Chapter 78: It’s Possible to Spend a Hundred Million On a Meal, Can You Believe It?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the Female Zhuge, Qiao Zijiang’s predictions were accurate.
When the dinner started, everyone paid their respects by toasting to their savior, Vigilante A, who seemed to have descended from the sky. Each of them offered a private meal to the hero, almost demanding the hero to answer to all of their invitations by gracing them with his presence. As usual, Vigilante A nodded and passed them a name card with his Wechat and QQ contact.
Unfortunately, it did not take long for the crowd to catch on the fact that Vigilante A was not a person who could be treated for a meal by your average Joe after they started eating.
At the table where Vigilante A sat was Qiao Anping, Qiao Zishan, and two other males. Qiao Anping personally accompanied the hero during his meal, but he soon realized that the 3 other men and himself were… unnecessary. Even their chopsticks couldn’t interrupt the hero and his meal…
The other 8 tables has 6 people and around a dozen dishes, and all of them stopped having new dishes served to them. After all, the food served was very filling, and despite that they tasted divine, they couldn’t fit any more in their stomach no matter how much they wanted to. Each dish came with a luxurious price tag, and since the folks on top always droned about prudency, they wouldn’t call for more when they knew that they could no longer finish what was served.
Hailan accompanied a few other ladies at her table. Their ages varied, but they shared a common characteristic – none of them had a significant appetite. Thus, she silently gobbled down all of the delicious herbs just like she planned, taking in all the much-needed nutrients under the envious stares of her female counterparts.
These courses were all so exquisite that they would have loved to eat more, but the ladies were more concerned about suddenly gaining fat to actually do that. Well, they never really had enough of an appetite in the first place.
Hai Lan’s complete disregard of her image as she devoured the food stemmed from the fact that these ingredients don’t come easily to them, even as middle to upper-level employees in the institute. They would only have access to it if they happen to chance upon a merry celebration, or that they manage to contribute a huge achievement to the institute. Besides, she blamed everything on the godlike cook. He didn’t lie about his abilities; these dishes are comparable to those served in heaven. They were so amazing that they should not have existed in the mortal realm…
No wonder the True Dragon would only dine in his place; no wonder Fang Ning had the guts to proclaim himself as the True Dragon’s designated chef. Judging from this, Fang Ning was indeed a truthful man.
With that thought, she looked towards Qiao Anping’s table, curious to see how Vigilante A reacted to the heavenly taste.
She froze.
Vigilante A sat upright, his hands and legs unmoving, his face void of emotions. He chewed as if he was eating wax, and he would only occasionally open his mouth for slices of food to fly directly into it. She blinked and watched closer to find that those were chunks of meat with their bones and seasoning removed. Sometimes, the hero would open his mouth and inhale, and streams of soup will flow into his mouth from the bowls like a reverse waterfall. None were left in the bowl after that.
Soon, she realized that the hero achieved all that using a masterful maneuver of vital energy. He controlled the dishes around him with delicate amounts of energy, commanding them to remove the skin, bones, and seasoning on the food. The hero managed to make eating a streamlined process, pushing the process to a groundbreaking efficiency. She could only sigh in defeat.
The four people around him could only accompany Vigilante A in the most literal manner during the meal. While the other three were dumbfounded in shock, Qiao Anping was the only man grinning happily when he witnessed how Vigilante A absolutely enjoying the meal. In northern culture, a guest’s respect to the host was measured by the amount of food they ate. After all, if a guest ate in abandon, it meant that they do not view themselves as an outsider to the host!
Hence, Qiao Anping kept ordering the personnel to urge the kitchen for more food, repeating the fact that he wanted nothing else but to see this savior of theirs sated and satisfied. At the same time, the guests on the other table had long since finished their meal. Only one table remained, and there was no sign of stopping…
After a period of observation, Hai Lan concluded that Vigilante A had no intentions to fake his appetite out of respect. The hero took Qiao Anping’s offer to allow him to continue eating seriously, and had somehow managed to eat even faster than before. It felt as if the hero was fully intending to swallow an entire ocean, at this point.
At the same time, a personnel stood in the kitchen and huffed at the chef, “Quick, the hero’s 60th dish is no more already.”
