After Zhou Zhuang made his seating choice, it was obvious the three women at the table did not accept the result.
Because when faced with "pick one and offend the other two," their manager had somehow chosen the one answer that offended all three.
The trio couldn't exactly say anything outright. They simply smiled—bright, beautiful smiles that contained absolutely no warmth. And for Zhou Zhuang, being stared at by three gorgeous women was already uncomfortable… let alone when their smiles were the kind that made your spine itch.
Three gaze-beams with physical weight pressed down on him. Zhou Zhuang couldn't meet them; he could only lower his head and pretend to be an ostrich.
Just when he was about to suffocate under the pressure, the restaurant owner and the waitress Li Na arrived with drinks and appetizers—saving his life.
"Hello, honored guests. Since the chef is still preparing the meal, please enjoy some pre-dinner snacks and a bottle of my personally cellared fine wine."
Then the owner hesitated and added, "Uh… you can all drink alcohol, right?"
Anna and the others exchanged looks, then glanced toward Director Malkuth at the adjacent table. Seeing Malkuth's utterly emotionless stare, Faust calmly refused on their behalf.
"Sorry. We still have training this afternoon, so we'll pass."
"Oh, I see." The owner nodded in understanding, then looked toward Zhou Zhuang's table.
Catching the owner's questioning gaze, Zhou Zhuang looked around at the three women still staring at him and asked, cautiously:
"Um… do you drink?"
No one answered.
Zhou Zhuang wanted to refuse the wine, but that felt like wasting the owner's good intentions, so he pivoted:
"Um, boss—these appetizers are pretty good. Can we get refills after we finish?"
He pointed to the plate of snacks.
The owner thought for a moment, then said, "Oh, those? Sure, you can refill as much as you like. We're not planning to open for regular business later anyway. If you want, you can even take all of it with you. It's one of our chef's specialties—helps digestion, stimulates the appetite."
Zhou Zhuang gave an OK sign. The owner received the instruction, bowed again, and headed for the kitchen with Li Na.
Zhou Zhuang turned back—and realized Angela, Malkuth, and Hod were still watching him.
"What are you looking at me for? Eat something to get your appetite going!"
Then he got "brave," as if he'd found a shield.
"No one's eating? Fine. I'll eat."
He reached for the snacks—and, by reflex, pulled out his phone and started scrolling videos.
Watching their manager hide in ostrich mode, the three women exhaled in perfect synchrony, then finally began eating as well.
Angela ate while keeping her eyes on Zhou Zhuang.
Malkuth pulled out her battered old notebook and started recording today's events.
Hod, meanwhile, was still thinking about the "extract the remaining value from sinners" plan Zhou Zhuang had mentioned earlier.
Over at Faust's table, Anna and the others were genuinely hungry. Coming from the bottom of the Backstreets, they didn't have Faust's "stay dignified while starving" skill. In no time at all, their plate of appetizers was empty.
Li Na—now filling in on standby while Meizhen was unconscious—noticed Faust's table was out. She took the plate Faust handed her and went to refill.
Zhou Zhuang, laughing at some absurd meme that was eerily similar to his previous life, let out a happy snort… and reached for the snack plate—
—and grabbed nothing but air.
"Huh?"
He looked up. The plate that had been piled high earlier was now completely gone.
Zhou Zhuang scanned the three women at his table and smiled to himself, then waved the plate toward Li Na as she returned from refilling Faust's table—signaling that this table also needed a refill.
While waiting, Zhou Zhuang glanced at Malkuth and Hod, each busy with their own "work even during dinner" habits, and felt a strange warmth.
Yeah. Good times always show up right on schedule—during those carefree, unguarded moments—if your heart can grab hold of their slippery tail.
Li Na hurried over. Zhou Zhuang accepted the refilled plate, set it in the center, and thanked her.
Then he immediately reconsidered his internal narration.
Nope. The artsy tone doesn't suit me at all.
He stroked his chin like a philosopher, then decided it was better to keep scrolling videos and wait for the main dishes.
Faust, chewing the appetizers with small, neat bites, confirmed her suspicion.
As expected. This restaurant's chef is from Alley 23.
She observed Anna and the others: at first, they'd grabbed handfuls at a time. Now they were taking only small bits.
These snacks seemed to create a false sense of fullness.
Checking the feedback from her stomach, Faust refined the conclusion:
The intensity of that fullness depended on how much you ate at once. It didn't last long—more precisely, the duration would be "resolved" by the chef's actual main course.
That kind of almost supernatural cooking…
Faust continued eating in small bites. But the chef wasn't the "do anything for results" type.
The kitchen door opened. The owner and chef began carrying out the finished dishes.
Zhou Zhuang's nose twitched.
Oh. Food's coming. Time to eat.
He looked toward the kitchen—sure enough, plates of fragrant, colorful dishes were being delivered.
"So fast?" Zhou Zhuang was genuinely surprised. He felt like he must've lost track of time while scrolling.
He checked his phone.
Twenty minutes.
In twenty minutes, producing a spread like this… yeah, that chef was definitely from Alley 23.
Staring at the dishes, Zhou Zhuang thought:
City stereotypes, huh…
Then, honestly:
Let's just eat. A little appetizer padding doesn't do anything. And the owner said it helps digestion—so it's even less useful as "padding."
Burp~ ×4
Zhou Zhuang and Anna's trio burped at the exact same moment. They froze and looked at each other.
Anna's group turned awkward—after all, that was their boss.
But Zhou Zhuang didn't have that problem. Hearing his burp overlap with theirs made something in his brain snap, and he started laughing.
Seeing the manager laugh, Ryan and Sif got infected by the laughter and started laughing too.
Boys really did have a strange, inexplicable compatibility in certain areas.
After a while, the laughter faded.
Zhou Zhuang stood up and looked around at everyone seated.
"Today's dinner had… a lot of incidents. But the result was good—we ate safely. And this won't be the last company meal."
"I won't lie to you. After the first day of work, you already know our job carries danger."
"All I can say is: the days ahead will only get more dangerous. Sorry—my tongue's kind of clumsy. I just want to say: I hope that in the future, we can still keep doing what we did today—eat happily together, then return to the company and rest."
"Just right, the owner gave us drinks. Let's use this cup to toast Kim Se-yong, who's out on field duty, and the department heads we haven't met yet—let this be how we end today's gathering!"
After dumping out that whole speech, Zhou Zhuang lifted his drink, his face slightly flushed.
Ah! Why am I so long-winded? We ate, we're done—why am I forcing cringe chicken soup on my employees?
Angela looked at his red face, lifted her drink, and said:
"To the Manager. To the Company."
For some reason, that slogan—though it felt like something was missing—instantly made everyone feel like it finally "clicked."
"To the Manager! To the Company!" ×6
Hearing the chant, Zhou Zhuang raised his cup higher.
"And to you as well—may your lives bloom proudly in this City."
They drank together.
At the kitchen entrance, the owner, the chef, and Li Na held up glasses filled with wine, joining the toast from afar.
"To our guests—and to life."
....
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