Eel

This works! He wasn't picky!

Shen Rui'an stared unblinkingly as Su Tingbai prepared the King Crabs.

Watching Su Tingbai cook was honestly a pleasure. No matter what ingredients he handled, he did so with effortless skill, like putting on an artistic performance.

A-Ming immediately aimed the livestream camera at Su Tingbai, and the viewers finally got to see the King Crabs they had been eagerly awaiting.

Since the camera had been fixed in place earlier, they had only managed to see Su Tingbai finish grilling the chicken wings before carrying them out of frame. They vaguely heard him talking to Shen Rui'an, then could only watch Little Zhu and the others eat the wings.

Not until that pleasant voice mentioned King Crab.

[Honestly, the new guest's voice is completely my type.]

[King Crab? There really is some!]

[The commenter above, Su Tingbai is pretty capable. This isn't his first time preparing King Crab.]

[Where's the camera? I want to see the King Crab!]

As if he had heard the viewers' demands, the camera suddenly turned toward the King Crabs, which Su Tingbai was preparing.

One King Crab had already been dealt with halfway, while the other had not been touched yet. Both looked especially huge.

Even the livestream viewers were stunned.

[Holy crap! That thing is enormous!]

[There are two of them! How are they going to cook them?]

[Didn't you hear the new guest ordering dishes? Su Tingbai agreed to it too.]

[So Su Tingbai really treats the new guest well. He practically indulges his every whim?]

[Why do you keep calling him the new guest? Didn't Su Tingbai introduce him as Shen An'an?]

[Shen An, right? Anyway, he's called An'an.]

[If I remember right, didn't Su Tingbai say he was sick of King Crab and wouldn't make it again in the future? It hasn't even been three months since he said that, and he's eating it again?]

[That aged badly, hahaha.]

[Could it be that he only made it because Shen An'an ordered it?]

That viewer had hit the truth, but Su Tingbai's other fans refused to admit it.

After quickly preparing the King Crabs, Su Tingbai chopped off all six crab legs and placed them on the grill. He removed the shells from the remaining parts, picked out the meat, and planned to make fried rice with it.

Shen Rui'an squatted beside him, watching with rapt attention.

Su Tingbai could not focus entirely on preparing the ingredients. He kept getting distracted by Shen Rui'an. Seeing him squat there and recalling his earlier low blood sugar, he could not help worrying. He took a chair from behind him and set it down behind Shen Rui'an. "Sit in the chair."

"Thank you." Shen Rui'an obediently sat down. It was one of those portable folding chairs made for camping, the kind that would not make his butt hurt even after sitting for a long time.

"Mm. Other than crab meat fried rice, what else do you want to eat?" Su Tingbai asked as he prepared the other King Crab.

After hollowing out the crab shell, he cracked some eggs into it and steamed an egg custard. He boiled the remaining bits in a pot and scooped out the crab meat, intending to use it for fried rice later.

Shen Rui'an shook his head. He could not think of anything to say, so he simply replied, "I like anything you make."

Su Tingbai's hand paused as he handled the crab legs, and an irrepressible delight rose in his chest. "Is that so? Then you're not allowed to be picky later!"

Shen Rui'an huffed, unconvinced. "I'm not picky to begin with!"

Su Tingbai shook his head and did not argue with him.

Their interaction, as though no one else existed, made everyone around them feel like they did not belong there and ought to be under a car instead.

Since Little Zhu and the others had grown used to Su Tingbai's special treatment of Shen Rui'an these past few days, they each went off to find something to do.

It was Xing Ying and Huo Heng's first time seeing it. Though they had already sensed that Su Tingbai treated Shen Rui'an better than others, it had never been this obvious...

The two grown men standing there might as well have been invisible.

"Don't you two have anything to do?" After speaking with Shen Rui'an, Su Tingbai turned and saw Xing Ying and Huo Heng standing around. They were rather irritating, getting in the way of his grilling.

