The Grilled Fish Tragedy

"Where are we going to cook the fish?"

Chen Ming asked the question on his mind. Hearing this, the three girls exchanged glances, and Dong Qianqiu suggested:

"How about... we go to the cafeteria and borrow their kitchen?"

"Probably not. It's lunchtime, and the cafeteria is busy right now."

Hearing this, Chen Ming dismissed the suggestion. After a moment of thought, he cast his gaze toward the small grove and said:

"Let's go to the small grove. We'll treat it like a picnic."

"The small grove? How are you going to cook there?"

Lan Mengqin questioned him. There was no way there would be kitchenware in the small grove, but Chen Ming didn't even turn his head as he replied:

"I have kitchenware with me."

"You carry kitchenware around? Are you some kind of veteran foodie?"

Lan Mengqin was taken aback to hear that he carried cooking tools on his person. The four of them arrived at the small grove one after another.

They watched as Chen Ming waved his hand, and a stove, furnace, pots, pans, and utensils all appeared. Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin were deeply shocked.

"Did you move the entire kitchen over here?"

"Almost forgot about you."

At this moment, Chen Ming looked at Di Qiu'er, who was standing to the side ready to help, and pulled out two fishing rods.

"Hey! Chen Ming, what are you doing!"

Following Di Qiu'er's exclamation, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu watched as Chen Ming used the two fishing rods to hook Di Qiu'er and tie her directly to a large tree.

Di Qiu'er struggled wildly on the tree, her feet dangling in the air as she kicked and thrashed. The two girls stared at this confusing behavior with question marks all over their faces. What was he doing?

"Don't you two let her down for now, or you'll bear the consequences."

After clapping his hands and warning the two not to untie Di Qiu'er, Chen Ming turned to prepare the fish.

"Uh..."

Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu didn't know what to do for a moment, unsure what kind of game he was playing.

"Qianqiu, Mengqin, let me down! Don't listen to this jerk's nonsense! There's no way there are such serious consequences!"

Di Qiu'er protested indignantly, as if she had been wronged. Chen Ming turned a deaf ear; this all went back to the second night after he brought her home.

Chen Ming was deep-frying chicken legs, and Di Qiu'er was helping him process them. He would fry one and eat one.

After two hours of hard work, Master Chen successfully ended up with a pot of used oil, a basin full of grease, a full Di Qiu'er, and a belly full of anger.

Ever since then, Chen Ming wouldn't let Di Qiu'er into the kitchen. No one could stop this gluttonous girl, so he had to tie her up nearby first.

"Should we... let her down?"

"I have a feeling it might be really serious..."

Lan Mengqin asked Dong Qianqiu, who was also feeling hesitant. "Bear the consequences"—it sounded like a very serious warning...

"By the way, why did your brother tie you up?"

Lan Mengqin asked. Di Qiu'er paused for a moment, then shook her head and played dumb.

"That? ...I don't know. Anyway, hurry up and let me down first. I promise you guys won't have any trouble. If something happens, I'll take the blame!"

On the other side, Chen Ming raised his hand, and an exquisite, beautiful light blue longsword appeared in his palm—a Diamond Sword of fine quality.

The moment Chen Ming drew his sword, the thirty-plus fish on the cutting board were instantly descaled. His stylish technique left Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin stunned.

Scaling, gutting, cleaning, and then heating the oil in the pot—because there were so many fish, Chen Ming prepared them in many different ways.

Steamed, pan-fried, grilled, deep-fried—he did it all. Now that Chen Ming had an excellent-level cooking bonus, he could perfectly bring out the freshness of the ingredients and the energy within the spirit beast meat.

"It smells so good."

"I didn't expect him to actually be this good at it."

Smelling the aroma, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu felt their mouths watering uncontrollably.

Soon, various dishes were finished. The fragrant Succubus Grilled Fish were placed to the side, and Di Qiu'er immediately struggled and said:

"You can let me down now."

Hearing this, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu thought about it. It seemed like they were about to eat, so they went over and let her down.

A moment later, under the watchful eyes of Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu, the final six fish came out of the pot.

The two girls helped carry the plates over to the mat to start the picnic. However, the next second, when they saw the thirty-plus empty plates, they were no longer calm.

"Where are the fish?!"

"Over there."

Chen Ming gestured for the two girls to look in the other direction. They turned their heads and saw Di Qiu'er just finishing off the last Boiled Black Bass.

As their gazes met, the scene fell instantly silent. The two girls stared blankly at Di Qiu'er.

Wait, no? How did she finish over thirty fish in five minutes? In an instant, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu finally understood why Chen Ming had tied Di Qiu'er up.

As expected, a biological brother is never wrong; the two of them could only say that she was tied up perfectly! Tie it in a dead knot!

"Uh... is there any more? I'm not full yet..."

Di Qiu'er smiled awkwardly, then set her sights on the six plates of fish in the three's hands. Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu immediately stepped back, shielding their lunch. You've already eaten over thirty fish and you're still not full?! Are you kidding me!

"See? Letting this girl down is like throwing a pig into a granary."

"...No wonder you tied her up... My mistake... I shouldn't have let her down..."

"We should have listened to your advice..."

Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu both regretted letting her down, and the two of them paid a painful price for it, losing over thirty fish.

Two minutes later, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu worked together to tie Di Qiu'er up again, lest she sneakily eat the last of the grilled fish.

The three sat on the picnic mat eating the grilled fish, and after one bite, their eyes lit up.

"Delicious!"

"Your cooking is great!"

"Thanks."

Chen Ming was quite pleased with the praise, but as for the thieving Di Qiu'er, her punishment was to only be able to watch them eat.

Just as they were savoring the delicious fish, Chen Ming had already finished his two portions of grilled fish and even pulled out a few homemade sandwiches to eat.

There was no helping it; three bars of satiety were not easy to fill. Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu saw Chen Ming starting to show off his appetite and were both left speechless, only able to say that they were indeed siblings... their appetites were both heaven-defying...

The two looked at Chen Ming and Di Qiu'er; the stomachs of these two were like bottomless pits, and they could polish off rice by the basin.

Finally, Di Qiu'er was let down, and she ate plenty more food to fill her stomach.

After lunch came the nap. Chen Ming went off to practice his swordsmanship, while Di Qiu'er grew sleepy after eating her fill and fell asleep with her head on Dong Qianqiu's lap.

"Want to spar? I'm really not convinced by your position as the top student in the grade."

Lan Mengqin walked up to Chen Ming and issued a challenge. Hearing this, he nodded slightly, and the gorgeous golden longsword in his hand transformed into a wooden sword of inferior quality.

Dong Qianqiu watched the commotion from the side. Dong Qianqiu was third in the grade, her own stats only behind Chen Ming and Lan Mengqin.

The cultivation talent of a 100,000-year Demon Soul Great White Shark in human form was naturally formidable, and her own stats were certainly higher than her peers.

The top three in the grade—one cheater, one pay-to-win player, and one big shot starting over—had all gathered at this small Tiantou Technology Academy; it really was like a gathering of immortals.

ps: The second update for February 24th, totaling 4,000 words.