Chapter 377: How Much? How Much Did You Say?

Pan Xiaomei’s gaze swept over Luo Xiwen and the others, a cold smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

There were nine people in total. Even if the meal cost over a hundred thousand yuan, if they split the bill, her family would only have to cover a few tens of thousands. The rest would be shouldered by Luo Xiwen and her group.

For a family of their financial standing, spending a few tens of thousands on a single meal would sting a little, but it was still within an affordable range.

But for the people sitting across from them, the same price wouldn’t just be a simple sting. For the six of them from two families, it would take at least a month of working for nothing, maybe even two, just to make up for the cost of this meal.

“Ah?”

“Aunt Pan, are you sure you want to split it?”

Luo Xiwen feigned surprise. “How about we don’t…”

“We’re splitting it!”

“Nothing you say today will change my mind!”

“I’d like to see how you’re all going to walk out of here later!”

Pan Xiaomei thought Luo Xiwen was scared and about to beg for mercy, so she cut her off. Then, she ordered Zhou Shun’an, “Here, bring me the bill. I’ll pay my family’s share right now. You can get the rest from them.”

“Ma’am, are you absolutely sure you want to split the bill?”

Zhou Shun’an asked Pan Xiaomei again to confirm.

“I’m sure!”

“Just bring me the bill already!”

Pan Xiaomei said, a hint of impatience in her voice.

“Very well, then…”

Seeing Pan Xiaomei’s firm attitude, Zhou Shun’an didn’t say anything more. He turned and retrieved the bill the waiter had just printed.

“Ms. Pan, as you requested.”

“After splitting the bill, your family’s share comes to just 139,496 yuan.”

Zhou Shun’an reported as he handed the bill to Pan Xiaomei.

Pan Xiaomei, who had been rummaging through her wallet for a card, froze as if she’d been hit by an Immobilization Technique when she heard Zhou Shun’an’s words. She remained rigid for a full five seconds before she could move again.

“H-how much?”

“Say that again?”

“After splitting it, we still have to pay almost 140,000?”

“Did you make a mistake?”

Pan Xiaomei’s eyes went wide as she fired off a series of questions at Zhou Shun’an.

At the same time, Hou Meixia and the others sitting across from Pan Xiaomei’s family all looked at each other in stunned silence when they heard the amount Zhou Shun’an announced.

Seeing this, Luo Xiwen gave them a reassuring look, then continued to watch Pan Xiaomei with a faint smile, as if she were enjoying a show.

“Ms. Pan, we made no mistake.”

Zhou Shun’an said with a smile, “Here is the bill. You can have a look.”

Upon hearing this, Pan Xiaomei immediately snatched the bill from Zhou Shun’an’s hand.

Wild Giant Conch, priced at 15,867 yuan;

Crispy Skin Sea Cucumber and Wild Mushroom Soup, priced at 11,592 yuan;

Braised Fish Maw in Abalone Sauce, priced at 28,800 yuan;

Wild Large Yellow Croaker, priced at 65,000 yuan;

…

Pan Xiaomei’s eyes scanned down the list—

Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru Dry Red, priced at 142,000 yuan per bottle, for a total of two bottles at 284,000 yuan.

It wasn’t until Pan Xiaomei saw this last item that she finally understood how this astronomical bill had come to be.

She belatedly recalled Luo Xiwen muttering something in English when adding to the order. ‘That must have been when she ordered these two bottles of red wine.’

Watching the series of expressions cross Pan Xiaomei’s face, Zhou Shun’an leaned in and said in a low voice, “Ms. Pan, from what I observed after these two bottles of red wine were opened, your husband, President Shen, drank the most. The others barely had any. So you wouldn’t try to skip out on the bill, would you?”

The words “skip out on the bill” viciously grated on Pan Xiaomei’s nerves again.

“What’s wrong with the red wine?”

“Why is the bill so expensive?”

Shen Zhengsheng, having been suddenly brought into the conversation, frowned and asked Pan Xiaomei.

“Do you have any idea how much that red wine you’re drinking costs?”

Pan Xiaomei’s voice trembled slightly.

“How much?”

“It’s just red wine. How expensive can it be?”

