Chapter 279: So Let Me Ask, Was That Person a Man or a Woman

One delicate dish after another was silently placed on the table by the waiters.

In the corner of the restaurant, several musicians were playing a soothing string quartet, the melody flowing like water through the dim, elegant atmosphere.

Xia Yao propped her chin on one hand, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the dark-haired young man across from her.

When she had booked this place, she had specifically asked Uncle An to pass along instructions for the kitchen to serve dishes several times faster than usual, and to adjust the menu specially... Otherwise, if each dish took over ten minutes to arrive and only contained a single bite, someone like Lin Guang would probably feel like she was wasting his lifespan.

But even so, she still harbored a faint worry that this kind of foreign cuisine might make Lin Guang feel out of his element.

For now, though, it seemed fine.

The young man before her remained as calm as ever in both movement and demeanor, showing no dislike for the somewhat novel flavors of the dishes, as if he had tasted them all before. Quiet and composed, he exuded a strangely reassuring aura.

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...Although she really couldn't compliment his fashion sense with that black hoodie and the letter W on the chest.

Xia Yao silently grumbled to herself, yet the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl upward.

The next moment, the waiter suddenly brought out two identical desserts. Exquisitely crafted matcha mousse cakes, each accompanied by a handcrafted vanilla bean ice cream scoop.

"This restaurant's handmade desserts have excellent reviews." Xia Yao blinked, a hint of teasing in her tone. "But if you don't like sweets, you can..."

Then she watched as Lin Guang very naturally picked up the small silver fork, scooped up a piece of matcha mousse coated in ice cream, and popped it straight into his mouth.

Xia Yao: "?"

He actually ate it?

She had assumed that someone with Lin Guang's divine eating habits, someone who subsisted on boiled eggs and chicken breast like they were full meals, would most likely push the plate over to her.

Xia Yao was somewhat taken aback and blurted out, "How does it taste?"

"Not bad, I guess."

Lin Guang swallowed the dessert and commented with an expression as calm as ever. "The bitterness of the matcha covers up the cloying sweetness of the vanilla bean. The flavor is well balanced."

The familiarity in his tone was as if he regularly indulged in such high-end desserts.

There was no way that was possible, right?

"By the way..."

Xia Yao also scooped a small spoonful of mousse into her mouth, as if something had just occurred to her. She lightly hooked her finger around the icy blue gem pendant resting on her chest, swaying it gently in the candlelight, her tone carrying the delight of someone about to share something.

"Do you think this necklace looks good on me today?"

Previously, Lin Guang's gaze had rarely lingered on this necklace for even a moment... She remembered that no matter what jewelry she wore before, he would always act like he hadn't seen it at all!

The dark-haired young man continued eating his dessert, his gaze resting on the gem for a few more seconds before he nodded. "Not bad."

"Right?"

Xia Yao's eyes lit up, her tone growing noticeably more excited.

"This necklace wasn't bought by me. Someone gave it to me."

She paused for a moment, as if deliberately building suspense.

Then nothing happened.

Staring at the dark-haired young man who seemed completely unmoved, Xia Yao couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Why don't you ask me whether that person was a man or a woman?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Guang swallowed the dessert in his mouth and spoke. "Was that person a man or a woman?"

"..."

This guy simply couldn't be baited no matter what!

Xia Yao said with exasperation, "It was a girl!"

Lin Guang nodded, his gaze utterly unruffled.

—That only means you're seeing the first layer, while I'm already standing on the fifth.

Her observational skills were still too weak. She needed more practice.

Seeing how utterly uninterested he seemed, Xia Yao let out a helpless sigh, but her expression quickly grew complicated, a hint of longing shining in her eyes.

She took several deep breaths, as if about to finally voice a topic she had been mulling over in her heart for a long time.

"Speaking of which... Didn't you used to always talk about things like Ultra ○, Masked Rider ○, and stuff like that..."

Then, she watched as the dark-haired young man across from her suddenly raised his head, focusing his gaze directly on her.

In that instant, she seemed to catch a fleeting trace of crimson light flashing through the depths of Lin Guang's eyes.

"...?"

For a moment, Xia Yao couldn't quite make sense of that look.

But the very next second, she immediately understood.

—Lin Guang wasn't looking at her. He was looking behind her?

She spun around sharply, instinctively turning to glance at what was behind her.

At that very moment.

Boom!!

A muffled, thunderous sound suddenly erupted from the nightscape outside the window, causing the restaurant floor to tremble slightly. The candle flames on the table flickered wildly, and the drinks in the tall glasses rippled in concentric rings.

Following that came the piercing shriek of car alarms.

The band's performance halted instantly. The waiters and other guests wore expressions of shock, cries of surprise escaping their lips.

Xia Yao blurted out, "What was that?"

Again?!

A familiar feeling and a sense of déjà vu surged through her heart.

Xia Yao's heart tightened. Instinctively, she glanced toward the elevator entrance.

There, in the shadows of the dim corridor, Uncle An, dressed in his tailcoat, stepped forward proactively and nodded at her.

The anxiety hanging over Xia Yao's heart eased somewhat.

But when she turned her head and her gaze fell back on the dining table, she discovered that the figure in the seat across from her had vanished.

"!"

An inexplicable wave of panic and loss instantly spread from the depths of her heart.

Where did he go?!

That hollow, empty feeling was exactly the same as when that cherry-haired girl had suddenly disappeared right in front of her a few days ago.

Yet before that emotion could even spread further, Xia Yao spotted a familiar silhouette standing by the floor-to-ceiling window on the other side. The heavy stone in her heart finally hit the ground.

Thank goodness, he hadn't left...

"...?"

Xia Yao was stunned once again.

Because the young man before her had suddenly made a strange move.

Under the shocked gazes of the guests scrambling to flee and the waiters, he extended his right hand and pressed his index finger against the thick blast-proof glass. A wisp of crimson flame light flowed out along his fingertip.

Then, slowly, he traced a circle on the surface of the glass.

Without a single sound, the glass within the circle silently melted away, revealing a hole the size of a fist.

And in Xia Yao's eyes, which reflected the firelight dancing on his hand, her pupils dilated uncontrollably.

—Wait, this is!

Under her utterly astounded gaze, Lin Guang suddenly raised his right hand gripping the dinner fork, making a motion similar to winding up for a strike.

Whum!

In that instant, it seemed as if sparks were being drawn toward him from all directions. A dazzling crimson radiance, like a spiraling flame, wrapped itself around the fork layer by layer, emitting faint sizzling sounds.

The fork was visibly growing redder and redder.

It wasn't just heating up. It was more as if the surging fire was being stored within its core, yet its outer shape seemed forcibly restrained by some kind of force field-like barrier, neither melting nor exploding.

He gazed down at the bustling commercial district below, his eyes locking onto something.

The next instant, with a flick of his wrist, the fork wreathed in crimson flames shot out through the hole in the glass, transforming into a thin streak of firelight in the night.