An Junlie nodded repeatedly. "Yes, right there. That old man, despite looking a bit peculiar, was quite easy to talk to."

Zi Ye’s forehead pulsed with visible veins. "Easy to talk to? Do you know the history of the destruction of Qimen Star?"

An Junlie paused in thought. "Are you referring to the incident where Qimen Planet was completely devoured by the Red Tide overnight?" Qimen Star was a tiny planet, scarcely larger than a palm, housing a population of thirty to forty thousand. Its annihilation in a single night had sparked widespread panic across the sector. After all, even the most potent stellar missiles couldn't silently wipe out an entire planet in such a short span. The Interstellar Federation investigated for decades, eventually abandoning the case as unsolved.

Zi Ye nodded, articulating each word slowly. "Exactly. Do you know the origin of the Red Tide? It was cultivated by that old man next door! Do you know what he used to cultivate the Red Tide? Red Roses! You absolutely cannot eat his Red Roses!" The old man being stingy was one thing, but gifting her a Red Rose was unforgivable.

An Junlie stared at her, dumbfounded, as she nodded.

So the old man wasn't showing favor to Zi Ye, but issuing a warning!

Zi Ye suddenly couldn't fathom how An Junlie had survived this long; he was simply a large, naive oaf. She felt it necessary to school him on the matter. "The old man is one of the planet's biggest farmers, specializing in roses. He favors White Roses, nurtured with the finest growth medium—those he never sells. Yellow Roses are moderately priced; they're used for rose salads, rose stir-fries, and rose pastries. The Red Roses are experimental products, cultivated using extracts from the most toxic and bizarre flora on the planet. If the cultivation fails, he sells them off. Unsuspecting buyers take them home to cook with... I despise roses. They’re slippery and greasy. No matter the color, when cooked, they turn into a mushy mess. Absolutely repulsive. I truly don't understand why people enjoy eating them."

An Junlie glanced at the Red Rose in his hand, feeling it would be a shame to simply discard it. He tentatively suggested, "If they can't be eaten, surely they can be placed in a vase?"

Zi Ye clenched her fist, forcefully suppressing the urge to deliver a solid beating and toss him out!

An Junlie immediately sensed his blunder. "I’ll throw it away right now, immediately."

Zi Ye exhaled heavily, deciding to let him fend for himself while she addressed the issue of sustenance. Anger, she mused, actually aided digestion and made one hungrier. Feeling her stomach gnaw, Zi Ye headed toward the kitchen.

However, it seemed the only things left in the cold storage were the rose buns...

The memory of that flavor caused a violent spasm in her stomach. Could she really not eat buns today?

Seeing her squatting on the floor, her face clouded with despair, An Junlie rushed over. "What’s wrong?"

Zi Ye opened her mouth but couldn't force out a sound.

Little Sprout shot out from inside the room with a whoosh, bouncing off Zi Ye’s head and emitting a cheerful ding-a-ling like an alarm clock. "Zi Ye, Zi Ye! I just instructed the domestic bot to steam nine buns—six for you, three for the tall one. Go eat!"

Zi Ye covered her face with her hand, misery coloring her voice. "I don't want to eat buns."

... ?

An Junlie was perplexed. "Why not? Even though the buns have been stored a while and don't taste quite right, they are still edible."

Little Sprout shook the two leaves atop its head and settled on Zi Ye's crown without speaking. It had no idea she had been eating nothing but buns for seventeen straight days!

And so, all nine buns on the plate ended up in An Junlie’s stomach.

After finishing, An Junlie still felt hungry, and since Zi Ye hadn't eaten, he decided to check the kitchen and prepare something for her. The kitchen was vast and meticulously clean, but it clearly saw little use; the two domestic bots inside were practically seized with rust.

Without a word, he bypassed the robots and decided to work with his own hands.

Cooking first required ingredients.

He saw no trace of vegetables, nor any sign of meat. Spotting a storage room in the corner, he assumed she kept provisions there and pulled the door open.

It was packed solid with buns!

As far as the eye could see, there were mounds of pale dough—it felt horrifying.

An Junlie was greatly shocked. Had Zi Ye been surviving on buns all this time? No wonder she was so thin. How could one possibly maintain nutritional balance eating only buns day after day?

He resolved that he absolutely had to get her a proper meat meal to help her recover. Perhaps if she ate well, she wouldn't try to pawn him off on that old man.

He still hadn't told Zi Ye about the old man's intentions toward him.

If Zi Ye refused, fine. But if she agreed, he would have to leave, and facing the world alone would surely bring even greater troubles.

He turned and asked the domestic bot, "Where can I buy meat?"

The domestic bot responded with a harsh series of clack-clack sounds before falling silent. An Junlie looked closely; the bot’s mouth had seized up with rust from disuse. He didn't know what Zi Ye did all day; she was a professional mechanic specializing in robotics, yet she couldn't even be bothered to oil her household assistants.

His initial zeal dampened slightly by the pathetic state of the robot, he quickly recovered and walked out into the yard.

The Purple Star was about to rise, casting the sky in a growing dimness. Zi Ye was still supporting her head with her hand, lost in thought. Little Sprout was bouncing aimlessly on her head, but upon seeing him appear, it suddenly gained energy and leaped up.

He gave a soft hush to signal Little Sprout to be quiet. Little Sprout silently executed a half-circle in mid-air and hopped onto his shoulder. He gently caught it, tucking it in, and walked toward the house, asking, "Where can I buy meat?"

Little Sprout deployed a ten-inch light screen, connecting to the farmer’s network for data transfer, and rotated the display towards An Junlie. A list of menu images lined the screen.

"Three-tailed Sparrow, one?" it chirped excitedly.

An Junlie had never heard of this creature, assuming it was a very small bird. "One isn't enough, bring three."

Little Sprout tossed the selection into the shopping basket and asked, "Frozen hide meat, do you want some?"

It seemed familiar with the selection, so An Junlie didn't inquire further. "Yes."

"Snow Sausage?"

"Yes." An Junlie paused, then added, "We can't just eat meat. Add some vegetables, bean products, and fish."

"Horned Greens?"

"Fine."

...

He finalized over a dozen items and submitted the order, waiting for the farmer to ship the goods. Since he had time to spare, he asked Little Sprout, "Are these the things Zi Ye likes to eat?"

Little Sprout let out a strange cackle, "I don't know! I just picked these because they were the cheapest!"

An Junlie couldn't stop the involuntary twitching of his eye.

When the ingredients arrived, An Junlie was momentarily stunned speechless upon seeing the Three-tailed Sparrow—which was larger than a turkey, and worse, still alive!