The four characters "Jingcheng Hotel" were gleaming gold, and the neon lights were flashing. Zhou Xuan had never been here before, but he could imagine that this place must be quite high-class.
Zhang Lei parked the car on the outer edge, without getting out, and turned to Zhou Xuan, asking, "You still have a chance to back out now? Once you go in, there will be no turning back."
Zhou Xuan pretended to grit his teeth and said, "Go ahead, it's just eating."
Zhang Lei snorted, unbuckled her seatbelt. If Zhou Xuan insisted on acting like a big spender, so be it. She casually patted her pocket; her wallet had 20,000 yuan in it, which should be enough for the meal. Of course, it was impossible for him to spend that much in one meal; he would probably only spend a little over a thousand yuan. It seemed that Zhou Xuan had never been to such a high-end restaurant before, looking around curiously.
The waiter greeted them from the main entrance and led them inside. Zhou Xuan, wanting some peace and quiet, didn't go to the main hall and ordered a private room directly. Zhang Lei bit her lip as she watched Zhou Xuan's nonchalant manner. Did this guy even know that a private room here would cost seven or eight hundred yuan just for the room fee?
Judging from Zhou Xuan's expression, he probably didn't know. Zhang Lei wanted to remind him, but Zhou Xuan was smugly asking the waitress for the largest room.
The waitress paused for a moment, then asked, "The largest room? Sir, how many people are in your party?"
"Do I even need to tell you?" Zhou Xuan pointed at Zhang Lei, then at himself, and said, "Can you calculate what one plus one equals?"
The waitress blushed, but then argued, "Sir, there are only two of you. Booking such a large room is really not cost-effective. If you ask me, of course it's fine, since we're charging the same amount anyway."
"That's practical. Hmm, no need to say anything more, just get the biggest room." Zhou Xuan waved his hand and ordered, muttering to himself, "It's just one room, whether it's big or small, we'll still have a place to sit. If we get a big room, it'll just use up your air conditioning. Even if we don't get our money's worth from the food, we'll at least make our money back on the electricity."
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Volume 1, Chapter 547: The Free Meal
Zhang Lei was both annoyed and amused. Zhou Xuan's tone was that of a country bumpkin who had just come from the deep mountains. Thinking about it, it was possible. With such high-level martial arts skills, he must have come from the mountains and was naive to the ways of the world.
The receptionist stopped arguing with Zhou Xuan. Since he was paying, she figured he could have whatever he wanted, and whether it was a waste or not was his business. She then booked him the largest room, which cost eight hundred yuan. A waiter quickly led the two of them to a private room on the second floor.
Zhang Lei followed Zhou Xuan all the way to the room. The waiter poured tea first, and while the waiter was a little away, Zhang Lei secretly tugged at Zhou Xuan's sleeve and whispered, "Zhou Xuan, do you know how much it costs to eat here? Just the room fee alone is quite expensive!"
Zhou Xuan chuckled, patted his pocket, and then whispered in Zhang Lei's ear, "Don't worry, I have five hundred yuan in my pocket. Don't fret, I have plenty of money!"
Zhang Lei was so angry she almost fainted. This guy, she said she would treat him to a meal for no more than fifty yuan, and later increased it to one hundred. That was just a joke, but this guy seemed to take it seriously. He thought that treating her to a meal for five hundred yuan was a high-end expense, but she insisted on taking him to the most expensive restaurant in Beijing. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
Before Zhang Lei could speak, the waiter came over with tea and a menu. Zhou Xuan knew what Zhang Lei meant and, not giving her a chance, smiled, stood up, and said, "I'm going to the restroom!"
After sneaking out alone, Zhou Xuan went to the front desk to ask what the most expensive dish in the restaurant was. The waiter told him that the most expensive dish was seafood, and the most expensive dish in the restaurant was the deluxe set meal. However, very few people ordered the set meal. Most people who came to eat ordered dishes à la carte. Those who ordered the set meal were mostly for weddings and funerals, but the standard price was usually between three thousand and fifteen thousand yuan per table. The most expensive set meal was the sky-high price set meal, which cost as much as 360,000 yuan per table. Of course, the dishes were above standard, and even the tableware was a set costing tens of thousands of yuan. Coupled with the sky-high price of the wine, it was not surprising that this table cost hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Zhou Xuan glanced at the set meal package the waiter handed him and immediately pointed to the 360,000 yuan package, saying, "This is it!"
The waiter was startled and didn't dare to say anything. He quickly called the manager over and let the pretty female manager talk to Zhou Xuan. The female manager's expression was, of course, all smiles.
Generally speaking, there are still some people who order a set meal costing tens of thousands of yuan, but very few people order a set meal costing hundreds of thousands of yuan per table, after all, it is too extravagant. Since its launch, this highest standard set meal has only been ordered three times. It is just a symbol and signboard of the store. No one would have thought that someone would order it today.
"Hello, sir, are you sure you want to order this set meal?" the female manager asked with a smile.
Zhou Xuan said calmly, "What, are you afraid I can't afford to pay? Fine, I'll pay you first!" As he spoke, he took out his wallet from his pocket, took out his bank card, and handed it to her.
The female manager gave an awkward smile, but still took the card and told the cashier to swipe 360,000 yuan first. It would be a lie to say she wasn't worried about such a large sum of money; she would only be sure when she received the money.