Shen Zhengsheng responded nonchalantly, subconsciously swirling the red wine in his glass.

“‘How expensive can it be?'”

“It’s 142,000 a bottle! You don’t think that’s expensive?!”

As Pan Xiaomei’s words fell, Shen Zhengsheng, who had just taken another sip of wine, nearly spat it all out. But then, thinking of the number she had just mentioned, he forced himself to swallow it.

COUGH, COUGH, COUGH…

Shen Zhengsheng choked on the wine and broke into a violent coughing fit.

“No way.”

“What kind of red wine costs 142,000?”

“Is this wine made of gold?”

Pan Xiaomei whipped her head around and couldn’t help but demand of Zhou Shun’an.

“Ms. Pan, the two bottles of Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru Dry Red you opened are auction-grade, world-class dry reds. The Chambertin Grand Cru, in particular, is the king of wines from Burgundy, France.”

“Both bottles have professional anti-counterfeiting labels. If you have any doubts about their authenticity, we can present the certificates of appraisal issued by a professional institution. We at Zhenhai Banquet, as a leading high-end restaurant in Beichun, wouldn’t stoop to making money from fake wine.”

As he finished, Zhou Shun’an silently straightened his back.

“So…”

“Ms. Pan, will you be paying by QR code or with a card?”

Zhou Shun’an held a POS machine in his left hand and a payment QR code in his right.

“By! Card!”

The two words were practically squeezed from between Pan Xiaomei’s teeth. If this weren’t the Zhenhai Banquet, and if her family didn’t run an agricultural market, she would have probably started screaming that this was a scam restaurant.

But precisely because this was the Zhenhai Banquet, and precisely because her family ran an agricultural market, she didn’t dare vent even a fraction of the rage boiling inside her at the restaurant.

The Zhenhai Banquet itself wasn’t frightening; it was the Zhen Cui Group behind it that was terrifying.

That was the leading enterprise in the entire high-end dining industry of Ji Province, holding a pivotal position. Although dining and agriculture are two different industries, they are intricately connected.

If she dared to make a scene here today, screaming that the Zhenhai Banquet was a scam and publicly sullying the Zhen Cui Group’s reputation, then Zhen Cui Group could turn around tomorrow and shatter her family’s livelihood.

All Zhen Cui Group had to do was team up with its friendly restaurant partners and spread some negative news about her family’s agricultural market within the industry, and their business would plummet overnight.

Pan Xiaomei was arrogant, but she wasn’t an idiot.

She knew who she could afford to provoke and who she couldn’t.

BEEP—

With the successful card payment, the receipt spooled out of the POS machine.

Seeing this, Pan Xiaomei felt like her heart was bleeding.

Given their family’s assets, a hundred-odd thousand really wasn’t that much, but it all depended on what that money was spent on.

If that hundred-odd thousand had been spent on a piece of jade jewelry for herself, she might not have felt the sting.

If that hundred-odd thousand had been spent on clothes and shoes for her precious son, she might not have felt the sting.

If that hundred-odd thousand had been spent on a Rolex for her husband, she might not have felt the sting.

But to spend over a hundred thousand yuan on a meal where she barely ate anything—that truly made her heart bleed.

Simply put, her family’s level of wealth had not yet reached the point where they could comfortably afford this level of dining, regardless of whether they actually had the money or not.

It’s like a three-dollar drink. If you only have ten dollars in your pocket, you’d definitely be reluctant to buy it. With a hundred dollars, you might manage to buy it without feeling the pinch. Only when you have over a thousand dollars could you truly buy it whenever you wanted.

“Your receipt. Please keep it.”

Seeing Pan Xiaomei’s payment go through, Zhou Shun’an’s smile became much more sincere. He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: ‘This is why Miss Luo is Chairman Gu’s woman. Even when looked down upon and belittled by a buffoon like this, she can keep her composure and still manage to squeeze some money out of them for Chairman Gu.’

Pan Xiaomei took the paper receipt from Zhou Shun’an, picked up the glass of red wine in front of her, and downed it in one gulp. Then, she fixed Luo Xiwen with a cold, sharp gaze.

“Our bill is settled. Now…”

“It’s your turn!”