"Don't rush. The food hasn't even arrived yet. There's nothing to eat right now."
Anhua pursed her lips. "All right, then. I'll patiently wait a little longer."
Amado smiled at that, then went out to urge the waiter to bring the food out faster.
As it turned out, Amado's urging worked quite well.
In less than two minutes, the waiters had brought out a whole spread of dishes.
They filled half the table—and this was a private room large enough to seat more than ten people.
Half a table's worth of food was already a lot for just two people.
"Okay, everything's here. Pick whatever you want and put it in the hot pot."
Anhua had never eaten pork, but she'd seen pigs run. She picked out a few dishes she liked and put them in the pot to cook.
Her side was the spicy broth, which suited her taste perfectly.
Amado had clear broth on his side. He was smiling, and didn't seem to have any complaints.
"By the way, Amado, is it all right if I call you that?"
Amado was pleased to hear Anhua drop the "Lord." It meant they were growing closer.
"Of course. I've never really liked being called 'Lord' anyway. We're all equals, so we can just call each other by our names."
Anhua smiled. "That's good. Do you often come out to eat?"
"Not really. I'm not especially fond of crowded places. Usually, I only come out to eat with my Big Brother and the others. We've been hosting guests all through the New Year, so I haven't eaten out in ages."
"I see. All right."
They chatted about little things in their lives, and both of them enjoyed themselves.
After five or six minutes, most of the food in the hot pot