27: Chapter 27, Step Two: Enhance Understanding!

At this hour, there weren't many guests in the buffet restaurant. A waiter approached the table of two with a tablet.

Sinan Feast was different from ordinary buffets. Although the food was displayed openly, guests didn't need to get it themselves.

Here, guests only needed to place an order on the tablet, and a waiter would naturally deliver the food to their table.

Qin Yi took the tablet from the waiter and ordered with practiced ease: Australian lobster, black gold abalone, Alaskan king crab, bluefin tuna, Brittany blue lobster, Iberian ham, French foie gras, Almas caviar, black truffle, Kobe beef...

In short, he ordered whatever was expensive!

Speaking of which, he hadn't been this extravagant in over six months. Today, he had to eat to his heart's content!

Qin Yi ordered a messy pile of items before looking at Xu Qian and asking, "Qianqian, what would you like to drink?"

Xu Qian smiled awkwardly. "Anything is fine, I'll follow Young Master Qin's lead. Honestly, I don't know much about wine."

Qin Yi nodded, then looked at the waiter. He handed back the tablet and said with a calm demeanor, "You recommend something."

The waiter took the tablet, glanced at the pile of food Qin Yi had ordered, and then at Qin Yi's expression. It seemed he was a customer who wasn't short on cash.

So, the waiter thought for a moment and recommended, "Would you like to try some champagne, sir? We just received a shipment yesterday of a 10-year vintage louis veuve limited edition champagne. It once scored a 94 in Wine Spectator magazine."

Although Xu Qian said she'd follow his lead, Qin Yi still wanted to consider her opinion; it was a way of showing consideration, after all.

Qin Yi then looked at Xu Qian and asked softly, "Qianqian, how about champagne?"

Xu Qian thought to herself that champagne was only about a dozen percent alcohol, which surely tasted better than Baijiu, so she smiled and nodded.

Seeing that Xu Qian had no objection, Qin Yi looked at the waiter and said, "Seafood and champagne, a decent combination. We'll take the champagne you mentioned!"

After speaking, without waiting for the waiter to remind him that drinks were charged separately, he stood up directly and said, "Let's go pay."

"Oh, alright sir, this way please."

Qin Yi's actions couldn't help but leave Xu Qian a bit puzzled. It was her first time at Sinan Feast, so she found it strange and thought to herself: Didn't we already pay when we entered? Why pay again?

Recalling the champagne the waiter had just mentioned, she couldn't resist taking out her phone. She opened the browser, entered keywords into the Baidu search, and murmured to herself, "louis veuve, limited edition champagne, WS, 94 points..."

The next second, Xu Qian was shocked...

"18,500... so expensive? One bottle of wine costs half a year's basic salary for me... Heavens, this is way more expensive than the meal itself. No wonder it has to be paid for separately..."

Amidst her shock, the internal conflict in her heart deepened a bit more.

A moment later, Qin Yi finished paying and walked back.

Seeing Young Master Qin walking over, Xu Qian hurriedly flipped her phone over and placed it face down on the table, afraid he would see her little secret. She habitually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, straightened her posture, and forced a smile as she looked at Qin Yi.

Qin Yi sat down across from her. Seeing that her expression seemed a bit off, he asked, "What's wrong? You look quite nervous."

"Uh, no, I'm not nervous. That bottle of wine just now... it was very expensive, right?"

18,500 was just the online price. Xu Qian was curious how much it would sell for here, so she asked.

Qin Yi first picked up his glass and took a sip of lemon water, then replied, "It was alright, 21,800."

"How much? Twenty-one thousand eight hundred?"

The person actually spending the money wasn't excited, but Xu Qian was shocked first. Her voice rose in pitch, and she unconsciously held up two fingers, gesturing the 'two' for twenty thousand.

However, this action of hers caused the restaurant waiters to look over in curiosity...

Xu Qian realized she had lost her composure. She immediately lowered her voice, flipped her phone back over, and showed the search page she had just looked at to Qin Yi, whispering a reminder, "Young Master Qin, you were cheated. Look, the online price is only 18,500, yet they're selling it for 21,800? That's over 3,000 more expensive."

Qin Yi glanced at the phone and said somewhat nonchalantly, "It's normal. Drinks in restaurants are always more expensive than outside. Besides, restaurants in this International Finance Center have service fees. Being 3,000 more expensive than outside is considered normal."

"Nor... normal? Over three thousand, that's enough for a month of my salary..."

Even though it wasn't her money being spent, Xu Qian still felt a pang of heartache.

Qin Yi wasn't sure if the girl in front of him was truly frugal, or if she was intentionally acting frugal to appear as if she wasn't a gold-digger.

If it were in the past, Qin Yi might have easily chosen to believe Xu Qian's words.

