Li Ming was carrying the medicine upstairs when Himeko grabbed him and pulled him back the moment he turned around. Seeing Himeko rarely showing such a girlish side, Li Ming couldn't bring himself to refuse. (I should look for some old pictures of Himeko. She's really pretty. If I find any, I'll post them in the comments.)
"Um, today's incident happened because of me, and, um, you haven't had dinner either. How about coming to my place to eat?" Himeko pinched the hem of her clothes.
Seriously, she felt like her brain had definitely been kicked by a donkey. Yesterday, they had only just met. Today, they had not only gone to see a movie together, but now she actually wanted to invite him into her apartment. What she hadn't expected was that Li Ming, that bastard, actually agreed.
Ryusuke Murata: Have you ever seen a star shatter?
___*(gritted teeth)/#____
Li Ming had only agreed because Himeko looked so out of it. What if something happened to her later?
He would absolutely never admit that he had decided to mooch a meal off Himeko because of that exorbitant consultation fee. Absolutely not!
Himeko's mind was exploding, but since they were already here, she couldn't exactly throw him out!
Since he was here, she might as well make the best of it. Fine, whatever. She was so clever and smart—what was there to be afraid of?
After thinking it over, Himeko shut the door, though she still kept a certain distance from Li Ming.
Li Ming looked around Himeko's apartment. Honestly, it was quite clean, and the sense of space and comfort was through the roof. Three single sofas stood behind the coffee table. For an apartment with one bedroom, one living room, and one kitchen, Himeko had positioned the dining table very well. It neither made newcomers feel awkward nor made the place seem crowded.
Still, he was too embarrassed to enter Himeko's bedroom. As he sat on the sofa and looked around, he saw several astronomy magazines and newspapers on the table, while the TV cabinet displayed several spaceship models.
Li Ming had been looking around when the sound of a bowl shattering suddenly came from the kitchen. He hurried in.
He immediately saw Himeko swaying as she crouched down, with broken pieces of a bowl scattered across the floor. Li Ming quickly pulled her up. Looking at her state, who knew whether she would cut her hand while cleaning up? And if she cut her finger, should he lick it or suck on it hard?
No, no, what am I thinking?!
"Are you okay, Himeko?" Though she clearly did not look okay, Himeko swayed as Li Ming helped her up. "I'm fine. I was just careless."
Although she looked carefree, Himeko still felt embarrassed. She felt she would never need to rent an apartment again—she could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with her toes right now.
Seeing Himeko in this state, Li Ming no longer expected to get a good meal from her. He helped her into the living room, cleaned up the floor with a broom, then looked through what ingredients Himeko had.
Li "Amazing Cook" Ming was online!
What, you said my cooking was terrible? What a joke. I watched every episode of Valkyrie's Restaurant, okay? Everyone who ate there said it was good.
Li Ming then looked at the many ingredients he had seen in the Elysian Realm but had never cooked himself. In the end, he chose eggs. Sure enough, the dish he knew best was still egg fried rice. After all, it was a dish he couldn't forget across two lifetimes.
But Li Ming found potatoes, green onions, flour, even flatbread, garlic, and sesame oil, yet he just couldn't find any rice?
What, did my brother eat all your rice or something? Where's your rice?
In the end, Li Ming was too lazy to ask Himeko. Looking at the ingredients available, he thought about it. How about potato balls?
To be honest, he had only seen Hua make potato balls in the Elysian Realm. He had never tried making them himself, but the instructions were all there, so what more did he need?
Li Ming had always held the highest expectations for his cooking skills.
Alright, alright, Little Sunflower Mom's Classroom—ah, no, Valkyrie's Restaurant was now in session.
For potato balls, first peel and slice the potatoes, then steam them. Prepare the sauce according to taste. Considering the difference between his and Himeko's preferences, Li Ming made two kinds of sauce.
Pour hot oil over them, then add sesame oil.
Mash the potatoes vigorously into mashed potatoes, fine and smooth like a maiden's skin. Add a little salt, then potato starch, in small amounts several times.
Add flour. While kneading the dough, use inch force and knead it into smooth little balls.
Then take out the premium Heavenly Fire Greatsword, boil some water, and toss in the little balls.
When all the balls floated up, scoop them out and soak them in cold water for five minutes. Pour on the prepared sauce, then mix.
The fragrant potato balls were ready.
After bustling around for roughly an hour, Himeko, who had been in the living room, had finally recovered somewhat. Following the aroma, she drifted into the kitchen.
