Chapter 49: Sister Bao'er Makes Her Entrance! (Third Watch)

Chapter 49: Sister Bao’er Makes Her Entrance! (Third Watch)

“I have no idea where we’re headed, but now that I’ve got my younger brother under control, I’m curious too!” Wu Tianzhen chuckled slyly.

The plane sped along without stopping at the harbor, instead heading straight to the rooftop of a hotel in Hangzhou.

“General Manager Wu, you’re here.”

As soon as they disembarked, the people waiting on the tarmac hurried over. “This time it’s for...?”

“Don’t worry, just passing through,” Wu Yu waved his hand, then gestured toward Wu Tianzhen and the others. “Take them downstairs and get things ready. Open my private room—I’m starving after this trip.”

“Uh…” The hotel manager looked awkwardly at Wu Yu. “Well, General Manager Wu, your exclusive private room has already been opened. Someone with your permission has had it open for two days.”

“My permission?” Wu Yu was stunned, then suddenly shouted, “Oh no! Damn it, it can’t be that gluttonous guy, right?”

Before he finished speaking, Wu Yu had already vanished onto the tarmac.

“T-Tianzhen… what did he just say? General Manager Wu?” The chubby man pointed at Wu Yu’s retreating figure, then glanced around their location.

“Seems like… yeah?” Wu Tianzhen swallowed nervously. “But I’ve never heard my second uncle is in the restaurant business.”

“Hey, big brother, why do you folks call Yu ‘General Manager Wu’ anyway?” The chubby man, ever familiar, leaned in and asked.

The hotel manager, seeing they were Wu Yu’s friends, didn’t think much and offered an explanation. “The hotel started as a modest private dining place. General Manager Wu loved it, so Old Master Wu handed it over to him.”

“Over years of operation and development, General Manager Wu turned it into what it is today.”

“What on earth?” The chubby man felt the manager was spinning a fairy tale, but judging by the scene, it didn’t seem like a lie.

“Is this really my little brother’s doing?” Wu Tianzhen asked curiously.

“And you are…” The hotel manager became more respectful upon hearing Tianzhen’s address.

“I’m Wu Yu’s cousin,” Tianzhen introduced himself.

“Oh? Mr. Wu, pleased to meet you,” the manager smiled and nodded. “Indeed, General Manager Wu spent ten years personally recruiting eighteen top chefs from home and abroad to join his establishment, ultimately creating a legend in the culinary world!”

“Damn! Don’t tell me this place is the Eighteen Emperors Pavilion?” The chubby man suddenly realized something and slapped his forehead in shock.

The Eighteen Emperors Pavilion was a culinary legend, rising in just ten years to become a world-renowned fine dining restaurant. Even the most discerning gourmets from around the globe praised it. The eighteen master chefs were famed for their unparalleled skills. Though it claimed to be a small private kitchen, no one in the industry dared underestimate it.

Countless dignitaries and celebrities made reservations years in advance.

“Gentlemen, would you like to freshen up first? Any dietary restrictions? I’ll make the arrangements,” the manager asked.

“No restrictions! Bring out the best!” The chubby man grinned broadly. “By the way, where did Yu go? Lead us there first!”

“Right this way.” After descending two floors, they entered a lavish hall.

Walking through, the chubby man nearly swooned from happiness.

“Tianzhen, don’t you feel like every step you take is on piles of money?”

“Chubby, be serious!” Tianzhen rolled his eyes at Wu Yu, but the next moment, upon seeing an axe in the center of the hall, he leapt up.

“No way! Is this an original?”

“No,” the young man stepped forward, glanced at it, and shook his head. “This Lantingji Xu is likely a rubbing made by Emperor Taizong of Tang himself from the original stele.”

“Wow! But didn’t the legend say that stele was shattered?” Wu Tianzhen’s hand trembled as he wanted to touch it, but he restrained himself.

The young man didn’t speak, gently gliding two slender fingers over the stone tablet. After a moment, he nodded, “It’s broken, but someone skillfully restored it to the point where it’s almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.”

“So masterful!” Tianzhen gasped.

“The Lantingji Xu!” The chubby man’s mouth watered at the sight.

The Lantingji Xu was almost universally known, yet the original had never been seen. Historical records noted Emperor Taizong once owned it and treasured it, even making a rubbing on a stone tablet.

Sadly, it was later shattered, and the stele disappeared.

“Tianzhen! Look at that huge gem! It’s blinding my eyes!” The chubby man tugged at him.

“This blue sapphire is called ‘The Sea God’s Gift.’ Paired with the red ruby on the other side, known as ‘The Queen’s Heart,’ they form a matched set,” the hotel manager explained. “But General Manager Wu insisted they be kept apart, so they sit on opposite sides.”

Each gem, roughly the size of a basketball, was of extraordinary clarity and astronomical value.

Surveying the hall further—from the furniture to the vases and paintings, even the floor tiles—each piece was worth a fortune. Any tile could easily buy a suite in Hangzhou.

“I never knew Yu was this wealthy!” The chubby man sat on the floor, planting a kiss on the tile. “I can die happy knowing I’ve walked on such precious things in my lifetime!”

“Enough already, don’t embarrass yourself!” Tianzhen’s cheeks flushed at his antics.

Seeing the young man walk toward the back, Tianzhen hurriedly pulled the chubby man along.

Pushing open a door revealed a vast dining hall.

“Well, look who’s here,” Wu Yu waved. “Come on, eat first! Otherwise, this guy will finish it all.”

“Can’t blame me! Yu, you stingy guy! You only let me eat here once a year!”

It was then that Tianzhen and the others noticed a young girl sitting beside Wu Yu. She looked quite young, with long straight black hair, a blue cap, and a white short-sleeved shirt with overalls. She seemed unremarkable at first glance.

“Oh, a Sichuan girl!” The chubby man grinned and approached, but upon seeing the table laden with delicacies, he abandoned all decorum and began devouring the feast.

“Hey, wait for me!” Tianzhen shouted, then joined in.

“She…” The young man whispered to Wu Yu.

“Yeah, that’s her,” Wu Yu nodded. “Sister Bao’er. Let me introduce you to a friend—Zhang Qilin.”

“Another newbie?” Sister Bao’er looked at the young man, inexplicably sensing a similarity.

In their eyes was a shared sense of confusion and unfamiliarity with the world, unburdened and free.

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(End of chapter)