Valen Xuan, hearing about the absence of a pot, had never been more confused in his life.
He stood there moping, staring at Tessa as if waiting for her to magically do something, before the latter scoffed at his obvious confusion.
"Right, you probably don't even know what a pot is. And how are we supposed to get one in such a cave??"
She felt discouraged because just when she was about to make a perfect meal, some useless misfortune always found a way to make her hard work feel pointless.
She sighed dejectedly and watched the fire slowly burn out.
Valen noticed the sad look on her face and immediately came closer.
"Tell me what you want and I will find a way to bring it!" he said, trying his best to comfort her.
"Don't feel bad. I am here... should I hug you??"
Before she could answer, he moved closer and pressed himself against Tessa, and in the process his hand landed right on her butt.
Tessa's mind instantly sparked.
She almost wanted to poke him in the head for that, but just as she turned, her gaze drifted by chance to the corner of the cave where something lay rotting away.
A broken calabash.
Immediately, her brain seemed to come alive.
She shoved Valen aside and rushed toward the broken piece.
Pushed away so suddenly, Valen's cheeks turned pink, especially from the lingering feel of Tessa's ass in his palm.
It had been so soft and bouncy that he wanted to touch it again.
Maybe even sleep on it.
"Oh my!! This is perfect, we can make use of it."
The frown that had been etched on her face vanished completely.
She took a proper look at the piece, trying to confirm if it truly was a calabash.
But compared to what she first thought, now that she held it in her hands, it wasn't.
Right there was a shell.
The shell of some beast creature that had likely shed it and abandoned it as a burden.
Whether it was a snail or not, she didn't know.
But one thing that spooked her was whether it belonged to a living beastman like them... or if it was just a normal giant snail.
In this world, everything felt possible, so seeing a shell couldn't make her feel at peace at all.
Because honestly, the probability of them using a snail's former home as a cooking tool was very possible here.
"Hmm... that's its business. The snail left it for me anyways." she muttered aloud.
Valen kept staring at her like she was some sort of movie.
Now that she had gotten what she wanted, her cooking plan was back on track.
So she quickly picked a leaf.
A wide plantain leaf with enough hollow depth for Valen to use for scooping water.
At least, that was what she intended.
But before she could even turn around and explain, Valen was already chewing on the side of the leaf while grimacing.
"This tastes really bad. It's not good for you to eat, Tessa Yun. Let's get something else."
Valen said it so casually that Tessa's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
Wasn't he a catfish or something??
Even if they ate weird things, was this really the proper one?
And what exactly did he think she was??
A goat??
Because how could a reasonable person be fucking eating a plantain leaf that was meant for scooping water?
And she wasn't even sure if this so-called plantain was the same as the modern one or even edible in the first place.
Yet here he was, taking a bite out of a leaf like it was a snack.
"I told you to fetch me water, not eat the leaf, Valen..."
Her voice rose with frustration.
Just look at her.
She was literally shaking while standing there.
Not even thirty minutes had passed, and her feet were already trembling.
Like what kind of normal person couldn't even stand for thirty minutes?
So she wasn't even sure she could make it to an hour, talk more of two.
They needed to be fast about this.
Realizing he had sabotaged their plan, Valen's face instantly fell.
His cheeks turned a deep shade of red, his eyelids drooped, and even his ears seemed to lower too.
Tessa, sensing just how emotional this man seemed to be, looked even more appalled.
If not for the appearance right now and the mermaid tail she had clearly seen back at the river, she would have sworn this was a human.
Like, just look at his behavior.
Weren't beastmen supposed to be wild and cold in order to survive out here?
But this man was just different.
Far better than even the most eligible bachelor back in her world.
"Oh, Valen, the cute merman, don't give me that look. I was just correcting you, okay?? Just use this snail shell and get me water from the rain. Don't wander too much because of the storm. Just place it at the center of the cave entrance and the raindrops will fill it up."
As much as Valen had been in a bad mood, his face switched to happiness all of a sudden.
Not just that—he looked genuinely pleased that he could be useful to her.
Being a male, that was probably an important duty to them, especially if they were going to be partners.
But Tessa wasn't exactly versatile in the rules of this world.
And the dumb previous owner clearly hadn't seen the need to learn basic things about their own world.
Instead, she had wasted her whole time chasing after men who didn't want her.
