Chapter 7 Is It a Stunt Proposal

"Wait, are you sure this is the menu? The prices... "

Evan saw that a simple fried rice with eggs meal, cost 88 RMB. Not Rubles or Japanese yen, RMB. He was astonished.

"Obviously, it was not the Gilded Fried Rice from Chinese Royal Chef nor the euphoric delicacies from Cook Battle, so how could this be real?" He thought to himself. (*TN Chinese Royal Chef and Cook Battle are two fictional anime shows)

"You'll love the food. It's damn delicious. But if you can't afford it, don't mind, it's my treat."

Kristine pouted and smiled to the waiter: "Two noodle soup combos. Oh... and two house special stir fries, please."

The two noodle soup combos cost 160 in total, and the two stir fries would cost another 400. Unbelievable. More than 500 for just one meal. It felt like day light robbery to Evan.

Evan skimmed the menu in his hand with a shocked expression on his face. He calculated in his heart, but he couldn't look cheap on the outside. He pulled out his wallet and picked out six red bills, handing them to the waiter, "40 is the change."

"You are good at maths."

Kristine smirked, "What a rare generosity. But then again, you are eating with a beauty like me, so it wouldn't be right if you weren't generous."

If it were before, Evan would kill himself before he thought of being so wasteful.

One meal cost him almost six hundred. That was money enough to sustain himself for a whole month, including his expenses on cigarettes and alcohol.

Fortunately, the scammers last night had given him some extra money, so at this moment, Evan didn't care all that much about his spending this time.

But what confused him was that such a tiny restaurant with no permits dared to charge such high prices. Where was the Price Bureau, and what about the Administration for Industry Commerce? This was way too much. With such high prices, how many could afford to eat here?

As for Kristine's narcissism, Evan's response was quite simple. He gave a hearty laugh.

"Ha!"

Kristine chortled and said, "Alright alright. Don't get hung up on it. I'll just make it up to you by buying you a fancy dinner tonight. But the food here is really worth every penny. It's only 11 or 12 o'clock right now. You just wait and see. I expect a long queue outside before we are done."

Evan was filled with disbelief. This must be a joke. Who would come and eat here with such prices?

Yet before he could speak, a young couple sat down at a table near them, touching and holding each other.

Evan peeked at them, seeing the man picking up his menu. Look at his surprised expression! He must be shocked as well, Evan knew it.

But what the young man said next almost made Evan spit out the water he just drank.

"How come there's no crystal ham hock today? My wife and I came here just for the ham hock. Chef Lin didn't prepare it?"

"Sorry, we're not serving ham hocks today, because the ham hocks we have aren't of good quality. Chef Lin doesn't want to prepare them, saying that it'll affect the taste."

"Oh, so that's why. Well, then we'll just have the couple's combo."

Wow!?

Evan was utterly astounded. Crystal ham hock dish cost 888, and they just sat down and asked for it right away.

How rich were they?

"Ha, I told you. The food here is worth the price."

Kristine laughed and said: "Hm, see, it's not lunch time yet, and the restaurant is already filling up."

As she spoke, Evan took a look around. She was right, the tiny and empty restaurant earlier, was now very crowded.

'Damn, their business couldn't be this good. If I were to invite the guy from Chuka Ichiban to open a restaurant, his glowing Golden Fried Rice could sell for a fortune!'

Evan thought to himself, ideas racing through his mind.

He went out of his way to study the functions of the Book of Life and Death, wanting to use it to travel through space and time. He had the power to decide anyone's mortal fate. Furthermore, he knew that if he were to take any soul, the world would just generate a copy to fill the void and maintain the balance.

Which meant, Evan could gather the souls of others without harming their beings.

Deep in thought, the dishes arrived at the table; very plain noodle soups and two meaty stir fries. After one glance, Evan immediately took up his chopsticks. He wanted to try it for himself to see if the food was really worth the price.

Seeing that Evan had started eating, Kristine didn't hesitate anymore and began eating.

They were not the only ones in a hurry. Basically at every table with food on it, people were doing the same thing, chomping away their meals like there was no tomorrow. Their satisfied expressions could be likened to those savouring their lovers' kisses.

Even the skeptical Evan almost bit his tongue.

He couldn't even doubt the over-the-top customers in Chinese Royal Chef or Cook Battle, because truly good food could surely conquer one's spirit.

