Chapter 4: Sweet and sour flavor.

Min Duan sat on the couch in the living room with the small dish of dessert and froze for a while before realizing with hindsight that he had ghostly opened the door again and somehow brought something in.

Of course, more inexplicable would be the woman.

The first time she rang the doorbell when she first moved here, Min Duan was in a trance, suspecting that he had heard wrongly that his doorbell had never rung.

But the ringing stopped for a few moments, and then it rang again, one after the other, kind of incessantly.

He manipulated the puppet as a landlord to deal with the tenants who moved in, and had said that no one lived on the seventh floor, but now there were people living on the seventh floor, and they were living next door to him.

It wasn't that he was afraid of noise, the house was soundproofed, it was just that he hated the scent of the living, so he was going to make this person who rang the doorbell dead.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw the young woman reverently holding a box of gnawed tarts like an offering to an ancestor.

She was obviously so scared that her hands were shaking, but she smiled very sweetly.

Her almond eyes curved up and her lips lifted in an arc, bringing out shallow pear swirls.

Seems harmless enough. Is it really? Or did the group pick up on his trail and find someone to test him?

It was always fun, no matter what she had come for, and seeing as she was the first person to show him a smile, he decided to keep her alive for a few more days.

It's only been a couple days, too.

The routine life, the unchanging days will always be broken by a theorem, that is called the unexpected.

The woman whose hands were shaking with fear that night should have left immediately or not appeared in his presence, but here she was again, carrying a plate of ribs and still smiling sweetly.

Min Duan thought, this is the second time, if she dares to come to his door to bother him for the third time, no matter how she smiles, he will dismember her.

The third time, she came back, even without fear in her eyes, looking like she was used to this behavior of coming to disturb him.

He stared at her expressionlessly, figuring out when to make his move, and she just kept to herself, describing the dish at hand, from the ingredients to the steps of making it, and the final flavors, speaking slowly and in detail, her voice soft and soft.

It seemed as if she was born to smile, and even her words evoked a shallow arc of laughter.

It's the first time Min Duan has met someone so stubborn and noisy.

He didn't understand how she could say so much, much less why she could come rain or shine every night at seven o'clock and bother him.

She knew he wouldn't eat it, and made a point of placing high stools by the door on which to place the dishes.

His body had been modified so that he had no problem not eating for ten days and half a month, in fact he hated eating, the act of swallowing would remind him of the disgusting things he had been forced to eat before.

But it was surprising that he would be patient enough to hear her out before closing the door.

Min Duan thought that it was probably because the house was so quiet that he would always be attracted to her little voice, and that he could refrain from killing her for the time being, but if he had an attack and couldn't control himself enough to kill her, there was nothing he could do about it.

He would have fits at irregular intervals that were uncontrollable and difficult to suppress, so everyone in the building became a victim, and he simply made them all into puppets to manipulate as a way to reduce the need to go out.

Just moments ago, he had another attack, all his consciousness turning into the urge to kill, blood rushing up, blood red in front of his eyes, not wanting to hear the slightest breath of a living thing.

A delicate warm touch came from his hands, and the blood faded a bit before his eyes, he could see her smiling face, and also realized that he was choking her, and his palms unconsciously withdrew their force.

Because he figured that if she died, she'd never smile like that again.

Inexplicably, it felt a bit of a shame.

With the last shred of sanity pulled back, Min Duan let her go, figuring she'd be too frightened by his appearance to come back.

I didn't expect her to have the unexpected guts to come and deliver food after seeing him like that.

Is she not afraid to die, or is she not afraid of him?

Min Duan looked down at the plate of unknown dessert in his hand, divided into two layers in the center, red on top and creamy white on the bottom.

The color is distinct and you can smell the light creamy aroma and sweet strawberries.

There was an orange sticky note on the china plate with no words, just a smiley face drawn on it.

Min Duan was silent for a moment, his expression struggling a bit, before finally picking up a small porcelain spoon and scooping up a spoonful of the red jam, taking a shallow taste and immediately frowning.

"Tsk, sweet."

It's so sweet, so sweet it's snoozy.

He pursed his lips and placed the dessert on the table, pushing it away from him.

Min Duan pursed his lips straight in dissatisfaction and grunted softly in a nasal voice as he slumped back into the solid black couch, pulling a pillow over his arms and turning his back.

After ten minutes or so, he licked the corner of his lips and turned around, staring at the dessert over the table for a long moment, dropping the pillow and sitting up, leaning over and reaching down to bring it back.

