A happy family

That evening, Huang Zhetian returned to Misato's apartment.

Sure enough...

"Why do you have so much luggage?! My room!" Huang Zhetian heard Shinji's wail before he even stepped through the door.

"How rude. This is my luggage." Asuka had just changed into casual clothes. She leaned against the doorframe, her eyes narrowed as she spoke nonchalantly.

It seemed Asuka had moved in before the Seventh Angel, the Music Angel, even arrived. The schedule had moved up, which meant the plot was accelerating too. His preparations still weren't complete...

Holding the groceries, Huang Zhetian watched the two bicker and felt a pang in his heart. There wouldn't be many happy, heartwarming scenes like this. He had to work harder. For Asuka...

"All right, all right. I'm back with the groceries. You're in for a treat tonight. This place was pretty hard to find, though. I really wouldn't have found it without help. Here." Huang Zhetian handed the ingredients to Shinji so he could prepare them, then turned to Asuka. "Where's Miss Misato?"

"Tch... she's taking a bath. Idiot Zhetian!" Asuka felt irritated and restless. The moment Zhetian came home, he asked her about another woman. Damn him!

Seeing Asuka sulking, he hurriedly handed her a bottle of orange juice and said soothingly, "All right, my princess. Here, orange juice. Hmm? Want it?"

"Hmph! I'm only taking it because I forgive you. This is your apology for what happened on the ship last time. Idiot!" She snatched the orange juice, planted a hand on her hip, and started sipping with a haughty air.

Huang Zhetian smiled as he watched her. This was nice...

He entered the kitchen and saw that Shinji had washed the vegetables. "Nice work, Shinji. With your help, I can get dinner ready sooner."

"Thanks. It's no trouble. There were some ingredients I didn't know how to prepare, so I didn't dare touch them. I'll leave those to you. Just tell me what to do, and I'll be your assistant." Shinji was unusually cheerful, perhaps because someone had praised and acknowledged him today.

"Okay, let's get started." Huang Zhetian showed off a little knife work and got moving. Over the past two years, he hadn't merely been practicing with Eva in the system.

Huang Zhetian never passed up any skill or knowledge he could practice. No practice? Then forget about points. Without points, he couldn't exchange them for items or prize draws.

Tap, tap, tap... smack.

The knife in his hand moved swiftly, and the cucumber was cut in no time.

Shinji watched in surprise and admiration, but what came next was even more astonishing-Huang Zhetian slowly pulled one end of the cucumber away, revealing that it had been cut into a spiral without breaking! Even Asuka, standing beside them, stared in amazement.

"Not bad, idiot Zhetian! I want to try that dish later!" Asuka cried excitedly, her eyes sparkling.

"The best is yet to come, my princess. Watch closely!" Huang Zhetian chuckled, gripped his knife, and slowly carved a white radish. Before long, a white lotus took shape. Next, he carved a carrot into a peony.

"Wow! Idiot Zhetian! It's so pretty! Teach me, teach me!" Asuka shouted excitedly.

"Zhetian-kun, this... this is unbelievable!" Shinji said, his eyes wide with astonishment.

"This is called knife work. It's a basic skill every Chinese chef has to master when starting out. There are sixteen cutting techniques: slicing, shredding, chunking, cutting into strips, dicing, sectioning, diagonal slicing, mincing, flower cutting, crosscutting, shaping balls, chopping into paste, pattern cutting, horse-ear cuts, rabbit-ear cuts, and elephant-eye cuts. And if you want to learn, it takes at least one to three months. That's just to get started from scratch, and you have to practice every day." Huang Zhetian gave them a rundown of knife work and cutting techniques. This was Chinese cooking, not something as simple as slicing sashimi.

"Things from China really are incredible," Shinji said in wonder.

"This is cold cucumber salad," Huang Zhetian said as he covered the dish. It was easy to make, but his knife work had turned it into something more elaborate.

"Next is a fish dish. It's a famous Chinese dish called peony fish slices. You prepare the fish slices and arrange them into a peony flower, hence the name." Huang Zhetian washed the fish, patted it dry with absorbent paper, slit its belly, and removed the innards. He had to avoid bursting the gallbladder, or the money spent on the fish would go to waste.

He chopped off the head and tail, cut the flesh away along the backbone, sliced the bones off the belly meat, then started at the tail end and cut the fish into slices.

His fluid, seamless preparation drew Misato over as well. Looking at them, Huang Zhetian gave an awkward laugh. "Wait outside for a bit. It'll be ready soon."

"No! I want to watch! I'm not getting in your way," Asuka shot back indignantly.

"I'd like to learn how to make it, Zhetian-kun." Shinji looked at Huang Zhetian pleadingly.

Misato, meanwhile, watched him with a grin and gave him a flirtatious wink.

I give up, folks.

"All right. It'll be ready soon." Helpless, Huang Zhetian got back to work.

After working for quite a while, he made six dishes: cold cucumber salad, peony fish slices, greens with tofu, seaweed soup, white-cut chicken, and raw marinated seafood.

The selection of ingredients in Japan was still too limited. Even the chicken was frozen, which lowered the quality of the white-cut chicken considerably. The vegetables were a little better, but seafood was somewhat expensive too. The Second Impact had wiped out almost all marine life, so the higher prices were understandable.

Tofu was an ingredient in miso soup, so he had bought some as well. He had wanted to make spicy tofu, but there weren't enough chilies. He had to abandon the idea...

Shinji and Misato offered the customary Japanese greeting before eating, then carefully picked up a slice of fish each.

"Wow! This is delicious! Shinji! Zhetian-kun's cooking is even better than yours!" Misato exclaimed.

"It's so good! Ah!" Shinji shouted along with her, forgetting all decorum.

"Aah! Idiot Zhetian?! It's so spicy!" Asuka had picked up a piece of cold cucumber salad. Although it had been chilled in the refrigerator for a long time, the heat soon kicked in.

Chuckling, Huang Zhetian handed her a bottle of orange juice. "I don't have any milk, so make do with this."

You'd better say that stuff of yours is milk. (Author)

"How could we go without beer at a time like this?" Misato opened a can with one hand, tipped her head back, and took a huge gulp.

"Phew, ahhh-kah-" Misato cried out in satisfaction after her drink, startling Asuka and Huang Zhetian. Shinji, however, calmly sipped his orange juice and said helplessly, "You'll get used to it. When I first came here, I wasn't like you two are now."

"Then what were you like?" Huang Zhetian and Asuka asked.

"Just like this." Shinji held up his glass and spoke with a serious expression.

Damn! That classic meme face.

For each of them, this was the first dinner here that was better than any they had ever had.

Asuka let go of her domineering side, chatting and laughing with Huang Zhetian.

Shinji set aside his usual insecurity and timidity, joking around with Huang Zhetian and Asuka.

Watching the happy, lively scene, Misato found herself caught up in it too. This is wonderful. Before they came, how long had it been since this place felt happy? Now that they're here, Shinji isn't alone anymore... she thought.

Little did she realize that she, too, was lonely. She was another person who needed comfort and healing.

Beneath the veil of night, countless homes lit up the city, yet this one shone brighter than all the rest.