Six o’clock in the evening.
Zhongsheng Hall’s team building event was scheduled at Tide Feast.
This was a high-end seafood buffet restaurant Li Kui found online, with good reviews. Moreover, it had been open for less than half a month, so the ingredients were fresh and reliable.
The first and second floors were for general consumption, and the higher the floor, the more expensive it was.
They had a large group, and Li Kui called in time, so the owner made a temporary arrangement for them.
The entire second floor was reserved for their use.
The original price was 1,299 yuan per person. With their large group and Li Kui’s silver tongue, after some bargaining, the owner finally agreed to give them a 25% discount.
That came to 970 yuan per person. Li Kui said 970 didn’t sound as nice as 960, so he stubbornly bargained for another 10 yuan off.
The owner agreed in the end.
Some of the family members brought children—kids who weren’t exactly toddlers. Li Kui didn’t bother haggling for a children’s price.
As long as they weren’t infants being carried, each child was also charged 960 yuan.
It was a fair exchange. The owner was straightforward, and so was Li Kui.
Even at this price, Li Kui still felt a pang of pain. Seafood costing over 900 yuan per person—could eating it turn them into immortals or something?
Yu Yue thought it was fine.
Money wasn’t an issue anyway.
Besides, if they wanted their employees to give their all at work, the bosses should occasionally offer some pleasant surprises and benefits.
Li Kui was worried that today’s surprise benefit was too generous. Once their appetites were spoiled, it would be hard to scale back later.
Yu Yue’s thinking was simple: if it really became too difficult to adjust, they could just replace people.
Li Kui gave her a thumbs-up, praising her for being clear about rewards and punishments.
Lin Lan and Jin Yao had both been busy outside for a while and didn’t know about this restaurant.
Jin Yao, that girl, loved seafood. If she enjoyed it today, Yu Yue planned to come back with the two of them once they returned to the capital.
After entering the restaurant, Li Kui first took Yu Yue to check out the ingredients. King crab, Australian lobster—all kinds of high-end seafood were available, and most importantly, there was no time limit for dining.
Unlike other seafood buffets costing two or three hundred yuan, which were limited to two hours and didn’t have such good ingredients.
“Hmm, looking at it this way, the price is quite reasonable.” After seeing the fresh and lively ingredients on offer, Li Kui nodded in satisfaction.
Yu Yue smiled and said you get what you pay for.
They were here for a fun gathering, not to figure out whether it was a loss or a gain.
“Senior Brother, broaden your perspective. Alright, let’s go order.” Yu Yue turned and headed upstairs.
At that moment, the young girls from the pharmacy swarmed around the restaurant’s dessert area, grabbing pastries left and right with their tongs.
Li Kui felt heartbroken watching them.
Such little fairies! At 960 yuan per person, they were only interested in these desserts?
Wasn’t the king crab or Arctic sweet shrimp more appealing?
Since they were in public, Li Kui couldn’t say anything to them.
“See that?” Li Kui could only turn to Yu Yue and complain. “This is why I don’t even want to treat them to low-priced buffets. Look at what they’re eating.”
The buffet owner must be thrilled to see such fools.
“Senior Brother, the key is to have fun, no matter what they eat.” Yu Yue didn’t mind.
“No, I still have to go and talk some sense into them. They really don’t know how to eat. It’s such a waste! Are those little girls blind not to see the huge king crab?”
“Isn’t it delicious?”
“…”
Li Kui said, then turned and walked toward the group of young girls, ready to lecture them.
Yu Yue shook her head and headed upstairs to the second floor.
At the turning point, she happened to bump into Yu Jiaojiao, who was coming down from upstairs.
“Yu Yue?” Yu Jiaojiao frowned, somewhat surprised to run into her at such a high-end seafood restaurant.
“Well, if it isn’t the charming Miss Yu. What a coincidence,” Yu Yue hadn’t expected to run into her half-sister here either.
