Chapter 072: Anomalous Time 38

Chapter 072: Anomalous Time 38

Half an hour later, a thin layer of warm mist spread across the clear glass window, faintly reflecting two slender figures.

In the spacious suite, there was a section designated as a small kitchen, equipped with an induction stove and common cooking utensils. It wasn't ideal for elaborate dishes but perfectly sufficient for desserts or simple meals.

On the countertop sat a plastic bag from a nearby supermarket, filled with freshly bought milk, light cream, dark chocolate, cinnamon powder...

Yubai found two recipes for hot chocolate on his phone; each had slightly different ingredients and procedures. One called for cinnamon powder, while the other featured whipped cream like clouds.

He believed both flavors would be delicious, so when he went to the supermarket with Xie Wufang earlier, he purchased all the ingredients for both recipes.

Adults make choices.

Drunkards, however, want it all.

After all, it's Xie Wufang doing the cooking.

Fortunately, this small kitchen didn't have open flames but rather an easier-to-operate induction stove. Thus, Yubai didn't need to teach much about cooking basics. After Xie Wufang glanced at the instructions, he quickly mastered its use and began opening the milk cartons.

After all, unpredictable flames and timing are the primary causes for kitchen disasters among novice cooks.

While skillfully directing the non-human being, Yubai wasn't idle either. He volunteered to help by chopping the chocolate, despite attempts to stop him.

On the new cutting board scattered with whole dark chocolate bars, as his pale fingertips narrowly grazed the sharp blade for the third time, Xie Wufang, standing guard beside him, finally took the knife from the drunkard without further ado.

"I'll cut it," he said in a tone that brooked no refusal. "Sit down over there."

This was one of Xie Wufang's rare displays of firmness, causing Yubai to pause, his expression blank as he released his grip and obediently sat on the chair Xie Wufang had fetched. "Oh."

He relinquished his position, but just as the silver tip of the knife, now under Xie Wufang's control, was about to pierce the rich dark chocolate, Yubai suddenly exclaimed, "Wait!"

Xie Wufang stopped at the sound, looking up at him with a hint of confusion.

He watched as the still somewhat sober drunkard scanned the kitchen, his eyes brightening as he swiftly fetched something and presented it like a treasure. "Here, remember to wear an apron when cooking, or you'll dirty your clothes."

Yubai couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled the scene he had witnessed through the window that day.

Amidst thick smoke, the man in a white shirt stood beside the gas stove, staring blankly at the orange-red flames leaping high from the wok.

He hadn't worn an apron, and his white shirt was turning into a panda shirt, possibly because neither the boss lady nor the recipe taught him to tie an apron before cooking.

It didn't matter. Now, he had taught Him.

Not in the cycle where every 22 hours, 57 minutes, and 14 seconds, memories were erased and restarted.

But in a world where others wouldn't forget again.

Especially Xie Wufang, with his excellent memory.

The tipsy Yubai, submerged in memories, couldn't help but tease softly, "That day when you tried making fried chicken, you didn't wear an apron, so your shirt got all blackened... Hey, hey, hey, don't take off your jacket!"

Xie Wufang accepted the apron and reached to remove the black suit jacket Yubai had made him wear, but was stopped.

"You can just put the apron over it," Yubai offered, moving behind him. "I'll tie it for you."

Over the well-tailored, austere formal attire, an apron imbued with the warmth of daily life... Yes, and roll up the cuffs a bit to reveal the slender yet strong wrist bones.

The capricious drunkard dressed the humanoid doll before him, his eyes sparkling as he praised, "This looks even better."

Don't ask why.

If you must know, it's a sexual awakening.

Yubai stood behind the man, head bowed, his fingers nimbly tying the straps into a beautiful bow, then carefully rolling up the sleeves, unaware that he had once again let slip something he shouldn't know in reality.

He shouldn't know that the non-human who turned the kitchen into a battlefield that day was trying to make fried chicken.

But just like the first time he heard about Wellington steak, Xie Wufang sensed something but didn't press further.

He allowed Yubai to fuss over him, asking suddenly, "Is Wellington steak good?"

"Delicious," Yubai answered without hesitation. "I think yours is even better than what the recipe describes."

"But—" he drew out the word, giggling, "I still prefer sweet and sour pork."

Xie Wufang asked, "Have I made sweet and sour pork for you?"

"Mm-hmm!"

The drunkard nodded vigorously, as if already smelling the sweet and sour aroma, his voice jubilant.

"That day, I specially went out to get a takeout order of sweet and sour pork from the restaurant Uncle Li often took me to. I love their flavor—it's just the right balance of sweet, sour, crispy, and tender."

