I Fed The Affectionate And Paranoid God - Chapter 25

It picked up its chopsticks and grabbed a piece of the tender, delicious, unidentified dish. The surface was golden yellow, with some garnishes dyed in a brilliant color that looked like blood.

Very strange.

This dish clearly had a blood-red hue, yet it didn’t trigger its violent or destructive urges.

With a dark expression and an extremely grave demeanor, it brought the dish to its mouth and chewed slowly a few times.

—Then it froze completely.

This was…

What kind of incredible flavor was this???

Xia Chenxi looked at the little figure, who froze like a wooden statue, and almost burst out laughing.

In an instant, all his wounds began to throb with pain due to the pulling of muscles.

But even that couldn’t dampen Xia Chenxi’s good mood.

Although the little one’s emotions were expressed very subtly, this reaction still gave Xia Chenxi a strong sense of psychological satisfaction.

It felt as if all the effort he had put in before was finally being rewarded at this moment.

He even…

Started indulging in a wicked fantasy: if a simple homemade dish had already amazed the little one—who could eat bizarre, dark cuisine without flinching—then…

What if he went on to learn a more complex, high-level dish? Would the little one be so stunned that it wouldn’t even find the words to speak?

Just the thought of it made Xia Chenxi feel an overwhelming urge to go and learn hundreds more dishes right away.

But the very next second, he remembered the fact that his affection points were still at zero, and his excitement was instantly doused like a bucket of cold water—he calmed down immediately.

Xia Chenxi silently reflected on himself. In the end, he had been too impulsive.

The little one stood there in a daze for several seconds before slowly shifting its gaze to the fragrant dish in front of it. Its usual calm and cold eyes now seemed to carry a trace of confusion—an emotion that shouldn’t have been there.

A dish laced with poison… How could it be this delicious?

It realized that its vocabulary had suddenly become so lacking that it couldn’t even begin to describe just how incredible the taste truly was.

For a moment, it didn’t know whether it should hate the mysterious person who had snuck into the room.

If not for that person, it might have gone its entire life without realizing just how terrible the food it used to eat truly was—nor would it have known that there existed dishes in this world that were not only beautiful but also unbelievably delicious.

It had underestimated how terrifying the other party truly was.

But even so, that didn’t stop it from finishing the entire dish with a solemn expression.

The feeling of hunger quickly faded, and its stomach no longer felt as uncomfortable.

It looked around the room but still couldn’t sense the presence of the mysterious person.

Perhaps the other party had already left.

Or maybe, they were hiding somewhere nearby, watching it closely—waiting for the moment the poison took effect before revealing themselves.

Its expression became calm, and it internally sneered coldly.

But its usual habits still led it to get up, clean the plate thoroughly, and place it back on the table.

Then, it glanced toward the door, its eyes filled with a hint of hesitation. After a moment, it quickly made a decision.

It wouldn’t leave today.

It was going to wait for the mysterious person to appear.

Next, it changed out of its pajamas and laid back down on the bed; its expression was calm, but its mind was filled with memories of the shock that dish had brought it.

Where had the mysterious person gotten these ingredients from, and how had they made it?

How could something be so delicious?

It was so delicious that it almost wanted to take everything for itself.

It slowly blinked and once again began to hatch dark and cruel thoughts in its mind.

Xia Chenxi watched the little one so obediently and diligently lie back down to recover, feeling an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

The little one wrapped itself up tightly, leaving only its beautiful face visible, looking both obedient and adorable.

Xia Chenxi couldn’t stop himself from completely relaxing.

He thought to himself,

It’s really cute…

He wondered what it was thinking right now. Such a cute little one—its thoughts must be just as adorable.

Perhaps its body still hadn’t fully recovered, or maybe that delicious dish had provided the little one’s weak body with much-needed energy.

Sleepiness quickly started to creep in.

—It closed its eyes and fell asleep again.

It was at this moment that Xia Chenxi received a notification from the game.

[Dear player, you have successfully made a three-star heartwarming meal and surprised the little one. Congratulations on completing the second stage. You have been rewarded with +3 affection points, which have been added to your account.]

