Lin Jin wasn't very interested. He had followed Liu Shengqi to this so called newly opened and extremely delicious steakhouse. Sitting across from Liu Shengqi, he rested his cheek on one hand, his expression one of utter indifference as he blankly observed the restaurant's interior.
The decor wasn't too different from your average western restaurant. Solid wooden tables and chairs were arranged in a circle in the dining area, with long tables in the center laden with some common self serve items.
At first glance, Lin Jin couldn't see how this place was any different from other western restaurants. Maybe the only distinction was the greater number of customers?
Lin Jin glanced back at the entrance. On the long bench by the door sat three or four people, with a dozen more standing nearby, waiting for seats.
"What’s wrong?" Liu Shengqi had yet to fully grasp Lin Jin's character and temperament. Back at one or two oclock, Lin Jin had clearly been thrilled to hear that he was treating him to steak, but now he looked utterly disinterested. After ordering two steaks from the waiter, Liu Shengqi clasped his hands together on the table, sitting up straight as he asked, "Is it too noisy here?"
"No."
Lin Jin glanced at him, yawned and turned his head to the side.
I'm a grown man, yet I'm having a dinner date with another man?
If Lin Jin's roommates knew what was going through his mind, those two would probably be dumbfounded and mock him: Scum! Shameless loli!
"Is something wrong?" Liu Shengqi's face carried a gentle smile, trying to give Lin Jin a sense of warm spring breeze.
Is something wrong? Originally, Lin Jin was quite happy having swindled Liu Shengqi out of seven or eight hundred yuan. But the moment they entered the restaurant, that stupid black cat gave him another task, okay? And under the ridiculous pretext that as a goddess in training, he couldn't take the initiative to flirt with men, the task had to be carried out passively.
Pah! Why didn't you say this when you asked me to hook up with Chen Hao last time?
This black cat just does whatever it wants, doesn't it? Originally, he was in a great mood, planning to scam a coat and a meal, and then disappear from Liu Shengqi's life. But now that this task has been handed down, won't Liu Shengqi think he's actually interested in him?
"I’ll go get some stuff from the buffet?" Seeing Lin Jin's lack of enthusiasm, Liu Shengqi scratched his own short, curly hair, puzzled. He didn’t know if he had inadvertently offended Lin Jin, so stood up and asked, "What would you like to eat? Ice cream?"
"Whatever."
Sighing, Lin Jin picked up his phone from the table. As Liu Shengqi walked away, he unlocked his phone and looked at the task that had been assigned earlier.
Temporary Task:
As you're already a goddess in training, you can't be the one to initiate the flirting. Others should be flirting with you. Therefore, without taking the initiative, make Liu Shengqi feed you.
Task Reward: Advanced Facial Transformation! [After the transformation, you will be breathtakingly beautiful!]
Task Punishment: Gain 15 kg! [Imagine yourself weighing 70 kg.]
Reading the task again, Lin Jin still found it headache inducing.
This kind of passive task felt outrageously difficult. Liu Shengqi was supposed to feed him? In public? Even if Lin Jin had no shame, Liu Shengqi likely did, right? And he couldn't even take the initiative to ask for it...
But the penalty for failure was too harsh. Lin Jin was already eating simple meals every day just to lose weight, yet a single task failure would make him gain 15 kg...
"What are you thinking about?" Liu Shengqi returned, holding three plates. On the plates were normal buffet items like fruits and stir fried noodles. He set the plates on the table, maintaining his graceful demeanor, and softly asked, "What would you like to drink? I'll go get it for you."
"Coke." Lin Jin put down his phone and took a plate with stir-fried noodles. He took a few bites with his chopsticks, finding the noodles dry and hard, inferior even to those from a street stall. Losing his appetite, he put down his chopsticks and waited for the supposedly delicious steak to arrive.
A moment later, Liu Shengqi was back. He sat down, somewhat awkwardly, and began eating the buffet food he had just brought over, not sure what to say.
At this rate, the task would surely fail, wouldn't it?
Lin Jin secretly glanced up at Liu Shengqi and sighed softly, not knowing how to improve this awkward atmosphere.
The mood was extremely uncomfortable. Although most people in the restaurant were talking and the atmosphere was lively, their table was as cold as if two enemies were dining together.
"Um..." A girl with a round face, probably only 15 or 16 years old, approached Lin Jin's table holding a large plate of steak. Noticing the awkward, cold atmosphere at the table, she thought something had happened and cautiously said, hunching her shoulders, "Um... could you please move back a bit? Otherwise, you might get splashed with oil."
Lin Jin nodded and shifted his chair to make room.
With nothing else to do, both of them watched the waiter's every move. This made the waiter even more nervous. She gulped, poured sauce over Lin Jin's steak with a restrained manner, and then hurriedly ran off.
