Cooking

Cisco said, "So should I be looking forward to this hundred-thousand-dollar meal?"

Lin Li held coconut-flavored ice cream in his mouth, letting its faint coconut taste slowly melt on his tongue. The flavor was exquisite.

Breathing out a coconut-scented breath, he said with certainty, "Yes, look forward to it. Not just tonight—I ordered fresh ingredients for over half a year. Walmart will deliver them every day, and every evening, you can choose to join me in tasting cuisine from the East."

Cisco did not take it seriously. He was not particularly picky about food; Big Belly Burger was enough for him, and he could eat it for three straight weeks without getting tired of it. Lin Li greatly admired that. He had tried eating it four or five times in a row and felt like he could not stomach it anymore. It was not because he was full—he simply could not eat it any longer. What was that stuff? Dry and bland, with bread and meat that did not go together, topped with salad dressing and lettuce. The texture was terrible. As a result, he had developed an aversion to foreign food. He had no choice but to step in. You primitive people—Chinese cuisine would have you eating until you burst in minutes.

Cisco drove into the STAR Labs garage. Carrying Barry in a princess hold and hanging a large bag from his arm, Lin Li took the elevator with Cisco. Cisco bit into a Twizzler and carried a magazine toward the control room hall, while Lin Li carried Barry to the surgical ward, where Caitlin was already waiting.

He laid Barry flat on the hospital bed.

"Is there anything wrong with Barry's body?"

Caitlin asked as she hooked Barry up to a glucose drip to replenish his energy, set up monitoring equipment, and examined him.

Lin Li said, "No. He overexerted himself. Once he replenishes his energy, the energy in his body will repair the damaged cells."

Caitlin nodded and focused on examining Barry.

Lin Li continued, "Caitlin, are you free tonight?"

Caitlin paused, studying Lin Li warily. "What do you want?"

"I want to treat you to dinner, to thank—"

"No. I'm not free, Lin Li. I'm not going on a date with you. You're a good person, so give up already."

Caitlin firmly rejected him. My husband just died, and I'm in a terrible mood. I have no interest in accepting someone else.

For no apparent reason, he had received the good-guy card. Lin Li said, half amused and half exasperated, "Caitlin, listen. I am unwaveringly faithful to the person I love. One day, I will go back to see her and finish the proposal I never got to make."

"Also, I have no intention of pursuing you."

"I happened to buy some ingredients today. I wanted to invite you, Cisco, and Dr. Wells to a meal as thanks—thanks for helping me. I have no intention of pursuing you."

"Let me remind you seriously: I have no intention of pursuing you."

Lin Li raised the bag in his hand, as if to say, You really are overthinking this.

Caitlin's cheeks grew a little hot. With her fair skin, the blush on her face was especially obvious.

"Damn it, Lin Li, couldn't you have said everything at once? Get out now. Stop interfering with my treatment of Barry."

Caitlin angrily drove Lin Li out of the surgical ward. This was truly humiliating—humiliating beyond belief. Damn it, he had even seriously reminded her. If she could beat him, Caitlin would have wanted to slap him hard several times.

So was she coming or not? Had she agreed or refused?

With Lin Li's emotional intelligence, he could not make sense of Caitlin's mood. He felt that going back in might get him beaten, so he left the surgical ward and headed to the control room hall, where Wells happened to be.

"Dr. Wells, you're free tonight, right? I'm planning to make dinner to thank all of you, so you absolutely have to come!"

Having learned his lesson from Caitlin, Lin Li rattled it all off in one sincere, earnest breath.

Cisco took a bite of his Twizzler and added, "Doctor, you should go. This is a hundred-thousand-dollar meal—an expensive one. I'm looking forward to it."

Dr. Wells put on a flattered expression. "All... right. I can go home after dinner."

"Okay, I need to prepare dinner. Cisco, Walmart will be delivering some more things later. Call me when they arrive. Also, remember to invite Caitlin around six tonight."

After reminding Cisco, Lin Li returned to his residence in the living quarters.

