Chapter 58
Chapter 58
Empty plates were stacked in perilous towers, and the pot had been scraped clean—only a thin puddle of broth remained at the bottom.
Kakayan leaned back in her chair, rubbing her stomach and stifling a delicate burp behind one hand.
"Full?" Jiang Li asked, eyeing the canyon of dishes.
"More or less."
"What does that even mean?" He squinted at the plates, then at her perfectly flat belly.
Was her stomach some kind of bottomless void?
Thank the modern age for abundance—any earlier century would've bankrupted a family trying to feed her.
"I can't eat another bite."
She licked her glossy lips and glanced into the pot with soft regret.
"If only I could keep eating until I died."
"Are you part pig?"
Outside the restaurant, Boss Shi was busy beside a delivery van.
During their meal, Jiang Li had watched the man haul crate after crate of drinks and liquor inside.
Now only a few boxes remained, and the near-fifty-year-old "Dwayne Johnson" sat on the tailgate, catching his breath.
When he spotted them, he waved. "Enjoy yourselves? Was everything tasty?"
"Delicious!" Kakayan waggled her fingers happily.
"Glad to hear it. Spread the word, will you? I'm tied up here, so I'll skip the farewell."
"We'll do our best—sorry we got such a bargain." Jiang Li answered politely.
After the feast, Jiang Li had counted plates to pass the time.
At roughly sixty-five yuan a plate of meat, plus vegetables, drinks, and the pot base, they'd polished off four or five hundred yuan—well above what a ten-thousand-follower creator could charge for a sponsored post.
Boss Shi had been generous with the freshest ingredients too.
"Let's go." Kakayan tugged at Jiang Li's sleeve.
They turned to leave.
A dull plastic thud rang out behind them.
Kakayan spun around to see Boss Shi hunched over by the van's open door, left leg rigid, face twisted in pain. Sweat beaded on his bald scalp.
Before she could ask what was wrong, Jiang Li's back was already retreating at a jog.
"Cramp?"
"Yeah, getting old—no big deal." Boss Shi looked embarrassed. "It'll pass in a second."
"I'll give you a hand." Jiang Li offered.
"No need!" Boss Shi waved him off, but the movement triggered another spasm. He hissed through clenched teeth.
Hearing the sharp inhale, Jiang Li spoke lightly, "Take it easy. I just stuffed myself; moving a few boxes will help digestion. Hardly any left anyway."
"Well... thanks, kid." Boss Shi finally nodded.
Jiang Li vaulted into the van. A flick of his shirt hem revealed the clean lines of muscle across his abdomen.
When he hoisted two thirty-kilogram crates of drinks in one smooth motion, Boss Shi's eyes went wide.
The breeze lifted the young man's fringe, revealing dark jade eyes that held the same sharpness Boss Shi remembered from soldiers in his old unit.
For a moment the burly owner saw himself thirty years ago—back when he still had hair.
"Careful, those crates—"
Jiang Li was already inside the restaurant, fingers hooked under the boxes as if they weighed nothing.
By the time he returned, not a bead of sweat showed.
"Boss, can I have one?"
Unnoticed, Kakayan had wandered to the van and picked up a bottle from the scattered drinks.
"Help yourself." Boss Shi nodded, a little sheepish. "Sorry to make your boyfriend work."
"Boyfriend?" Kakayan echoed, half teasing, half rueful. She took a sip. "He's always like this—hasn't changed a bit.
Even though he's not a Hero anymore..."
Boss Shi scratched his head. "Not a what?"
"Nothing." She stuck out her tongue, then crouched to scoop up a few more bottles.
Jiang Li called it "prudent housekeeping."
Moments later Jiang Li had finished unloading the van.
Kakayan swayed over and handed him a chilled bottle of Happy Water.
"Thanks." He twisted the cap, paused.
"Where did you get all those?"
"Picked them up."
"They belong to the restaurant."
"I asked; he said I could take them."
Jiang Li sighed toward Boss Shi, ready to apologize, but the owner waved grandly.
"Grab a bag from inside."
Kakayan lifted her chin, triumphant. "See?"
Jiang Li shook his head, fetched a plastic bag, and loaded her haul.
"I really can't let you out of my sight," he murmured.
"Why?"
"To keep you from becoming a public menace."
"I am not!"
...
That afternoon they strolled away from Veteran Hot-Pot, sauntering down the long commercial street to aid digestion and give Kakayan—who'd stayed cooped up indoors—a taste of modern life.
As they walked, she ribbed Jiang Li about his unchanged habits.
"What habits?"
"Meddling," Kakayan said, shooting him a sidelong glare. "The moment you see humans in trouble, you leap in."
Her tone softened, as though remembering the day he'd stormed her castle.
Jiang Li smiled faintly. "I'm not a Hero anymore."
In this world, without the blessings of a summoned savior, he was merely an athletic ordinary man—no longer able to right every wrong.
"Who says?" Kakayan turned sharply, voice knife-bright.
"In my eyes, you'll always be—that despicable—Hero!"