Chapter 192: Chinese Food, Whitelist, Robbery

DING-A-LING~

By the time the old bell hanging on the courtyard gate rang, the sun was already high in the sky.

And Lu Wei, for the first time ever, was in the front yard cooking.

It wasn’t that he wanted to, but he’d waited for Bai Ya for a long time and she still hadn’t returned. He was simply starving.

He also happened to see some potatoes, tomatoes, and eggs.

So, he decided to make some shredded potato stir-fry and a tomato and egg soup to reminisce about the flavors of his past life.

But unexpectedly, just as he finished shredding the potatoes and before he could even put them in the wok, Bai Ya returned.

“Hey, you’re back, Captain.”

“Are you cooking? I’m sorry, I got held up for a bit.”

“Let me take over from here…”

After washing her hands by the well, Bai Ya rolled up her sleeves and walked over, her spirits seemingly low.

Her voice sounded listless, as if she were very upset.

?

‘What’s wrong with her?’

“No need. I’m almost done.”

Lu Wei glanced at her. “Just get the bread and toast it.”

“Oh, okay…”

Bai Ya nodded absentmindedly and turned to walk toward the small wooden cabin.

But she’d only taken a few steps before she suddenly ran back, her expression serious as she said:

“Captain, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Seriously? Can’t you see I’m cooking?”

“I can, but I’m really conflicted right now. I have to tell you immediately!”

“Conflicted… Huh? Did Freya find you?”

Lu Wei was taken aback and quickly asked, “When did this happen? What did she say to you?”

“Huh? Freya didn’t come looking for me.”

Bai Ya froze for a moment, then quickly corrected him, “It’s something else! I just ran into Silas and Watson!”

‘Who the hell are they?’

Lu Wei looked completely baffled. “Who are Silas and Watson?”

Bai Ya hurriedly explained, “They’re two of the three people who tricked me into being bait for the Kobolds while they ran away!”

“Weren’t there two of them? How did it become three?”

“There was another one named Brook, but he was crushed to death by a rock!”

“You crushed him?”

“I didn’t crush him, the rock did! A rock crushed him to death!”

“So who exactly used a rock to crush him to death?”

“Nobody! The rock itself crushed him to death!”

Seeing that Lu Wei still didn’t understand what she meant, Bai Ya grew even more frantic, gesturing as she yelled:

“A rock fell while he was sleeping, and then he was crushed to death.”

“So it was an accident. You’re not explaining this clearly at all.”

Lu Wei waved his hand dismissively. “Alright, I get it. Go get the bread.”

“Oh… Wait, that’s not what I wanted to talk about!”

Bai Ya suddenly realized and stressed again, “It’s about Silas and Watson! I ran into them just now while I was reading at the Adventurer Association!”

“Mhm, got it.”

Lu Wei nodded. “So, what book were you reading?”

“Fundamentals of Molding En… Wait, how did we get back to talking about books?”

Bai Ya stared at him blankly, then suddenly asked in a worried whisper:

“Captain, is there something wrong with your head?”

“Like a problem with your Comprehension or attention span.”

“…”

‘I knew it! You can’t tease an idiot!!’

…

…

About ten minutes later, a Lu Wei whose Comprehension had returned to normal finally finished listening to Bai Ya’s story.

“And that’s what happened.”

“Even though I’ve already forgiven them and really wanted to help them, I held back in the end.”

“But the more I thought about it afterward, the guiltier I felt.”

“After all, they didn’t really do anything wrong. It’s not like they intentionally abandoned me.”

“And now they can’t even afford to eat. Even if I don’t give them money, I should at least buy them something to eat.”

“So I felt a little sad… Ugh, not sad, really. It’s just that I feel like…”

“You know what I mean, right?”

After thinking for a long time without finding the right word, Bai Ya could only look at Lu Wei expectantly, hoping he would understand how she felt.

While Lu Wei couldn’t empathize completely, he understood perfectly.

