Chapter 109: Earthly Bliss
Mindy returned from the market with a variety of ingredients for hotpot, including the Cthulhu ingredients Mo Fei had mentioned earlier, as well as duck intestines, beef, and more.
In the kitchen, Mindy was preparing to simmer chicken soup to use as the base broth.
"Brother, come in and help me cut the meat," Mindy, wearing a small apron and bustling about, called out to Mo Fei, who was watching TV outside.
Some of the hotpot ingredients needed processing, and if Mindy did it all by herself, it would take a lot of effort, and she wouldn't know when they'd finally get to eat.
"Coming."
Mo Fei put down the TV remote and walked into the kitchen.
Mindy pointed to the beef placed to the side and said, "Brother, help me prepare these three catties of beef. You know, slice it as thin as possible, preferably as thin as a cicada's wing."
The U.S. beef quality grading system divides beef into eight grades based on its quality and physiological maturity.
The main factor is marbling, which is a primary determinant of beef quality and is closely related to tenderness, juiciness, and palatability.
The three catties of beef Mindy bought were Choice grade, which was already quite good. It wasn't that Mindy was unwilling to spend money on better beef, but rather that the market simply didn't sell any higher grades.
"Alright!"
Mo Fei's primary time was, of course, dedicated to practicing Xing Yi Quan, firearms, and the Agent skills Professor taught him, but in his leisure time, he also practiced his knife skills.
Mo Fei pulled a small, thin, and sharp knife from his lower back, which he used for practicing Flying Knife, and began slicing the beef.
Although his cooking skills were poor, he could certainly help with prep work.
Soon, the hotpot was ready, with red oil bubbling, looking very appetizing.
Mo Fei picked up a slice of beef with his chopsticks; its snowflake-like pattern was exquisite. He placed it in the soup base, blanched it for a short while, and then dipped it in the oil bowl with seasoning.
As the paper-thin beef was slowly chewed in his mouth, Mo Fei felt an explosion of flavors on his taste buds. He couldn't help but close his eyes to savor it meticulously.
"This is really good!" Mo Fei opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and smiled contentedly. "Mindy, your cooking is getting better and better."
"Of course," Mindy said with a smug smile, not being modest at all. This hotpot looked simple, but she had put a lot of thought into the soup base!
Cross also tried the hotpot, chewed a few times, and his eyes immediately lit up. "The taste is fantastic; this way of eating beef is especially delicious!"
"Right?" Mo Fei chuckled, took out a bottle of iced beer, and placed it in front of Cross. "Hotpot paired with iced beer, this is true earthly bliss!"
Watching Mo Fei enthusiastically introduce various ways to eat hotpot to Cross, and seeing Cross's genuinely salivating expression, Wesley couldn't help but swallow.
Since being captured, he hadn't had a single drop of Water. He was currently both hungry and thirsty, and Mo Fei was still there, introducing hotpot paired with iced beer… Are you even human?
"No, I can't think about it anymore! They just want to use this method to make me surrender. I, Wesley, can't fall for this trick!"
Unfortunately, there are three things in this World that cannot be hidden: vulgarity, poverty, and hunger.
The more you try not to think about it, the more you think about it.
It's like if someone tells you, "Don't think about an elephant."
An elephant will definitely appear in your mind.
"Hey!" Wesley couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "I'm hungry, I want to eat!"
"Want to eat?" Mo Fei, holding his oil bowl, smiled and said, "First, call me 'Daddy' to hear? He pointed at Cross. "Of course, not me, but if you're willing to call me, that's fine too. I don't mind having a son as big as you. I can still give you food and Water. How about it?"
For some reason, looking at Wesley's face, which somewhat resembled Professor X, Mo Fei just wanted to tease him.
"Never!" Wesley glared fiercely at Mo Fei. "I won't call anyone, but you must give me food and Water."
"Why? Just because you're ugly, so I need to give in to you?" Mo Fei was amused. "You don't want to give anything, yet you want to take? Where in this World can you find such a good deal?"
"You captured us but didn't kill us, so you must have other intentions. If you starve us…"
"You're right, we do have intentions for you. We want to use you to betray the Assassin Alliance and wipe them out in one fell swoop. But now that you've seen through our plan, then this plan has failed. So what use is there in keeping you?" Mo Fei smiled. "So our last bit of use for you is to starve and dehydrate you to death, leaving an example for those people in the Assassin Alliance."
"You…" Wesley was so choked up by Mo Fei that he couldn't speak, feeling chest tightness and blockage from anger!
"Let me feed him something!" Cross couldn't bear to watch. After all, it was his own son, whom he had abandoned for over twenty years. Now, his paternal love was overflowing; he couldn't even bear to see him hungry.
"You don't want him to call you Daddy? This is the best opportunity!" Mo Fei shrugged. "The Assassin Alliance might have taught him how to endure pain, but they definitely didn't have time to teach him how to endure hunger. He can't stand this."
"Forget it," Cross shook his head. "I want him to call me Daddy willingly, but I hope it's from the bottom of his heart then, not like this, forcing him to call me Daddy."
Cross, holding the oil bowl, fed Wesley the blanched ingredients bit by bit.
Wesley looked at Cross with complex emotions.
He was truly confused now. He didn't know who was lying to him between Cross and Fire Fox… Both sides seemed to make sense… A scoundrel who might be his father, and a person. Who should he choose to believe?
"You… if you really are my father… I mean if, then why did you abandon me back then?" Wesley looked at Cross and suddenly asked.
"I…" Hearing Wesley finally willing to communicate with him normally, Cross was so excited he was at a loss for words. It took him a while to calm down. "That's because I didn't want you to fall into a predicament where your life was constantly threatened. I didn't want your hands to be stained with blood, never to be free… I just wanted you to live a safe and happy life."
"For such a ridiculous reason?" Wesley gritted his teeth. "What about my mother? You abandoned her for such a ridiculous reason too?"
"Your mother…" Cross fell silent. "I truly wronged her…"
"I know how I can prove to you that I am your father!" Cross's eyes suddenly lit up. He took out a baby photo he had cherished close to his body and said, "This is the hundred-day photo your mother and I took of you!"