"What? You must be mistaken! I have tens of thousands of yuan in here!" Jiang Tao scoffed.
However, the staff member nodded and said, "No mistake. Your total consumption today was one hundred and thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and twenty-one! So, your balance is insufficient!"
"Over thirteen thousand for one meal? Aren't you robbing people!" Jiang Tao's mouth twitched involuntarily.
Since it was a lunch, they hadn't ordered any alcohol or anything else, just over twenty dishes. He couldn't understand how it amounted to over a hundred thousand.
"Sir, please mind your tone! Every dish has a clear price, and these are the dishes you ordered!" The staff member angrily presented their order list. Looking at the menu, indeed, there were no extra dishes, and each dish was around five to six thousand yuan. Adding them up, thirteen thousand wasn't surprising.
"Ah! This, this... I, I don't have enough money. Can you be flexible?" Jiang Tao was extremely embarrassed, as this was all the money he had.
"What? You don't have money but ordered so much? Are you trying to dine and dash? Security!" The staff member immediately shouted.
The next second, several burly security guards surrounded Jiang Tao. This completely stunned Jiang Tao, leaving him at a loss for what to do.
Ye Feng and the others had already reached the entrance. Noticing Jiang Tao hadn't returned after a while, they looked puzzled and went to check. When they arrived at the counter, they saw Jiang Tao surrounded by security guards, his face extremely embarrassed.
Liu Yingying, seeing this, asked in confusion, "Jiang Tao, what's wrong?"
"Uh, I, I don't have enough money!" Jiang Tao said, his face flushing red, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground.
"What? Not enough money? How much do you need?" Liu Yingying asked.
Jiang Tao replied with a pained expression, "One hundred and thirty thousand. I only have tens of thousands on me!"
"What? How can it be so expensive!" Liu Yingying exclaimed, utterly bewildered.
Ye Feng sighed, seeing this, "Alas, why pretend to be rich when you're broke! I told you before that the prices here are very high, to order less! But you didn't listen!"
Liu Yingying immediately retorted angrily, "Ye Feng, how can you still kick someone when they're down at a time like this, you scoundrel!"
"Exactly! If you're so capable, pay the bill instead of just talking nonsense!" Jiang Tao quickly added.
Ye Feng was utterly speechless. He looked at the security guards and said, "You all can step back."
Hearing Ye Feng's words, Jiang Tao chuckled, "Ye Feng, who do you think you are? Giving orders before even paying!"
Liu Yingying also chimed in, "Yes! Do you have the money? Hurry up and pay, otherwise, none of us can leave today!"
"This is the Dragon King Hall, not your home!" Jiang Qingqing, who couldn't stand watching, said disdainfully.
However, to their astonishment, the security guards bowed to Ye Feng and respectfully said, "Yes, boss!"
Upon hearing this, all of them were dumbfounded.
"I, did I hear that right?"
"My heavens, what did I just see? They actually called Ye Feng boss?"
"How could that kid possibly be the boss of the Dragon King Hall?"
The three of them stared at Ye Feng blankly, their faces filled with disbelief.
Ye Feng, however, ignored them and walked forward, handing his bank card to the staff member. "Their bill is on me. Swipe my card!"
The staff member, seeing it was Ye Feng, quickly shook his head. "Oh, they are the boss's friends! Then we won't charge them! No need!" In just a few days, Ye Feng had made the Dragon King Hall fully booked every day, bringing about a several-fold increase in revenue. In everyone's eyes, he was already the de facto boss, so why would he need to pay?
Ye Feng, seeing this, withdrew his card. "Alright!"
When Ye Feng turned around, Jiang Tao, Liu Yingying, and Jiang Qingqing were all staring at him, frozen like statues.
"Hey, you three, you can leave now!" Ye Feng reminded them, seeing they were still motionless.
Hearing Ye Feng's words, they finally reacted and followed him.
Jiang Tao said in disbelief, "Why did they call you boss? Could this Dragon King Hall be yours?"
Ye Feng smiled upon hearing this, "No! This is my friend's establishment. She's away for a while, so she asked me to manage it for her!"
Hearing this, the three of them finally came to their senses and patted their chests. "So that's how it is."
"I thought you were the boss of the Dragon King Hall, you scared me to death!"
"Exactly! I said it would be a ghost if the Dragon King Hall was yours!"
Ye Feng was speechless at their words.
"By the way, since you have such a good relationship with the Dragon King Hall, why did you still let me pay? You deliberately wanted to see me embarrassed, didn't you!" Jiang Tao said angrily.
Ye Feng rolled his eyes at him. "Are you sick? You were the one who said whoever loses pays the bill. How am I making you embarrassed?"
"Uh, well, that seems to be the case." Jiang Tao was embarrassed. But he still felt that Ye Feng had deliberately watched him make a fool of himself. After all, if Ye Feng had said earlier that he was managing the Dragon King Hall, he wouldn't have been in such an embarrassing situation.
After leaving the Dragon King Hall, everyone was eager to have a good time in Dongchuan City. Ye Feng took them to various tourist attractions in Dongchuan City. They didn't stop until evening. That night, they went to the Dragon King Hall again for another round of indulgence, and only prepared to go back to rest quite late.
"Where are we staying tonight?" Liu Yingying asked after leaving the Dragon King Hall.
Ye Feng replied, "Let's go to my place!"
However, as soon as Ye Feng finished speaking, Jiang Tao immediately said disdainfully, "Your place? Your house is so run-down, how can we stay there!"
"Exactly! I'd rather stay in a hotel than go to that shabby place!" Liu Yingying also said.
Ye Feng was extremely speechless. He wasn't referring to his home on the island village, but the house he bought in the city. However, everyone clearly assumed he was referring to the dilapidated house in the island village.
Ye Feng was about to explain, but Jiang Tao interjected, "Uncle and Auntie, why don't you come stay at my place? I just bought a house here this year!"
Uncle Liu Yiwei was surprised, "Oh, Jiang Tao, you're doing well! Not only did you buy a car, but you've also bought a house?"
"Yes! Why don't you all come stay at my place today!" Jiang Tao said.
Liu Yingying immediately said happily, "Okay, okay, that's great! Let's all go stay at Jiang Tao's place!"
"Yes, yes! We can enjoy the feeling of staying in a new house!" Jiang Qingqing also said excitedly.
However, the next second, Jiang Tao glanced at Ye Feng and his mother and said, "But I don't have enough beds at my place, so I'll have to trouble the two of you to find your own place to stay?"