Chapter 31

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Huang Xiaolong pulled Su Xiaoman out of the fast-food shop excitedly, while Deng Wei followed after them doubtfully.

Su Xiaoman closed the door of the shop.

“Sis Xiaoman, you said that there are loads of delicious food at the Emperor Hotel. You’ve never tried it before, and neither have I, so isn’t this going to be great! We’ll eat there today!” Huang Xiaolong was in an exuberant mood.

On the train to Coast City, Huang Xiaolong had come across Hong Quantao, who suffered from late-stage liver cirrhosis, and saved his life. As a sign of his gratitude, Hong Quantao had given a VIP card to Huang Xiaolong.

With this card in hand, Huang Xiaolong could go to any hotel under Hong Quantao’s ownership and enjoy everything for free.

Huang Xiaolong had observed the card, and the logo of the Emperor Hotel was clearly printed on it.

“Xiaolong… that… that place is super expensive…” Su Xiaoman said timidly. “There’s no need to go to such lengths over someone like Deng Wei.”

“Sis Xiaoman, I’m not doing this because of him. I just want to treat you to a good meal…” Huang Xiaolong replied without hesitation as he pulled Su Xiaoman toward the corner of the street where the car was parked.

“D*mn him! This farm boy is really good at pretending…” Deng Wei opened the door to his BMW, got inside, and tailed Huang Xiaolong and Su Xiaoman from a distance. “I’ll see it through to the end! I want to see if you dare to go to the Emperor Hotel!”

Huang Xiaolong and Su Xiaoman entered the BYD F3, set the phone navigation, and started the drive.

“Xiaolong, you’ve even gotten a car?” Su Xiaoman asked curiously.

“That’s right. I made a successful business deal when I first arrived in the city, and I bought a car from the earnings,” Huang Xiaolong said proudly. “Sis Xiaoman, aren’t I capable?”

“Yup!” Su Xiaoman nodded earnestly.

Very soon, Huang Xiaolong arrived at the Emperor Hotel.

The parking bay was full of luxurious cars, mostly Cadillacs, Audi A4L, and Toyota Prado… even Deng Wei’s BMW 3-series would not stand out in this place.

Huang Xiaolong’s BYD F3 was even more nondescript, to the point of even being considered shabby.

However, Huang Xiaolong could not care less. After parking his car, he pulled Su Xiaoman into the hotel.

Tsk, tsk, the hotel’s environment, and the building’s design, it was comparable to the royal palace.

It was 30-stories high and had restaurants, accommodation, offices, fun, and entertainment all under one roof.

Having a meal here meant that one would not only enjoy the exquisite and unparalleled delicacies, but also the majestic and lavish environment, and you could also bask in the picturesque Coast City scenery. The splendor was nothing short of spectacular.

In short, having a meal here was not only a joy to the taste buds, but it also offered an overall upgrade to the entire meal experience!

“Xiaolong… why don’t… I think we should go somewhere else…” Su Xiaoman was turning pale with fright.

“It’s fine, Sis Xiaoman, the food here must be really delicious. Ah, I’m getting hungry, let’s go…” Huang Xiaolong tugged on Su Xiaoman impatiently and entered the hotel.

Unlike what Deng Wei has predicted, Huang Xiaolong was not thrown out of the hotel by the bellhop. The employees of a five-star hotel had gone through professional training after all.

In the F&B area, the private rooms were all fully occupied, so Huang Xiaolong chose a table next to the window.

Food ordering.

A tall and pretty female waitress, clad in a blue and white porcelain cheongsam, handed the menu to Huang Xiaolong politely.

“Sis Xiaoman, would you like to order or shall I do it?” Huang Xiaolong casually flipped the menu.

Truth be told, Su Xiaoman was uncomfortable from the moment she sat down, not knowing where to place her hands and feet. On the contrary, Huang Xiaolong acted normally, calm and composed as always.

“Xiaolong, you… why don’t you do it…” Su Xiaoman replied weakly.

Huang Xiaolong pulled no stops and ordered aloud, “Give me this… Braised Yellow Shark’s Fin, 10 servings! Abalone in original sauce, also 10 servings! Peking lobster, 10 servings! Agar-agar in clear soup, 10 servings! And what’s this… Italian caviar pizza, also 10 servings. I’ve never eaten foreign food before…”

Following the long list, Su Xiaoman was not the only person stunned. Even the waitress was frozen in shock.

