Ruan Chen will stop helping with the Fu family's affairs here.
If Fu Jianzhi can't pull the net properly, then he doesn't deserve the title of "Young Master Fu".
But Fu Jianzhi seemed to have found a common topic to talk about with Ruan Chen, and regardless of whether Ruan Chen wanted to talk to him or not, he sent Ruan Chen a bunch of text messages.
My idiot brother has really fallen for it; he's now borrowing money everywhere to buy that piece of wasteland in Jin Gang Garden.
He thought he'd gotten a great deal and that I had poor judgment, fearing I'd change my mind and refuse to part with the land.
Do you know who he borrows money from to avoid me?
While Fu Jianzhi was recounting what had happened during this period, Ruan Chen was having dinner with her roommates.
Today is the first day of school. After cleaning the dormitory all day, Ruan Chen invited them to have dinner at a French restaurant near the school.
Ye Huanhuan recommended this restaurant to Ruan Chen and also slipped her a membership card, telling her to use the money in it as she pleased.
Ruan Chen was afraid that Feng Nian would refuse to go, or that she would ask for money, so she said that she had made the reservation a few days ago and paid the money, but her friend had something come up and couldn't come, so she could only ask Feng Nian and the others to come.
Before her family's troubles, Feng Nian would never have frequented a restaurant of this caliber, let alone now. She wanted to refuse as soon as Ruan Chen suggested it, but Ruan Chen said it would be a waste not to go, so Feng Nian quietly agreed.
For Leng Yueqiu and Huan Shiqing, eating in such places was not a regular occurrence, but they also wouldn't often visit such high-end, membership-only restaurants that required reservations a month in advance.
When Ruan Chen and his group entered, the hostess at the door initially wanted to politely decline them, saying she hadn't seen their reservation information. But as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she saw the membership card that Ruan Chen was casually holding in his hand. Her expression immediately changed to one of great enthusiasm. She bowed slightly to let them in and whispered into the walkie-talkie, "The VIPs have arrived."
"Ruan Chen, this store looks so expensive." Although Huan Shiqing had never been here before, she was clearly not intimidated. She followed the hostess inside and whispered to Ruan Chen.
Leng Yueqiu chimed in, "The atmosphere is similar to the restaurant I went to with other friends last time, but we had to make a reservation a long time ago and the food was just so-so. Ruan Chen, how long did you make your reservation?"
The restaurant has a limited number of seats, with artworks dominating most of the space. Diners chat quietly, and a group of people sat down in a spot against the wall next to a huge oil painting. The ambient lighting was just right, creating a tranquil and relaxed atmosphere.
“My mom made the appointment,” Ruan Chen said casually. “My mom also gave me the card. I’ve never been to a place like this before.”
Strangely enough, Ruan Chen's early life was so poor that the word "impoverished" was not enough to describe it, but she was a person with very low material desires. She quickly accepted most things that were new or unfamiliar to her, and she never felt that owning a lot of luxury goods or frequently going to high-end places was something to brag about.
The waiter brought over a menu and gestured for the group to choose a set meal. The difficult-to-pronounce French names left them all a bit confused.
Leng Yueqiu and Huan Shiqing knew a little about some of the words, but not much; Ruan Chen could understand the words, but didn't know how they were used in cooking; as for Feng Nian, she couldn't understand a single word.
The waiter knelt down beside the table and explained the names of the dishes to the group one by one, including how they were prepared and their origins.
Upon seeing the membership card in Ruan Chen's hand at the entrance, a silent tension rose among the restaurant staff, for this was a true VIP.
"So this word corresponds to the Chinese concept of 'braised'?" Ruan Chen pointed at the menu, looking as if she wanted to take notes.
"Yes, Miss Ruan." The waiter covered his mouth and smiled sweetly. "The head chef can come and explain this dish to you in person later. It's one of his masterpieces."
Huan Shiqing and her friends joked, "Ruan Chen, it's a good thing we're not in the same major, otherwise, with your intense studying style, it would be too much pressure to study with you."
Just then, the group overheard a sarcastic remark, "Oh, isn't this the transfer student? He skips his own major classes every day and cheats on exams. What's with the act of being a good student?"
Ruan Chen hesitated for a moment before looking up at the group, her tone tinged with uncertainty, "Me?"
Two men and two women, clearly just coming in from outside, were being guided by the waiter to their seats for a meal.
The four people were clearly dressed meticulously, a stark contrast to Ruan Chen and her friends' casual attire.
Ruan Chen recognized the boy who was speaking; he was a student majoring in basic physics. However, Ruan Chen had only met the boy once on the first day of class, and they had no further interaction after that.
"First time in a place like this, huh?" This time it was a girl who spoke, linking arms with the boy who had just mocked Ruan Chen. She glanced at the three of them, her gaze finally settling on Leng Yueqiu. "Yueqiu, you're friends with people like this? And you brought them to a place like this to eat? They have the nerve to treat you like a sucker."
She said this because, after seeing the four people's clothes, it seemed that only her cousin, Leng Yueqiu, had the means to get a table here for dinner.
Ruan Chen didn't care, but Feng Nian's face turned red instantly.
"Yueqiu, is this your friend?" Ruan Chen asked, her tone indifferent.
"My cousin."
Ruan Chen immediately understood.
Leng Yueqiu had complained before that her cousin was extremely annoying. When she went to Leng Yueqiu's house, she would take whatever she wanted. If Leng Yueqiu didn't want to give it to her, she would cry and whine, acting as if she had suffered a great injustice, because she was young.
One of them has always liked to antagonize Leng Yueqiu since childhood, and the other inexplicably dislikes Ruan Chen. Now that these two are together, things are getting interesting.
The waiter, sensing the impending conflict between the two tables of guests, quickly intervened to smooth things over, saying, "Gentlemen, everyone is here to dine tonight. Let's not let a small matter ruin our good mood."
The boy in Ruan Chen's class clearly didn't want to back down. "A small matter? You think it's a small matter, but it's not a small matter to me."
His words sounded like he was criticizing the waiter, but they were actually a slap in the face to Ruan Chen. "You don't study properly, you don't come to class, but you have the nerve to cheat on exams and come to the restaurant to pretend to be a good student."
"Let me tell you, the reason you can't understand the menu here is because this isn't a place for you. Don't think that just because you've hooked up with a rich person and go to these high-end places, you're some kind of upper class. You just know a few teachers at the hospital and got into our class through connections, right?"
“We already know that your student record isn’t even in the college’s student database. You’re probably just an auditor, right? You won’t even get a degree when you graduate.”
Throughout the man's words, Ruan Chen did not raise her eyebrows. She simply marked the set meal she wanted to have that evening on the menu, handed it to the waiter, and indicated that he could leave.
At that moment, a person hurried out from the back corner office area, quickly approached Ruan Chen's desk, leaned slightly forward, and asked in a low voice, "Ms. Ruan, is this menu difficult for you to read?"
Ruan Chen was not offended and replied, "The meanings of some words are not quite the same as those used in everyday language, so I asked a few more questions."
“Oh, I see,” the restaurant manager said apologetically. “It was an oversight on our part when designing the menu. How about this, I’ll arrange it right now. Starting tomorrow night, we’ll be using a bilingual menu, and for some of our signature dishes, we’ll also list the ingredients and cooking methods. Does that sound alright?”
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