The restaurant wasn't big—one of those hidden little hole-in-the-wall places tucked deep in an old alley, the kind only locals knew about.
The storefront was worn and weathered. Even the three characters for "Home-Style Dishes" on the sign had lost patches of paint.
But business was absurdly good.
Su Yu pushed open the glass door, its handle polished smooth with age. A thick wave of cooking fumes and wok hei from high-heat stir-frying hit them like a blast of hot air.
The noise inside—people talking, bowls clinking, servers shouting orders—instantly washed away the alley's quiet.
The owner was behind the register, doing the books. She looked up, saw Su Yu, and smiled.
"Oh! Little Su's here. Same seat as usual?"
"Mm." Su Yu nodded. "Brought a friend today."
"A friend?" The owner's gaze slid past him and landed on Kiana.
In that instant, her eyes lit up.
Sure, Kiana's T-shirt didn't fit quite right and the athletic shorts looked improvised. Her messy white hair was a little… avant-garde.
But her face was frankly unfair.
Skin as pale as a freshly peeled egg. Blue-and-gold heterochromia like expensive gemstones. Even barefaced, she had that kind of refined beauty that refused to be ignored.
"Aiya, this girl is really pretty!" the owner blurted, unable to stop herself. "She suits you, too… girlfriend?"
Kiana was blindsided by such direct auntie-level gossip. Her already slightly stiff posture locked up on the spot.
Her ears went whoosh red, and she reflexively tried to retreat behind Su Yu.
Su Yu, thick-skinned as ever, just smiled and didn't answer. He led her through the crowded dining hall with practiced ease, heading toward a small table by the window in the corner.
It was quieter there, with a good view of the old street's dim yellow lamps outside.
Kiana followed behind him like a little tail afraid of getting lost.
When she sat down, she carefully adjusted her chair—making sure the distance between herself and Su Yu was precisely one meter. A safe range.
The menu was handed over.
Kiana took it cautiously and opened to the first page.
Then she froze.
Dense rows of dish names filled three entire pages like soldiers lined up for inspection.
Braised pork belly, sweet-and-sour ribs, boiled beef in chili oil, dry pot chicken, saliva chicken, spicy diced chicken…
Just the dishes with the character for "meat" in the name numbered in the dozens.
And that didn't even include the cold dishes, soups, and snacks that all looked dangerously tempting.
Every photo seemed to glow. Every line of text felt like it was reaching out to tug at her salivary glands.
Back on the Hyperion, Mei had once told her that Shenzhou was a country that had "eating" engraved into its DNA—that even tofu alone could become a full Manchu-Han banquet.
At the time, Kiana thought it was just exaggerated praise.
Now that exaggeration sat in front of her in printed form, and the impact was stronger than the first time she'd fought the Herrscher of Thunder.
There was too much.
So much she had no idea what to pick.
Her eyes darted across the menu.
She'd see braised pork belly and think this one. Then sweet-and-sour ribs and think that one. Then the numbing-spicy aroma of a neighboring table's boiled beef would steal her soul.
She wanted everything.
She didn't want to miss a single dish.
But she only had one stomach—and her wallet… well. Not that she had one. Right now she was still living off someone else.
Kiana's brows knitted hard. That delicate face turned deadly serious.
As if she weren't choosing dinner—
But presiding over the final war conference that would determine humanity's fate.
In the end, she gave up.
She lifted her head and looked at Su Yu for help.
That gaze held a little grievance, a little helplessness, and a little… greed.
Su Yu took one look at her and almost laughed out loud.
One second she was a depressed girl who didn't want to live. The next, she'd been instantly exposed in front of food—transformed into a pitiful little glutton cat waiting to be fed.
That gap-moe should've been illegal.
"Alright, stop struggling. Leave it to me." He took the menu from her and pulled out a pen, ticking boxes with the confidence of a veteran.
"Braised pork belly—must order. House specialty. Rich but not greasy."
"Sweet-and-sour ribs—also a specialty. You'll probably like the sweet-sour flavor."
"Dry pot… that's too spicy. Swap it for dry-fried shredded beef. Goes perfectly with rice."
"Then sour-and-spicy shredded potatoes to cut the heaviness. Tomato egg soup to round it out."
"Two bowls of rice. Big bowls."
He talked as he checked off items, then handed the menu back to the server.
"Let's start with these. If it's not enough, we'll add more."
Then he turned to Kiana. "So? Will this satisfy Miss Kaslana's stomach?"
Kiana scanned the list. Every dish was heavy. Every dish was meat.
She nodded hard.
Satisfied.
Very satisfied.
"This one's on me," Su Yu said with a grin. "Call it an advance on your pay—or a celebration for our first successful 'partnership.'"
Kiana didn't refuse.
She'd already learned: when it's time to accept, accept.
While they waited for the food, Su Yu unconsciously pulled out his phone.
The screen lit up. A red dot sat on the WeChat icon.
He opened it. A message from Kevin.
[Kevin Kaslana]: Finally done with overtime… I'm dead…
[Kevin Kaslana]: By the way, what was that "saving a strange girl" thing you mentioned yesterday? She okay?
[Kevin Kaslana]: Don't tell me you actually picked someone up and brought her home??? I'm warning you—three years minimum…
Su Yu was about to reply when he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Kiana tilting her head to look at his screen.
"Who are you chatting with?" she asked.
"Your counterpart in this world," Su Yu answered honestly. "His name's Kevin."
Kiana froze.
"…My counterpart?"
Her expression turned strange.
"It's a guy?"
"Yeah."
"..."
Kiana fell silent.
She was working hard to digest the information.
Her counterpart…
Was a man named Kevin.
So her "ancestor"… became her counterpart?
"And he's a wage slave," Su Yu added, with a hint of schadenfreude.
"A wage slave?"
"Someone crushed by work every day," Su Yu explained. "Overtime until they can't tell day from night, paid like dirt."
Kiana processed for two seconds.
"…Sounds more exhausting than being a Valkyrie."
She stated it flatly.
Su Yu almost sprayed the tea he'd just sipped.
"Cough—cough… You're right," he said, wiping the corner of his mouth. "In a way, it's basically the same. Bosses and Honkai have one thing in common—there's no such thing as 'finished.'"
Kiana seemed to realize she'd said too much—and revealed too much of herself.
She cleared her throat awkwardly, moved her gaze back to the now-useless menu, and pretended to study the pictures—like the person who'd just delivered that savage roast wasn't her.
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