"Alright then, customers, please follow me first."
The restaurant attendant curiously sized up this strange group before him, though his expression remained respectful as he gestured for them to follow.
"Sato?"
Yuuki Asuna suddenly noticed Sato staring in a certain direction. Curious, she stepped beside him and followed his line of sight.
But she found nothing there, and confusion inevitably appeared in her eyes.
What exactly are you looking at?
"It's nothing. Let's sit down first."
Sato shook his head.
Although she was still somewhat curious, Yuuki Asuna didn't continue asking.
The group followed the attendant to an empty table and sat down.
Soon, someone brought over the restaurant menu and respectfully said,
"Here is the menu."
"Eh? They actually have this many cuisines?"
Kato Megumi suddenly spoke in surprise. A clear emotional fluctuation appeared within her normally calm tone.
Sato immediately became interested. There weren't many things capable of causing emotional changes in Kato Megumi, so he also leaned over to look at the menu lying on the table.
Japanese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Italian cuisine...
The menu actually included dishes from many countries instead of specializing in only one type of cuisine.
Quite unique. As expected of someone who graduated from Totsuki Academy.
Sato couldn't help smiling before asking the attendant,
"Are all the cuisines here authentic?"
Hearing this, the attendant proudly replied,
"Although our restaurant's decorations may not compare to those luxurious establishments, our restaurant is still well-known around here. Naturally, our head chef's skills are exceptional!"
"Being good is one thing. Whether it's authentic is another matter entirely."
Sato shook his head.
When a certain food spread thousands of miles away from its origin, no matter how much people tried to preserve it, it would still change because of local culture and tastes. To the locals, it might be excellent food, but for people from the place it originated from, it might no longer be considered authentic.
The attendant was obviously somewhat displeased, but since Sato was a customer, he didn't say much and only replied,
"Then you can try it for yourself!"
Sato wasn't annoyed either. His gaze turned toward the Chinese cuisine section of the menu.
They're all home-style dishes?
His expression showed some surprise, but his interest grew even stronger as he enthusiastically began ordering.
"Braised pork with preserved vegetables, mapo tofu, and another serving of... shredded pork with green peppers."
In Japan, many dishes were transliterated phonetically. For example, "mapo tofu" and "shredded pork with green peppers" sounded very similar to their Chinese pronunciations when spoken in Japanese.
Naturally, Sato was extremely familiar with Chinese, so he didn't use the somewhat awkward Japanese pronunciation. Thus, when saying the last two dishes, he spoke in perfectly standard Chinese.
"..."
The girls around him all looked at him in surprise.
The attendant's expression froze completely as he swallowed nervously.
Holy crap!
No wonder he asked whether it was authentic. This guy wouldn't happen to actually be Chinese, would he?
If he says it's not authentic, wouldn't that completely ruin the restaurant's reputation?!
"You guys order too."
Sato put down the menu and handed it to the girls before once again looking with interest toward a corner of the restaurant.
This restaurant wasn't luxuriously decorated like those high-end establishments, but it was still much nicer than ordinary roadside eateries. Since the head chef had graduated from Totsuki Academy, this could already be considered lowering oneself considerably.
However, if the head chef was also the owner, then this could truly be called hiding one's greatness among the common world.
After all, only around twenty people graduated from Totsuki Academy each year, and that included those so-called Elite Ten members!
According to Nakiri Erina, last year Totsuki Academy's first-year high school division had over eight hundred students, yet only around seventy advanced into the second year!
More than half of those seventy-something students would be eliminated before advancing into the third year, meaning at most only around thirty students could reach the final year.
At first glance, the Elite Ten didn't seem especially impressive, because they merely appeared to be students capable of graduating.
But in reality, that wasn't the case, because before them, hundreds upon hundreds had already collapsed along the road ahead!
This was what people meant by "ten thousand bones beneath a single successful general," and they were the true "jade" among them!
...
Sato watched the corner of the restaurant, where he could vaguely see a young man with an awkward expression, along with a woman whose back faced them, only half her head visible.
After the girls finished ordering, they all followed his gaze with utterly confused expressions.
"Is it someone you know, Sato?"
Kato Megumi looked at Sato in confusion. Nobody noticed that somewhere along the way, she had already stopped calling him "Nohara-kun."
"I suppose so."
Sato was listening in on the conversation there with great interest. After hearing Kato Megumi's question, he paused briefly before slowly nodding.
A teacher definitely counted as an acquaintance!
At this moment, in the corner of the restaurant.
The young man awkwardly laughed stiffly.
"Haha, liking powerful men, you really know how to joke!"
"This isn't an era where brute force matters anymore."
Hiratsuka Shizuka calmly glanced at him and said,
"The strength I'm talking about isn't that kind of strength. But... even if we use your definition, things like money and power might not even be worth mentioning in the eyes of certain people."
The young man's expression stiffened further and gradually became uglier.
He stared fixedly at Hiratsuka Shizuka and said,
"Our family's company is considered one of the top corporations in Japan. Is it really still not enough for you?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka calmly looked at him before slowly speaking a few words.
"You wouldn't understand."
The young man laughed in anger.
"I think you never sincerely came here for matchmaking in the first place!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the suit jacket beside him and stormed out angrily.
Hiratsuka Shizuka's expression didn't change at all. Only after he left did she quietly sigh.
"He didn't even pay the bill. What a lack of manners."
She glanced at the table in front of her. The dishes hadn't even all been served yet, and the blind date had already collapsed. That really was something else.
Even Hiratsuka Shizuka herself wore a strange expression.
Then she slowly stood up, preparing to go pay the bill, but the moment she looked up, she saw a somewhat familiar figure smiling at her.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was instantly stunned.
Holy crap! Why is this guy here?!
Wait!
How long has he been sitting there?
Don't tell me he watched her entire blind date from beginning to end?!
----
If you want to read up to 110 chapters ahead + Increase Daily chapters release , don't hesitate to visit
our patron: pat reon . com / Loverice929 (remove space)