"This little girl." Lin Jin was amused and laughed, instinctively covering his mouth with the back of his hand. He suddenly realized that his gesture seemed rather feminine and promptly placed his hand back on the table, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Liu Shengqi's eyes lit up, Lin Jin's smile had made him feel all fuzzy inside.
"This girl is already working at such a young age." Liu Shengqi quickly recognized this as a good opportunity to break the awkward silence. He placed both hands on the table, sitting upright like a gentleman, and asked Lin Jin, "How old were you when you got your first job?"
"I started working right after graduating from middle school." Lin Jin also sensed that this was the first step in completing his task. He didn't refuse to answer, and instead imbued his response with an undertone of hardship. "You know my dad gambled, right? After middle school graduation, we were close to going broke. My mom didn't have money then to send me, so I started working."
"End of middle school? Then you were just 14 or 15, right?" Liu Shengqi asked with concern. "What kind of work did you do?"
"Sales person, waiter, stuff like that." Lin Jin nonchalantly took out the knife and fork from their paper container. "It wasn't heavy labor. If you got a good manager as a waiter, they'd even treat you to meals."
"My first job was after graduating from high school. My dad thought my grades were bad and decided I shouldn't go to college" Liu Shengqi began sharing about himself. "So I went to work on a construction site with my dad. He was a contractor, and he gave me work that wasn't too strenuous."
"Mhm" Lin Jin cut himself a small piece of steak and popped it in his mouth, finding that the steak here actually tasted quite good, definitely better than the one from the school restaurant.
As they were chatting, Liu Shengqi's steak arrived at the table. He picked up his chopsticks and took a big bite of his steak, completely losing the gentlemanly demeanor he had displayed earlier.
"Um..." Lin Jin looked down at his steak, took a deep breath, and said to Liu Shengqi, "I hurt my hand a couple of days ago, so I can't really use a knife and fork..."
This kind of hint not count as "initiating", right?
Lin Jin anxiously waited for the vibration of his phone to signal the failure of his task, but the black cat was quite forgiving and didn't rule his task as a failure.
So, Lin Jin felt even more emboldened. He lifted his head and gave Liu Shengqi a pitiable look.
"Ah?" Liu Shengqi was stunned for a moment and looked at Lin Jin's tender eyes.
Is Lin Jin... trying to seduce me?
Lin Jin wasn't very interested. He had followed Liu Shengqi to this so called newly opened and extremely delicious steakhouse. Sitting across from Liu Shengqi, he rested his cheek on one hand, his expression one of utter indifference as he blankly observed the restaurant's interior.
The decor wasn't too different from your average western restaurant. Solid wooden tables and chairs were arranged in a circle in the dining area, with long tables in the center laden with some common self serve items.
At first glance, Lin Jin couldn't see how this place was any different from other western restaurants. Maybe the only distinction was the greater number of customers?
Lin Jin glanced back at the entrance. On the long bench by the door sat three or four people, with a dozen more standing nearby, waiting for seats.
"What’s wrong?" Liu Shengqi had yet to fully grasp Lin Jin's character and temperament. Back at one or two oclock, Lin Jin had clearly been thrilled to hear that he was treating him to steak, but now he looked utterly disinterested. After ordering two steaks from the waiter, Liu Shengqi clasped his hands together on the table, sitting up straight as he asked, "Is it too noisy here?"
"No."
Lin Jin glanced at him, yawned and turned his head to the side.
I'm a grown man, yet I'm having a dinner date with another man?
If Lin Jin's roommates knew what was going through his mind, those two would probably be dumbfounded and mock him: Scum! Shameless loli!
"Is something wrong?" Liu Shengqi's face carried a gentle smile, trying to give Lin Jin a sense of warm spring breeze.
Is something wrong? Originally, Lin Jin was quite happy having swindled Liu Shengqi out of seven or eight hundred yuan. But the moment they entered the restaurant, that stupid black cat gave him another task, okay? And under the ridiculous pretext that as a goddess in training, he couldn't take the initiative to flirt with men, the task had to be carried out passively.
Pah! Why didn't you say this when you asked me to hook up with Chen Hao last time?
This black cat just does whatever it wants, doesn't it? Originally, he was in a great mood, planning to scam a coat and a meal, and then disappear from Liu Shengqi's life. But now that this task has been handed down, won't Liu Shengqi think he's actually interested in him?
"I’ll go get some stuff from the buffet?" Seeing Lin Jin's lack of enthusiasm, Liu Shengqi scratched his own short, curly hair, puzzled. He didn’t know if he had inadvertently offended Lin Jin, so stood up and asked, "What would you like to eat? Ice cream?"
"Whatever."
