319: Bibimbap-themed restaurants

Li Qinghe followed Emily out of the office building and walked along the street for 5 minutes.

Soon, the two arrived at the Japanese restaurant Emily had mentioned.

Restaurants operating on Orchard Road tend to have unique decorations.

This is because these restaurants primarily cater to the white-collar workers in the Orchard Road CBD.

The lighting in this restaurant wasn't overly bright; a slightly dim, yellowish light shone on each dish, giving the food an unusually enticing luster.

Although it was almost past lunchtime, there were still many customers sitting there, slowly savoring their meals.

This Japanese restaurant differed from others in that it didn't primarily sell sushi, but rather focused on wagyu beef and ox tongue rice bowls as its signature dishes.

"Boss, this is the place, but their truffles cost extra," Emily said, leading Li Qinghe to a booth.

"It's fine, let's just sit and eat," Li Qinghe said with a smile, picking up the menu.

He didn't need to act overly gentlemanly when treating his employee to a meal; he could just order according to his own preferences, as there would always be something the other person would eat.

Li Qinghe had never been particularly fond of Japanese cuisine because the portions were too small.

No wonder the people of Japan were once again shrinking in height, returning to their former increasingly short stature.

Food intake has a significant impact on growth and development, especially for a naturally short-statured gene like Japan's, where height gradually shrinks after losing sufficient food supplementation.

One must know that even Oda Nobunaga, who was 1.7 meters tall, was called a giant in Japanese history, which shows how short the Japanese people were at that time.

What made Li Qinghe even more unable to imagine was that even in this era, a girl who was 1.7 meters tall in Japan could be called a giant and discriminated against, considered not 'kawaii' enough.

If the Japanese didn't want those tall Japanese girls, they could send them to Dragon Country; as long as they weren't truly unsightly, Li Qinghe could represent his Dragon Country brothers and accept them all, dedicated to serving to the best of his ability until death.

Li Qinghe looked at the menu and ordered two portions of the signature truffle foie gras wagyu rice bowl, one foie gras ox tongue rice bowl, one thick-cut sashimi rice bowl, one black truffle fries, and one caviar sushi.

One foie gras wagyu rice bowl was 23.9 singapore dollars, with an additional 7.1 singapore dollars for truffles; one ox tongue rice bowl was 23.9 singapore dollars.

One caviar sushi was 10.9 singapore dollars, one thick-cut sashimi rice bowl was 21.9 singapore dollars, and one black truffle fries was 20.9 singapore dollars.

Truffle foie gras and wagyu beef rice bowl

Foie gras ox tongue rice bowl

Thick-cut sashimi rice bowl

Black truffle fries

Caviar sushi

Several rice bowls were served together, piled high in front of Li Qinghe and Emily.

The seared foie gras, wagyu beef, and ox tongue all emitted a rich aroma, effectively stimulating a bit of Li Qinghe's appetite.

"Emily, pick whichever one you want to eat."

Li Qinghe arranged the rice bowls together, allowing Emily to choose.

"Boss, are you really that big of an eater?"

Emily was astonished; she had never seen a man who could eat so much.

In her opinion, anyone who could eat three bowls of rice in one go was enough to compete in a competitive eating contest.

However, since Li Qinghe was now her boss, Emily didn't stand on ceremony and directly pulled a truffle wagyu rice bowl in front of her.

Li Qinghe didn't slow down his eating pace because Emily was surprised by how much he ate.

In fact, this small amount of food only made him feel a little full; if he were to truly let loose, two more portions of the same would probably be about right.

"Boss, I was going to suggest you try their oysters air-freighted from France, but now I think you should finish your rice first."

Emily slowly mixed the rice with the soft-boiled egg in the bowl.

"Life doesn't need to be so forced; what you want to eat, what you don't want to eat, just arrange it according to your thoughts at the time. There are so many delicious things in the world, it's impossible to eat them all at once."

Li Qinghe wasn't in a hurry to do anything; this newly established company currently only had him and Emily, so who could restrict them from not working in the afternoon?