‘Fang Ning’ made sure his actions were quick; in fact, he moved so quickly that it was barely visible with the naked eye. They had been working for so long that all of them were too exhausted; well, all except Fang Ning. They were thankful to have enough personnel on standby that they could afford a rotational work system, which allowed them some time to rest in between.
Fang Ning seemed to be the only person unaffected by the workload. He stood firmly and did his job with endless vigor, his actions delicate and meticulous like those of a robot’s. His accuracy and speed were so immaculate that the onlookers could only gasp at his abilities as a superpowered individual.
Soon, a new plate of food was done, and a personnel whisked it away immediately. Suddenly, someone piped up, “Uh, we seem to have ran out of ingredients for the next dish. The herbs too.”
“Then we should quickly report to the Vice Principal…”
Qiao Anping got the report immediately. He excused himself and left Vigilante A to go to a secluded area. When he was there, Qiao Anping immediately answered, “This is not a problem. I’ll give you a signature, and you can immediately go to the reserve warehouse to retrieve what you need.”
One of the personnel spoke with an unpleasant pull at the lips, “The quota for this dinner was specially made for by the Institute Committees. It already took a substantial part of the budget, so I’m afraid…”
Qiao Anping’s face darkened when he heard that. “That honorable hero solved such a big problem for us, and this is the first time he came over to be a guest at my turf. How could I garner respect from others if I allow Vigilante A to leave without getting fed? At this point, money does not mean anything anymore. Cash everything to my personal account!”
The personnel still looked hesitant. “But… The things he ate are those that couldn’t be bought with money. They’re usually supplied internally.”
Frustrated, Qiao Anping huffed, “Why are you so pesky? Alright, I’ll call Old Man Xu right now and ask him to give his approval.”
Qiao Anping picked up his phone and dialed Old Man Xu’s contact and explained the situation to the latter. It was evident that this Old Man Xu had no idea what the appetite of Vigilante A entailed as he jovially proclaimed, “Ah, of course, no problem! Just do what you want, Anping, I’ll tell the others about this afterwards.”
Of course Old Man Xu would agree wholeheartedly. Firstly, Vigilante A managed to solve a big issue within the Institute before the issue exploded above. That definitely saved the old man a bucket load of trouble. Besides, the hero had even bothered to save his useless son! How could he disagree with something like this when the hero helped him in both work and personal contexts?
After receiving the direct orders from the Principal, some staffers immediately took Qiao Anping’s signature to get the goods from the warehouse. Soon, a huge load of food came pouring into the kitchen along with the suitable herbs, all prepared for the masterful chef to cook without stopping.
When they saw how Vigilante A cleared the table for the 10th time, the crowd who were waiting for the dinner to end so they could go home with their gifts felt that they might be blinded by the scene before them.
Hai Lan, who finished her food early on silently slinked to another table. She tapped Qiao Zijiang’s shoulders, and the lady stood in understanding. They walked out of the venue before the latter asked, “Aunty Lan, you’re trying to ask about when he would stop eating right?”
Hai Lan nodded. She felt the weight of misfortune on her tongue as she spoke. This hero showed up right at the moment when they started their dinner, and as a successful businessman, ‘Fang Ning’ for some reason agreed to her request to personally cook suspiciously easily, and had even asked for around 20 people as helpers.
After she related both events together, she concluded that ‘Fang Ning’ indeed understood the wants of the True Dragon, and was also really confident in his cooking skills. He was confident that as long as he cooked, Vigilante A, who was in the area, would most definitely sense it. ‘Fang Ning’ was using the Truth Department’s venues and resources to return a favor here…
Well, it’s not like it mattered too much anyways. No matter what, they had planned to properly appreciate the hero for his efforts, and even though the ingredients used for this meal were quite expensive, they were limited to a consumption of 30 to 50 people. It wouldn’t hurt them much even if they used all of it on the hero.
Unfortunately, that plan came into a snag with the presence of Qiao Anping, an infamously generous gifter who had no financial concerns whatsoever. Everything slowly slid into the abyss after that…
Was it that she was really dumber than Qiao Zijiang? Hai Lan could only understand the situation when she witnessed the circumstances in real life, while the other lady had already forecasted this outcome even before the event. Even though she knew from the files that Vigilante A had a good appetite, she never took it seriously. After all, she thought that everyone had a good appetite: battle personnel and even herself could gobble down a significant amount. What she didn’t expect was the comparison that were used to contrast VIgilante A’s appetite.
