CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 22: AMBIGUITY GRADUALLY ARISES

Xiao Lin felt a jolt in his heart; this virus might be unclear to others, but Xiao Lin knew it very well. Fortunately, Jingliang Province reported it relatively promptly last year. The domestic leadership paid significant attention to this highly contagious virus, organizing dozens of experts to research it, and within just half a month, they tackled this virus.

"How could there be a mutation of the HTC4 virus at this time?" Xiao Lin recalled the past situation. The source of infection for this virus had already been completely controlled. Although the expert team found a treatment plan for the virus within half a month, they also knew that these viruses weren’t easily eradicated. The expert teams rotated to oversee Jingliang Province monthly for a full two years, and only after failing to find any trace of the virus did they withdraw from Jingliang Province.

Four years apart, this virus reappeared, and in a mutated form. Xiao Lin felt vaguely uneasy. Back then, this contagious virus didn’t spread very quickly, so the source of infection could be controlled promptly. If this mutated virus now changed its mode of transmission to airborne or other easily spreading methods, the harm could be severe.

Subsequently, the news reported that this issue had been reported to the Ministry of Health, which had urgently dispatched dozens of experts to Jingliang Province to provide support. Seventy percent of these medical experts had previously fought against the HTC4 virus, and it was believed that they would control the situation quickly, urging citizens not to panic.

Seeing this news, Xiao Lin felt somewhat relieved. Nowadays, the domestic response to infectious diseases has significantly strengthened, and the preventive departments nationwide are no longer as ineffective as they were ten to twenty years ago. With the expert groups’ capabilities, they should be able to control the spread of the virus well.

"It’s not my position to worry about it; what am I fretting over?" Xiao Lin chuckled to himself, shook his head, and changed the channel to a gaming channel.

Though Xiao Lin said so, after watching the gaming channel for a while, he switched back to the news channel. However, the previous news had already finished airing. He flipped through several news channels and found only Jingliang Province’s local channel broadcasting it, indicating that this mutated infectious virus was discovered early without spreading to other provinces and cities. With the current domestic measures and efforts to prevent infectious diseases, it should be well-controlled.

"Xiao Lin, dinner’s ready. You can manage to get the bowls and chopsticks, right?" Xia Xue called from the kitchen.

Now Xiao Lin felt at ease, responded to Xia Xue’s call from the kitchen, stood up, and walked towards the kitchen.

Just now, his attention had been focused on the news about the mutated virus, neglecting the situation in the kitchen. Now, as Xiao Lin walked toward the kitchen, he caught the aroma of dishes wafting from it, a very enticing scent, indicating that Xia Xue’s culinary skills were quite impressive. Xiao Lin found himself looking forward to future life where he could enjoy such delicacies daily; that would be enough.

As Xiao Lin opened the kitchen door, the aroma of the dishes became even stronger. Xia Xue, wearing an apron, had beads of sweat on her forehead, which made her even more charming. Xiao Lin felt a sudden urge to give her a hug, but at that moment, Xia Xue just finished stir-frying the last dish, poured it into a bowl, and, seeing Xiao Lin’s dazed look, glared at him and said, "What are you looking at? Never seen a beauty before? Hurry up and get the bowls and chopsticks!" Although she said so, she felt rather proud inwardly: Let’s see if you won’t fall for me. The ancients often said capturing a man’s stomach is equivalent to capturing his heart; it looks like they were right.

Xiao Lin became quite diligent, swiftly retrieving two sets of bowls and chopsticks from the disinfection cabinet, and then carried a plate of stir-fried cucumbers over. In less than three minutes, the three dishes and one soup were on the dining table in the dining room.

There was steamed carp, stir-fried cucumber with shredded meat, braised eggplant, and green vegetables, all looking and smelling delicious, making anyone’s mouth water.

"It’s a waste for you not to be a chef!" Xiao Lin was in an exceptionally good mood and jokingly said to Xia Xue.

"Hey, being able to eat my cooking means you’ve amassed quite a bit of virtue in your past life!" Xia Xue was quite confident in her culinary skills, "I don’t know what possessed me today to go to the supermarket and buy so much food myself. It’s probably enough to last this week!"

"Actually, you don’t need to buy so much at once. Although we have a fridge, keeping them in there all the time isn’t good," Xiao Lin, while not much of a cook, understood such basics.

Xia Xue nodded mischievously, saying, "I think so too, so in the future, when you buy groceries, don’t buy more than three days’ worth. By the way, today’s total for the groceries was three hundred eighty-six yuan; split that, and it’s one hundred ninety-three per person!" Xia Xue held out her hand towards Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin chuckled bitterly. In such a pleasant atmosphere, this young lady had to pull such a move, countering, "Can’t we eat first? It’s rare to have such a lovely atmosphere, and now bringing up money, don’t you find it tacky?"

"I don’t find it tacky!" Xia Xue laughed and sat down.

Xiao Lin wasn’t bothered by it; faced with such a feast, his appetite took over, and he dived right in.

Seeing Xiao Lin wolfing down the food was amusing to Xia Xue. Faced with such a beautiful lady, Xiao Lin didn’t seem to hold back at all. Seeing Xiao Lin’s speed in picking up the dishes, she quickly said, "Don’t eat so fast; be careful you don’t choke!" Her manner resembled a concern often seen between couples.

"Heh, it’s a habit!" Xiao Lin said while picking up the dishes. Back when carrying out missions, each team member would fill their stomachs as quickly as possible, never wasting a morsel.

Watching Xiao Lin eat, Xia Xue felt a sense of pride. If Xiao Lin had just flattered her cooking without really touching the food, it would have been a blow to her, but now, seeing how he feared eating too little, made Xia Xue very pleased. The dishes I’ve made deserve such treatment.

Seeing Xiao Lin eat, Xia Xue forgot to move her chopsticks, just watching him. She felt that this young man before her was quite good and genuine.

"Uh, you should eat too; if you don’t, I’ll finish it all!" Xiao Lin said after a while, noticing Xia Xue’s odd behavior. Xia Xue snapped out of it, feeling a little guilty, and quickly picked up her bowl and chopsticks.

Twenty minutes later, Xia Xue stared at Xiao Lin in amazement. Of the three dishes, one soup, and a pound of rice made into rice, she had only eaten seven or eight taels, with the rest all ending up in Xiao Lin’s stomach.

Xiao Lin burped contentedly, "It’s been a long time since I’ve had the freedom to eat this much!"