So after responding to Emily's suggestion, he unhurriedly broke the soft-boiled egg in his rice.

This semi-cooked egg, euphemistically called an 'onsen egg' by the Japanese, was quite good for mixing with rice, increasing its stickiness.

However, this item is loved by those who like it, but strongly disliked by those who don't.

Li Qinghe held a spoon in his left hand and chopsticks in his right, mixing both the wagyu beef rice and the ox tongue rice thoroughly, then drizzling soy sauce over the thick-cut sashimi rice and mixing that as well.

Three not-too-big, not-too-small bowls of rice, plus a side of fries.

As for the caviar sushi, since there were exactly two, Li Qinghe directly gave one to Emily and popped the other into his mouth, chewing it up quickly.

By the time Li Qinghe finished his sushi, Emily had only just finished mixing her truffle foie gras wagyu beef rice. She had just looked up, ready to say something to Li Qinghe.

"Don't speak while eating, don't speak while sleeping; one must listen to the words of our ancestors. Say whatever you want after you've finished eating."

Li Qinghe directly blocked what Emily was about to say in her throat.

Although he planned to hand over the company's operations to Emily.

This meal was also, in a way, setting a rule for Emily.

That is, when I don't want to hear it, don't be long-winded; you're just my employee, not my wife.

Moreover, even if you were my wife, don't keep chattering while eating.

Evidently, just by seeing Emily silently eat with her head down, it was clear that Li Qinghe's rule had taken effect.

Li Qinghe's first bite was neither the wagyu beef rice nor the ox tongue rice, but rather the thick-cut sashimi rice bowl he placed in front of him.

Relatively speaking, this rice was a bit lighter; he planned to finish this one first before moving on to the two richer-flavored dishes.

The thick-cut sashimi didn't have a particularly amazing taste, but the ingredients themselves were quite fresh.

Because Li Qinghe had told her not to speak while eating, Emily ate for a while, then secretly looked up at Li Qinghe again.

Her new boss ate quite fast, but his movements were very elegant.

In just a few swift motions, a bowl of rice disappeared completely, and Li Qinghe pulled another bowl over, continuing to stuff it into his mouth.

Seeing Li Qinghe eat with such relish, Emily also felt her appetite increase.

She thought that as a dining companion, her new boss was absolutely perfect.

Faced with a sudden increase in appetite, Emily also sped up her eating.

But by the time she finished her bowl of rice contentedly, taking a small bite of the last sushi and chewing it, she realized that Li Qinghe had not only finished all three bowls of rice but had also eaten more than half of the truffle cheese fries.

He had even thoughtfully left a small portion of fries for Emily with a spoon.

This gesture touched Emily's heart slightly.

Since her school days, the academically excellent Emily had been the object of affection for many boys.

But for Emily, that group of boys who only knew how to eat and drink simply couldn't attract her attention.

This was even more so when she pursued her master's degree later on.

It was once said that although Singaporean girls might seem unapproachable, there was one thing they did very well.

That was that they equally ignored most men, including white men who were sought after by women in other countries.

As a globalized small country, Singapore has quite a few European and American white people working and living there.

Moreover, the probability of encountering 'foreign trash' here is very low.

Because the cost of living in Singapore is extremely high, to survive here, one must have a special skill or ability.

It's not very realistic for 'foreign trash' to try to make money in Singapore by being English tutors.

Because the official language here is English, the language advantage of 'foreign trash' is completely ineffective here.

Even if they wanted to teach children, they might not be accepted by Singaporean parents.

This is because local English teachers are more familiar with Singapore's educational and examination content.

Therefore, the European and American white people who remain in Singapore are generally the more outstanding ones.

This also leads to their descendants attending school with local children in Singaporean schools.

In school, European and American white students do not perform exceptionally well.

Singaporean girls, having seen these white people with mediocre academic performance since childhood, had long since become disillusioned with them.

Emily was one such Singaporean girl.

In her eyes, an attractive man must have a mansion, a car, and savings in Singapore.

Coincidentally, Li Qinghe had all of these.