At that moment, a text prompt suddenly popped up on the game screen.
[It's awake.]
Xia Chenxi didn't bother with the newly unlocked game feature and instead focused intently on the little character on the screen.
For now, Xia Chenxi could only analyze the character's mood and thoughts through its expressions and movements.
*
The character's eyelashes trembled slightly as it slowly opened its eyes.
It seemed a bit disoriented until its gaze fell upon the blanket covering it, causing its eyes to narrow sharply.
Who covered me with this blanket?
It immediately sat up, trying to recall every detail of what had happened the previous night.
Its expression kept changing.
It vividly remembered that after taking a bath last night, it felt unwell and groggily collapsed onto the bed, soon slipping into a semi-conscious state.
At that moment, it realized it had consumed something poisonous.
But it was too late.
However, now...
Looking down at the blanket mysteriously covering it when it woke up, and feeling no discomfort in its body, it almost seemed as though the memory of being poisoned was just an illusion.
But this only made its expression grow darker.
Because all of this confirmed one thing: last night, something had entered its room by unknown means during its most defenseless moment.
This meant that whoever—or whatever—it was, could have killed it at any time.
The mere thought was unbearable. Struggling with its weakened body, it got out of bed and began searching the room.
It searched the wardrobe, the bathroom, and every possible hiding place, but found nothing.
It seemed that whatever it was had already left.
Its body still hadn't fully recovered, and it stood there panting heavily.
Its face was full of gloom.
But in Xia Chenxi's eyes, the character looked a bit pitiful.
He felt slightly troubled.
The character's body had just recovered; it should be lying down and resting properly.
Unfortunately, Xia Chenxi only had +3 love points left, not enough to unlock the screen interaction mode to interact with the character and reduce its wariness.
But in the next second, Xia Chenxi dismissed that thought.
Because even if he had enough love points to unlock the interaction mode, this wasn't the right time to reduce the character's wariness.
With such an intelligent character, if it saw objects in the room moving on their own, it would definitely be frightened.
However...
Given the character's current state, it didn't seem much different from being scared.
Xia Chenxi rubbed his nose, feeling a twinge of guilt for a few seconds.
*
The character stood there, its expression shifting between different emotions.
From start to finish, it still hadn't figured out how the intruder had entered the room or how they had left.
Most importantly, every time the intruder appeared, it just so happened to be when the character was unconscious and completely defenseless.
It raised its arm, looking at the medical tape on it, its dark eyes filled with cold suspicion and wariness.
This was the third time.
Not only had the intruder not killed it during these three opportunities, but they had also saved it.
Why?
Its fist clenched tightly, suppressing the terrifying monster within that was on the verge of breaking free.
It couldn't believe that someone would sneak into its room repeatedly just to treat its wounds. It closed its eyes, quickly regaining its composure, resisting the urge to rip off the medical tape, and then returned to bed to rest.
Because it had to recover as quickly as possible.
It couldn't stay sick for too long.
Xia Chenxi slowly blinked, feeling both puzzled and relieved by the character's reaction.
The character, surprisingly, had no intense reaction, just like before, and was even quite calm.
It even obediently lay back down on the bed, not wasting the love points Xia Chenxi had painstakingly earned.
Xia Chenxi suddenly felt reinvigorated.
It seemed that the day when he could repair his relationship with the character, increasing mutual trust and affection, wasn't far off.
Rubbing his hands together, Xia Chenxi decided to take this opportunity to try out the [Virtual Kitchen] feature.
The game screen once again spread out like ink dropping into a black lake, revealing an incredibly realistic kitchen space, though it was completely empty.
The only things visible were the three tomatoes placed by the stove and the three eggs standing neatly nearby.
Of course, there was also the half-pound of rice.
Xia Chenxi's smile gradually faded...
At that moment, a text prompt popped up in the game.
[Dear player, congratulations on unlocking the Virtual Kitchen feature early. You've earned a discount card and can exchange it for the Beginner's Basic Kitchen Bundle for -3 love points.]
The tone was almost tempting Xia Chenxi to buy it, suggesting that if he missed this deal, it would be like losing tens of thousands of dollars.
Xia Chenxi stared intently at the game, increasingly suspicious that its true purpose was to find legitimate reasons to drain all his love points.
But unfortunately, he had no proof.
After a few seconds of mutual silence between him and the game, Xia Chenxi reluctantly chose to buy the basic bundle.
Suddenly, a colorful package appeared on the stove, with a pink bow on top.
Xia Chenxi calmly tapped the package.
The package instantly exploded like fireworks, revealing several shiny items.
These included a frying pan, a spoon, a kitchen knife, and a rice cooker, along with a set of stacked bowls, plates, and chopsticks.
Additionally, there was a basic seasoning bundle consisting of salt, MSG, soy sauce, and vegetable oil.
Seeing these items, Xia Chenxi finally felt his displeasure fade; these things were quite practical, providing everything he needed.
However, because the game offered a high degree of freedom, Xia Chenxi still had to arrange each item properly.
The stove seemed to use natural gas, and just like in real life, the flame size could be adjusted precisely.
Above was a simple range hood, its plug connected to some unknown place.
It was starting to feel more and more like a proper simulation game.
Xia Chenxi sighed, enlarging the game screen slightly. Following his usual cooking habits, he first pressed down on the egg with his finger and gently tapped it against the bowl.
The sound of cracking eggs echoed.
Even with ordinary headphones, it sounded as if Dolby audio effects were turned on.
Next, Xia Chenxi quickly poured the cracked egg into the bowl, then used chopsticks to mix it evenly.
He then rinsed the tomatoes with water and sliced them into pieces with the kitchen knife, setting them aside.
Since he wasn't very skilled initially, the tomato slices ended up looking a bit messy.
Thankfully, no one was watching.
Xia Chenxi felt relieved, pretending not to notice, and continued with the next steps.
In real life, Xia Chenxi could cook some simple homemade dishes, and stir-fried eggs with tomatoes wasn't particularly challenging. Feeling confident, he started by heating oil in the pan.
He poured in the egg mixture, gently moving the pan until the eggs were half-cooked, then used the spatula to break them into small pieces and set them aside.
But perhaps due to his unfamiliarity with screen controls, Xia Chenxi ended up cooking the eggs too long, causing parts of them to burn.
Xia Chenxi pursed his lips, somewhat relieved that he hadn't used all the eggs; otherwise, he'd have to spend more money to buy new ones.
A simple dish of stir-fried eggs with tomatoes took Xia Chenxi over ten minutes to complete.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Xia Chenxi finally scooped the dish onto a plate.
Instantly, a text box popped up in the game: [After evaluation, the dish [Stir-Fried Eggs with Tomatoes] has been rated 1 star, which does not yet meet the minimum requirement.]
Xia Chenxi: "???"
After frying tomatoes and eggs for so many years, how could it only get one star?
Does that even make sense?