"Then, after you tasted just two pieces, you spent an hour experimenting and managed to replicate the exact taste."

Even after experiencing many more loops of time, Yubai still vividly remembered that day, marveling, "It was exactly the same, truly amazing."

Back then, the kitchen was filled with the sweet and sour scent of the dish. Now, the air around them was permeated with the bittersweet aroma of chocolate and a hint of milk.

As Xie Wufang listened to him speak, wearing the apron, he chopped the chocolate into small pieces, the knife producing crisp, even sounds against the cutting board.

He always learned quickly and excelled at tasks with clear rules and logic.

Finally sitting properly on the chair, Yubai leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on the cool marble countertop, his gaze enviously fixed on him. "If I were you, I could immediately recreate anything I liked to eat. Just thinking about it makes me feel happy."

The man slicing the chocolate softly said, "I can help you recreate them."

"Really?"

The drunkard, his cheek resting on one hand, lifted his face in pleasant surprise, then furrowed his brow. "But you can only help me once or twice; I can't keep troubling you."

"It's no trouble," Xie Wufang said. "Every time you eat something you like, you can tell me about it."

"You say that now," Yu Bai shook his head repeatedly. "Once I come to you too many times, you'll find it annoying."

The man paused in his actions and looked at him intently. "I won't."

"You will!" The drunkard stubbornly refuted. "Even if you don't get annoyed, I can't keep coming here and wasting your time."

"Why not?"

He asked so earnestly.

But Yu Bai laughed as if suddenly enlightened, somewhat incoherently saying, "It's just...you wouldn't understand."

In the human world, there is no eternal purity and truth, but there is life that must proceed step by step through joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Everyone is trying their best to live their own lives, stumbling along to adapt to their first experiences of life, with little time to spend on others, except for children who should be taken care of.

Children who are objectively minors, or those always deserving of careful attention in the eyes of their parents.

This is common knowledge that every ordinary human being, who has shed their innocence and grown up, should know.

Even when drunk, they do not forget this.

He envied Xie Wufang, who could perfectly replicate food.

He envied the gods, carefree and innocent.

Xie Wufang, who indeed didn't understand the reason, wanted to ask again, but was interrupted.

Seeing that he had stopped cutting the chocolate, Yu Bai immediately said regretfully, "I won't talk to you anymore; cut the chocolate first."

One must never chat while cutting things.

This was a profound lesson learned after the young Yu Bai insisted on talking to his father while he was chopping vegetables, resulting in a cut finger and a terrified cry at the sight of blood.

He had never forgotten it.

The drunkard fell silent of his own accord, even deliberately changing his orientation to face away from the man beside the cutting board, his attitude resolute.

Seeing this, Xie Wufang did not ask any more questions, simply responding softly, "Alright."

The person facing away from him was enveloped in the warm yellow light, his soft hair illuminated in a gentle hue, while the dark chocolate beside his hands quickly became neat shards.

At the same time, he heard a rustling sound, followed by intermittent muffled waiting tones flowing through the air.

Not far away, the youth's slender fingers gripped the cold frame of his phone, the lit screen pressed against his pale, flushed cheek, his fluffy brown head bobbing slightly.

Yu Bai was making a call.

...He really wanted to talk to someone.

Unable to chat with Xie Wufang by his side for the moment, he had no choice but to call someone else.

After a few beeps, the call Yu Bai made was soon answered.

A somewhat surprised voice sounded from the receiver: "Hello, Little Bai?"

Yu Bai responded immediately, "Good evening, Uncle Li."

The choking scent of cigarettes, the refreshing taste of iced cola, and the sweet-and-sour pork ribs that spanned his entire adolescence made Li Nanxiao the chosen conversation partner for the drunkard.

The middle-aged man, who was working overtime at the bureau, heard the familiar voice on the other end of the phone, which seemed a bit off, and his expression turned serious as he asked, "Why did you suddenly call me? Did something happen?"

The drunkard didn't pick up on his concern and instead said somewhat discontentedly, "Nothing happened. Can't I call you if nothing's wrong?"

Li Nanxiao thought it sounded even more like something was wrong.

Since becoming an adult, whenever Yu Bai occasionally contacted him, he would always start with the question, "Uncle Li, are you busy now?" rather than such a light and casual greeting.

"Of course you can; you can call me anytime."

Li Nanxiao, sitting at his desk, put down the case file in his hand and focused all his attention on this unexpected call. As his thoughts raced, he suddenly thought of a possibility.

He asked directly, "Have you been drinking?"

