Less than two minutes had passed.
All sorts of dishes had been served.
But then again, with twelve waiters serving just one table of customers, it'd be hard for it not to be fast.
Manager Lu regained her radiant smile at this moment, standing to the side and softly introducing each dish to Gu Heng and his companions...
Placed at the center of the round table was a pot shimmering with an orangish-red oily hue. A massive lobster head tumbled in the boiling broth...
"Mr. Gu, this is our Pangu Valley signature broth, prepared from fresh lobster and dozens of secret spices simmered for over eight hours. Actually, the broth on the first and second floors is made the same way; the only difference is their main ingredient is Boston lobster, while the lobster in your broth is wild Australian Blue Dragon lobster flown in from Australia.
The exorbitant price of the Australian Blue Dragon is well-known—it's pretty much the ceiling for all lobster varieties...
The one in the pot weighs 7 pounds and 6 ounces, with a market price reaching 6000 US Dollars.
The lobster's head is in the broth, while the tail meat has already been sliced into thin pieces by our chef, making up three dishes: sashimi, lightly pan-fried, and for use in the hot pot."
Having finished speaking, the four waiters designated to cook the food also dipped the Blue Dragon lobster tail slices into the hot pot for a few seconds, then gently placed them into bowls in front of the four diners...
Without giving it much thought, Gu Heng, like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, directly popped the pristine white lobster tail meat from his bowl into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed...
By the time he wanted to savor the taste, he realized he hadn't actually discerned what it was...
With that thought, he didn't ponder further; he promptly scooped all the lobster tail meat from his plate into the strainer and stood up to start cooking it himself...
Estimating that it was about ready, amid everyone's astonished gaze, he poured a full spoonful of lobster tail meat into his bowl and then grabbed a hefty pair of chopsticks full, contentedly savoring the taste...
Gu Heng had taken notice of their looks, of course.
But what of it?
Who decided that one must adhere to the so-called standards of high society when dining at upscale restaurants?
He was just an ordinary person, and even now, with a bit of stinking money after 'cheating', at best he was just a wealthy ordinary person.
He always believed that, after becoming wealthy, one should do as they please. If he had to be concerned with this and that while eating, then he'd rather go back to being poor and fret for days over a 200 RMB dinner at a budget hot pot restaurant.
After swallowing all the lobster meat in his mouth and licking his lips with some lingering desire...
Unspoken, a few thousand RMB per pound of lobster indeed tasted significantly better than the hundred-RMB-for-five-pounds roadside shrimp, although he hadn't eaten the latter many times either...
The system's notification sound appeared once again.
[Host maintains his true self, unafraid of others' gazes, insists on being himself, and expresses a sincere appreciation for the taste of the Australian Blue Dragon meat, thus satisfying his own taste buds and successfully indulging his desires. Reward: 180,000! Balance: 2.22 million RMB.]
Clicking his tongue.
Although he had grown accustomed to the system's habit of doling out money at the drop of a hat, such unexpected delights still made Gu Heng exhilarated, his whole body radiating a sense of bliss...
As for He Jing and the others...
Logically speaking, they often checked into upscale restaurants and shouldn't feel any restraint...
But in reality, after listening to Manager Lu's introduction, even the foodie Xiao Lan had forgotten to pick up her chopsticks...
A 6000-dollar lobster, when converted to RMB, was about 40,000 yuan...
A single chopstick's worth was hundreds of yuan...
Among the three women, He Jing had the highest income. Even with an income of over a hundred thousand a month, she had never splurged like this...
It wasn't that she couldn't afford it, but it was unnecessary and hard to justify the expense.
It's like with smokers, for example, when Gu Heng used to make 4500 a month, could he not afford the luxury brand Hua Zi cigarettes? But it's the usual unwillingness to spend too much on daily luxuries.
Let alone an income of hundreds of thousands, even those in the ordinary working class with a few thousand a month's salary could afford an expensive meal if they gritted their teeth. The difference is that those with an income of hundreds of thousands might just grit their teeth, while the ordinary workers might nearly break their teeth...
