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The restaurant was called Yan Shan Ju, a private dining establishment backed by the Zhou Group. It had no menu; the chef designed dishes based on the day’s ingredients and the number of diners.
Yan Xi had never been to such a place before. For one, it was expensive. For another… it was really expensive. She also knew that Zhou Qingyu generally didn’t frequent private dining spots like this. She had a lot of dietary restrictions and wasn’t a fan of “blind boxes.”
Sure enough, when they arrived at Yan Shan Ju, Zhou Qingyu didn’t follow the standard procedure of letting the chef design the menu. Instead, she directly summoned the chef and started ordering specific dishes.
In such a no-menu private dining setup, this behavior was clearly unorthodox—and technically not allowed. But Zhou Qingyu was wealthy. And, as it turned out, she was also the owner.
When the head chef learned that Miss Zhou was coming, he’d already been on edge.
Yan Shan Ju was nestled halfway up Jinxian Mountain in Haicheng, targeting the city’s elite and operating as a high-end establishment. Recently opened and still in its trial phase, neither Zhou Yanci nor Zhou Qingyu’s father had yet visited. However, Zhou Qingyu herself had come a few times—and every visit ended with the dismissal of a head chef.
It couldn’t be helped. The eldest daughter was simply too demanding.
She was spoiled, domineering, and had extraordinarily high standards. Yan Shan Ju aspired to cater to Haicheng’s upper echelon, yet it couldn’t even satisfy one heiress.
The current head chef had survived for a week, but the moment Zhou Qingyu entered, he knew his time at Yan Shan Ju was nearing its end.
Zhou Qingyu began listing a few dishes, and the head chef listened nervously, cold sweat forming on his brow. He didn’t dare to wipe it away.
Yan Xi glanced around curiously. It was her first time accompanying Zhou Qingyu to Yan Shan Ju, and she noticed how everyone—not just the chef—appeared to tread on eggshells around her.
Yan Xi had always known that Zhou Qingyu could be a bit headstrong, but this level of fear from everyone around her? It seemed excessive.
The system popped up, ready to provide context.
“When Yan Shan Ju first opened, Zhou Qingyu brought Pei Yubai here. Midway through the meal, he ditched her to go to Ye Luoyi instead. Naturally, Zhou Qingyu took out her anger on Yan Shan Ju!”
“She thought it was the restaurant’s poor service that made Pei Yubai leave, huh?” Yan Xi sneered inwardly.
“At the end of the day, Pei Yubai was just using Qingyu. That whole claim about his relationship with Ye Luoyi being a marketing stunt? Total nonsense. He was only ever playacting with Qingyu,” she replied coldly.
“Well, it is a romance novel,” the system quipped sarcastically. “The male and female leads’ feelings are paramount, after all! Even Zhou Qingyu and Pei Yubai’s engagement was nothing more than a plot device to create tension for the leads’ love story.”
As for the fallout from the engagement—like Zhou Qingyu being labeled a “homewrecker”? Nobody cared. She was, after all, just the archetypal “evil supporting character.”
As they waited for the food to arrive, Yan Xi casually browsed her phone. The trending topics online about Zhou Qingyu slapping Ye Luoyi and being accused of being the third party in Ye Luoyi and Pei Yubai’s relationship were still hot.
Zhou Qingyu had ordered Xingyao Entertainment’s PR team to remove those trending topics, but the more they tried to erase them, the more the netizens rebelled, replacing those hashtags with alternative terms to keep the discussions going.
Unable to hold back, Yan Xi decided to bring up the gossip with Zhou Qingyu.
The moment Pei Yubai and Ye Luoyi’s names were mentioned, Zhou Qingyu’s expression noticeably shifted, becoming so cold and distant that Yan Xi almost didn’t recognize her. “Don’t listen to the internet! Pei Yubai and Ye Luoyi are just a fake couple! He doesn’t like Ye Luoyi! The only person he likes is me!” Zhou Qingyu snapped.
Yan Xi furrowed her brows. “If he really liked you, how could he bear to let you be criticized online? Is training artists only about creating fake relationships? If that’s the case, then Ye Luoyi doesn’t even have any value as a talent.”
Zhou Qingyu was momentarily stunned.
Yan Xi’s words were crystal clear, yet it was as if Zhou Qingyu didn’t understand. The advice seemed to pass through one ear and out the other. At that moment, her mind was consumed only with thoughts of Pei Yubai.
Yan Xi became even more acutely aware of the strong force of the plot, capable of turning an otherwise rational woman into an idiot.
The system chimed in: [Host, Zhou Qingyu cannot announce her engagement right now. According to the current situation, unless Zhou Qingyu’s Fortune value reaches 60 points, she will remain trapped in Pei Yubai’s manipulation.]
Yan Xi’s eyes flickered slightly. “So, if I can help Qingyu gain 60 Fortune value, she will be willing to announce the engagement?”
The system responded with a cheerful [Bingo!]
Yan Xi frowned and asked, “Can’t I just hire a paparazzo to expose it?”
The system responded with a more serious tone: [The core conflict between the main characters and the side characters isn’t about the engagement; it’s about their Fortune value. Even if you expose the engagement now, the male and female leads’ Fortune values are higher, so things will ultimately develop in their favor.]
[60 Fortune value points will allow Zhou Qingyu to break free from Pei Yubai’s manipulation, which is a temporary achievement. But only when Zhou Qingyu’s luck reaches 100 points will things move towards a normal state.]
Yan Xi understood. The battle for Fortune value wasn’t just about restoring Zhou Qingyu’s reputation—it was also about creating a fair opportunity to confront fate itself.
Throughout the meal, Yan Xi couldn’t shake her thoughts about Zhou Qingyu and Pei Yubai.
Zhou Qingyu, as usual, tried to criticize the chef’s work, but when she noticed that Yan Xi seemed uninterested and distracted, she mistakenly thought that Yan Xi was once again sulking over a breakup. With no further care for criticizing the chef, she decided to leave the restaurant with her.
The chef, now relieved, thought to himself that he had just barely kept his job.
As soon as they walked out of Yan Shan Ju, Zhou Qingyu was about to send Yan Xi home when suddenly, her phone rang. The caller ID showed Pei Yubai’s name.
Yan Xi immediately became alert, her eyes sharp as she fixed her gaze on Zhou Qingyu.
Under the night sky, the elegant decor of Yan Shan Ju paled in comparison to Zhou Qingyu’s bright, sparkling eyes.
She picked up the phone joyfully. “Brother Yubai, you want to see me now? Not busy at all! It’ll only take a few minutes. I’ll come find you right away!”