Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 296: Chapter 198: Hey You, Get Your Hands Off

Fortunately, after two days together, Lin Chen had grown somewhat accustomed to interacting with Erica. He just needed to be careful, but other than that, there was nothing to worry about.

Erica, on the other hand, seemed completely unaware of this—or rather, she’d never cared in the first place.

She knew Lin Chen had gone up to continue repairing the shelter. With a storm raging outside, it would be a disaster if a moment of carelessness caused the shelter to collapse.

Thanks to all the firewood, the fire quickly blazed to life.

Erica spotted several large banana leaves piled in a corner. Her eyes twinkled as an idea struck her. She promptly stripped off her wet clothes, picked up a few bamboo branches, and stuck them in the ground by the fire to hang her shirt and pants to dry.

She walked over, picked out the widest banana leaf, and wrapped it around her body. She had intended to wear it like a towel, but after wrapping it, she realized she had nothing to hold it in place.

Fortunately, she was clever. She tucked the top edge of the leaf inward at her chest, just like one would do with a bath towel in a hotel. In no time, she had secured the banana leaf, fashioning it into an all-natural leaf dress.

’This isn’t bad. It’s pretty breathable. Looks like I can make a few banana-leaf outfits for when the weather clears up. They’d be perfect for rainy days!’

Having to strip and dry her clothes by the fire every time it rained was just too much trouble. She felt that wearing a banana leaf might be more suitable for getting around in the rain.

But that was just a theory. She’d have to actually try it to see if it would work.

She walked over to the fire and took off the banana leaf, planning to put it back on after she had dried off.

Taking another banana leaf, she pulled the entire stingray out of the bamboo tube and laid it flat on the leaf.

Clutching her combat knife, Erica stared at the stingray’s large, flat body, suddenly at a loss.

’This creature’s anatomy is different from a normal fish’s. How am I supposed to prepare it?’

’Grilling a fish is all about presentation; you want to keep it intact. If I cut it the wrong way, it’ll look terrible after it’s cooked. It might even fall apart on the fire.’

’The organs are located in the abdomen. For a stingray... that should be the white underside, right?’

She flipped the stingray over, revealing the sharp, venomous barbs on its tail.

To be safe, she first cut off the venomous barbs and tossed them into the fire, then sliced off the entire long, thick tail.

In the center of the stingray’s white belly was a marking shaped somewhat like a baby bottle. If she was right, that marked the location of its abdominal cavity.

’If I recall correctly, a couple of nights ago, Lin and Andre mentioned that stingrays were poisonous. Besides the tail barb, could the internal organs be toxic? The skin might be as well, right?’

While she wasn’t an expert on the coast, she knew a little about saltwater fish. After all, the fish in North American restaurants and supermarkets were almost exclusively saltwater species.

But the stingray’s unique body shape was completely outside her experience. For a moment, she had no idea where to make the first cut.

’Better to be safe. I’ll just call the expert over.’

"LIN!!!!"

"What is it?"

Lin Chen’s voice called back from above.

"I’ve never prepared this kind of fish before. Do you know how?"

Lin Chen, who was in the middle of chopping bamboo, paused for a second but wasn’t particularly surprised.

Stingrays have a very unique body shape, completely different from common fish. Most people have never seen one, let alone prepared one, so it was normal for her not to know.

"Just cut open its belly."

"Where’s the belly? The middle part? Is the skin toxic? Are the organs toxic? Should I skin it?"

Faced with this barrage of questions, Lin Chen immediately gave up on the idea of coaching her from a distance.

"I’ll do it."

He set down the bamboo, dusted off his hands, and walked to the entrance to rinse them with some rainwater. Only then did he head toward the central cellar.

With a single leap, he landed steadily on top of the earthen mound.

He was about to head down the steps when his eyes fell on Erica, and he immediately whipped his head away.

"Seriously? Are you an exhibitionist or something? You’ve been naked at some point almost every day for the past three days. Can they even broadcast this?"

"My clothes were wet! What was I supposed to do? I’m not about to get sick and drop out of the competition this early on."

Erica retorted, perfectly self-assured. She made no move to cover herself; in fact, she even puffed out her chest.

"Besides, everyone wears swimsuits at the beach. What’s the difference between underwear and a swimsuit, other than color and style? Just pretend I’m wearing a bikini. Or have you never seen a woman in a bikini before?"

’She had a point, but no matter how he looked at it, his mind just couldn’t equate underwear with a swimsuit.’

"Alright, alright, I get it, you’re shy. I’ll put the banana leaf on, okay?"

Erica was already familiar with his personality, so she wasn’t offended. Instead, looking amused, she held up the banana leaf, rustled it deliberately, and even took a few steps to the side.

’Just as I thought. The moment I enter his peripheral vision, he jerks his head away.’

’So interesting. Are all men from Great Xia this pure? Afraid to even look at a woman in a swimsuit?’

The more Lin Chen avoided looking, the stronger her urge to tease him became.

But now wasn’t the right time for that. She dutifully wrapped the banana leaf "towel" around herself.

"Okay, you can turn around now."

Lin Chen, already well-acquainted with the girl’s mischievous streak, cautiously tilted his head. Only after confirming from his peripheral vision that she was, in fact, wrapped in something green did he dare to turn all the way around.

There was nothing special about the banana leaf itself, but on her, it looked strangely alluring.

Lin Chen allowed himself only a quick glance before forcing his attention onto the stingray laid out on the other banana leaf.