Abi led Alex towards the table for five. Her dad and grandparents were all looking at them, although, their eyes were mainly on the man next to her.
“Oh my, you’re really here,” Abi’s grandma exclaimed as she slowly stood up and held the man’s hand.
Alex didn’t really know how to react. It was like he had stepped into a whole other world, one that he knew nothing about. Why was this old woman acting all warm like this to a stranger like him?
“Okay, take your seats now, both of you,” she told them before she also took her seat again.
Abi sat on her grandfather’s right and made Alex sit next to her. Her grandfather was the one sitting at the head of the table so Abi and her grandma seat across each other while Alex sat across her dad.
The food splayed out on the table were all typical homemade dishes that ordinary people enjoyed like a feast. It wasn’t extravagant but they looked and smelled so appetising that it could make anyone drool. However, Alex’s face remained expressionless as he looked at it.
“Here, taste this, young man,” Abi’s old grandma picked up some dishes and put them on Alex’s plate, while the man just quietly watched his plate fill up until what looked like a mountain had magically sprouted on it.
He blinked and looked at Abi while the girl just bit her lips and smiled at him.
“My wife, don’t scare the young man like that,” Abi’s grandpa tried to stop his wife when suddenly…
“I’m not scared…” Alex suddenly said, with a straight and serious look.
Dad: “. . .”
Grandpa: “. . .”
Abi: “. . .”
The old grandma chuckled softly as she spoke. “See? The young man doesn’t mind it,” she said before she put more food on his plate.
Once she was done, she finally settled down and asked everyone to eat.
Alex glanced at Abi again, almost like a big child asking for his mother’s permission, silently asking if the food on his plate was edible or not.
Abi grinned at him. She knew that this was a whole new experience to him. In his world back in his house, everything this guy did, from the way he sat to the way he chewed his food, were all done with the utmost grace, as if he was born to act like a king in every way. Knowing this, Abi thought that she must lend him a hand.
And thus, Abi picked a broccoli with her fork from his plate and brought it near his mouth.
Abi opened her lips, gesturing him to open his mouth. Alex stared at the ever green broccoli and then to her. He seemed confused about something. But then, he still opened his mouth and ate it.
However, the moment he started chewing, he began to frown and his mouth stopped. Eh? What happened? Did he not like broccolis?
“Y-you don’t like broccoli?” Abi whispered as the man continued frowning hard. His hand slowly moved towards his lips before he continued chewing the food as his frown intensified.
Abi leaned in on him. “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t like it, Alex. Do you want to go to the bathroom?” she whispered, a little worried. But a moment later, the man finally swallowed the broccoli and the deep lines in his face slowly disappeared.
“I’m fine,” was all he said and Abi pressed her lips together tightly, as if to stop a giggle coming out of it. Somehow, that frown on his face was just… priceless. She couldn’t believe that she would see him frown like this. Did this man have any idea how cute he looked right now? The oh-so stoic man was actually frowning over a vegetable!
A giggle escaped softly from her lips when Alex returned his gaze on his plate. He finally moved his hands to pick the food but for some reason, he paused again. His gaze locked onto the leafy vegetables on his plate and he was looking at them like they were his enemies.
Abi meekly glanced at her father and then to her grandfather. The two were busy eating, although, they were obviously watching over Alex, as if they too were waiting on what he would do next.
When Abi’s gaze fell on her grandmother, the woman winked at her as she too was looking amused.
Since her stay in Alex’s house, Abi had seen how little Alex seemed to eat. He wasn’t really fond of food and every time Abi asked him why he was not eating more, the man would always tell her to just eat as he stuffed all the food on her. Abi didn’t worry about his eating habit because whenever she saw his fine and perfect physique, it would always render her speechless.
Now she realized that Alex wasn’t just like this because of the green leafy vegetables on his plate, he looked like he was currently doing some intricate math equations in his head on how the hell he would finish the little mountain before him.
Abi couldn’t help but silently giggle once again. Who would’ve thought that a plate filled with food would actually trouble the great Alexander Qin like this?
“Alex… do you want us to share a plate?” Abi asked him, obviously trying to lend him a hand.
Alex snapped towards her and the invisible formulas flying around his head disappeared. It looked like he had found the solution right beside him.
Without a word, Alex moved his plate between them and adjusted his chair closer to her. Her family served mostly vegetables for her since she got sick so she got used to eating every kind of vegetable out there. She picked up the vegetables, leaving the meat for Alex.
The couple ate that way, almost forgetting the existence of the other three people with them. The old grandma was all smiles and genuinely happy watching them while the old men, especially Andrew, looked pretty surprised. His daughter and her boyfriend were acting like newlyweds…
