I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

"Little Paddo has quite a good appetite~ Not bad, not bad. It's good that the little guy eats well, so he can grow taller and fatter... Come on, let me give you some more."

"Growing taller is fine, but gaining weight is out of the question... If I gain weight, I won't be able to run fast, and there will be many places where I won't be able to squeeze in."

Padoflis mumbled somewhat embarrassedly as she took the bowl of noodles that someone had served her and then began to devour them.

Then, a slightly muffled voice, as if someone was suppressing anger, quietly rang out, startling Padofelis so much that her body stiffened and her hair almost flew up.

"I might as well eat you to death, little cat."

"Jie... Brother Jie..."

"What? Are you scared?"

"No...no...ah?"

"……snort."

Qianjie snorted coldly and looked away.

Padofelis, who was originally so nervous that she looked like a cat with its fur standing on end, also shrank back. She first looked at Xiwang, who was surrounded by Eden and Sakura, and realized that she would be too conspicuous if she went over. So she quietly moved her body and hid behind Aponia for her protection. Then she continued to slurp her noodles behind her, even faster than before, as if she wanted to eat her fill as soon as possible and slip away.

Strangely enough, after meeting Xiwang, whenever Padofelis wanted to avoid Qianjie, her first reaction was to look behind Xiwang for an empty space to hide, rather than prioritizing finding Aponia...

No matter how you look at it, she should be closer to Aponia, who also came from Twilight Street, but Padofelis always had a feeling that she could rely on Xi and that Xi was willing to protect her... It was an inexplicable intuition, and Padofelis was willing to trust her intuition.

Of course, Padofelis herself is quite discerning. If she sees Eden and Sakura near Xiwang, she won't force her way over... well, generally not.

The crowd seemed unfazed by the scene, some even chuckling softly, finding it amusing that Padofilis was so afraid of the Thousand Tribulations.

Although most people are somewhat afraid of Qianjie due to his fighting style and overly volatile personality, and choose to stay away from him, many people want to learn more about him after learning about his achievements.

With Xiwang and Aponia acting as a bridge, while most people still feared Qianjie, many could still talk to him and discover the extremely awkward concern beneath his violent personality and rude words. Therefore, most people were still friendly towards Qianjie... There were relatively few people as afraid of Qianjie as Padofiris.

As for why Padofelis is so afraid of Qianjie... well... it's because during one battle, Padofelis accidentally went too far in while searching for survivors, and ended up stepping into Qianjie's battlefield... Luckily, Qianjie didn't get carried away and stopped in time, otherwise Padofelis would probably have been killed along with him.

Ever since that incident, Padofelis has been terrified of Qianjie. She avoids him whenever she sees him, or if all else fails, she goes to Aponia or Xiwang to hide... There's nothing she can do, since only these two people in the entire "Moth Chaser" can persuade Qianjie.

However, Qianjie himself doesn't seem to realize this, and he really doesn't care much about Padofilis, this "little cat," and sometimes he even deliberately avoids her... In Qianjie's words, it's like, "That little cat is so timid that I'd be scared to death if she got any closer, haha... It's really hilarious."

However, Qianjie's attention is not on this matter right now.

"Hey Kevin, you called me here for something this trivial? To eat noodles? Are you bored?"

After glancing around, Qianjie turned her gaze to Kevin, her slightly annoyed look piercing through the mask, making Kevin feel uncomfortable.

"……Feel sorry."

"Huh? You apologized for your (swearing)?"

I don't know what Kevin's words did to offend Qianjie, but Qianjie's words contained some rather ominous words... Oh no, this is normal for Qianjie, nothing to worry about.

"I'm asking you, do you guys eat noodles like that?"

"But the noodles are delicious... I'm still quite confident about that..."

"Huh?"

A strange and high-pitched voice of doubt from Qian Jie interrupted Kevin's explanation. Then, he took a step to the side and, with Xi Wang looking bewildered and the others looking completely blank, grabbed the bowl of noodles that Xi Wang hadn't even taken two bites of. With a seemingly rough but surprisingly uncontroversial movement, he showed the noodles in the bowl to Kevin.

"Say it again?"

"……Any questions?"

Kevin looked blankly at the noodles in the bowl, gazing at the clear broth and inhaling its unique aroma. Then, he looked at Qianjie with a puzzled expression and asked in confusion.

"........."

This time it was Qianjie's turn to be silent. He glanced around and saw that everyone else looked bewildered. He seemed a little frustrated and covered his mask, letting out a low groan of despair.

Then Qianjie took Xiwang's bowl of noodles and went into the kitchen. With an extremely irritable roar, he chased away all the chefs who were still working inside. Then came the sound of kitchen utensils clashing, followed by a fleeting flash of dazzling firelight... Not long after, an enticing aroma wafted out of the kitchen.

"So Qianjie...can cook?"

Everyone looked blankly at Aponia, hoping to get answers from this "former leader" of the Thousand Calamities.

“Qianjie used to come to the kitchen to help out often, and the children loved his cooking.”

Aponia nodded slightly, responding to everyone's questions.

"...Huh? Is this real? Am I dreaming?"

"What are you saying to him (swear words)?"