After all, Xu Qian's qualities in various aspects weren't inferior to Su Mo's, and in terms of figure, Xu Qian might even be a notch above Su Mo.

Unfortunately, Qin Yi had just been hurt by Su Mo this morning and still had some psychological scars.

To the current Qin Yi, the more beautiful a woman's words were, the less they could be trusted.

After all, as the saying goes, a 'Green Tea' isn't scary; what's scary is a 'Green Tea' with acting skills.

Thus, Qin Yi secretly decided he should test her first.

So, Qin Yi looked at Xu Qian and teased with a smile, "Qianqian, you're now someone with a net worth of nearly ten million. This little bit of money shouldn't mean much to you anymore, right?"

Xu Qian shook her head helplessly and gave a shallow smile. "The boss said that, but it won't be in my hands until the end of the month. Right now, my total assets are only a little over 3,000 yuan."

"And I have to pay off my credit card on the tenth of this month, plus Zhifubao Huabei, water, electricity, gas... Oh right, I also have to pay next quarter's rent at the end of the month..."

Xu Qian counted on her fingers, calculating her expenses seriously. Her eyes were full of sincerity, and she didn't seem to be acting.

Looking at her furrowed brows, Qin Yi couldn't help but feel a bit amused.

Then he heard Xu Qian add, "If Young Master Qin weren't treating me to this meal tonight, I'm afraid I'd go bankrupt before waiting for the bonus at the end of the month..."

Qin Yi already knew through his Eye of Truth that Xu Qian was 24 years old. If she started working after graduating from university, she should have been earning money for two years. Looking at the LV bag sitting beside her, her economic situation shouldn't be this tight.

So, Qin Yi continued to probe: "I see you've probably been working for quite a few years, right? Haven't you saved any money at all?"

Xu Qian sighed again. "Sigh, it's not that I haven't saved any. How should I put it... my family situation is a bit special..."

Just as she was about to continue, a waiter arrived at their table pushing a food cart.

Xu Qian had to stop talking and wait for the waiter to place the dishes of delicacies on the table one by one.

After the waiter left, Xu Qian looked at the table full of exquisite delicacies, swallowed her saliva, and looked at Qin Yi with a worried expression. "Young Master Qin, you ordered so much, can you finish it all? If it's wasted, will there be a fine?"

Qin Yi gave a faint smile and patted his stomach, saying with a confident look, "Don't worry, I'm so hungry right now I could eat a cow. This little bit of food is nothing."

As Qin Yi spoke, he first placed some small fruits onto Xu Qian's plate and said with a smile, "Have some fruit before the meal to help with digestion so you can eat more later. I'll also serve you a bowl of Matsutake and Cucumber soup to cool you down and whet your appetite!"

"Young Master Qin, I can do it myself."

"It's fine. Didn't I say? You're only responsible for eating... By the way, you were saying your family situation is special. How so?"

"Oh, alright then, I'll continue... I remember when I was in the first year of middle school, my dad fell seriously ill and passed away not long after. At that time, my younger brother had just started primary school. Since then, my mom has raised me and my brother all by herself, suffering a lot of hardships."

Xu Qian spoke plainly, with no discernible change in her emotions, as if she were telling someone else's story. Perhaps too much time had passed, and she had become numb when speaking of these past events.

Qin Yi peeled the shell off a king crab leg and placed it on Xu Qian's plate, saying with a look of embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I made you remember sad things..."

"Heh, it's actually nothing. It happened so long ago that, to be honest, I stopped being sad about it long ago. One has to look forward, right?"

Qin Yi didn't expect Xu Qian to have such a good mindset. It seemed the children of the poor really do grow up early...

So, Qin Yi asked again, "That's true. What happened after that?"

"Heh, actually, there isn't much to say about what happened later. It's just the cliche story of a family in poor circumstances, with the older sister going out to work early to help support the family and put her brother through school... I imagine Young Master Qin probably wouldn't enjoy hearing it."

When she said this, Xu Qian's tone held a hint of self-deprecation and loneliness.

Qin Yi was stunned for a moment, then cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, who says I don't enjoy hearing it? Actually, I want to get to know you better, so as long as it's about you, I'm willing to listen!"

Xu Qian didn't expect Young Master Qin to say such a thing. At that moment, her brain seemed to stall. She stared blankly at Qin Yi, thinking, what does he mean by wanting to know me better?

Could it be that Young Master Qin really wants to pursue me?

I couldn't be dreaming, could I?

Did I get the 'Cinderella' script?

Qin Yi didn't know what Xu Qian was thinking, but seeing her staring at him so intently without saying a word, he felt a bit uneasy. He wondered if this girl had misunderstood his meaning.

Truthfully, Qin Yi just wanted to understand Xu Qian's past to judge what kind of person she was.

