Hua Hua jolted and abruptly raised her head.
At some point, Chen Li had already walked over to her. He set a bowl of noodles down heavily on the table before her, making the rim tremble slightly.
"Look at you, singing again. Time to eat, baby." Chen Li looked at her expressionlessly, his tone so gentle it was like he was delivering a eulogy.
Hua Hua's mouth was still frozen in the exaggerated shape from her operatic singing. It took a full half-second before she managed to close it.
Then she stiffly lowered her head and looked at the contents of the enormous bowl before her. Cold sweat immediately broke out.
To be honest, the physical portion of this bowl of noodles was not actually that large. At most, it was enough to stuff an adult full. For an event billed as a "Big Eater Challenge," this portion could even be considered going easy on her.
But the problem was the noodles themselves.
Scalding crimson broth bubbled violently in the bowl. Thick chili oil coated every strand of noodle, dyeing them a dark red that made one's heart race.
Large chunks of mapo tofu were mixed among the noodles, every piece soaked through with an intense Sichuan pepper fragrance potent enough to induce hallucinations.
The steam rising from the bowl warped the air above it. The smell radiating from the entire bowl could no longer be described as merely "spicy"—it was closer to some chemical weapon undergoing its final critical reaction.
If this bowl of Mapo Tofu Ramen had a soul, that soul was probably screaming.
"Is that even something humans can eat?" Hua Hua's voice jumped an octave.
"Of course." Chen Li nodded, looking entirely forthright.
"If humans can eat that, I'll perform eating noodles upside down on the