Chapter 417: Supreme Emperor Card!
"Luoli, isn’t this getting a bit out of hand?" Lu Jia whispered to Qin Luoli after the waiter had left.
The drinks alone cost over thirty million. With everything else, this meal would easily top fifty million. Even though the Lu Family was wealthy and influential in Jiangling, she was only a member of the younger generation and had no authority to spend so much money.
Since Qin Luoli hadn’t revealed her true identity to them, Lu Jia naively assumed her family background was similar to her own, or perhaps even a step below the Lu Family.
So, can Lin Mu really afford such a huge sum?
She wasn’t the only one; everyone except for Qin Luoli was thinking the same thing.
Fifty million! Forget about them; even the wealthiest members of their families would never spend so much on a single meal.
"Tsk, tsk. Fifty million," Yang Zi tutted. "My family has a little money, but if they found out I spent this much just for one meal, they’d skin me alive."
Her words were dripping with sarcasm, clearly aimed at Lin Mu for what she saw as a desperate attempt to show off.
Besides, can he even come up with that much money?
"By the way, I heard that if your bill is over one hundred thousand here, you have to pay upfront. Is that right?" a boy wearing glasses suddenly asked, deliberately glancing at Lin Mu as he spoke.
The class president replied, "That’s right. It’s the restaurant’s policy. Otherwise, what would they do if customers eat and can’t pay? The restaurant would take a huge loss, wouldn’t it?"
A petite girl asked nervously, "But what if he really can’t pay?"
She was starting to regret it. She should have given Qin Luoli a warning earlier. Now, if the restaurant made Lin Mu pay first, wouldn’t it be incredibly embarrassing?
The class president laughed. "It’s probably not a big deal. They verify their guests’ identities. Anyone who dares to order such expensive food obviously wouldn’t care about a little money like this."
"’A little money?’" the petite girl repeated. "This is fifty million! That’s not a small sum."
The class president shrugged. "Then they’ll just have to follow the house rules."
"What rules?" everyone asked, their curiosity piqued.
"If the dishes haven’t been served yet, it’s still negotiable. At worst, they’ll just ask you to leave." The class president glanced at Lin Mu and continued, "But if the food has been served and you can’t pay, well... in a light case, they’ll just break your legs. In a serious case, you might lose your life."
"What?" Lu Jia and the others cried out in alarm. This time, even Yang Zi started to feel a pang of regret.
However, when she saw Lin Mu’s completely unconcerned expression, a fresh wave of anger surged within her.
"Qin Luoli, if your husband can’t pay later, it has nothing to do with us," Yang Zi snapped, making it clear she didn’t want to be implicated.
Zhou Tao nudged Yang Zi from the side. This is all your fault for insisting on ordering such expensive wine.
Yang Zi shot him a fierce glare that screamed at him to shut up. Zhou Tao flinched and immediately fell silent. After graduating from college, he met and married Yang Zi, but their relationship was far from good. Moreover, he had married into Yang Zi’s family and was never treated well. Facing the domineering Yang Zi, Zhou Tao felt resentful but didn’t dare say more.
"Maybe... maybe we should just go?" the petite girl whispered, thoroughly frightened. Her intentions hadn’t been malicious; she just wanted to test if Qin Luoli’s husband was truly generous. But hearing how serious the class president made it sound, she was terrified.
"It’s alright," Qin Luoli said, taking the girl’s hand. "Wenwen, we haven’t seen each other in so many years. You can’t just leave like this."
"But..." Wenwen’s face was a mask of anxiety; she felt Qin Luoli was being just as reckless. Can’t you see? The class president and the others are just waiting to see you make a fool of yourself!
Qin Luoli smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry. Leave it to Lin Mu."
It’s only fifty million. To her, let alone to Lin Mu, it’s just a drop in the ocean.
"That’s right. He’s so kindly treating us to a meal, we can’t be rude and leave," the class president said with an inward sneer, his words dripping with sarcasm aimed at Lin Mu.