If her favorability reached 90 later and she actively threw herself at him, he would be able to decide what attitude and method to use in treating her.

Thus, Qin Yi gave an awkward smile, touched his face, and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

Interrupted by Qin Yi, Xu Qian finally snapped out of it. She immediately lowered her head shyly and quickly made up an excuse: "Uh, no... I just remembered some past things and got lost in thought."

Afterward, the two chatted while they ate. Xu Qian shared quite a bit about her family...

From starting middle school, to her father's sudden illness and passing, to getting into high school and taking the Gaokao...

Seeing the sincere look in Xu Qian's eyes and the natural flow of her emotions as she spoke, it didn't seem like she was acting. Qin Yi couldn't help but feel a bit moved.

...

"After finishing the Gaokao, I thought it would be better to start working early and earn more money. That way, my mom could have an easier time. So, I came to Magic City to work."

"So, you took the Gaokao but didn't go to university? Was it because your mother wouldn't let you, or because of your score?"

Xu Qian shook her head and recalled, "Neither. When the results came out, I had scored 575 points, which was already above the First-tier Line that year..."

"575? That score isn't low at all. Why didn't you go?"

Qin Yi felt it was a pity. With a score of 575, getting into a top-tier university might be difficult, but a regular first-tier institution would definitely have been no problem.

Xu Qian gave a helpless smile and then said, "Heh, it's nothing to be sorry about. It was my own decision."

"At the time, I just wanted to get out and work to earn money quickly, so I hid it from my mom and told her I didn't do well and didn't want to waste the family's money on further studies. I remember my homeroom teacher found out I was going to give up on submitting my preferences and thought my mom was preventing me from continuing my studies. He wanted to talk to her, but I managed to brush him off."

Qin Yi sighed and looked at Xu Qian with a complex gaze, asking, "Don't you regret it?"

"There's nothing to regret. There's a saying now, 'The path you choose yourself, you must finish even if you have to crawl'!"

Qin Yi gave Xu Qian a thumbs up and then continued to ask, "What about your brother? Is he in high school or university now?"

When speaking of her brother, Xu Qian's expression was no longer one of loneliness. Besides being happy, she was also a bit excited.

"If all goes well, he should be coming to Magic City for university in September."

"Is that so? That means your brother did well on the Gaokao this year?"

"Yes, he's been better at studying than me since he was little. He's smarter than me and thinks faster. The results just came out a few days ago, and he got this much!"

As Xu Qian spoke, she held up a 'six' gesture with her hand to Qin Yi.

"600?" Qin Yi guessed.

Xu Qian shook her head, her smile widening. "Too low, guess again."

Then, Xu Qian held up 'six' with both hands. Qin Yi's eyes widened in surprise. "660?"

"Haha, very close. 666! How is it? That score is pretty good, right?"

"Whoa, that's impressive. Liberal Arts or Science?"

"Science."

"It's almost time to submit preferences, right?"

"Yes, five days left."

"Planning to apply to institutions in Magic City?"

"Yes, after all, I'm in Magic City. If my brother comes here, I can look after him when I'm not busy."

"That's true. Have you decided which university to apply to?"

Xu Qian shook her head, and a hint of melancholy suddenly appeared on her face.

"I don't know yet. He called me when he got his score. He said he wanted to see which school offers higher scholarships before making a decision. I think he's afraid of increasing my burden..."

Hearing Xu Qian say this, Qin Yi also felt a bit of goodwill toward her brother.

"Your mother has raised a fine pair of children!" Qin Yi remarked with emotion.

A gratified smile appeared on Xu Qian's face as she added, "Yes, my brother is really great. He's kind-hearted, very sensible, and doesn't give me much to worry about."

"It's just that I still hope he can go to a university he likes and study a major he loves, rather than choosing a school just because the scholarship is higher..."

Qin Yi smiled and comforted her, "That shouldn't be a difficult problem for you now."

"Yes, the bitter days are finally over."

As Xu Qian spoke, she picked up the lemon water on the table, raised it toward Qin Yi, and thanked him solemnly: "Young Master Qin, the champagne hasn't arrived yet, so I'll toast you with water instead. Thank you for the performance bonus you've brought me."

"Haha, alright, cheers."

After clinking glasses, Xu Qian drank more than half of the lemon water in one go.

However, the moment she tilted her head back, Qin Yi noticed a single crystal-clear tear sliding down from the corner of her eye.

Qin Yi felt a bit of a sting in his heart; he hadn't expected this girl, Xu Qian, to be quite so sentimental.

Those words just now probably weren't an intentional attempt to play the victim in front of him, but a genuine outpouring of emotion...

Qin Yi set down his glass, cleared his throat, and turned to wave for the waiter, urging them to bring the wine quickly, while also giving Xu Qian a moment to wipe away her tears.