RE - Chapter 260: Bonus Chapter: Sweet or Savory? (Patreon)

“Leon, wake up. Leo...”

Alan knocked on the door, then froze at what he saw.

“Mm...?”

The golden-haired lion king lifted his head and looked sleepily toward the doorway.

“What...?”

“Nothing. Sorry to interrupt.”

Alan shook his head, backed out of the room, and closed the door.

Leon stared after him in confusion until he finally noticed what he was holding.

A life-sized dried mouse made to look like Ada.

“?!”

Leon immediately shoved the thing away from himself and sat bolt upright.

“Where the hell did this come from?!”

No. My reputation. Alan’s definitely going to start saying I’m sexually repressed again!

“...Still, it’s kind of ugly-cute.”

Leon poked at the dried mouse a couple of times, his face turning red.

In the end, he tucked it away.

Whoever did this, I swear I’m going to... thank them properly!

(Probably one of the readers. Yeah.)

Still in his pajamas, Leon cautiously opened the door.

When he saw no sign of Alan, he let out a breath of relief.

After hiding the dried mouse, Leon stepped into the hallway. He was just heading for the bathroom when he ran into Ada, who was wearing teddy bear pajamas.

She was brushing her teeth. Hearing his footsteps, she glanced back.

“Well, look who finally woke up.”

“Yeah. Had a pretty good dream last night.”

“A good dream, huh? Then maybe you can explain something.

...Why were you sleeping with ‘me’ in your arms?”

Ada kept brushing her teeth while giving Leon a very pointed look.

Damn it, Alan. How did you spread that around so fast?!

Ada rinsed her mouth, washed the toothpaste foam from her lips, then patted Leon on the chest as he stood there turning red.

“Hey, everyone has their little quirks. I get it.”

“No, wait. Let me defend myself. I mean, explain.”

“Forget it. We’ve got things to do today, so I’ll let you off for now.

Go wash up. Don’t keep everyone waiting.”

Today?

What was special about today?

Leon rubbed the back of his neck, forced down his embarrassment, and went through his morning routine while trying to figure it out.

...

“Sounds lively upstairs.”

“Hey, Leon’s the one who forgot to lock his door.”

“You really can’t keep your mouth shut. Speaking of which... would you ever...”

“I’m not as timid as he is. If I wanted to, I’d just go find you and...”

“Ahem!”

“...Let’s focus on washing the glutinous rice.”

Graham rustled his newspaper and turned his attention away from the kitchen, feeling another stab of irritation.

Once he got back to the U.S., he was definitely going to find a way to deal with Alan.

Ashley glanced over from the kitchen, saw her father’s expression, and quietly stuck out her tongue before rolling up her loose sleeves and going back to rinsing the glutinous rice.

Alan put the cleaned zongzi leaves into a pot of cold water, turned the heat to low, and added a little salt.

“All right. Time for the fillings.”

He opened the refrigerator and took out the ingredients he had prepared.

Since everyone there except him and Ada had never tried zongzi, the traditional stuffed rice dumplings, before, he had prepared both sweet and savory fillings.

Pork belly, peanuts, red beans, candied dates, and more.

He had originally considered making some stranger flavors, like matcha or chocolate zongzi, but decided he valued his life too much.

“Alan, you already started?”

Krauser walked over and looked curiously at the ingredients on the table.

“Barely. I’m just getting things ready... You didn’t seriously drag the kid out of bed already, did you?”

Alan leaned sideways and looked behind Krauser.

Sure enough, there was Sam, barely awake.

Excellent work, Krauser.

You really know how to get a kid out of bed.

Sam was clearly not thrilled, but he was not the type to argue, so he just walked over and sat beside Graham.

“Morning, sir.”

“Good morning. Why not sleep a little longer?”

“...Long story.”

Sam glanced at Krauser’s massive traps and decided he had no complaints.

“Getting up early isn’t all bad. Want to read the paper?”

Sam accepted the newspaper with a blank expression, then watched Graham pick up his phone and start playing Snake.

These adults...

Sam sighed and began reading the paper with a very serious expression.

Hmm. Breakfast prices had gone up recently.

A truly grave issue.

“All right, you handle the fillings. I’ll go help Ashley.”

“Got it.”

