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Embarrassment was impossible. As a professional wage slave, Zhen Liu was only mildly surprised inwardly, while outwardly he missed nothing he was supposed to say. "Sorry for the trouble." Even his expression did not change; his smile was perfect, his manner gentle, as though he truly did not know Lucien and they were merely a waiter and customer meeting by chance.

"How may I help you?"

This was some peculiar line the café owner had picked up from who knew where. He felt that waiters could not urge customers to order, but they also could not be overly cold and ignore them entirely. After all, who did not order by scanning a code these days? Machines were replacing humans. If humans wanted to win, they had to do things machines could not do, such as offering a personal touch.

Zhen Liu did not know whether this line would work, but he knew he would only get paid if he said it.

Lucien smiled so brilliantly at Zhen Liu, but the God of Love, who had come prepared, beat him to it. He had come specifically to enjoy Lucien's humiliation, with a clear stance and a definite goal—to make things harder for Lucien. The God of Love winked at Zhen Liu, beautiful and amiable. "Hi~"

Zhen Liu immediately switched languages, his service impeccable. "What can I do for you?"

"He understands Chinese." Lucien ruthlessly exposed the God of Love's foreigner act. At the same time, he subtly changed his hand gesture and, with lightning speed, sealed the God of Love's mouth. Only then did he turn to Zhen Liu with peace of mind. "I want to talk to you."

No one would disturb us again.

The God of Love glared furiously, yet could not make a single sound. He had to work very hard not to lose his elegance.

"It's working hours right now. Sorry, but I don't discuss personal matters." Zhen Liu's smile remained flawless, because he did not want other customers to see him behaving improperly. The waiters here mainly earned their income through customers' orders. Every customer was a benefactor; none could be offended.

Lucien had clearly done his homework and come prepared. "I've already ordered you."

To accommodate customers who came alone but did not want to eat by themselves, the café offered companionship services for meals and conversation. When the café was not too busy, waiters could even play board games with customers. It was charged by the hour. As long as the customer could afford it, nothing was impossible.

Put that way, having an overbearing CEO come to a butler café was actually an option too. Then the protagonist would have no way to refuse, provided he still wanted this job with its high commissions.

Zhen Liu... was that unlucky wage slave unwilling to give up his job. After receiving confirmation from the ordering system, he professionally took a seat. "Then what would you like to talk about, sir?"

Lucien got straight to the point. "I can help you pay off all your debts."

Beside them, the God of Love, unable to speak and therefore continuing to forcefully pretend to be an international friend with an expression of "I can't understand a word you're saying," nearly sprayed out a mouthful of water.

Not bad. That was one hell of a direct shot—very Lucien.

Zhen Liu let out a long sigh. He could not even be bothered to ask how Lucien had found him, nor did he want to know whether Lucien had still not given up on that damned fishing plan. He only wanted to tell him, "Do you know how many people have said that to me?"

Lucien paused slightly.

Clearly, he did not. Zhen Liu continued, "Then do you know why I'm still working here after being asked that so many times?"

Because he refused targeted poverty alleviation.

Without waiting for Lucien to speak, Zhen Liu was obviously extremely practiced at this whole rejection routine—so practiced it was heartbreaking. He said, "I really don't need it. This isn't pride, and it isn't stubbornness—"

Who did not love money? If one could live leisurely, who would choose to work themselves like a dog? But some things could not be calculated that way.

"—If you really investigated my family's situation, then you should know that I've already paid back most of the debts that needed urgent repayment."

In other words, Zhen Liu's current creditors were all people who did not care about this money at all. In fact, those uncles had repeatedly told Zhen Liu that he did not need to repay them. Before his death, Father Zhen had helped them a great deal too.

Society was cruel, but sometimes it could also be very humane.

Zhen Liu was the one insisting on repaying the money. Zhen Liu was the one who chose to work hard, and Zhen Liu was the one who chose a frugal yet fulfilling life. Others not lacking money did not mean he could simply refuse to repay it. There was no logic of "I'm weak, therefore I'm right."

"Do you think that with my father owing such a huge sum, I, a child back then, could have paid off the urgent debts so quickly on my own?" Obviously, other uncles had helped.

Seated in the booth in his uniform, Zhen Liu's back was as straight as a young poplar.

Zhen Liu's thoughts were clear and his reasoning orderly. "To me, owing these uncles money is no different from owing you money. So why should I owe you money?"

The God of Love gave Lucien the same look. Exactly. Why should the little beauty owe you money?

Lucien's contract plan... died an early death just like that. The whole process had been lightning-fast and completely unlike anything he had imagined.

Even after paying the bill and leaving that café, Lucien was still somewhat dazed. Although the seal on the God of Love's mouth had still not been lifted, he was delighted beyond measure. After witnessing all that, he had come out ahead!

The God of Love did not forget to use magic to write in the air—Stop loving him. There's no future.

But Lucien was not a god who gave up easily. Since contract dating would not work, he would switch methods. There were countless romance tropes, and Ajin novels accounted for half of them. With a grand wave of his hand, he bought out all the romance novels on Ajin Literature City and stayed up all night reading by lamplight. He refused to believe he would still fail.

Then, as one would expect, he kept failing—several times over.

What was the difference between looking for ways to date in novels and learning how to trade stocks from TV dramas? He would lose himself to death. The God of Love watched with immense satisfaction. With a friend like Lucien, why would he need a subscription to a streaming site? This one god alone was enough to support an entire summer's worth of entertainment.

In the end, after repeated defeats and repeated attempts, Lucien could only lower his noble head and humbly seek the God of Love's guidance. "How do I win him over?"