Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 350: Family Dinner (11)

Dragon Raja 3

“Miss Uesugi is a regular here; no need to settle the bill now,” the manager said respectfully.

“We’re not letting her pay! We invited Director Chen’s family, so we’ll pay for it ourselves!” Aunt refused to accept any favors from anyone connected to Lu Mingfei in her current mood.

Seeing that Erii wasn’t speaking, the manager had no choice but to bring over the bill. Uncle, not missing a chance to show off, pulled out his platinum card and casually handed it to the waiter. “How much?”

“Including the 15% service charge, the total is 1,547,000 yen,” the manager said.

Uncle’s hand froze, holding the platinum card, then slowly retracted it. 1,547,000 yen, roughly 100,000 RMB— they had spent 100,000 RMB on a single meal. Uncle had thought the bill might be around 20,000 or 30,000 RMB at most, and he had that amount in his account. He turned awkwardly to Aunt, “Honey, there’s not enough money on the card…”

“How could there not be? I thought we had several thousand left?” Aunt’s eyes widened in shock. “You can’t be scamming us! How could a meal cost that much?”

“Normally, it wouldn’t be this expensive, but tonight’s meal was of a higher grade. Additionally, the ice wine was TBA-grade from Egon Müller Winery, and the red wines were a 1990 Château Margaux and a 1998 Château Pétrus, both from top vineyards and vintages. These were all selected when Mr. Lu made the reservation, which is why the total is about five times the usual amount,” the manager explained, sneaking a glance at Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded. Why are you looking at me? I had no idea! This is the first time I’ve even heard of these names! If it were up to me, I would’ve ordered a large Coke and some Tsingtao beer to go with the meal!

Meanwhile, Caesar and Chu Zihang were downing bottles of champagne under multicolored lights, surrounded by a crowd of colorful women. Each time Caesar gulped down a glass of champagne, they clapped and giggled, pouring more for him.

Lu Mingfei could take time off, but Caesar and Chu Zihang couldn’t. All the money for Erii’s luxurious outings came from the “side jobs” of these senior brothers. If they didn’t work, Lu Mingfei wouldn’t have the funds. Tonight, a heavy-drinking guest had challenged Caesar to a drinking contest: if she won, she’d get to sit on Caesar’s lap and kiss him on the cheek; if Caesar won, she’d pay 1 million yen for drinks. Twenty-five percent of that would go into Caesar’s bonus, so, desperate for money, he agreed to the bet.

Chu Zihang acted as the referee, uninterested in the trivial contest.

“I hope things go smoothly for Lu Mingfei. Did you finalize things with the human smuggling ship? When does it set sail?” Chu Zihang asked Caesar in Chinese, which the surrounding women couldn’t understand.

“It sails tomorrow night. It’ll pass through the Taiwan Strait and head to Fujian, where the Chinese branch has a point. In seven days, the little monster will be under the Academy’s control, and our intel will be delivered via that ship,” Caesar replied, his breath smelling of wine. “Lu Mingfei can handle it. That little girl seems to like him, and no girl can refuse a candlelit dinner, especially with Egon Müller, Margaux, and Pétrus to help! These wines aren’t anything like this mass-market champagne!” Caesar seemed energized when talking about the fine wines.

“What are those things?” Even with his knowledge, Chu Zihang was still unfamiliar with these extravagant labels.

“They’re just extremely expensive, top-tier stuff. My dinners are always top-tier and flawless—nobody can resist,” Caesar said, downing another glass of champagne.

“We could cover it ourselves. We didn’t expect it to be this expensive,” said Chen’s wife, her tone polite, though her face was less so.

Internally, she was glad that she’d gotten a peek at Uncle’s financial situation through this meal. Spending 100,000 RMB on a meal was extravagant, but a family that couldn’t afford to pay such a bill certainly wasn’t worthy of her daughter.

Aunt sat there dumbfounded before suddenly bursting into tears. She had lost—completely, utterly lost. She had lost face, lost pride. Her grief overwhelmed her, like a new bride who wasn’t respected by her in-laws, feeling like everyone was bullying her, yet she had no power to fight back.

“Oh dear, oh dear, what’s the matter? What’s got you so upset all of a sudden?” Chen’s wife asked, awkwardly trying to ease the tension.

“It’s all this brat’s fault! All his fault! He’s my nemesis sent by the heavens to torment me!” Aunt suddenly raised her head like an enraged lioness and grabbed the salt and pepper shakers, hurling them at Lu Mingfei.

The metal shakers hit him, and it hurt, but he didn’t dodge or say a word. He understood Aunt’s sadness more than anyone. He didn’t blame her; he even felt a bit sorry for her. After all, who would willingly be a housewife their entire life? Even housewives have ambitions, just like how he had once been a worthless nobody, at the bottom of Shilan Middle School, but still longed to shine someday in front of Chen Wenwen. He suddenly realized that in Aunt’s eyes, he had become someone who had made it in the outside world. Aunt couldn’t beat him, so she could only resent him.

There was a time when Aunt had power over him, commanding the household with authority, and bossing him around with pride. Now, the roles were reversed. Just as the demon version of Lu Mingze had said, Lu Mingfei had gained power and status. But he could never return to Aunt and Uncle’s home again.

Power and status are like that: when you gain them, someone else loses them.

He had only wanted a little bit of power and status—not to show off to Aunt, but just so he wouldn’t play the role of a useless child in her world, always overshadowed by the tall and handsome Lu Mingze. But Aunt didn’t need this version of Lu Mingfei. He wasn’t her son; he didn’t need to succeed and take Aunt to America to live the life of a rich old lady. He was meant to be a contrast to her son. Tonight, he had tried hard to be that contrast, but still, his talent shone through, which meant he had no place in Aunt’s world anymore.

He didn’t blame her though. Life is tough for everyone, and everyone has moments of deep sorrow.

He realized he couldn’t let Director Chen’s family pay the bill; it would damage Uncle’s reputation at work. But when he checked his pockets, he realized he only had 800,000 yen on him—enough for two, not eight people.

At that moment, Erii grabbed the pen from the manager and signed the bill. Of course, she didn’t need to pay in cash. Which restaurant in Tokyo wouldn’t be happy to have the princess of the Yakuza keep a small tab?

Erii’s eyes suddenly showed a cautious glint. She quietly showed Lu Mingfei a note: “Brother is here!” She had heard the distant roar of the Ferrari 599 GTB approaching—the ruler of the White Empress’ bloodline was closing in at top speed.