Carefree City was a peaceful little city. The streets were crowded with people at the many restaurants that lit up at night. As time pa.s.sed, it became a major attraction of this foothold which beckoned many tourists. It was late in the evening when Lin Huang and Leng Yuexin arrived in Carefree City. All the restaurants were opened for business, many tables and chairs were arranged in the alfresco area.
Looking at the crowds in the restaurants on both sides and the smell of food in the air, Lin Huang started to get hungry. He just realized that he only had breakfast that day before his mission. Leng Yuexin was a little panicked in the crowd as she hardly went to places that were crowded.
"I bet you’re hungry. It’s my treat," Lin Huang offered. He was hungry himself but he did not want Leng Yuexin to feel left out so he suggested a meal together.
"Huh?" Leng Yuexin hesitated as she had never eaten at places like this before.
"What would you like to eat?" Lin Huang asked.
"Anything… is fine with me…" Leng Yuexin did not want to reject Lin Huang as he saved her life. Even if the food was terrible, she would force herself to eat.
"I’ll order then. Can you take spicy food?" Lin Huang asked.
"I’m okay with that," Leng Yuexin nodded.
Lin Huang was not familiar with the food in this world as there were so much more varieties here than on Earth. He would usually eat something that he was familiar with but there were many dishes he had never tried in this place. However, Lin Huang was experienced when it came to finding good food. He used to travel a lot, and aside from browsing food recommendations on the Internet, he would come up with useful food guides that were about the crowd a place had, the number of people eating at a restaurant, which location had better tasting food and so on, trying to make the experience of finding the best meal much simpler for his readers.
Although most of the dishes were unfamiliar to him, it was not difficult to tell which restaurants had good business based on his guide.
"Let’s go to that one!"
Lin Huang strolled around and found a restaurant with quite a long queue. He then pulled Leng Yuexin into the queue. Leng Yuexin’s appearance attracted many wandering eyes. Although she did not dress up, her beauty could not be hidden.
10 minutes later, it was finally Lin Huang and Leng Yuexin’s turn to enter the restaurant. The restaurant owner was a middle-aged man. He stood behind the counter and looked at the both of them. He smiled at Lin Huang and commented, "Little man, your girlfriend is so pretty!"
Leng Yuexin blushed as Lin Huang waved his hand, "Uncle, that"s a misunderstanding, we’re just friends." Lin Huang explained.
The restaurant owner smiled and did not dwell on the topic, "What would the both of you like to order?" he asked.
"Please recommend your specials, good sir," Lin Huang asked politely. He knew that the owner would always recommend their specialties to convert people into regular customers at their establishments.
"Our food portions are pretty big, two dishes and a soup would be sufficient for the both of you. If you order more, the extra food might go to waste," the restaurant owner said with a hearty laugh. "We have two specialties here. One of them would be the Roasted Iceberg Pig Tenderloin while the second would be the Grilled Steak which is made from the Ox Devil’s Ribs. For the soup dish, let’s get you guys the Twin Vine Flower Soup. It’s light and healthy," he said.
"Sure, we"ll get everything you recommended," Lin Huang nodded with satisfaction.
"Can the both of you take spicy food?" the restaurant owner asked.
"Just slightly," Lin Huang replied.
"Sure, take a seat. Your food will be sent to you soon," the owner said.
Seeing there was an empty table at the al fresco area, Lin Huang lead Leng Yuexin to take a seat. When he was in the university, Lin Huang would usually go to the beach with his roommates for a barbecue and a few beers during the summer. Later on, although he needed to eat out with his customers a lot, he hardly ate street food anymore.
Al-fresco street food places like this made him reminisce about his simple life back on Earth.
Leng Yuexin sat across from Lin Huang. Seeing him staring into s.p.a.ce, it was quite awkward for her. She broke the ice by asking, "Do you usually come to places like this?"
"No, this is my first time," Lin Huang was stunned, he shook his head and said, "There used to be street food like this in my hometown but it has been a long time since I"ve eaten there."
"Oh…" Leng Yuexin nodded and did not know how to continue the topic.
"Have you not been to places like this?" Lin Huang asked as he noticed that Leng Yuexin seemed uneasy.
"No," Leng Yuexin shook her head and said, "My family wouldn"t allow me to eat at places like this."
