Chapter 440

Sichuan Hot Pot Restaurant,

Table A1.

Chen Nanxing looked at the tomato-based broth in front of her with a look of utter despair.

Then, with pleading eyes, she looked at Xu Hongdou and said, "Hongdou, I’m begging you. I came here to eat hot pot; what is this tomato broth? Can we just switch to a full spicy broth? I’m begging you!"

"No."

Xu Hongdou refused flatly and expressed great satisfaction with the broth in front of her. "I think it’s quite good. You have the tomato, I have the spicy broth—we’ll stay out of each other’s way. Isn't that great?"

"Who eats hot pot with tomato broth?!"

Chen Nanxing cried out in agony. "I want to eat fatty beef, I want to eat lamb, I want to eat tripe, I want to eat yellow throat! How can you eat these things in a tomato broth?! Only the full spicy broth is the real flavor!"

"Hongdou, I’m begging you, just let me have a few bites of the spicy broth, okay?"

"No."

Xu Hongdou, right in front of Chen Nanxing, dipped a large pair of chopsticks full of beef into her spicy broth.

Then, looking at Chen Nanxing, she said seriously, "Nannan, you must remember: you cannot eat spicy food. Not even a little bit. You can only eat the tomato one and watch me eat the spicy broth!"

"What?!"

Chen Nanxing was so miserable she wanted to scratch her head. "Xu Hongdou, can you be a human being? It’s bad enough that I can only eat the tomato one, but I also have to watch you eat the spicy broth?! This is the cruelest punishment on earth! Do you know what eating tomato broth means to a Sichuanese person?! It means she is no longer a true Sichuanese!"

"If our ancestors saw this, they’d revoke my Sichuan citizenship! So, Hongdou, I’ll just have a few bites, really, just a few bites, I’m begging you!"

After Chen Nanxing finished speaking, she looked at Xu Hongdou with tears in her eyes, looking pitiful.

Seeing this, Xu Hongdou’s heart softened, and just as she was about to nod in agreement, she remembered Qin Feng’s words.

So, Xu Hongdou immediately and firmly refused: "No, Nannan, just accept your fate. You aren't having a single bite of spicy food today!"

... ===== CHAPTER 998 =====

Under Xu Hongdou’s near-high-pressure supervision and management,

poor Chen Nanxing could only watch Xu Hongdou’s spicy pot while drooling,

and helplessly put vegetables like bean curd skin and winter melon into the tomato broth in front of her.

Chen Nanxing firmly believed that meat dishes like fatty beef and tripe had to be cooked in spicy broth to be satisfying.

If there was no spicy broth, Chen Nanxing would rather not eat meat at all.

And so, Chen Nanxing really didn't touch a single piece of meat, pitifully eating the vegetables she had put into her pot.

Xu Hongdou, seeing this,

felt both amused and heartbroken.

If Chen Nanxing were healthy right now,

she would let her eat whatever she wanted to her heart's content.

But Chen Nanxing was a patient, a cancer patient.

Moreover, Qin Feng had specifically instructed that Chen Nanxing should avoid spicy food as much as possible to prevent putting stress on her relatively fragile heart and immune system.

Therefore,

even though Xu Hongdou felt Chen Nanxing was very pitiful, she remained firm and didn't let her eat any spicy food.

And since they had ordered so much fatty beef, tripe, lamb, and other meats when they first arrived at the hot pot restaurant,

Xu Hongdou had to eat it all by herself.

Consequently,

Xu Hongdou felt heartbroken for Chen Nanxing while eating the meat in large mouthfuls.

This extremely conflicted scene made even Xu Hongdou feel bad.

So,

after eating another large mouthful of fatty beef, Xu Hongdou took the initiative to look at Chen Nanxing’s tomato pot and said, "Nannan, scoop me two pieces of winter melon; I want to eat some."

"What?"

Chen Nanxing’s eyes widened, looking like a mother tiger protecting her food. She glared at Xu Hongdou and said through her nose, "No, you can't have any!"

