Chapter 43 Straight to the Stomach

A severly amputated arm concealed the woman's face.
A dead, empty gaze met Liu Zheng's eyes through the gaps between the fingers.
The pale skin still appeared smooth and elastic.
She should have been very young, and had not been dead for long.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself numerous times, and even though he had tried his utmost to numb his senses, his body still trembled uncontrollably when he saw that hollowed-out abdominal cavity.
Out of fear.
And even more so, out of rage.

"Step aside, let me do it."
A hoof snatched the bag away.
The Ox-Horse glanced at him with an inscrutable look.
"Go on, help me roll out the dough wrappers."
It gave Liu Zheng a heavy shove.
The immense strength left him unable to resist, staggering him forward right up to the pastry prep station.
"Roll them out thin, don't make them look like naan bread."
The Ox-Horse barked without looking back, carrying the bag toward the sink.
Liu Zheng watched its retreating back, his chest heaving several times before he finally managed to calm himself down.
He picked up a lump of dough and slammed it viciously onto the counter.

The White-Feathered Chicken looked over with utter calm, then went back to plating.
Humans were always like this—jumpy and frantic at first.
They would get used to it soon enough.
And if they couldn't get used to it, the Ox-Horse would teach them the rules.

Fortunately, Liu Zheng quickly found an outlet for his emotions.
Using four tentacles to control two rolling pins simultaneously, he rolled out the wrappers while multitasking.
This high-difficulty operation demanded his total concentration, leaving his brain's CPU with no spare threads to dwell on anything else.
Wrapper after wrapper, each as thin as a sheet of A4 paper, kept taking shape before being tossed aside by Liu Zheng.
Soon, a veritable mountain of dough wrappers piled up on the counter.

"Stop rolling, you've already rolled enough wrappers for next year."
At some point, the Ox-Horse had walked up beside him.
Its voice jolted Liu Zheng awake, and his gaze drifted past the Ox-Horse toward the sink.
There was nothing inside.
"Stop looking, it's already stewing," the Ox-Horse said, pointing at a pressure cooker.
"Old Ginseng Whole Human Soup. A pot like this goes for at least this much."
It raised a hoof, only to instantly freeze in awkwardness.
Because it could only manage to hold up the number "2."
"Ahem, well, you get the gist of it. Just use your imagination," the Ox-Horse said, its expression entirely unchanged.

"Are you trying to comfort me or provoke me?" Liu Zheng looked at it.
"Both," the Ox-Horse replied candidly.
"I think you have potential, but you also piss me off. So don't give me any excuses; just stay alive."
It elbowed Liu Zheng aside.
"Go back to washing vegetables," the Ox-Horse said indifferently.
Liu Zheng gave it a deep, lingering look before returning to the vegetable-washing station.

"You're back."
The Calico Cat breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him return.
"Thank goodness you're back. That ox is so dumb, it broke the faucet," it complained.
"It's an Ox-Horse, you stupid cat!" the Ox-Horse shouted.
"Nyah, nyah, nyah," the Calico Cat made a face at it.

"Phew... Is there anything else that needs washing?" Liu Zheng asked after taking a deep breath.
"Go fish the one out from over there," the Calico Cat pointed to a fish tank covered with a black cloth.
"Make sure you shout out loud before lifting the cloth," it reminded him.
"Got it."
He walked over to the fish tank, his tentacles grabbing the edge of the black cloth.
"I'm going to lift the cloth now," he said loudly.
"Everyone, cover your ears quickly!" the Calico Cat immediately shrieked.
Hearing this, all the kitchen staff dropped whatever they were doing and plugged their ears.

"Huh?"
Though Liu Zheng had no idea what was going on, he followed the crowd and shoved his tentacles into his ear canals.
Then, he pulled away the black cloth.
A fish with a frog's head opened its eyes, then widened its mouth.
"Ribbit!"
A massive wave of sound washed over them, causing a momentary blankness in Liu Zheng's brain.
The water in the fish tank boiled violently, and cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the glass walls.

"Damn it!"
Recovering his wits, Liu Zheng cursed instinctively.
And that was *with* his ears plugged; if he hadn't blocked them, his brains probably would have been scrambled into a smoothie.
He plunged his tentacles into the fish tank and grabbed the frog-fish by its tail.
However, the creature thrashed frantically, and his tentacles struggled to keep a grip.
The more it thrashed, the louder it shrieked.
This only added to Liu Zheng's mounting irritation.
In a fit of anger, he shoved a tentacle straight down the frog-fish's throat, going all the way to its stomach.
"Gk!"
The frog-fish's screaming abruptly cut off.
"Go on, scream. Keep screaming, and see if anyone comes to save you."
Liu Zheng pulled it out and delivered two sharp, resounding slaps across its face.
Putting plenty of muscle into it, he knocked the frog-fish out cold on the spot.

"It must be great to have so many hands," the Calico Cat watched the scene unfold with an envious expression.
Every time they had to fish that thing out, they had to endure absolute torture.

"How should this thing be prepared?" Liu Zheng asked.
"Leave the head alone, just process the rest normally," the Calico Cat said.
"Alright."

He hauled the frog-fish over to the sink, then picked up a nearby knife and began scaling it.
Having grown up in the countryside, Liu Zheng was well-versed in slaughtering chickens and fish, and if pushed to the brink, he could even butcher a pig or a sheep.
"Don't waste the blood and internal organs; you can keep them for yourself," the Calico Cat licked its lips, its eyes filled with longing.
Whoever washed the vegetables got to keep the scraps—that was one of the kitchen's minor perks.
"Okay."
He followed the cat's advice and collected the frog-fish's blood and offal into a separate basin.
"Here." Liu Zheng handed the basin to the cat.
"Aren't you going to eat?" the Calico Cat asked in surprise.
"This stuff is expensive. Even these scraps can sell for several hundred outside."
It assumed Liu Zheng didn't know the frog-fish's value.
"You look like you want it more than I do," Liu Zheng said.
"Hehe." The Calico Cat sheepishly washed its face with its paws.
"Then thanks a lot!"
It buried its face in the basin and began to feast voraciously.

"Don't think you can steal my cat just by doing this, you scumbag!"
The man's face surfaced once more, contorted with rage.
"I was just trying to get along with my colleagues."
"I advise you not to get too worked up. You wouldn't want your cat to think you're doubting its love for you, would you?" Liu Zheng said calmly.
"......"
The human face was left speechless.
"I'll tell it that this basin of fish scraps was given to it for your sake," Liu Zheng said silently.
"You'd better mean what you say."
The face mouthed back in response before dissolving back into tufts of fur.

"So delicious!"
The Calico Cat raised its head and contentedly licked its paws.
Dark red blood stained the fur around its muzzle, and coupled with what it had just said, a chill ran down his spine.
"Actually, your master told me to give this to you," Liu Zheng said.
"Really? Master is so nice, I love Master the most," the Calico Cat chirped happily.
The human face quietly manifested again, wearing a deeply doting smile.
Then, it looked at Liu Zheng, its expression instantly turning gloomy.
"Reach your tentacle over here," the human face commanded.
"What for?"
"Just do as I say. I'm just a face now, what are you afraid of?" the face snapped impatiently.
Frowning, Liu Zheng extended a tentacle toward the face.
The human face opened its mouth, and the cat fur suddenly bristled, shooting into Liu Zheng's flesh like a cluster of steel needles.