Chapter 510: XXX without a word
Shanghai City, Caesar Grand Hotel, Jade Moon Restaurant, VIP Suite
“Wow, ‘fried sweet and sour pork’, ‘eight treasures crystal cakes’, and ‘golden roasted goose’. They are all Bun Bun’s favorite dishes. I’m going to begin eating,” Bunny Cao cried out in excitement as she stretched out her tiny, milky-white hand at lightning speed toward the roasted goose on the table.
“Ahem, Bunny—” A middle-aged man sitting at the table said in a loving manner.
As though she received a jolt of lightning, Bunny came to a pause. Her tiny hand was still holding to the goose leg that she had just torn off. She gulped and looked pitifully at the middle-aged man before lowering her head to steal glances at the goose leg in her hand. She looked just like a greedy young child.
Seeing Bunny’s pitiful expression, Xiao Xiao could not help but laugh.
“Xiao Xiao, sorry about that. This girl is really too insensible. She doesn’t follow any rules.” The middle-aged man turned his head toward Xiao Xiao and apologized.
“Uncle, you must be joking. Bunny is very cute. Is there a need for such a cute girl to follow such meaningless rules?”
Xiao Xiao gave a faint smile and turned toward Bunny and said, “Go ahead and eat. I’ll be beginning as well.”
As Xiao Xiao spoke, she grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork using a pair of chopsticks and placed it into her bowl.
Bunny’s eyes lit up and let out a cheerful cry before relishing the goose leg in her hand. A blissful and child-like smile suffused her face.
“Eat slowly. Drink some soup. Don’t choke.”
The middle-aged man gave a helpless smile. Scooping a bowl of soup, he placed it in front of Bunny.
Xiao Xiao glanced at the middle-aged man and was feeling extremely shocked.
Bunny Cao’s father was Groundless Cao. This was something that Xiao Xiao was still able to accept. After all, it was all in the genes. It was normal for Bunny, who was like a phoenix, to have extraordinary parents.
But why did the middle-aged man in front of her not look anything like ‘Groundless Cao’?
Groundless Cao was one of the top ten S-class heroes of China. He had a title just like Superman One-Pun, Queen Mu Xiyan, and Thunder Emperor Zhang Qi. As for Groundless Cao’s title, it sounded the most domineering. It was ‘Tyrant’!
This was the first time Xiao Xiao was meeting Groundless Cao in person. However, as a citizen of China, she definitely knew of matters regarding the top ten S-class heroes. As for ‘Tyrant Groundless Cao’, he was frequently involved in fantastic stories. For example, he would reduce a high-ranking political official’s mansion to ruins with a punch, or beat his hero peers beyond recognition without a word. A certain boss of the organized crime had only secretly cursed him once but ended up being pursued to the ends of the world by Groundless Cao. In the process, dozens of branches were destroyed by Groundless Cao…
Groundless Cao’s irascible and oppressive image was well known to everyone. Stories of him doing XXX without a word was known by all, with differing opinions. Xiao Xiao often saw news regarding Groundless Cao in the papers and she would at times nod in approval and praise his deeds but at times, she would also shake her head and criticize him for his unreasonable and groundless acts.
Her impression of Groundless Cao was tyrannous and haughty. He did things without abiding by good or evil as it was all dependent on his mood. It was extremely apt to give him the title of ‘Tyrant’.
However, the middle-aged man in front of her was affable and refined. With a smiling look in his eyes, he was dressed in white and wore a simple pair of black-rimmed glasses. He looked like a scholar and a well-learned person. He did not look anything like a tyrant but more like a teacher of the people!
Furthermore, from the love and affection that he showed Bunny, it was more apt to call him a ‘Loving Father’.
Xiao Xiao was feeling astonished but she maintained a demure and restrained smile on her face. There was no other way about it. Groundless Cao’s image of doing XXX without a word was too ingrained in her. She had a nagging feeling that it was best she acted carefully.
“This girl’s table manners are bad. Sorry about that, Xiao Xiao.”
Groundless Cao chuckled. Bunny, whose mouth was filled with food, immediately protested with a few grunts.
Xiao Xiao hurriedly said, “Bunny is having such a good time eating. Her table manners are fine! Uncle, I’m very thankful for you to treat me to a meal despite your busy schedule.”
“Xiao Xiao, I should be the one thanking you. Without your help, who knows where this girl would end up getting lost.”
Groundless Cao’s smile was radiant. It gave one the refreshing feeling of showering in a spring breeze. In fact, he had been following closely behind Bunny. However, Bunny seemed to hit it off with Xiao Xiao, so he had taken the opportunity to treat Xiao Xiao to a meal. He wanted his daughter to have another friend. After all, with Bunny’s personality, it was quite difficult for her to befriend others.
“It was on the way. I was really given a fright when I passed by the highway and saw her frolicking on the road.” Xiao Xiao remembered Tyrant Groundless Cao’s astounding title, so without looking at the amiable smile of the middle-aged man in front of her, she spoke in an open but reserved manner.
“This girl really loves troubling others. I’m sorry about that,” Groundless Cao said with a smile.
“Not at all.” Xiao Xiao hurriedly shook her head.
Groundless Cao suddenly thought of something and asked, “Speaking of which, I have once had the chance of meeting Xiao Lingtian. I wonder if he is doing well?”
“Thank you for your concern. Grandpa is very healthy.” Although she found it somewhat strange to hear someone call her grandfather’s name outright, Xiao Xiao knew that he was not at fault, considering Groundless Cao’s status. As such, she answered in a reserved manner.
“That’s good. That’s good.” Groundless Cao said in a ruminative manner.
