Meat Crab Pot and Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish After a week of transformation, the base had changed completely. It was now covered in greenery, with gardens in full bloom and the sweet fragrance of golden osmanthus drifting through the air.
The hospital's ventilation system now channeled fresh mental energy from the flora into the building. While it couldn't replace a real Guide, its steady, inexhaustible supply worked wonders. Many comatose Sentinels began to wake, and their families flocked to Black Tower to visit.
Among the visitors was Shan Cha. Her mother, Shan Wanqing, had nearly hurt her during a mental riot years ago and had been in a coma ever since. Seeing her mother awake was a miracle, but Shan Wanqing could see the exhaustion hiding behind her daughter’s smile.
Under her mother’s questioning, Shan Cha revealed the truth: their family business was failing. For generations, the Shan family had acted as middlemen and suppliers for the military—handling everything from uniforms to nutrient solutions. However, their market share was being devoured by a rival backed by a newly arrived S-rank Guide named Song Yu.
"Song Yu?" Shan Wanqing was surprised. There were only five S-rank Guides in the Empire. Song Yu was known for his kind, smiling face and his tireless service to the front lines. To be assigned to a remote planet like this was practically an exile. Rumor had it that he had made a "low-level mistake" during a mental grooming session for the Eldest Prince, Lin Changli, leading to the Empress’s displeasure.
…
Shan Cha wandered out of the hospital, dazed by the beauty of the base. She passed by a woman pruning cherry blossoms—a Sentinel who had once been so violent Shan Cha had to run for her life, but who now smiled at her with gentle kindness.
As she walked west toward the gallery, she didn't notice a small figure sprinting toward her. Wu Jianing crashed into her shins, and both of them tumbled backward.
"Are you okay?" The Little Phoenix and Little Pi-Xiu fluttered around them.
Du Yuan and Sang Ye rushed out of the West Building, alerted by the crash. Du Yuan checked Jianing for injuries while Melusine recognized the visitor.
"Shan Cha? We met when you and your grandmother came to the Capital for an audit," Melusine said, her doll-like face lighting up. She turned to Sang Ye and added meaningfully, "Sangsang, this is Shan Cha. Her family specializes in military hospital procurement."
Sang Ye caught the hint instantly. "We're just about to have dinner. Would you like to join us?"
…
In the small kitchen, the labor was divided. Wu Jianing was seriously washing a mix of pearl rice, black rice, and oats for a multi-grain pilaf.
Sang Ye prepared Mandarin Fish for a classic dish: Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish. The fish, fresh from her pocket dimension's lake, required incredible knife skills. She and Du Yuan scored the meat into a "diamond wheat ear" pattern, deep to the bone but keeping the skin intact so the meat would flare out like a squirrel's tail when fried.
The fish was marinated, coated in egg and starch, and deep-fried at 180°C until the tail curled up and the skin was golden and crispy. Du Yuan then poured over a sweet and sour sauce made with corn, green beans, ketchup, and a hint of osmanthus jam.
While the kitchen sizzled, Lin Changli arrived home, jumping over the back wall after a day of handling sea beasts. He went to shower before helping Du Yuan wash crabs and shrimp with a toothbrush and a water gun.
Sang Ye took the cleaned seafood and prepared the second main dish: Meat Crab Pot. She lightly fried the crabs, chicken wings, and chicken feet until fragrant, then simmered them in a clay pot with oyster sauce, bean paste, ketchup, corn, and potatoes. After twenty minutes, the sauce had thickened into a rich, savory glaze, and the chicken feet were so tender they practically melted.
As the sun set, they all sat down to a dinner that felt like a dream to Shan Cha. Real rice, springy crab meat, tender chicken, and crispy, sweet-and-sour fish. It was a sensory explosion she had never experienced in the world of nutrient solutions.
Lin Changli, once so fastidious he required a robot to peel his shrimp, was now casually de-shelling seafood by hand. He handed Sang Ye a small bowl of rice shaped like a smiling crab, decorated with peppercorns for eyes and shrimp antennae for a face.
"Not afraid of getting your hands dirty this time?" Sang Ye teased.
Lin Changli smiled softly, but his smile faded when Wu Jianing saw the bowl.
"I want one too! I want one too!" Jianing pouted.
Under Sang Ye’s amused gaze, Lin Changli sighed and began laboriously peeling another "crab bowl" for the little girl. Amidst the laughter and the steam of the food, it was another perfect day on Black Tower.
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