Different strokes for different folks.
If blonde, blue-eyed, outgoing Western women could be compared to passionate flames, then the gentle, elegant, and reserved Eastern beauties would be like clear, tranquil springs.
Although both might score similarly in terms of attractiveness, the feeling they evoke are completely opposite.
Despite Shi Xiaolei large build, with a frame even bulkier than the average Western man, his aesthetic preferences hadn't changed after his adventure of crossing over to the Marvel universe.
Even now, Shi Xiaolei still preferred more traditional Eastern women.
He admired Barbara beauty and respected her capability to run the shop efficiently on her own, but when it came to romantic interest... honestly speaking, Barbara wasn't Shi Xiaolei type.
Appearance alone wasn't enough to attract Shi Xiaolei special attention, and her secret agent identity—which would have definitely raised his guard—remained unknown to him.
Barbara arrival was merely an unremarkable episode in Shi Xiaolei daily life, and hadn't truly caught his interest.
Well, Barbara lack of appeal was only a secondary reason.
The real key was that Shi Xiaolei had developed some ideas recently and didn't have the mental space to consider other trivial matters.
"Sylvia, Kanna."
After finishing the day business and closing the shop door, Shi Xiaolei returned to his home behind the store.
Instead of heading straight to the bathroom to shower as usual, he plopped down on the sofa and called out to the two females watching cartoons.
"There's something I'd like to hear your opinions about."
Kids shouldn't stay up too late.
Kanna and 2B had returned an hour earlier, and by now they had already finished washing up, just waiting for bedtime.
Without standing up, crawling on all fours across the carpet, Kanna, exuding the fragrance of children shower gel, happily climbed onto the sofa and squeezed into Shi Xiaolei arms.
"I haven't showered yet, I'm all oily."
Sitting somewhat precariously and afraid the little girl might roll off, Shi Xiaolei had to put an arm around her while pinching her nose.
"You little rascal, doesn't it smell bad to you?"
"Xiaolei is the most comfortable."
Giggling as she found the most comfortable sitting position, Kanna didn't mind his smell at all, and instead showed a very satisfied smile.
Someone else might find Shi Xiaolei cooking fume smell unpleasant, but don't forget, little Kanna was a first-class foodie.
The mixed aroma of various foods that had formed this cooking fume smell was precisely what she loved most.
As if to prove this point, after sniffing a few times, the little girl couldn't resist her appetite and looked up with an adorable expression.
"Xiaolei, I want a snack~"
"Only two sticks, okay?"
Stroking the little girl head, Shi Xiaolei smiled and looked toward 2B, who hadn't sat down yet.
"Sylvia, could you help get some for her?"
Hearing this, 2B turned and went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and took out a plastic lunchbox decorated with cartoon characters.
Through the semi-transparent container, one could vaguely see what was inside.
A bright red color, twisted and tangled together with little white specks scattered throughout.
Yes, this lunchbox contained what could be called the "original internet-famous snack" spicy gluten strips.
Like the caramel pudding that Kanna had loved before, these were also handmade by Shi Xiaolei.
The difference was that when making pudding, he had to search online for the process and learn a bit.
But for these spicy strips, he didn't need to look up any information, he had memorized the entire production process.
Actually, before crossing over, Shi Xiaolei had tried setting up a food stall and learned to make more than a dozen types of snacks and small desserts.
The taste and texture were quite good, but because of his intimidating appearance, naturally snack-loving young girls were somewhat afraid, so business had never been great, and he eventually had to give up the idea of selling snacks and small foods from a stall.
In the Marvel world, however, these skills had come in handy.
With 2B handling the customers up front, he didn't need to scare people with his appearance and could just hide in the back kitchen.
The shop business was quite good, so he didn't have to worry about making a living.
This gave Shi Xiaolei some leisure time to make those snacks and small desserts he had learned before for Kanna to enjoy.
"Awu~"
Sitting on Shi Xiaolei lap, eyes shining as she waited for 2B to open the box lid, the next second, Kanna reached out her little hand, grabbed a spicy strip, and stuffed one end into her mouth.
Salty, spicy, slightly numbing with the rich aroma of sesame.
The taste was excellent. The little girl held the strip in her mouth, her face unconsciously showing a blissful smile.
"Mm~, so delicious~"
"Even if it's delicious, you can't eat too much. You're about to go to bed, and if you eat too much, you might get a stomachache in the middle of the night, and then you won't be able to go to school tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm, I'll just eat two sticks."
Looking at the spicy strips in the lunchbox, hesitating and blinking her eyes, Kanna held up a third chubby finger.
"...add one more, just one. I'll only eat three, can I?"
"No can do."
Not wanting Kanna to learn the bad habit of 'pushing boundaries' Shi Xiaolei firmly shook his head.
"We agreed on two, so it's two."
"...Alright then."
Lowering her head somewhat disappointedly, after thinking for a moment, Kanna tentatively asked.
"Can I choose then? For my second one, I want to pick a longer one."
"Emmm."
Speaking negatively, this could be seen as finding loopholes, but positively, it could also be seen as cultivating the little girl ability to adapt to situations.
After some thought, Shi Xiaolei nodded.
"Okay."
"Hehe, Xiaolei is the best."
With the little girl pacified, 2B had also sat down.
"Sylvia, Kanna."
Remembering he hadn't mentioned the main topic yet, Shi Xiaolei cleared his throat and looked at his two family members to present his idea.
"I've been thinking about something these past few days, emmm, what do you think about us getting a bigger place?"
"Moving?"
2B thought for a moment and raised a question.
"What about Kanna school?"
From analyzing the plot of "NieR: Automata" it wasn't hard to see that 2B and her companions had actually evolved beyond the concept of 'machines' into a new species of life.
However, limited by their initial programming and their origins as intelligent mechanical beings, they themselves hadn't realized this.
After being summoned to the Marvel world by Shi Xiaolei, freed from the restrictions of 'base commands' and through daily interactions with Shi Xiaolei and Kanna.
At this moment, 2B had begun to vaguely recognize what kind of existence she was, becoming more and more 'human-like'.
Her question just now was the most direct proof of this.
"No, no, you misunderstood. I mean finding another place nearby for us to live."
Feeling 2B question was quite reasonable, Shi Xiaolei didn't think too much about it.
"My idea is, once we find a suitable place, we'll move there to live, and free up the space here. Then, I plan to remove the partitions and renovate it to make the business area larger..."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)