48: The fairy who looks down on hot pot

Zhang Yong paused for half a second, then quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it might be my first blind date, so I'm a little nervous."

"It's your first time?" Lin Yimei seemed a little surprised.

"It's my first blind date, but not my first relationship. I had one before, but we broke up three years ago," Zhang Yong said earnestly.

Actually, from the first glance at Lin Yimei, Zhang Yong wasn't impressed; after all, the real person and the photo had too great a disparity.

If this woman removed her makeup, she might look even older than him, probably close to menopause.

Although Lin Yimei wore heavy makeup, her disharmonious facial features made it impossible to associate her with the word 'beauty'.

But considering the matchmaker was his colleague's wife, Zhang Yong felt it would be rude to refuse directly. Since he had already come, he might as well treat her to a meal.

With his financial situation, he could afford a thousand or eight hundred yuan.

"I heard you like hot pot, so I specifically chose this place. Their hot pot is a bit expensive, but the taste is good," Zhang Yong said, changing the subject.

Lin Yimei, however, looked at the sign: "It's just a hot pot restaurant, how expensive can it be?"

"Also," Lin Yimei looked at Zhang Yong, "who told you I like hot pot?"

Zhang Yong was stunned: "It... it seems like your Older Female Cousin told me."

"I knew it was her," Lin Yimei pouted. "What does she know about me? She just talks nonsense everywhere. I haven't liked hot pot for a long time; it leaves you smelling of oil and grease.

People in the finance industry like us usually go to Western restaurants for client dinners. How could someone used to eating steak go back to eating this kind of junk food?"

This made Zhang Yong a bit awkward: "Then, how about we go to another place?"

"Never mind," Lin Yimei waved her hand, refusing. "Did you make a reservation in advance?"

"Yes, I did," Zhang Yong said. "I reserved a private room before I came."

"A private room is acceptable, let's just stay here," Lin Yimei pretended to be generous. "Lest you think I'm being fussy."

So, the two walked side-by-side into the hot pot restaurant.

It was already mid-August, very hot outside, but the hot pot restaurant was cool because of the air conditioning.

Zhang Yong led Lin Yimei through the lobby towards the private room area.

"Watch out! Don't you have eyes? If you scald my bag, can you afford to pay for it?" Lin Yimei had only walked a few steps when she yelled at a young man carrying a pot base.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the young man apologized repeatedly. In fact, the pot in his hand was at least half a body length away from Lin Yimei.

"This restaurant is no good; the waiters are all so clumsy," Lin Yimei said as she walked forward, her demeanor extremely arrogant.

Zhang Yong saw it but said nothing.

The two found the private room Zhang Yong had reserved, and Zhang Yong, being a gentleman, helped her open the door.

The private room wasn't large; inside was a big round table big enough for seven or eight people.

Lin Yimei looked around after entering the room. Although the room looked new, she didn't seem very satisfied.

"Why is there a plastic smell? What kind of renovation materials did they use? They definitely aren't environmentally friendly materials."

Zhang Yong quickly walked to the window: "How about I try opening the window?"

"Okay, let's air it out," Lin Yimei nodded, then pulled out a pack of wet wipes and repeatedly wiped the seat in front of her and next to her several times.

Finally, she gently placed her LV bag, which cost over twenty thousand yuan and she had saved for more than a year to buy, on a stool that had several tissues laid out on it.

"The environment of a hot pot restaurant just isn't as good as a Western restaurant," Lin Yimei said as she sat down. "I haven't been to a place like this in at least seven or eight years."

"I come here often," Zhang Yong said with a smile as he sat down. He just wanted to finish this meal as quickly as possible and go back to playing games.

Soon, the waiter came in and asked them what kind of pot base they wanted.

Zhang Yong looked at Lin Yimei across from him: "Can you eat spicy food?"

Lin Yimei immediately said, "Of course not. I just finished a skin treatment at the beauty salon, personally done by the director, and she told me not to eat anything too spicy recently."

"Then let's have amandarin duck pot (half spicy, half clear broth)," Zhang Yong said to the waiter.

"Okay," the waiter picked up the menu, checked off an item, then handed the menu to Zhang Yong: "Please order your dishes."

Zhang Yong then handed the menu to Lin Yimei: "You order."

Lin Yimei took the menu and, at the first glance, her mouth fell open.

"A portion of tripe for 198 yuan?"

The waiter said, "Madam, all our tripe is imported premium tripe, so the price is a bit higher."

Lin Yimei, however, rolled her eyes at him: "Do you think I'm complaining about the price?"

This confused the waiter: "Then... what do you mean?"

Lin Yimei didn't answer but stared at the menu and muttered, "Your store doesn't have anything good, does it? How did all those five-star reviews come about?"

Only then did Zhang Yong realize that after he sent her the address, she had most likely checked the restaurant's reputation on Meituan.

Lin Yimei simply ordered a few things she liked, then handed the menu to Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong didn't have much appetite, so he also simply chose a few dishes and handed the menu to the waiter.

"Please wait a moment, both of you."

After the waiter left, Zhang Yong said, "Actually, this restaurant isn't cheap; a hot pot meal here isn't any less expensive than eating Western food."

Lin Yimei still looked disdainful after hearing this: "It's still just trashy food that's not presentable."

Then the two began to chat casually.

Although Lin Yimei was not very satisfied with Zhang Yong, since she had already come, she still prepared to get a simple understanding of him.

"I heard you also earn thirty to forty thousand a month?" Lin Yimei asked.

"Roughly," Zhang Yong said while taking a sip of tea. In fact, he didn't really want to answer these questions.

"Thirty to forty thousand is indeed a bit little," Lin Yimei said. "If you're frugal, it's barely enough. By the way, where did you buy your house?"

"Near our company."

"How big?"

"Three bedrooms and one living room, around 120 square meters," Zhang Yong replied.

"Three bedrooms aren't enough!" Lin Yimei said. "I'm not afraid to tell you, I have a very good relationship with my parents, and when I get married, they will definitely come and live with me.

Also, my younger brother hasn't bought a house yet, and he also works in Jiangcheng. He'll need a room then, which means there won't be a maid's room, and children will also need their own rooms when they grow up. How can three bedrooms and one living room be enough?!"

Zhang Yong's mouth twitched after hearing this. Did she mean that if he married her, her parents and younger brother would all come and live with him?

Was she really treating him like a sugar daddy?

Forget about the somewhat abstract-looking Lin Yimei in front of him; even if Fan Bingbing came with these demands, he wouldn't agree.

"Then we can only sell it and exchange it for a bigger one," Zhang Yong replied, going along with her.

"Let's talk about that later. By the way, did you pay in full or in installments?" Lin Yimei continued to ask.

"Installments, a 30-year loan, 3800 yuan a month," Zhang Yong said.

"Why installments?" Lin Yimei frowned. "It's only three bedrooms and one living room; you should have paid in full at the time! Never mind, let's not talk about that for now. Your car should be paid in full, right?"

"Paid in full. I like off-roading. I bought a Beijing BJ80 three years ago."

"A gasoline car?"

"Yes."

"What era are we in? You still buy a gasoline car? And a domestic one at that? I'm telling you, even though domestic cars are very good now, only common people buy them; they're not really presentable. Even if you buy a gasoline car, you should buy a Mercedes-Benz or BMW or something, shouldn't you?"

Zhang Yong looked up at Lin Yimei: "Let's not just talk about me. What about you? What car do you drive?"