Chapter 577: NO.159: There will eventually be such an ordeal

NO. 159: There will eventually be such an ordeal.

Aomo had always thought that communal meals were a complex social ritual.

Usually, food primarily serves people's physiological needs, but it also has a social aspect.

It depends on history and social environment, and has now become a social behavior—people often arrange it to discuss things and solve problems, so that eating itself becomes a secondary element.

When at the welfare institute in the Demon Realm District on the outskirts of Bode District, Aomo was accustomed to eating alone.

Because that area once had a frenzied period where the collective was supreme over the individual, afterward the repressed individuality rebounded, and even now it still emphasizes the concept of an 'individual society'.

The result of increasingly encouraging individualism and personal responsibility is that even eating is touted as individual—your plate and your portion serve as a personal boundary, and people do not extend beyond it.

Thus one can imagine how, when Aomo was adopted by Morrison Linton and brought to Jiemen District, his ideas and notions received what shock and expansion.

After all, here people eat from a large plate or even a large bowl, and when sharing a dish they show utter disorder and chaos.

There is a kind of war's cruelty.

Of course, given Aomo's extraordinary adaptability and acceptance, fitting in was no problem, and soon he would be managing the household and wielding the spoon, facing the many large plates and bowls in the home's utensils.

He quickly overcame the anxiety that most Bode people feel when encountering this kind of culture: 'When sharing a plate with everyone, one wonders confusedly how much one should eat, where to start, and whether one can out-eat equally hungry companions?'

In this sense, the Bode people's awkwardness is no less than that of the Jidong people.

Of course, if they were Jidong people they'd probably also add, half-seriously, 'Will they not eat enough?' to obtain the Jidong specialty 'Asaxi' under Jidong culture, but Aomo ultimately is more influenced by East Yan Culture.

Just thinking about these things only makes one feel pointless, especially since half of the Penguin Logistics team is still in this dining group.

Angel, Croissant, Texas, Lapland—although the last one is a stretch, they still count as about half.

Mos Tim Ma is still away on an external assignment, Miss Kong's main job is being a topstar, and logistics has long become a pastime during leisure.

This sounds somewhat like the subtle experience of a millionaire living life delivering takeout, but setting that aside, Mr. Yin Si remains as ever glued to his office chair, largely inseparable from his workstation.

Aomo often feels he should recommend a sound labor protection law to the other party, but when the other party has no opinion, he also shouldn't bother.

Thus only a certain monstrous beast remains.

The Great Emperor would not normally miss such a lively occasion, but he also indeed chose to refuse.

Saying something like the old-timer line 'I don't want to meddle with you lot,' like an old thing that will die in the rear, then jumping up to kick him when seeing through what Aomo is thinking.

That kick naturally missed; today's Aomo, constantly on standby with a buff, hardly ever relaxes, and even now is the same.

After all, at this moment it is a meal of two groups.

Indeed, it is a meal.

Three and a half Penguin Logistics employees, three Horse Girls, and one Aomo as intermediary——

——Such a combination at first glance doesn't look purely for eating; it's more like some kind of business meal, and someone like him who interfaces with both sides ought to be the eternally unlucky busybody.

He also indeed made the psychological preparations.

Just thinking that merely mutual introductions and satisfying some people's gossip hearts, I'd have to bring out the psychological expectation of facing a press corps.

But the result was completely opposite to the expectation.

The girls gathered together in a warbling chorus, clearly meeting for the first time yet with no trace of awkward distance,

In the car before arriving at the restaurant, Aomo had already been shifted seats multiple times and squeezed into a corner, silently listening to these people's self-introductions, exchanging pleasantries.

The faster ones were already chatting about cosmetics and such feminine topics, for example Croissant, Marusan Sukii, and True Machine Ling.

The slower ones were exchanging experiences and insights on horse racing and logistics; this group obviously consisted of Qianming representing, Texas, and the talkative Angel with various curious Laplanders.

The topics of the two groups mixed and crossed at times, and the group quotas changed several times, prompting Aomo to turn and look at the terminal several times——

——For a male, paying attention to female topics is not wise, let alone joining in doesn't necessarily guarantee understanding.

His knowledge base does not include how to discuss hair and nail beauty with others, nor how to deal with skin discomfort and fingertip cracks caused by misusing cosmetics.

But whatever the case, this ends up being a good thing.

When you prepare to face long guns and short cannons but find the courtyard empty, you might feel embarrassed, but these girls' mutual communication only lets Aomo breathe a sigh of relief, realizing he once again overestimated the situation.

If you think carefully, although these two groups are not familiar with each other, at least none of them suffers from social anxiety.

Even mixing in are presences suspected of being social terrorists.

Thus there's really no need for me to do anything; rather, as the sole male, I'm just in the way.

Realizing this, he became even more focused on the light screen, and even upon arriving at the restaurant and choosing seats, he remained sitting in the corner, resignedly accepting himself as a redundant extra in the women's mixer.

