This Really Is Edible...

Deep down, he still felt somewhat guilty. Qin Meng was such a good kid—risking his life on missions and making such enormous sacrifices—yet he had failed to guard the home front for him, and somehow Qin Meng had ended up with a wife... General Chen also wanted to get a better look at this Jing Yi. If things truly did not work out, they could divorce. But even if they divorced, Qin Meng had to hold the moral high ground, right? The man had been so devoted, willing to remain alone for life just to marry Qin Meng and raise his child for him. Now that Qin Meng had returned alive, the first thing he did was throw him out... Was he even human?! If this was handled badly, it would definitely affect Qin Meng's reputation.

Reputation seemed useless to the strong, but once you had struggled your way to a certain height, when you could have gone even further, a single stain could leave you stuck there for the rest of your life. General Chen had high hopes for Qin Meng. At the very least, he should become a general someday, right? It would be far too unfair for him to be ruined by something so trivial.

That was why he wanted to keep Jing Yi under his nose—able to advance or retreat as needed. Perfect.

After getting out of the hovercar, Jing Yi entered the general's residence. He greeted General Chen, who was sitting on the living room sofa watching the news, then headed straight for the kitchen.

The general's residence had two kitchens, one large and one small. The large one was for General Chen to entertain his subordinates, while the small one was for the family's everyday meals. The two pieces of insect meat had been flash-frozen in the large kitchen.

It was nearly mealtime. With the servants' help, the general's wife was preparing the day's dishes. The fragrance of food drifted over from afar. Jing Yi was starving, and scents he would normally find ordinary now seemed irresistible, making his stomach growl even more loudly.

The general's wife was a kind-looking old lady. When Jing Yi came over to greet her, she sized him up a few times. Aside from frowning at first, her expression soon returned to normal. "You must be exhausted. Go wait outside. Dinner will be ready soon."

Jing Yi acted as though he could not hear his stomach growling and nodded calmly. "I've just arrived, and I came in such a rush that I didn't bring you a gift. How about I make a couple of my specialty dishes as an extra? You and General Chen can try my cooking."

The general's wife's smile stiffened slightly. "A guest is a guest. How about you don't trouble yourself..."

Yang Chun also chimed in from the side. "Yeah, yeah! You've used up too much mental energy. It's enough that you meant well. The general and madam won't mind, so how about another day?"

How could Jing Yi fail to see that they could not accept insect meat?

But sometimes, when a craving hit, you just had to eat that particular thing. There was no holding it back! He had spent half the day fussing over it, and his mind was full of deep-fried, pan-seared, dry-pot, steamed... Not someday—today! Right now! Immediately! If he missed this meal, he did not know whether he would ever feel this passionate again.

So this was not just a feast!

Jing Yi had to eat it...

He shook his head firmly, wearing an enthusiastic smile like some idiot child who could not understand human speech. "I know you're concerned about me, but it really isn't any trouble. It'll be done soon."

With that, he charged into the large kitchen without a second thought.

This Really Is Edible...

The meat of the mantis-like beast and the centipede-like beast differed.

The former mainly came from the mantis's abdomen, so it was softer and more tender. It looked slightly translucent, white with a faint yellow tinge. If you did not know what it was, it resembled fish belly meat. To Jing Yi's delight, the mantis's abdomen also contained many insect eggs. Each was about the size of a soybean and pale green, weighing over five catties altogether. They were packed densely together; anyone with trypophobia would probably scream at the sight! But Jing Yi knew very well that the eggs were actually the tastiest part. Back on Earth, children had always liked catching mantises and grasshoppers in autumn. Roasted or fried, they usually contained eggs, and they were so richly fragrant that you simply could not stop eating them.

The latter's meat was firmer. Looking closely, it had strip-like patterns—thin, elongated strands of flesh, similar to crab meat. It was white with a pale bluish tint, and if he pressed it twice with a finger, it quickly sprang back. It was easy to imagine that once cooked, this centipede meat would have a better texture and more chew—taking that thought a little further, making jerky out of this insect meat would be like creating a natural compressed ration. Fried to the right point, or slowly baked in an oven until slightly charred, even a tiny piece would be immensely satisfying...

The aroma drifting in from next door told him he did not have much time to show off. He could not exactly make everyone wait for him with empty stomachs, could he?

Besides, Jing Yi himself was starving. Any time-consuming cooking methods were immediately ruled out. Then, considering how accepting that bunch of ignorant aliens outside might be... he checked the seasonings and side dishes already available in the kitchen.

Jing Yi quickly decided on a cooking plan.

He first put the two pieces of meat and the insect eggs into the sterilizer—wild meat could easily breed parasites, so it had to be sterilized before eating. Once that was done, he used the food processor to cut the mantis meat into heart shapes slightly smaller than mahjong tiles. He made a small slit at the top of each heart and stuffed several insect eggs into every slit. Jing Yi's incredibly fast hands were practically showing off at a moment like this. Yang Chun, who had come over to peek because he was worried, was completely stunned! Jing Yi finished processing an entire large platter of mantis meat in less than a minute. It was as dazzling and mesmerizing as watching magic!