[Side quest— Basic Needs: Food. Third Stage unlocked: Please make more heartwarming meals for the little one and strive to achieve a five-star rating. Take care of the little one’s physical and mental health.]

Xia Chenxi looked at the +3 points in his account, letting out a small sigh of relief; he felt more confident.

This also led him to form new guesses about the gameplay of this game.

Xia Chenxi opened the shop and found that all the items under the [Food] category had disappeared.

The good news, however, was that a countdown had appeared, indicating that new food items would refresh at 9 AM the next day.

Worried that he might oversleep or forget to buy something, Xia Chenxi set an alarm and made a note to remind himself.

Time passed quickly, and the little one remained sound asleep.

Xia Chenxi let the game run automatically in the background and logged into Weibo, searching for information about the black fog.

Nearly a week had passed since the black fog invasion, and during this time, there had been no new strange murder cases reported online. All cities had returned to normal operations.

It was as if the previous black fog invasion had been nothing more than a minor incident in their lives, not something worth dwelling on.

Xia Chenxi couldn’t quite decide whether this was a good or bad thing. He just thought that as long as the title the game had given him was still there, he needed to be fully prepared.

The next day.

The first thing Xia Chenxi did after waking up was open the game. The shift-changing police officers seemed to have already gotten used to seeing Xia Chenxi always holding his phone, glancing at it briefly before quickly looking away.

Xia Chenxi rubbed his tired eyes, forcing himself to focus on the game screen despite the lingering drowsiness.

A black scroll slowly unfurled.

The game interface once again displayed the familiar little room. The little one hadn’t woken up yet, and was curled up tightly in the blanket. At first glance, it almost looked like the bed had sprouted a cocoon of blankets.

Xia Chenxi yawned and quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up. When he came out and picked up his phone, he noticed that the little one wasn’t in the room.

Could it be that the little one had gone out?

Just as this thought crossed Xia Chenxi’s mind, the bathroom door suddenly swung open.

The little one walked out of the bathroom wearing different clothes. Xia Chenxi zoomed in on the screen and noticed that the little one’s outfit looked rather worn, as if it had been worn for many years.

Xia Chenxi suddenly remembered the side quest about clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.

He wasn’t sure how long summer would last in the game, so taking care of its clothing was definitely something that needed to be prioritized.

The little one’s complexion no longer appeared as pale as yesterday; it seemed to have fully recovered and was in good health.

It tidied up the room and threw the dark cuisine into a garbage bag.

Before leaving the house, it suddenly turned around and scanned the room, but it didn’t find anything unusual.

Inside the room, it felt as though it was the only one there.

Suddenly, its gaze fell on the plate, now washed clean, on the table. Its eyes darkened for a moment, and without looking back, it left the room.

The door closed.

The room fell completely silent once again.

Xia Chenxi had no idea what the little one was thinking when it glanced back before leaving, as his attention was now entirely focused on the plate on the table.

A look of realization appeared on his face.

He finally remembered what he had forgotten yesterday!

He forgot to cook the rice!

Tomato scrambled eggs were supposed to be eaten with rice to bring out the best flavor—it was the perfect combination.

Fortunately, he could still make up for this regret today.

With half an hour left until 9 AM, Xia Chenxi quickly ordered some takeout to eat.

After finishing his meal, he immediately went online to wait for the items to refresh.

The officer walked in to pour Xia Chenxi some hot water. Before Xia Chenxi could switch out of the game, the officer had already seen the game screen.

Xia Chenxi quickly looked up; his first instinct was to close the game, but he realized that doing so too abruptly might raise the officer’s suspicion.

Then, a thought crossed his mind.

Earlier, the game had warned Xia Chenxi not to reveal its existence to anyone else.

Otherwise, there would be terrifying consequences.

But now, he hadn’t revealed the game’s existence to anyone. Instead, it was the officer who had accidentally seen the game.

Xia Chenxi wanted to test how the game would handle this situation and how it would judge this kind of scenario.