"How was it? I wasn't lying, right?"

Kristine said with a smile, breaking the silence in the car, as she drove back to their neighbourhood.

"I want a big meal tonight!"

Evan said with certainty. His face looked committed.

"Yeah, it's my treat tonight."

Kristine laughed and said, "Are you doing anything now? Are you up for watching me livestream?"

"I don't have anything to do back home, so I'll just relax and see how you usually do your livestream."

Evan smiled, yet his mind was preoccupied with the dilemma of choosing either the Chinese Royal Chef or the hero Soki from Cook Battle. If any of them were to possess him and cook, without a doubt, his cooking would be world-famous!

Krisitne laughed, drove to the city center, parked her car and got off with Evan.

"I'm starting my livestream vlog now. Hey Evan, in a second, you must act like a random pedestrian!"

Kristine smiled, sneakily, as she retrieved her selfie stick from her handbag.

Evan knew the drill very well. He quickly walked to the other side and pretended to be a passer-by.

He could only read the Book of Life and Death in the Yama Palace at night. But should he start a restaurant first? or should he make up his mind when the book was in front of him? After all, he could travel through all dimensions to make his choice, even including that of Breaker Terry. If he could rope in Terry Colin the genius inventor, then he would be super rich. (*TN Breaker Terry is a fictional superhero movie, and Terry Colin is the name of the title character)

Thinking about this, Evan became more and more excited.

At the moment, he was working at a scientific research company, and even though he was just an intern, the job was a great fit for his specialisation. If he could get Breaker Terry here, then soon he would be buried in money. 'Talk about state-of-the-art technology!' Evan wanted to scream out loud.

"What are you doing? Let me go! What's wrong with you?"

Just as Evan's mind wandered, Kristine ran into trouble in the middle of her livestream.

A quite handsome man, holding a large bouquet of red roses in one hand, got on one knee and held up a glittering diamond ring in the other. He was proposing to Kristine Chen.

Kristine was obviously surprised by this. She didn't show any positive reaction to the man, otherwise she wouldn't keep backing away. It was clear that she was panicking.

Should a hero intervene?

Evan thought for a moment and stepped up. After all, he was her good neighbour. Besides, she had promised to buy him dinner tonight. He couldn't just sit there and watch her get cornered.

Although Evan knew that he was probably penniless compared to the handsome guy kneeling on the ground and proposing to Kristine, Evan was also aware of his unlimited potential. Who knew what could happen in the future?

It was noon, during the weekend, with many people in downtown.

A "romantic" scene like this naturally drew a lot of attention from the bystanders.

"A proposal. I didn't expect to see this in real life. I thought this could only happen on TV."

"The girl seems to be a streamer. Is this a publicity stunt?"

"Who knows? Let's wait and see."

"How many carats does that ring have? It's shining--"

"OMG! She's pretty cute."

Before Evan could get to where Kristine was, he overheard the people in the crowd whispering and speculating. He strode past them, his target a few short strides away.

"What's wrong, Kristine?"

Evan walked up to Kristine and gave the kneeling rich man a weird look, slightly squinting his eyes.

"I don't know either. I don't even know this guy. I don't know why he is proposing to me? This guy is a lunatic."

Kristine said angrily. She had already switched off her stream and was packing away her selfie stick.

"Kristine, you don't know this, but ever since I started watching your streams, I fell in love with you. Later, I only found out through some connections that you're also from Linhai City. I have prepared for a long time for this. Will you marry me?"

The handsome guy seemed so enthralled, staring straight at Kristine, that a loser like Evan was easily neglected from his perspective.

"Ew-- Sorry, I don't even know you. And, besides I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now."

Kristine took a deep breath. She really wanted to kick this man squarely in the face. What kind of person would do this?

"Hey buddy, did you hear what she said? Kristine doesn't want a boyfriend right now. I think you'd better leave."

Evan reminded the man kindly.

"Who the hell are you? I'm talking to Kristine. What makes you so damn high and mighty? Beat it!"

This man sure had a short temper. He wasn't discouraged at all by Kristine's rejection. Instead, he jumped up after hearing Evan's words and lunged to slap Evan in the face.

Even a softy knew how to stand for himself, let alone Evan who was now the ever so precious King Yama. How could Evan be afraid of this fickle human?