Chapter 25: Who is the real owner of the Old Friend Hotel?
When the two people were pushed into the kitchen by the chameleon whose face turned red instantly to work to pay off their debts, a strong smell of burning was coming out of the big pot in the kitchen.
A group of little bear dolls wearing chef hats were working busily inside, their short and fat furry paws tightly gripping the edge of the pot and stirring the wok, their aprons bulging with their bellies stuffed with cotton.
The chameleon standing at the door yelled, "Quiet!"
The dolls quickly lined up.
"These two," it pointed at Ye Wan and You An, "are new employees. Leave the kitchen chores to them. You go work in the backyard."
Ye Wan noticed that each of the little bears had its own unique characteristics. Some were cute, furry bears wearing Christmas sweaters, but unfortunately they were all dirty, missing ears and arms, with many balls of cotton sticking out and threads coming apart at the back.
A group of dolls threw down their hats and walked away in a line, cursing. Chameleon put his hands behind his back and said to Ye Wan and You An earnestly, "As long as you finish cooking tonight's banquet, the money you owe will be written off."
It turned back to its calm green color, rolled the kitchen door open with its tail, and walked out with its head held high.
Ye Wan felt a little ashamed: "It's all my fault for not asking clearly. This store is such a rip-off."
Youan was silent for a moment, then picked up a knife from the kitchen counter and started peeling onions. "It's not your fault."
It was rare for the arrogant lettuce boy to comfort others. Ye Wan stood up resignedly and took a knife. There was a half-processed salmon on the table.
The meat of this migratory fish is bright red and plump, and it tastes good whether it is pickled, salt-grilled or smoked. Ye Wan patted the fish meat loose, marinated it with rosemary butter, and then grilled it over charcoal fire.
Soon the fish's skin was roasted crispy, revealing the tender white fish meat inside that was like garlic cloves. Ye Wan sprinkled some coarse sea salt on it.
"Absolutely perfect!" She put the dish aside. The chameleon had already changed into a Victorian tuxedo, with intricate lace hanging around its neck and shoddy curtains that looked like those at grandma's house. It took one look at the fish Ye Wan had grilled and was horrified:
"How could you grill the fish like this!"
As an outstanding graduate of the culinary school, Ye Wan had never been criticized like this before, and he was immediately unhappy: "Why is this not okay? It obviously looks delicious."
The back door of the kitchen opened, and a frog hopped in with a dish of stinking soup. "It's ready."
Chameleon carefully examined the bowl of soup and nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, send it out."
Ye Wan noticed that there were purple bubbles bubbling in the pot of soup, and a whole pale fish bone was lying across it, which made Ye Wan frown.
A gorgeous and pleasant waltz was heard from the hotel lobby. Chameleon pointed to the back door and said, "Go to the cold storage and get two cakes." Then he adjusted the bow tie on his chest, turned around and went back to the lobby with his head held high.
The kitchen door was inlaid with two transparent glass panels. Ye Wan quietly leaned over them and looked out: "What kind of guest has such poor taste?"
A doll in a pink Rococo dress, with a full skirt and bows on its bodice, was waltzing in the middle of the room.
Her plastic head was tilted unnaturally to one side, her sparse golden curls showing the white stitching at the back of her head; she wore a huge sunhat on her head, and a bunch of purple and pink roses dangled from the hat, hanging around the sides of her sunken eye sockets.
Her dancing was so stiff, like a puppet controlled by a few strings. When her head twisted stiffly towards the kitchen, Ye Wan saw her strange blue glass eyes.
"Oh my god, this looks horrible. It reminds me of Annabell. Hey, Euan, you know Annabell? It's a cursed doll that's said to bring bad luck."
You An looked at the trembling Ye Wan in silence.
"I think this is also a kind of doll that will bring misfortune." Ye Wan said.
They went out from the back door of the kitchen, where a group of dolls were gathered working. In the corner, a robot was sitting cross-legged. It was tightly tied with rough hemp ropes, its two mechanical arms hanging limply on one side, and the indicator light on its chest was flashing irregular red light.
Two dilapidated oak barrels were piled beside it. A damp and rotten wind blew through the dungeon, blowing the oak barrels to and fro.
The robot just sat there quietly, ignored by the group of working bear dolls.
It looks so pitiful.
"Is there a robot tied there?" Ye Wan pulled Youan's sleeve and said, "Why does this robot look so familiar to me?"
The robot looked somewhat familiar, and Ye Wan felt as if he had seen it somewhere.
The chameleon opened the back door with a snap and yelled at the bear, "There's no time to collect the garbage out front, come here quickly. And you two." It turned to Ye Wan and You An:
"Go to the cold storage to get the cake. How many times do I have to tell you?"
A group of dolls in the backyard lined up and walked away in a long line. Ye Wan hurried to the front of the robot.
The robot's body was covered in various scratches, and there was a huge dent on its square head. The display screens of its two electronic eyes were obviously damaged, reflecting a dim blue light, like moist eyes blinking.
