Ye Chen glanced at Xu Qiang and then said to the manager,
"Let's start with ten bottles; that should be enough."
Xu Qiang, who was already full of anger, was shocked when he heard this. Ace of Spades champagne—even the cheaper ones cost seven or eight thousand yuan a bottle, and the better ones tens of thousands. The Jade Restaurant was a high-class establishment; buying Ace of Spades here would most likely cost tens of thousands of yuan per bottle. Ye Chen had ordered ten bottles, totaling at least one hundred thousand yuan. Xu Qiang, meanwhile, had boasted earlier that he would be paying for everything today. After regaining his senses, Xu Qiang asked, his voice a little gloomy,
"Ten bottles—can you even finish them?"
Ye Chen glanced at Xu Qiang lightly and said,
"If I can't finish drinking them, I'll take them with me. It's fine; I drove here and have a place to put them."
When Xu Qiang heard this, his anger could no longer be contained, and he stood up abruptly. Just then, the lights in the restaurant suddenly dimmed, and a large cake cart was pushed out. The cake had nine layers, with Du Xiaoya's name written on the top. In addition, there was also a jewelry box on the cart. When Ye Chen saw this, his eyebrows couldn't help but raise. Du Xiaoya felt nervous and grabbed Ye Chen's arm.
"Husband, I swear I haven't contacted him. Believe me."
Ye Chen patted Du Xiaoya's hand, signaling her to relax, that there was no need to be nervous.
At this moment, the electric candles on the cake suddenly lit up, but Xu Qiang, who had originally intended to come forward to present flowers and a diamond ring, was still standing frozen in place. His face was now as dark as charcoal. Not only had his plan been preempted, but he had also been thoroughly humiliated. Not only was his money for the cake and ring wasted, but now Ye Chen's order added another potential expense of 100,000 yuan for champagne. No one in this situation could possibly remain calm. He glanced at Ye Chen fiercely. Then, Xu Qiang walked directly to the cake, snatched the ring box from it, turned around, and stormed off.
When Ye Chen saw this, he said to the restaurant manager, who was at a loss for words,
"Don't look to me for his bill."
The restaurant manager, hearing this, immediately came back to his senses and hurried after Xu Qiang. Within a few seconds, Xu Qiang's furious roar could be heard.
"That bastard ordered ten bottles of Ace of Spades! I didn't order them. Don't put it on my bill!"
The restaurant manager frowned and said,
"Sir, please mind your language, or you will be blacklisted from our establishment."
"Do whatever you want! I will only pay for what I ordered. I won't care about anything else!" Xu Qiang roared angrily.
When Ye Chen heard this, he snapped his fingers, then turned his head and said to the manager,
"Those wines are mine."
"Okay, sir."
The restaurant manager, visibly relieved, gave Ye Chen a respectful gentleman's bow.
Xu Qiang's irritability contrasted with Ye Chen's indifference instantly drew the attention of everyone dining in the restaurant towards Ye Chen and his table. All kinds of disdainful and contemptuous eyes were now thrown at Xu Qiang. No grace, no taste, no composure. For such a person to come to eat here was simply an eyesore to the other patrons. Xu Qiang, noticing the stares from around the restaurant, wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Unfortunately for him, he still had to pay his bill. After he finished checking out, the classmates who had been sucking up to Xu Qiang all made excuses and left in a hurry.
Ye Chen looked at the dining table, which had barely been touched, then at the remaining female classmates who didn't know whether to leave or stay, and asked,
"Continue?"
"Forget it; the prices here are too expensive,"
said one female classmate.
"It's really expensive. We can just find an ordinary restaurant; the point is to get together anyway," said another.
When Ye Chen heard this, he snapped his fingers again. The restaurant manager, maintaining a gentlemanly composure despite the earlier scene, approached their table, bowed slightly, and asked,
"Sir, what are your instructions?"
Ye Chen smiled slightly and said,
"Change our table, and then serve your specialty dishes—six servings per person."
"Okay, sir. Please come with me. I will reserve the best location for you,"
the restaurant manager said with a slight bow. Seeing this, Ye Chen looked at the somewhat confused female classmates and said,
"Let's go. Don't just sit there. You can't even see the night view of the City from this table; it's so boring."
"Ye Chen, the food here is so expensive, you..."
a female classmate said with some hesitation.
"What are you afraid of?" Li Kexin interjected.
"Ye Chen is a local tyrant. Anyway, he's paying the bill, so we girls can eat whatever we want."
After Li Kexin said that, she was the first to walk over. When the other female students saw this, they followed one by one. Although Li Kexin was often careless, she wasn't lying now. Since she said Ye Chen was paying, it meant Ye Chen indeed had the means to cover it. Besides, since they were already here, they might as well try the food. In fact, when women face various choices, they often find ten thousand reasons to convince themselves. For example, a young girl might find herself with an older man and convince herself it's true love. Of course, this is just a metaphor and not entirely appropriate to apply to the current situation.