With this meal, they would not be able to walk out of this hotel without spending a few hundred thousand!

“Mister… you… you might have ordered too much… This… are you sure you are not kidding?” The waitress asked with a petrified look.

“Are you worried that we can’t finish the food? It’s fine, villagers like us have a tremendous appetite.” Huang Xiaolong grinned widely. “Hurry up and serve the food. I’m really hungry.”

“That… of course…” the waitress nodded mechanically.

After all, she was just a wage-earner. What a customer ordered or whether they could even afford to pay for the food, that was none of her business.

Not far away, Deng Wei had also arrived, and he stared in amazement at Huang Xiaolong and Su Xiaoman. “This guy has a death wish! Even I wouldn’t dare to eat in such manner… is he planning to dine and dash? The balls on this guy… Hehe… not to worry, let’s wait and see what happens after they finish their meal. There’ll be a good show today!”

The food was served quickly. In just a few moments, the table was filled with sparkly and scrumptious food, basically things that Huang Xiaolong had never even seen before.

“Sis Xiaoman, let’s dig in!” Huang Xiaolong grabbed a meaty lobster and stuffed it into his mouth.

Su Xiaoman was full of trepidation, chewing her food carefully. She too, suspected that Huang Xiaolong brought her here to eat without money. “Xiaolong… when you ordered the food, did you notice the price tag on the menu?”

“Oh, the price? Nope, we’re here to eat and drink for free anyway, why should I look at the price?” Huang Xiaolong chewed raucously. “Delicious, absolutely delicious…”

Eat and drink for free?

Su Xiaoman’s heart went cold.

So he was planning to dine and dash!

‘Looks like I’ll have to get a loan mortgage for my fast-food shop… if that’s not enough, I’ll pledge myself to stay here and work as a waitress or wash the dishes…’ Su Xiaoman was already thinking of ways to pay for this meal.

At this moment, Deng Wei led a middle-aged man dressed in a suit into the restaurant, his mouth firing away at top speed, “Manager Meng, this time, you might find yourself in big trouble! You see, this farm boy has ordered a table full of dishes worth a few hundred thousand… I’m just trying to warn you, he might be planning to dine and dash! How could a farm boy with muddy shoes afford a meal like this? I also saw that he was driving a BYD F3, isn’t that a vehicle commonly used in illegal taxicab operation?”

The man in a suit walked toward the table where Huang Xiaolong and Su Xiaoman were seated, his eyes swept over the table, and expression soured.

Most of the dishes on the table were specialties of the Emperor Hotel. This meal of signature dishes, also the most expensive ones, was worth not less than a few hundred thousand!

As for Huang Xiaolong and Su Xiaoman, it was obvious that they were not wealthy people.

Especially Huang Xiaolong, his crumpled shirt was even full of patches, was this not the standard attire of peasant farmers?

Livid!

The man in the suit was absolutely livid!

“Dear customers, I’m the F&B Manager of the Emperor Hotel, my surname is Meng.” The man in the suit looked menacing. “I would like to request that you stop eating and settle your bill first.”

“Eh? Settle the bill first?” Huang Xiaolong put down his chopsticks. “Pay before eating, what kind of policy is this? It’s always been ‘eat first, pay later’ in all the county restaurants I have visited in the past.” 

“The county?” The man was about to throw a punch. “Excuse me, but just as Young Master Deng said, having people come here to dine and dash is very troublesome indeed. As the F&B Manager, I have the responsibility to act with the hotel’s best interest in mind.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re questioning whether Sis Xiaoman and I are qualified to have a meal here, am I right?” Huang Xiaolong was getting a little upset. He had specially brought Su Xiaoman here to have a nice meal today, as a celebration. He had not expected someone to come and ruin their meal.

“Is there even a need to question it? Why don’t you take in the mirror?” Deng Wei said sarcastically, “Xiaoman, you’ve gotten yourself into big trouble this time!”

“That is… this… this…” Su Xiaoman stuttered, big drops of sweat beaded her forehead.

“Please settle the bill at once! Otherwise, I’ll call the security!” Manager Meng yelled sharply.

