Braised Fish

In the Fat Orange Hotel, when Yarn Ball, Baibai, and Chen Miemie joined forces, the entire hotel became a paradise for anomalies.

On this Day of No Tomorrow, their sole remaining task was to do everything possible to keep Yarn Ball alive until the first day of the following week.

From midnight to 6 a.m. on the first day of next week was the Eternal Moonlit Night.

Surviving through this entire day would not be easy.

Yarn Ball had established one final rule, intending to erase past memories, but things backfired and it failed.

The reason for the failure was that it had overestimated its remaining power, resulting in the rule failing to take shape.

Meanwhile, Baibai regained her memories because Yarn Ball was completely exhausted. The victor had been decided, and as the winner, Baibai gained more authority and power. The more Baibai gained, the closer Yarn Ball came to dissipating.

"Now, we split up. I'll go find Mian Ruyan and have her quickly prepare some recovery food. Baibai, you stay here and look after Yarn Ball. Find a way to transfer some power to it and keep it alive."

Baibai nodded. She and Yarn Ball already shared a special connection through the Mystery. As long as both were willing, they could share many things.

After discussing their strategy in a few words, Chen Miemie ran back to the room where Mengmeng and Mian Ruyan were staying.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Chen Miemie."

The door opened.

Chen Miemie didn't go inside; he just spoke directly from the doorway. "Mian Ruyan, what do you need to make your most effective recovery dish right now, and how long will it take?"

"If there are enough ingredients and no one interrupts me, I should need about one to two hours."

"Huh? One hour or two hours? That's a hundred percent margin of error."

"It takes one hour to make a portion, but there's only a fifty percent success rate for it to yield special recovery effects. If it fails, I'll have to start over."

"Alright, let's go. Follow me to the hotel kitchen." Chen Miemie waved from outside the door, signaling them to follow.

"Ah? Right now? Won't it be dangerous to go out?"

Chen Miemie continued waving. "Hurry up and follow me, time is precious. I call the shots in this hotel right now. As long as you're with me, we are the 'danger' in everyone else's eyes."

Mian Ruyan and Mengmeng didn't know where Chen Miemie got his confidence. Not only was he running around outside by himself, but now he was dragging them along too.

Holding hands, Mian Ruyan and Mengmeng followed Chen Miemie, trembling slightly.

They couldn't be blamed for their reaction. Staying indoors with the doors locked on the Day of No Tomorrow was an ironclad rule etched into the bones of ordinary people and low-tier Mystics. They didn't know Chen Miemie's true background, so daring to follow him out now was already brave enough.

The three of them went down from the fourth floor to the second floor and arrived at the hotel kitchen.

Chen Miemie pushed the door, but surprisingly, it wouldn't open.

This meant there was someone inside the kitchen who had locked it from the inside.

"Friend inside, open the door. I'm requisitioning the kitchen."

Obviously, no one would be foolish enough to open it.

After calling out a couple of times, Chen Miemie finally understood how hard it was for anomalies to trick people into opening their doors on a normal day.

Just as he was getting impatient and preparing to break the door down, Mian Ruyan, who saw Chen Miemie's anxiety and wanted to help, also called out.

"We mean no harm. We really have an urgent matter and need to use the kitchen."

Unexpectedly, the door that Chen Miemie couldn't coax open with threats, pleas, or even promises to buy them off, was opened by Mian Ruyan's soft words.

Behind the door was a man tightly bundled up from head to toe.

Chen Miemie looked him up and down. "You're the waiter who delivered the cat food to me last time, right?"

Even as he asked, he thought to himself that the man's build looked somewhat familiar.

The man simply nodded without speaking.

The man's heart was far from calm: If you're coming in, Chen Miemie, just come in, but why aren't you closing the door? Do you not know what day it is and how dangerous it is outside?

He silently walked over and shut the kitchen door again.

Mian Ruyan inspected the ingredients in the kitchen and frowned.

"Such a large hotel, yet they don't even have normal ingredients. I really don't know where the meals they usually serve come from."

Chen Miemie wasn't surprised by this. The Fat Orange Hotel wasn't a proper hotel to begin with. Who would expect anomalies to actually cook proper meals for people?

"What ingredients do you need? If they aren't here, I'll go somewhere else and find a way to get them for you."

Mian Ruyan, Mengmeng, and the waiter fell silent.

The same thought involuntarily popped into all three of their minds: What a braggart.

At a time like this, in this situation, where could he possibly get anything?

Mian Ruyan thought for a moment. "Any one of meat, vegetables, or fish will do. The seasonings here are quite complete, at least."

Chen Miemie looked straight at the waiter. "The cat food I ordered last time was raw fish, and it was very fresh. Where did the fish come from?"

The waiter hesitated for a moment, then dragged a box out from a corner.

When he opened the box, it surprisingly contained a tank of water with several fish swimming inside.

"Wow, you actually hid the ingredients!"

The waiter waved his hands repeatedly, pointing at the box and then at himself, indicating that the fish were his personal property, not the hotel's.

Chen Miemie understood his meaning and quickly changed his tune. "So that's how it is. Well, thank you for your contribution. Don't worry, we won't take your fish for nothing. Tomorrow, your boss will give you a promotion and a raise."

Mian Ruyan looked at the lively fish and seemed a bit troubled.

"Chen Miemie, do you know how to kill a fish? There are no tools for scaling here, and I don't know how to prepare it."

Chen Miemie was speechless. "Wait, you're a chef, and you're telling me you don't know how to kill and scale a fish?"

Mian Ruyan replied self-righteously, "I am the eldest daughter of the Mian family. If it weren't for the Mystery, do you think I'd need to step into a kitchen myself? Even when I cook at home, I have two sous-chefs."

Obviously, the two sous-chefs she mentioned would handle all the prep work, leaving only the final cooking and seasoning to her.

Did Chen Miemie know how to kill a fish?

He didn't know how to kill a fish, but he certainly knew how to pass the buck. "Mengmeng, I'm giving you a chance to show off. You do it."

Mengmeng and the item in her hand both shot Chen Miemie a look of disdain.

Seeing that Mengmeng was unreliable, Chen Miemie set his sights on the waiter again.

"Brother, since you've hidden a whole box of fish, you must be a master of fish cuisine. Why not be a good guy all the way and handle the prep work?"

Although Chen Miemie phrased it as a question, his tone left no room for refusal.

The waiter nodded.

Mian Ruyan added, "Prepare two of them right away."

The waiter familiarly grabbed a fish from the box, slammed it down, and tapped the back of the knife against the fish's head with great proficiency.

Watching his back as he expertly prepared the fish, Mian Ruyan and Mengmeng looked pleased, while Chen Miemie looked thoughtful.

Soon, the first fish dish was finished.

They weren't that lucky; it didn't trigger any special effects.

They continued with the second attempt.

The probability Mian Ruyan gave was incredibly accurate. She said fifty percent, and the second attempt was indeed a success.

After carefully packing it up, the three of them left the kitchen with the food container.

Chen Miemie walked at the very back, being the third to step out the door.

Just as the waiter was closing the door from the inside.

He heard Chen Miemie's soft whisper:

"Boss Zhang, right? Those two fish saved someone else, and they also saved you."