Universe Infinite Canteen

Love-Struck was still fretting about how to start the first topic of conversation, to end this awkward pre-dinner moment, but the lonely handsome man had already thought of a solution.

Play Kings! That was truly a great suggestion.

After all, they had met in this game, and their first offline date began with this game, too—it was a good omen!

Love-Struck gladly agreed and took out her own phone, joining the lonely handsome man in diving into the game.

Just then, Ma Lu came out of the kitchen again, standing not far from Love-Struck, waiting to serve the dishes, at a distance where he could see her playing.

Love-Struck had said before that she was a noob, but Ma Lu thought she was being modest. He hadn't realized that she truly was bad at the game, and terribly so.

She'd be nearly getting killed, yet spinning around in place. When her teammates initiated a fight, she wouldn't join in to help but ran towards home instead, inexplicably using Flash while jungling.

She stood out with all sorts of dumb moves that maxed out her teammates' blood pressure. Less than 5 minutes into the fight, the other three teammates were all furiously cursing her on screen, and one simply gave up playing, going AFK at the fountain.

Only the lonely handsome man was still fighting earnestly, trying to pull off various god-level moves to salvage the situation.

However, after watching for a while, Ma Lu realized that Love-Struck wasn't entirely bad—her awareness was pretty good, and she was willing to follow directions.

The problem lay in her operation, or more precisely, her hands. Even while playing Kings of Glory, she hadn't taken off her gloves.

Despite having touch-enhancement mode on, the gloves still often caused mis-touches and disconnects, which explained the frequency of her bizarre maneuvers.

But it was clear that Love-Struck genuinely loved playing this game, and despite such an insurmountable debuff, she was still having a great time.

And indeed, the lonely handsome man was truly capable of carrying the team. Even burdened with such a terrible teammate and another who went AFK, they still managed to win the game in the end with a sneaky tower rush.

And all throughout, he did not utter a single complaint or criticism—his patience was comparable to that of Mahatma Gandhi.

When they finished the game, Ma Lu lit the candles, then brought out two dishes of cold food, one with pickled radishes and one with smoked pork.

The smoked meat was made from the hind legs of Jumping Mouse. However, considering that there were regular people among the guests that evening, Ma Lu claimed it was pigeon legs.

Then came a chicken mushroom soup, its Deliciousness Index upgraded from ★★☆ to ★★★☆.

Next was a dish of Fried Thorn-foot Whip Spider Eggs.

As he served the dishes, Ma Lu kept observing the expressions on the lonely handsome man's face and noticed that even with the somewhat exaggerated dishes, there was no hint of surprise on his face.

He expressed no doubt about the fictitious names of the dishes, chatting and smiling with Love-Struck while they ate.

He didn't talk much, and as a result, most of the conversation centered around Love-Struck. He didn't come off as self-important, and his responses were always timely, showing he was listening intently. He clearly had a good grasp of the rhythm of conversation and a very high EQ.

As for Love-Struck, after playing the game together, she had relaxed a lot and finally opened up. Like a girl experiencing love for the first time, she seemed eager to share everything about herself with her boyfriend.

She talked about how strict her mother was, not allowing her to go out on her own usually, and all the way to the neighbor's pet cat.

At that moment, Ma Lu served the main dish, Earth Dragon Rib Stew in Pot.

The meat, for the sake of simplicity, was Earth Dragon meat from that day, taken from the back of the Earth Dragon's neck.

This place is almost equivalent to the ribeye of steak, with high fat content, evenly distributed, rich in texture, and the meat is fine, tender, and juicy, very suitable for pan-frying or grilling.

On the other side, Old Wang was stir-frying onions, bell peppers, and minced garlic.

He added salt, cumin, tomatoes, button mushrooms, tomato sauce, and water, and strewed it for 20 minutes before cracking in two eggs, then covered and simmered for another 3 minutes.

By then, the sauce had become very thick, and the eggs were half-cooked. Old Wang cut the pan-fried Earth Dragon Meat into strips and laid them on top, sprinkled with chopped parsley, and it was ready to be served.

After placing it on the table, use a small knife to open the eggs, and eat the Earth Dragon Meat dipped in the sauce and the egg liquid—there's quite a unique flavor to it.

The attention of the Lonely Handsome Man was always on the Love-Struck one. He was one of the few people Ma Lu had seen who wasn't much moved by delicacies, having only tried a few bites of the previous dishes out of courtesy.

He didn't join the other guests in their lavish praise either, but when it came to the Earth Dragon Meat with Smothered Eggs, he clearly couldn't resist and gobbled up more than half the plate. However, when he looked up, he noticed that the Love-Struck one hadn't moved her chopsticks.

In reality, until that moment, the Love-Struck one hadn't eaten anything and was just chatting away excitedly with the Lonely Handsome Man.

"Why aren't you eating anything? Don't you like the dishes here?" the Lonely Handsome Man asked in surprise.

"Oh no, no, no, there's a universe... um, a very amazing chef here. It must be the best restaurant in town, but I'm not hungry, hehehe, I accidentally ate too many snacks before leaving the house."

Lonely Handsome Man heard the obvious lie from the Love-Struck one because snacks couldn't compare with the delicacies here.

However, he was too polite to call out her lie and just continued smilingly, "So, did you choose this place specifically to treat me to a meal?"

"Um," the Love-Struck one was a bit shy and didn't immediately admit it.

But her actions had already said everything.

"You're such a gentle and kind-hearted girl," Lonely Handsome Man said softly, wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

"I, I'm just doing what a girlfriend should do," the Love-Struck one fiddled with her skirt, "Actually, I haven't done enough, but I will learn and strive to become a qualified wife soon."

"I believe you will be." Lonely Handsome Man's tone was affirmative.

"Thank you. Hearing you say that, I have more confidence in myself now," she said.

As they spoke, Ma Lu brought out the sorrel berry caramel cream pudding and winked at the Love-Struck one.

The Love-Struck one knew the decisive moment had arrived.

She kept her eyes on the Lonely Handsome Man, watching as he scooped a piece of pudding into his mouth, chewed it a few times, then swallowed it down his throat.

"That...," the Love-Struck one started rubbing her legs under the table nervously, "I, I have a question to ask you. Um, actually, it's not me who wants to ask, it's my mom who wants to ask. I knew the answer the moment I saw you."

Lonely Handsome Man seemed to sense something too, put down his spoon, sat up straight, and listened attentively.

"I, I just want to ask you, do you, do you really like me? And also, I'm not very good-looking, do you mind that?"

After asking, the Love-Struck one tensely gazed into the man's eyes across from her.