“I’m going to faint…” Huang Xiaolong was extremely displeased with Manager Meng’s rude attitude. “Aren’t you being too aggressive? Do you believe that I’ll complain about you and get your boss to fire you?”

“Hahahaha…” Manager Meng did not get angry, but laughed instead. “Go ahead. Once you’ve settled the bill, you can complain about me all you want. Do you need me to give you the phone number of our boss? Hahaha…”

“That won’t be necessary. I have his number.” Huang Xiaolong took out the VIP card from his canvas bag and passed it to Manager Meng. “Why don’t you take a look at this card?”

“Card?” Manager Meng twitched an eyebrow, took the card from Huang Xiaolong, and flipped the card repeatedly, his expression turning grimmer with each look. Then he mumbled, “This… this type of card… it seems… it seems that the Emperor Hotel has never issued this card before…”

“It must be fake!” Deng Wei interrupted adamantly. “The real membership card looks like this! Look carefully!”

As he spoke, he took out his own membership card and brandished it proudly in front of Huang Xiaolong. 

“Mine’s not a membership card; it’s a VIP card,” Huang Xiaolong stated firmly.

This VIP card was personally issued by Hong Quantao himself, and there were only a few in existence. For an employee of Manager Meng’s level, it was understandable that he did not recognize the card.

“This… this card… is it possible… to be a fake?” Manager Meng was really uncertain, and his confrontational attitude toned down a little, cold sweat starting to form on his forehead.

He could not say for sure that the card was a fake because it was gold and adorned with diamonds on the sides, and it looked extremely valuable. No one would go through the trouble and take such lengths to produce a fake card like that.

“Forget it, forget it, it’s so troublesome just to have a meal. I’ll just give Hong Quantao a call! In the future, I’ll never eat at any of his hotels again!” An angry Huang Xiaolong took out the personal name card given by Hong Quantao and dialed the number printed on the card.

The call went through!

—

Meanwhile at the Emperor Hotel, in a huge private room that was decorated lavishly and extravagantly.

A group of distinguished people was seated in the private room, chatting and drinking tea.

The group seemed to be extremely wealthy, each person with a powerful presence of their own, talking about everything under the sun.

Both Hong Quantao and Zou Shi were present.

At this moment, Hong Quantao’s mobile phone rang.

“Oh? Who’s calling my personal phone?” Hong Quantao did not hesitate to answer. After all, no ordinary person would have access to this number.

When he took out his phone and looked at the screen, Hong Quantao’s face changed in an instant. He actually stood upright, took a deep breath, and answered the call with trembling fingers. He inclined his body slightly and spoke with utmost respect, “Miracle Doctor, for you… for you to call me… how… how may I help you?”

Seeing how Hong Quantao received the call with such an obsequious attitude, the room fell into a pin-drop silence, and everyone stared at Hong Quantao in bafflement.

As everybody was aware, Hong Quantao owned several hotels in Coast City, with two 5-star hotels among those. His net worth was more than one hundred million and he was extremely successful and very well-connected, familiar with people from all walks of life. It was even said that he had both the cops and the triads on his side. There used to be a director of the health bureau who made things difficult for him, and in the end, Hong Quantao managed to settle the matter by using his connections.

Therefore, even if the call was made by a leader from the city council, it was unlikely for Hong Quantao to act with such deference as if he had abandoned his dignity, his expression like that of a servant. 

Who was the person who made this call?

Among them, only Zou Shi could fathom a guess. An odd expression crossed his face, he stood up and asked shakily, “Quantao, the Miracle Doctor, he… he took the initiative to call you?”

Hong Quantao immediately gestured nervously for Zou Shi to be quiet.

On the other end of the line, Huang Xiaolong sounded very unhappy. “Boss Hong, is the VIP card you gave to me a fake? I am having lunch at your Emperor Hotel, and the so-called F&B Manager, Manager Meng is trying to throw me out… I’m so p*ssed!”

“What?” Hong Quantao’s heart gave a massive thump, and he hurriedly mumbled an apology. “Miracle Doctor, are you still in the hotel? Stay calm, don’t be angry, I’ll be there immediately. Manager Meng from the F&B, is it? Miracle Doctor, please cool down, I’ll deal with it.”

After saying that, Hong Quantao hung up the phone, a menacing look flashed across his eyes, and he mumbled, “Manager Meng of the F&B department? D*mn it! I’m going to kill you today!”