Sighing, Lin Jin picked up his phone from the table. As Liu Shengqi walked away, he unlocked his phone and looked at the task that had been assigned earlier.
Temporary Task:
As you're already a goddess in training, you can't be the one to initiate the flirting. Others should be flirting with you. Therefore, without taking the initiative, make Liu Shengqi feed you.
Task Reward: Advanced Facial Transformation! [After the transformation, you will be breathtakingly beautiful!]
Task Punishment: Gain 15 kg! [Imagine yourself weighing 70 kg.]
Reading the task again, Lin Jin still found it headache inducing.
This kind of passive task felt outrageously difficult. Liu Shengqi was supposed to feed him? In public? Even if Lin Jin had no shame, Liu Shengqi likely did, right? And he couldn't even take the initiative to ask for it...
But the penalty for failure was too harsh. Lin Jin was already eating simple meals every day just to lose weight, yet a single task failure would make him gain 15 kg...
"What are you thinking about?" Liu Shengqi returned, holding three plates. On the plates were normal buffet items like fruits and stir fried noodles. He set the plates on the table, maintaining his graceful demeanor, and softly asked, "What would you like to drink? I'll go get it for you."
"Coke." Lin Jin put down his phone and took a plate with stir-fried noodles. He took a few bites with his chopsticks, finding the noodles dry and hard, inferior even to those from a street stall. Losing his appetite, he put down his chopsticks and waited for the supposedly delicious steak to arrive.
A moment later, Liu Shengqi was back. He sat down, somewhat awkwardly, and began eating the buffet food he had just brought over, not sure what to say.
At this rate, the task would surely fail, wouldn't it?
Lin Jin secretly glanced up at Liu Shengqi and sighed softly, not knowing how to improve this awkward atmosphere.
The mood was extremely uncomfortable. Although most people in the restaurant were talking and the atmosphere was lively, their table was as cold as if two enemies were dining together.
"Um..." A girl with a round face, probably only 15 or 16 years old, approached Lin Jin's table holding a large plate of steak. Noticing the awkward, cold atmosphere at the table, she thought something had happened and cautiously said, hunching her shoulders, "Um... could you please move back a bit? Otherwise, you might get splashed with oil."
Lin Jin nodded and shifted his chair to make room.
With nothing else to do, both of them watched the waiter's every move. This made the waiter even more nervous. She gulped, poured sauce over Lin Jin's steak with a restrained manner, and then hurriedly ran off.
"This little girl." Lin Jin was amused and laughed, instinctively covering his mouth with the back of his hand. He suddenly realized that his gesture seemed rather feminine and promptly placed his hand back on the table, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Liu Shengqi's eyes lit up, Lin Jin's smile had made him feel all fuzzy inside.
"This girl is already working at such a young age." Liu Shengqi quickly recognized this as a good opportunity to break the awkward silence. He placed both hands on the table, sitting upright like a gentleman, and asked Lin Jin, "How old were you when you got your first job?"
"I started working right after graduating from middle school." Lin Jin also sensed that this was the first step in completing his task. He didn't refuse to answer, and instead imbued his response with an undertone of hardship. "You know my dad gambled, right? After middle school graduation, we were close to going broke. My mom didn't have money then to send me, so I started working."
"End of middle school? Then you were just 14 or 15, right?" Liu Shengqi asked with concern. "What kind of work did you do?"
"Sales person, waiter, stuff like that." Lin Jin nonchalantly took out the knife and fork from their paper container. "It wasn't heavy labor. If you got a good manager as a waiter, they'd even treat you to meals."
"My first job was after graduating from high school. My dad thought my grades were bad and decided I shouldn't go to college" Liu Shengqi began sharing about himself. "So I went to work on a construction site with my dad. He was a contractor, and he gave me work that wasn't too strenuous."
"Mhm" Lin Jin cut himself a small piece of steak and popped it in his mouth, finding that the steak here actually tasted quite good, definitely better than the one from the school restaurant.
As they were chatting, Liu Shengqi's steak arrived at the table. He picked up his chopsticks and took a big bite of his steak, completely losing the gentlemanly demeanor he had displayed earlier.
"Um..." Lin Jin looked down at his steak, took a deep breath, and said to Liu Shengqi, "I hurt my hand a couple of days ago, so I can't really use a knife and fork..."
This kind of hint not count as "initiating", right?
Lin Jin anxiously waited for the vibration of his phone to signal the failure of his task, but the black cat was quite forgiving and didn't rule his task as a failure.
So, Lin Jin felt even more emboldened. He lifted his head and gave Liu Shengqi a pitiable look.
"Ah?" Liu Shengqi was stunned for a moment and looked at Lin Jin's tender eyes.
Is Lin Jin... trying to seduce me?
