The waiter discreetly glanced at Zhou Wang’s Rolex Meteorite Daytona on his wrist, then he said, "Please wait a moment, sir, I’ll go consult with the manager."
It wasn’t until the waiter hurried away that Chen He and Ji Xiaoxi snapped back to reality. Chen He, still a bit stunned, exclaimed in surprise, "Mr. Zhou, this... just for a smoke, isn’t it unnecessary?"
"For someone who has a smoking habit, you can’t just say ’just for a smoke,’ and I’m not going to smoke only one cigarette tonight; it would be such a hassle back and forth."
Zhou Wang shook his head and smiled, "I’ll take care of today’s bill; after all, it’s you accommodating me, it wouldn’t be right for you to pay."
"Mr. Zhou, it’s not that I’m worried about..."
Chen He chuckled awkwardly, but he couldn’t find any words to refuse.
The waiter returned quickly, accompanied by the manager of Po Restaurant.
"May I know your last name, sir?"
The manager greeted Zhou Wang with a smile, shaking his hand while taking a close look at him.
"No need for formality, my last name is Zhou."
"Mr. Zhou, I understand your request. How about this... you can move to a private room, and there’s no need to order anything extra. You’ll just need to add another 10% service fee on top of the existing 10%. Do you agree?"
The manager said with a smile.
"Oh?"
Zhou Wang was slightly surprised. Aside from the still a bit spaced-out Ji Xiaoxi, Chen He was also taken aback.
Is this possible?
Compared to paying for meals for five more people, an additional 10% service fee was undoubtedly much more cost-effective.
Chen He was a bit puzzled—was this manager not thinking straight? Giving away at least tens of thousands of dollars of potential earnings to offer free warmth?
If he had known, he would’ve rushed to say, "I’ll cover it myself" earlier...
It wasn’t until the manager led the three of them to a private room and personally presented them with an ashtray shaped like a pipe that he smiled and asked Zhou Wang,
"Mr. Zhou, if you don’t mind me asking, was that Rolls-Royce Phantom parked in the square yours?"
"It’s my car..."
Zhou Wang nodded in acknowledgment after a moment of surprise.
"No wonder you looked familiar to me, Mr. Zhou, I happened to go out just now and saw you get out of the car..."
The manager laughed heartily, shook hands again with Zhou Wang, and took out a business card, handing it over with both hands to Zhou Wang,
"My last name is Shan, and this is my business card. If you’d like to dine here again, just give me a call, even during peak times, I’ll do my best to accommodate you..."
"Sorry, I didn’t bring my business cards with me."
Zhou Wang felt his pockets and responded apologetically.
...He didn’t have any business cards to begin with, but the manager’s gesture reminded him that he should prepare a decent business card for himself. In the social habits of the Huaxia people, "scan my WeChat" couldn’t replace all social occasions.
"I understand, Mr. Zhou, I won’t disturb you further. Your dishes will be served shortly, please wait."
Manager Shan gave another warm smile and then turned around and left the private room.
Chen He was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized how clownish his earlier thoughts were...
Damn, he thought it was some kind of charity, only to find out it was because Zhou Wang was driving a Rolls-Royce.
Ultimately, it still came down to money.
Do the rich save money because they’re rich?
This wasn’t the first time Chen He had seen something like this, but it still amused him.
Ji Xiaoxi’s emotions finally experienced a bit of a stir as well.
She had known earlier than anyone else that Zhou Wang’s car was a Rolls-Royce. When she got in the car that day, she just thought its interior was lavishly luxurious, but the old BMW at home was nice too, not necessarily needing to pursue something better.
But at this moment, she had a clearer understanding of what that car actually symbolized...
Zhou Wang didn’t know how complicated the other two’s emotions were. He just lit a cigarette for himself, leaned back leisurely.
It’s nice to have saved quite a bit of money for no reason, and Zhou Wang’s original plan was, if they really needed to order more food, he’d have Miao Ying deliver the excess to a construction site or a hospital, or at worst, an elderly home, as long as it went to those in need and wasn’t wasted.
That was his simple philosophy.
But this way works too, no need for extra hassle.
After switching to the private room, time finally passed sufficiently, and the system prompt arrived as expected.
Ding!
[Host has arrived at the designated location, Hidden Round is now open]
[Host has obtained a temporary tool: Ari’s Conch (Sealed)]
...Oh, another temporary tool?
Zhou Wang wasn’t too surprised; after all, he had received a temporary tool during the "Prologue," meant to better assist him in completing the round.
That time, it was an item that infinitely reduced his presence, tantamount to being invisible, the [Jie’s Windbreaker]. As for what this conch could do, he didn’t know yet.
Zhou Wang moved his thoughts to the system interface, focusing on the black and white glimmering tool in the warehouse, triggering the corresponding information to pop up:
[Ari’s Conch (Sealed): While carrying this conch, the host can listen to the inner voices of others when they’re in strong emotional states]
["We resonate with each other, don’t we?"]
[This tool is sealed and can only be used when the round is in effect]
...Listening to inner voices?
Zhou Wang raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t well-read, but wasn’t this the plot of some movie he had once seen...
Though nowadays, this trope had been overused by many online novels.
Something suddenly came to Zhou Wang’s mind, prompting him to open the system’s Mysterious Store. Moments later, sure enough, he found the unsealed [Ari’s Conch] in the store.
And the price of this item was roughly around twenty million reputation points...
Well, in this lifetime, he didn’t know if it was something he should even hope for.
Zhou Wang shook his head, shifting his focus back to reality, planning to experiment a little with the item.