Chapter 37: That Late-Night Snack
Since he had promised to take Mu Le out for barbecue, after suggesting they get something to eat, Xiao Yuze drove her straight to a nearby open-air barbecue stall.
Even though it was already late at night, there were still many people there, and the place was very lively.
Most of them were people who had just finished work. After a long day, gathering with friends to drink and eat grilled meat was one of the best ways to relax.
Because there were so many people, there were no seats left. But Mu Le didn’t mind at all. As soon as she got out of the car, she happily ran over to the owner, who was brushing sauce onto the meat.
“Boss! Twenty lamb skewers, four chicken wings, and two bottles of beer!”
Her voice was a bit loud. Although it sounded clear and pleasant, it still made the owner pause for a moment in surprise.
Before he could reply, Mu Le’s head was lightly tapped.
Facing her complaining look, Xiao Yuze just smiled helplessly at the owner. “We’ll take everything she said, except the beer.”
“…Haha, alright. But you’ll have to wait a bit, there are still a few customers ahead. There are no seats left, but there are some stools over there. You can sit there for now.”
After saying that, the owner went back to grilling.
“It’s fine.” Xiao Yuze nodded and led Mu Le to sit on a nearby stool.
Even while sitting, Mu Le’s eyes stayed fixed on the grill.
Seeing her look like someone who hadn’t eaten in ages, Xiao Yuze felt even more helpless.
In his memory, whether it was the old Mu Le or the current one, she had always loved food.
And she could eat a lot.
Sometimes, Xiao Yuze even wondered how such a small body could hold so much food.
In this era where everyone calls themselves a foodie, Mu Le was definitely a “foodie among foodies.”
Even after becoming a girl, this didn’t change at all.
In fact, she seemed to like sweets like chocolate and cake even more now.
Of course, there were things Mu Le didn’t like. Ginger, garlic, and celery.
She never touched those three.
As for food, she especially loved meat.
As people often joked online, humans evolved to stand at the top of the food chain, not to eat only vegetables.
Xiao Yuze, however, couldn’t quite understand that. Compared to greasy meat, he actually found some vegetables more enjoyable.
Of course, he didn’t reject meat either.
But in his opinion, a balanced diet was the best.
Mu Le clearly didn’t think that way. If she chose for herself, her meals would probably be based only on what she felt like eating.
She would eat whatever she wanted. When she felt lazy, a bag of chips and a bottle of cola could be enough for a whole day.
Thinking about it, the reason Mu Le’s health was still quite good was actually thanks to Xiao Yuze.
Otherwise, with her personality, she probably wouldn’t have developed a relatively healthy lifestyle.
But neither of them really noticed this.
While Xiao Yuze was lost in thought, Mu Le had quietly gotten up and left.
When she came back, she was holding two freshly grilled lamb skewers.
The surface was shiny with oil, covered in sauce and sprinkled with cumin, giving off a smell that was hard to resist.
“Here, these just came off the grill. The rest will take a while.”
As she spoke, she handed one of the skewers to Xiao Yuze.
After he took it, she couldn’t wait and bit into her own skewer—
“Hss… it’s hot!”
Of course it was hot, it had just been grilled.
Watching her endure the heat and swallow the food anyway, Xiao Yuze shook his head and stood up.
He walked to a nearby fridge and took out two bottles of drinks.
When he came back, he found that the skewer she had just complained was too hot… was already completely eaten.
Licking the oil from the corner of her mouth, Mu Le still looked like she hadn’t had enough.
Xiao Yuze didn’t say anything. He just placed the drink and the lamb skewers in his hand in front of Mu Le. “Take them.”
“Huh? You’re giving me the meat too?” Mu Le blinked, a bit unsure.
“Don’t want it?”
“I do.”
As Mu Le took the skewers and happily bit into them, Xiao Yuze stood up again. He used a small plate to bring over the rest of the grilled food.
Then he found another stool and placed it between them, just sitting there and watching the girl beside him eat with great enjoyment.
While chatting casually with her, they also talked a bit about their National Day holiday plans.
The summer night breeze was cool. Xiao Yuze took a sip of his drink and suddenly felt a strange emotion.
It was hard to explain, but it made him feel relaxed and quietly happy.
Even though the girl beside him didn’t look very elegant while eating, he still found her very cute.
Just like many times before, no matter how many things Mu Le did that made him feel helpless, he never really felt annoyed or angry.
Spoiling her had somehow become a habit.
Maybe he hadn’t noticed it.
Or maybe he had, but it had already become something he didn’t want to change.
In the end, after Mu Le finished more than twenty skewers, and even ordered more, this “greedy little cat” was finally full.
As for Xiao Yuze, he only ate a few. Mu Le finished the rest.
After paying the bill, Xiao Yuze looked at Mu Le sitting on the stool, rubbing her stomach, and shook his head.
“If you’re full, let’s go buy clothes. If we wait any longer, the shops might close.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help reaching out to rub her head again.
Of course, his hand was quickly slapped away.
Mu Le rolled her eyes at him. After standing up, she let out a long breath. “Stop touching my head all the time. What if I go bald?”
Shouldn’t it be “what if I stop growing taller”? Xiao Yuze wanted to say that, but he held it back.
They got back into the car. After helping Mu Le fasten her seatbelt, Xiao Yuze turned the car around and drove toward a place he remembered that sold swimsuits.
Looking through the rearview mirror, Mu Le glanced back at the barbecue stall getting farther and farther away. She couldn’t help asking, “Um… can we come here again in the future? The food here is really good.”
Xiao Yuze glanced at her, then focused back on driving.
“No.”
“Why?” Mu Le blinked, looking a bit pitiful.
But the man beside her didn’t react much. He calmly said, “Food from outside isn’t always very clean. It’s fine once in a while. If you like it, we can buy tools and ingredients and make it at home.”
“Huh? Really? Won’t there be a lot of smoke?”
“There are ways to deal with that at home. Alright… sit properly and don’t move around.”
“I know, I’m not a kid. You’re so naggy,” Mu Le snorted, but her expression clearly showed she was happy.
Xiao Yuze glanced at her quietly and started thinking… maybe he should buy a very detailed cookbook.
Yeah, that might be a good idea.
After all, the best way to “capture” a foodie is to feed them well, until they get so used to it that they can’t leave.
…Okay, that was nonsense.
But the saying “to win someone’s heart, you must first win their stomach” did make some sense.
Although, if you take that sentence literally, it actually sounds a bit scary.
Especially when applied to certain obsessive characters, it becomes even more frightening.
Grabbing both the heart and the stomach… sounds kind of creepy.
“Aze, your expression looks a bit strange.”
“…It’s nothing.” Xiao Yuze shook his head and pushed those random thoughts away.
Mu Le looked at him curiously for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. “Um… about the swimsuit… are there really ones that won’t feel embarrassing?”
“Of course. There are many types. One-piece, two-piece, shorts-style, high-waist… some are more revealing, but others are quite conservative.”
“I see…” Mu Le gently touched her lips with her fingers. She instinctively felt resistant to the idea of wearing a swimsuit.
But going to the beach did sound really fun.
And maybe there would be seafood too…
For her, that was a huge temptation.
She felt a bit conflicted, but if the swimsuit wasn’t too revealing, maybe she could accept it.
In the end, each of them lost in their own thoughts, time quietly passed, until their car slowly came to a stop…