Chapter 12: Arrival at Gao Laozhuang
Aside from taking training seriously, Goku was also quite interested in eating.
This was mainly because his natural appetite was enormous.
Eating was his instinct.
Moreover, having lived in the mountains for years, he ate either roasted or boiled meat every day, with only the most commonly used and cheapest seasonings—
Black pepper, star anise, cumin, and chili powder, without any artificial additives.
Always the same ingredients and those limited two seasonings, he had long grown tired of them.
His grandfather had taken him to the city to eat before, but everyone knows about a Saiyan's appetite.
A normal person's portion was only enough to fill the gaps between his teeth—he could never get full.
His large appetite troubled him greatly.
He truly craved all kinds of delicious city cuisine.
How wonderful would it be if he could eat all his favorite foods and still be full?
As soon as Bulma mentioned taking him to the night market food street, she immediately saw the previously listless Goku suddenly perk up, and he even knew how to butter her up.
Bulma couldn't help but giggle.
Indeed, although he had become much more sensible in this world, he was still the same Goku!
She remembered one time during a martial arts tournament when he was hypnotized.
It was she who woke him up by calling him to eat.
A short while later, the two landed in East City and arrived at the entrance of a hotel.
Bulma and Goku walked in side by side.
"Hello, we'd like a room!"
The front desk staff took out two room cards and said respectfully,
"Hello, please show me both of your IDs!"
Bulma took out her ID and handed it over.
"No need for that trouble. One room for the two of us is enough!"
After saying this, Bulma swiped her ID, put down the money, took the room key, and led Goku inside to find their room.
The front desk staff looked at Bulma, and at the short-statured Goku beside her, noticing he had a tail behind him, which seemed to wag slightly.
He couldn't help muttering to himself, "These two are really strange."
"An older woman dating a younger man is one thing, but actually playing with those props?"
"Do they think it's fun?"
"But that tail looks so real."
"Wonder where they bought it—is it a plugin or an accessory?"
"Tsk tsk, young people really know how to have fun..."
After entering the hotel room, Bulma went straight to the bathroom, took a shower, quietly washed her underwear and hung it to dry, then went out with Goku.
Although the food street offered many varieties of snacks, they were just street stalls with low prices, and the hygiene standards matched the price level.
However, the street food was indeed delicious, especially at stalls with long queues.
Bulma glanced around and asked, "Goku, what do you want to eat first?"
To her surprise, Goku had already voluntarily run to the stuffed pancake cart.
Only that stall had few people queuing, and coincidentally, no one was there at the moment.
Bulma shrugged.
I said I'd treat you to celebrate and you could eat whatever you want, and you start with stuffed pancake?
Are you looking down on my financial capability?
After second thought, Bulma swallowed what she wanted to say.
Perhaps Gohan wasn't well-off, and Goku had a big appetite, which developed Goku's frugal character.
She directly walked to the stall and paid for little Goku.
Within just a short while, Goku had sampled all kinds of delicious foods.
Tofu, chicken sandwich, roasted chicken, sizzling squid, grilled cold noodles, fried skewers, grilled skewers, spicy hot pot, cold skin noodles...
All featuring cheap prices and large portions.
While buying food for Goku, Bulma also purchased many semi-prepared foods to store.
These would be their provisions for the next few days on the road.
At the same time, she bought him several sets of suitable clothes.
Well, all were sporty children's wear, the trendier styles...
...
The next day.
The two embarked on their journey to find the Dragon Balls again.
Since Goku needed to train while traveling, Bulma's speed on the Flying Nimbus wasn't fast either.
Three days later, around noon, the two arrived at the village where the fifth Dragon Ball was located.
There were many houses in the village, but not a single pedestrian on the roads.
Bulma knew they had arrived at Aru Village, where all the villagers had been deceived by that fellow Oolong.
That wasn't important—what mattered was that someone might ambush them soon, swinging an axe at Goku's head.
Bulma felt somewhat nervous; if it hit her, it would be fatal.
She stayed close to Goku and warned, "Goku, I'm going to knock on the door."
"Keep watch for me, and if someone attacks, you must block it."
Goku nodded.
"Okay, understood."
After saying this, Bulma knocked on the door of the nearest house.
"Anyone home?"
"Is anyone there?"
A clear girl's voice came through, seemingly without any threat.
The front door slowly opened a crack, revealing a pair of frightened eyes.
Upon seeing Bulma, the eyes immediately became less wary.
The person sighed in relief: "Oh, it's a girl, not Oolong..."
"You're not from this village, are you?"
In the same village, everyone knew each other.
So upon seeing Bulma, that person immediately knew she was an outsider.
Bulma nodded. "Yes, I'm just passing through this village."
"Then you should leave quickly! There's a monster near this village that specifically captures beautiful girls to take as wives. Several girls from our village have already been taken by him."
Bulma chuckled lightly, then laughed boldly. "It's fine, I'm not afraid of that. Capturing girls as wives isn't the same as eating people—what's there to be scared of?"