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Chapter 28




“T-this guest, please wait five minutes,” the waiter said calmly. “I’ll be back to serve you in five minutes.”
With that, he turned around and left quickly.
Is it too much?
So weak-minded?
Isn’t it just having dinner with a phone? Is it so strange? No one’s allowed to fall in love with a game?
Li Shuoxing twitched his lips as he looked at the back of the waiter hurriedly disappearing into the crowd. He didn’t take the five minutes the waiter said seriously. He picked up the chopsticks and put the dishes on the table into the boiling pot.
But, before it had cooked for two minutes, the waiter, who’d just left quickly, returned quickly again.
This time, he held his head high and smiled steadily, exuding an absolute confidence from his hair to his fingertips.
He strode over to Li Shuoxing like this and placed the portable screen in his hands on the table opposite Li Shuoxing.
He was kind and caring. “Hello guest, we noticed that your lover is in a rather cramped space and may not be able to enjoy the rest of the meal thoroughly, so we have brought you a portable screen. You can cast your phone onto the screen so that you can communicate with your lover more directly and clearly.”
Li Shuoxing stared dumbstruck.
After that, the waiter pulled out a small transparent pouch from his pocket. It was obviously an ordinary waterproof phone pouch, but when it came to his mouth, it also became extravagant. “And this, this is our special little apron for your lover. Wearing the little apron, your lover will not get dirty.”
Li Shuoxing continued to stare dumbstruck.
He watched as the waiter skillfully turned on the screen, completed the screencast, put his phone into the pouch, and finally placed it in a cute little phone holder while speaking.
When it was all done, the waiter then asked him, “Is there anything else we can do for you? If not…”
Li Shuoxing finally found his voice. “No. I have a question.”
Waiter: “What?”
Li Shuoxing: “Do you charge for your service?”
The waiter laughed. “No, no, don’t misunderstand. Our services are all free of charge.”
Li Shuoxing was practical and realistic. “It’s better to charge, so as not to disrupt the market.”
Brother, I was stupid before. It’s still you guys who’re awesome!
After the conversation, Li Shuoxing drove away the waiter who was still wanting to heat the hotpot for him. He started a hotpot dinner for two with Su Mingqian.
Don’t say it, it really did feel a little more like the little person looked much larger after casting the game onto the portable screen.
It was just a pity that if he wanted to interact with the cub, he still needed to use the phone screen, and the phone was inside a pouch, which wasn’t convenient.
Li Shuoxing was in no hurry. He and his cub ate a good meal together and enjoyed the food, one outside the game and one inside the game.
Enjoyment was always short-lived.
After Li Shuoxing finished almost half of the food on the table, he was kinda full, so he pushed his cup and plate aside. He just took some fruit from the self-service area and slowly had a few bites.
At that moment, the waiter came back, pushing a small trolley with two things on it: a stacked red velvet heart-shaped cake and a digital camera.
He smiled brightly. “Guest, are you about to finish?”
Li Shuoxing: “Mm, almost.”
Waiter: “It’s like this. Because today is a candlelit dinner for you and your lover, our kitchen specially prepared a small cake for you two, wishing you heart to heart feelings and happiness.”
Too good at talking.
Have I not been out of my home for too long.
Is society so demanding of service now?
Li Shuoxing hissed, “Thank you.”
The waiter brought the red velvet cake between Li Shuoxing and the screen.
He then added, “Since this is the first time we have entertained a guest as unique as you, we would like to take a photo of you and your lover as a souvenir, if that’s okay?”
Hm?
Li Shuoxing was sensitive about showing his face. He was about to refuse but then heard the waiter explain.
“We won’t take a photo of your face from the front and we’ll blur the contents of the screen. We will never divulge anything private about you or your lover.”
Alright.
You’ve said everything to be said.
Considering that the waiter did give him an amazing service, Li Shuoxing didn’t refuse any further. He just said, “Yes. But I’ll have to talk to my family about this first.”
The waiter still smiled, but that smile faintly cracked. “Of course.”
As they looked at each other, both of them heard a sigh from their heart.
Look at how much this guy’s getting into the scene. He’s really living the life of a drama queen.
Li Shuoxing took his phone out of the pouch. He first took a picture of the red velvet and then sent it to Su Mingqian.
Li Shuoxing: “I met good people. I said I was having dinner with my lover and they even sent over a cake.”
Su Mingqian: “…”
Su Mingqian, who’d just finished eating hotpot and was drinking water, almost choked on the mouthful of water. “Cough, cough…”
Li Shuoxing got nervous. “What’s wrong? Did you choke? Be careful!”
Su Mingqian: “N-nothing.”
His heart tensed up, and his mind tensed up; every part of his body was tense.
Ximu’s hints have almost reached the point of being explicit. She’s expressing it very clearly. I, I…
He was very nervous. The more he wanted to say something, the more his mind went blank. After being stiff for so long, he said cautiously, “That must be because you’re cute, Ximu…”
After answering, Su Mingqian didn’t relax. He got even more nervous, holding his breath as he waited for Ximu’s answer.