Krauser nodded.

After washing his hands, he began preparing the fillings with surprising care.

By then, Ada had gotten dressed and come downstairs.

She looked over the strangely divided living room.

On the sofa sat the old-and-young pair. The older one was playing with his phone, while the younger one was reading the newspaper.

At the dining table, a huge muscular man was carefully sorting fillings.

In the kitchen, the others were busily preparing ingredients.

“Looks like everything’s going smoothly.”

Ada walked over to the kitchen door, looked at the two inside, and gave the frame a polite knock.

“You two lovebirds... Oh, sorry. Head chefs. Need any help?”

Alan shook the water from his hands, took the towel Ashley offered him, and dried them.

Then he looked at Ada, now fully dressed, and thought for a moment.

“Check the fillings on the table and see if there’s anything you like. If not, now’s a good time to go buy something.

You could also pick up some braised snacks or something. The shops around here should be open.”

“Sure. It’s been a long time since I went out shopping like this anyway.”

Ada walked over to Krauser and looked over the fillings.

“Pretty complete selection.

Could you mash the red beans a little finer for me?”

Krauser glanced at her.

“No problem.”

Watching him immediately start applying more force, Ada suddenly worried for the survival of the kitchen tools.

“Everyone’s up early.”

Leon came downstairs in casual clothes.

Before he could say much, Ada called him over.

“Come on, golden retriever. We’re going shopping.”

“Now?”

“Mm-hm.”

Leon shrugged and followed her toward the door.

“Oh, right. The braised food place across from Victory Street is pretty good, especially the spicy duck neck. Grab some if you see it.”

“Got it.”

The door closed behind them.

Alan turned his attention back to the food.

Ashley glanced over at him teasingly.

“Alan, you really know your food.”

“Caught me. It is pretty spicy, though. You’re not going to cry, are you?”

“Hmm. Then we’ll give it to Shadow.”

“...You serious?”

Shadow, sleeping in the corner: Why do I suddenly feel like my life is in danger?

Snowy wagged his tail beside him: Brother, I hope you survive.

...

Some time later.

“All right, that’s lunch.”

“Wow. Did we really make this many?”

“You didn’t separate the different kinds?”

Ada blinked at Alan.

He just grinned.

“You get what you get.”

Leon was already rubbing his hands together.

“All right, I’m going first!”

He quickly grabbed a zongzi from the plate and tried to pick apart the string with his fingernails.

You really think too highly of yourself.

By the time everyone else had already started eating, and Ada had even managed to finish a meat zongzi, Leon was still fighting with the string.

“...I refuse to lose to this thing!”

Ada sighed.

“Idiot. Use these.”

She handed him a pair of scissors, then picked up another zongzi for herself.

She cut it open.

Another meat one.

“Here.”

Ada looked over.

Leon had opened his own and found red bean filling inside, so he handed it to her.

“Thanks. Then you can have this meat one.”

“I’ll take it.”

Across the table, Alan looked at Ashley.

“How is it?”

“It’s good. Is this candied date?”

“If it’s not sweet enough, try dipping it in this.”

Ashley looked at the honey he offered and licked a bit of sugar from her lips.

“I’m going to eat as much as I can!”

“There’s plenty. Eat all you want. It’s lunch, no need to hold back.”

Krauser, meanwhile, was far less delicate.

He finished each zongzi in two or three bites and did not care whether it was sweet or savory.

Then again, both kinds were good.

When Graham noticed Sam struggling with the string, he used scissors to cut it open for him.

Sam accepted it obediently and thanked him.

Watching the boy, Graham was reminded of Ashley when she was little, even though work had kept him from spending much time with her back then.

His eyes shifted toward Alan across the table, and some of the tension in him eased.

Forget it.

Maybe he’d let the kid off the hook once they got back to the U.S.

“Wow, my hands are so sticky.”

“Hey, don’t wipe them with paper.”

“Woof!”

“Oh, here. Have some duck neck.”

“Woof!”

“Fine, have some braised meat too.”

“So, what does everyone prefer? Sweet or savory?”

“Both!”

“Sweet!”

“Savory!”

“Pretty much what I expected. All right, keep eating.

Oh, and don’t forget.”

Everyone turned toward the camera.

“Happy Festival!”