Now even with the knowledge Tessa inherited, she still didn't know the deeper things about the world she had entered.
With Valen gone to fetch the water, she brought out the root and started scrubbing off the muddy patches with her palms.
She rubbed away the dirt until the rough skin beneath showed a pale brown, creamy color.
By the time she was done, Valen returned with the shell full to the brim.
Taking it from him, she gave him a pleased smile.
"Good job, Valen Xuan. You're amazing..."
She complimented him, partly to encourage him to be more useful.
At her praise, he lowered his face, trying to hide the deep smile and intense blush spreading across his cheeks.
"No worries... you're too kind. You're the first person to ever compliment me. No one really does that... even when I first met you and helped carry that wood."
He reminded her softly.
Tessa frowned at what he was saying.
It seemed like the previous host wasn't just a dirty pig and a pick-me female, but also an ungrateful brat.
At that point, she didn't even know whether to continue feeling pity for her rude ass.
Valen's blush didn't go unnoticed by Tessa, who was beginning to realize that Valen was truly one of a kind.
Far too sweet compared to those asshole men back in her world.
To think beastmen were somehow better than normal humans was ridiculous.
And surprising.
Now, back to her cooking.
She carried the water toward the fire, but Valen didn't let her bear the weight alone and helped her until they placed it down near the flames.
And just like that, Tessa officially began cooking.
One thing was the cooking itself.
The other was the reward.
She honestly couldn't wait for the health enhancement point so she could improve her eyesight, because right now it was complete trash.
Next, she began peeling the wild yam root.
With the knife she had gotten, it was much easier.
Valen, seeing the process, immediately wanted to help.
But Tessa smiled and shook her head.
"That's fine. Just because I am a female doesn't mean I shouldn't do stuff. Cutting the bark off won't kill me."
She assured him and continued peeling since the wild tubers held more bitterness in the outer layer than normal yams.
Valen sat like a good cub, watching her.
Then he caught the unpleasant smell that oozed from the milky sap.
From the smell alone, it didn't seem edible at all.
But he trusted Tessa Yun.
She had already shown that she wasn't just kind, but smart too.
So if anyone could make it taste nice, it would be her.
Tessa herself grimaced at the texture while slicing.
It was horrendous.
And no one should even ask her about the smell.
If only she could cover her nose from the stench.
From there, she started slicing the root thin.
This would make it cook faster.
With such a prehistoric way of cooking and no modern gas stove, who knew how long it would take for the damn thing to be ready?
So cutting it thin made things easier.
Valen was so invested that he couldn't tear his eyes away.
At some point, he simply laid flat on the cave floor and rested his head on Tessa's lap while she cooked.
Tessa felt his cool body against hers and surprisingly didn't complain.
It was crazily pleasant.
And seeing a man so deeply invested in something as basic as cooking was honestly shocking in the best way.
This man was just full of surprises.
After cutting them all into small chunks, she placed them into the shell to parboil first.
Then she stood aside, waiting for the water to slowly turn bitter.
After some minutes of waiting, she decided to sweep the yam peels off the floor.
Valen, enthusiastic as usual, jumped up to help.
Using a broad leaf, he swept everything out of the cave and quickly returned.
By then, Tessa had already removed the yam chunks, placing them onto another leaf with the help of a wooden spatula she had made from a stick.
Making a wooden spatula wasn't exactly hard.
But it wasn't easy either.
Still, it helped, so she used it to lift the chunks out before pouring the bitter water outside the cave entrance.
"Oh, hungry Valen, I promise you this food will be your utmost best. I hope you're fully ready to eat this."
She asked while returning to her cooking.
Valen nodded immediately.
Of course he was ready.
"I'm dying to eat your meal, Tessa Yun."
He smiled, and Tessa smiled back before replying—
"That's good. Because your mouth won't taste this if you don't carry that toothpick and play our game of brushing teeth."
The second he heard the words he had been waiting for, Valen jumped and began bouncing around again.
Then he snatched up the toothpick from where he had dropped it and started dancing.
"I'm playing the brushing game, Tessa! Join me!"
He was so excited that Tessa just stared in surprise as he rushed toward the front of the cave.
Watching him leave, Tessa simply shrugged.
If only he knew how his mouth smelled like male goat ass, he wouldn't be this happy.
But he should keep smiling.
She wasn't heartless enough to say it anyways.