Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Liu Baoqiang was quick on his feet. "We've got those in stock, haven't we? I think I saw them when I came in—there's a promotion on Hokkaido crabs, thirty-eight hundred each."

"Oh, so we do have them." The waiter noted it down: four big Hokkaido crabs.

What the hell—thirty-eight hundred? Zhou Xiaoming thought. What kind of crab is that? A crab spirit? How could it be so expensive? But seeing that Yang Ce and the others had ordered them, and that he had already boasted so grandly, admitting defeat now would be utterly humiliating. So he said, "We'll have six of those big Hokkaido crabs."

The waiter wasn't stupid. He had seen the conflict between Zhou Xiaoming and this side earlier. Now, seeing Yang Ce and Liu Baoqiang repeatedly order extremely expensive luxury items that the restaurant had never sold, he understood at once: they were deliberately making a fool of the sucker in front of them.

So with a smile he said, "I'm sorry, sir, but we only have four Hokkaido crabs left. Since it's a promotion and the price is low, they sell out fast. This gentleman ordered first, so I can only give the last four to them."

"What do you mean, they're gone already?" Zhou Xiaoming was furious. It was as if he had been subtly one-upped. "How do you even run a restaurant? I want crabs and I can't have them?"

"However, we do have Hawaiian crabs. They're not on promotion, though, so the price—" The waiter shifted tack.

"Fine, fine, then Hawaiian it is." Zhou Xiaoming couldn't care less at this point. Any chance to salvage his face, he wouldn't let slip.

"Hawaiian crabs are seventy-eight hundred each. Will you still be wanting six?" the waiter asked with a smile.

At first, when the waiter said the Hokkaido crabs were gone, Yang Ce and Liu Baoqiang had been a little puzzled—what was this waiter playing at? Only now did they understand his meaning, and they secretly gave him a thumbs-up. This waiter was all right. He had a future.

"Seven thousand eight hundred!" Zhou Xiaoming felt his heart bleeding. What kind of nonsense was this—how had it come to seven thousand eight hundred? But he was caught between a rock and a hard place now; if he backed out, all his earlier bluster would become a joke. He drew a deep breath and said, "Fine. Then let's have six."

From the way Zhou Xiaoming was dressed, Yang Ce could tell he was not exactly rolling in money, so he had been probing for his limit all along. The crabs and lobsters ordered so far already added up to tens of thousands—enough to give Zhou Xiaoming a serious headache, he reckoned. Better to stop while they were ahead; if they frightened him off, that would spoil everything.

So he heaved a theatrical sigh. "We've ordered plenty already. Any more and we won't be able to eat it all. Ah, well—looks like we're still a step behind. I suppose we'll have to give up this private room."

Yang Ce rose to his feet with feigned regret and cast Zhou Xiaoming a look of elaborate envy. "You're the one with real money, brother. I was clearly overreaching myself."

Zhou Xiaoming had still been nursing his wounded wallet over the money just spent, but after Yang Cenbin's flattery he instantly felt light and cheerful again, and no longer begrudged the expense. After all, money could hardly buy happiness.

Besides, in the demolition project a few days from now, he was bound to rake in a tidy profit. Zhou Xiaoming thought to himself that this little splurge was worth it, and he looked at Yang Moyi with a touch of smugness. "Not at all, not at all. You're too kind. Ha ha."

"Ah, let's all go down, then." Yang Ce stood up wearing a show of great reluctance and, together with Liu Baoqiang and the others, headed for the door of the private room. Halfway there, however, he turned back. "Oh, that's right—waiter, if that gentleman can't finish it all later and wants to send some dishes back, you must come up and fetch us."

Zhou Xiaoming was startled. How had Yang Ce guessed what was in his mind? True enough, face was face, but that was a great deal of money—how could he not feel the sting? So Zhou Xiaoming had been thinking that once Yang Ce and the others left, he might find some suitable excuse about not being able to finish the food and send the crabs and the rest back. But Yang Juehuan had blocked that escape route with a single sentence.

"How could we not finish it? It won't even be enough for us!" Zhou Xiaoming forced a laugh and looked at Yang Yanzhou.

Once out of the private room, the four of them made it all the way to the stairwell before they could hold it in no longer. Leaning on the handrail, they burst out laughing.

"Ha ha, I can't—I can't!" Chen Shutang was laughing so hard tears were about to come. "Yang Ce, how can you be so wicked? Does the man have a grudge against you?"

"Didn't you hear them? They're going to cheat the relocation households out of their money. This kind of rich-and-heartless type—he's exactly the one to fleece," Yang Hengye said to Chen Shutang.

In her heart Chen Shutang agreed with Yang Juehuan. She had heard those few remarks earlier too—these people really were despicable enough, and making them bleed a little was no more than they deserved.

Liu Baoqiang, though, after the laughter subsided, said to Yang Ce, "When they settle the bill later, let's split the profit between us."

"It's all money your restaurant earned—how could I take a share?" Yang Ce waved a hand and smiled. "Still, our first time working together, and we were in perfect sync."

To be continued

915. The Sui Family Again

915. The Sui Family Again. Liu Baoqiang was now thoroughly convinced that Yang Cenbin was a genuinely decent fellow, not putting on any airs at all—unlike those few in his department who, with a bit of family money, started throwing it around. Especially that fellow named Wei Jin, who, relying on his father's real estate company and the family's hundreds of millions, carried himself as though he were the greatest man under heaven.

A few days ago he had just bought himself a BMW 328, and with a license plate ending in 1 he was insufferably cocky. The reason Wei Jin had sprung to Liu Baoqiang's mind so quickly was also that the fellow was one of Liu Ting's suitors—and her middle school classmate as well. That was precisely why Liu Baoqiang had insisted on coming along with Liu Ting today to this middle school reunion.

"All right, then, I won't be coy about it. Another day let's all go out together—my treat." Liu Baoqiang knew Yang Ce surely looked down on such small change, so he said it heartily.

"No problem. And don't you go backing out when the time comes," Yang Hengye said.

"Absolutely not!" Liu Baoqiang thumped his chest in pledge. "Liu Ting will be keeping an eye on me."

Liu Ting was delighted too, seeing that Chen Shutang's boyfriend was so approachable and had struck up a friendship with Liu Baoqiang so quickly.

The waiter came out of private room 208 and hurried toward the stairwell. Seeing that no one was following behind him, he ran up to Liu Baoqiang and said, "Young Master Liu, those big lobsters and the Hawaiian crabs—"

"Ha ha, you did well just now. You've got potential," Liu Baoqiang said happily. "Quick-witted, too. I'll have Sister Wang train you up a bit—it'd be a waste for talent like yours not to be made a manager."

The waiter was overjoyed. He had not expected that after playing along with Young Master Liu in that little act, he would win his favor. He hurried to express his thanks. "Thank you, Young Master Liu."

"Don't thank me. If you weren't made of the right stuff, I wouldn't have promoted you," Liu Baoqiang said with a wave of his hand and a smile. "As for those lobsters, just tell the kitchen to grab any six of the big ones from that batch we had shipped in from Dalian—the hundred-and-fifty-eight kind will do."

"And the crabs the same way—just pick out some of the bigger sea crabs and send them up," the waiter nodded and then asked.