For a moment, the three women all cast diverse glances toward Gu Heng, who was having servers cook his hot pot without any psychological burden...
Who exactly is the one making a mere 4500 RMB salary?
As Gu Heng put a piece of freshly scalded geoduck into his mouth and winced from the heat, he noticed that the three women hadn't moved their chopsticks and were instead watching him. He couldn't help but say, "Eat, why are you just looking at me?"
After he spoke, he didn't care about their thoughts and directly turned to Manager Lu to ask, "That... Manager Lu, do you still have the Australian Blue Dragon?"
Taken aback by Gu Heng's question, Manager Lu was momentarily stunned but quickly grasped the situation and hurriedly replied, "The Blue Dragon is limited in quantity, we only have one per day, and it's air-shipped here every morning. Mr. Gu, if you feel it's not enough, our restaurant has other alternatives, such as the regular Australian lobster. The taste might be slightly different, but it's not much different."
Nodding his head, Gu Heng didn't mind and promptly ordered, "Okay, give me two more portions of the Australian lobster, the same size as this dish."
After finishing, it seemed he remembered something and turned to He Jing and the other two women, "How about you? Do you want the Australian lobster?"
He Jing: "???"
Lin Jiayun: "???"
Xiao Lan: "???"
Upon hearing Gu Heng's question, the three of them were baffled.
One lobster for 40,000 RMB wasn't enough, and he even wanted to order two more portions?
What kind of family would dare to eat like this?
Although they each had their thoughts, even the veteran food lover Xiao Lan sensibly shook her head...
Gu Heng was spending his money, so naturally, he could eat as much as he wanted. As guests, they should have some sense of boundaries, especially since Lin Jiayun and Xiao Lan hadn't been familiar with Gu Heng before this meal...
Seeing the three women decline, Gu Heng simply shrugged his shoulders, not insisting.
He had chosen such a high-end place to treat them, not to show off in front of He Jing and the others, but simply to satisfy his own cravings. Whether they ate well or not didn't concern him, as long as he enjoyed and filled himself up.
Eating Lanzhou noodles every day, even his trips to the bathroom smelled of noodles. Now that he finally had some money, of course he had to treat himself well. Besides, the system would pick up the tab after indulging, other people spend money to eat, but he earns money eating—where else could you find such a good deal?
Suddenly!
Having eaten for a while, Gu Heng suddenly felt something was missing...
He then put down his chopsticks on the table and started to think hard.
Seeing Gu Heng's expression, Manager Lu's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "Mr. Gu, is there something you're dissatisfied with?"
Gu Heng shook his head and didn't speak, still deep in thought...
Just when everyone at the table was clueless, Gu Heng suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "I knew something was missing."
He then looked at Manager Lu and said, "Manager Lu, don't you have dipping sauces with hot pot? Bring over a dipping sauce dish."
Manager Lu: "???"
Although he wanted to tell Gu Heng that the hot pot at Pangu Valley was all about the natural flavor of the ingredients and that adding dipping sauce would be inappropriate...
Looking into Gu Heng's determined eyes, Manager Lu could only nod his head, then quickly instructed the waiter to prepare a dipping sauce dish for Gu Heng...
Gu Heng then nodded in satisfaction and turned to ask Lin Jiayun and the other women, "Do you want a dipping sauce dish? Eating hot pot without dipping sauce is like the West without Jerusalem, utterly soulless!"
He Jing and Lin Jiayun both declined with a look of disgust, while Xiao Lan excitedly said, "That's exactly what I thought! No wonder it felt like something was off when I was eating, it was the lack of dipping sauce!
Waiter, please bring me a dipping sauce dish as well, and make sure to add extra spicy!"
After saying this, she exchanged a knowing look with Gu Heng, a hero acknowledging another hero!
Who eats hot pot without a dipping sauce dish?
Only people who don't take hot pot seriously would eat it plain!
Sharing a tacit understanding, the two cast a disdainful look towards He Jing and Lin Jiayun...
He Jing, Lin Jiayun: "???"