This restaurant had a very grand-sounding name—Palace Banquet.
Its location was equally bizarre and difficult to find.
Song Tinghuan leaned halfway into the driver’s seat and directed the driver according to the navigation app on her phone.
Half an hour later, the driver was covered in sweat.
“Xiao Song, why do I feel like we’ve been here before?”
Song Tinghuan blinked. “Really?”
“We’ve passed this place six times.”
Holding her phone, Song Tinghuan spun around three hundred and sixty degrees inside the car. Following the direction of the arrow on the screen, she patted the driver on the shoulder.
“This way. I’m sure this is right!”
After another half hour of struggling, they finally found the restaurant.
Outside were only ordinary crisscrossing alleyways.
Inside, however, was a completely different world.
The entrance was luxurious and imposing. Before they even stepped inside, they could already hear the sound of traditional string and bamboo instruments.
Song Tinghuan entered together with Shen Yuqing and showed their reservation at the door.
The waiter asked: “Do the two of you have any seating preferences?”
Since they had already come all this way, they naturally wanted to watch the performance.
So Song Tinghuan said: “Somewhere close to the stage.”
“Certainly.”
The restaurant’s interior was lavishly decorated in a traditional Chinese style. From the moment she entered, Song Tinghuan’s mouth never closed.
“Wow!”
“Wow!”
“Woooow—”
The waiter led them to seats closest to the stage.
Looking up, they could see a group of slender young women dancing gracefully. Each wore a veil, adding an air of mystery.
Excited, Song Tinghuan sat across from Shen Yuqing and proudly raised her eyebrows.
“Well? The place I picked is pretty good, right?”
Shen Yuqing took a sip of the flower tea the waiter had poured.
It was fragrant and smooth, without the slightest trace of bitterness.
“Mm. Not bad.”
He was commenting on the tea.
“Of course it’s good.” Song Tinghuan said. “Just look at those beauties. They’re obviously professionals.”
She was talking about the beauties.
Shen Yuqing glanced at her but said nothing.
Not long afterward, the food arrived.
The presentation was exquisite.
In the center of a white porcelain plate as large as a washbasin were two strips of beef, each no bigger than a thumb.
One piece each.
They put them into their mouths simultaneously.
Chew, chew, chew.
Chew, chew, chew.
Chew, chew, chew…
Song Tinghuan set down her chopsticks, her expression grave. Her cheeks were beginning to ache, and even her gums felt weak.
Across from her, Shen Yuqing was not faring much better, though his demeanor remained far more elegant.
After chewing for several minutes, Song Tinghuan felt that if she didn’t swallow soon, she might spit it out.
Summoning all her strength, she forced it down.
After a suffocating struggle in her throat, she finally conquered the piece of beef.
At this point, Song Tinghuan vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
Every dish that followed was artistically plated and uniquely shaped.
The taste, however, was difficult to describe.
So she said to Shen Yuqing: “Don’t force yourself if it tastes bad. Let’s just watch the show. Beauty is still objectively beautiful.”
The waiter serving them immediately perked up.
“Would the two of you like to interact with our performers?”
“Yes, yes!” Song Tinghuan nodded eagerly. “That’s exactly why we came.”
“Very well. I’ll make arrangements right away.”
The waiter went off to relay a few instructions.
Soon afterward, the dancers floated down from the stage like fairies. Their flowing sleeves practically brushed Song Tinghuan’s face.
A fragrant scent surrounded her completely.
As the beauties greeted her one after another, she felt as though she were floating on clouds.
Damn it.
If only she could somehow grow that thing herself.
She could only look at beautiful women.
How was she any different from a eunuch?
Like a spoiled young master, Song Tinghuan caught one of the flowing sleeves tossed toward her. Her broad grin never disappeared, and she even remembered to share the experience with Shen Yuqing.
“President Shen? President Shen?”
She turned her head.
“Why aren’t you smiling?”
Several beauties took turns tossing their sleeves in front of Shen Yuqing, yet failed to get even the slightest smile from him.
Finding him boring, they all shifted their attention to Song Tinghuan instead.
This little beauty knew how to appreciate them.
Unlike that human iceberg.
Song Tinghuan was overwhelmed.
Whenever she responded to one, another would come over to tease her. She practically wished she had three heads and six arms so she wouldn’t neglect any of them.
