Chapter 466: Aversion To Mea (1/2)

”80% cooked!” said Dali.

The waiter left with a sardonic smile on his face. Meanwhile, Dali endeavored to “educate” us with the supposed facts he had learned. According to him, the usual classification of how one would order a steak–thirty, fifty, seventy and ninety in terms of percentage well done–was wrong. And the right way to enjoy a steak would be either twenty, forty or eighty percent cooked.

”Oh, shut up!” I chided. “Who cares about that! Stop being so pretentious!”

While waiting for our steaks to be served, Dali began clowning around as usual. ”Shall we try practicing something? I’ll have to visit Youyou's parents in the future. Dude, play my future father-in-law.”

Before I could refuse him, Dali immediately got into character. ”Hello, Mr. Luo.”

”Do you play Honor of Kings?” I deliberately deepened my voice.

”Yes, I’m already Platinum 4. Do you enjoy playing the game as well? Why don’t we have a go?”

”Get out!” I shouted. “Boys who play games are all good-for-nothings. I won’t allow my daughter to marry you! Get out!”

Luo Youyou seemed amused with my rendition of Mr. Luo while Dali’s expression turned stony. ”What are you doing? Why aren’t you playing along?”

”Isn’t this supposed to be practice? How can I make it so easy for you?” I quipped.

”Let’s try again!”

Fortunately, our steaks arrived soon, saving me from having to play this silly game with Dali. The steak and egg sizzled on the iron griddle, delighting the senses. Without hesitation, Dali grabbed his fork and knife and began chowing down on his steak.

Although the smell of the steak seemed a little off, I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, so I silently picked up my knife and fork, cut a small piece and took a bite. The juices from the tender steak burst upon my tongue, infecting my mouth with the rotten smell of corpses. Unable to control myself, I spat out my food immediately.

Both Dali and Luo Youyou were shocked by my reaction. ”Dude, what's wrong with you? Did you eat too much for lunch?” asked Dali.

Instead of answering him, I sliced another small piece and slowly chewed the meat, enduring the nausea that welled up. Aside from the rancid odor, there was a gamey smell, unlike any steak I had ever tasted. I couldn’t help but spit out my food once more.

Unconvinced, I tried a bite of Dali’s steak instead. To my utter disbelief, it tasted exactly the same.

”What is it?” Dali queried.

”There’s something wrong but don't worry about it.”

”Is it the steak?” he asked.

”The steak is delicious,” remarked Luo Youyou. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

To verify my conjecture, I called the waiter, ”Another T-bone steak please!”

”How would you like it cooked?” asked the waiter.

“Rare!”

The waiter froze for a moment, staring at me in perplexity before confirming my order several times and leaving. Well aware that these two would be worried if I failed to explain myself, I said, ”I may have been poisoned by something strange so I can’t stomach meat.”

”Don't scare me!” exclaimed Dali. “We eat together every day. If you are poisoned, then we are also poisoned... No, I’ll have to eat more now, in case I become like you and stop enjoying good food!”

Smiling miserably, I pushed my almost untouched steak towards him, ”Finish it for me then!”

”Song Yang, did you eat something weird during lunch?” Luo Youyou keenly asked.

”I’m still not clear about that. I’ll have to look into it.”

A while later, my steak was served. The big, bloody T-bone took a lot of trouble to slice into. I braced myself, taking a small bite. As the juices from the meat spread over my tongue, I found the steak as hard to swallow as a rock and I spat it out immediately.