His residence was no longer that tiny single room from before. That room was only meant as a temporary sleeping space for researchers who sometimes could not leave work or return home. Now that Lin Li lived at STAR Labs permanently, it was far too small.

The place he lived in now was about ninety square meters, with three bedrooms and a living room. Its overall metallic style was simple and minimalist, with hardly any decorations, making it feel a little cold.

After returning home, Lin Li put all the ice cream and desserts from the large bag into the refrigerator, then took out the beef, chicken, pork, and cleaned crucian carp from the bottom of the bag.

Speaking of fish, foreigners did not like eating fish. Or rather, they did not like things with bones or spines. Lin Li found the reason rather strange: they did not like spitting out bones or fishbones.

Yet Lin Li had actually found crucian carp at Walmart. As far as he knew, crucian carp had quite a lot of bones.

Foreigners also liked eating large chunks of meat when it came to chicken, pork, and beef. They did not like meat with bones that had to be spit out. He had originally planned to make sweet-and-sour ribs, but after noticing the dietary differences here, he changed the dish to sweet-and-sour pork tenderloin—meat without bones and with little flour.

As for the crucian carp, that was even easier. Deep-fry it until even the bones became crispy, then season it with a little chili and specially prepared soy sauce. Crispy on the outside and tender within, it would burst with savory fish flavor in the mouth with just a slight dip in the sauce, making it impossible to stop eating. It inevitably reminded Lin Li of all the times he and her had roamed the streets and alleys in search of delicious food. She had discovered this fried fish in a small alley. Later, to please his girlfriend, Lin Li ate it almost every day for several months, slowly befriending the owner until he successfully got into the kitchen to learn the craft.

Thinking of that, Lin Li's mood instantly darkened. With a bitter smile, he continued preparing the ingredients. Nearly every ingredient he handled reminded him of her.

The chicken he had bought was black-bone chicken, another of Lin Li's favorites. It was excellent for soup, nourishing yin, strengthening the kidneys, enriching the blood, replenishing essence, benefiting the liver, reducing heat, and restoring vitality. It could regulate the body's immune function and slow aging. Especially after her period, Lin Li cooked it for her every time, nourishing her until her complexion was rosy.

Not long after, a little over half an hour later, Cisco informed Lin Li that Walmart's delivery had arrived. At the same time, Barry woke up, and Lin Li invited him as well.

"Barry, are you free to stay for dinner tonight? We can celebrate your victory over a powerful enemy."

"No, Lin Li. I have to go back and let Joe know I'm safe. Tonight, I might have a talk with Joe."

Lin Li understood what it was about after thinking it over. It was just that after this incident, he did not know how Joe would treat Barry being The Flash.

So he wished him well. "Then all I can do is wish you good luck. Talk it out properly. Nothing is impossible to resolve."

"Okay, thank you, Lin Li."

After speaking with Barry, Lin Li went to move his large haul of desserts, ice cream, and various seasonings. Amazingly, in a foreign country, in another world, Lin Li had actually found Lao Gan Ma. It filled him with emotion.

Lin Li was from Guangdong and ate a wide variety of foods. There was no creature from north, south, east, or west that he dared not eat, except spicy food. Yet his girlfriend was from Sichuan and especially loved Lao Gan Ma. As a result, half the seasonings in their home had been various chili sauces. Several times during meals, his girlfriend would secretly tear open a piece of meat, pour chili sauce into the middle, close it back up, then lovingly place it in Lin Li's bowl. Faced with such an affectionate lover, Lin Li would swallow it in one bite every time, tears and snot streaming down his face in "gratitude." His girlfriend would always slap the table and burst into laughter as she watched him "cry with gratitude," while Lin Li would call her a vicious "Lao Gan Ma." The two of them would play and tease each other happily, and their dining table was always filled with laughter.

Every meal had been a joyous feast, full of delight and merriment.

Looking at the Lao Gan Ma, Lin Li's eyes grew a little moist as he remembered all those amusing moments from the past.