Chapter 57.2 Treating Someone to a Meal
Now that Yanluo had noticed Thanatos’ financial struggles, he recalled that the God of Death hadn’t left the apartment or even ordered takeout in an entire month. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to eat, but it was because he couldn’t afford to.
Yanluo found it unbearable. A god struggling to afford food, and under his very roof, no less? That was unacceptable.
Overcome with a rare moment of sympathy, Yanluo turned the steering wheel sharply and pulled into a bustling food street. “Come on. I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Thanatos immediately shook his head, intending to refuse. He didn’t want to trouble Yanluo any further. He just wanted to go home as quickly as possible.
“You don’t like this place? Fine, we’ll go somewhere else.” Without hesitation, Yanluo turned and picked an even pricier restaurant.
Thanatos: “……”
Forget it. He gave up.
Instead of choosing Yanluo Restaurant, Yanluo had deliberately picked a human-owned establishment.
“The food here is pretty good. I’ve been here a few times,” Yanluo said as he led Thanatos to a private dining room. He handed him the menu. “Order whatever you want. It’s on me.”
The waiter stood attentively at the table, pen in hand, but their gaze kept drifting toward the mysterious figure wrapped entirely in black robes. However, their real focus was on Yanluo. After all, a handsome man with an uncovered face was far more interesting to look at. Dressed in modern attire, he still carried the elegance of an ancient nobleman.
Thanatos glanced down at the menu, then silently handed it back to Yanluo.
Yanuo asked, “Nothing you like? Should we go somewhere else?”
Not wanting to drag this out any longer, Thanatos picked up a pen and wrote two words on the menu: You choose.
Not only was he socially anxious, but he also struggled with decision-making. On top of that, ordering required speaking to the waiter.
Yanluo looked at the neat, elegant handwriting and chuckled. “Alright, then.”
Without hesitation, he rattled off a list of dishes. The waiter quickly jotted everything down before leaving the room.
“Your handwriting is pretty good,” Yanluo remarked with genuine appreciation. “I’ve seen Venus and Poseidon’s attempts at writing Chinese characters, and yours is by far the best.”
He had a soft spot for Western gods who took an interest in Eastern culture.
Thanatos gave no visible reaction, or even if he did, it was impossible to tell beneath the heavy black robes.
An awkward silence settled between them.
With Thanatos’ extreme social anxiety, any conversation had the potential to die instantly.
Yanluo had already spent a month being ignored and was somewhat used to it. Undeterred, he casually continued the small talk. “How did you learn Chinese?”
A long stretch of silence followed.
Just as Yanluo was about to assume Thanatos wouldn’t answer, the God of Death finally spoke.
The young man’s voice was very low, but he was indeed making a sound. “Self-taught.”
Progress.
Encouraged, Yanluo pressed on. “How long did it take you?”
After all, Chinese was one of the most notoriously difficult languages in the world. Venus had spent centuries struggling to master it, Cupid had picked it up only through years of immersion, and even Poseidon was also stumped by ancient poems and classical Chinese.
Thanatos: “Three days.”
Yan Luo: “……”
He fell silent for a moment before smoothly switching to Greek. “Is it because you’re not confident in speaking Chinese? If that’s the case, we can switch to Greek for now. I also speak Latin and English.”
There was no way anyone could become fluent in Chinese in three days. Yanluo assumed this must be the reason for Thanatos’ silence. Perhaps his vocabulary was still too limited.
Thanatos remained quiet.
Yan Luo continued in Greek, undeterred. “I can teach you Chinese if you’d like.”
Finally, Thanatos responded, “I already know it.”
His reluctance to speak had nothing to do with language barriers. He simply didn’t want to talk.
Unfortunately, those curt words didn’t do much to convince Yanluo.
One by one, the dishes arrived, filling the table with an assortment of food. Yanluo unwrapped his chopsticks, served himself a bowl of tangyuan, and casually scooped up a spoonful. Thanatos sat quietly, watching him eat for a while before finally picking up a spoon himself.
The soft, chewy dumpling melted in his mouth, dissolving into a gentle sweetness.
