“Where are you going?”
Seeing Meng Jingwei walk over, Qing Muye flicked his finger, flicking the cigarette between his fingers into a nearby trash can.
“What do you want to eat?”
Meng Jingwei asked as she walked to the passenger seat, opened the door, and sat down.
“As the guest, I’ll follow the host’s lead.”
“Then let’s go to Yipinju,” Meng Jingwei said.
After all, Qing Muye’s status was here. It wouldn’t be appropriate to invite him to eat elsewhere.
Since she had won money at the Wansheng Ski Resort, she might as well splurge a bit and pay off his favor.
The car started and slowly headed towards Yipinju.
On the way, Qing Muye said, “Grandma hasn’t seen you in a while. Make some time to go back and visit her.”
“Okay,” Meng Jingwei replied, then turned her head to look out the window.
This winter, it seemed to be snowing particularly heavily.
Yesterday was clear for a day, and today it started snowing lightly again.
But she had to admit, in the lush and vibrant Lancheng, with its brilliant lights everywhere, the falling snowflakes were like adding flowers to brocade, exceptionally beautiful.
“Do you like snow very much?” the man driving asked, seeing her staring out the window.
Unexpectedly, Meng Jingwei said…
“I like everything except you.”
Thinking carefully, it was indeed true.
Except for Qing Muye, she really liked too many things.
Her words fragmented their conversation, leaving the man speechless.
He rested one hand on the steering wheel, and with the other, he smoothed his short, dark hair, a hint of helplessness appearing between his brows.
What should he do with this damnable woman?
“Do you hate me that much?” he asked after a moment of silence.
Meng Jingwei froze for a moment, then looked back at him as if he were an idiot, “Is it not obvious enough?”
The man: “…”
The conversation ended there.
Not long after, the car arrived at Yipinju.
The two got out of the car and went directly into a private room at Yipinju.
Since it was a membership-based establishment and Qing Muye was a member, they naturally didn’t have to wait in line.
Sitting in the private room, Meng Jingwei took the menu from the waiter. The waiter asked, “Hello, what would the two of you like to order?”
Meng Jingwei looked up and pointed at the man opposite her, “Ask him.”
“Whatever is fine,” Qing Muye said as he picked up a glass of plain water and took a sip.
Then Meng Jingwei said to the waiter, “Alright. Serve a few portions of the cheapest things in your restaurant.”
The waiter was slightly taken aback. “Hello madam, the cheapest item in our restaurant is plain water.”
Meng Jingwei’s mouth twitched. She suddenly felt that the waiter in front of her was as stubborn as an idiot, so she patiently said, “Two servings of rice, two servings of vegetables, and one soup. All the cheapest ones.”
“You’re inviting me to dinner, and this is it?” Qing Muye couldn’t help but ask.
Meng Jingwei nodded heavily. “This is Yipinju. I even brought you here to treat you to a meal. Look at how poor I am; do I look like someone who can afford to treat you to delicacies? Besides, delicacies are high in fat and protein. Eating too much can lead to problems with blood vessels, high blood pressure, and cerebral thrombosis. It could even lead to an early death. What’s the point of having hundreds of billions that you haven’t spent? Isn’t it a waste?”
She spoke with such solemnity and logic that it seemed to make sense.
“I’ll listen to you.”
Qing Muye rested his elbows on the table, supporting his head, and gently rubbed his temples with his index finger.
If he remembered correctly, the last time she treated him to breakfast was two tea eggs and a cup of soy milk that cost two yuan.
He still vividly remembered that breakfast.
“Certainly, madam. Please wait a moment.” The waiter nodded, picked up the menu, and turned to leave.
Meng Jingwei ignored Qing Muye and instead looked down at her phone, quietly waiting for the food.
In less than three minutes, the door to the private room was pushed open by the waiter.
Her eyes lit up. “I have to say, Yipinju’s serving speed is quite good.”
However, as soon as she finished speaking, Meng Jingwei’s smile froze on her face.
She saw the waiter pushing a food cart, placing two bowls of rice in front of each of them, and then placing two dishes the size of a palm and a bowl of clear, watery soup on the table.
“Please enjoy, the two of you,” the waiter said politely.
“Wait. That’s… all the dishes?”
Meng Jingwei knew that the dishes at Yipinju were particularly expensive, so she had only glanced at the menu when ordering the cheapest dishes.
And these two dishes and the soup, if she wasn’t mistaken, seemed to cost over four hundred yuan.
But the two plates in front of her, no, they should be called saucers.
On the palm-sized saucers, there were only some pickled radish cubes and some preserved vegetables that she couldn’t identify.
“Yes, madam. This dish is called ‘Gathering of Heroes,’ this dish is called ‘Three Flavors of Foshan,’ and this soup is called ‘Imperial Jade Soup.’ All of them are made through multiple processes.”
The waiter, maintaining professional demeanor, earnestly introduced the names of the three dishes to Meng Jingwei.
Meng Jingwei’s mouth twitched. “Thank you, that’s enough.”
“Please enjoy,” the waiter said, pushing the food cart and turning to leave.
After the waiter left, Meng Jingwei’s face instantly fell. “Damn it, this is too much! Was the owner of Yipinju reincarnated from a pauper in his past life to be so greedy? What is this ‘Gathering of Heroes’? Aren’t they just a few pieces of pickled radish? And what about this, ‘Imperial Jade Soup’?”
She stirred the soup with chopsticks and a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and found shredded napa cabbage and soft tofu. “Oh, the owner is so stingy, he couldn’t even afford a slice of ginger.”
She clattered the spoon into the soup bowl and pointed at the ‘Three Flavors of Foshan.’ “The most outrageous is this one. Shredded wood ear, shredded kelp, and shredded green onions…”
Bang–
Meng Jingwei slammed her chopsticks onto the table. “I can’t stand it anymore. I’m going to call the Administration for Market Regulation to report them. This is too much of a rip-off.”
As she spoke, she took out her phone and actually searched for the phone number of the Lancheng Administration for Market Regulation on the browser.
Qing Muye, sitting opposite her, raised an eyebrow. He remained silent for a long time, just silently picking up his water and drinking.
Meng Jingwei, while searching for the phone number of the Administration for Market Regulation, said to Qing Muye, “Qing Muye, you eat at Yipinju often, so you must be familiar with their boss, right? I advise you not to be friends with that idiotic boss of Yipinju. No, he treats you like an idiot and only cares about the money in your pocket. People like this must be reported. It’s best to make him go bankrupt as soon as possible.”
The man, who had been silent for a long time, felt his temples throbbing. He raised his hand and touched his chin, his thin lips parting as if to say something, when he saw Meng Jingwei wave her hand. “Wait a minute, I need to make a call first.”
“Hello, is this the Administration for Market Regulation? I want to report Yipinju…”
She chattered away to the Administration for Market Regulation for a good while before finally hanging up. “Phew, the Administration for Market Regulation said they will come to investigate tomorrow.”
“It’s past business hours for the Administration for Market Regulation at this time. Let’s eat first, and wait for good news tomorrow,” Meng Jingwei said to Qing Muye with a serious expression.
The man nodded. He hadn’t said anything from beginning to end.