"Want to head out with me and grab some fries?"
Truth be told, the moment Zuojian said it, he already regretted it a little. Looking at Eblana's eyes—clear and utterly bewildered—he had no idea why that absurd, out-of-nowhere line had slipped from his mouth in the first place.
If he had to explain it, it was probably a combination of ingrained stereotypes and the brainrot he'd picked up from spending far too much time online in his previous life.
After all, this was Victoria.
Back when he was running his stall in Lungmen, he had pieced together from his customers' conversations that this place was probably very similar to "Great Yingland" from his old world. And if it really was that similar, then Zuojian certainly wasn't expecting to find any restaurant that was both reasonably priced and reliably edible.
As a law-abiding young man raised under the red flag, and someone with a bit of cooking skill himself, if you asked him to spend a fat stack of money at some so-called Michelin place just to sit there staring into a bowl of Stargazy Pie, locking eyes with fish heads that looked like they had died with grievances unresolved, then honestly—you might as well just kill him.
As for the meals those guys studying abroad in Yingland used to post in short videos, he had only one evaluation:
"I [beautiful, elegant Huaxia profanity] ate better than this back in the orphanage!"
And it was precisely because all those stereotypes piled together that the instant the thought of eating out crossed his mind, his brain automatically jumped to fast food.
McD, Burger K, and if not those, then at least something like KFC.
If this place really was so similar to Yingland from his old world, then surely there had to be a few chains specializing in junk food.
More importantly...
Zuojian clenched the few "large-denomination" Victorian pounds in his pocket and silently admitted that he was, in fact, broke as hell. Unless something unexpected happened, a fast-food place was probably the most cost-effective option available to him right now.
As for why he had suddenly blurted out something as ridiculous as let's all go get some fries...
That could only be blamed on the fact that his single-threaded brain had contributed no small amount to his previous hundred failed confessions. Sometimes he said dumb nonsense. Sometimes he couldn't help speaking hard truths that were true, sure, but still landed terribly.
But fortunately, the two in front of him were children...
They probably wouldn't care too much about his dumb nonsense.
Probably.
At the very least, the girl in front of him... this one was Eblana, right?
Judging by her expression, she clearly hadn't been scared by his bizarre line. She was just a bit frozen because she couldn't understand what on earth he meant.
And the younger sister was Loughshinny, right?
They really did look alike. Aside from a few subtle differences, Zuojian could barely tell them apart just from appearance.
If the system hadn't been quietly reminding him of their names, he honestly wouldn't have known who was who.
Zuojian curled a fist by his mouth and gave a light cough, drawing both girls' attention back to him while using the chance to straighten up his own expression.
Only then did Eblana seem to recover from her daze. She had been using all her brainpower trying to figure out what exactly he had just said and hadn't reacted in time. As for her younger sister, this was actually the first time Zuojian had directly met Loughshinny's gaze.
Their eyes met across the difference in height for only a few seconds before Loughshinny lowered her head again, timidly hiding her emerald-green eyes beneath her warm-white bangs.
She still seemed afraid of looking directly at this unfamiliar man.
Seeing that, Zuojian simply crouched down until he was at the same height as the girl sitting on the sofa. Only then did he show that warm, gentle smile again and ask softly,
"Hello there, little miss. Can you tell me your name?"
"And you too—you're the older sister, right? You look much steadier than your little sister."
As he spoke, Zuojian turned the same smile toward Eblana.
But after a brief pause, the latter immediately put on almost the exact same timid expression as Loughshinny.
At that moment, the two sisters looked like a pair of little yellow scaredy-shrooms in front of Zuojian, shrinking back and refusing to talk to this "Dave."
"If you don't want to say it, you can write it on my hand, okay?"
As he said this, he generously extended his hand, radiating friendliness from head to toe.
Perhaps infected by that gentle smile, Loughshinny fell silent for a while, then slowly stretched out her tiny finger—smooth and pale like warm white jade—and carefully traced her name into Zuojian's palm.
Feeling the faint ticklish strokes at the center of his hand, the smile on his face deepened slightly.
For the record, Mr. Zuo did not have any strange fetishes. This simply meant that the child was willing to communicate with him, which meant the two of them had already taken a very good first step in getting along.
"Your name is Loughshinny, right?"
He asked it tentatively.
The girl nodded with such a tiny motion that it was almost impossible to notice.
"You've got beautiful handwriting."
"Wha...?"
Loughshinny froze, then slightly raised her head, revealing just a sliver of her face. Her cherry-like little lips parted, and in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, she asked:
"Re... really?"
She was clearly trying to act as though she didn't care much about the compliment, but the moment she asked the question, her true feelings were exposed completely—not to mention the large tail behind her, swaying back and forth as if broadcasting every thought in her heart.