‘Isn’t this a classic case of being fierce on the outside but timid on the inside?’

Because she was tricked by that Bandit Group last time, she made a vow to “never easily help others again.”

But at her core, she’s not a cruel person, so when she actually encounters a similar situation, she gets caught up in her own conflict.

To be honest, Lu Wei wasn’t surprised at all.

He even felt it was quite impressive that Bai Ya had managed to be “fierce on the outside” this time.

“Mhm, that’s normal. Change always takes time.”

Nodding, he first expressed his approval, but then immediately refuted her:

“But what makes you think they were telling the truth?”

“Huh?”

Bai Ya froze for a moment, shocked. “Are you saying they lied to me again?”

“I’m not saying they did for sure, but you should think about it carefully.”

Lu Wei pursed his lips. “I’m going to finish cooking. You can mull it over yourself.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the cabin to continue stir-frying the shredded potatoes.

Meanwhile, Bai Ya sat dazedly by the low table, replaying what Silas and Watson had said in her mind.

“We never thought about abandoning you.”

“We were just waiting for that group of Kobolds to spread out a bit, and then we were going to rescue you right away.”

“But we didn’t expect it to get so dark.”

“Actually, we were looking for you all that night, but we just couldn’t find you…”

From outside came the sound of a ladle scraping against the bottom of a wok, and the SIZZLE of hot oil.

The aroma drifted in through the open door, its warmth lingering on Bai Ya’s slightly trembling eyelashes.

She sat quietly, the conflict in her eyes gradually replaced by disappointment.

A month ago, Bai Ya probably wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong with their words.

But now, she had seen at least fifty, if not a hundred, Kobolds, and had even killed over a dozen with her own hands.

She was naturally crystal clear about the characteristics and habits of these monsters.

Besides, she wasn’t stupid to begin with.

Therefore, when Bai Ya replayed their words with a hint of suspicion, she immediately spotted many holes in their story.

And this made her lose the last shred of trust she had in Silas and Watson.

“I was lied to again.”

“Why would they do that?”

“I didn’t even hold a grudge against them…”

…

…

“Is it even a question? They were planning to scam some money out of you.”

“They see you as a moneyed fool who’s easy to trick. Who else would they scam?”

“Besides, I carried you all the way out of the forest that day, and I sure didn’t see them looking for you.”

Another ten-odd minutes later, the shredded potato stir-fry and tomato and egg soup were ready.

This world didn’t have cultivated ginger. While scallions and garlic existed, they were considered “High Level seasonings” or even “medicines.” No one sold them in Heitai Town, so the flavor couldn’t be exactly the same as in his past life.

But it was close enough.

“Ahh, satisfying…”

Rarely getting to eat familiar Chinese food, Lu Wei wore a satisfied expression. He had even made himself a pair of chopsticks specifically for eating the shredded potatoes.

Across the table, however, Bai Ya hadn’t touched her food, seemingly unable to accept the fact that she had been “deceived again.”

“How despicable. How could they be so evil?”

“And I’m so stupid. I can’t believe I actually trusted them back then.”

“Captain, do you think there’s any hope for me…?”

“Nope.”

Lu Wei was concise, taking another bite of shredded potatoes with his chopsticks.

But when he looked up and saw Bai Ya’s deeply hurt expression, he couldn’t help but add—

“But I can teach you a method that might solve your problem.”

“Really?”

Bai Ya’s eyes lit up. She leaned forward and asked eagerly, “What method?”

“A whitelist.”

“A whitelist… What’s that?”

“A trust-filtering mechanism.”

Amidst Bai Ya’s confused gaze, Lu Wei explained while eating:

“Simply put, you make a list of people you are certain you can trust. From now on, for anyone not on that list, no matter what they say, you should first assume they’re lying to you.”

“Huh, that seems to make a lot of sense…”

Bai Ya nodded thoughtfully, then asked curiously, “Since there’s a whitelist, is there a blacklist too?”