Xiao Xiao hesitated for a moment and suddenly asked, “Uncle, when did you meet my grandfather?”
Groundless Cao hesitated for half a second before he suddenly switched topics, “Let’s not talk about this. Let’s quickly eat while the food is still hot.”
“Alright.”
Xiao Xiao knew that the ‘chance of meeting’ her grandfather which Groundless Cao had mentioned might be one of the parts of his doing XXX without a word series. Hence, she immediately did not pursue the matter.
With her chopsticks, she picked up the sweet and sour pork in her bowl. She noticed that the meat’s surface was layered with golden sauce and by exerting a bit more force from the chopsticks, the meat would seem to melt like molten gold. A fragrance that was both sour and sweet rushed straight for her olfactory senses.
Xiao Xiao pricked up her eyebrows slightly as she opened her mouth slightly before placing it slowly into her mouth. With a light nibble, the crispy on the outside but tender on the inside texture, as well as the refreshingly sweet and sour sauce immediately filled her mouth. She could not help but bite down at it forcefully.
This bite of hers seemed to immediately cause fragrance to erupt like a volcano. The fragrant meat juices that squirted out surged through the tiny gaps in her teeth like waves. She could not help but clench her teeth.
Uttering slightly, she gulped down the food which felt like she was swallowing sweet and sour ambrosia. The fragrance seemed to adhere to her throat like honey. It was a memorable and irresistible experience.
“Delicious!”
Xiao Xiao exclaimed in praise deep in her heart. She lived a good life and had tasted all sorts of delicacies from a young age. She was long sick of so-called delicacies but even though the sweet and sour pork in front of her looked rather ordinary, the taste left her astounded. Compared to the chef of this restaurant, the other chefs were just fishing for fame.
At that moment, with goose leg in hand and a few slices of meat fillet in her mouth, Bunny said with a delighted look, “It’s delicious right? Daddy knows how to cook!”
“Ah!? This is Uncle Cao’s cooking!?” Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded as she blurted out her astonishment.
Bunny nodded her head with force.
“Haha, I just know a bit of cooking. I wasn’t sure if it would suit your taste buds.”
Groundless Cao smiled. He was quite happy with his daughter’s flattering.
Xiao Xiao was extremely shocked as she wanted to shout, “Are you really Tyrant Groundless Cao!?” She had never expected that Tyrant Groundless Cao would know how to cook. Furthermore, his culinary skills were impressive.
“This is one of the most delicious foods I’ve ever eaten,” said Xiao Xiao seriously.
Groundless Cao chuckled and said, “You flatter me.”
At that moment, Bunny licked the juices from her fingers and said proudly, “Daddy is not only good at cooking. He’s also an expert at washing the clothes, sweeping the floor and tidying the room. Mommy says that Daddy is all that is needed. There’s no need for maids or chefs.”
With that said, Groundless Cao’s expression froze as he chuckled in an embarrassed manner.
Xiao Xiao nearly burst out laughing. So that was the case. The reason for Tyrant Groundless Cao’s astonishing culinary skills was an excellent product of being a ‘henpecked husband’.
Xiao Xiao hurriedly turned her head over to prevent herself from losing her composure.
Groundless Cao shook his head helplessly. Who would have imagined that Tyrant Groundless Cao was actually a ‘stay-at-home dad’? There was Her Majesty, the Empress above a tyrant.
“Eat, eat.”
Groundless Cao switched the topic of conversation again as he began to eat silently. As such, the meal also became more harmonized than before.
After a long while, Xiao Xiao and Groundless Cao were nearly done with their meals as they placed their chopsticks down. Bunny was still ‘working hard’ destroying the feast laid in front of her so Groundless Cao could only head to the kitchen to prepare another round of dishes.
Bunny, who had ‘buried her head’ eating, suddenly looked up at the clock placed in the VIP suite. She turned to say to Xiao Xiao, “It’s been an hour!”
Xiao Xiao was surprised and after a few seconds, she realized what it was about. The one hour Bunny had mentioned was the time ‘Shi Xiaobai had spent in the eighth level’. There was a numerical record of the time on the trial’s stone monument. The entire country used the same time zone. Xiao Xiao had previously mentioned it in passing but she never expected Bunny to remember it. Furthermore, she had accurately reminded her when an hour passed.
Bunny mumbled, “Thread!”
Xiao Xiao smiled. Bunny still had that prediction thread of Shi Xiaobai being able to last an hour on the eighth level on her mind. The young girl was rather ‘vindictive’.
Xiao Xiao knew that it was impossible that Shi Xiaobai could not last an hour on the eighth level no matter how lacking he was. It was definite that the illogical prediction thread would result in the smacking of faces. However, she was also somewhat curious how the forum members would smack the OP’s face.
Xiao Xiao took out her cell phone. The screen was still on that thread because Xiao Xiao had no mood to continue reading through the thread back then. She had kept her cell phone in her pocket and had begun engaging in idle chatter with Bunny.
Xiao Xiao tapped on the refresh button, eager to know what sort of follow-up replies the forum members had given after an hour had passed.
However, the refresh widened Xiao Xiao’s eyes. She had a look of disbelief. The face-smacking replies she had imagined did not appear. The newest replies were praises for the OP!
“Shi Xiaobai really only spent an hour on the eighth level. Baby, impressive!”
“OP is really a man of God. You actually managed to hit it on the spot!”
“OP, I’m afraid you will turn arrogant, so I’ll give you 82 points. As for the remaining 18 points, I’ll give it to you in a 666 fashion!”
“OP, not bad. Please private message me tomorrow’s lotto numbers to me! rubbing hands in glee”
“…”