Besides, when had Natalie ever expressed that she liked her boyfriend? What was this lady's problem? The innkeeper's wife opened her mouth, ready to defend herself. But Natalie simply waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, her whole posture suggesting she could not be bothered to argue. Without another word, she turned and settled herself at the dining table. "Let's just eat!" The innkeeper's wife's retort was stuck in her throat like a bone. Infuriating! Absolutely infuriating! The innkeeper beside her straightened up, about to put on a protective husband routine, when he suddenly remembered the feeling of having a gun pointed at him during the day. His aggressive attitude deflated considerably. In the end, he only muttered softly, "What a way to talk!" Natalie turned her head to look at him. He looked as meek as he sounded, but his eyes revealed a trace of malice. Seeing Natalie staring at him coldly, the man immediately looked away and said loudly, "Come on, come on, everyone eat! You must be starving, right?" Natalie didn't move. Selina and Guinevere immediately picked up their forks. The man turned his head and looked at the three little ones with some hesitation. "Are they ... eating too?" There was only one plate of meat on the table. If Lucky also wanted to eat, this small amount probably wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth. Natalie glanced at the three little ones. "No." They had already eaten dinner in the room earlier and were now sitting obediently at her feet with full bellies.Lucky caught the man's guarded look toward the food and lifted her head disdainfully. As if this junk is even worthy of entering my stomach. Hearing the three little ones wouldn't be eating, the innkeeper immediately perked up and grabbed a piece of meat, wolfing it down. Selina and Guinevere, who had been silent until now, also dug in. "Thanks for the meal!" Stewed meat with quinoa was, in these times, no different from a Thanksgiving feast from the old days. They'd been sitting here smelling the meat and waiting for Natalie and the others to come downstairs and had already been drooling with hunger. Now that they could finally eat, it smelled so good they wanted to swallow their silverware whole. The innkeeper's wife looked toward the staircase with some regret, then picked up her fork and began eating too. As she ate, she seemed to be mulling something over. Natalie studied her expression with interest. Sensing her gaze, the innkeeper's wife looked up, composed herself, and said in a gentle voice, "Missy, why aren't you eating? Go ahead." Natalie still didn't move. Thinking Natalie also found the stewed meat too greasy, the innkeeper's wife explained, "Don't worry, it's not greasy at all. How could we possibly afford oil in this situation? I only used some packaged sauce and soy sauce." As she spoke, her eyes couldn't help but dart quickly toward the staircase again, as if hoping Natalie would bring Cassian down to eat together after hearing her explanation. But Natalie refused. "I already ate when you knocked on our door earlier." The innkeeper's wife was stunned. "You already ate?"Her expression turned regretful. "I should have called you down earlier." Natalie glanced at the delicious-looking stew. "You really went all out on this meat, lady boss!" Nowadays, not only were ingredients hard to come by, but seasonings were just as scarce. Judging by the meat's color, she hadn't held back on the soy sauce at all. The innkeeper's wife smiled. "Without seasonings, wouldn't that be a waste of the meat?" Natalie raised an eyebrow. How would not using seasonings waste the meat? These days, being able to eat plain boiled meat was already a luxury. What survivor would waste both precious seasonings and meat at the same time? You could eat the boiled meat for one meal, and later, when cooking noodles or soup, add some soy sauce for a salty flavor. Wouldn't that be better? This woman had clearly heard her mention that Cassian liked braised pork and made it specially. But the innkeeper's wife seemed unwilling to discuss it further. She lowered her head, focused on her plate, and ate seriously. Natalie wasn't about to let it go. She continued questioning, "Where did this meat come from?" She looked around. "There doesn't seem to be a refrigerator here, does there?" The innkeeper's wife chewed the meat in her mouth and pointed at the innkeeper, saying through her mouthful, "He just went out and bought it this afternoon." Natalie kept digging. "Where did he buy it?" The innkeeper's wife finally seemed to snap, showing an impatient expression. Before she could say anything, Guinevere, who had been eating with her head down across the table, suddenly screamed."Ahh!" Everyone jumped in shock. Even the three little ones sitting idly to the side startled and stood up defensively. Everyone looked at Guinevere and saw her staring at her fork in shock. Caught on her fork was a silver ring, still dripping with stew. Before the others could process what was happening, Selina beside her shot to her feet. "A ring?" She snatched the silver ring from Guinevere's fork, quickly wiped off the sauce, and looked it over in disbelief. "This ring is..." Selina's hand holding the ring trembled continuously, and her eyes slowly turned toward the plate of meat she had just been devouring with gusto.