Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
TW: abuse, torture
Undeterred, You Xu shouted again at the top of her lungs, “Hey, big brother!”
The system came out at this time and said, “He can’t hear you. The puppet only obeys the person controlling it. Duan Min doesn’t leave the house, so he orders the puppet to do everything.”
Hearing this, You Xu headed upstairs. Once inside, she put her things down and lay down on the sofa to relax. After a while, she asked, “Is the golden finger on?”
The system lifted its matchstick legs and trembled, “Yes.”
You Xu, in high spirits, gathered the ingredients and started tinkering in the kitchen. It was a completely different experience with the golden finger on. As soon as she saw the ingredients, several dishes popped up in her mind. She automatically picked, washed, and prepared the vegetables, chopping onions with such ease that she almost cried.
She had actually cooked once before, in junior high school. She stir-fried a large head of Chinese cabbage. The oil splattered as soon as it hit the wok, startling her so much that she dodged left and right like a jumping frog. Her parents eventually kicked her out of the kitchen, and she never tried anything culinary again.
Thanks to her golden finger, her movements were deft and swift, and soon two dishes were ready: braised pork tenderloin[1] and chopped pepper fish head[2].
The aroma of crispy peppers wafted through the air, immediately tantalizing the taste buds.
You Xu pondered for a moment, then dried her hands, opened the window and door to let the aroma spread, and then continued to the kitchen to prepare the next dish.
After the rice in the rice cooker was cooked, You Xu brought out the remaining dishes and soup.
She scooped up a bowl of rice and eagerly picked up a piece of pork tenderloin with her chopsticks. The meat was tender and chewy, soaking up the sauce and extremely flavorful.
You Xu sighed, “It’s worthy of the Golden Finger.”
The system said proudly, “That’s right, our system is incredibly powerful.”
“If I were to open a restaurant,” You Xu took a few more bites of food and swallowed them before saying, “I’d be able to take over the entire street.”
“…” It didn’t know whether to say its host was too ambitious or too unambitious. “Can’t you consider taking down the target first?”
You Xu choked and warned it, “Don’t use random words.”
The system: “What are you imagining?”
“…”
You Xu devoured the food in a flash, eating until she was completely full before putting down her chopsticks with satisfaction.
There was still a plate of steamed pork ribs[3] on the table, untouched. It was for Duan Min. Since they didn’t know his taste, choosing a light but flavorful dish was a safe bet.
You Xu got up and went to the kitchen to cut some cucumber and carrot slices and arrange the dish. After garnishing it, she carried the plate of ribs to the dark iron door again.
She took a deep breath, held her breath, and mentally prepared herself before ringing the doorbell.
After the doorbell rang, no one responded, so she rang it twice more.
After a long moment, the door opened. It was pitch black on the other side. Duan Min was dressed casually in black clothes and black pants. If it weren’t for his extremely pale skin, you’d hardly notice anyone peeking through the crack in the door.
He made no move to come out, but You Xu felt his gaze fixed on her.
The first time was new, but the second time was familiar. So You Xu wasn’t as frightened as the first time, though her back involuntarily tensed. She then put on the professional smile of a salesperson. “Do you remember me? I’m You Xu, the neighbor who came to visit yesterday. I apologize for embarrassing you yesterday, so I made a special dish of steamed pork ribs today. Would you like to try it?”
The man in the crack just stared at her coldly, silent.
As expected, You Xu continued calmly, “This is marinated pork ribs mixed with steamed pork rice noodles and a little bit of fragrant fish broth. It’s steamed until it’s not greasy or bland and has a rich and delicate texture.”
You Xu blinked and smiled sweetly. “Would you like to try it?”
There was a moment of silence.
Two words rang out in a cold voice: “I don’t want to.” Then the door closed.
His voice was low, as if he hadn’t spoken in a while, dry and raspy, with a polished quality that was incredibly pleasant to the ear.
You Xu stood there, stunned, holding the tray in one hand while pinching her earlobe with her free hand.
She glanced down at the ribs in her hand, pondered for a moment, then returned to her apartment. She then brought out a thin-legged stool half the height of a man and placed it against the wall in the hallway, placing the plate of ribs on it.
If Duan Min wanted to eat, he could reach out and grab it as soon as he opened the door.
After doing this, You Xu returned to her living room and cleared the dining table.
The next day, You Xu opened the door and saw the ribs still on the stool in the hallway, already cold, the oil on the surface congealed into a thin layer, untouched.
Undeterred, she rang Duan Min’s doorbell every night at 7 p.m., waiting for him to open the door. When he refused, she would just place her food on the stool by his door.
After persisting for half a month, Duan Min didn’t eat a single bite of her cooking, but he didn’t really kill her either.
Until one day, You Xu rang the doorbell for almost half an hour before the door was opened. Just as she was about to speak, her throat was strangled.
Duan Min had grabbed her neck with one hand.
You Xu was startled by his appearance. He was in a very bad condition. The veins on his forehead and neck were prominent, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were gray and black. His usually red lips were now colorless.
You Xu: So I’m finally going to be killed? After all, I’ve survived for half a month without any regrets, and I don’t even need to leave a will.
