Xi Wanrong didn't answer immediately. She deliberately and slowly pulled a black card from her diamond-studded clutch, holding it between two fingers and waving it in front of the receptionist. The metal card drew a cold arc of light under the light.
This was a black card that she accidentally found in Zhao Pingchi's pocket a few days ago.
"We need a window table," Xi Wanrong said with deliberate pride. "The one with a panoramic view of the Bund."
The receptionist looked embarrassed: "Sorry, ma'am, VIP seats need to be reserved three months in advance..."
"Is this card not acceptable?" Xi Wanrong gently tapped the black card on the other person's chest, her nails scratching his bow tie intentionally or unintentionally.
Three minutes later, the restaurant manager came out in person. He was a Frenchman in his forties, with a neatly combed back hair and a small French flag badge pinned to his suit collar.
"A black card VIP of the Ye Group." The manager handed the card back with both hands, his waist bent almost to a right angle. "Please follow me."
Xi Wanrong's lips curled up into a triumphant smile. She held Zhao Pingchi's arm and felt the stiffness of his muscles.
As she walked past other diners, she deliberately raised her voice: "Honey, remember the last time we were at that Michelin restaurant in Paris? The chef came out and made us soufflé..."
Zhao Pingchi's Adam's apple rolled, but he quickly realized: "Ah... yes, what's the name of that place..."
"L'Ambroisie." Xi Wanrong made up a name she saw in a fashion magazine, and caught the envious glances of several ladies at the neighboring table with satisfaction from the corner of her eye.
Their seats were located in the restaurant's most famous "Cloud Corner". Outside the 270-degree floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view of the river was like a flowing painting.
When Xi Wanrong took her seat, three waiters came forward at the same time - one pulled out her chair, one laid her a napkin, and the third knelt on the ground to adjust the height of her chair.
"Two bottles of 1982 Lafite." Xi Wanrong opened the gold-embossed menu and immediately closed it, not even bothering to glance at it. "Open one bottle first, and the other one..."
She paused, then suddenly smiled mischievously. "For soaking your feet."
Zhao Pingchi, sipping his lemonade, choked, his cough drawing attention from several nearby. The manager's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his professional demeanor. "Ma'am, we have a limited stock of 1982 Lafite..."
"Three bottles then." Xi Wanrong took out the black card and placed it on the table. "Let's go now."
After the manager hurried away, Zhao Pingchi lowered his voice and asked, "Are you crazy? One bottle costs hundreds of thousands!"
"This card was actually given to my father by a master of the Ye family..."
"What?" Xi Wanrong raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you worried about your father's money?" She pointed out the window at the towering Ye Group building in the distance. The neon sign was particularly eye-catching in the night. "Do you see that? The money the Ye family makes in a day is enough for us to spend for twenty years!"
When the sommelier came over with the gilded wine cart, Xi Wanrong had already taken more than twenty photos with her newly bought Vertu phone.
She watched critically the whole process of showing the wine label, opening the bottle, and pouring the wine for tasting. Under the sommelier's expectant gaze, she just put the wine glass to her nose, sniffed it, and put it down.
"That's all." She waved her hand nonchalantly, as if dismissing a beggar.
The appetizer was caviar with gold-leaf pancakes. Xi Wanrong scooped a large spoonful with her mother-of-pearl spoon, but frowned after taking a sip. "It's too salty." She pushed the rest to the side of the table and said, "Switch."
When the second appetizer came, she complained that the presentation was not pretty enough. It was not until the third appetizer was served that she reluctantly nodded, but she only took a bite before putting down her spoon.
Zhao Pingchi felt a sudden stomachache when he saw her wasting food - this reminded him of the time when he ate instant noodles for a month straight.
The main course was pan-fried foie gras with black truffles. Xi Wanrong cut through the surface with a silver knife and, upon seeing the slightly pink interior, suddenly pushed the plate to the side of the table. "It's overcooked."
Xi Wanrong's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for the people at the next table to hear, "Do it again."
The chef, a Frenchman wearing a tall hat, came out to apologize in person, beads of sweat on his forehead. Xi Wanrong watched him grovel, a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.
This sense of power to make things difficult for others at will intoxicated her more than the priceless truffles on the plate.
"Let's toast to our good luck." Zhao Pingchi raised the crystal glass, and the red wine in the glass looked like solidified blood under the light.
Xi Wanrong didn't clink glasses. She was busy taking a selfie with her phone, the camera pointed at the neon sign of the Ye Group outside the window.
At a certain moment, Zhao Pingchi felt a flash of emotion in her mascara-coated eyes that he could not understand.
"What are you filming?" he couldn't help but ask.
"The future." Xi Wanrong smiled mysteriously, enlarged the photo to the point where she could clearly see the words "Ye's Group", and then saved it into a newly created encrypted album.
For dessert, Xi Wanrong ordered the restaurant's famous golden chocolate lava cake. As the waiter arrived with a cart to prepare it, she suddenly requested, "Double the amount of gold leaf."
The chef hesitated and said, "Ma'am, there are safety standards for the amount of gold leaf consumed..."
"I said, double it." Xi Wanrong said word by word, tapping the black card lightly with her fingers.
The resulting cake was almost completely covered in gold foil, resembling a luminous gold brick under the light. Xi Wanrong took just one bite before putting down her fork and focusing on snapping photos of the cake from every angle.
"You know what?" she suddenly said, "a college classmate of mine posted a photo of a regular lava cake from here last week on Weibo." She chuckled and posted the photo to her Moments with the caption "Homemade dessert." "Now she should delete the post."
At checkout, the POS machine spewed out a bill half a meter long. Zhao Pingchi glanced at the amount displayed at the bottom—288,888 yuan—and his stomach twisted again. But Xi Wanrong signed her name with a smooth, flowing motion, as if she were simply signing for a package.
As they left the restaurant, the manager and the entire staff lined up to see them off. Xi Wanrong suddenly turned around at the revolving door and said, "By the way, I'll be back tomorrow at noon." Seeing the manager's eyes light up, she added, "We'll book the entire place."
It wasn't until the elevator door closed that Zhao Pingchi couldn't help but ask, "Aren't we going to Hermès tomorrow?"
"Of course not." Xi Wanrong touched up her lipstick in the elevator mirror. "I just want to see them prepare for nothing." She closed the lipstick cap with a crisp click. "The greatest joy of the poor is to make the rich unhappy."
The elevator reached the first floor, and Xi Wanrong stepped out gracefully in her crystal slippers. Zhao Pingchi followed her and suddenly realized the terrible change in his girlfriend: money not only gave her the ability to buy luxury goods, but also unleashed her deepest darkest desires.
And that black card is like the key to Pandora's Box. Once turned, it can never be closed again.
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