Five hours later, the alarm clock went off on schedule. Selene, with her eyes still closed, deftly swiped the alarm off on her phone. Although she really wanted to continue sleeping, Selene knew the gravity of the situation; if she didn't get the meat processed before sunset, she'd have to wait until tomorrow to do it.
Struggling to open her eyes, Selene climbed out of the soft bed and, dragging her feet, went to the fridge to grab a bag of frozen dumplings and threw them into the pot.
"Painful."
Cooking dumplings would take a while, so Selene moved the newly bought meat grinder to the kitchen counter. It sounded simple: just put the prepared meat into the grinder, mince it, and then pack it. But...
Selene glanced at the recipe requirements: The chicken legs needed to be deboned and skinned, and the duck breast also needed skinning. Selene looked down at the thirteen large chicken legs she had taken out and an unusual fierceness appeared in her usually gentle eyes.
Holding the scissors, she gritted her teeth: "It's just deboning chicken legs, who can't do that?"
Ten minutes later, Selene put down the kitchen scissors, her eyes expressing utter defeat. This task, it turns out, is not easy for someone who doesn't cook often; it requires skill.
Selene scooped out the dumplings floating on the water, sat at the table eating them, and pulled out her phone to search for a tutorial on deboning chicken legs. Why could the person in the tutorial simply snip a couple of times with kitchen scissors and effortlessly pull out the bone, while she struggled without success?
Ultimately, she managed to yank the bones out using brute force. Selene looked at the mangled chicken legs she had processed and felt overwhelmed. At this rate, she feared it would be dark before she finished processing all the chicken legs.
Selene decided to seek advice from her next-door neighbor; Mason had mentioned that his cousin was an excellent cook. Today was Sunday. He should be at home, right?
"Ding dong, ding dong-"
"Who is it? Cover me, cover me!" Mason was deep in a game and couldn't spare a moment to answer the door. Just as Mason considered dragging his feet a little longer before answering, he felt a heavy, furry paw on his shoulder.
His cousin, who had turned into a golden retriever, was watching him with those seemingly gentle eyes that somehow felt incredibly pressured.
"Alright, alright, I'll get the door. Guys, hang in there, I just need to answer the door..."
Mason, undeterred by his friends' cursing, made his game character crouch in a corner and put down his phone to hurriedly open the door.
Mason was startled by the sight of the person at the door: "Eh? Selene, what happened to you?"
The woman in front of him wore an apron and gloves, one hand holding scissors, and the other clutching a lump of unidentifiable meat. Her cheeks were streaked with sweat-soaked hair, a level of dishevelment he had never seen on her.
Selene, too, was a bit embarrassed. Her gaze drifted away, and her voice was dry: "Little Mason, is your cousin home? I need some advice."
"My cousin, uh..." Mason felt a tug at his pants. Although confused, Mason cleverly caught himself.
Selene blinked: "He went to work? That harsh? Not even a single day off?"
Mason then realized it was Sunday; he had lost track of time during the summer break. He improvised: "He bought some flowers last week that had issues, he went to the florist's."
"Oh, I see," Selene sighed, then noticed the adorable golden retriever and couldn't help but smile, waving her hand: "Pigeon, we meet again~"
The dog looked at her with its clear, sparkling eyes and softly "woofed," as if it really was greeting her.
Selene wanted to stroke its fluffy golden head, but seeing her hands still covered in rubber gloves, she reluctantly prepared to head back, resigned to continue struggling with the chicken legs. Just as she turned to leave, she felt something touching her leg. Looking down, she saw the dog had lifted its paw to touch her.
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Seeing Rowan's action, Mason remembered he forgot to ask why Selene needed his cousin.
"Selene, what did you need my brother's help with? Tell me, maybe I can help, like changing a lightbulb or fixing a pipe!"
Selene turned around, looked at Mason doubtfully, and said: "Didn't you say your brother is a great cook? I just wanted to ask him how to quickly debone and skin chicken legs. Can you do that?"
"..." Well, he actually couldn't do that.
Just as Mason was about to shake his head, he saw the golden retriever nodding at him, as if to say he knew how. Mason, though skeptical, nodded: "Of course! I can totally handle that!"
"Really?" Selene's eyes lit up, delighted: "Then wait here, I'll go get the chicken legs. Oh, and the duck breast needs to be skinned, teach me how to do that too!"
Selene excitedly dashed back to her apartment, leaving Mason standing dumbfounded. The bewildered young man looked just like a duck being pushed onto a perch. After a moment, Mason's mouth twitched incredulously as he looked down at the dog: "Bro, pushing someone onto the perch isn't supposed to be like this..."
And the "perch pusher" simply wagged its tail and walked through the door first.
"Woof."
It was his way of urging.
Selene quickly brought over a stainless steel basin filled with chicken legs and duck breasts to Rowan's house. The layouts of the houses were similar, but the decor here was clearly more upscale, and the furniture and decorations exuded a more artistic vibe.
Not here to socialize, Selene didn't pay much attention to the house and headed straight to the kitchen. By now, Mason was already standing at the cutting board with a sharp, small boning knife in hand.
"I'm here!" Selene set down the stainless steel basin, filled with determination to learn. She hadn't noticed that Mason's expression was stiffer than usual.
