“Why aren’t you saying anything? Did I guess correctly?” Lu Jin was even more nervous. His tone was a little impatient, but it was also mixed with anger.
It seemed that as long as Gu Nianzhi nodded, he would tear those who didn’t care about her into pieces…
Gu Nianzhi felt a little uncomfortable.
This kind of unadulterated concern made her feel warm and touched, but it was a little strange that such strong concern came from a stranger she had just met.
When she was growing up, Huo Shaoheng had always reminded her that there was no free lunch in the world, and no free pie would fall from the sky.
What she wanted, she needed to fight for herself.
The things that were given to her for free were either poison wrapped in honey or a trap thrown out as bait.
Her heart was filled with the “rules and regulations” that Huo Shaoheng had set for her, but she didn’t show it on her face. She smiled and shook her head. “Of course not. I’m just more easily moved.”
His expression stubborn, Lu Jin looked at her silently as he said, “Keep making things up. If I believe you, it’s my loss.”
Gu Nianzhi had a headache. How was she going to convince this person?
She thought about it for a moment and said in a low voice, “Mr. Lu, there are actually a lot of people who care about me. It’s true. They’re very good to me. I can basically get whatever I want…”
As long as she paid the same price.
Of course, she didn’t say the second half of her sentence.
Lu Jin looked at her suspiciously. “Really? But I feel like you’re stuttering and unwilling. You seem to be hiding half of what you said.”
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help pursing her lips. She was very worried that if she wasn’t careful, she would spill the beans.
This person was too sharp. Although his words weren’t pleasant to hear, his insight was top-notch.
Gu Nianzhi was annoyed, but her eyes darted around. She looked up and saw the waiter coming over with a menu. She quickly said, “Oh my, I’m starving. Let’s see what’s good here.”
Lu Jin’s thoughts immediately wandered when Gu Nianzhi said she was hungry. He quickly said, “Then hurry up and order. Don’t you want to eat seafood? Let’s see what seafood specialty they have here.”
Long Jingxuan was the only three-star Michelin Huaxia restaurant in H City. It did indeed have its own very delicious specialty.
Before they ordered, the waiter brought them an appetizer. It was free and was available at every table.
Gu Nianzhi looked at it and licked her lips with the tip of her tongue.
It was indeed a high-class restaurant. The appetizer was pickled cucumber abalone.
A delicious abalone was placed on a few pieces of tender green cucumber slices. Just the color scheme alone was enough to make one’s appetite soar.
Gu Nianzhi took a bite of the abalone, and without hesitation, she ordered the abalone chicken crispy plate, the dragon with pear fragrance, the crispy fried lobster balls, the French duck liver stuffed crab, and the lotus celery mixed seedling green melon dumpling. The main dish was the lobster fried rice that Longjing restaurant specialized in, the dessert was the mango pomelo sago.
After ordering, she looked at Lu Jin in embarrassment and said, “Did I order too much?”
Lu Jin shook his head seriously and said, “I’ve calculated the amount of food here. The food you ordered is only enough for you to eat 50% of your fill.”
“Huh?” Gu Nianzhi raised her eyebrows high. “You’ve eaten here before?”
“No.” Lu Jin shook his head honestly. “I calculated it from their menu and the calories of each dish on their menu.”
Gu Nianzhi: “…”
The waiter’s eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.
He had worked here for so many years, and this was probably the first time he had seen someone calculate the quantity of a dish from the calories of each dish on their menu…
“… Then, should I order more?” Her heart pounding, Gu Nianzhi looked at the price of each dish.
She hoped that she had brought enough money for a meal.
It was too expensive.
Lu Jin flipped through the menu and ordered quickly. “Six servings of gold-foil seafood dumplings. Look at the menu, it says there’s fish maw, ginseng, and mushrooms from Japan. The nuclear leakage in Japan these past two years has been quite serious, so the raw materials from that place cannot be served on our table. If I detect it, I’ll sue your restaurant for treating people’s lives like grass.”
The waiter’s legs started to go weak and he wanted to kneel down.
Gu Nianzhi listened with relish and nodded repeatedly. “Indeed. We don’t need the mushrooms from Japan. The mushrooms from our country’s Yungui region are very good.”