It tasted good. He didn’t know what it was called.
But he didn’t ask. He simply ate in silence, not making a single sound even when eating.
Thanatos didn’t remove his hood even while eating, yet it didn’t seem to hinder him in the slightest. The robe had a magical power that made his face look like a black hole to outsiders, but in reality, his face was not blocked.
Yanluo’s gaze drifted to the hand that emerged from the robe, holding a spoon. Pale, slender, noticeably smaller than his own, it was the hand that belonged to a teenager.
With such delicate hands, he couldn’t help but wonder what the face beneath the hood looked like.
“You’re not going to take off your hood?” Yanluo asked. “Isn’t it inconvenient?”
Thanatos shook his head.
Then, remembering that every word he spoke now was essentially worth a thousand underworld coins, he reluctantly added, “It’s fine.”
Yanluo let it go. He wasn’t particularly interested in looks. He hadn’t been moved even by Venus’ beauty, but the more someone concealed themselves, the more curiosity they provoked. Still, if Thanatos wasn’t willing, Yanluo was more than capable of setting that curiosity aside.
Thanatos silently scooped up one tangyuan after another, quickly finishing his bowl.
Watching the dumplings vanish into the void where his face should be was an admittedly eerie sight. As Yanluo observed, his mind involuntarily recalled the fleeting glimpse of crimson lips he had seen when they first met.
“This is called tangyuan. We eat it on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, during the Lantern Festival. It symbolizes family reunion,” Yanluo explained, never missing an opportunity to introduce his culture.
So this soft, white dumpling was called tangyuan.
Thanatos quietly committed the name to memory.
Yanluo chuckled. “You finished the tangyuan. Aren’t you going to try anything else?”
Thanatos glanced at the chopsticks on the table, contemplating how to hold them properly.
He hadn’t picked them up because Yanluo hadn’t either.
If Yanluo wasn’t using chopsticks, Thanatos had no reference for how to use them himself.
But he wasn’t about to ask. That would expose his ignorance.
However, Yanluo was doing it on purpose. So far, every question had been initiated by him, with Thanatos only responding when necessary. If they were going to have a real exchange, there had to be some give and take. Otherwise, it was just an interrogation, which wasn’t much fun.
Thanatos stared at him for a long moment, but Yanluo still made no move to pick up his chopsticks. That expectant gaze made him feel flustered.
Lowering his head, Thanatos pulled out his phone, pretended to scroll casually, and typed how to use chopsticks into the search bar.
After a quick glance at the instructions, he set the phone down, picked up the chopsticks, and used the standard chopstick-holding posture to pick up the dishes.
Yanluo raised an eyebrow.
A self-reliant kid.
As if asking would be the death of him.
Yanluo shook his head and finally picked up his chopsticks to eat as well.
Halfway through the meal, he noticed something.
Thanatos only ate the two vegetarian dishes within his immediate reach. No matter how appetizing the other dishes looked or how enticing their aroma was, he didn’t touch them. The turntable was right in front of him, but if Yanluo didn’t move it, he wouldn’t turn it.
Yanluo caught him sneaking glances at a particular dish several times. Clearly, he wanted to try it. But getting to it would require either standing up to reach over or spinning the turntable. Thanatos hesitated for a long time. In the end, he simply lowered his head and continued to eat the two closest dishes in his usual slow and silent manner.
Yanluo clicked his tongue. He couldn’t just sit back and watch anymore.
He’d brought this poor guy out for a meal, not to have him fast.
Casually, Yanluo spun the turntable, bringing the dish Thanatos had been eyeing right in front of him. Then, to make it appear natural, he picked up some of the vegetarian dish that had rotated to his own side, as if it had simply been his choice.
Thanatos gave no outward reaction, but this time, he didn’t hesitate to pick up his chopsticks and dig in. He ate more frequently now, his movements more fluid. It was obvious that this was what he truly wanted to eat.
The expression, though concealed beneath the black robe, was unmistakably one of joy.
Yanluo’s lips curved slightly.
Pitiful and adorable.
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