She herself didn't seem aware of it, but Zuojian could see it very clearly.
As for why—
Well, he was a sneaky adult, obviously.
The moment he realized that, Zuojian didn't hesitate. He pressed the advantage immediately.
"Mm, that's right. Your handwriting is wonderful. To write this well at your age is really impressive. Do you like reading? Maybe one day you'll become a great writer."
And after saying that, he reached out and patted Loughshinny on the head.
When he saw that she didn't resist at all—only lowered her head again and let him ruffle her slightly coarse but pleasantly textured long hair—Zuojian more or less figured out what kind of personality this girl had. He also realized that, as an opening move for getting along with her in the future, this counted as a success.
As for the name she had written on his palm—
Honestly, he couldn't read a single bit of it.
The only reason he could recognize Victorian script at all was because the system translated it for him. If you asked him to write it himself, he'd be completely lost, let alone judge a little girl's handwriting from a few strokes traced on his palm.
And all the things he had just said—your handwriting is beautiful, you probably like reading, maybe you'll be a writer someday—well, strictly speaking, those things didn't actually have any hard logical connection whatsoever. Some writers had terrible handwriting and didn't like reading much at all. Meanwhile, people with lovely handwriting who loved books might never become writers.
But that didn't matter.
Because kids didn't know that sort of thing.
At least, Loughshinny didn't.
All he had to do was give the child some encouragement and let her know she had strengths other people didn't. For a timid child like her, that could make a big difference.
As for why Zuojian was so practiced at this...
Well, that was just what came of being the "king of the kids" at the orphanage. Back when he was in school, he'd also often helped look after even younger children.
He might be a little awkward around ordinary kids, but raising orphans?
That, he knew all too well.
He had been one himself.
In some sense, Loughshinny was a little like him too...
Well, actually, no. Not really.
Looking at the obedient little white-haired fluffball in front of him, letting him rub her head without protest, Zuojian couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
If he'd been even half as shy as Loughshinny back then—or if he'd just restrained himself a little and stopped blurting out "auspicious nonsense"—then maybe he wouldn't have ended up walking the road of "orphan" all the way to the bitter end.
After all, quite a few of the kids who had grown up alongside him had eventually been adopted.
And because of that, he had long since resolved that he absolutely had to find a girlfriend, get married, build a family, and someday have children of his own.
After all, he didn't even have parents.
If in the end he couldn't even find a single person who loved him, then wouldn't he truly be left all alone in the world?
People always say that a life of repeated hardship is the saddest thing, but they forget there are those whose very existence disappears the moment they die—no one remembers them, no one knows them, no one cares.
"Um... and... and you...?"
Zuojian's moment of reflection didn't last long. Loughshinny had raised her head again, and compared with earlier, the fear in her eyes had noticeably lessened.
For the girl, this was the first time in her life someone had praised her for her writing—or for liking books.
To the point that she forgot her sister's prior instructions and took the initiative to ask:
"Um... y-your... your name..."
"My name?"
Still smiling, Zuojian gently took up Loughshinny's little hand. Then, with his fingertip, he slowly traced the familiar square-shaped strokes of Chinese characters into her soft palm.
Of course, he didn't expect little Loughshinny to understand how those characters were pronounced, so while writing, he also read them aloud:
"Zuo—Jian."
"Just call me that."
Loughshinny carefully felt the warmth in her palm, as though trying to memorize the strange strokes he had written there. Then she looked up. She was still somewhat tucked in on herself, not fully relaxed yet, but far better than before.
"Zuo... Jian?"
She asked tentatively.
Zuojian nodded with a smile, then rubbed her head again.
"That's right. Zuojian. My name."
After saying that, he turned toward Eblana, whom he had deliberately "ignored" just now.
The same smile. The same gesture.
He extended his hand, but before he could speak, she cut him off.
"Eblana."
Zuojian narrowed his eyes slightly.
He had noticed that the faint timidity in her gaze had vanished without a trace. All that remained now was a light, cool indifference.
It was obvious that little Eblana did not want to play the "write your name on my hand" game with him.
At that, he couldn't help but think to himself:
This one's a bit tricky.
...
Very tricky.
Eblana's heart sank, and she lightly clenched her back teeth.
He had seen through her disguise.
But when?
Had she slipped just now...?
No. If he hadn't interrupted her train of thought earlier, she wouldn't have shown any opening at all. In other words—had this man seen through everything from the very first glance?
The moment she realized that, Eblana also realized there was no point in pretending any longer.
But that didn't mean she intended to submit to anything.
If anything...
That only made things more interesting.
Looking at this man, who had so easily taken hold of her poor little sister, Eblana felt a competitive urge begin to rise in her chest.
She wanted to see exactly what kind of methods this man possessed—methods she couldn't predict at all.
-------
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