chapter 47

“No.” Tu Nan retorted without even thinking.

“Why not?” Jack was a bit annoyed, his pride hurt by her immediate rejection. “The Rule doesn’t say we can’t do it.”

“If that were possible, why would the Rule bother to make us distinguish between Pets?” Tu Nan frowned tightly. “Besides, there are hundreds of animals here. Are you sure there’s enough Feed for every single one?”

Jack glanced at the remaining Feed in the Stone Trough and fell silent.

“Lita is right,” Fu Zhixing affirmed. “And the Rule clearly states that we need to leave when the sheep bleats. We don’t know when that will happen-the longer we stay, the more dangerous it gets. We have to Feed all the Pets as quickly as possible.”

“You’re the expert, so you’re right,” Jack muttered, having lost face in front of his girlfriend.

Rose shot him a reproachful look, then glanced apologetically at Fu Zhixing. “Sorry, that’s not what he meant.”

“It’s fine,” Fu Zhixing didn’t care about Jack’s sarcasm at all. “What we need to do now is figure out how to distinguish ordinary animals from Pets.”

“The Rule says Pets are defined as being on all fours, so we can rule out a bunch.” Jenny casually grabbed a chicken and showed it to everyone. “This chicken is obviously not a Pet.”

The chicken flapped its wings desperately in her hand, squawking miserably.

Jenny held the chicken with a steady grip and tugged at its wing with a smile. “Pretty lively.”

Everyone: …

“The Rule says Pets can be disguised,” Tu Nan looked at the shrieking chicken. “How do we tell if they’re disguised or not?”

“More than that,” Jenny let go, and the chicken immediately flapped away, “I’m curious-does a Rabbit count as being on all fours?”

The definition of ‘on all fours’ was truly confusing.

Cats, dogs, and Rabbits could all lift their front legs-does that still count as being on all fours?

“Of all the animals here, it seems only the sheep are truly on all fours,” Tu Nan frowned slightly and looked at Fu Zhixing. “What do you think?”

“I think we’ve overlooked… the definition of Pets,” Fu Zhixing pondered for a moment. “Animals kept in pens are at most livestock-how could they be Pets?”

“That does make sense,” Jenny said, a bit confused. “So what should we do?”

“We should find someone to ask,” Tu Nan smiled. “Maybe it’s not so hard after all.”

“Find someone to ask?” Jack sneered. “Why do you think they’ll tell you anything?”

“That’s my business,” Tu Nan shot him a glance, hearing the deliberate edge in his voice.

He was probably still upset about losing face earlier.

Qin, who had been silent since the beginning, finally spoke. “If you have a way, give it a try.”

She had been so quiet it was easy to forget she was there.

It seemed ever since leaving the bedroom, Qin had been withdrawn, as if weighed down by something.

Tu Nan looked at Fu Zhixing. “I’ll be right back.”

Fu Zhixing nodded. “We’ll look around here for more clues.”

Tu Nan left the Pasture, retracing the route the Maid had led them on back to the Mansion.

She planned to find Simon and ask him.

From the start of the Instance, Simon had shown her goodwill. And judging by his conversation with Lilith this morning, he was close to Lilith-maybe he knew something.
Tu Nan found a maid in the Castle and asked her where Simon was at the moment.

“Mr. Simon?” The maid thought for a moment. “Perhaps he’s in the Kitchen. He always likes to experiment with new dishes there.”

What a dedicated worker.

Tu Nan then asked her for directions to the Kitchen and hurried there as fast as she could.

Sure enough, Simon was there.

He was standing in front of the cooking counter, staring intently at a piece of steak.

“Simon,” Tu Nan walked over, “I have something I want to ask you.”

Simon snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her in surprise. “Miss Lita, shouldn’t you be feeding the ‘Pets’ right now?”

“Yes,” Tu Nan nodded. “That’s exactly why I’m here. I have some questions about the Pets and was wondering if you could help me.”

“Well…” Simon’s lips curled into a meaningful smile. “I do know a thing or two about them, but why should I help you?”

He didn’t refuse outright, which meant there was room for negotiation.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Tu Nan asked straightforwardly.

Simon smiled even more. “Originally, it was just a small matter, and I’d be happy to help Miss Lita. But this morning, you gave away the breakfast I made for you without my permission. That deeply wounded my heart.”

Tu Nan: …

She tried her best to maintain a smile. “I’m very sorry. I just wanted more people to taste such delicious food.”

Simon neither agreed nor disagreed. He shrugged. “Actually, it’s quite simple if you want my help.”

“Please tell me.”

“As you can see, I’ve hit a bottleneck in my cooking. I don’t know how to create new and innovative dishes, and I’ve been racking my brain for a whole month.”

Simon sighed. For someone who loves cooking as much as he does, this was undoubtedly torture. “Since Miss Lita is a princess, you must be well-traveled and knowledgeable. Could you tell me a fresh way to prepare this piece of meat?”

Tu Nan was silent for a moment.

As luck would have it, she did know a recipe for steak.

“Perhaps… have you heard of Wellington Steak?” she asked tentatively.

A look of confusion appeared in Simon’s eyes. “Wellington? That sounds like a person’s name. What kind of recipe is that?”

Perfect.

Tu Nan rolled up her sleeves. “Could you please prepare some bacon, ham, mushrooms, and puff pastry?”

This was the only Western dish Tu Nan knew how to make.

One of the protagonists she had written was a chef, and their signature dish was Wellington Steak. To better understand the character, she had even learned how to make it herself.

Though not top-notch, for a princess, being too skilled in cooking would seem unrealistic.

There was no oven in the Instance, but Tu Nan found a substitute: a roasting stove.

She followed the steps from memory, one by one, and by the time she put the finished product into the roasting stove, an hour had already passed.

She wondered how Fu Zhixing was doing.

Tu Nan was a bit anxious.

She wasn’t sure about the timing for the roasting stove, so she left the final step to Simon. As expected, Simon was truly a professional chef. When the Wellington Steak was finally done, the aroma of the meat filled the air, the puff pastry was crisp on the outside and tender inside, and when the steak was cut open, the color was beautiful.

Given the limited conditions here, she was already very satisfied with the result.

“Try it,” Tu Nan gestured invitingly.