"What is this? It smells so good!" Himeko floated in and saw many irregular dough balls in a bowl. They did not look particularly appealing, but they truly smelled wonderful.
"Potato balls. I made two kinds of sauce. You can see whether you prefer the spicy one or the non-spicy one." Li Ming carried two small dishes of sauce to the dining table, then brought over a huge bowl full of potato balls.
Himeko immediately darted over to the table. But after Li Ming sat down, whether to maintain her image or for some other reason, Himeko tidied herself up and began acting prim and proper.
Then she reached out, picked up a little ball with her chopsticks, dipped it in the non-spicy sauce, and took a small bite. The fragrance of garlic and green onion burst across her mouth. Though she was not used to the garlic flavor, Himeko still found it delicious. Soft, chewy, and very appetizing.
But then Himeko tried the spicy sauce. It was indeed much spicier by comparison, but it was not as harsh as wasabi to Himeko. After tasting it, her eyes lit up at once.
Li Ming had originally thought the flavor would not be that good, and the appearance had not turned out as expected either. Yet after he finished cleaning the kitchen and sat by the dining table, he found that more than half of the potato balls were already gone.
Li Ming immediately thought, Oh no, I was too slow!
He hurriedly pounced on the table. After a final whirlwind feast, the two of them finished the entire large bowl of potato balls.
"Ahh, they were so delicious!" Himeko had been quite ladylike before, but after eating, she slumped against her chair without a shred of composure. "No, you have to teach me how to make them!"
"This is easy!" Li Ming picked his teeth. He actually felt only seven-tenths full, but the flavor really was good. Valkyrie's Restaurant had another episode it could film.
Himeko glanced at Li Ming as he lounged comfortably in his chair. Earlier, when Li Ming had carried her on his back, she had not noticed it, but now she could clearly see a pale red mark about three centimeters long on his right wrist. She did not know whether it was her imagination, but she felt that mark was glowing.
After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Li Ming, is your hand okay?"
Himeko's sudden question made Li Ming jolt. He looked at his right hand and, sure enough, the mark that had originally been only a faint line had now grown another two or three centimeters. It also looked much more active.
But it had not spread, and Li Ming did not feel any discomfort, so he relaxed. Still, since Himeko had asked, Li Ming thought about it and chose to hide the truth. "It's nothing. Probably just a scratch from bumping into something today. No big deal!"
"Didn't you say that thing today might have been related to some experiment? What if it's an infection?" Seeing Li Ming's expression just now, Himeko felt certain he was lying. "And when that monster appeared this afternoon, didn't a lot of people get infected and turn into monsters?"
"Well, didn't we just get checked out? Didn't the doctor say there was nothing wrong?" Having his lie exposed made Li Ming a little embarrassed, but he still naturally organized his words and replied.
But Himeko was not so easy to fool. "But what if it's some special infection, or something even the doctor hasn't seen before?"
Seeing that Himeko would not let it go, Li Ming had no choice but to stop brushing her off. Still, he did not come clean. Instead, he said, "How about this? Tomorrow, I'll ask the guards what this is, alright?"
"I'll go with you!" Himeko had no other motives. Mainly, Li Ming had been wary at first glance, but then he had acted like he did not care. Himeko figured that if she did not go with him, Li Ming would probably forget all about it tomorrow.
Li Ming stared into Himeko's eyes, hoping to pressure her into giving up that way. But Himeko was not intimidated in the slightest and glared right back at him.
Feeling helpless, Li Ming could only agree. Then the two of them drifted into talking about hobbies. Li Ming glanced at the spaceship models on the TV cabinet and asked, "Himeko, do you really like spaceships?"
"Yeah. Don't you think exploring space is incredibly interesting?" Himeko rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window, her eyes full of longing. Only at this moment did Himeko feel a little like a fifteen-year-old girl. "What if there are aliens? Or civilizations that haven't been discovered yet..."
Li Ming quietly listened as Himeko talked about her thoughts. Looking at the red-haired girl, he felt that, at this moment, perhaps protecting this small dream of hers was the most important thing.
"...Once humanity enters space, we'll have a much broader future!" Himeko spread her arms excitedly after finishing, as though she wanted to embrace the sky. Only then did she realize Li Ming was watching beside her.
Her ears turned red, and she pretended to be angry. "You're so shameless! You made me talk all by myself, but you didn't say anything!"
"Interrupting someone's beautiful dream isn't polite behavior!" Li Ming smiled. He felt much more relaxed inside. Looking at the puffed-up Himeko before him, he became distracted for a moment.
