Chapter ⑧ The Problematic Girl is From a Parallel World
“Breakfast is ready.”
It was almost 6:30 AM. I used almost all the remaining ingredients in the refrigerator to make breakfast.
Though it was just breakfast, Nana only felt comfortable handing over the position of cook to me after I made this much. Kaoru, due to her nature, had always loved finding delicious food everywhere. If I didn’t bring something out, it would be too much to count. She had already neatly tied her hair back and put on glasses. She was wearing a short shirt and trousers, with a jacket over them, as if she had put on her innerwear over her clothes.
At this moment, her appearance as a homemaker was much more dignified than before. If only her expression could be a little softer…
You really managed to make such a rich breakfast with those ingredients. I remember the ingredients in the refrigerator were quite scarce.
“I told you, I’m very good at cooking.”
“Wow!”
“See, Xiao An thinks so too.”
“Mmmph!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll feed you now.” I sat down at the table myself, and then placed Xiao An on my lap.
“Hmm, this table is a bit high for Xiao An. Perhaps she should eat by herself from now on. Don’t spoil the child too much.”
“Then I’ll trouble you.”
Actually, being too tall for the table was just an excuse. Although she looked like she could eat by herself at this age, I had never seen my daughter use chopsticks before. She looked at them as if they were a foreign object, completely unaware of how to use them. How frustrating… and she couldn’t talk either, just like a newborn. I could tell she was an intelligent child. It seemed I would have to teach her everything from scratch. Xiao An would probably take a long time to learn how to use them. So, this time, I decided to feed her myself. She was behaving exceptionally well.
Xiao An sat obediently on my lap, not even making a sound… Incredible.
Seeing her like this, I couldn’t help but think her digestive system might be weak. Let me add a disclaimer: I have a very picky palate.
“Huh? Are we going to eat already?”
“Did you think I was going to call Kaoru for breakfast?” Nana asked, putting down her chopsticks and raising an eyebrow.
Seeing my questioning look, I said, “I told you, I can’t read minds.”
“What’s wrong? If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t always hint.”
“Uh, well, I thought Nana would call Kaoru for breakfast, but she showed no intention of doing so, which is why…”
Nana gave me a strange look and said, “Hmm? Oh, you’ve already seen Kaoru?”
“She was in the bathroom earlier. A girl with long black hair.”
“She’s a child I adopted.”
“Ah, I know who you’re talking about. Let me say this first, in a way, she’s my daughter. Her name is Kaoru Tsukiyose. Her surname is Tsukiyose, her given name is Kaoru, and she’s Japanese. However, she’s already been registered in my household. She’s thirteen years old this year.”
“Is Kaoru’s age in this world consistent with her appearance? I remember Zi’ai also said that Teacher Xiaozhen in this world looks like an older sister. She looks like an elementary school student…”
Ah, my thoughts are wandering again. I rarely left my room unless absolutely necessary.
“I just didn’t expect you to be so…”
I keenly caught the strangeness in her words. “You expected to leave the room…” She naturally meant, ‘Is there something wrong with her psychologically?’
Nana nodded thoughtfully and said, “…… I think I can handle it. I’ll go call her. Let’s have her try the food you made.”
“Why ‘try’?”
“Hmm, it seems… Xiao An wants to eat. It’s the young lady we met in the bathroom earlier… Hmm.”
“Ah, sorry, Xiao An. Please bear with me a little longer. Auntie Nana will go get her now.”
Wait, did Xiao An just say ‘hungry’?
I blinked and looked at Xiao An, who nodded in agreement, and tentatively asked, “Um, Xiao An, did you just say ‘hungry’? Like, stomach hungry?”
“Hmph?”
It seemed I was overthinking it. Even if…
“Mmm! Daddy~”
“!!!”
“Eat! Daddy~ I want to eat!”
“!!!”
It wasn’t just once. She even added “I want to eat”—that’s right, she really said “Daddy, I want to eat”!
Although her pronunciation wasn’t standard yet, and her tone was strange, she was truly… She could even try to speak for herself.
It had only been three days since I met Xiao An. Not only could she understand what we were saying, but she had also learned a language? This rate of progress, is she a prodigy?! In reality, facing her, I blinked… I was stunned by Xiao An’s astonishing talent.
Nana had already brought Kaoru to the dining table, but Kaoru seemed very reluctant to come.