While the others were still wondering, Qianjie had already returned with the bowl. The enticing aroma grew stronger as he approached, making people involuntarily salivate.

"Give."

Qianjie placed the bowl back in front of Xiwang, gesturing to the much more exquisitely presented soup noodles inside... Whether it was an illusion or not, everyone felt that the soup seemed to be shimmering with golden light...

After Qianjie finished doing all this, he didn't leave. He just stood in front of Xiwang, his scrutinizing gaze coming from under his mask, staring intently at Xiwang, and said.

"If you don't like it, I'll dump this bowl of noodles on your head."

"...Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Hmph, do you dare?"

Qianjie sneered, and then said.

"And if you dare waste food, I'll dump this bowl of noodles on your head."

"That's really too much... but thank you anyway, Qianjie."

Xi Wang smiled, seemingly unconcerned by Qian Jie's words, and simply picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite.

Immediately, Xi Wang stopped and looked at Qian Jie with a surprised expression.

"It's so delicious... Qianjie, can you teach me how to make it?"

"What, you want to switch to studying to be a chef?"

"It's always good to have more skills!"

Xi Wang shrugged, reached for a small bowl, and was about to ladle out some soup noodles to share with Eden and Sakura when Qian Jie reached out and pressed her down.

"What do you want to do?"

A questioning tone came from beneath Qianjie's mask, and the way he looked at Xiwang became strange, carrying a hint of... reproach?

"Sharing a small bowl with others? Delicious food like this is meant to be shared!"

"Why divide it? You just eat yours."

"Can……"

"Why do you have so many problems? I told you to eat alone, and you just eat alone!"

Qianjie, somewhat annoyed, snatched the bowl of noodles from Xiwang and slammed it back in front of him. Then he grabbed the bowls of noodles from Eden and Sakura and returned to the kitchen. A moment later, another clattering sound of kitchen utensils came from the kitchen.

"........."

How awkward, Qian Jie...

The others watched this subtle and interesting scene silently, finding Qian Jie's somewhat "arrogant" appearance amusing, and their initial fear of him also dissipated considerably.

When Qianjie came out of the kitchen again, many people mustered up their courage and came closer, wanting to try Qianjie's cooking... Although Qianjie would always curse a few times in a fit of extreme anger, he did not refuse these requests, but just stayed in the kitchen cooking noodles again and again...

In the end, Qianjie simply set up a big pot to cook it, while the others stood beside him like elementary school students, eagerly waiting for their share.

"........."

Kevin took his bowl of noodles from Qianjie, took a small bite, and then fell silent... He then quickly finished his portion in a "whirlwind" manner, leaving not even a drop of soup. Afterward, he walked up to Qianjie, and under the subtle gazes of the crowd, he put his hands together, bowed his head to Qianjie, and pleaded.

"Qianjie, I want to learn how to cook noodles."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Chapter 41 Love Falls Like Rain (5477)

"Mr. Gunn..."

After leaving "Moths of Fire" and returning to the company, Xi Wang looked at her manager and then at the vehicle next to her that was crammed with all sorts of things, and was speechless for a moment.

"Although I plan to go out and plan this project on my own this time, aren't these things... a bit too much?"

"Is there a problem? It's always better to be well-prepared than to find out halfway through that you haven't prepared enough supplies, right?"

Gunn chuckled at this.

"We can replenish it when we pass through other towns along the way, right? Besides, I have a feeling I can't use it all by myself, and even if Sakura and I are together, we probably still won't be able to use it all... So we'll have to bring it back? Hmm... No, no, I'll just give it away, find a church or an orphanage and give it to them..."

"Alright, alright, you're overthinking things... But since you've thought of this, haven't you thought of anything else?"

"Well?"

"Haha... Sometimes I don't know if you're just pretending or if you're really that cute... Never mind, you might not like what I'm saying..."

"No way! Why would I be unhappy if you praised me?"

Xi Wang tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

"Pfft... Okay, okay... I was just praising you... Never mind, I won't tease you anymore. Pretending to be a riddle teller isn't my style."

Gunn shook his head helplessly, took out the terminal, checked Xiwang's itinerary, and handed the terminal to him after confirming that everything was correct.

"I discussed it with the people over there and made some slight adjustments to your schedule... I hope you don't mind."

"Over there? Oh... I see."

Xi Wang was stunned for a moment, then realized that Gu En was referring to "the moth that chases the flame," and began to carefully check his itinerary, but then a new question arose in his mind.

"Is this the itinerary...?"

Xi Wang felt that something was wrong. She felt that all the places she was supposed to go to were places she liked, and there were many sightseeing arrangements... Most importantly, there was no "Please accept the conscription arrangement when necessary" that the "Moth Chasing the Flame" usually left behind.

There was even a "notice" left inside, saying that "Fire Moth" had temporarily transferred Sakura away and needed her to undergo a physical examination. Mebius and Mei's research might require her, and at the same time, Velvey had also created a new set of equipment that Sakura needed to try out.

In other words, this "Bard" project might become like before, carried out by Xi Wang alone...?

"That's how it is, Xiwang."

A slightly amused voice rang out from the side.

"Eden~"

"Hehe... Sorry, I'm late."