Xia Chenxi glanced at the officer’s expression but didn’t see anything unusual. He then spoke in an entirely natural tone: “Brother Li, there’s no need to bother with the water.”

This officer’s last name was Li, and he was several years older than Xia Chenxi.

Having known the officer for a few days, Xia Chenxi had taken to casually calling him Brother Li.

Officer Li replied, “Isn’t it a bit inconvenient to move? I  just came over to pour you some hot water.”

“Thanks, Brother Li. By the way, brother Li, do you like playing games?” Xia Chenxi asked.

Officer Li glanced at the game on Xia Chenxi’s phone again and responded, “I don’t play many games, just simple ones like Candy Crush and the like.”

Xia Chenxi took the opportunity to naturally close the game and followed Officer Li’s lead, casually talking about games.

After chatting for more than ten minutes, the officer finally left the room.

Once the room was empty, with only Xia Chenxi left, he immediately pulled out his phone and logged back into the game.

The screen slowly unfolded…

It was still the familiar little room, but in the center of the screen, a message popped up.

[Dear player, this game must not be known to anyone other than the player. However, considering that special circumstances may arise on the player’s side, this game has automatically activated the shielding mode. Anyone who sees this game will automatically perceive it as a Minesweeper game.]

Xia Chenxi’s expression turned surprised, and he quickly fell into deep thought.

So, did that mean the game screen Officer Li saw earlier was actually Minesweeper? If that was the case, it also meant that Xia Chenxi could openly play the game in front of others from now on.

However, the gameplay of Minesweeper was quite different from this mobile game.

To avoid anyone getting suspicious…

Xia Chenxi decided that, as much as possible, he would avoid playing the game in front of others.

Another ten minutes passed, and it was exactly 9 AM.

The alarm immediately went off, and Xia Chenxi quickly opened the shop. The [Food] section now had four items available.

Three of the items were the same as yesterday: eggs, tomatoes, and half a kilogram of rice.

However, there was one new addition—half a kilogram of beef brisket.

The first three items only required +1 point each, but the beef brisket was double the price, requiring 2 points.

Xia Chenxi sucked in a breath of cold air—this was way too expensive. With only +3 points in hand, there was no way he could afford to buy everything.

He needed to plan carefully. Thankfully, the items wouldn’t disappear for another half hour, giving him some time to think.

Eggs and tomatoes were non-negotiable—they were essential for the one dish he was confident could earn him a three-star rating.

But beef brisket… that could be paired with tomatoes to make tomato beef brisket soup—a dish far more flavorful, more filling, and even better-tasting than simple tomato scrambled eggs.

Xia Chenxi couldn’t help but feel tempted.

If he made that for the little one, it would almost certainly earn him a generous boost in affection points.

But the only problem was—he didn’t yet have the skills to confidently make that dish.

If he messed it up…

Xia Chenxi hesitated for a few seconds, then quickly made up his mind: he would buy everything except the half kilo of rice.

That way, he’d secure the familiar ingredients for a safe dish and take a gamble on the brisket—an investment in a potentially higher reward.

But he didn’t plan to make tomato beef brisket soup just yet—instead, he intended to store the brisket for later, when he was more confident in his cooking skills.

If he missed out on the beef brisket this time, Xia Chenxi wasn’t sure if it would appear again in the next refresh.

So he chose the cautious route: stick with what he knew; he’d make another tomato scrambled egg dish, and steadily build the little one’s affection.

Though up to this point, he still hadn’t actually seen where the so-called affection level was displayed.

After buying the items, Xia Chenxi went to the neighboring ward to visit the elderly man and chatted with him for a while.

The old man seemed to be quite fond of Xia Chenxi—and seeing a young person so passionate about learning to cook sparked a sense of appreciation in him. Right then and there, he offered to teach Xia Chenxi a dish.

Xia Chenxi politely declined a few times, but when he saw that the old man was starting to show signs of irritation, he had no choice but to go along and said, “Old sir, how about you teach me how to make tomato beef brisket soup?”

Might as well take the chance to learn it properly.