Back in college, Feng Yang had fallen for Qin Luoli at first sight. People even secretly said they were a match made in heaven. Although Feng Yang never said it out loud, he believed it in his heart. After graduation, however, Qin Luoli vanished, and he couldn’t get in touch with her at all. When he finally heard she was in Jiangling, Feng Yang’s long-dormant heart had begun to race with excitement again. He just never expected that after all these years, she would already be married.
The news hit Feng Yang with a huge sense of disappointment, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. If Qin Luoli had married some wealthy and powerful young talent, he might have accepted it. But this Lin Mu? He didn’t look rich at all. He was clearly just a poor loser! The clothes he was wearing couldn’t have cost more than two hundred yuan combined, right? This only fueled Feng Yang’s resentment.
"By the way, your name is Lin Mu, right? May I be so bold as to ask what you do for a living?" Feng Yang asked, as if the thought just occurred to him.
Everyone turned to look at Lin Mu curiously.
Lin Mu smiled. "Since you know it’s presumptuous, why are you asking?"
Feng Yang was speechless.
So was everyone else.
Qin Luoli shot a glare at Lin Mu. This man could exasperate anyone to death with his words. But when they were out, she always deferred to him and never interfered in such matters.
"Heh," Yang Zi sniffed. "It’s not like it’s some shady business. Why be so secretive? My Zhou Tao helps me manage a small company. It’s not huge, but it still pulls in tens of millions a year."
"Impressive, very impressive," the others murmured admiringly. Zhou Tao simply took a sip of tea to hide his embarrassment.
"Senior Feng Yang is impressive too! He joined a multinational corporation right after graduation. I heard he works at Fang’s Consortium now, making over a million a year, right?" someone else added.
Hearing this, Feng Yang’s spirits lifted, but he said modestly, "I’m just getting by."
His words immediately earned a round of praise.
"Still, I’m not like some people who pretend to be rich when they clearly don’t have the money for it," Feng Yang continued. "I could never bring myself to spend tens of millions on a single meal."
The comment was an obvious jab at Lin Mu’s supposed extravagance.
"That’s right, Luoli," Yang Zi chimed in, piling on Lin Mu. "I’ve been meaning to tell you, frugality isn’t just a virtue for women."
Qin Luoli’s expression soured slightly. Just as she was about to speak, the door to the private room swung open.
"Excuse me, everyone." A man who appeared to be the manager walked in. "I’m the manager of this restaurant. Which of you is Mr. Lin?"
Seeing the bill in the manager’s hand, Yang Zi immediately pointed at Lin Mu. "It’s him! He’s the one!"
"Mr. Lin, hello," the manager said politely. "Welcome again to our restaurant. I do apologize, but given the exceptionally large total for your order, our policy requires prepayment. I hope you understand..."
As the manager spoke, he and Feng Yang exchanged a subtle glance and a faint smile. They clearly knew each other, and this so-called ’policy’ was just a scheme they had concocted together.
All eyes turned to Lin Mu, waiting to see what he would do.
"I don’t have that much cash on me," Lin Mu said suddenly.
The group sneered inwardly. Who carries that much cash around these days anyway?
The manager’s smile didn’t waver. "Mr. Lin, we accept cards as well."
"Oh, you should have said so sooner," Lin Mu replied. He pulled a few cards from his pocket, casually selected one, and handed it to the manager. "The PIN is six sixes."
The moment he saw the card, the manager drew a sharp breath, his voice trembling as he exclaimed, "The Supreme Emperor Card!"
"What’s a Supreme Emperor Card? I’ve never heard of it," Yang Zi said, her face full of confusion. He must have just pulled out some random card to fool us.
"There are fewer than one hundred Supreme Emperor Cards in the entire world, and it’s not something you can get just by being rich," the manager explained, his face a mask of utter shock. "Every owner of a Supreme Emperor Card is either the wealthiest person in their region or the head of a major consortium."
"That’s because the overdraft limit on a Supreme Emperor Card is ten billion!"
At this revelation, everyone in the private room was utterly stunned.