Just then, Lin Huang recalled that she was royalty. Although he did not know much about the royalty here, he concluded that they should be similar to the knights in the olden days that lived by certain principles such as having good manners and strict rules both at home and in public. It was normal that they were not allowed to eat by the streets. Since that topic involved Leng Yuexin’s family, Lin Huang did not want to pry any further so he changed the subject and asked, "What"s that monster that lived underground?" He asked.
"That was a Floating Orchid, an undead species from the abyss. A transcendent from our family sealed it in w.a.n.gyou Forest more than 100 years ago so that generations to come could kill it to level up into a transcendent. My purpose here this time was to kill it so that I could level up. I didn’t know that it had mutated twice since then. Although its combat strength remained the same, its ability was more than 10 times stronger than it was 100 years ago. If you were not there, I would have surely died," Leng Yuexin told Lin Huang the story of the monster that lived underground in the w.a.n.gyou Forest.
"Did you hire Li Yanxing as your a.s.sistant?" Lin Huang asked.
"No, I was alone when I departed but I b.u.mped into them. Our families had a good relations.h.i.+p and he knew that I was there to kill the monster so he decided to help. I knew that he was up to something but I did not want to reject him so we decided to go on the mission together. No matter how strong a companion is, we always have to be cautious. Thankfully you were there so that he could not carry out his evil plan. I am so grateful we met you," Leng Yuexin finally told him about the real reason why they were together.
After listening to Leng Yuexin’s explanation, Lin Huang thought how Li Yanxing b.u.mped into her was quite strange. Just as they were talking, the waiter came with their food so their conversation was interrupted. Lin Huang had tried many delicious delicacies but the specialties the restaurant owner had recommended was incredible! The spices and seasoning alone were better than the food he would die for on earth. The restaurant owner was brilliant in the kitchen. Not only did Lin Huang feel that way, Leng Yuexin did not stop eating too. She did not like street food but the food they were having was irresistible.
The both of them cleared all the food. Leng Yuexin wiped her mouth and said, "I"ve never tried street food. I didn’t know it was so good! Thank you!"
"If we"ve another chance, I"ll bring you to other places too," Lin Huang said with a smile.
"I’ll have to leave in a while, my family sent someone to pick me up. You will leave soon too, right?" Leng Yuexin asked.
"I’ll leave tomorrow morning. If I stay here any longer, my sister will be worried," Lin Huang told her and smiled awkwardly in embarra.s.sment.
"Oh…" Leng Yuexin kept quiet for a while and asked, "I have been wanting to ask you this but I don’t know if I should."
"Please do. Don"t worry I’ll answer your questions the way I know how to," Lin Huang said as he nodded. He had made up answers to all the possible questions she could ask in his mind.
"I want to know why you saved me?" Leng Yuexin asked. Out of all the questions he had prepared himself for, this was the one question that Lin Huang had not expect. She actually had many questions for him, among them were the reasons why went underground? What kind of healing magic did he possess to have saved her twice? She could tell clearly that the guy in the cave was not his avatar, how did he manage to get out of the cave? However, she chose to ask why he had saved her instead.
"Maybe...I like you," Lin Huang answered, just making up the first thing that came to mind. He could not tell her that he was on a mission and that saving her was mandatory.
"That’s it?" Leng Yuexin asked. She did not seem to accept his answer.
"That’s it. I like you, so I saved you," Lin Huang nodded and answered in all seriousness.
"Alright, I shall accept your answer," Leng Yuexin knew that Lin Huang was not telling the truth but she did not want to dwell on it. She then looked at the time on her ring and stood up, "It’s almost time, I need to go now," she said.
"Alright, we shall meet for food if there’s another chance in the future," Lin Huang stood up as well.
"I will send you the stuff that I"ve promised. Goodbye!" Leng Yuexin said politely. She then turned around and left.
Seeing her walking away, Lin Huang then waved at the restaurant owner, "Boss! Bill, please!"
The restaurant owner walked to him with a smile, "What’s wrong, didn"t it go as you expected? I don"t mean to nag, but men should always cling to girls they like. You"ll understand this when you"re my age. Girls that pretty are hard to come by even if you"ve lived an entire lifetime. How could you give up just like that? Go chase after her, maybe there’s still a chance to turn things around. You should treat her better, go somewhere nicer…" He advised Lin Huang with a sincere look in his eyes.
"Uncle, we are really, just friends…" Lin Huang replied. He paid immediately and left soon after. The owner was confused because the young man looked like he was running for his life.
"Sigh... Such a nice lady. Why did they break up just like that? Young people nowadays... How strange…" The middle-aged man sighed as he watched Lin Huang leave.