Chapter 1731 — Don't Waste Food
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Ga?" An Liwen was struck dumb for a moment, then realized at once that Shen Yushu and Gu Mengyao had played him between the two of them — or perhaps Gu Mengyao had never meant to play him at all, and had merely happened to do Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao a small favor.
Gu Mengyao's conduct, however, left An Liwen seething. In his heart he swore an oath: he would have that woman, he would make her his, and he would make her of one mind with him — that much was certain.
Of that meal, Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu ate a fair amount, Tang Zhi and Gu Mengyao only picked at their food, and as for An Liwen, he scarcely took a few bites — Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu had robbed him of his appetite entirely.
Seeing that his father's talks on the other side of the room were nearly done, and that his father had signaled to him, An Liwen made ready to leave as well.
But just as they were about to go, a waiter came over and said politely to An Liwen, "Sir, you haven't finished your food..."
"I can't eat another bite. Is that not allowed?" An Liwen frowned.
"But... you've left far too much. That's wasteful, and waste is a shameful thing," the waiter explained.
"How much is it? I'll pay!" An Liwen waved a hand, impatient. On any ordinary day, with Gu Mengyao not present, he would long since have flown into a rage.
"Sir, it isn't a question of money. If you don't finish, you may still leave — but our cameras have already recorded your face, and you'll be put up on the display board in the shop, exhibited as a nominee of the Shame Roll for a week..." the waiter explained.
"What the hell—" An Liwen finally lost his temper. "I spend my own money on a meal here, and I end up on some Shame Roll?"
"Sir, it's the shop's rule — a warning and a punishment for customers who deliberately waste food. If you had only left a little, naturally we wouldn't make an issue of it. But you've left six plates of food untouched, and that really is too much to excuse..." the waiter said, still polite.
"..." An Liwen was left speechless.
"Jianwen-gege, what he says is right, you know. We must be thrifty and frugal, we mustn't be extravagant and wasteful. If you're this wasteful, who'll dare marry you later? Sister Yaoyao likes thrifty people, you know!" Shen Yushu chimed in.
"I'll eat! I'll finish it before I go, all right?" An Liwen was beside himself, but he could only plop himself back down and say, "You all go on ahead. I'll sit here and eat slowly..."
"That would be best of all," the waiter said with a smile and a nod.
So Wei Zhao left first with Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu and Tang Zhi. An Mingyue had meant to leave together with Gu Pengzhan, but seeing that something had come up with An Liwen, he frowned and said to Gu Pengzhan with some embarrassment, "It seems Jianwen has a rather large appetite — haha. Old friend Chu, I'm afraid you'll have to go on ahead. I'll wait here a while. As for the cooperation we discussed, I'll come to your company tomorrow and we'll talk it over in detail!"
"That's no problem at all. I'll be off then. See you tomorrow, old friend An." Gu Pengzhan nodded with a smile. The two had clearly hit it off in their talk, as though they had restored the friendship of their younger days.
Gu Pengzhan left the restaurant together with Wei Zhao and the others. Seeing her father's face glowing, Gu Mengyao was somewhat puzzled. "Daddy, you and that Uncle An seem to have had a very pleasant talk?"
"Yes. Your Uncle An is planning to come back and invest in Songshan City, a big project, and he's invited me to take part!" Gu Pengzhan said, a little excited. "The group's development has hit a bottleneck right now. Keeping up our performance is easy enough, but expanding is hard. If your Uncle An's project goes through, the group will rise to another level!"
"Daddy, you're going to work with Uncle An and his people?" Gu Mengyao frowned. "Doesn't their family... not do any proper business?"