“Yep. A blacklist is the opposite. You make a list of people you can’t trust, and you can’t believe anything anyone on that list says.”

Lu Wei mumbled, “But that method only works for normal people. It’s useless for you.”

“True.”

Bai Ya agreed wholeheartedly. “I’m so stupid, I have to use the whitelist method.”

“…”

‘Well, damn. At least you’re self-aware.’

Lu Wei pursed his lips and went back to eating without another word.

Meanwhile, Bai Ya immediately ran back to her bedroom, returning about two minutes later to happily report:

“Okay, I’ve finished writing my whitelist!”

“Mhm.”

“Aren’t you going to ask who’s on it?”

“Do I need to ask?”

Lu Wei shot her a sidelong glance. “I could guess with my ass.”

“Tch, you’re no fun.”

Bai Ya pouted, her mood clearly much improved, and prepared to start eating.

It was only then that she noticed something strange about the lunch Lu Wei had made.

“What is this…”

Stabbing a few strands of the shredded potato with her fork, Bai Ya asked blankly, “Why are the potatoes cut like this?”

“Where are all these questions coming from? Just eat.”

“But…”

Bai Ya stared at the shredded potatoes for a good while, highly suspicious of their “safety.”

But since Lu Wei was on her whitelist, a person she could completely trust, she hesitated for a long time before finally mustering her courage and putting the shredded potatoes in her mouth.

CHOMP CHOMP~

“Captain…”

“Hm?”

“How about I do all the cooking from now on?”

…

…

As it turns out, the web novel plots from his past life about “Transmigrators conquering Otherworld country bumpkins with delicious food” had no basis in reality.

At least, Bai Ya didn’t consider “shredded potato stir-fry” and “tomato and egg soup” to be delicacies.

Of course, Lu Wei’s poor cooking skills might have had something to do with it.

But all in all, the plan to use Chinese cuisine to become an Otherworld “God of Cookery” and make a huge profit was probably not feasible.

“By the way, did you buy the clothes I asked you to get for Aryan?”

“What about the custom-made box?”

“What’s the rush? I’ll reimburse you once the box is made.”

“I’m heading out for a bit.”

After finishing his meal and resting for a bit, Lu Wei planned to go find Mirana to “settle a score” as planned.

Not to settle the score over Furen, though.

But over that bag of ears.

A Crafty Merchant can never lose out; he had to get that money back.

At the same time, it was also to “pass a message” to Freya through Mirana—

That he was back, and she could come find him to negotiate.

He fastened his sword belt and tucked the Fire Burning Magic scroll into his robes. Considering a fight might break out if negotiations failed, Lu Wei was fully prepared.

Then he headed straight for the Red Rose Inn where Mirana was staying.

As for Bai Ya, it wasn’t until after he had left that she suddenly remembered the matter of the bag of ears.

‘Oops, I forgot to tell Captain about that. But he probably knows, right? I’ll just give him the money when he gets back.’

Looking up at Lu Wei walking along the path toward the center of town, Bai Ya decided it wasn’t an urgent matter. So, she didn’t call out to him and continued squatting by the well to wash the wok.

Meanwhile, in a small grove about seventy or eighty meters from the cabin, two furtive figures were also silently “seeing” Lu Wei off.

“That kid looks tough… Speaking of which, can we even afford to mess with him?”

“Doesn’t matter. If we can’t beat him, you think we can’t handle that stupid woman?”

“Once we get the money, we’re leaving tonight. I’ve had enough of this Heitai Town anyway.”

“But how much money can we get?”

“Don’t worry. Look at all that Equipment on him. It’s gotta be a good amount. After all, it’s not like he’d carry all his money on him.”

“True… Then what are we waiting for! Let’s go!”

“Not so fast. Let’s wait a bit longer. It’ll be a problem if that kid suddenly comes back.”

“Fine…”