Chapter 36: The Pizza Battle

“Come on! Eat!”

“Wow!”

“So good…”

Aunt Zhao came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming hot pizza fresh from the oven. Yaqi looked at her with admiration, her eyes shining. Liu Ya was already intoxicated by the aroma, her eyes following the pizza as it moved.

“Hey, Yaqi, look at Liu Ya drooling. Haha!”

“Pfft…”

“Who… who’s drooling! I just think it smells good…”

“Oh? So you mean Liu Ya won’t have any?”

“I… of course I’ll have some!”

“Hahaha…”

The two of them snickered. Liu Ya blushed with embarrassment but forced herself to stay calm and sit properly. After all, nothing mattered more than that pizza!

As soon as Aunt Zhao set down the pizza, Liu Ya and Yaqi reached out for it, but Aunt Zhao was quick and slapped their greedy little paws away.

“Ow…”

“Go wash your hands, both of you! You’ve been crawling all over the floor.”

“Hehe. Okay!”

“Uh… fine.”

The two ran to the bathroom, rinsed briefly, and Liu Ya even just wiped her hands hastily before rushing back to her seat, dripping wet. Seeing Aunt Zhao nod, the three officially began their wonderful late-night snack…

Liu Ya made the first move, picking up a slice and lifting it high. The hot cheese stretched into a perfect golden thread, and a few beef slices wobbled precariously.

Liu Ya quickly caught them with her hand, twisted her wrist, and stuffed the whole slice into her mouth. The golden thread snapped, dangling from the corner of her mouth, looking ridiculous. But the satisfied expression on her face added a bit of cuteness.

Yaqi stared blankly from across the table, her mouth slightly open and eyes wide, all hinting at her shock. It was hard to imagine that this glutton was the girl everyone at school idolized as a goddess.

“Mm~ so good!”

“Hey, hey, Liu Ya. Look how you’ve scared Yaqi. Haha.”

“Mmph!”

Liu Ya finally noticed Yaqi across from her. She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, sat back up straight, and glanced at her.

“What?”

“Huh? Nothing… nothing…”

“Then why are you making that face?”

“Ah? Ha ha… I was just thinking… you eat so deliciously, Liu Ya… ha ha…”

“Hmph.”

Liu Ya finished the remaining half of her slice in a few bites, then got up to grab another. Yaqi realized something was wrong and quickly stopped her.

“Hey! Wait, Liu Ya… you’re eating too fast!”

“This is my speed!”

“D… Damn it! Then I won’t lose either!”

Saying that, Yaqi grabbed a slice too and took a big bite, a happy smile spreading across her face.

“Oh dear… you two, slow down. It’s all yours. Haha.”

Aunt Zhao rested her chin on her hand, watching them, a hint of pride on her face.

“So, how is it, you two? Good?”

“Delicious!”

They answered in unison. Aunt Zhao smiled and nodded.

“Mm! Auntie, aren’t you eating?” Yaqi asked.

“Auntie is on a diet. This pizza is too high in calories… I’m not as young as you two…”

“Mm… but it’s really good!”

With that, Yaqi grinned mischievously at Aunt Zhao. She lightly bit into the top layer of cheese, pulling a beautiful, elegant string in the air. Aunt Zhao stared, instinctively swallowed, and smiled helplessly…

“Yaqi… you…”

“Hehe!”

“Then Auntie will have just one slice!”

“Uh-huh!”

Yaqi stood up, grabbed a piece that looked bigger, and handed it to Aunt Zhao. She took it, took a small bite, and savored it, silently praising her own cooking skills.

Liu Ya’s mouth was stuffed full, as if she hadn’t eaten all day. She spoke between bites, expressing her dissatisfaction:

“Pizza is more like it. This is what Western food should be! What was that dinner we had earlier?”

“Such small portions, so stingy! Or was it too good to share, afraid someone would snatch it?”

Liu Ya and Yaqi, upon hearing this, cleared their mouths and laughed.

“It’s not like that, Liu Ya. Western food has small portions for a reason.”

