exploration vessel quickly locked onto a beast.
This beast resembled a yak but moved with remarkable speed and sported fearsome sharp tusks.
Li Ao showcased the beast to Han Yanyan from multiple angles for a full minute. Once he felt she grasped the beast's ferocity, he said, "Take a good look."
With his command, a white light enveloped the beast, just as it had with Han Yanyan when she was driving.
The beast disappeared from its primitive land, and the screen shifted aside, revealing another screen. It showed the once free-roaming beast now trapped within an iron cage. The uneasy beast roared, violently crashing against the cage.
But then, a current surged through it, and the massive creature collapsed.
Familiar robots rushed in — thanks to these robots, Han Yanyan could infer that this beast must be somewhere on this spaceship. It was captured using this long-distance transmission technology just as Han Yanyan had been.
"Don’t close your eyes; keep watching," Li Ao said ominously.
Thus, Han Yanyan watched as those robots worked collaboratively to skin it, strip the bones, and cut the meat. Large chunks of meat were sliced into smaller pieces, and once trimmed, the meat was rapidly frozen by cold light and sent to the cold storage.
Within a minute, the once majestic beast was reduced to nothing but a skeletal frame, completely clean, with even the innards processed.
"I advise you to obey. Otherwise, this will be your fate. What is a stasis pod anyway? If you make me angry again, I could just as easily skin and chop you," Li Ao coldly stated. "Han Yanyan, do you understand?"
Understood.
Han Yanyan grasped Li Ao's sleeve, pointing at the screen. "Quick, make them stop! Don’t throw away those bones; save them for me to make soup tomorrow!"
"Hey!" Li Ao yanked his sleeve back, flushing.
"Quickly!"
Reluctantly, Li Ao moved his fingers, directing the robots to quickly preserve the leg bones Han Yanyan had pointed out and send them to cold storage.
Han Yanyan was dissatisfied. "Next time, don’t trim them so clean. It should all be pure meat. Remember to leave some ribs."
Li Ao: “...”
Yawning, Han Yanyan said, "You should wake up early tomorrow. I’ll make fresh meat wontons for breakfast. It’s late now, so I’m going to sleep."
With that, she left.
Li Ao gazed at her departing figure, pondering for a while before straightening his back: “Scaring her seems to work well; she’s starting to please me with food.”
"Yes, master," the system replied.
Wontons could also be prepared using the cooker. Li Ao remembered eating them before; the taste and texture were average.
But the ones made by Han Yanyan, he couldn’t help but feel excited about.
It's hard for someone used to staying up late to suddenly adjust their routine. Plus, he was thinking about the breakfast that Han Yanyan was meticulously preparing for him the next morning, making him a bit anxious and unable to sleep.
The next morning, he naturally overslept. After decades of a carefree lifestyle, wanting to suddenly stabilize his routine was immensely difficult. Li Ao felt like banging his head against the wall.
"Where is she? What is she doing?" he asked.
"Warning: Han Yanyan is currently in the kitchen with a harmful weapon! Repeat, warning: Han Yanyan is currently in the kitchen, holding a harmful weapon!" the system dutifully informed him.
Li Ao’s eyes lit up.
The dining hall had transformed dramatically.
The previous simple dining table was replaced with a quaint wooden table, dressed with a beautiful tablecloth. The cushions on the chairs matched the tablecloth and had a rustic, feminine vibe. It was clear that a woman had meticulously arranged this.
There was even a lovely glass vase on the table, though it was empty without any flowers.
Li Ao felt grateful that this time he was walking in wearing a clean white shirt, looking handsome, rather than barging in with a gun like last time. At least this time, it didn’t look so foolish.
As he approached the kitchen door, it slid open, and a delicious aroma wafted out.
"What is that smell?" he asked, sniffing.
"Bone broth," Han Yanyan answered, busy at work.
Given that this woman held a "harmful weapon" in her hands, which might not kill him but could render him disabled like last time, the astute Li Ao wisely only stood at the kitchen door, firmly refusing to step inside.
"Why did you come so early?" Han Yanyan said without turning, "It will take a while."
She was using natural cooking tools, stir-frying with open flames, which took much longer than using laser cooking.
But Li Ao was willing to wait.
Han Yanyan glanced back to see him standing in the doorway and yelled, “What are you standing there for? There’s smoke! Go over there!”
Li Ao replied dumbly, “Oh,” and returned to the quaint dining table.
Once he left, the kitchen door closed. He paused, quietly commanding the system to open that door again and keep it open.
This way, he could sit at the dining table and see Han Yanyan bustling around in the kitchen. Perhaps for convenience, she was wearing a very simple and homey-looking dress that appeared comfortable.
Li Ao felt his mind growing hazy. He immediately opened a screen on the dining table, pulling up a calculation he had not yet completed and continued working on it. The flow of data and complex calculations quickly calmed him down.
This was Han Yanyan’s tactic, he thought.
This set of tricks was not new; he had seen it before. He had been closely monitoring Yao Chen's world and knew that Han Yanyan used such methods to charm him.
He had witnessed countless times how Yao Chen, a fierce and aggressive man, returned home to lean against the kitchen door, gazing at the busy woman inside, his face softening with unfathomable tenderness.
Outside of his world, Li Ao thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Duke of Klin's plight.
She was a cunning and deceitful woman skilled at playing with people's hearts. Every man who fell for her schemes was a fool.
The clever Li Ao Parker would never let her use such tricks on him.
Now fully calm, Li Ao felt extremely clear-headed. He could see through everything and would never fall for her deceptions. Thinking like this, he subconsciously lifted his gaze.
Han Yanyan had a small dish filled with some broth, tasted it, and then hurriedly put the dish down, fanning her mouth with her hand.
Ah, did she burn herself? Li Ao’s heart twisted, and his gaze remained fixed on her figure.
In this world, there were plenty of people who, knowing there was a pit ahead, still took the leap.