"I don't care. I want to hear about you. Why did you choose mechanical engineering?" Himeko began acting cute. How could Li Ming withstand that? He told her everything.
But Himeko's question made Li Ming, who had already been distracted, drift even further away. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe it's because I wanted to see Mom and Dad again someday."
Hearing Li Ming say that, Himeko's expression changed.
"Dad used to fix all sorts of novel things that no one in the village had ever seen. Ever since I was little, I thought he was really cool. Later, Dad no longer had time to come home, so I thought that if I became even better than Dad, maybe Mom and Dad would come back..."
Li Ming paused mid-sentence. He suddenly felt his mind become much lighter, as though a burden had been lifted. Coming back to himself, he smiled and said, "And then I became what I am now!"
Himeko looked at him with an extremely deep, complicated gaze.
Under that gaze, Li Ming felt something was not quite right. And how had a fifteen-year-old kid managed to embed a pie chart into her eyes?!
But Himeko seemed to realize that her gaze was strange too. After restraining herself a little, she asked again, "But you're amazing! When you fought that monster today, you weren't scared at all. And that outfit you wore was so cool! Oh, right, when did you change clothes? We were in that box at the time, and neither of us had anything in our hands."
Oh no. Li Ming sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said, "Well, I changed at the hospital. It just wasn't very convenient otherwise."
Himeko looked at him suspiciously. "Really?"
"Truer than gold!" Li Ming quickly raised his hand and made a four-finger gesture. "I swear, if I'm lying, may lightning strike me and heaven punish me!"
Still, as he swore, Li Ming muttered inwardly, There probably isn't anything like a God of Five Thunders here, right?
With that thought, Li Ming immediately felt much more confident.
Seeing him swear, Himeko did not say anything further. However, she still asked happily, "By the way, you actually ran up to the rooftop in just a few steps. That was the fourth floor!"
As she spoke, Himeko's eyes began shining. "And you could fight that monster directly with your fists, like it was nothing. Are you in some kind of special unit or something? Like Kallen from Kallen Fantasy?"
Li Ming hurriedly waved his hands. Come on, was he evolving toward becoming Batman now? The title would be, "Honkai: Unable to Survive in Shenzhou, I Go to America to Become the Inch Force Hero"?
Inch Force Hero sounded way too awful.
Hearing Li Ming deny it, the light in Himeko's eyes did not dim. Instead, it was as if someone had installed LED lights in them as she looked at Li Ming, sparkling brightly. "Then you're an alien!"
"If I said I was a little monster from outer space, specially here to beat up Ultraman, would you believe me?" Li Ming asked helplessly. Yet Himeko seriously nodded. "I believe you!"
"You've really got me beat!" Li Ming slapped his forehead. He felt that if he kept talking, Himeko would really be fooled into losing all sense of direction. He could only say helplessly, "I'm just an ordinary civilian, not some alien. I just know a little Shenzhou martial arts."
"Really?"
"Really!"
After getting a definite answer from Li Ming, the light in Himeko's eyes immediately vanished. She looked like Canned Food after someone had stolen his silvervine.
Li Ming had originally felt a little sorry for her and wanted to comfort her, but Himeko adjusted herself very quickly. Seeing Li Ming's outstretched hand, she looked puzzled. "What are you doing?"
"N-Nothing." Li Ming awkwardly withdrew the hand that had wanted to vigorously rub her head.
But Himeko still looked at him with eyes that made him seem very much like a hentai, and the two of them fell into an awkward silence.
Then Himeko seemed to suddenly think of something. "Oh, right! You're so impressive, join my club!"
"Your club?" Li Ming was confused. Himeko seemed to be only a freshman. Wasn't it a bit early for her to start her own club?
But Himeko excitedly told him, "Yeah, yeah, my club! I'm planning to create an Extraterrestrial Civilization Research club. Come be one of my members!"
It sounded pretty good, but Li Ming still asked, "Well, it's not impossible. But if you're starting a club, how many members have you recruited so far?"
Then Himeko fell silent. Li Ming looked at her embarrassed expression, and in the end, she awkwardly held up two fingers.
"What?! There are only the two of us?" Li Ming suddenly felt agreeing to Himeko's condition had been a mistake. He instinctively wanted to refuse, but before he could say the words, Himeko shoved him out. "I don't care! You already promised me, so no take-backs! If you go back on your word, I'll bite you to death!"
Then Himeko angrily pushed Li Ming out, slammed the door shut behind him, and left Li Ming standing outside with a face full of black lines.
Before you continue