She leaned in to take a closer look, and to her surprise the robot suddenly spoke: "Vital signs detected."
A red light emanated from its chest, and it scanned Ye Wan's face from top to bottom, giving Ye Wan a fright:
"Identification complete," it said.
Ye Wan suddenly remembered why this robot looked so familiar. The robot doll she found in the drawer of room 304 looked just like it.
"Don't you remember me?" The robot's two dim electronic eyes lit up again: "I'm Robert. Long time no see, Ye Yu."
Ye Wan: “?”
[Year 412, Dungeon -20th Floor]
A flickering neon tube hung on the rock wall, casting a dim light into the cave. A small ramen stall was set up under the light, and hot steam kept gushing towards the top.
An indigo curtain hangs above the ramen stall, separating the stall owner from the dining area. A red lantern hangs next to it. The stall owner extends a silver robotic arm to knead the dough. This is the 324th day of the stall, and there are still few customers.
What it does every day is prepare ingredients, set up the stall, wait for customers to come, cook noodles, clean up the stall, and go back to the room to recharge itself.
A young woman came over and casually pulled out a chair and sat down: "There's actually a ramen stand in a place like this."
The robot stall owner stopped kneading the dough and scanned her face from top to bottom with the recognition device on his chest. "Vital signs detected... What would you like to order?"
"A bowl of pork bone ramen would be great," the woman said without hesitation.
The big iron pot on the stall is placed on the induction cooker, the thick soup base is bubbling, the aroma of the carefully selected pork bone soup base is wafting in the air, and the robot flexibly uses the shiny silver steel chopsticks to fly around the pot.
The cooked noodles were drained and poured into a large coarse porcelain bowl, then half a soft-boiled egg and a whole piece of barbecued pork were placed on top. A bowl of steaming hot pork bone ramen was placed in front of the woman.
The robot looked at her expectantly.
The woman picked up a mouthful of noodles with chopsticks and took a sip of soup.
The robot asked nervously, "How does it taste?"
The woman finished her meal in silence. "It's OK, but it could be improved."
The soup was not cooked enough to bring out the essence of the thick soup; the dough was carefully kneaded and beaten repeatedly, but the noodles were not rinsed in cold water after being cooked, so they did not have that chewy texture.
The soft-boiled eggs are simply boiled in plain water. They should be soaked in a marinade made with soy sauce, miso, etc. This way the eggs will have flavor and will be stained with a glossy amber color, which will make them more appetizing.
The robot listened attentively, but because it had to take in too much information, the heat dissipation vents on its head suddenly began to smoke, and then with a muffled "bang", the robot fell to the ground dizzy.
"Detected... anomaly in the ramen algorithm." Both of its electronic eyes began to display garbled characters.
The woman took the opportunity to present it with an agreement: "Come back to Cartmel with me and learn the craft for two months. I guarantee that you will become the number one gourmet in the dungeon."
The robot signed its name in a daze: "Robot One."
The woman read the agreement and frowned. "Robot One is not a good name, and it's not easy to remember. You should be called Robert from now on."
The robot was still lying on the ground, with its fingers stiffly making a gesture of "OK".
After listening to the whole story, Ye Wan realized that the woman in the story was Ye Yu, and the Robert in front of him was the rusty robot in the "Punishment for Illegal Employment of Non-Human Employees".
The robot said gratefully: "I have waited for you for a long time. You have finally returned to the dungeon. I have benefited a lot from studying in the Old Oak Tavern. Unfortunately..."
It lowered its head in frustration: "The hotel I saved up so much money to build was snatched away by that evil puppet army."
Since it was Ye Yu's old friend, Ye Wan quickly asked You An to use a dagger to help cut the ropes that bound it.
The robot stood up with Ye Wan's help. It was about 6.5 feet tall and looked very eye-catching.
The robot was supported by her and looked down at her: "Why are you getting shorter? Does the height of humans shrink?"
Ye Wan: "...Are you polite?"
She was about to make it clear that she was not Ye Yu when the returning Chameleon opened the door and asked in shock, "Why did you let the robot escape?"
A group of stuffed bears rushed out with knives and forks in their hands, and started fighting with Ye Wan and his companions.
You An pulled out a dagger from the sheath at his waist. Silver light flowed along the sword's spine into his smoky crystal eyes, quenching the coldness in his eyes into an icy edge: "Just a bunch of ridiculous dolls..."
He held the hilt of the sword in his right hand, facing a group of enemies running towards him in a handsome posture.
The next second, a robotic hand grabbed his waist, and he flew into the air.
Robert held Ye Wan in his left hand and Youan in his right hand, with Pancake standing on its square head.
Youan: “?”
Robert said: "I am not a combat robot. I cannot defeat them. Now follow me and run away."
It took big strides and quickly knocked the chameleon down, then flipped over the wall and ran away at full speed.
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