At those words, Chrysanthemum Douluo completely short-circuited on the spot.
The speech he had painstakingly prepared—a rambling few thousand words, from the awe-inspiring entrance of the eighty-thousand-year Soul Bone to the recovery of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and finally elevating it all to Senior Lin's boundless kindness and magnanimity...
Every heart-wrenching, wallet-opening selling point was now firmly stuck in his throat by those three icy dish names.
No...
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
The process wasn't supposed to be like this!
I haven't even started brainwashing you—no, I mean, introducing you to the peerless opportunity here. How have you already spent your money?!
Noticing Chrysanthemum Douluo's stunned expression, as if he'd seen a ghost, Spirit Kite Douluo raised her fine brows and glared at him, her eyes full of undisguised contempt.
"What are you looking at?"
"You smashed so many of my newly bought treasures, and I haven't even asked you to pay for them yet!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo finally came to his senses. Instinctively, he tried to switch to his backup plan and hurriedly said, "Ling Yuan, you've misunderstood. That's not what I meant. I was saying that the true value of Senior's place lies in its supreme opportunities..."
Before he could finish, Spirit Kite Douluo impatiently waved him off.
"Opportunity?"
Spirit Kite Douluo gave a mocking laugh, looking at him as if he were an unruly child.
She pointed at the menu with her slender jade finger, then at her stomach, which was still rumbling, and declared with absolute conviction:
"Right now, my stomach is telling me it wants to eat!"
"That's the greatest opportunity at this moment!"
"As for all that other stuff you're talking about, we can discuss it after I've eaten my fill!"
Her words were so pure, so... reasonable.
Chrysanthemum Douluo opened his mouth, only to find himself at a loss for words.
Still unwilling to give up, he pointed at the astronomical prices on the menu and reminded her, "But... these prices..."
"Expensive?"
Spirit Kite Douluo looked as if she'd just heard the biggest joke in the world and curled her lip.
"It's because it's expensive that I'm ordering it!"
"What would you know? You get what you pay for! The fact that it costs this much, and that Magic Bear—the lunkhead—ate it until he was sobbing and streaming snot, says it all!"
"It's worth every penny!"
She paused, then added one last line that completely crushed Chrysanthemum Douluo's remaining arguments.
"Of course, it is a bit expensive, so I'll just order three dishes and try a little first. Is there a problem with that?"
Chrysanthemum Douluo: "..."
No problem.
I'm the problem.
Interesting.
A glint of amusement quietly passed through Lin Feng's eyes as he lounged in his rocking chair.
He'd assumed that all the customers who came here would be like Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
One by one, they'd been swept up in thoughts of "lottery draws" and "peerless opportunities."
All they could think about was Soul Bones, Immortal Herbs, and improving their cultivation.
Textbook examples of mercenary leeks.
Simple, straightforward, easy to harvest.
But he hadn't expected to catch an entirely new variety today.
A... pure foodie.
Not here for an opportunity or a reward. She'd merely smelled the food, seen the price, and decided it had to be a supreme delicacy.
This kind of leek...
Seemed to have a little more class than the others.
Just as Lin Feng was amusedly labeling his new leek, the system's cold, familiar, razor-tongued voice rang out in his mind right on cue.
[ Ding! You worthless host, stop congratulating yourself and wipe that clueless look off your face. ]
[ This woman may look like a pure glutton who doesn't care about the price, but that's only because she hasn't seen anything truly good yet. ]
[ Human nature is greedy, host. ]
There was a trace of mockery in the system's voice.
[ Once she gets a taste for the lottery draws, and experiences that ultimate thrill of reaching the heavens in a single step, of having her fate rewritten in an instant... ]
[ What makes you think she won't turn out just like those two loyal old leeks at your feet? ]
The curve of Lin Feng's lips stiffened slightly.
That Dog System was as irritating as ever.
But he had to admit it might be right.
Human nature was greedy.
In the face of opportunities like Soul Bones and Immortal Herbs that could defy fate and change one's life, a "foodie" streak was probably as fragile as paper.
But so what?
Lin Feng sneered inwardly.
Whatever their motive, whether they were leeks with a sweet tooth or greedy leeks—
As long as he could harvest them and they contributed points to him, they were good leeks.
As for the leeks' inner journeys?
He couldn't be bothered to care.
[Why think so much? You're just a busted system. Don't tell me you want to be a life coach now?]
Lin Feng silently retorted.
He cleared his mind and let his lazy, detached expression settle back onto his face, as if none of those thoughts had ever crossed it.
He slowly rose from the rocking chair, moving without a trace of worldly fuss. Facing Spirit Kite Douluo, and everyone else, he said two words in an even tone.
"Just a moment."
With that, he turned and headed for the kitchen, leaving everyone with an inscrutable view of his back.
Only after Lin Feng's seemingly ordinary figure had disappeared behind the kitchen curtain did Chrysanthemum Douluo leisurely get to his feet. He went straight over to Ghost Douluo and sat down right beside him.
Their shoulders were practically touching as they leaned their heads together and whispered, looking far too intimate for comfort.
"Ugh—"
At the next table, Magic Bear Douluo was hugging a big bowl and eating until tears streamed down his face. The moment he happened to catch sight of them, his stomach lurched.
The peerless delicacy in his mouth nearly came back up at the sight.
Those two old geezers really didn't care who was watching!
He hurriedly shut his eyes, though he didn't dare stop chewing. In his mind, he chanted frantically:
I can't see them! I can't see them!
As long as I eat fast enough, nobody can interfere with my meal!
Ding-a-ling—
The crisp wind chime at the restaurant entrance rang again.
The three youngsters of the Golden Generation came in, brimming with anticipation and clustered around a kind-faced, distinguished old man.
The newcomer was none other than Holy Dragon Douluo, Tuoba Xi.
The instant he stepped through the door, Tuoba Xi abruptly stopped in his tracks.
A domineering, peerlessly rich aroma seemed to come to life as it burrowed into his nostrils, forcefully sweeping through every inch of his body!
How fragrant!
Just smelling it made the Soul Power inside Tuoba Xi stir faintly, while his stomach let out a rumble.
No wonder those youngsters had been so hungry for it!
He chuckled to himself, his eyes full of affection for the younger generation, then looked around the restaurant.
But in the next moment,
the smile on Tuoba Xi's face froze completely.
What was he looking at?
Magic Bear Douluo, famed for his fiery temper and thick skin, was sitting there with his eyes closed, hugging a bowl bigger than his face. He was wolfing down his food and weeping, making muffled noises that were impossible to understand.
There wasn't a trace of a Title Douluo's dignity left in him!
Tuoba Xi's gaze shifted.
He spotted Spirit Kite Douluo, the only female elder in the Elder Council!
Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were dusty, and there seemed to be traces of blood still in her nostrils. She looked utterly bedraggled.
Yet there wasn't a trace of anger in her beautiful eyes. They held only an almost obsessive longing as she stared fixedly toward the kitchen.
W-what on earth was going on?!
Tuoba Xi felt his brain struggling to keep up.
But what made his scalp tingle the most...
was Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo in the corner!
The most powerful and famous Title Douluos in the Elder Hall were... actually cuddled up together, whispering to each other as if no one else were there?
Tuoba Xi's pupils quaked like an eight-point earthquake.
Behind him, Hu Liena spotted the intimate interaction between Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from letting out a strange squeal.