Yu Bai, nestled in his chair, widened his eyes upon hearing this question.

...Criminal investigators were truly terrifying!

"How did you know? I only had a little bit."

He admitted honestly, emphasizing, "I'm not drunk, though."

On the other end of the line, Li Nanxiao let out a sigh of relief, not pointing out the drunkard's insistence, and instead asked gently, "Okay, where are you now? Are you alone?"

"I'm at a friend's house; I'm not alone."

From this question, Yu Bai sensed a subtle aura of unusual concern and immediately said, "I'm really not drunk! I have something to ask you, Uncle Li."

He did remember something, something he hadn't had time to deal with before, and it was a good opportunity to ask Li Nanxiao now.

"What is it? Ask away." Li Nanxiao offered. "I'm not busy right now; I've already finished work."

Reassured, Yu Bai continued, "I want to ask you...if a child from a single-parent family suffers long-term domestic violence from their father, what can they do to get away from him? Uncle Li, are you familiar with the laws regarding this?"

This question surprised the captain of criminal investigation.

However, this assumption was clearly at odds with Yu Bai's own situation, so he didn't pry further, patiently answering the drunkard on the other end of the line: "Do you want to know about theory or practice?"

The alcohol-dulled Yu Bai asked blankly, "What theory and practice?"

Li Nanxiao said calmly, "Laws are rigid, but people are not. Many cases need to be handled in light of the actual circumstances, especially when it comes to custody issues involving minors. How old is the child in your example?"

"Eight years old! Her mother probably left home a few years ago..."

In the warm room, the person curled up in the chair chattered away on the phone.

The cutting board used for the chocolate had already been washed and put away. A pot sat on the induction cooker, the boiling milk bubbling vigorously as the solid chocolate slowly melted, its dark brown hue gradually staining the pure white.

The man in his shirt, suit, and apron held a spoon, quietly stirring the rich, fragrant hot chocolate mixture.

Surrounded by billowing steam, the lake in his eyes froze uncontrollably.

Xie Wufang, with his keen senses, could hear the conversation on the phone.

Yu Bai was calling someone else.

Discussing someone else's affairs.

In this small kitchen, it was like ice and fire.

The drunkard listening attentively knew nothing of this.

And the spoon, half immersed in the hot chocolate and half assaulted by the icy chill, was truly overwhelmed, unable to withstand this stimulation.

It really wanted to shatter.

Until the person holding the phone suddenly raised his voice.

"...Why are you asking others," Yu Bai said unhappily. "I'm not drunk, I don't need anyone to take care of me."

The legal consultation came to an end, and Li Nanxiao asked again about what he was most concerned about at the moment, trying to coax the drunkard: "I didn't say you were drunk, I was just curious whose house you're at."

Yu Bai made an 'oh' sound before saying slowly, "At a friend's house that you don't know."

"Is he next to you now? You said earlier that you weren't alone."

"No," Yu Bai said, looking back. "But there's another friend next to me."

He didn't mention names, speaking vaguely, but Li Nanxiao thought for a moment and asked, "Is it the friend from the police station yesterday afternoon?"

Yu Bai, shocked, blurted out, "How did you know?!"

Cops who handle criminal investigations are really terrifying x2!!

His clear voice was full of surprise, sounding particularly vivid and alive.

Li Nanxiao smiled. "Just a guess."

He didn't explain how he guessed it, instead saying matter-of-factly, "Give him the phone."

"What for?" Yu Bai immediately became alert. "Isn't the ID card issue over? Don't pursue it anymore, Uncle Li..."

This sentence sounded a little like a rare act of coquetry, causing fatherly Li Nanxiao to reveal a smile tinged with helplessness and wistfulness.

He tried to make his voice sound softer. "Don't worry, I'm not pursuing the ID card. I just want to talk to him for a bit. He hasn't been drinking, has he?"

"No," Yu Bai replied stupidly, not realizing the implications behind the question. Suddenly, he said, "But...but he's shy around strangers!"

He remembered something else.

Tonight's Xie Wufang was very averse to everyone except him.

"He probably doesn't want to talk to you," Yu Bai said. "It's not that I don't want him to answer the phone, really—"

As he spoke, his gaze subconsciously searched for that familiar figure, and his words abruptly stopped.

In front of the kitchen counter filled with the thick aroma of chocolate, the black-haired, blue-eyed man turned down the stove to the lowest setting, put down the spoon, and was now looking down at the person sitting in the chair.

He reached out to the stunned Yu Bai, the pale light brushing over the fingers and palm suspended in mid-air, his voice calm and deep.

"Give me the phone."