It was only then that I realized my position and then stood up, making a gesture to invite her to sit down. I placed Xiao An on the chair, and she quietly sat in my usual seat. Xiao An also turned her head to look at this young lady who was much older than her.
Looking at Kaoru’s expression, it was clear she didn’t want to come out at all. From Kaoru’s expression, I could see her thoughts.
“Eh? Do you dislike me that much?”
To the point of not even wanting to eat. This really made me… I carefully prepared her breakfast, made according to Kaoru’s taste. After she ate my cooking, she should like it very much too.
Then, I furrowed my brow.
It’s strange, today I made sweet porridge. Sweet rice… I put the filling into my mouth.
“Excellent! I’ve won!” I thought to myself. The filling was made with my heart. The key was that the spring rolls I fried earlier felt incredibly crisp! She would definitely be impressed by my spring rolls! However, the moment I took them out of the fryer, the reality shattered my self-satisfaction beautifully.
And then, the next scene… Sugar! Kaoru suddenly slammed her chopsticks on the table, abruptly stood up from her seat, and then rushed towards…
“Ouch!” I reacted with Thought Acceleration, but because she ran too hastily, she tripped midway and almost fell. I immediately used Thought Acceleration to exert force at the last moment, jumping forward and acting as a cushion for her before she hit the ground.
“Ugh…”
Then she threw up all over me.
“I… can’t stand it…” It wasn’t because of the vomit dirtying my clothes, but because she ate… Is my cooking that unappetizing? To the point of vomiting from disgust. It wasn’t a lot of vomit, just the sweet porridge and the filling. The rest were clear saliva. In fact, the vomit itself wasn’t disgusting, but rather had a fresh scent…
“No…” Kaoru clutched her mouth and shook her head, only managing to say “No” before falling silent. I don’t know what she was denying. Tears slid down her cheeks. Suddenly, I felt heartache. Why was she crying? I reached out to wipe away her tears, and the sensation made me feel strange. After I regained my composure, I carefully examined her body and finally discovered something terrifying. I spoke with difficulty.
“Wait… you’re so thin!” Her bones were clearly defined. Her slender arms felt like they would snap if I squeezed them hard. This did not look like a thirteen-year-old girl at all. She had no flesh on her body at all! And her weight, too light! Only slightly heavier than Xiao An! What’s going on! She’s practically skin and bones! My heart surged with anger and guilt, but most of all, pain…
Kaoru, crying, shook off my hand, her expression very complex. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stood up, recovering from the shock of a moment ago. “Nana… When we met in the bathroom earlier, that young lady…” She quickly turned her head and asked.
Hearing Nana’s words, “Can you eat it?”
“No. You’re clearly… Nana picked up a spring roll and fed it to Xiao An. Xiao An, while eating, smiled with a satisfied expression.
“… Your cooking is absolutely professional level. It’s amazing.”
“It’s… It’s her own problem.”
“You said earlier, ‘Is there something wrong with her psychologically?’ Yes.”
“Uh, you mean the disease where she eats strange things?”
“… Her previous family was very disharmonious. Her father often beat her, and her mother, who always protected her, was also often beaten. Later… a tragedy occurred. She killed her father… I only took her in by chance. At that time, I happened to be handling some affairs in Japan. Nana recalled the scene at that time, her appetite completely gone. The scene at home was like hell… like a human slaughterhouse. How could such a thing happen… Her psychology… Because I couldn’t just leave her alone, I adopted her, but I didn’t expect that nightmare to continue to haunt her. She developed pica, a psychological disorder, and her preferred food was…”
“You mean, corpses?”
“Yes…”
“Even though she’s no longer a ghoul, no longer an anomaly, she still has problems… Anomalies become ‘problems’ in this normal world. Kaoru in this world is still… a monstrous cannibal. She gradually began to hate herself, and as a result, she developed pica… Ultimately, she reached a point where she couldn’t eat anything… Even if she endured the pain, she didn’t want to trouble those around her. I also tried having renowned chefs cook for her, and I myself… tried to cook for her. But she still couldn’t eat anything.
“It’s really giving me a headache. If this continues, that child will surely die.” Nana said with a wry smile, patting my shoulder to comfort me.
“No, no… At least you got her to eat three bites.”
“You’re still lucky. As for what I made her, she just smelled it and then dry-gulped.” Nana said, “and then vomited. It’s quite impressive.”
“No. This is not enough.”
“I must make food she can eat!”
“In my original world, I had already saved…”
