Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 266: Chapter 188: Information on the Chili Field (Part 2)

Although chili peppers were originally introduced to Great Xia from South America, they had since become an indispensable and crucial part of Great Xia cuisine.

With just chili peppers and these common seasonings, he could make at least dozens of different dishes.

"It’s pretty far. It’s located a bit above the mountainside. It’ll probably take close to an hour to climb there."

"Let’s go!"

Without another word, Lin Chen ducked into the cave, grabbed a basket, and put it on his back. After a moment’s thought, he handed another to Erica.

"Let’s bring them, just to be safe. What if we have an unexpected haul?"

"Wait, let me put on a jacket first."

Erica was clearly interested too. She set down the basket, put on her camouflage jacket, and then hoisted the basket back onto her shoulders.

"The fibers are a bit coarse. Since we’re in the wild, there’s no way to process it finely, after all. It wouldn’t be good if it chafed my skin."

She had only taken two steps when she suddenly stopped again.

"Lin, if I lead you to the chili peppers, you can’t keep me from sleeping in my future bed, can you?"

Lin Chen continued walking without looking back. "Then you can stay behind and dig the cave. I’ll just go find them myself. That way, you won’t be without a place to sleep tonight."

"Wow, you’re so cruel!"

Andre couldn’t take it anymore. "Man, she’s your fan! She came all this way just for you. Besides, isn’t your cabin almost finished? It’s just a matter of a day or two. What’s the big deal about her sleeping there?"

"If you’re so nice, why don’t you let her sleep at your place?"

"No way, absolutely not. I have a wife. You’re single!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Andre seemed to realize something. He stopped in his tracks, gave him a strange look, and silently took two steps back.

"You... you don’t..."

"Get lost!"

"Then what’s the deal? Erica, do you have bad body odor?"

"Bullshit! I used to have it, but I had surgery to get rid of it a long time ago."

Over eighty percent of Caucasians have body odor, and for people of African descent, it’s one hundred percent. So for them, it was something they were used to, and they usually just sprayed strong perfume to cover it up.

But you couldn’t spray perfume in a wild environment like this. Not only would it affect the natural ecosystem, but it would also attract wild animals and insects. So for professional reasons, and to manage her personal image, Erica had the surgery before she even came of age.

After all, with an allowance she could never spend in a lifetime, money was never a concern.

"So why, then? That’s weird. If I were single, there’d be no reason to refuse. Huddling together is warmer, it doesn’t take up much space, and at worst, you could just sleep in each other’s arms. That’s perfectly normal in a wilderness survival situation."

"Yeah, it gets a little chilly by the shore at night. I only wanted to huddle with him because I was afraid of getting sick. I’m a girl and I don’t even mind, but he’s the one acting all shy. Are all Da Xia People this bashful?"

Listening to the two of them chattering behind him with no intention of lowering their voices, Lin Chen was starting to get annoyed. He suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Fine, fine, fine! You can sleep there, okay? Just for tonight. I promise I’ll move out tomorrow!"

’By his estimates, the wooden cabin would be pretty much finished tomorrow. He just had to endure one more night.’

’It wasn’t that he was shy or disgusted by her; the main issue was her special status. True, he wanted to build his channel and gather fans, but he couldn’t do it by riding this kind of wave.’

’What if her mother took a disliking to him before his channel even got off the ground? With a casual flick of her finger, she could make it impossible for him to make a living.’

’Regardless of the circumstances, no parent on Earth would want to see their precious daughter inexplicably sleeping with a strange man.’

’Even an official boyfriend could easily provoke a father’s jealous fire.’

’He really didn’t want to get dragged into unnecessary trouble.’

Seeing that he had finally relented, Erica happily bounced on the spot.

Digging a hole that deep was no easy task. Women were naturally at a disadvantage when it came to strength, and she didn’t want to get all grimy and covered in dirt. If she could freeload, it was obviously for the best.

"You’re my idol for a reason! Lin, you’re the best! Love you~~"

As she shouted, she started to rush over and grab Lin Chen’s arm.

"Please stay a little farther away from me, thank you. We’ve known each other for less than twenty-four hours; we’re not familiar enough for that. We Da Xia People don’t have that custom, so please respect our culture."

"Oh, oh, okay then. I’ll be mindful~"

Erica nodded seriously, and she actually kept a distance of about a meter from him as she quickened her pace to take the lead.

"This way. I came down the mountain on this path yesterday."

Andre came up from behind, put an arm around his shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

"Lin, she’s got a great personality, not to mention a nice figure and looks. Why not see where it goes? When I was your age, I was already getting ready to marry my wife."

"Wait a minute!"

Lin looked up in shock. "Isn’t Mia ten years younger than you? When you were my age, she would have just been starting high school. You..."

"It was a figure of speech! That’s all I meant!"

Andre’s expression changed, and he quickly waved his hands to explain.

"Save it. I know you mean well," Lin Chen said, immediately turning Erica’s own tactic back on him. "But you need to get one thing straight. In our Great Xia, only elders pressure the younger generation about dating and marriage. And the more they push, the more it strains the relationship."

"If you still want to be my friend, you’d best not bring up this topic."

"Don’t get me wrong, Lin, I wasn’t trying to pressure you. And that situation you described exists in North America, too. I don’t think kids anywhere in the world like hearing that kind of talk from their parents."