“Is this the Haidilao you were talking about?
It looks quite lively.” Denia pointed at the Haidilao sign in front of her.
Even from the entrance, one could see the bustling crowd inside.
Waiters moved between the tables like fish in water—what a lively scene.
“Around here, Haidilao is one of the must-visit hotspots for young people.
It might sound exaggerated, but you’d be embarrassed to call yourself a Gen Z-er if you’ve never eaten at Haidilao,” Kather said, slightly exaggerating.
“Then let’s go in.
It doesn’t look like anyone is queuing right now, so there should be empty seats.” Denia saw that the area outside the Haidilao entrance was empty and pulled Kather along as she spoke.
After negotiating with the front desk, it wasn’t long before an enthusiastic waiter led them to an empty table in the corner.
After Kather and Denia sat down opposite each other, a tall, pretty waitress trotted over with a tablet for ordering.
“Hello, what would you two like to order?” The waitress’s voice was gentle and amiable, making one feel at ease.
She first smiled politely at Kather, but when she turned to Denia’s side, that enthusiastic smile stiffened for a moment.
‘What a faithful cosplay, it looks just like the real thing!’ That was her first impression upon seeing Denia.
You have to understand, even the most professional cosplayers can only achieve as much accuracy as possible through hair color, eye color, and clothing.
But capturing the character’s personality and temperament is the hardest part.
But the cosplayer in front of her not only perfectly recreated the appearance, but even perfectly replicated that pitiful, fragile sense of sorrow.
It made one want to protect her!
“Oh my, no, I’m here to work.
Calm down, calm down!” The waitress took a deep breath, regained her professional composure, and handed the menu to Kather.
Kather saw the girl’s loss of composure upon seeing Denia, smiled slightly, took the menu, and began to order.
“Do you have any dietary restrictions?” Kather asked Denia across the table.
“None.
I’ll eat whatever you order,” Denia replied.
About five minutes later, Kather returned the tablet to the young waitress.
“Thank you for your hard work,” he said, nodding politely to the waitress.
“It’s no trouble at all, it’s my job,” the waitress smiled.
After putting the tablet away, the waitress trotted away from their table.
Afterward, Kather continued scrolling through Bilibili, while Denia rested her head on her hand and dozed off, waiting for the food to be served.
…
Kather felt that this waitress was appearing a bit too frequently.
Generally speaking, Haidilao waiters are extremely busy, so it’s hard to say that the same person would always be the one serving the food.
But ever since they started serving the food, this waitress came over every time.
Even if she didn’t have any dishes to serve, she would come over to take a look and ask if they needed anything.
So, when this waitress came to their table again, Kather spoke up.
“Miss, although it might be inappropriate to say this, you seem to be paying too much attention to our table.
Is everything alright with the other customers?” he said in a gentle voice.
“Ah…
ah haha…
is it that obvious?” The waitress gave an awkward but polite smile.
‘That’s way too obvious.
You look like you want to glue your eyes to our table,’ Kather thought to himself.
“I don’t mind, but my companion here might be a little uncomfortable, so feel free to speak your mind,” Kather said, gesturing toward Denia.
Denia was buried in her food, her little mouth covered in tomato soup.
Suddenly being cued, she tilted her head and looked at Kather with some confusion.
To be fair, she had just been focusing on eating and really hadn’t noticed that the waitress had been watching them the whole time.
“Well, it’s nothing major.
I just think this teacher’s Denia cosplay is so accurate that I wanted to get to know her and maybe take a picture together,” the waitress said, looking a bit embarrassed.
‘Oh my god, it’s a fellow fan!’ Kather remained calm on the surface, but inside, he felt a sense of relief, like finding a kindred spirit.
Denia didn’t understand, so Denia chose to continue eating.
“Still eating, you little girl?
She came for you,” Kather said, tapping Denia on the head with a smile.
“Me?” Denia pointed at herself.
The meatball she had just stuffed into her mouth wasn’t swallowed yet, and her cheeks were puffed out like a little hamster.
“Um, hello, Teacher.
I’d like to take a picture with you, would that be okay?” The waitress put her hands together in a pleading gesture.
“Your Denia cosplay is really accurate, I want to keep a memento!” Denia was confused, so Denia chose to ask Kather for help.
“She wants to take a photo with you,” Kather explained.
“Mm, okay,” Denia nodded.
“Then sit together, I’ll take a photo of you two.” As he spoke, Kather opened the camera, focused, and turned the lens toward the two of them sitting together.
“Come on, say cheese.” The waitress made a V-sign with one hand and gave a lively smile, while Denia showed a gentle and quiet smile.
“Got it.” Kather looked at the photo, and it looked quite good.
He added the waitress on social media and sent the photo to her.
“www, so happy!
To be able to see such an accurate Denia in my lifetime, I can die without regrets~” The waitress looked like she was about to cry, which seemed quite funny.
“You seem to really like Denia?” Denia herself seemed to have accepted the ‘cosplayer’ premise and decided to play along.
“Yeah, my heart ached for her after finishing the story.
She was such a good, good girl…” the waitress said indignantly.
“That damn President of Residual Star Association…!” “What do you like about her?” Denia continued, “She is just a tool created by the Fractsidus.
The fate of a tool is to be completely discarded after its utility is drained.” “Isn’t that a good thing!
At least she doesn’t have to go against her own heart to do things that hurt others anymore!” The waitress laughed brightly.
“Denia can finally be a good girl with peace of mind!” “Even if she will be ostracized and spurned because of her identity as a Threnodian user?” “There will be people who like her, whether it’s the Rover, Sigrika, or us behind the screen!” The waitress showed a very innocent smile.
“We always hope that the characters we like will have a happy ending.
Precisely because of this, when they suffer hardships and pain, we feel the same sadness,” Kather said to the waitress, and even more so to himself.
Therefore, precisely because of this, when he has the chance to bring them happiness, he will undoubtedly do everything in his power to do so.
Even if this story across time and space will eventually come to an end one day, this overflowing happiness will not fade.