Scientific Travel

"What are you doing here?" Qiu Qingyu stood at the door and stepped aside to let Deng in.

"I'm here to freeload a meal." Deng Yin said without any politeness, "I want something spicy, just make a couple of dishes."

"?????"

This was the first time Qiu Qingyu had ever met such a shameless person; even Gao Ruizhe would have to admit defeat in front of her.

Qiu Qingyu led Deng Yin to the reception room and said, "Wait here."

"No need, I'll help you."

Qiu Qingyu looked at Deng Yin suspiciously. Was she afraid that Deng Yin would poison her?

Are you not a god? Why would you be afraid of this kind of trick?

When they actually started doing it, Qiu Qingyu realized what she was planning.

She doesn't help with the ingredients, not even with simple tasks like washing vegetables! Every time Qiu Qingyu adds a little seasoning, she has to ask what it is and how much to add.

So they came here to steal my skills.

Although it wouldn't be a big deal for her to learn, Qiu Qingyu simply didn't want to teach her.

Qiu Qingyu deliberately added a lot of seasonings, regardless of whether they were needed, especially chili peppers.

Didn't she want to eat spicy food?

Baihua City's specialty, the Fire Pepper, is so spicy that even people who can handle a lot of spice can't eat more than two. Qiu Qingyu put out five.

The Fire Pepper is a very understated chili pepper; it is red in appearance, about the size of an eye, and no matter how it is cooked, it doesn't smell spicy.

But as soon as you take a bite, it's like being burned alive, and you sweat as if you're being roasted by fire.

The Fire Pepper, which makes someone unintentionally eat something extremely spicy, is essentially a non-toxic poison for ordinary people.

It's really so strong it can kill you.

Even if you don't die, your stomach won't be any better off; stomach pain is the least of your worries.

Qiu Qingyu can eat spicier food than most people, but she can only eat a maximum of three fiery peppers.

Killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own—this was the first time Qiu Qingyu had ever done something so foolish.

There were five dishes in total. Except for the one with the fiery chili pepper, all the other dishes were bright red and looked very spicy.

Seeing that Deng Yin only ate those four dishes and didn't touch the one with the fiery pepper, Qiu Qingyu picked up a piece of chicken from that dish, put it in her mouth, and said, "It's so spicy, this dish is the spiciest."

She said it was spicy, but Qiu Qingyu's expression didn't change much, so it didn't look very spicy.

Since Deng Yin likes spicy food, he naturally wouldn't miss the spiciest dish.

The reason you didn't eat it just now is probably because it didn't look very spicy.

Sure enough, after Qiu Qingyu finished speaking, Deng Yin also picked up a piece of chicken.

Qiu Qingyu suppressed the spiciness and kept staring at Deng Yin.

"really."

She...she didn't react?

Qiu Qingyu didn't believe it; she thought Deng Yin was definitely faking it just like her.

People care about saving face, just like a drunk person won't admit they've had too much to drink—it's the same principle.

People who can handle spicy food won't complain about the spiciness even after eating very spicy dishes.

Qiu Qingyu specially prepared two cups of syrup to relieve the spiciness, but seeing that Deng Yin wouldn't drink it, she wouldn't either.

When we had almost finished eating the other dishes, the dish with the fiery pepper was the only one that suffered minor damage.

Qiu Qingyu took a bite, Deng Yin took a bite, and now it looks like they haven't touched a single bite.

Qiu Qingyu was fairly certain that Deng Yin couldn't eat that dish, so in order to get her to eat more, Qiu Qingyu offered to play a game.

"Eating like this isn't very interesting. How about we play something?"

“Okay.” Deng Yin didn’t know what Qiu Qingyu wanted to do, but he didn’t refuse.

Qiu Qingyu explained the game rules: "We'll play dice, and whoever gets the higher number wins. The loser gets to eat a bite of this dish." Qiu Qingyu added, "Normally we should drink alcohol, but I don't have any, so I'll have to use this dish instead."

"I have wine." Deng Yin had bought quite a bit of wine beforehand, and she conjured two jars from her spatial storage. "How about this, let's make it a little more difficult. The loser has to drink a sip of wine first, then eat a bite of food, okay?"

Drinking alcohol first won't relieve the spiciness; Qiu Qingyu's goal was simply to make Deng Yin feel the spiciness.

"it is good"

Qiu Qingyu went to get the sieve cups, each containing three sieves.

Deng Yin didn't know how to play, so he asked, "How do you play? Does the player with the highest total of the three numbers win?"

"No." Qiu Qingyu was an expert; her explanation of the rules sounded very professional: "We'll play 'Slide Dice.' The winning suits are: First, 'Leopard,' meaning three of a kind; second, 'Big Straight,' meaning four, five, and six; third, 'Flush,' meaning three, four, and five. The penalty suits are: First, 'Small Pagoda,' meaning one, two, and three; second, 'Little Maid,' meaning one, two, and one; third, two pairs of points and the other one. Two pairs of points and the other two, three, four, five, and six are called 'race dice.' In race dice, if the points are the same, it's called 'catching up,' and if they exceed, it's called 'overtaking.' The dealer decides the penalty, and the winner becomes the dealer. Do you understand?"

"understood."

"I don't understand at all. Qiu Qingyu used too many technical terms. Deng Yinguang only remembered the leopard."

Deng Yin didn't care how she lost; all she needed to know was how to win.

It's clear that Qiu Qingyu plays this game often; her dice-shaking movements look very professional.

Qiu Qingyu opened the dice cup; inside were four, five, and six—a perfect sequence. As long as she didn't get a triple, she was guaranteed to win.

"Thank you for the favor." Qiu Qingyu was the type who was bad at the game but had a big addiction to it. She was not satisfied with rolling such a big number, but she seemed to have victory in her grasp and curled up the corners of her mouth.

It seemed to be Deng Yin's first time playing; she shook the dice cup a couple of times and then put it down.

! ! ! !

One by one, a leopard.

Deng opened his mouth wide in surprise and said, "It seems like I won. You're too kind."

Qiu Qingyu was a good loser. Without Deng Yin saying anything more, she drank the wine in her hand in one gulp and ate a big mouthful of food.

Qiu Qingyu's head was spinning from the spiciness, but she forced herself to say, "Again!"

In the next ten rounds, Qiu Qingyu's best hand was a 555 triple, while Deng Yin's hand was a 666 triple.

Of the remaining nine hands, Qiu Qingyu rolled all sorts of numbers, getting all sorts of results, while Deng Yin, without exception, got all three of them.

Qiu Qingyu ate increasingly spicy food. At first, she drank the wine from a wine glass, but later she started drinking it from a bowl.

The jar of wine next to Qiu Qingyu was finished, so Deng Yin brought her another jar.

Qiu Qingyu's eyes were somewhat unfocused, not only because she had drunk too much, but also because of the spiciness.

The spicier it was, the more she wanted to drink; the more she drank, the spicier it became. Qiu Qingyu felt as if a fire was burning in her stomach.

Seeing her contorted face, which didn't seem like she could eat anymore, Deng Yin suggested, "Playing like this isn't very interesting. How about we change the game? The loser doesn't eat or drink, but instead answers a question to the other person."

"No." Although Qiu Qingyu was no longer thinking clearly, she still remembered her goal of getting Deng Yin to eat.

"Then I'm not playing anymore." Deng Yin pushed the dice cup forward. "You're always the one eating and drinking, and I haven't gotten a single bite all day. What's the point?"

That makes some sense.

Qiu Qingyu was a heavy gambler, and when she saw that Deng Yin wanted to quit, she had no choice but to give in.