That "Yummy," pronounced somewhat imperfectly yet brimming with the purest admiration, struck Po's heart like a bolt of lightning.
His small eyes, set beneath those dark circles, widened instantly, and he was so excited that he didn't know where to put his paws.
"You... you like it?!"
Shirou Emiya didn't answer; he just picked up another mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth again.
This time, he ate more slowly, chewing more carefully, as if using his taste buds to decode every secret hidden within this bowl of noodles.
The chewiness of the noodles was a level of quality that could only be achieved by manually stretching and kneading them repeatedly.
The richness of the sauce came from long, slow simmering, perfectly blending the salty fragrance of the bean paste with the savory oils of the diced meat.
And that faint, addictive hint of sweetness wasn't from simple sugar, but the natural sweetness derived from sautéing onions and some kind of fruit.
"The sweetness in the sauce is from onions." Shirou put down his chopsticks and gave his verdict.
Po's jaw nearly hit the floor. "How did you know?! That's the secret within my dad's secret recipe! He only ever told me!"
"When onions are sautéed until caramelized, they release this complex sweetness." Shirou explained calmly, as if he were stating a physics formula.
"You have excellent control over the heat."
This was a conversation between chefs.
It had nothing to do with status or race; it was solely about the understanding and respect for food.
From the eyes of the red-haired young man before him, Po saw a light called "approval." This light made him feel prouder than ten thousand "delicious" compliments ever could.
"Of course!" Po puffed out his chest, bursting with pride. "I am the sole successor to the Valley of Peace's number one Zha Jiang Mian! If I hadn't become the Dragon Warrior, I would have inherited my dad's noodle shop."
Just as he was about to brag a little more, the "click" of a key unlocking the shop door came from outside the kitchen.
"Shirou, morning! Why does it smell so good today? Did you change your taste and start researching Chinese cuisine?" Boss Guan Gu's hearty voice came from a distance, drawing closer.
Following close behind was Yuna, who was helping out at the shop on her day off. Her voice was muffled and grumpy with a bit of morning grogginess: "Dad, stop paying attention to that idiot—"
Before she could finish, the two of them walked into the shop one after the other, then froze simultaneously at the kitchen entrance.
Time, once again, stood still.
Jusaburo Sekiya stood with his mouth agape, staring at the massive, black-and-white creature in the kitchen, which also had a towel comically tied around its waist.
He then looked at the large soup ladle gripped in the creature's paw, and the steaming pot on the stove.
Finally, his gaze fell upon his most trusted employee, Shirou Emiya, his eyes filled with the question, "What on earth is going on here?"
And Yuna, behind him, had her brain short-circuit for a full five seconds. Then—
"Ahhhhhhh—it's a giant panda! A chubby giant panda!"
The girl's scream was crisp and loud, yet it held not a shred of fear, but was instead filled with pure, unadulterated ecstasy.
This scream made Jusaburo Sekiya, still frozen in place, jump in shock.
He watched helplessly as his precious daughter, like a cannonball leaving the barrel, bypassed the dumbfounded Shirou Emiya and rushed straight toward the massive, unknown black-and-white creature.
"Yuna! Danger!"
Boss Guan Gu was scared out of his wits; he instinctively reached out to grab her, but only caught a handful of air.
Po was also bewildered. He looked at the little girl rushing toward him, forgetting to put down the soup ladle in his hand.
He instinctively took a half-step back, his back hitting the kitchen counter with a "thud." Run? He was the Dragon Warrior; how could he be scared off by a little girl? Fight? That was even worse; with her thin arms and legs, if he poked her with one finger—
In the fraction of a second while his mind was in turmoil, Yuna had already pounced.
She didn't attack, nor did she scream; instead, she opened her arms and dove headfirst into Po's round, fluffy belly.
"Oooooh—"
A long, satisfied sigh drifted out, muffled by that pile of soft black and white fur.
Yuna buried her entire face in Po's belly, taking a deep breath as if to inhale all of that scent, which carried a faint aroma of sunshine and flour, into her lungs.
It was soft. It was warm.
It was infinitely softer than what she had seen through the glass at the zoo, or what she had imagined from documentaries. That thick, elastic sensation was simply the World's top-tier stress-relief tool.
"So soft... so cute..."
Like a cat that had found catnip, Yuna hugged Po's waist and rubbed against him happily, murmuring in a dreamlike daze.
"..." "..."
In the kitchen, the other two men watched this scene; one had a look of confusion, while the other had a look of... calm indifference, as if he were used to it.
Po's body went completely rigid. He slowly, cautiously raised his two furry paws—one still holding the innocent soup ladle—in a gesture of surrender.