She then reminded the waiter, “You have to remember this well. If you don’t explain it to the chef, we won’t comply.”
The waiter nodded repeatedly. “Remember, remember.”
All food ingredients from Japan couldn’t be used in the dishes ordered by this table of customers.
Lu Jin continued to order, “I’ll have two organic Australian lobster balls with black and white onions, three cages of dried scallop dumpling, and an appetizer platter with barbecued pork, roast duck, roasted suckling pig, and jellyfish skin.”
He explained to Gu nianzhi, “This platter actually isn’t healthy. It has too much fat, but because the amount is very small, I’ll still order one for you to try. The roasted suckling pig here is unique and worth a try.”
Gu Nianzhi was almost drooling. Her eyes shone with the light of a glutton. “Okay, okay. I like to try delicacies from all over the world.”
Lu Jin looked at the menu again and said, “Four portions of lobster fried rice, and two portions of the dishes she ordered before. That’s enough.”
Gu Nianzhi silently calculated the bill.
This meal would probably cost five thousand dollars. Her monthly salary would be gone.
Just as she was wondering if she still had the money to go shopping and buy some local specialties, Lu Jin handed the menu back to the waiter and said, “This meal will be signed under the name of the Lu Corporation.”
The waiter’s eyes lit up and he quickly asked, “May I ask if you are a high-ranking official of the Lu Corporation?”
Those who had the authority to sign the meal were all high-ranking officials.
Lu Jin took out his business card. “I have the right to sign.”
Gu Nianzhi blushed and quickly said, “This meal is on me! Please don’t do this, it’s not good if others find out…”
This was public money for food and drinks..
If Huo Shaoheng found out about this, he would probably break her legs.
The waiter ignored Gu Nianzhi and happily left with Lu Jin’s business card.
Lu Jin frowned at Gu Nianzhi. “What’s wrong with it? As a shareholder of the Lu Corporation, can’t I just sign the bill?”
Gu Nianzhi began to reason with him. “Mr. Lu, please don’t be like this. We agreed that I would treat you, so I ordered these dishes. If it were you, I wouldn’t have ordered them. Besides, we agreed that you wouldn’t go back on your word. What do you mean by that?”
Actually, if Lu Jin had offered to treat her to a meal, she definitely wouldn’t have come.
Lu Jin felt that it made sense and said regretfully, “Then this meal is on you, and the next one is on me.”
Gu Nianzhi: “…”
She decided not to dwell on this issue anymore.
She could manage this meal for three days.
It didn’t matter if it was her appetite or her wallet.
She smiled at Lu Jin, but Gu Nianzhi didn’t say anything else.
Both of them made up their minds and began to enjoy the delicacies in silence.
The waiters brought the dishes over one after another.
Gu Nianzhi then realized that the so-called “dragon with jade pear fragrance” dish was actually a combination of shrimp and pears.
The shrimp meat was delicious, and the pear meat was clear and sweet. It was steamed and eaten with a little bit of starch. The two portions of food retained their natural flavor, and the aftertaste was endless when mixed together.
She took small bites of the delicious food and sat upright. Never showing her teeth, she chewed carefully while eating. Of course, she wouldn’t slurp her food.
She was dignified and elegant. From the way she ate, she could tell that she had a good upbringing and must have come from a good family.
She was well-bred and knew manners. It was said that among those from wealthy familes, it would take at least three generations before one knew how to eat and dress.
The way Gu Nianzhi ate was enough to make people believe that she was from a prominent family.
At that moment, no one thought that she was an orphan whose parents had both died.
Lu Jin didn’t know the taste of his own food. His attention was entirely on Gu Nianzhi.
He saw the way she was eating and nodded repeatedly in his heart. He finally believed what Gu Nianzhi had said.
There should be someone who cared about her.
Because of the way she lived her life, the way she grew up.
No matter how hard people tried to hide their bitterness and hatred, they couldn’t hide the vicissitudes of life in their eyes and the nervousness in their posture.
They wished they could turn themselves into swords of revenge at all times, and their entire bodies tensed up.
Gu Nianzhi’s neither servile nor overbearing attitude, her elegant demeanor, especially her bright and moving eyes, and her witty conversation were enough to convince others that she was indeed living well.