He picked up the small porcelain spoon again, first picking out the crushed strawberries on top and finishing them off, then peeling away the red jam and scooping up a spoonful of the creamy white jelly-like stuff underneath.

"Acid."

Min Duan is less than happy and frowns once again; the stuff is warm and has a delicate, smooth texture, but it's too tart.

Gee, what the hell did she make.

He tried to put the dessert back on the table again, and halfway through the motion, he saw the smiley face on the orange sticky note, and paused for a long time before Min Duan picked up his spoon again and scooped up the next layer and dipped it into the jam on top.

The flavor mix becomes tart and sweet.

His brow remained furrowed, but he kept moving, eating spoonful after spoonful without stopping.

Putting the empty glass down, Min Duan slumped back into the couch, cradling a pillow on his side, his mouth full of sweet and sour flavors.

From mouth to esophagus, for the first time, there was a feeling of being warmed up.

Perhaps it was because of the jam that his pale white lips had a little more blood color after the attack.

--

The next day, Xu You opened the door and saw the china plates and empty cups on the high stool.

"Ding" a sound rang in his head and the system said, "Congratulations to the host, the current villain trust value is 5."

Xu You hmmm'd, picking up the china plates and empty cups and going back to clean them.

From that day onwards, Min Duan would eat all the dishes Xu You served in the evening, but otherwise there was no other progress, lasting for more than a month, the system finally couldn't help but urge, "Host, don't you think the progress bar is too slow, why don't you take some other action?"

Xu You said nonchalantly, "You have to believe in science."

The system wondered, "What science?"

Understanding that Matchmaker may not have much common sense, Xu You explains in a serious manner, "Twenty-one days to form a habit, understand?"

"......" The system panicked a bit, "So you deliver groceries every day because it's become a habit?"

Xu You : It's hard to communicate, it's on the children's channel and I'm on the adult channel.

--

One of the most subtle types of change is habit.

Min Duan, who initially said he would only keep Xu You alive for a few more days, has kept her safe and hopping for almost two months.

He had got into the terrible habit of being uncontrollably irritable when the evening sky was haloed with darkness and nearing seven o'clock in the evening, and his mind was as if it were hooked on something, and then he could do nothing at all.

The mind automatically guesses what dishes she's bringing today, what she'll say, how she'll laugh.

The heart nodded with that tiny bit of anticipation, vague but unusually present.

Such habits were like rising waters drowning the land, slow and unnoticeable, and when he noticed it, he realized he had no place to land and didn't know how to struggle.

Min Duan looked up and saw the time display in the center of the living room - 19:00

The time had come and he headed for the door, walking to the foyer and waiting quietly for the doorbell to ring before he opened it.

A few minutes passed and the doorbell was as silent as he was.

This door is made of special material, no cat's eye, except for opening the door, can't see if there is anyone outside the door.

Min Duan squeezed the door handle, frowned impatiently, and waited another three minutes.

He turned back to the living room and saw that the time on the display was ten minutes past seven; she was late.

Did you forget, or didn't want to send it?

People are so fickle.

Min Duan pursed his lips tightly, drooped his eyelids back on the couch, and closed his eyes.

By the time he opened his eyes again, it was half past seven.

She's not here yet.

Min Duan braced himself and sat up, an unfamiliar and indefinable emotion dazed him for a moment, followed by irritation.

Min Duan got up again and paced the parlor, each step a little more impatient, until eight o'clock, when he couldn't help himself at all.

This inexplicable emotion displeased him too much, and he was going to cut off the source.

She couldn't live anymore, but he could make her into a puppet with the longest shelf life.

Min Duan sullenly, walked across to the entrance hall and opened the door.

Looking out, it's nice and empty.

Min Duan pulled back his eyelids, the corners of his lips drooped, and his jaw tucked in as he pressed Xu You's doorbell with palpable anger.

The doorbell kept ringing and just no one came to the door.

Min Duan's patience was completely worn out, replaced by a fire that was blown three feet high by the wind, and he summoned the downstairs golem to come up and smash the door.

Just then, the door was opened.

Min Duan was about to speak when he realized that Xu You, who had come out, looked even worse; her face was sickly white, her lips were bloodless, but her cheeks were strangely flushed, and a fine sweat was breaking out on her forehead.

She held the door frame with both hands, her tone weak, "Ah, there you are."

Min Duan's brow twists, "What are you-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the woman suddenly leaned forward and dove headfirst into his arms.

Soft, warm body nestled in his arms.

He stiffened.