He could feel his belly being rubbed by a little head; the sensation was... itchy, and also very bizarre.
Why did this little girl just start petting him like she was petting a cat? What about the dignity of the Dragon Warrior?
"Yuna! Let go! Get down from that—that bear right now!"
Jusaburo Sekiya finally found his voice. He was sweating profusely with anxiety, wanting to rush over and pull his daughter away, but fearing he would provoke this massive creature before him.
He had lived for over fifty years and had never seen such an absurd scene.
"No! Dad! It's a panda! A living, moving, warm one!"
Yuna retorted without lifting her head, her voice filled with the excitement of having struck gold.
"He's so soft! Softer than the biggest plush toy on my bed!"
"And he can talk, too." Shirou added, out of the blue.
"Eh?"
Yuna's movements paused. She lifted her flushed face and looked up at the panda head just inches away, whose small eyes, set beneath dark circles, were staring back at her with an innocent expression.
Seeing her look over, Po tried his best to squeeze out an awkward but polite smile: "Uh, hi? Hello?"
Jusaburo Sekiya's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
A talking panda?!
Yuna's eyes, however, lit up like two stars in an instant. Not only did she not let go, but she hugged him even tighter.
"Oh my god! You really can talk! You're so cute! What's your name? Where did you come from? Why are you here?"
A barrage of questions left Po dizzy.
"I—I'm named Po—"
He stammered in reply, while casting a look of help toward the only creature in the kitchen who seemed remotely normal—Shirou Emiya.
Receiving his signal, Shirou finally stepped out of his role as an observer. He walked over to Boss Guan Gu, who was still in shock, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Boss, calm down."
"Shirou! What—what on earth is going on?!" Boss Guan Gu pointed at the human and the bear, his voice trembling.
"How can there be a giant panda that walks on two legs in our shop?!"
"His name is Po." Shirou's explanation was concise.
"Like me, he's homeless. He appeared in the shop by accident last night, and I let him stay."
"Homeless?"
Boss Guan Gu was stunned, struggling to digest this information.
Shirou pointed again to the bowl of Zha Jiang Mian in front of him, which he had half-finished.
"Also, he can make noodles, and the taste is excellent."
This abrupt remark acted like a key, instantly opening another door in Jusaburo Sekiya's mind.
His attention finally shifted from the incredible panda to the overbearingly intense aroma of the sauce in the air.
As a chef who had run a restaurant for his entire life, his sensitivity to flavor was ingrained in his bones.
This aroma was rich and mellow, carrying the sweetness of meat fat and the savory freshness of bean paste; just smelling it made one's mouth water.
His gaze passed over Shirou and landed on the sauce pot that was still "bubbling" on the stove; the deep color of the sauce and the rolling diced meat all proclaimed its extraordinary quality.
"This—did he make this?" In Boss Guan Gu's voice, the fear and anger were rapidly fading, replaced by the scrutiny and curiosity of a professional.
"Yes." Shirou nodded.
Seeing the situation, Po cleverly found a way out of his awkward predicament of being hugged by the girl.
He puffed out his chest and said in an extremely proud tone: "Boss! This is my family's secret Zha Jiang Mian! Number one in the Valley of Peace! Do you want to have a bowl and try it?"
Yuna finally let go, but she still stood by Po's side like a loyal little guard, looking at him with sparkling eyes, her face clearly saying, "Pandas really are the cutest animals in the World."
Jusaburo Sekiya fell silent.
He glanced at his daughter, then at the panda, who was looking at him with anticipation. Finally, his gaze landed on the aromatic pot of sauce.
He took a deep breath, as if he had made a major decision.
"Where are the noodles?" he asked.
"I have them! Freshly pulled!"
Po immediately perked up, waving his paw toward the noodles that were already pulled and dusted with flour on the cutting board nearby.
Jusaburo Sekiya walked up without a word, picked up a pair of chopsticks, lifted a noodle from the pot, and put it into his mouth.
After just two chews, his eyes widened abruptly.
This texture...
He said nothing, walked over to the sauce pot, scooped up a little sauce with a spoon, and put it into his mouth.
Salty, fresh, sweet, fragrant—various flavors exploded in layers on his taste buds, complex yet harmonious, ultimately converging into an intoxicating, rich flavor that one couldn't stop eating.
The kitchen was silent.
Yuna and Po both watched him nervously, not daring to even breathe loudly.
After a while, Jusaburo Sekiya slowly let out a breath. He turned around, looked at Po, and with an unprecedentedly serious expression, asked, enunciating every word:
"Are you... willing to sell the recipe for your family's secret sauce?"