Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yun Shishi came to realize how famished she was with her stomach playing tricks on her. Her eyes swept across the rows of appetizing pictures. Although they were just images, she could practically smell the food aroma on the menu, and she drooled with desire.
She looked at the images back and forth, bedazzled by her desire to taste this and that. It was a hard decision to make!
Inwardly, she wanted to order everything and eat to her heart’s content!
Alas, she was worried of indigestion and being unable to finish everything. It would be a pity for the food to go to waste.
She lifted her head again to look at the man sitting beside her. Seeing that he was carelessly playing with the delicate culinary ware, was not looking in her direction, and did not seem very hungry or had any specific cravings, she let out a sigh of relief surreptitiously as she felt slightly vexed. It seemed that she was deciding on this meal by herself as he did not appear to be in the mood!
After ordering a few dishes, the manager smiled, then asked for Mu Yazhe’s opinion, and excused himself.
The huge room became unexpectedly quiet.
With the current situation already too extravagantly corrupted, the pair dominated the whole, large round table.
The woman raised her head and glanced at the fixtures and the decoration. The antique decoration had a classic charm to them, and even the wooden chairs were exquisitely carved.
Suddenly spotting something interesting, she stared at the calligraphy painting by the screen with curiosity. A beautiful palace maid was painted in bold and elegant strokes on a painting paper that had yellowed over time. It seemed very precious from how it was hung high on the wall using an expensive frame.
The more she looked at it, the more enchanted she was, and she eventually clicked her tongue in wonder!
The man glanced at her and saw that she was looking in a specific direction, lost in thought. Following her line of sight, he noticed the ancient-looking drawing scroll and knitted his eyebrows.
The manager led the waiters with the dishes into the room quickly. Taking this opportunity, she turned to him and smiled. “This painting on the wall is really beautiful!”
The latter was stunned at first, unable to make heads or tails of her remark, but following her line of sight to the painting, he understood what she was on about. Immediately, his face displayed a delighted smile that he could not hide as he said, “He he! This painting isn’t only just beautiful, but the point is that it’s especially precious!”
She blinked her eyes confusedly, only to hear the manager continue with his explanation. “He he! Do you know Gu Kaizhi from the Eastern Jin dynasty?”
She shook her head.
“He he! He was an extremely talented artist! This masterpiece was part of his admonitions scroll, so it’s an invaluable collector’s item!”
“This painting… is it from your collection?” she asked in surprise.
The manager shook his head in dismay and explained, “If it were mine, why would I still be working in this restaurant? He he! That’s a collector’s item belonging to an old friend of mine. He’s just like me—an antique collector enthusiast—and he loves this rare gem! I heard that this painting was specially bought in England at a high price. He’s a regular patron, so he lent me this drawing to boost this place’s reputation by hanging it in this room!”
This restaurant was not short of wealthy patrons, and many of them loved this painting. There were some who had even asked to purchase this miracle work from Gu Kaizhi while quoting a high price.