The system alarm sounded: “He’s sick, run for your life!”
Can you escape just by saying so? She felt that her neck was as fragile as noodles in his hand, and it could be broken with a pinch.
You Xu took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. She seemed oblivious to everything, smiling as she had the other day. “Stir-fried seasonal vegetables[4], with cabbage, carrots, cucumber, and wood ear mushrooms. It’s colorful and homely, but the flavor isn’t bad either. Would you like to try some?”
Duan Min’s eyes fluttered slightly, his lips pursed tightly, his expression struggling, as if he were trying to hold something back. His eyes then grew redder, and his jaw visibly tightened.
The situation seemed dire, and You Xu closed her eyes, awaiting the final outcome.
After waiting for a while, the expected excruciating pain never arrived. Just as You Xu was about to open her eyes, the tension in her neck suddenly loosened.
Duan Min withdrew his hand, retreated into his apartment, and closed the door.
The sudden rush of air into her throat caused her to cough uncontrollably. She returned to her own apartment, set the dishes on the table, and leaned back in her chair, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.
After recovering, You Xu asked, “What was wrong with him just now?” In that worldline, they hadn’t mentioned him as being ill.
“His body was created through experiments. It’s thus unstable and prone to illness.” The system implanted a video memory into her mind.
In an underground laboratory, the latest batch of human-like baby test tubes were produced. There were thousands of them, one of which was numbered A12101, indicating that it was the 12,101st experimental product.
It was Duan Min.
All the previous failed products turned into blood and water, and only Duan Min survived.
The crazy and perverted gazes of those people fell on this test tube, and their eerie laughter echoed in the closed space.
From this moment on, Duan Min was destined to be unfortunate.
He grew into a baby, wearing a breathing mask, all the while being soaked in various potions.
When he became a child, while his peers could run, leap, play with toys, and act cute with their parents, he was confined to an operating table, surrounded by instruments and people treating him like a test subject.
His genes were inherently complex and variable, and various unknown potions and viruses were injected into his body, altering his constitution.
The strange disease caused him unbearable pain. He struggled, roared, and wailed, his body convulsing and twitching, his eyes bloodshot, like a crawling monster.
Those people watched him collapse and suffer, recording data and judging his survival. Many times, they believed he would be a failure, but he miraculously survived each time.
Then the experiments repeated themselves.
Finally, the blood of the zombie king was injected into his body.
….
Everyone had a different past, but Duan Min’s was a past spent lingering like a monster, treated as a mere test subject with a purpose.
But he clearly had thoughts, feelings, and could feel pain and suffering.
After seeing this, You Xu was silent for a long time.
She felt cold all over, as if every drop of blood from head to toe had frozen.
The world was always like this. When the sun rose, wherever the sunlight hit, it always looked bright and beautiful on the surface, like a thick layer of snow covering the grayness on the other side.
The sunny side always made people forget that there was a shadow on the other side.
It was unbelievable and unbearable. If it were her, in Duan Min’s position, she would not only manipulate those people to commit suicide, but she might do something even more outrageous.
She would make those people’s lives worse than death and would retaliate a thousand times for the pain she had endured.
Because of those experiences, it was normal for Duan Min to hate people, and there was a reason for killing everyone around him.
Duan Min should be like this, but just now, when he got angry and grabbed her neck, his arm muscles were obviously tense, but he didn’t use too much force. It looked like a warning, warning her not to come any closer.
You Xu ran to the bathroom, raised her neck to look in the mirror, and sure enough, there were only some light red marks.
After a pause, she rested her hands on the sink, lowered her head slightly, and sniffed softly. A complex mix of emotions, a bittersweet sympathy, played out.
If at first she’d simply been a casual observer, now she was drawn into the situation, finding it difficult to remain detached.
Regardless of her motivations, she wanted to be kind to Duan Min.
It was like seeing a beaten puppy abandoned on the street and feeling an irrepressible pity.
She kind of wanted to keep this dog, a more genuine wish. You Xu let out a long breath, washed her face with cold water, and then returned to the kitchen.
She then took out the strawberry jam she’d made a few days ago, along with yogurt, skim milk powder, white vinegar, and eggs. She stirred everything with water, brought it to a boil, and then, turning off the heat and letting it cool until it was slightly solidified, poured it into a delicate glass. She then poured a thick layer of strawberry jam over the milky white solid, then sprinkled it with chopped strawberries.
She placed a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass as a garnish, picked up the glass on a small porcelain plate, and walked out of the kitchen.
As she passed the living room, she paused, picked up a pen and a sticky note from the coffee table, sketched a few lines, put the pen down, and stuck the sticky note on the porcelain plate. She then picked it up and looked at it, feeling satisfied.
Yu Xu, holding the plate of dessert, rang Duan Min’s doorbell twice, then placed the food on the high stool by the door and returned to her apartment.
After a long while, the dark door opened a crack, and a cold, white, and thin hand reached out and took away the small glass of dessert.
The author has something to say:
I feel a little hungry while writing, and I feel like I can swallow a cow_(:з」∠)_In my previous life, I went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. The journey was long, and I starved to death halfway and became a starving ghost (it must be like this.
So in this life, I want to order three takeouts every minute (.
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