Not only is he redundant, he might also be a food barrel.

Although there is no consumption from demonization, the altered physique still gives him a nutrient conversion rate close to that of a horse girl, which is effective for shedding his juvenile physique early.

Although he cannot become an adult in one meal, growing a year or two is not difficult, so he temporarily set aside his usual view——

Communal dining is not merely a complex social ritual; it can also return to its original intention as a feast, provided the participants have a zombie-like heart:

Eat, binge eat, devour! I fucking eat eat eat!

While binge eating, he still maintains basic dining etiquette, merely to avoid standing out, so that the Angel beside him soon exclaims: 'Hey, is this plate really so little? Gone so fast?'

All that can be said is that someone with sufficient ability yet choosing to be a lone wolf for over a decade has its reasons, but this also matches his wish, the only problem being……

The table is a bit big, and his arms aren't that long.

Of course, a mage's hand could solve such a small problem, but that obviously doesn't align with his marginalized intention.

"Do you want this?"

"Yes, thank you…?"

Instinctively taking the pair of black-delivery dishes, he hesitated slightly, then saw the black object, swift as a fastener, quickly collapse and retract into the shadow beneath the table, leaving only a red glow outside.

Yet there was no malice, only hesitation.

That was Zaro.

What the hell is this again?

If it weren't for the Wolf Lord's art style being genuinely off, Aomo would suspect it too is a member of some group.

From yesterday to today, he has been experiencing some inexplicable pranks; this feeling he has only seen in others—like on major days such as birthdays, a group will hide preparations from that person, leaving them all day suspicious and jumpy.

But August 16 was obviously not a special day; his birthday wasn't today, and there was nothing else to celebrate, while the birthdays of Penguin Logistics colleagues were scattered across June, September, October, and November—those people having birthdays shouldn't mean he was being left out.

Of course, Aomo merely had this suspicion, as if the Penguin Logistics colleagues also intended to squeeze him out of some topic.

At first glance, Lei Miaole, who was speaking freely, seemed to be restraining Qianming, while Labulan De would occasionally insert one or two unrelated questions when they talked about their respective fields; Qieliena's stance was wavering, sometimes joining the conversation, sometimes uncooperatively dragging the topic back to Qianming.

By comparison, Kesong's chat with Miss Zhenjiling and Wanshan was much more harmonious, with no abrupt shifts in topic, simply covering everything from cosmetics to hobbies to work and study trivia.

Their three interests were simply vibrant and varied; Aomo originally avoided the women's topic, but then paid attention when astrology and business were mentioned, and after listening a while longer he felt there might be hidden rivalry among them; these three seemed to be constantly vying for control of the topic, or perhaps it was just an illusion.

Since it's also unclear what the usual chatting style of those two groups is, it's hard to say whether it's an illusion; the only thing that can be certain is that occasional sense of familiarity, which is not an illusion.

This didn't stop him from continuing to choose to eat, eat, eat, until the meal drew to a close—only then did he suddenly receive a message from Labulan De:

【Are the guys you know still quite a handful?】

【?】 Aomo slowly typed a question mark, glanced toward Labulan De diagonally opposite, who also lifted his head, gave a cheerful smile toward this side, then bowed his head to tap his phone.

【I had said I'd accept the challenge, but I didn't expect Kesong's side to surrender first; now my impression of this group, as stubborn as mule ears, has been refreshed~】

【Challenge?】

【Otherwise, otherwise you guys just eat your meal, why drag us in? You're not slow in this area, are you?】

【Such competitiveness in this field is somewhat unusual.】

【I'm not that interested either, but since nobody can resist a provocation, let's just concede for now; Kong Nana's remote support will also inevitably be delayed, which ends up rather mismatched.】

Your strange topic rivalry even brings extraterrestrial support?

Aomo was somewhat speechless, he looked up at Kesong, who was calling for the gathering to end, as well as Qianming, who was running to settle the bill, and others either stretching or tidying up their small bags; he too rose to his feet.

He pondered whether to stay at Penguin Logistics in the afternoon or find a moment when Suzi and Qi wouldn't notice to sneak back to the bedroom.

Or let Bourbon scout first…… Just as he thought that, he again heard that already somewhat habitual voice, with a touch of childishness and sweetness, suddenly say:

"Trainer, can you go out for a walk with Karen?"

"……" Aomo, hearing that, turned his head, looking toward Zhenjiling who had walked a few steps.

After just those few steps, she stood in a spot that wasn't too conspicuous, yet a bit closer, allowing one to better appreciate her carefully groomed beauty.

That spot was right beside Aomo.

It made him glance at Qianming and Wanshan, as well as Kesong and Texas, whom he had chatted with.

Then he pressed down on the sentence "I want to go home as soon as possible."

"Sure."

He said that in a moment of silence.