My Turn to Show Off!

Changing his ID, he stared at the screen to wait for a response, but to no avail. Looking around, he exited the chat group and reported it for the spread of pornography.

‘It’s worth a shot,’ he wondered, thinking of Jumeng. ‘A goddess like Jumeng cannot be stopped by modern technology, so if they are the real thing, me reporting them should do nothing.’

On the way home, he passed by the convenience store near the apartment and bought instant noodles, meat, eggs, tomatoes, a handful of chives, and two tubs of strawberry ice cream.

After leaving the store, he looked at the bag in his hand and shrugged.

‘A full meal plus dessert… after all the bad things she’s done, ah…’

He thought of his father’s secret recipe to cultivate the best-tasting instant noodles around town; he remembers that it sold nearly 300 bowls in a single night. High-quality, cheap prices are an easy recipe to attract customers.

Compared with those popular ramen recipes online, Yibei thinks that his father’s recipe still reigns supreme over those trends.

Ever since the nights grew longer, their sales at night were seriously affected, and his father died out of the blue.

I like being a chef, he thought as he walked back to the apartment.

Standing in front of the door, he took out the key and opened the door, calling out into the room.

“I’m back!”

As soon as he opened the door and saw the scene in the room, he noticed an unusual smell and couldn’t help but frown.

It was pitch black, and the apparitions who were used to greet him with enthusiasm were nowhere to be seen. In fact, something seemed to lurk in the darkness, awaiting his return.

‘That goddess was left alone the entire day! Shouldn’t she be watching a shitty soap opera or something? Where is she?’

However, her eyes felt normal, which means that there was no danger.

He peered outside his unit to confirm that it was his apartment unit when he heard a faint voice coming from the inside.

“You’re back…? Why did you leave me again?”

Hearing the goddess, he felt like running out and just holing up for the night in some park.

The lights flickered on, and, in the corner of the room, he could see the apparitions huddled together as they shook their heads towards him apologetically.

As if they were telling him, “We are victims too.”

Yibei nodded towards them and looked at Jumeng, who was in the living room.

She stripped off her large T-shirt and put on her emerald robe and mask. She moved a chair and sat towards Yibei as she folded her hands together. Through the gaps in the mask, you could tell that she was slightly angry.

He wordlessly entered, changed into his slippers, and locked the door behind him before walking towards the kitchen with his groceries.

“Hmph!”

“Oh my god, what are you doing? Are you actually mad at me?” he asked.

“You’re the one who’s coming home late! Didn’t you tell me that you were going to cook for me? It’s dangerous out late! I was waiting for you all day, worried sick!”

Yibei felt like he was at a loss. Why was she speaking like his dad?

Could it be that she’s no longer satisfied with their relationship and that she now wants to become a family?

‘Dad! Your son is being taken advantage of! Please smite this woman down!’

Seeing him go nonverbal, Jumeng secretly rejoiced, thinking that he felt guilty over his actions.

Despite that, Jumeng felt a little guilty for syphoning a bit too much money out of his bank account. At first, she planned on swallowing her pride as a goddess and apologising.

However, the longer she waited for him, the more her mind changed.

The moment he comes back home, I’ll let him have it! She thought. “And he won’t be able to get angry at me for using his bank card dry!”

“I think you’re lying to me,” Jumeng said coldly. “What are you actually doing out late? Do you actually think of the woman waiting for you at home?”

Yibei scratched his head, feeling guilty, only to realise something.

‘Wait, we’re not even related! Why am I feeling guilty?’

“My bank card,” he bluntly replied. “You’re a mean goddess. Where did you learn this from? That’s not very goddess-like of you.”

“Ah,” Jumeng replied blankly. She remembered seeing the wives who spent money recklessly in her Garden and shouting at their husbands to avoid being held accountable. It seems that this trick doesn’t work on Lu Yibei.

Although Jumeng was wearing a mask, he could see that she was blushing, but he shrugged to himself.

‘My money is gone anyway. Can’t do much about it once it turns into game credits.’

He sighed as he turned around into the kitchen and took out two ramen pots from his cabinet.

The secret recipe was actually nothing complicated—tomatoes to add a tangy kick to the ramen, one half stir-fried to make a paste, while the other half was cut into cubes. Then, add water and seasoning packets to make the soup.

Cook the noodles, soak them under cold water to retain their chewy texture, and rub in a little lard.

Fry only one side of the egg, and let the other side cook in the heat of the soup. Anchovies to enhance flavour, and garnish with chives.

…

When Jumeng saw that her purported feasts were now instant noodles with some meat and some vegetables, her heart was full of disdain as she hovered into the kitchen, wondering what was so special about such cheap food.

However, when the fragrance hit her nostrils, she couldn’t help but swallow—the fresh crisp of vegetables, the animal fat boiling in the soup, the fragrance of spices within the seasoning packets…

‘But I’m a goddess… I’m not going to eat something as cheap as this.

“Sorry, something happened today, and this is all I can come up with. I hope you don’t mind,” he muttered, handing her a pot of noodles.

“Okay!” she smiled as she took the pot and lifted her mask to eat.

“This tastes far worse than the offerings I get in my Garden.”

“I see.”

“And it’s not as good as that buffet place in the middle of town.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And compared to the urban legend tavern’s longevity noodles, this is nothing.”

“I see,” he nodded. “Does it taste good?”

“It… it does!” She blurted out, and her eyes widened as she saw Yibei jump up from his seat.

“Fantastic! Now that I’ve made you your delicious food, where’s my potion? I thought we agreed on this!”

“About that…”

“You haven’t done it yet, I assume?”

“It’s in the process.”

“Sounds just like me whenever I’m doing my thesis.”

“Tsk!” she pouted as she put down her chopsticks and pointed outside. “I told you it’s in the process! It’s still processing on the balcony!”

He frowned as he walked towards the balcony. Then he saw a piece of pure silver carved into the shape of a dish, and the dish was filled with moonlight.

Moonlight was the best term he could use to describe the substance in the dish—dreamy, transcendent liquid rippling in the saucer—and he felt hypnotised as he stared into the dish.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Jumeng boasted behind him with an emerald aura radiating off her. “You showed off your cooking skills; now it’s time to show mine off!”