Meanwhile, Mary looked at him with an affectionate gaze.
"Why are you all staring at me like that?"
Their looks were giving him the creeps. He was just ordering food, wasn't he?
"Claire, what's the address here? I'm ordering..."
He messed around with his phone for a long time, only to be hit with pure despair after typing in the location. How many miles out were they?
Why wasn't there any delivery service?!
"Don't you guys even have a town nearby?"
"Of course we do, but they don't deliver here." Claire smiled brightly. "Surprised? Shocked?"
Dexter looked like he was about to cry.
In the end, he had no choice but to dramatically sniffle his way into the kitchen to help.
But the moment he walked in, he saw Dewitt and was instantly mesmerized by the man's muscular build and the badass scar on his face.
"Dewitt, I'm Dexter. Is it cool if I call you that?"
"So, Dewitt, do you know martial arts? Can you teach me a few moves?"
Dexter was uncharacteristically well-behaved.
Even though he accidentally singed the front of his hair while stoking the fire, he remained absolutely in awe of Dewitt.
Especially Dewitt's knife skills-they were phenomenal.
Dexter desperately wanted to learn!
"Dewitt, are you one of those undercover badasses who just casually guts fish in the market?"
"I know, guys like you never reveal your true identities easily."
"Are you taking apprentices? Can you teach me?"
Claire, who had snuck into the kitchen for a bite, glanced at Shirley, who was also tiptoeing around.
"Is your brother out of his mind?"
"Does he think he's in an action movie?"
"Watching action flicks is one thing, but with delusions like this, is he actually going to survive his final exams?"
Claire's rapid-fire roasting nearly knocked Shirley off her feet.
She wanted to know the answer too—why did she have such an embarrassing brother?
He had been so fiercely opposed to tending the fire at first, but one look at Dewitt and he had turned into a total lapdog.
Not just the fire; he was practically fighting to do every single chore in the kitchen.
When Claire and Shirley snuck in for food, he even snitched on them like a petty elementary schooler!
"I have no idea. I'm honestly starting to worry about the IQ of our family's next generation."
"Maybe I should just find a live-in husband and have a kid with our surname instead."
Claire shot Shirley another look. "Let's not. There's really no need to pass down your family's genetics."
"The kid can have whatever last name they want."
It finally clicked for Shirley-she was being insulted!
"Claire!" Shirley glared at her, shoved her aside, and snatched a plate of
freshly pan-fried cabbage with red
crispy
pork cracklings.
Why did this dish smell so unbelievably good?
"Stop yelling, watch out, it's hot!"
The two self-appointed food runners ended up stealing quite a few bites.
Shirley's favorites were the assorted fritters-sweet potato, pumpkin, taro-they were all so fragrant!
Oh, and the various fried mushrooms were phenomenal too.
While she had eaten her fair share of delicacies in the past, these rustic, farm-to- table dishes tasted entirely different.
Besides, the meals she usually had at home were meticulously plated
and refined, making this kind get
of
hearty comfort food a rarity:
Shirley fell in love after just one bite of a pumpkin fritter.
Claire had already set out the silverware, waiting for everyone to wash up for dinner.
Dexter followed Dewitt out of the
t like a cat that had 12
tunneled through the stove .net>
on St, his face smeared withet
Mary took her seat at Pandora's warm invitation.
As they ate, they listened to the sound of fireworks popping off outside, courtesy of
whoever started the trend.
The lively atmosphere bloomed on this very first day of the New Year.
"Eat up. Once we're done, we'll go light some fireworks too."
Claire's words sent a surge of excitement through Shirley and Dexter.