Karen did not feel regret or shame for his earlier display of weakness. When a normal person is suddenly faced with a life-or-death situation, who can really stay calm?

But,

he was tired of it.

……

It was now three in the afternoon, well past lunchtime.

Karen walked to the dining table and sat down.

Dennis looked up and glanced at Karen, noticing that Karen’s expression was very natural, and with his damp, slicked-back hair, he looked quite energetic.

In front of him was a plate of noodles with ketchup, and in the middle, a plate of stuffed pastries.

He picked up a fork, twirled some noodles, and put them in his mouth—

Sweet and sour, soft and sticky… hmm, it tasted bad.

He forked a stuffed pastry and took a bite; the overwhelming sweetness almost sent Karen straight to the afterlife.

Karen put down his fork with a hint of helplessness and sighed.

Dennis, eating slowly and methodically, asked:

“What’s wrong?”

Karen noticed that Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie were not on the second floor, so he answered quite bluntly:

“It doesn’t taste good.”

Mina, who was bringing over water, was clearly a bit uncomfortable hearing such a direct conversation, because everyone in the family, including her parents, always showed reverence when facing Grandpa.

For example, critiquing the food or showing willfulness was not allowed.

Dennis took a bite of the stuffed pastry and asked:

“What do you want to eat?”

Karen shook his head and said, “I’ll make lunch tomorrow.”

Dennis wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and said slowly:

“Alright.”

But then, Dennis pointed at the food in front of Karen: “Don’t waste it.”

“Okay.”

Karen resumed eating.

Dennis picked up a glass of water at hand, took a sip, and kept his gaze fixed on Karen.

As for Karen, he was clearly eating with a frown, making no effort to hide his feelings, sighing as he ate.

“One must have the most basic respect for food,” Dennis reminded.

Karen also took a glass of water from Mina, used it to swallow the overly sweet stuffed pastry, and said:

“Making the ingredients taste bad is the real disrespect.”

Dennis nodded thoughtfully,

and said:

“Then I look forward to tomorrow’s lunch.”

At this moment, Aunt Mary came upstairs from below. Karen noticed that her face was full of shifting anger, but as soon as she appeared before Grandpa, she quickly restrained herself.

“The guests have left?” Dennis asked.

“Yes, they chose the cheapest package,” Aunt Mary said.

“Mm.” Dennis showed no particular reaction.

The cheapest package meant renting the first floor of the Immoles house as a mourning venue, with no need for any extra arrangements or decorations—just a place to keep the body, and friends and relatives could come by at a set time in the morning or afternoon to pay their respects.

They didn’t even need to prepare… drinks or beverages.

“What’s even more ridiculous is that they want to cremate Mr. Mosang, not even wanting to buy a burial plot. To save money, his children even claimed that Mr. Mosang was a follower of the Berry faith.

But when I was handling Mr. Mosang’s body, I clearly saw an angel tattoo on his back.”

There are some denominations whose doctrines require cremation after death, so that the body’s end is also a new beginning. However, most denominations—or rather, most people—still prefer not to choose cremation.

Of course, a very important point is that cremation is much cheaper than a full burial.

What angered Aunt Mary was that Mr. Mosang’s children made up this unreliable excuse just to save money… and it also cut out the main chunk of profit she had planned for.

Coffins, burial plots, priests—those are where the real money is.

“Mm.” Mr. Dennis responded calmly, “Do as the clients request.”

“Yes, Father.”

“By the way, since Mr. Mosang’s family didn’t request catering, that’s perfect—tomorrow’s lunch will be prepared by Karen.”

“Yes, Father.” Aunt Mary instinctively glanced at Karen.

“I’m a bit tired today, so I’ll go rest in my room. There’s work to do tomorrow morning, so you all should get some rest early too.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

Dennis got up from the table and went up to the third floor.

“Mina, take Grant and help me downstairs to set up the curtains. Oh, and call Grace to join us.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Aunt Mary looked at Karen again and asked:

“My chef nephew, do you need me to buy any ingredients in advance for you?”

“No need, Auntie, there’s plenty in the kitchen already.”

“Then I’ll look forward to tomorrow’s lunch.”

Aunt Mary went downstairs with Mina and the others. Although Paul and Ron would come tomorrow morning to set up the mourning venue, tonight she needed to organize some basic items.

Karen finished eating and began clearing the plates.

At that moment, the door to the uncle and aunt’s room on the second floor was pushed open from inside.

“Karen, Karen.”

“Uncle Mason?” Karen looked over at the sound.

“Is there anything left to eat?” Uncle Mason asked.