"If you have nothing to do, go help Little Zhu and the others. Don't get in my way."

Xing Ying and Huo Heng were speechless after being chased off. Shen Rui'an felt like he might be in the way too, so he planned to leave with Xing Ying and lend a hand. But Su Tingbai stopped him, placing both hands on Shen Rui'an's shoulders. "An'an, stay. They're enough."

Shen Rui'an's butt, which had just lifted off the chair, was pressed back down. "Oh, all right."

Shen Rui'an stopped dwelling on it. He knew he was a useless little good-for-nothing who could not do any physical work, and he was afraid he would only make things worse if he went to help.

More importantly, because of his poor health, few people ever ordered him around. He had grown accustomed to enjoying the results with a clear conscience.

Once he saw Shen Rui'an sitting obediently, Su Tingbai nodded in satisfaction. He stirred up the charcoal fire, then took out some vegetable skewers and placed them on an empty section of the grill.

Over there, Xing Ying called on Little Zhu and the others to help carry over the ingredients. The two of them had caught quite a lot while sea fishing the day before yesterday; they had eaten some on the spot and brought the rest back.

They had also bought some shellfish and shrimp by the shore. Besides that, there were several sea eels, and they were still alive!

Little Zhu opened the lid, saw the pile of seafood inside, and immediately exclaimed, "Whoa! A gout feast!"

Huo Heng grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "What do you think? Today's a seafood banquet!"

He leaned over to look into the box of sea eels, and his scalp immediately prickled. "Damn, these eels look just like snakes."

At that, the two girls, who were already afraid of snakes, halted and turned around to head for the foam box containing the shrimp.

Meng Meng and Ya-ya were not as strong as the men, so they helped carry the shrimp over.

Little Zhu and A-Ming were strong, so they helped carry over the sea eels. There was water inside, and every eel was plump and heavy.

Xing Ying and Huo Heng brought over the shellfish and set them beside the grill.

"Look at the good stuff we brought. We originally planned to bring a Star-Spotted Grouper, but Huo the Third bragged too much and Uncle Huo intercepted it. That was the biggest trophy from our sea fishing trip!"

Xing Ying still looked regretful when he mentioned it.

Shen Rui'an could not sit still as he watched them. Seeing several foam boxes with lids, he went over to take a look. Two boxes contained shrimp and shellfish respectively, while another was sealed tightly shut, and Shen Rui'an could not see what was inside.

Yet rustling sounds came from the box from time to time, drawing Shen Rui'an's attention.

"What's this?" The moment he lifted the lid, he startled so badly that he darted behind Su Tingbai and grabbed his arm. "Su Tingbai, there are snakes!"

Su Tingbai glanced at the lively sea eels. More than ten eels twisted and swam in the box, looking rather frightening. It was no wonder Shen Rui'an had been scared.

Su Tingbai held his hand and comforted him. "Don't be afraid. They're eels. They taste really good."

Shen Rui'an was still shaken. He feared this sort of soft-bodied creature most of all; just looking at them made his skin crawl.

He did not dare approach them, pressing against Su Tingbai's back and refusing to move away.

Su Tingbai did not force him. He let Shen Rui'an cling behind him, and only after grilling the vegetable skewers did he coax Shen Rui'an into going beneath the canopy to sit and eat. Meng Meng and Ya-ya went with him.

Only after coaxing them away did his expression change. Holding a knife, he exchanged a look with Little Zhu and the others. "Come on. Let's prepare them directly."

Little Zhu and the others were not afraid, but Xing Ying and Huo Heng felt a little uncomfortable and quietly stepped back.

Su Tingbai did not force them. He prepared the dozen or so eels himself. Grilled eel was especially fragrant, particularly these plump ones.

He deliberately removed the heads and such, tossed them into the trash, and put the lid back on. In the end, he used only the eel bodies. Once they were skewered and brushed with sauce, they no longer looked frightening, only delicious.