Though she never considered them sisters.
Likewise, Yu Jiaojiao had never seen her as an elder sister.
Even though she bore her scumbag father’s surname, she had never considered herself part of the Yu family.
After her mother passed away early, she hadn’t lived a single day in the Yu household.
From childhood to adulthood, her scumbag father, Yu Jialiang, had never once inquired about her food, clothing, shelter, or daily needs.
Instead, it was only after Old Mrs. Fu took a liking to her birth chart that this scumbag father caught wind of it and came looking. In front of Old Mrs. Fu, he claimed to be her father.
Forget it, it was all in the past. She couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.
Considering he had donated a kidney to her grandmother, she treated it as repaying a debt. She’d keep him well-fed and cared for a few more years. Once the debt was cleared, she’d have nothing more to do with him.
“Pharmacy gathering?” Yu Jiaojiao glanced back at the dining hall on the second floor, where a noisy crowd of adults, children, men, and women were making a ruckus.
It was like stepping into a sparrow’s nest—utterly unbearable to watch.
“Is that not allowed?”
“Are you splitting the bill or is the pharmacy covering it?” Yu Jiaojiao suppressed her displeasure and pressed further.
“Hah—” Yu Yue was almost amused by how seriously Yu Jiaojiao was questioning her. “How ridiculous, Miss Yu. Regardless of the method, this seems to have nothing to do with you, does it?”
“How is it unrelated? The pharmacy pays dividends to our family every month. If you’re using the pharmacy’s money to treat everyone, won’t our family’s dividends for this month be reduced?” Yu Jiaojiao retorted as if it were only natural.
“…”
Yu Yue genuinely hadn’t considered that angle.
Their family really knew how to calculate every penny.
But Yu Yue didn’t want to argue with Yu Jiaojiao about the principle of nurturing and utilizing resources.
After all, explaining it would be like playing the lute to a cow—a waste of effort.
“Don’t worry, your family’s dividends won’t be shortchanged,” Yu Yue sidestepped her and continued upstairs.
Over there, a staff member had already greeted her, “Sister Yue—”
She smiled and walked over, chatting and laughing with them as they entered the private room.
Yu Jiaojiao was furious. She had originally intended to fetch something from the first floor, but now she didn’t go down. Instead, she turned and hurriedly ran up to the private room on the third floor.
Today was her mother’s birthday. Li Fengying loved seafood, so Yu Jialiang had reserved a table in advance. Who would have thought they’d run into Yu Yue and her group holding a team-building event here?
How much money would that cost?
Yu Jiaojiao entered the private room empty-handed. Yu Jialiang asked curiously, “Huh? Has the cake not arrived yet?”
“I didn’t go to the first floor. Dad, Mom, guess who I just ran into on the second floor?”
“Who?”
“Yu Yue! She brought everyone from Zhongsheng Hall here for a team-building event. Dad, Mom, if she’s using the pharmacy’s money to pay the bill, will our family still get dividends this month?”
“Of course we will. Giving me dividends was her biological mother’s dying wish. She won’t go against it,” Yu Jialiang reassured his precious daughter.
Yu Jiaojiao pouted, looking thoroughly displeased.
Li Fengying, feeling sorry for her daughter, cooed to Yu Jialiang, “Honey, why don’t you go down to the second floor and check? Ask what’s really going on?”
“Alright, I’ll go ask. Then you two don’t need to go downstairs—have the cake delivered directly to the private room,” Yu Jialiang said.
“Mm.”
From the time Yu Jialiang left the private room to when he returned, he was even faster than Yu Jiaojiao had been.
Seeing his stunned expression, Li Fengying asked worriedly, “Husband, what’s wrong?”
“I… I think I just saw… Fu Jingyan?” Yu Jialiang seemed to be answering, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself. “He’s back in the country? Then what’s the deal with the woman and little girl beside him?”
Li Fengying and her daughter looked utterly confused.
What woman? What little girl?