With her two daughters coming ho, Susan Dudley had prepared a huge al. But she still felt it wasn’t lavish enough for a guest like Shane Sterling, so she also took out the sausages and cured pork she’d made for the New Year and started steaming them.
The kitchen was bustling with activity, but out in the courtyard, Isabelle and Shane Sterling sat in awkward silence.
Isabelle truly couldn’t understand. ’Why is he staying for dinner?’
"What’s with that look?" Shane Sterling stared at her. "You don’t want to treat to dinner, do you?"
"Of course not."
"Besides, you still owe a al. After this, we can call it even."
Isabelle lowered her eyes. "I’m just worried you might not be used to this kind of food."
"What’s there to not be used to? Are you stewing human flesh in that pot of yours?"
He looked as if he was challenging her to see what excuse she could possibly co up with.
Isabelle burst out laughing.
"Isabelle, we’re out of soy sauce. Can you go buy so?" her mother called out from the kitchen.
"Okay."
As Isabelle got up, Shane Sterling stood up too.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I’ll go with you. And take a look around the neighborhood."
In truth, there wasn’t much to see in East Lane. Compared to the decadent, glittering tropolis of Downtown ritopia, this area was a gathering place for migrant workers who had co to the city for work.
Dilapidated rentals, a few deserted-looking shops, and a faraway subway station were the defining features of a worker’s life here after clocking out.
It had rained the previous night, leaving the ground pockmarked with muddy puddles that Shane Sterling and Isabelle had to sidestep as they walked.
The small shop was right at the mouth of the lane. Isabelle went straight for the soy sauce aisle the mont she walked in. When she returned with a bottle, she found Shane Sterling standing before a basket of preserved plum lollipops, gazing at them pensively.
"Do you want one?" Isabelle asked, walking up behind him.
"I’ll have one if you’re treating."
A lollipop that cost next to nothing was a treat Isabelle could still afford.
"My treat. Go ahead."
The preserved plum lollipops ca in two flavors: brown sugar and malt. Shane Sterling picked a malt one.
When Isabelle paid for the soy sauce, she paid for the lollipop too.
After they left the small shop, Shane Sterling didn’t eat the lollipop. He just toyed with it in his hand, and by the ti they reached the courtyard, he had tucked it away in his pocket.
"Why aren’t you eating it?" Isabelle asked.
"I’ll save it for when my heart feels bitter," Shane Sterling said.
"You have tis when you feel bitter?"
"I was about to jump off a building. Is feeling bitter really that surprising?"
’Okay, okay, my fault for opening my big mouth. It seems this ’jumping off a building’ gag is here to stay.’
After bustling around for over an hour, Susan Dudley finally had all the dishes ready.
With two beds cramd into the rental unit, there was no space left for a table. Instead, Isabelle and her mother set up a folding square table in the common area outside the kitchen, where the four of them sat down to eat.
Shane Sterling looked like soone whose palate had been spoiled by gourt delicacies, yet he ate as if he hadn’t had a al in three days.
"Wow, this stir-fried eggplant is cooked to perfection! This pork and vermicelli stew slls incredible! And these garlic fish fillets are so delicious! You must be a master chef reincarnated!"
Susan Dudley was indeed a decent cook, but she’d never encountered such an enthusiastic eater. Her serving chopsticks were moving so fast they were practically giving off smoke; she looked like she wanted nothing more than to heap every last dish into Shane Sterling’s bowl.
Isabelle had seen Shane Sterling charm even difficult people like Yvette Shaw and Yvonne Gardner until they were eating out of the palm of his hand, so this display was nothing new to her.
After dinner, Shane Sterling even helped clear the table.
The more Susan Dudley looked at Shane Sterling, the more she liked him. She couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. "Sean is such a good man. Whoever marries him will be incredibly fortunate."
Shane Sterling, not one for modesty, replied, "You’re an excellent judge of character!"
anwhile, Isabelle and Sienna Prescott—who apparently weren’t very good judges of character—were left speechless.
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