"Martial Aunt! Martial Aunt! How does it taste?"
At this moment, Junze had already lost his earlier composure. He looked at Shenhe with full anticipation.
Shenhe raised her head and glanced at him, but did not speak.
She continued eating slowly, chewing, tasting.
"????"
Junze looked at her, confused.
Could it be that it was so delicious that she did not even want to speak?
Thinking this, a sense of pride rose in his heart.
As expected of me.
But Junze clearly overlooked one problem.
The task [Divine Maiden and Cuisine] had not triggered any notification, which meant he had not successfully mastered a dish.
In the end, the "dragon beard noodles" were eaten bit by bit by Shenhe.
Junze cupped his cheeks with both hands and asked expectantly,
"Martial Aunt? Can you tell me now?"
Shenhe looked at Junze and said simply,
"Bad."
"Huh?!"
Junze's expression froze.
"W what?"
He could not believe his ears.
"It feels even more bitter and harder to swallow than Qingxin or Violetgrass."
As she said that, Shenhe's face showed a trace of confusion, as if she was still recalling the taste.
"It makes one question whether this is even noodles."
"Heh… heh… I see…"
In an instant, Junze turned gray.
As expected, when the diner was Shenhe, one had to be prepared for blunt honesty.
"But Martial Aunt, why did you finish it?"
Junze asked with his last bit of hope.
Shenhe looked at the empty bowl and said,
"I am used to cultivation. No matter how unpleasant the food, I can swallow it. Or perhaps this is also a form of training."
"Enough, enough, stop talking, please stop."
Junze covered his face, completely ashamed.
His first time cooking had been so bad that it was treated as cultivation.
Junze wanted to cry.
If his master Ganyu ate this, she might develop food aversion.
Am I a kitchen disaster?
"Did I say something wrong?"
Seeing Junze's sad expression, Shenhe felt a little uncertain.
Junze sighed helplessly, collected the bowl and chopsticks, and said,
"Martial Aunt, you did not say anything wrong. It is just that my cooking skills are not good enough."
He felt a bit discouraged.
It seemed he was not a genius in cooking.
Damn it.
He also wanted to make glowing dishes.
Shenhe looked at Junze's back and fell silent for a moment.
Then she stood up and walked to his side.
"Martial Aunt, let's just go to Wanmin Restaurant… huh?"
Junze suddenly felt a soft body hugging him.
"Martial Aunt?"
He called out in confusion.
Why did she suddenly hug him?
Was this something she would do?
"The books say that hugging can comfort people. Is that correct?"
Shenhe's calm voice sounded beside his ear.
Her embrace was light and a little stiff.
She seemed worried that she might be doing it wrong.
After all, she knew that her way of interacting with the human world was different from ordinary people.
She was not sure whether what she read in books was correct.
This comfort instantly swept away Junze's gloom.
If his master was the gentle and soft type,
then his Martial Aunt was the kind that was a bit slow and adorably clueless.
"Mm, I feel properly comforted by Martial Aunt."
Junze's tone became lively again.
"Then, should I keep cooking in the future?"
Shenhe looked at the bowl that had already been placed in the sink. There seemed to be a faint trace of reluctance in her eyes.
Junze reminded her,
"Then… Martial Aunt, are you still willing to eat? It might still taste really bad."
After all, he had no confidence that he could improve his cooking in just a day or two.
His current body already made things difficult.
And cooking itself was troublesome.
"Mm, that's fine."
Shenhe nodded.
"Alright! Then Aze will keep working hard!"
Junze rolled up his sleeves again, showing his determination.
Seeing that Junze had recovered his mood, Shenhe let go of him.
She looked at her own arms and thought quietly.
So this is what a hug feels like…
"Martial Aunt, go sit down. I'll try making something simpler."
Junze hopped back onto the stool by the stove.
"Mm."
Shenhe nodded and returned to her seat.
Watching Junze busy himself, she recalled the taste of the noodles from earlier.
For a moment, that bitter and unpleasant taste seemed to return to her tongue.
But…
"Why does the taste of that bowl of noodles feel like it's fading?"
Shenhe murmured softly.
For some reason, the one taste she had remembered for many years now seemed to be replaced by that bowl of noodles that had no redeeming qualities other than being bad.
"Strange… but this is fine too."
Shenhe felt that even if the noodles were terrible, it was still… good.
She remembered it.
She liked it.
[Story Quest: Divine Maiden and Cuisine]
[Reward: 300 Primogems, issued]
[Note: Host is impressive. Going against the norm and making Shenhe remember a terrible taste. Excellent]
[Updating quest…]
[New objective: Make Shenhe remember the taste of good food, not bad food]
[No exploiting system loopholes]
At that moment, Junze's hand trembled while cooking.
He could feel the heavy sarcasm.
"System, you—"
Junze cursed under his breath.
He did not feel good taking those Primogems at all.
After that, Junze began making very simple dishes, like fried eggs.
Although they tasted decent and earned him small amounts of Primogems, Shenhe no longer remembered them.
Just like that, Junze kept experimenting.
"What… are you two doing?"
Suddenly, a very aggrieved voice came from the doorway.
"Huh?"
Junze froze and looked toward the door.
Shenhe also turned her head.
They saw Ganyu standing at the kitchen entrance, looking at them with a pitiful expression.
Her right hand was gripping the doorframe tightly, making Junze worry that she might break it.
But looking at her like this…
Why did it feel like he got caught doing something wrong?
That made no sense.
He was the one cooking.
And honestly, he still did not dare to eat his own food.
"Martial Aunt, forgive me."
Junze apologized silently in his heart.
"He is cooking for me."
Shenhe stood up and answered calmly.
"Cooking? Hehe… so that's how it is."
Ganyu smiled sweetly after hearing that.
"Aze has never cooked for Master before."
"Master didn't even know Aze could cook."
"Aze really likes Martial Aunt, doesn't he?"
After those three soft sentences, the light in Ganyu's eyes dimmed slightly.
"!!!"
This is bad.
Seeing Ganyu like this, Junze instantly panicked.
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