"Probably...?"
Su Xiaoxiao lost confidence in her own words as soon as she said them.
Across from her, Ye Qingqing stared at the blue-purple lump in her bowl and swallowed.
"Can I ask you something?" She raised her chopsticks. "Does dried monster bile powder have an expiration date?"
"Just eat."
Two pairs of chopsticks plunged into the bowls.
Su Xiaoxiao's entire face scrunched up at the first bite. Salty. Unbearably salty. Then came a rusty taste that numbed the back of her tongue.
She looked up. Ye Qingqing was even worse off, her eyes reddening, a mouthful of noodles trapped in her mouth. She couldn't swallow and didn't dare spit them out.
"Swallow it." Without even looking up, Chen Shu slurped down another half bowl. "Waste food on the Blackwater Defense Line, and they'd string you up and beat you."
Ye Qingqing swallowed through her tears.
"Auntie, I get it now." Cradling her bowl, Su Xiaoxiao shoveled in another bite like a martyr marching to her death. "I really believe you could boil a five-kilometer radius dry now."
"Oh?"
"If I ate this every day, I'd want to destroy the world too."
"You little brat." Chen Shu laughed and tapped her chopsticks against the rim of her bowl. "This is called battlefield cuisine."
The sound of running water stopped in the kitchen.
Su Bai untied his apron, served himself a small half bowl, and stood beside the stove. Two bites. His expression didn't change. His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he swallowed.
Then he set the bowl down.
"Why'd you stop eating?" Chen Shu gave him a sidelong look.
"I'm full," Su Bai said sincerely. "It tastes great. It's just hard on your life expectancy."
Su Xiaoxiao nearly snorted noodles out of her nose.
Su Bai wiped his hands and