Free Web NovelChapter 632: Chapter 301: Shopping, Dining, and Enjoying a World for Two! (Part 2)
"Don’t believe me? Come on, I’ll show you in person."
Jiang Tao chuckled, reached out to take Yuan Mengqi’s hand, and walked toward the service counter.
"I’m sorry, you two, but the restaurant is currently full."
"To ensure a good dining experience for our customers, you’ll need to take a number and wait before you can be seated."
"The estimated wait time is about 35 minutes. Would you like to take a number?"
A waitress in a black women’s blazer with an earpiece in her ear said apologetically to Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi.
Jiang Tao smiled and asked, "Hi, beauty, your store’s Platinum VIP Card comes with a no-wait privilege, right?"
"Uh, yes, sir! May I have your name and phone number...?"
The moment the waitress heard that Jiang Tao was one of their Platinum VIP members, her attitude immediately became noticeably more respectful than before!
Black Bull Barbecue’s membership cards are divided into three levels.
They are Silver Member, Gold Member, and Platinum Member.
A stored value of 10,000 will automatically upgrade you to a Silver Member Card.
Silver Members get a 10% discount when dining in.
A stored value of 50,000 will upgrade you to a Gold Member at the restaurant, with a 20% discount.
A stored value of 100,000 will upgrade you to the restaurant’s Platinum Member Card.
In addition to a 30% discount on consumption, Platinum Card members also enjoy the privilege of skipping the line.
Of course, Jiang Tao’s membership card wasn’t topped up by himself.
He got it from a lottery in the Black Bull Barbecue mini-program after dining there once.
It’s said the winning rate for this Platinum Card is less than one in a million, but he somehow managed to hit it.
Because of this, the programmer in charge of the lottery mini-program at the company got criticized by his boss.
After some soul-searching, the mini-program quietly adjusted the backend, raising the winning rate of the Platinum Card to be about the same as the Double Chromosphere lottery.
Of course, all this is Black Bull Barbecue’s internal stuff; only the people involved know the details.
Jiang Tao knew nothing about it.
The reason he drew the Platinum Card back then had a lot to do with the River Stone he was wearing—it must have been a once-in-a-lifetime lucky streak.
After Jiang Tao told the waitress his name and phone number, she immediately arranged for someone to personally escort Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi into the restaurant.
Some diners in the waiting area, who didn’t know what was going on, saw the two arrive later yet go in first and instantly felt indignant.
"Waiter, what’s going on with you guys? I’ve been waiting here for over ten minutes, how come those two just got here and they’re already inside?"
A young guy, seeing Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi walk in, couldn’t help stepping forward to question them.
The waitress patiently explained:
"I’m sorry, sir, those two are our restaurant’s Platinum Members. They have the right to dine without queuing."
"Platinum Member?"
It was obviously the young guy’s first time eating at Black Bull Barbecue and also the first time he’d heard this term.
The waitress patiently explained:
"With a stored value of 100,000 you can become a Platinum Member here. Besides enjoying a 30% discount on dining, you can also skip the line."
"Uh..."
Hearing that you needed to store 100,000 to upgrade to a Platinum Card member, the guy immediately backed off in his heart.
He silently rejoiced that he hadn’t just blurted out that he wanted to upgrade to a Platinum Card too.
His monthly salary was only seven or eight thousand.
This time he’d brought his girlfriend just to try the dishes at this internet-famous restaurant.
Even if he didn’t spend a single cent of his annual salary, it still wouldn’t be enough to top up that amount.
After getting the answer from the waitress, the guy wisely retreated and went back to wait quietly for his table.
"Mr. Jiang, if you have any problems during your meal, you can press this call button here, and our staff will come to serve you as soon as possible."
A waitress in a maroon Black Bull Barbecue uniform blazer led Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi to a semi-private area and then spoke respectfully to Jiang Tao.
There are no fully private rooms inside Black Bull Barbecue, but there are a few semi-private tables like the one Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi were sitting at now.
The equipment and seating here aren’t anything special; it’s just that the privacy is better.
"Okay, go ahead and do your thing, we’ll call you if we need anything."
