Livestreaming: I am retarded, but selected to join the analoghorror game?!
Chapter 150 - 145: The Ultimate Culinary Skills

Chapter 150: Chapter 145: The Ultimate Culinary Skills

Using an electric rice cooker to cook rice is something anyone can understand and do after just a few words of explanation.

Plug in the power, put rice and water in the pot, cover it and press the button. Even if there are other functions, it shouldn’t be too complicated.

Therefore, Xu Yingguang thought that even for Xiao Yi, cooking rice with an electric rice cooker shouldn’t be a problem.

But in the end, Xu Yingguang had vastly underestimated... or perhaps overestimated Xiao Yi.

He could never have imagined that there would be someone who wouldn’t plug in the electric rice cooker but would instead put it directly on the gas stove to cook with fire!

Fortunately, Xu Yingguang arrived just in time, or who knows what would have happened.

"So that’s how it is," Xiao Yi said with a thoughtful nod afterward, "So an electric rice cooker isn’t supposed to be heated with fire, but with electricity, no wonder it’s called an electric rice cooker, with ’electric’ at the forefront. I saw the character for fire in the name and thought it had to be used with fire. Turns out electricity is the main thing. But you can’t blame me, who would have thought it had ’fire’ in the name, causing me to misunderstand. I think this electric rice cooker needs a name change!"

"..." Xu Yingguang was left speechless. This kid just wouldn’t admit the problem was his, would he?

Xu Yingguang sighed, "Anyway, don’t even think about cooking for yourself anymore. Whether you hire a chef, go out to eat, or get food delivered, go have your meal first. We can talk about our business later."

"No need," Xiao Yi said, "Actually, I’ve been making other food!"

Xu Yingguang: ".........what?"

Xu Yingguang quickly scanned the kitchen but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Then, he saw Xiao Yi walk out of the kitchen and to a table.

On the table was a large bowl, covered with a packet of instant noodles, and on top of that was an Origin book, pressing down on the packet.

"Um... the noodles must be about ready," Xiao Yi glanced at the time on his phone.

"It’s instant noodles," Xu Yingguang breathed a sigh of relief.

Instant noodles... that’s even simpler. Even for Xiao Yi, he surely couldn’t make a mess of just making instant noodles... is what Xu Yingguang thought.

"But, instant noodles?" Xu Yingguang sighed again, looking at Xiao Yi sitting at the table with an expectant face, "It would be better for you to eat something more nutritious."

Xiao Yi answered, "Sometimes I just want to reminisce about the past."

"...The past?"

So it looks like Xiao Yi’s dinner today will be white rice with instant noodles... What kind of life had he been leading until now?

Thinking about this, Xu Yingguang couldn’t help but feel pity. He felt he had to work even harder, for there were still many people in Dragon Country whose living conditions were similar to the previous Xiao Yi.

Xu Yingguang also sat at the table and suggested to Xiao Yi, "So you’re having instant noodles today; how about adding some rice to make it ’noodle rice’? Or maybe add a few dishes instead."

"No, that won’t be necessary," Xiao Yi shook his head and added, "And why do you think I wanted to eat ’noodle rice’?"

"...Ah? Isn’t that the case?" Xu Yingguang was puzzled.

"Of course not... Oh, it’s about time," Xiao Yi said as he opened the packet.

Xu Yingguang also looked into the bowl, and then, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

The bowl didn’t contain any instant noodles at all, but a steaming bowl of white porridge.

Xu Yingguang: "?"

Then, something even more baffling to Xu Yingguang occurred.

Xiao Yi picked up a few strands of noodles from his bowl of white porridge with chopsticks and chewed, "Hmm... the texture is just right."

Xu Yingguang: "???"

It was then that Xu Yingguang understood what Xiao Yi meant by ’soaking noodles’—he asked with a twitching corner of his mouth, "You... you use porridge to soak your noodles?"

"...Hmm? Otherwise?" Xiao Yi responded as if what he was doing was the most natural thing in the world.

"..." Xu Yingguang was even more puzzled as to why Xiao Yi still bothered to cook rice.

However... Xu Yingguang didn’t want to clarify this point; he felt it might be better for him not to ask.

But just as Xu Yingguang thought this was the end of it, he saw... Xiao Yi take out seasoning packets, powder packets, and oil packets and mix them into his bowl of white porridge.

The originally pure white bowl of porridge began to turn chaotic in color and gradually became indescribable.

"..." Xu Yingguang watched the scene in silence.

He decided to get up and check out the scenery outside...for his own good.

After Xiao Yi finished his dinner, they began to discuss official matters.

"So, Uncle Xu, what is it you wanted to see me about?" Xiao Yi asked.

"...Before we start our discussion, I’d like you to answer a question for me," Xu Yingguang asked with a serious expression, "Xiao Yi, if you had a chance to make a wish come true, what would you wish for?"

"...Hmm?"

Xiao Yi didn’t understand why Xu Yingguang suddenly asked him about making a wish, considering his birthday was still some time away.

However, since Xu Yingguang had asked, Xiao Yi began to think seriously about it.

"Hmm..." Xiao Yi pondered and then asked, "Can I wish for anything?"

"Yes, as long as it is not a wish that would harm or coerce others," Xu Yingguang said, "In this respect, any wish can be fulfilled, so it’s okay to be a little selfish."

"Is that so?" Xiao Yi touched his chin, thought some more, and then, he finally came up with an answer.

"Then I... probably wouldn’t make a wish," Xiao Yi answered.

"..." This answer surprised Xu Yingguang, who asked, "Why is that?"

"Because, the things you get by making a wish, they ultimately don’t belong to you," Xiao Yi said, "Things that don’t belong to you will eventually leave you, and if you’ve grown attached to them, that just makes it all the more painful. What you get from making a wish is always much less than what you end up losing for it. It’s a bad deal."

"..." Xu Yingguang didn’t say anything, just nodded his head.

Xiao Yi continued, "Plus, I don’t like getting things directly; it’s boring. It’s like a video game, where you download a save file that’s already fully collected and cleared, skipping out on dozens or hundreds of hours of gameplay. It might feel great at first, but that’s all there is to it, and soon you’ll tire of it. I paid to play the game. If I get tired of it so quickly, wouldn’t I be at a loss?"

"...Indeed, you make a lot of sense," Xu Yingguang said with a slight smile.

Xu Yingguang had been somewhat worried that Xiao Yi might do something odd because of this, but now it seemed there was no need to worry.

He would leave this matter... entirely up to Xiao Yi’s own free interpretation.

Xiao Yi asked again: "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"It’s not a big deal," Xu Yingguang put on a serious face once again and suddenly asked: "Xiao Yi, do you have someone you like?"

Xiao Yi: "......Huh?"