His heart was a mess.
Tangled together, with no end in sight.
Ah?
He learned to praise me.
What a clever cub!
Li Shuoxing was pleased. He raised an eyebrow and typed, “Cub, you’re right. I’m loved by all.”
After sending that, he suddenly realised.
A long silence.
The little person in the game turned his back on him.
And slowly -1.
Li Shuoxing: “???”
What’s up with that…
But forget it, negative favourability always comes so unexpectedly. I’m not afraid. I’m used to it.
After Li Shuoxing sent a message to the little person in the game and let Haidilao’s staff take a photo, he finally set out on the road home to write. Before he knew it, 4pm had become 7:30pm.
The road to focus on writing was always filled with all sorts of obstacles you couldn’t imagine…
It was still half an hour to get home from here.
Li Shuoxing didn’t waste half an hour of time. He remembered the little person wanted to read the comments, so he screenshotted the comments in the discussion forum to show to the little person. Before he could screenshot two, a text bubble popped up in the game.
Su Mingqian asked, “What do they mean by ‘nothing has happened’? Did something happen today?”
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Why can AI be so sharp…
He explained a little bit about how he forgot to update so added a compensation chapter. Within two seconds of saying that, a huge text bubble popped up on the screen.
Su Mingqian was very serious. “Ximu, I know you forgot to update this morning because of me, and I’m very thankful to you. But you shouldn’t be like this. Work is an important pillar of your life and you shouldn’t casually destroy it. Since you have an agreed time with your clients, don’t be late, not a minute or a second. You are responsible for your work, that is, you are responsible for yourself… Do you understand?”
Li Shuoxing: “…I understand.”
Su Mingqian: “I’ll pay attention to your update time.”
Li Shuoxing: “…I really understand.”
Su Mingqian: “I want to know more about your novel. This time, not the content and comments. Rather, your writing schedule, amount of stock and frequency of updates.”
Li Shuoxing: “…”
The cub I know can’t be that strict!
Finally, he got home.
Li Shuoxing, who’d just discussed life with the little person in the game, didn’t dare loaf around anymore. Without even changing his clothes, he sat in front of the computer and passionately typed.
One night, a passionate 5,000 words.
After writing 5,000 words, it was already past one.
Li Shuoxing, who slept much later than usual, took a quick shower then collapsed onto the soft bed.
His head sinking into the pillow, he yawned long into the night and closed his eyes.
Sleepiness set in, and in the daze of sleep, Li Shuoxing somehow thought of the two sentences that’d flashed through his mind during the day.
Novel, I’ve always loved you deeply.
Cub, I can never let go of you.
…
If the two coexist peacefully.
I’ll be squeezed dry.
***
“Beep.”
“Beep beep beep.”
“Beep beep beep beep beep.”
As a series of beeps grew louder and louder from far and near, Li Shuoxing slowly woke up from his sleep.
He looked blankly at the ceiling for a while, hit the constantly noisy phone with his hand, and then picked it up to see that it was now only a little after 9am. He didn’t know what madness the people in the group had, always @ing him.
He narrowed his eyes, opened the group, scrolled through the group chat with suppressed anger, and found…
Calm Egg: “@Caramel Ximu, Eunuch, I never thought you’d be such a Eunuch.”
Ten Zero Ling: “@Caramel Ximu, Ximu, you’re famous.”
Soren: “@Caramel Ximu, I admire you, making it on the social news by playing with your phone.”
Interfinger Storm: “@Caramel Ximu, you and your screen made a debut together. How many indescribable things have you hidden in your phone to make the waiter misunderstand like this?”
Li Shuoxing was confused. “What’s all this nonsense? How come I don’t understand a word of it?”
Calm Egg sent a picture: “[photo.jpg] That’s you in there, right.”
The photo jumped on the screen.
He only saw a red velvet cake quietly shining in a circle of light inside a dimly lit hotpot restaurant, a man with half his face exposed to its left and a screen to its right. They were shrouded in the blurred light, looking quite unreal, but this instead highlighted the charming stillness of the photo…
Shit?
With a jolt, Li Shuoxing was instantly awake. He turned over in bed and sat up, typing to ask, “Where did that come from? How did you see this photo?”
Calm Egg: “Not only have we seen it, the whole of Weibo has also probably seen it. It’s still first in the hot search now.”
Li Shuoxing immediately opened Weibo, entered the search area and saw the first hot search:
#Haidilao Paper Love#
Li Shuoxing: “…”
He clicked again, entered the hot search tag, and saw the post sent by Haidilao’s official Weibo at 8pm last night.
@Haidilao
[cp]Today, a special pair of lovers visited Haidilao restaurant. We have the honour of sending our guest and his cartoon lover our most sincere service and best wishes. Through the portable screen, our staff helps our guest get rid of the limitations of mobile phones to have a face-to-face dinner together with his cartoon lover. This is a more diversified exploration of Haidilao’s service model. Haidilao promises that for every heartwarming taste, we will pursue it together with you.[/cp]
[Guest and his cartoon lover.jpg][Only food and love can live up to this.jpg]