"Huh?"

Xu Hongdou was surprised, seeing there was still plenty of winter melon in the tomato pot.

So, she asked in confusion, "Nannan, I’m just eating two pieces of winter melon, not much. I’m tired of eating meat, I want to eat some winter melon to cleanse my palate!"

"Eat winter melon to cleanse your palate?!"

Hearing Xu Hongdou’s words, Chen Nanxing was filled with grief and indignation. She looked at Xu Hongdou and said seriously, "Xu Hongdou, listen to yourself. Is that something a human would say?! Huh?!"

"I’m a patient, a late-stage cancer patient. I can't eat meat, I can't eat spicy food. I’m sitting here with you, in this Sichuan hot pot restaurant famous for its spice, eating vegetables from a tomato pot..."

"But you?!"

"You, Xu Hongdou, actually have the audacity to say you’re tired of eating meat right in front of me and want to eat my winter melon to cleanse your palate?! Xu Hongdou, be a human being!"

"I came to the hot pot restaurant I’ve been dreaming of, I haven't had a single bite of spicy broth, I haven't had a single bite of meat, and you’re telling me you’re tired of meat right in front of me! Xu Hongdou, you’ve gone too far!"

"I’m telling you, Xu Hongdou, you won't get a single piece of these two pieces of winter melon—no! You won't get a single vegetable from this tomato pot! Even if I can't eat them, I’ll scoop them all out and pack them to take home. I’ll have them for an afternoon snack, a midnight snack, I just won't let you eat them!"

Chen Nanxing looked both pitiful and funny.

With a spoon in her left hand and chopsticks in her right, she defended the final dignity of her tomato broth.

Xu Hongdou shook her head with a helpless smile and said, "Fine, fine, I won't eat the winter melon, I won't eat it. Is that okay?!"

"No!"

Chen Nanxing looked at Xu Hongdou with red eyes: "Xu Hongdou, you’ve hurt me, you’ve insulted me, you must apologize to me with a large spoonful of fatty beef from the spicy pot! Otherwise, I’m not done with you!"

"Hehe!"

Xu Hongdou laughed. "Chen Nanxing, keep dreaming. Forget a large spoonful of spicy fatty beef, you won't get a single piece of beef from me. Just honestly eat your tomato pot!"

"Hongdou~~"

Seeing that Xu Hongdou wasn't falling for it, Chen Nanxing immediately softened, looking at Xu Hongdou and pleading in a low voice, "Hongdou, just be kind, let me have two bites, just two bites of the spicy fatty beef, I’m begging you, please?"

"No."

Xu Hongdou shook her head firmly. "If someone won't let me eat winter melon, then she won't get to eat fatty beef, not even a bite!"

"Oh, my sister Hongdou, your little sister loves you, can't you just let me have two bites? Look, we’re almost done, I just want two bites, really, just two bites!"

When her first tactic failed, Chen Nanxing simply started acting spoiled.

Xu Hongdou hesitated for a moment, then placed her bowl in the middle. "First, scoop two pieces of winter melon for your sister!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Chen Nanxing immediately and obediently scooped two pieces of winter melon from the tomato pot and put them into Xu Hongdou’s bowl.

Then,

Chen Nanxing, drooling, immediately plunged her spoon into the spicy pot.

Seeing the spoon filled with fatty beef, tripe, and meatballs, Chen Nanxing’s eyes widened, and drool almost dripped onto the table.

But at this moment,

Xu Hongdou let out a cold snort and directly blocked Chen Nanxing’s spoon.

Then, she took her chopsticks and moved the meat and meatballs from the spoon into her own bowl.

Chen Nanxing immediately panicked: "Sister Hongdou, leave me some, leave me some beef meatballs!"

"Hongdou, don't go too far, oh my god, my tripe!"

"Xu Hongdou, stop it, stop it, if you take any more, there really won't be any left!"

... ===== CHAPTER 999 =====