“Come, let me feed you a bite.”
“Let me massage your shoulders. Is this pressure comfortable?”
The soft voices coaxed Song Tinghuan into a daze.
“Comfortable! Comfortable, comfortable, comfortable!”
A look of disgust appeared on Shen Yuqing’s face.
He turned away and refused to look at her.
Even after the interaction session ended, Song Tinghuan’s smile remained radiant.
“President Shen, honestly.” she complained playfully: “we already paid for it. By acting like that, you missed out on at least eighteen hundred yuan worth of service.”
Shen Yuqing lifted his eyelids and gave her a faint glance before refilling his own teacup.
Song Tinghuan thought: He’s looking down on me.
Only after taking a sip of tea did Shen Yuqing finally speak.
“Is that all you aspire to?”
Song Tinghuan thought: He really is looking down on me!
“Hmph.” She looked disdainful. “What’s wrong with my aspirations? My greatest dream is to enjoy a life of comfort without making any effort and somehow receive blessings out of nowhere.”
The vision in her mind was apparently so wonderful that she unconsciously laughed out loud.
Holding his teacup near his lips, Shen Yuqing’s mouth curved slightly as well.
At that moment, the same waiter returned carrying the bill.
“Hello, this is your bill.”
Song Tinghuan waved her hand grandly.
“I’ll pay!”
Since Shen Yuqing had already reimbursed the meal expense, she was more than happy to play the role of wealthy patron.
Wasn’t it just a little over three thousand yuan—
Wait.
Song Tinghuan stared.
“Did you calculate this wrong? Why is it over ten thousand?”
Shen Yuqing also set down his teacup and looked over.
The waiter smiled.
“The calculation is correct. The dining fee is 1,888 yuan per person. For two guests, that’s 3,776 yuan. The performer interaction package costs 6,888 yuan. We confirmed this with you beforehand. Adding the ten percent service charge, the total comes to 11,730.4 yuan.”
“We’ll round it down for you. 11,730 yuan.”
“WeChat, Alipay, or card?”
Song Tinghuan turned to stone.
Just now, they had fed her one bite of food and squeezed her shoulders a couple of times.
And that cost 6,888 yuan?
Why didn’t they just rob people?
The worst part was that she had been the only one enjoying it.
She was too embarrassed to ask Shen Yuqing for reimbursement…
“Give me the bill.” Shen Yuqing said as he reached for his phone. “I’ll pay.”
“No!”
Song Tinghuan rejected him righteously.
Logically speaking, there should have been a round of polite back-and-forth.
She would refuse.
Shen Yuqing would insist.
She would refuse again.
Shen Yuqing would continue insisting.
Then she would reluctantly surrender the opportunity to pay.
As Shen Yuqing raised his hand, Song Tinghuan quickly continued the ritual.
“No, no. I absolutely have to pay!”
Shen Yuqing said: “All right. Then you pay.”
Song Tinghuan: “?”
Brother.
If you didn’t know how to do the polite back-and-forth, you should’ve said so.
I could’ve taught you!
Shen Yuqing said: “I think I left my phone in the car.”
Oh.
So he didn’t know how to do the back-and-forth, but he did know how to play dumb.
Left his phone in the car, huh…
Song Tinghuan reached into her pocket.
Eh?
“Where’s my phone?”
“I was using it for navigation in the car just now.” she said as she searched first one pocket and then another. “Did I leave it in the car when I got out in a hurry?”
She checked every pocket.
Nothing.
The waiter’s smile was beginning to crack.
“Did neither of you bring a wallet?”
Song Tinghuan replied: “Who even uses a wallet these days?”
“Tell you what.” she said. “Trust me. We definitely aren’t trying to dine and dash. Let us go outside first. I’ll find the driver, get our phones from the car, then come back and pay.”
The waiter stared at her.
“Why should I believe you?”
Song Tinghuan: “…”
“Then how about lending me your phone? I’ll call the driver and have him bring our phones inside.”
The waiter agreed to that condition.
Song Tinghuan handed the phone to Shen Yuqing.
“President Shen, you call the driver.”
Shen Yuqing accepted the phone but made no move to dial.
“I don’t know the driver’s number.”
Song Tinghuan: “…”
The waiter snatched the phone back in one swift motion.
“You two wait right here. I’m going to find the boss and have him call the police to arrest you!”