Lu Jin watched as she ate. The more he watched, the happier he became. It was as if he had drunk a bottle of 1982 Maotai and was intoxicated.
The two of them didn’t say much and ate most of the dishes in one go. They looked at each other, smiled, and began to chat.
Gu Nianzhi raised the mango juice in her hand and smiled at Lu Jin. “The portions of these dishes are really too small. I can eat a whole plate in two bites.”
She pointed at the fried chicken with abalone in front of her.
On the large plate, there were three fried chicken with abalone alone. Gu Nianzhi quickly finished off all the fried chicken with abalone.
Needless to say, the abalone was delicious. The crispy crust on the outside was even more tender, and the filling inside was only fresh without being fishy.
She wished she could swallow her entire tongue.
After eating three, Gu Nianzhi looked at Lu Jin with unsatisfied eyes.
Lu Jin actually understood her gaze. He shook his head and said, “You can’t order this anymore. Although it’s delicious, it’s very high in calories and cholesterol, and ridiculously high in purines. Eating too much of it isn’t good for your body.”
Gu Nianzhi licked her lips and nodded obediently. “Okay, then I won’t eat it. I’ll try this dessert.”
The mango pomelo sago could be considered the signature dessert of Long Jingxuan. Gu Nianzhi took a bite but wasn’t interested in the overly sweet taste.
Lu Jin saw that she hadn’t eaten much, so he didn’t rush her. He nodded. “You should eat less dessert and eat more organic fruit. It’s not worse than this dessert.”
After the meal, Lu Jin had “educated” Gu Nianzhi about food safety and health. Not only was she satisfied with the material (food) , but she was also satisfied with the spiritual (knowledge) .
The meal lasted until three o’clock in the afternoon, and Gu Nianzhi couldn’t take it anymore.
She handed her card to the waiter to settle the bill, and agreed not to put it on the Lu Corporation’s account.
The waiter reluctantly agreed and took her card in exchange for Lu Jin’s business card.
Worried that she would be overwhelmed by the bill, Gu Nianzhi didn’t look at the bill and stuffed it into her wallet..
She still had a smile on her face as she said to Lu Jin, “Mr. Lu, I really can’t eat tonight. If there’s a chance in the future, can we pick another restaurant to have a good meal?”
Lu Jin saw that she had indeed eaten quite a lot, so he wasn’t in a hurry. He said, “Okay, don’t lie down and sleep right away. You can walk for five more minutes before you rest.”
He nagged her about a lot of things she should pay attention to after eating. Gu Nianzhi didn’t mind his nagging and listened very carefully. She walked all the way back to her room and opened the door with the key card before saying to him, “Thank you, Mr. Lu. I had a great time eating today.”
It had been a long time since Lu Jin had talked so much in one breath. It was rare that someone who was obedient not only didn’t hate him, but also listened attentively, not just to brush him off.
He was so happy that he hummed a song all the way back to his room.
Lu Yuan and Zhao Liangze were in the back room discussing important matters. When they heard Lu Jin come in, they fell silent at the same time.
After a while, Zhao Liangze was puzzled. “CEO Lu, your brother can sing?!”
Lu Yuan, “! ! !”
…
The next night was the Lu Corporation’s grand celebration party.
Gu Nianzhi changed into a formal black dress and only wore a necklace made of natural sea pearls.
The pearls were plump and each one was the size of a pinky finger. What was rare was that each one was almost exactly the same size. The pearls sparkled and complemented her delicate and fair skin.
Walking into the beautifully decorated banquet hall, Gu Nianzhi found Xiao Zhang eating the buffet with a plate in hand. She smiled and said, “Aren’t you a celebrity chaser? Where are the celebrities?”
Xiao Zhang had gone out shopping during the day and hadn’t eaten all day. She was waiting to fill her stomach at the the buffet at the celebration banquet.
Although it was important to be a celebrity chaser, it was more important to have a full stomach.
Xiao Zhang chewed on the fragrant lobster fried rice and said incoherently, “… I think they’re over there. I saw a few celebrities escorting Miss Xie over there just now.”
Gu Nianzhi asked nervously, “Miss Xie? Which Miss Xie?”
“The niece of the prime minister, Xie Qingying.” Xiao Zhang looked around and spotted Xie Qingying. She pointed over. “There, she’s over there.”