“Oh? How so?”

Liu Ya looked at her curiously, taking another bite as she spoke.

“Because Western cuisine focuses more on technique and ingredient preparation, so there’s more waste. Correspondingly, prices go up, and what you get is the concentrated essence!”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s reduced to just a mouthful of soup, right? Look at the starter soup we had, it wasn’t even as much as a regular bowl I usually drink!”

Liu Ya angrily finished the remaining pizza in her hand and reached for another slice…

“But didn’t you think it was tasty?”

“Well… it was good, and it did taste nice. I saw some unknown herbs and onion rings floating in it, thought it’d be bland.”

“Hehe. See, that’s the fun part of that soup!”

Yaqi excitedly explained to Liu Ya:

“Actually, the soup starts out cloudy. Chefs first make the broth, then clarify it using egg whites, chicken puree, and other ingredients, until you get that clear color we saw.”

“Looks like plain water, but only when you taste it do you know the magic inside! It’s really interesting!”

“Oh. Is that so?”

“Yes! And also…”

Yaqi got carried away, carefully analyzing every dish from the night for Liu Ya, who listened with great interest, feeling that even the pizza in her hand tasted better. She ate one slice after another…

“…and that’s it! Do you understand now, Liu Ya?”

“Pfft, you said all that, but the portions still weren’t filling.”

“Ha ha… there’s no helping that. At least it tasted good, right?”

As she spoke, Yaqi stuffed the last little crust of her pizza into her mouth and reached for another slice, but instead grabbed Liu Ya’s hand…

Looking down, she realized that what was a full circle of pizza moments ago now had only one slice left. She looked up at Liu Ya, whose cheeks were still moving up and down.

“Ah! Liu Ya…!”

“Mmph!… Wh… what? You suddenly yelled, scared me…”

Yaqi’s face first showed resentment, then filled with grievance. But Liu Ya didn’t care. Seizing the moment Yaqi was distracted, she snatched the last slice. Seeing this, Yaqi felt even more wronged and turned to Aunt Zhao, begging for justice!

“Auntie… look at her! I only had one slice…”

Aunt Zhao, absorbed in listening, hadn’t noticed. With Yaqi’s plea, she turned and was also a bit shocked.

After all, it was a 10-inch pizza cut into 8 slices. Aunt Zhao and Yaqi had each taken one, Yaqi had just finished hers, and Aunt Zhao still had half of hers left. In other words, within that short time, Liu Ya had eaten more than half!

“Huh? Liu Ya… how did you eat all of it?”

Liu Ya, upon hearing this, pulled the pizza closer to her mouth and turned sideways, as if guarding it from being snatched.

“I… I just ate… and I ate it…”

Aunt Zhao smiled helplessly, troubled.

She had thought one pizza would be enough, but she never expected Yaqi hadn’t even gotten to eat much before Liu Ya finished it off. And there was only this one pizza crust left at home, nothing else ready to make.

Usually, Aunt Zhao never restricted Liu Ya’s eating, but now she couldn’t let Yaqi go hungry. After hesitating, she spoke:

“So, Liu Ya, how about giving this last slice to Yaqi? She’s hungry too.”

“Can you make another one, Auntie?”

“No ingredients… just this one crust and some leftover beef from two days ago.”

“Ah… well…”

Liu Ya hesitated, glancing at Yaqi.

As the saying goes, food tastes best when you’re hungry! Even though she loved Yaqi dearly and would give her everything, even herself, this was a different matter. The pizza in her hand right now couldn’t be measured by that standard!

But considering what Aunt Zhao said made sense, Liu Ya reluctantly turned back to face Yaqi. She saw Yaqi sitting like a little cat, sulking with a pout, her eyes both angry and pitiful, like a complete little punching bag.

Seeing this, Liu Ya’s heart underwent a subtle change. She had just started to extend her hand but pulled it back.

“Yaqi just needs one slice; she’s not hungry.”

“Huh?”

Yaqi instantly objected, retorting:

“Who said that? I…”

“Didn’t you say Western food is this good and that good? Then you must be full!”

