Chapter 280: Chapter 280: Can’t Stand to Watch, Personally Cooking
Before the apocalypse, both of them had good educations and jobs.
And because of their work, they were rarely home and seldom cooked for themselves. You could say they were clueless when it came to cooking.
After the apocalypse, they had to fend for themselves, but there was nothing back then. Even when they found food, they ate it raw or with minimal preparation.
After entering the base, everyone ate together in the cafeteria. There was no opportunity to cook.
Even though Louis Grant’s room had a kitchenette that allowed him to cook for himself, he had never once used it.
Today was the first time he had ever used the small kitchen in his room.
If it weren’t to celebrate meeting Stella again, he never would have set foot in the kitchen.
But he was never a good cook to begin with, and after several years in the apocalypse, he had forgotten even the little he once knew.
When Stella Sterling entered, she was greeted by the sight of their chaotic mess. Louis Grant stood before her, brandishing a kitchen knife, looking rather disheveled.
After opening the door, he said quickly to Stella Sterling, "Just a minute! Have a seat. We’re just figuring things out. Dinner will be ready soon."
As he spoke, he was still holding the kitchen knife up in front of Stella Sterling.
Stella Sterling’s eyes filled with disdain. "Get that knife away from me. You’ll splash blood on me."
Louis Grant smiled sheepishly. Vivian Larkin called out, and he quickly returned to the kitchen.
Stella Sterling watched from the living room for a moment. Seeing the state of the two of them, the corner of her mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
’If I’d known it would be like this, I would have just gone with Julian Fletcher and the others to eat at the Meridia Base cafeteria.’
She had originally thought that coming here tonight would not only be a chance to get together with friends, but also a chance to taste something new, to try someone else’s cooking.
Although she had plenty of food in her spatial storage—more than she could ever eat, including many pre-cooked meals she could eat right away...
...for psychological reasons, perhaps, she always felt that freshly cooked food tasted better. That’s why, over the past year or two at Caeluna Base, she often had the kitchen staff secretly make her extra meals to satisfy her cravings.
When she heard Louis Grant was cooking personally today, she had been a little intrigued. He had sounded so confident, and she remembered the grilled fish he’d made once had tasted quite good.
So she’d assumed his cooking skills were decent and that she’d get to enjoy a satisfying meal today.
But now, watching the two of them bustling about in the kitchen, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
’At this rate, when will dinner even be ready? Will we even get to eat?’ she wondered, having serious doubts about whether whatever they managed to cook would even be edible.
Still, Stella Sterling held back. She sat down and poured herself a glass of water.
’No matter what, I’m a guest,’ she thought. ’I should just go along with my hosts’ plans and wait for dinner.’
But she waited and waited, and the kitchen farce showed no signs of ending. After Louis Grant nearly sliced his finger off again, Stella Sterling couldn’t watch any longer.
She stood up, grabbed each of them with just two fingers of one hand, and lifted them out of the kitchen.
The two were still busy with their tasks and were completely baffled when Stella Sterling suddenly plucked them away.
They each weighed over a hundred pounds—no light load—yet she had lifted them, one in each hand, using only two fingers apiece, as if it took no effort at all. It was almost unbelievable.
The slender-looking Stella Sterling was actually a Titan.
They were lifted out before they even had a chance to react.
The two of them looked at Stella Sterling in confusion. Vivian Larkin looked back and said, "Stella, why’d you pull us out? We still have to cook! It’s getting late, we’ll run out of time if we don’t hurry."
The base had electricity, and although only a few people’s rooms were supplied with power—which also cost points—the hours of electricity usage were strictly controlled by the base.
It was already getting late, and since neither of them was skilled, any further delays meant they’d probably have to eat in the dark.
"If you two keep going like this, we’ll *really* have no dinner to eat. Get out. I’ll take it from here."
After leaving them with those words, Stella Sterling entered the kitchen.
Compared to their frantic fumbling, Stella Sterling’s speed was on another level. Washing vegetables, chopping, heating the wok with oil—her movements were as smooth as flowing water.
The two culinary amateurs outside were left stunned by Stella Sterling’s performance.
A wave of embarrassment washed over them. They had been "prepping" for so long, but all they’d managed to do was make a mess of the kitchen without accomplishing much.
In just a few moments, Stella Sterling had already done more than the two of them combined.
And one look at her practiced movements told them that Stella Sterling was quite good at cooking—at least, far better than two rookies like them.
So, despite their embarrassment, they completely surrendered the kitchen to Stella Sterling, a faint sense of anticipation growing within them.
The cafeteria food wasn’t great, and they couldn’t remember the last time they’d eaten a home-cooked meal like this.
It looked like they were both in for a treat tonight.
At that moment, Louis Grant let out a deep sigh. He had already felt that he wasn’t good enough for Stella Sterling and had given up...
...and now, that feeling was even stronger.
’Not only is Stella Sterling so powerful, but she’s also skilled at domestic tasks. She’s practically omnicompetent.’
In no time, Stella Sterling had cooked four dishes.
There were meat and vegetable dishes, plus a soup!
Well, the "meat" was just eggs, and the soup was a simple vegetable broth.
After all, these were the only ingredients available. Louis Grant had only managed to get them through his parents’ connections, and they were a rare find.
Besides, fresh vegetables and eggs were scarce commodities; they only got to eat them once in a blue moon.
Therefore, both Louis Grant and Vivian Larkin’s eyes were shining as they helped Stella Sterling bring the dishes to the table. Vivian Larkin had already dished out the rice.
"Go on, eat. You two are lucky. I rarely cook these days."
’If it weren’t for their pathetic performance earlier, I really wouldn’t have wanted to cook.’
With that, she took the first bite herself, very satisfied with her own cooking.
Louis Grant and Vivian Larkin were also full of anticipation. The dishes looked incredibly appetizing.
They each picked up a piece with their chopsticks, then shoveled a large mouthful of rice. A moment later, the eager expressions on their faces froze, replaced by something strange.
They looked up at the same time, meeting each other’s gaze. Then, they both turned to look at Stella Sterling with suspicion.
