Seeing Nian eat the chilli in one go, Lin Ye was prepared for the worse. From the looks of it, the chilli that she ate was a ghost pepper. Even for someone like him, who loved spicy foods, he would struggle to eat something like that.
So he stared at Nian's face, waiting for a reaction. If her face starts to turn red, he will ask Grani to quickly get some milk for him.
However, she did not react as he thought she would from eating the chilli. She even looked satisfied when she finally swallowed it.
Looked like he was worried for nothing.
"Nian?" He asked just to make sure, "Is it not too spicy for you?"
"Spicy?" Nian tilted her head slightly, looking a little puzzled by his question, "Why would it be?"
Hearing her reply, he chuckled. Her response was like his when he first ate spicy food. His mother was so worried because she had forgotten to tone down the spiciness of dinner one night. Before she could warn him, he had already eaten all the spicy food in front of him. When asked whether he was fine, his answer was like Nian's. He was confused as to why they were acting like that. To him, the food tasted amazing.
After that, his mother would make more spicy food for the family because he could handle it. She even taught him some recipes when he went to university.
He looked at Nian and saw she was happily eating the chilli with a bright smile on her face and her tail swinging faster now.
Lin Ye took a mental note that she enjoyed spicy food.
"You actually ate it..." Grani, who was still standing at one side, was amazed. She gave Nian a thumbs up, "You really are a native of Yan! You ate it like a pro!"
Nian tilted her head, obviously confused as to what she meant. She looked at him, and seeing her gaze, he shrugged.
"But you can't just eat chilli. Seeing that you don't like the steam buns, I have something else for you," The warm-hearted Grani rummaged through her bag. Then he rummaged through the backpack, "Let me see... Where was it? I know that I put it here... Aha!"
Grani pulled out a packaged sausage from her backpack.
Lin Ye was a little surprised, "Sausages?"
"Grilled sausages. The favourite for most Victorians," Grani said a little proudly, "For Victorians, grilled sausages, fried eggs and a cup of coffee is the best breakfast combo."
"Where did you get those?" He asked.
"I took some from the kitchen," She said, "The monk said we can have it."
"I see... But there's a problem here," Lin Ye said as he pointed at the package of sausages, "They are not grilled yet."
"True, but it's fine." She smiled, "We can eat these sausages just like this. Although it is in no way comparable to a grilled one, this should be fine."
Then Grani tore open the package. When she did this, this intrigued Nian. Her nose would twitch towards them. Lin Ye could see she was drooling a bit at the corner of her mouth. She liked she was about to pounce at the food in front of her like a hungry beast.
Well, she is one, after all.
However, she did not move from her spot. She gripped his trouser and looked at him. Her eyes were begging him to let her eat them.
"Go on," He chuckled, "You can eat them."
Her eyes glowed and nodded happily to him.
"Here you are," Grani handed Nian the uncooked sausage. She thought Nian would catch it from her hand like what she did with the chilli. Nian opened her mouth and bit it instead. She was stunned, "You don't want to eat it in one bite, do you? Well, it may be a bit too big for you."
She was right, but if she turned into the giant creature that they fought, Lin Ye knew that she could easily swallow the entire package in one bite.
Then Nian went in for another bite. She was that hungry; it seemed. Well, being trapped for years might give her a big appetite.
"Wow, you are too greedy. No one is going to steal this from you. Eat slower," As a Victorian Mounted Police officer, Grani believed that she had an obligation to educate children, "It's definitely not okay for you to eat like this.... Hmm? Where is this barbecue smell coming from?"
Grani twitched her nose. She looked around and finally focused on the sausage in her hand.
Her eyes widened suddenly.
"What's going on?!"
She screamed in shock. The sausage in her hand was now cooked, it was exuding a fragrance smell that belonged to a barbecue.
Lin Ye arched his eyes at this. Then he glanced at Nian, who was enjoying her meal. Did she cook it?
"This... How..." Grani's face is full shook now as she stared at the grilled sausage in her hand, "What's going on? Why is the sausage cooked all of a sudden?"
Lin Ye looked at the sausages and remembered Nian did something familiar like this with Warfarin's arm.
"*Cough*. Maybe you did not notice it was already cooked in the package," Lin Ye coughed quickly, trying to change the subject, "Well, Grani, give me the sausage. I'll feed her. Make a call to the tour agency. You still have their number right? Ask them when we're leaving and where we're going next. We don't want to be separated from them."
"But..." She tried to argue but Lin Ye did not give her the chance.
"Thank you," Lin Ye took the package of sausages from Grani's hand, "I knew I can count on you."
For Lin Ye's sake, Grani said nothing else. She could only scratch his head and went back to the temple.
Lin ye could hear her muttering to herself as she left them.
"I know it was not cooked.... How in..."
Seeing Grani walking away, Lin Ye pitied her. Maybe he should tell her about what this child is later?
Then looked at Nian again. He noticed her gaze was on the sausages in his hands. She looked at him expectedly. She was still hungry, but she was waiting for Lin Ye to feed her.
He sighed, but the smile was still on his face. He patted her head.
Lin Ye was about to say something, but FEater suddenly came over to them from the temple.
"I saw what happened just now!" Said FEater excitedly, "Is this one of her skills as a divine beast?!"
"Having a mouth that can cook food? Useful, but not the greatest power to have as a divine beast," Lin Ye chuckled, "Hello there, Superstar."
"Hey there Hero. Superstar, huh? Kinda like that name," FEater smiled at him. Then her eyes landed on Nian, who was looking at her suspiciously, "But enough of that. I have something interesting that I want to do."
Lin Ye raised his brow, "And that is?"
Then she pulled out eggs from her pocket.
"Roast sausages and fried eggs are the standard Victorian breakfast. Nian!" FEater called her, "Want to try it?"
Hearing this, Nian nodded excitedly. Then she remembered something. She turned at looked up at him. Her eyes became biddy as she begged at him.
"Gege?" She asked, "Can I? Please."
... That's a dangerous technique you got there, Nian.
Then FEater bent down beside Nian. she looked at him and did the same thing as Nian, giving him the sad puppy eyes.
"Yeah, Gege," She made her voice all cutesy, "Can we?"
Lin Ye massaged the bridge of his nose.
After much thinking and willpower, he sighed.
"... Sure," He nodded, "Just don't burn anything."
Hearing this, FEater held up her hands to Nian, "We did it."
Seeing this Nian was conflicted about what to do. She looked at him to get some help.
"Go on then." He smiled and rubbed her, "Don't leave her hanging."
Nian then slowly turned her head away from him and looked at FEater. She was smiling as she held out her hands towards Nian, "Come on."
A smile broke on Nian's face. She then clapped FEaters' hands with hers.
FEater chuckled at this.
Lin Ye hummed happily.
And Nian? A bright smile was present on her face.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Jaq
Edit: Jaq