“I… but… that’s one thing, and this is another…”

Yaqi’s fire was extinguished immediately. After all, she had boasted so much earlier; admitting she wasn’t full now would be somewhat embarrassing…

She hesitated, then weakly turned to Aunt Zhao, hoping for her help. Aunt Zhao, seeing this, also spoke up for Yaqi:

“Um… Liu Ya…”

“Don’t worry, Auntie! Yaqi isn’t hungry!”

“I… uh!”

Just as Yaqi was about to speak, a foot stomped on her toes. It was a threatening signal!

“I think Yaqi had such a good time at dinner, she must be full, right?”

As Liu Ya spoke, she increased the pressure, grinding her heel into the soft flesh of Yaqi’s instep…

“Mmph…!”

(Liu Ya! Again? Too much! I won’t give in this time!)

Seeing Yaqi gritting her teeth and enduring, Liu Ya grinned smugly and triumphantly…

(Really, Yaqi, I was actually planning to give you this slice, but I couldn’t allow that expression of yours! Not obedient at all!)

(If you don’t listen to me, how can I carry out my plan? So you’ll just have to go hungry today~)

Thinking this, Liu Ya continued cheerfully:

“Hmm? Yaqi, why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you want any?”

“No… I want it!”

“Oh? What did you say?”

“Mmph… I… want… it… mmph!”

“You, said, what?”

“Mmph! I…”

Liu Ya pressed harder with her foot, her face showing the strain, her mouth pursed. But this time Yaqi refused to yield, using her other foot to clamp down on Liu Ya’s. Liu Ya retaliated, and the two engaged in a silent, underground battle over food.

“Say it! Say it!”

“I won’t!”

“Ah!”

Suddenly, their tangled feet were pushed apart. Both were startled, looking at each other, then turning to Aunt Zhao…

Aunt Zhao’s expression had turned serious. She looked at Liu Ya and said:

“Liu Ya. That’s going too far.”

“I… what did I do…”

“…”

Aunt Zhao stared at her silently. After a moment, Liu Ya began to panic, her eyes darting around, but seeing Yaqi, she still didn’t want to admit defeat. Gritting her teeth, she took a huge bite of the pizza.

“Ah! The last slice…”

Yaqi whimpered, slumping onto the table in disappointment, staring at Liu Ya’s mouth moving up and down.

Aunt Zhao sighed, somewhat helplessly:

“Oh, Liu Ya… did you forget what I told you this morning?”

“That… one thing is one thing…”

“This isn’t good…”

“Mm…”

Liu Ya chewed blankly a few times, swallowed, and gave Yaqi an awkward glance. The pitiful look still tugged at her heart…

“Alright, alright… do you want the leftover half…?”

“You already bit it…”

“Oh… then I’ll finish it!”

Liu Ya closed her eyes, bit the edge of the pizza, and slowly moved it into her mouth with her lips…

“Mm… wait!”

“Huh? … Mmm!”

Liu Ya opened her eyes just in time to see Yaqi lunge forward and bite the other half hanging in the air. Then Yaqi bit down and moved forward, her lips directly touching Liu Ya’s.

Liu Ya’s mind went blank, her mouth frozen. Taking advantage, Yaqi bit off the piece, chewing slowly…

“Mm~ delicious!”

Liu Ya’s cheeks burned red. All she could think about was the soft friction just now. She dazedly ate the remaining part, staring blankly at Yaqi…

“Th… that was mine…”

“Hmph!”

Yaqi ignored her, shot her an angry glance, and plopped back down. Aunt Zhao, who had also been watching stunned, covered her mouth in surprise.

“Mm… it’s really good! Auntie, you’re amazing!”

“Oh… not at all…”

Aunt Zhao blinked, turned to look at Liu Ya, and couldn’t help but laugh. Liu Ya’s eyes were glazed, her face as red as an apple.

“Pfft! Liu Ya, still going to hog the food next time?”

“Mm… n… never again…” Liu Ya replied softly.

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