Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 406: Chapter 252: How Is It? Not a Landing Strip, Right? (Part 2)

"Do you mind if I borrow your tub for a bath?"

When she’d arrived earlier, she noticed how exceptionally clean Lin Chen was, on a completely different level than before. This was definitely the kind of clean you only get after a long soak.

Seeing a grown man get himself so clean, she, as a girl who loved to be clean herself, couldn’t resist the urge to take a bath.

"Sure, go ahead."

Lin Chen nodded and led the way to the tub.

He’d changed the water after his last bath, so now all it needed was to be heated up.

He immediately got to work starting a fire to heat the charcoal and prepared a "bath-time platter," placing it next to the tub.

Sweet roasted potato sticks, savory smoked venison jerky, sweet and sour pineapple, soft mango, coconut water to quench her thirst, and ten soapnuts.

Girls have long hair, so they’d naturally use more than guys.

"If that’s not enough, just let me know. I’ll get you more."

Erica’s jaw dropped slightly, her eyes wide as she stared at the upgraded and improved bathtub.

’He actually takes hot baths?!’

’He really knows how to live!!!’

「Twenty minutes later.」

As she soaked comfortably in the tub, she felt like she’d come back to life.

The pleasure of the scalding hot water washing over every pore of her body was an irreplaceable feeling.

"OMG..."

She let out a long sigh, fighting the urge to curse out loud, and turned to look at the back of Lin Chen, who was sitting inside, sharpening arrows.

’This guy is so timid. It’s not like he hasn’t seen me before, so why does he have to face away from me while I take a bath?’

’If he were a guy from North America, he’d be dying to stare at me.’

’Over here, the thinking is that a good body is meant to be shown off. The more people who look, the more it proves your charm.’

’This young man knows so much. He can hunt, survive in the wild, swim, dive, and fish. He can even build all sorts of strange and ingenious contraptions. And most importantly, he’s an amazing cook!’

’Add his humble and friendly personality to the mix, and he’s the epitome of a perfect man!’

"Lin, would you mind having a foreign girlfriend?"

Lin Chen’s hands froze. He never would have thought this crazy girl would shout something like that out loud.

He subconsciously glanced at the camera he’d placed in the corner, aimed only at himself, unsure if it had picked up her voice.

But anything he said would definitely be recorded, one hundred percent, so he had to think carefully before answering.

"To be honest, I haven’t really considered it. Theoretically, as long as our personalities and values are compatible, it’s not out of the question."

"The most critical issue is the difference in Eastern and Western thinking, which can prevent two people from connecting on a deeper level. It leads to situations where things that are perfectly normal to one person seem completely incomprehensible to the other. That’s the real deal-breaker."

"And I’m definitely going back to my country eventually. I can’t stay in North America, so..."

"That’s great!"

Erica’s voice was filled with excitement. "Didn’t your Great Xia open up for visa-free travel this year? A ton of foreigners have been going to visit. It’s super viral on our social media. I’ve watched a lot of travel videos about Great Xia, too. I’ve wanted to go for ages, but I’ve been putting it off because of the language barrier and not knowing anyone there."

’Wait, what does she mean?’

’Is she just talking about wanting to travel, or is she proposing herself as my girlfriend?’

’Can’t there be some logical connection between what she said before and now so I can figure this out?!’

"Sure. Once I get my green card, I was planning a trip back home anyway. It’s been two years. If you have time, you could come along."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"...Take it or leave it!"

"I accept~"

"It’s not a date!"

"Alright, sweetie, don’t be shy~~"

Lin Chen opened his mouth, but with his last shred of sanity, he forced down the urge to keep arguing.

He’d figured it out. You just can’t argue with someone so shameless; you’ll always be the one to lose in the end.

Fortunately, Erica knew where to draw the line. She’d usually stop after teasing him and wouldn’t pull out any new moves that he’d find hard to handle.

Listening to the SPLASHING sounds of the water beside him, his mind couldn’t help but conjure up the image of a woman’s graceful, pale curves.

He quickly shook his head and sped up his sharpening, focusing all his attention on the task at hand to prevent his mind from having any spare energy to dwell on such distracting things.

’She only dared to borrow my tub because she trusts me. Otherwise, a girl bathing alone in the middle of nowhere would definitely be scared.’

’If I take advantage of her trust to imagine things I shouldn’t be, how am I any different from a scumbag?’

After he fully immersed himself in making the arrows, the distracting thoughts finally began to fade, replaced by mental simulations of hunting a crocodile.

’What if these arrows can’t do any real damage to the crocodile?’

’I have to prepare a backup plan. I absolutely can’t let this prize slip through my fingers!’

’Given the crocodile’s size and weight, to do any real damage from a distance, the weapon needs to have both length and weight. Sharpness is secondary, though it would be best to have it, of course.’

He racked his brain but just couldn’t think of any weapon or material that met these criteria.

’I can’t use something that’s too heavy. I can’t just go and smash it with a tree trunk, can I? A weight I can carry would barely tickle a crocodile, and the wood is too rounded to do any real damage.’

’Do I have anything on hand that has weight, length, and can be used as a weapon?’

Light Wood is definitely out. The "light" in its name alone disqualifies it.

Bamboo is also no good. It can only be made into short-range weapons. Anything longer would easily crack in a fight; its durability is too low.

Stone weapons have enough weight, but they lack length and sharpness.

’Do I have to resort to a trap?’

Previously, he would have never considered using a trap.

But now that he had the nylon rope, things were different.

If he used the nylon rope to make a snare trap, and used a few more bamboo poles to distribute the force, he could tie up the crocodile securely.

Once its movement was restricted, the rest would be much simpler.

’Looks like this is the only way. After I finish sharpening the arrows, I’ll go scout the area and see where a good spot to set up a trap might be.’

Just as he was deep in thought, that headache-inducing voice called out from outside again.

"Lin~!"

"What is it?"

"Can you get me a few more soapnuts? I’ve almost used up the ones you gave me washing my hair."

He sighed, got up, went down to the cellar to grab another ten soapnuts, and walked over to the tub with his head down. He put them down and prepared to leave.

He’d expected Erica to take the opportunity to tease him again, but she just said a soft "thank you" and nothing more, which actually made him feel a bit unsettled.

A full half-hour passed before Erica reluctantly climbed out of the warm tub. She put on her clothes, which she had scrubbed clean while washing her hair and then set out by the charcoal fire to dry.

The water she hadn’t dried off quickly dampened her clothes again, so she had to stand by the fire for a while to avoid catching a cold.

"You done?"

Seeing from the corner of his eye that she was fully dressed, Lin Chen finally dared to come out from inside. He lifted a bamboo slat from the side of the tub, letting the water drain out from the bottom outlet, then detached the inlet channel at the top to let fresh stream water refill the tub.

"You even designed a drainage system? Oh my god, no wonder the water is so clear."

Erica walked over curiously and crouched down, staring intently at the bottom of the tub.

"Of course it needs a drain. Reusing the same bathwater is disgusting. It would start to stink in two days."

After rinsing the leftover foam from the edge of the tub, Lin Chen straightened up and put the bamboo slat and inlet channel back in their places.

He decided not to fill the water for now; he could always do it right before he needed a bath. This would also let the sunlight hit the inside of the tub and disinfect it.

"Let me ask you something."

On a sudden impulse, he spoke up. "I need a weapon for hunting the crocodile that has both length and weight, and preferably some sharpness. What material do you think would be suitable, or what kind of weapon in this environment would meet those conditions?"