"When are you planning to see Luke?" Olivia changed the subject.
Shane smiled faintly. "Aren't you hungry? Let's go now. It's a good chance to taste a werewolf's cooking."
"If you have other arrangements, I don't mind waiting, or we can just grab something casual. That hot dog stand over there looks decent." Olivia could tell Shane had changed his plans on the fly.
Shane shook his head with a smile, pulled out his phone, found Luke's number, and dialed. It rang a few times before connecting.
"Officer Luke, it's Shane. Do you have time right now? Great, I'm heading over. About... I don't know how long it'll take, but have the kitchen prepare a few signature dishes. Ideally, ready to eat as soon as we arrive. Okay, see you soon."
Shane hung up, stood, and picked up the shopping bags. "Let's go."
Greene Street, near the pier.
Shane and Olivia got out of the taxi and saw the Jade Wolf Chinese Restaurant.
It looked ordinary, nothing special. The yellow sign had "Jade Wolf Chinese Restaurant" written in Chinese characters.
If you didn't know the inside scoop, who would imagine this nondescript eatery was actually a werewolf den?
You werewolves opening a restaurant is one thing, but a Chinese restaurant? A foreigner—a werewolf foreigner—opening a Chinese restaurant? Don't you feel awkward? Don't the customers feel it's out of place?
Truly, hiding in plain sight!
"We just go in like this?" Olivia glanced at a few guys nearby who were staring at them and whispered.
"Should we go back, bathe, burn incense, change clothes, and pray devoutly for a few hours first?" Shane teased.
Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "You know that's not what I meant."
"We're not here to provoke or start trouble. There won't be a fight. And even if a fight breaks out, I can get you out safely."
"I'm not scared."
Olivia said this, then took the lead. Walking with a stride that disowned all her relatives—head high, chest out, eyes straight ahead—she pushed open the door under a barrage of watchful gazes.
Shane followed with a smile. He felt like Olivia wasn't as cool as when they first met. Her character setting was collapsing.
Inside, the first thing that caught their eyes were the booths lining both sides. The partitions between the booths had large red "Double Happiness" characters pasted on them. The walls were adorned with ink wash paintings. At first glance, it had atmosphere. But if you looked closely—what the hell was this?!
What restaurant pastes "Double Happiness" characters up every single day? Those who know, know it's a restaurant. Those who don't would think you're getting married.
Pasting them every day? What, are you getting married every day? A groom every night?
Even pasting a God of Wealth saying "May you be prosperous" would look more authentic than this "Double Happiness."
If you enshrined Lord Guan Yu, that would be even more legit.
"Is the food ready? Serve it up if it is. Let's chat while we eat." Shane pulled Olivia to a seat. With one sentence, he deflated Luke's serious, aggressive posture.
Chat while eating?
What do you think this place is?
What do you think this meeting is?
Seeing Shane's relaxed and casual demeanor, Luke felt the urge to roar and curse.
After dropping Shane and Olivia off at the Vulture Hotel last night, Luke had started investigating their identities. On the surface, their backgrounds were clean. But being clean was the biggest problem.
How could ordinary people with clean records know so much about the Shadow World? How could they recognize him as a werewolf at a glance and know his past so well?
On the surface, no issues. Behind the scenes, Luke had asked contacts in the Shadow World to dig around, but the time was too short, and nothing came up.
Although Luke had proactively approached and helped them last night out of professional duty, who was to say this wasn't a deliberately designed trap?
So Luke was on high alert for this meeting, constantly guessing Shane's identity and purpose. He expected this meeting, even if not openly hostile, to be a serious negotiation. And the result? Shane walked in relaxed, like he was attending a friend's dinner party. What did that mean?
Luke waved his hand toward the kitchen, then sat down opposite Shane. "Talk. What exactly is your objective?"
"What do you think my objective is?" Shane asked back with a smile.
Luke's face was cold. "If I knew your objective, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. I'm telling you, whatever your objective is, it won't succeed. Understand?"
"Then why ask me what my objective is? Since you're confident I won't succeed, isn't that redundant?"
Shane retorted.
No, more like he roasted him.
"Trying to intimidate someone right out of the gate—if done well, it's effective. If done poorly, it's also effective... effectively laughable."
Shane looked at Luke's dark face. Uh, he was Black, so his face was naturally dark.
What was happening?
Since walking in, Shane couldn't suppress his urge to roast everything.
"Last night really was fate. Although I'm interested in you and werewolves, I hold no malice. purely curiosity—I wanted to see it for myself. Believe it or not, I'm just someone particularly interested in supernatural creatures."
Shane looked at Luke. "I asked to meet today to make friends. To put you at ease, I chose this place, your turf. Of course, I also wanted to see other werewolves."
"In short, after this meal, if you're willing to be friends, we'll continue to interact. If you still don't trust me or aren't interested, then let's pretend we never met. I'll continue looking for my supernatural creatures, you continue being your cop. We stay out of each other's way."
"And if I refuse?" Luke asked in a deep voice.
"You want to go a round?"