#xie lian would be the opposite of him and prefer tastes on the bitter end

[lenglengflames]

only hua cheng can eat/ tolerate xie lian's cooking.

but what if this was because he lost his sense of taste when he was alive?

he can only feel textures/ very strong flavours, and xie lian's cooking is the only thing that allows him to taste.

loss of taste can occur from (limited to only to what hua cheng would've potentially experienced while alive): head/ ear injuries, the common cold/ illnesses, poor nutrition and stress/ anxiety/ depression (though this impairs taste, not causes loss, and is rather rare).

though loss of taste may not be permanent, perhaps he'd hadn't gotten rid of it when he died, and this followed him into his ghosthood.

since basic human necessities does not impede him after death, there is no reason for hua cheng to eat. so he probably doesn't eat anything until xie lian offers him something.

thus, xie lian's food would be the first meal in centuries - and possibly since his childhood - that hua cheng could taste due to it's strong and unorthodox taste. he finally gets to experience what salty, spicy, sweet and bitter tastes like again through xie lian's cooking. when xie lian finds out, he promises to cook for hua cheng whenever he wants.

after dubious amounts of salt, chilli peppers, sugar, etc, they realise hua cheng has quite the sweet tooth, and xie lian finds that incredibly endearing. he takes the time to learn how to make deserts (with at least 10 times the amount of sugar than the recipe calls for), and has a new weapon to deal with fengqing's quarrels.