Jiang Tao waved his hand, indicating she could go.
"Alright, Mr. Jiang, wish you a pleasant meal."
After the waitress respectfully took her leave, she turned and walked away.
Both Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi had lived through hard times; they weren’t that delicate and didn’t need to be fussed over wherever they went.
After setting down their bags and coats, the two of them went to the food area, chatting and laughing as they picked out their favorite ingredients.
Jiang Tao was here for the grilled meat today, so he took nothing but the restaurant’s original-cut beef.
Yuan Mengqi picked out some large shrimp and leafy greens and the like. freewebnσvel.cøm
After they came back, the two grilled the food on the sizzling grill while chatting softly.
Yuan Mengqi chattered on about what she’d learned in her training class and some of the new friends she’d made.
When Jiang Tao first signed her and Lin Ranran up for the training class, she’d actually thought Jiang Tao was wasting money and that it wasn’t necessary.
You can find tons of business management books and courses online with just a casual search.
But after she actually went, and started learning under the mentor,
only then did she understand why their courses dared to charge so much, and why they still had so many people signing up.
The students in Yuan Mengqi’s cohort came from all over the country, fifty in total.
Some were entrepreneurs who had already been running businesses for years and had entered a stable operation phase.
There were also senior executives from joint ventures with annual revenue already over a hundred million, coming for further study.
People like Yuan Mengqi and Lin Ranran, who were still in the early stages of entrepreneurship, were actually in the minority, making up only about twenty percent of the total.
While talking and laughing, Yuan Mengqi also took on the duty of grilling the meat.
When the meat was done, she carefully cut it with scissors into bite-sized pieces just right for Jiang Tao to pop into his mouth.
Gentle and attentive, she was like a newlywed little wife.
Jiang Tao enjoyed Yuan Mengqi’s grilling service while chatting softly with her.
Even though they hadn’t been together for long,
they already had that "old married couple" feeling of talking about anything and everything.
From time to time, Jiang Tao would say something that made Yuan Mengqi burst out laughing.
Whenever she was with Jiang Tao, that was when she was happiest.
Jiang Tao was becoming her source of joy. freёwebnovel.com
"Oh, Xiao Yuan, what a coincidence!"
Suddenly, a strange male voice cut into their conversation.
Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi turned their heads at the same time toward the direction of the voice.
When she saw who was speaking, the bright smile that had just bloomed on Yuan Mengqi’s pretty face instantly vanished, turning rather ugly.
Seeing the change in her expression, Jiang Tao frowned slightly, sensing something was off.
"And this is Miss Yuan’s friend?"
Acting as if he didn’t notice the unwelcome look on Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi’s faces, Ma Jingsong kept a smile on his own, his assessing gaze running over Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao looked at Yuan Mengqi and asked, "Qiqi, are you close with this gentleman?"
Yuan Mengqi glanced at Jiang Tao, as if afraid he’d get the wrong idea, and hurried to explain:
"Brother Tao, he... he’s our training class mentor."
When chatting with Jiang Tao before, Yuan Mengqi had only shared the good and kept the bad to herself.
She only talked about the few friends she’d gotten close to during the training and the happy things.
But she never mentioned being harassed by Ma Jingsong.
First, she was afraid he’d misunderstand; second, she didn’t want to add to his worries; third, she was afraid he’d lose his temper and do something impulsive.
"I’m Ma Jingsong, a star lecturer at Xingdong Education."
"Xiao Yuan is the most spiritually gifted—and also the most beautiful—student I’ve ever taught."
"To have a friend like her is truly your good fortune."
Standing beside Jiang Tao and Yuan Mengqi, Ma Jingsong kept his eyes fixed on Yuan Mengqi the whole time, as if Jiang Tao didn’t exist.
Even in front of Jiang Tao, he didn’t hold back his admiration and praise for Yuan Mengqi.
However, hearing his compliments didn’t make Yuan Mengqi happy at all; she wished he would just shut up.
A man praising you right in front of your own man is never a good thing!
If you run into the jealous type with a small heart, he might start getting jealous in a heartbeat.