The old man’s expression immediately shifted from displeasure to delight. Beaming, he cheerfully told Xia Chenxi to take out his notebook so he could jot everything down.

Xia Chenxi was deeply grateful and quickly followed the old man’s instructions, carefully writing down each step in detail. Afterward, he stayed and chatted with the old man a bit longer, promising to come visit again the next day.

Back in his hospital room, Xia Chenxi looked at the page of notes now filled to the margins and felt an immense sense of satisfaction.

It felt like he had taken one more solid step toward his goal of becoming stronger.

By noon,

Xia Chenxi ate an apple to stave off his hunger and checked the game again.

The little one still hadn’t returned.

It wasn’t until 2 PM that Xia Chenxi logged into the game once more, this time opening the virtual kitchen, ready to try his hand at cooking some rice.

Cooking rice wasn’t too difficult—as long as the water-to-rice ratio was right.

After going through the necessary steps, the rice cooker started working, and the rice would be ready in about half an hour.

While waiting, Xia Chenxi glanced again at the two failed dishes still sitting off to the side.

In the virtual kitchen, the two failed dishes had been sitting there for a whole day and night, yet they still looked as fresh as when they were first cooked, with steam rising from them.

It seemed that in the virtual kitchen, everything remained in its freshest state.

This included the beef brisket he had just bought, which would stay fresh until he felt confident enough to cook the dish.

Half an hour passed quickly.

The rice cooker beeped, signaling that the rice was ready. Xia Chenxi gently pressed the button to open it, zooming in on the screen to inspect the rice carefully.

It was perfectly cooked—just right.

Xia Chenxi was very satisfied. Taking advantage of the moment, he decided to make another batch of tomato scrambled eggs. However, when the dish was ready, he realized there were no extra plates left in the kitchen.

The kitchen starter pack only provided three plates. Two were already holding dishes, leaving just one, which was placed on the little one’s desk in its room.

Oh no.

What if he could only retrieve the plate from the room by activating the screen interaction mode?

Xia Chenxi hesitated for a moment, then zoomed in on the plate and tried interacting with it.

In the blink of an eye, the plate disappeared.

Xia Chenxi was stunned for a moment, then cautiously opened the virtual kitchen. Sure enough, he saw the missing empty plate next to the stove.

Xia Chenxi let out a relieved sigh—looks like he wouldn’t have to worry about losing affection points after all.

He was really running low on funds.

Next, he plated the dishes and scooped the steaming rice into a bowl, then began waiting for the little one to return.

By 4 PM, Xia Chenxi once again heard footsteps outside the door, followed by the familiar sound of knocking.

Was it that crazy person again?

Xia Chenxi frowned, his unease growing. Given the strange tone and setting of this game, it was highly likely that the person outside the door had bad intentions toward the little one.

Xia Chenxi tried zooming in on the screen, but all he could hear was the sound of someone outside twisting the doorknob. After realizing the door wasn’t opening, there was a sudden silence.

It wasn’t until several minutes later that the footsteps outside slowly faded away.

How many times had this happened already?

Xia Chenxi’s expression turned serious. He needed to find a way to warn the little one.

But how could he do that without scaring the little one while still getting across the message that a psychopath was targeting it?

Xia Chenxi found himself caught in a dilemma.

Two hours passed, and once again, footsteps echoed outside the door. Xia Chenxi immediately listened closely to the sounds coming from outside.

This time, the doorknob slowly turned.

Xia Chenxi quickly realized that the little one had returned. He immediately opened the virtual kitchen, taking the rice and dishes out and placing them on the table.

The door slowly creaked open, and the little one, as before, scanned the room with a cold expression.

Then, suddenly—

It noticed the extra dishes on the table and a bowl filled with something it couldn’t immediately identify.

Its pupils narrowed slightly as it realized that the mysterious person had snuck into the room again.

The familiar scent wafted into its nostrils, and it couldn’t help but feel an urge to eat.

Its expression darkened instantly, a cold sneer escaping its lips as it understood the other party’s intentions.

Did they really think they could use reverse psychology to trick it into eating this again today?