After the cashier swiped the card and printed out the receipt, the female manager knew that Zhou Xuan was a real rich man. The card couldn't be swiped if there wasn't money in it, and Zhou Xuan remained indifferent and unfazed. If his net worth was only a few million, spending 360,000 on a single meal would be painful for him. Even with tens of millions in assets, he wouldn't spend money like that unless he was a billionaire, extremely wealthy. However, nowadays, very few rich people are this young. It seems Zhou Xuan is a complete second-generation rich kid.
After Zhou Xuan signed the receipt and took back the bank card, he said, "I'm treating a girl to dinner, so I've paid first. But I have a few requests: the waiters who come in and the waiters who come out to eat must not mention that I've already paid or the price. It's best if they just serve the food and do their job, and don't say a word else. After we finish eating, I'll sneak away with my friend, and your people can just pretend they didn't see us!"
The female manager was taken aback for a moment, but then smiled and readily agreed, "No problem, no problem, we'll do whatever you tell us!"
Once Zhou Xuan pays the money, whatever service he requests, he has to provide it. Such a big customer is no exaggeration to call him God. Where else can you find such a generous and easy-going customer?
Of the 360,000 yuan, the store's profit is at least 100,000 yuan. The higher the price of the set meal, the higher the profit, and some can reach 50/50.
Zhou Xuan's demands were a bit strange. Normally, when a guy brings a girl to dinner, he'd show off, flaunt his status, and put on airs. But he was different. Not only did he not want to show off, but he also wanted the girl to stay out of the way after the meal and sneak away with him. He had a really strange habit, but he could do whatever he wanted, and he was the one who paid.
After giving his instructions, Zhou Xuan returned to his room with a smile.
Zhang Lei was biting her lip in annoyance. Originally, she wanted to just leave and not eat the meal, but then she thought that since Zhou Xuan was her colleague and he had kindly invited her to dinner, his mistake was that he was naive and thought that a few hundred yuan was enough. Considering that they had gone through thick and thin together today and that he had made a great contribution, she decided to take the loss herself and treat him to a meal, even if it meant throwing away two or three thousand yuan. If she secretly ran away, Zhou Xuan might have a big meal and wouldn't be able to leave.
Torn between hope and fear, Zhang Lei ultimately didn't leave. However, seeing Zhou Xuan return with a beaming smile, she became furious. This guy really knows nothing.
The waiter had already been called out by the manager and given instructions, and the person who came in to serve the food was specially selected so that no one would give anything away.
So when Zhou Xuan sat down, Zhang Lei was about to pick up the menu to order, telling her to choose for herself and not to order anything too fancy. But Zhou Xuan waved her hand and called out, "Hurry up and serve the food, the best of everything, and be quick!"
The waiter nodded and replied, "It'll be served right away, please wait a moment!"
Zhang Lei glared angrily at Zhou Xuan, who then patted his pocket to indicate that he had five hundred yuan on him and there was nothing to worry about.
Zhang Lei nearly fainted. She ordered the best dishes, but five hundred yuan couldn't even buy one dish, let alone anything else. Just as Zhang Lei had thought, "it's not even enough to cover the room fee."
First served was a small bowl of white fungus and bird's nest porridge. Before the main dishes were served, we drank the porridge first. Then came the braised grouper, shark fin soup, etc.
When Zhang Lei looked at the dishes, she saw that the fish and shark fins had excellent color and were top-quality. None of these dishes were cheap. It was because Zhou Xuan said, "Serve the best, and be quick," that these were the most expensive dishes served.
Zhou Xuan chuckled and picked up his chopsticks to eat, praising as he ate, "Not bad, not bad, this place is really nice, I'll come again next time. Zhang Lei, why aren't you eating? Eat up, eat up!"
Zhang Lei couldn't stop him; Zhou Xuan moved incredibly fast. By the time Zhang Lei reacted, Zhou Xuan had already eaten several dishes. "He's already touched several dishes. Even if I wanted to back out now, there was no going back." Zhang Lei was so angry that her chest heaved as she gasped for breath.
The waiter came over again and asked, "Sir, Madam, this set meal comes with two kinds of wine: 1991 Moutai and 1989 Wuliangye. Which one would you like?"
Zhou Xuan waved his hand and said, "Of course it has to be the old kind, Wuliangye!"
Zhang Lei finally cried out, hurriedly waving her hands and saying, "No, no, we don't drink!" She thought to herself that this bottle of wine "would cost at least tens of thousands of yuan, so she refused the wine and paid for the food." She was also prepared to ask the waiter not to bring any more dishes. With a determined heart, she decided to risk her 20,000 yuan.
However, the waiter said, "You don't want it? But if you don't want the alcohol, the price can't be reduced; it's included in the set meal!"
"A set meal?" Zhang Lei paused for a moment, then asked. Her face immediately darkened. She wanted to get angry, but she couldn't vent her anger on the waiter. She glanced at Zhou Xuan, that annoying guy, who was currently engrossed in eating.
The dishes are indeed good. If they weren't delicious after spending so much money, then it would be a disgrace to the brand.
While eating, Zhou Xuan said to Zhang Lei, "Zhang Lei, what are you doing? Eat up, eat up! You're wasting your time eating, you'll have to pay so much money even if you don't eat!"