Reincarnated as a Demi-Human

Chapter 3: Mystery Dumpling X

Scratch what she thought earlier: She refused to accept this edible gift with open jaws.

Before her was a plate of lumpy dough balls with a watery residue around them, and one of the pastries even had a horrific face from the sauce. It seemed it was warning her not to take a bite because the meal might be poisonous. The food she thought was dumplings wasn't what she expected. It was her first time seeing dumplings. They seemed small and soggy, but maybe that's just how they should be. Food always seemed small to her, anyway.

When she was a dragon, the servants would have to bring her giant portions of fruit to fill her appetite. Being humanish, she could pick a dumpling up and find it was the size of a ball.

"We present these delicious dumplings to you, 'fair yellow dragon'," Jin half bowed alongside Yin.

"With the sauce that came with em', please enjoy this meal as an apology for earlier," Yin said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if I can eat this.", she said, biting her lower lip, trying not to be rude.

"What?! Why not?! You said you needed nourishment, and these dumplings are nourishment enough!," Jin shouted, pointing at the plate.

"First of all, I don't even know what's inside these so-called 'dumplings'.," the girl replied as she pointed at the plate.

"It's...mystery meat.," Yin hesitantly replied.

"What's....mystery meat?," she raised an eyebrow looking at the brothers.

"Any meat you can imagine mystery meat to be!" Jin snapped, getting impatient.

"Like chicken."

"Maybe"

"Shrimp"

"Nope, sorry- no fish in it, I'm afraid.", replied Yin.

"Okay-beef."

"Mostly beef....Or it could be a mixture of both.", Jin said.

The girl stared deadpan at the brothers, crossed her arms, and turned her head.

"If it is a meat of unknown origin nor cannot be identified, then I refuse to devour it.", she replied.

Jin muttered, gritting his teeth as he simmered with rage. How dare she show such disrespect after they had worked hard to cook delicious dumplings in the microwave, only to be rejected! His brother, Yin, was the opposite. While his brother stewed, he was formulating a plan until a flickering lightbulb lit up in his head. Pulling his brother aside, he whispered in his ear. Jin nodded, starting to cool down as a small smile formed on his face. They nodded and turned back to the girl, snickering quietly amongst themselves. Yin approached the table, picked up the chopsticks and scooped up the dumpling and held it out toward the girl.

"Maybe before ya judge, you should at least take a teensy bite?, Yin said.

"Out of the question", she refused.

"Not even a nibble?"

"Not even a peck."

He pushed the dumpling closer, but it was about four inches from her face. She tried to turn the other way, only to be intercepted by another dumpling toward her right, courtesy of Jin.

"What's one little nibble gonna do, huh? That's all it takes to see just how delicious a mystery dumpling truly is," Jin said, sounding like a salesman trying to sell a crate of cup noodles.

"Once you take a bite, you'll be in heaven," Yin said.

"It's so delicious that you'll want to savor every bite and ask for more," Jin insisted.