Mason, recalling the disassembly diagram his brother had drawn for him on the tablet, understood it but still felt uneasy.
"Ahem, let's get started then."
Sweating, Mason stole himself, took a chicken leg, and began to cut. The sharp knife sliced through the chicken leg. By sheer luck, he managed to do it correctly.
"Selene, make a cut here with the knife, then another cut vertically, break the membrane, twist a bit, and pull out the bone," Mason instructed as he pulled the bone out, leaving behind a perfect piece of deboned chicken meat, finally allowing a proud smile to spread across his face.
Selene looked at the chicken bone in Mason's hand: "It seems no different from what the video said. Why did I struggle so much?" She glanced down at the kitchen scissors in her hand and belatedly realized something-her scissors were very old.
Although Selene didn't cook often, she felt that always eating takeout wasn't healthy, so she often had salad at night, cutting whatever vegetables, meat, or seafood with scissors, boiling them quickly, and eating. Over time, the scissors had dulled.
"Let me try with that knife."
Selene reached out her hand and took the small boning knife from Mason. This time, it went smoothly; she processed a chicken leg in no time. Using the knife, it was also easy to peel the skin off the chicken and duck. Within half an hour, Selene had managed to prepare both ingredients she had brought.
"It was that simple."
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Selene wanted to thank Mason but found he had already run off to the living room to play games, leaving only Rowan's beautiful golden retriever by her side in the kitchen. It sat quietly, not making any fuss. When she turned her head, it even blinked at her.
How could a dog be so well-behaved? Selene felt her heart melting. Unable to resist, Selene removed her rubber gloves and swiftly reached out to pet the fluffy head. She could feel the dog stiffen slightly at her touch, but as an experienced dog owner, Selene knew its lack of immediate withdrawal indicated it didn't mind her touch. Reassured, Selene continued petting the dog.
The feel of its soft fur and warm body, along with a faint, pleasant scent, seemed to heal all her fatigue. The sensation was so delightful; she felt truly blessed.
Caught up in the joy of petting the dog, Selene crouched down, both hands working in tandem as she sincerely exclaimed, "Pigeon, you're too cute, come here, let your sister give you a kiss."
However, the relaxed golden retriever suddenly perked up its ears upon hearing her words, and awkwardly, clumsily, backed away a few steps. Its bright and innocent eyes displayed a somewhat bewildered look.
Selene was amused by its reaction: "Alright, no kisses then, just a shy little dog."
After playing with the soft ears a while longer, Selene reluctantly carried the meat back to her apartment. With the most difficult step out of the way, the rest was easy. Selene chopped the prepared meat and organs into pieces, loaded them into the meat grinder, and switched them on. The machine automatically processed the contents into minced meat. Since she was making a two-month supply, the meat grinder could
't handle it all at once, so Selene had to do several batches.
Once all the meat was minced and packed into the storage containers, then orderly placed in the fridge, everything was complete. The only problem was the small freezer space. Selene managed to stuff sixty containers into two drawers, leaving no room for the meat meant for cooking. She had to store them in the fridge's cooling section, planning to find a solution for them the next day.
After organizing everything, Selene returned to the kitchen, filled with anticipation, and placed a portion of the cat food in the steamer. With forty minutes until sunset, it was just enough time to cook her dinner and let it cool.
As the aroma of meat filled the air, Selene wished for the first time that she could turn into a cat. This was the fruit of her labor, surely delicious!
The sun set on schedule, and Selene turned into a little cat right on time. She positioned her phone on a stand, hit the record button, and then moved towards her "dining table"-a wooden monitor stand. The height was perfect for a little cat to sit and eat.
Selene sat on the smooth wooden floor and began to enjoy her delicious dinner. The steamed, minced meat was tender and mixed with broth, melting effortlessly in her mouth. As a human, Selene couldn't stand the smell of organs, but as a cat, she couldn't detect any off-flavors at all; eating the liver felt like savoring a meat-flavored pudding, smooth and delicious.
What a wonderful dish.
Selene devoured her dinner, finishing everything quickly and feeling her belly round and full. Unfortunately, unlike other pet cats who could sleep or play after eating, she had to take care of herself. Full from dinner, she still had chores to do.
Selene hung her phone around her neck and headed to the living room; her tablet was still on the sofa. She needed to transfer the video files from her phone to the tablet for editing. Even as a cat, she couldn't just lie down and rest.
First, the simplest task: creating emoticons. Selene sent the "selfies" she had taken over the past few days to her tablet for color correction and editing. Editing cat photos was much simpler than editing human photos: just enhance the eyes, make the fur fluffier and glossier, and finish by adding appropriate text.
Once the images were ready, she uploaded them to Weibo and even tried posting them to the emoticon market on WeChat, though they required approval before going live.
After finishing this task, Selene stretched lazily and grabbed a bottle of lactose-free milk from the snack shelf back to the sofa. Most cats are lactose intolerant, and she wasn't sure if she was, so it was safer to drink lactose-free milk.
As she sipped the milk, Selene logged onto a video platform known as F-site and began registering a new account.
What should her ID be?
After a moment's thought, Selene typed a few characters.
[The Untouchable Orange]
Common yet sophisticated-perfect, she decided!
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