The hero was measured against the standards of a dragon.
Qiao Zijiang noted the hint of regret on Hai Lan’s face. She sighed, “I met him when I went to Qi City, and I’ve spent some effort to investigate him. He rarely eats – in fact, he only eats once every 10 or 14 days – but when he eats, he’ll start from the night until the next morning.
He could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on those herbal soups that were commonly made available outside in the cities. Now, he found the good stuff internally supplied in the Institute, and he met my uncle, a bountiful man that encouraged him to eat more. I won’t be surprised if he could continue eating for 2 days and 2 nights…”
Hai Lan inhaled sharply, “If we were to sell these internally supplied ingredients and herbs externally, people would need to pay tenfold or hundredfold of the price to even have the chance to buy them.”
Qiao Zijiang nodded. “That’s right. Well, he seemed to get a billion dollar meal in himself today, entirely funded by us…”
Soon, another round of dishes disappeared again, and now Hai Lan found herself hating ‘Fang Ning’ for agreeing to her request to cook. If it was another person behind the pots and pans, she would bet that the hero wouldn’t have that good of an appetite.”
Now, she could only hope that ‘Fang Ning’ would be too exhausted to move. At that thought, she immediately got herself a waiter and asked.
The waiter scratched his head. “The man was still energized. As a Superpowered Individual, the man seemed to have unlimited energy. All the other chefs had rotated at least once, but he didn’t even seem to break a sweat there.”
The two women exchanged a look. The flame of their last hope was pinched away before it could burn.
Thankfully, when Vigilante A reached the 100th dish, the chef personally came out with a few people following him. In tow was a whole cow, roasted to perfection.
Hai Lan heaved a sigh of relief. “Great, this must be the last dish now.”
Qiao Zijiang was unsure. “That… That might not unfold according to what we picture.” When ‘Fang Ning’ placed the entire cow on the table, the aroma flooded the entire mountains just as they placed the rack down. Those in the crowd who had finished stuffing themselves could only sigh forlornly as they stared at the beef. The only few who sighed in relief were Qiao Zishan and the other 2 men.
They could finally use their chopsticks now.
That thought lasted for exactly 1 second. Disbelief and despair flooded them afterwards.
Vigilante A nodded slightly at ‘Fang Ning’ in a way of acknowledgment. Then, the hero opened his mouth at the grilled beef…
No one actually captured clearly what happened next. They only knew that the entire cow disappeared from the rack, leaving only drips of oil as a sign that it ever existed in the first place.
“Thank you for appreciating my cooking, hero. As an appreciation for your life-saving act, I announce that whenever you visit the restaurant, all dishes were to be sold at zero profit. Here’s a card with 30 million in it. It’s a small gift to signify my wishes, and I hope that you would not be unhappy at how minimal the gift is. Don’t reject the gift, too.”
As he spoke, ‘Fang Ning’ handed an encrypted golden card to the hero.
Vigilante A nodded as he spoke. “Mhm, you’re a good one. You’re indeed from a place with culture and sincerity; you’re one of the rare ones who knew how to repay their favors.”
At the last syllable of his words, the golden card flew directly out of ‘Fang Ning’s hands into the hero’s grip. Now, everyone in the dinner finally understood what happened. All of them wanted to properly thank the hero, but everyone wanted to move that to a more private setting and had wanted to privately invite the hero to another meal. They wanted to properly network while they return the favor, essentially.
Now, someone was going to beat them to the punch, and the rest could no longer sit still. They were unwilling to lose in any aspects of this race of wealth. Immediately, the rest of the members of the club all showed their appreciation, and each digit that they announced was nearly too much for the average joe to handle.
Hai Lan thought that maybe finally, this dinner was about to end.
Then, a dreaded voice spoke. Qiao Anping asked, “O hero, are you full already? Do you need me to ask them to get you more?”
At this point, other people would definitely wave and reject the offer. They would definitely proclaim how satisfied they are with the meal, and then the dinner would finally come to an end. Sadly, this hero’s thought process was evidently not one of an ordinary person, as he nodded solemnly in reply.
“That’s great. I’ve just finished with appetizers. Let them continue cooking, then…”
