Faced with Selina's roaring, Bruce was like a coconut tree about to fall in a storm, and this was not the end. Selina angrily raised her voice and said.
"Maggie thinks I should accept the money we earned through labor to be more confident when dealing with you. But I would only accept it because I wanted to get a haircut and the barber shops in the East District are expensive!"
"You think I buy a 39-cent cookie because it's cheap or because I had a difficult childhood. But I buy it simply because these brand cookies, from the biscuit to the chocolate chips inside, are very sweet. And desserts should be sweet, not smelly because they emphasize the original taste of organic ingredients like the chef just cooked a goat!"
"I object to your extremely complicated wedding procedures, not because I am ashamed to talk to people of a different class, or because I don't understand high-societal etiquette, and worry about exposing myself. It's entirely because I think it's stupid to dress in a complex plastic bag and chat under the blazing sun for several hours until I get a heatstroke!"
"I scratched that damn Talya Ogu's face, not because I support you in principle, or I have something I must defend and therefore I must confront her. I just fucking thought she was annoying popping up out of nowhere!!!"
"Why the fuck do humans have to have some sort of complicated reason to do something?!! Can't I just do it for my own comfort ?!!!"
"Ding!"
The oven beep in the kitchen interrupted Selina's rage. She stood there, looking at Bruce, who turned to the oven, took out a huge iron pan from the oven, and put it on the kitchen island.
Seeing the cookies on the tray, Selina stood stunned. There were rows of freshly baked, glossy cookies on it.
Bruce's eyes also reflected a faint light in the dark. He pushed the whole tray of cookies towards Selina with his oven-gloved hand, and Selina incredulously looked at the food in front of her.
"All I'm saying is that the company that produces GNE chocolate chip cookies has an impressive ingredients list. And from my test results of the cookie crumbs, their production department faithfully added every item on the ingredients list, and even threw in some surprises."
"Of course, eating a few pieces once in a while is not dangerous, but the harmful substances in the two large family packs you bought for 78 cents are probably hovering dangerously at the precipice of a qualitative change."
"So, I quickly learned some baking techniques, improved their recipes, eliminated or replaced all harmful ingredients with harmless ones, used healthier ingredients. But I assure you, the taste hasn't changed."
Selina just stared blankly at the cookies on the table, then looked into Bruce's eyes, which were full of unbelievable sincerity and even some hesitation and lack of confidence.
"Alright, I admit it's my first time baking this. But I'm certain I've added each ingredient precisely to a chemical proportion, timed the stirring and mixing to the second, and the baking temperature and time are absolutely correct. It can't taste bad, right?"
Selina looked at the cookies on the tray in astonishment, then said incredulously, "You took those expensive organic ingredients, replicated 39-cent per large pack Poor Ghost Cookies with your world-class chemical ratio, using your $120,000 oven?!"
"It has nothing to do with the value of the raw materials or the processing tools. I admit that industrial assembly line food has its unique qualities. In the absence of the manufacturing process and specific formula, no one can guarantee a perfect copy."
"Even if you're Batman?"
"I'm your boyfriend."
Selina and Bruce were both silent, looking at the tray of cookies. Bruce sat in the chair and fumbled with his wrist for a moment. He then looked up into Selina's eyes and said, "Try one? It can't possibly be worse than being poisonous, right?"
Selina carefully picked up a cookie that looked and smelled just like the ones she bought, and that crumbled at the slightest touch.
Selina could see the hand-pressed indentations. She visualized Bruce in the kitchen alone after she left, carefully pinching the cookie into a round shape with his fingers.
Cheap cookies are not usually shaped meticulously, their shape depends on what the output mold is like. Selina had no doubt that if Bruce wanted to, he could shape a cookie into the shape of Jesus, but he still spent 120,000 times the effort to shape it as round as possible.
Selina put the cookie into her mouth.
She didn't pretend to be decent and bite only a small piece but instead just opened her mouth and shoved the whole cookie in. After her teeth closed for the first bite, a swear word slipped out.
Then, with wide eyes, she said, "You're right, Bruce. Industrial assembly line food is fucking dog shit!"
Selina closed her eyes, pressing her palm against her forehead and leaning back, giving a groan that was slightly painful. Then she said, "You can't do this, Bruce. You can't tell me that not all organic food is tasteless and that they might even taste better than my basin egg tarts, giant fried chicken sweet biscuits, and cheese waterfall! That would make me feel guilty when I eat junk food in the future!"