I Don’t Want to Win Lying Down

Chapter 58: Tonight’s On Me!

Back home, Xu Mang locked himself in his room and opened up the class’ group chat. Even though the chat was almost two years old at this point, Xu Mang never really said anything in it. He had tried, of course, but he was promptly given a one-month ban.

After that, Xu Mang had muted the entire group. As they say, out of sight, out of mind.

@I’mYourDaddy: [@everyone Tomorrow’s lunch is Japanese food, my treat! The most expensive Japanese restaurant in the city, PM me if you want to come!]

The reason Xu Mang asked people to PM him was to give everyone a private space to express their thoughts. If he allowed people to register in the public chat, some people that desperately wanted to go might decide not to after they got teased a little… Now that would be awkward.

Lo and behold, Xu Mang received over twenty PMs almost immediately.

He waited another ten minutes, confirming that the actual number of guests would be twenty-seven. That was it… any more and they might not be able to fit.

“Hello? Mr. Lin?” Xu Mang dialed Lin Yishan’s phone number and snickered. “Mr. Lin… I wanted to ask if you were free tomorrow?”

“What? What are you plotting this time?” Lin Yishan replied on instinct. “You’d better not be starting anything again!”

Xu Mang was suddenly speechless. Was he really that bad in other people’s eyes?

“Hehe… I just wanted to treat you and your wife to a nice meal!” Xu Mang laughed. “The most expensive Japanese restaurant in the whole city, the average spending there is 2,000 RMB, they’ve got a 4.8 star review on Yelp, and people on the internet forums are calling it ‘Wan Ning’s Michelin Three Star’ restaurant!”

“That won’t be necessary… As long as you behave in school, that would be much better than treating us to food,” Lin Yishan said seriously.

“It’s free! Come on, Mr. Lin… don’t be shy, it would be such a wasted opportunity.” Xu Mang chuckled. “I’ll be waiting for you and the missus. It’s happening at noon, the address is Unit XXX, XXX Street, XXX Square.”

After hanging up, Xu Mang proceeded to call Wang Xue’s number. Compared to Lin Yishan, Mrs. Wang was much easier to talk to.

Math teacher, Liang Feng.

Geography teacher, Tian Ye.

English teacher, Wu Dong.

History teacher, Huang Qi…

Xu Mang invited each and every one of them, telling them to bring along any family members as well.

Next came booking a table. Pulling the restaurant’s flyer out of his pocket, he quickly dialed their phone number.

“Hello? I’d like to make a reservation,” Xu Mang said.

“How many seats will you need, sir?”

“Huh?” Xu Mang paused for a brief moment and then asked out of curiosity. “You’re that waiter from today, aren’t you? Have you forgotten who I am? I’m the poor sucker that ordered the Plus Ultra Unadon and then left without taking a single bite.”

“…”

After Xu Mang’s reminder, the waiter remembered Xu Mang’s face. He had even told the other waiters about him that night, how he had ordered the unadon and then huffed over to the cash register almost as soon as it was served, it was hilarious.

“So that was you? Are you still coming with your little girlfriend?” the waiter asked.

Little… Little girlfriend?

This guy had some guts!

Xu Mang knew who this ‘little girlfriend’ was, and whilst being impressed by the guy’s courage, Xu Mang was also a little disappointed by how literally little Yang Xiaoman was…

“No, no, no! This time, I’m treating my classmates and teachers to a meal. You know what they say about good food… sharing it will make it taste even better, don’t you think that makes a lot of sense?” Xu Mang said with a smile.

“Of course! Sir, you are absolutely right, good things are meant to be shared!” The waiter said enthusiastically. “How many people will be coming in total?”

“About forty-ish.”

“Sounds great!”

Xu Mang hurriedly added, “That’s right, we’ll be coming at noon tomorrow… the eating competition will still be on tomorrow, right?”

“It’s here to stay!”

“Oh…” Getting confirmation that the eating competition would still be happening, Xu Mang finally bared his mischievous grin. “Well then, it’s settled. Remember to prepare more ingredients tomorrow, the more high class the better. I don’t care about money, you probably noticed that first-hand today yourself.”

“Yes, of course!”

Click!

Xu Mang stared at his phone screen, thinking it over a bit before giving Yang Xiaoman a call as well.

“What?”

“Um… could you lend me some money?” Xu Mang asked.

“How much?”

“It’s hard to say… it’s gonna sound a little crazy.” Xu Mang actually sounded shy for once in his life. “Do you have a million?”

“Excuse me? A million?!” Yang Xiaoman was shocked. “Did your family go bankrupt?”

“… I’m not bankrupt!” Xu Mang hurriedly explained. “It’s just a failsafe. I only need it for one day, I’ll return it in full by the next.”

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t ask so many questions… yes or no?”

Yang Xiaoman went silent, her voice softening. “The card I used today has a limit of two million, that should be enough, right?”

“Yes, definitely!”

“Come to think of it, what does your family do?” Xu Mang was very curious. A highschooler holding a card with two million on it only ever appeared in web novels.

“My dad’s name is Yang Jian.”

“What?! Your dad is Yang Jian?” Xu Mang gasped loudly before coming back to his senses, confusion spreading across his face. “Who’s that?”

Excuse me?!

If you didn’t know, why the hell would you react like that!?

“Google it!” Yang Xiaoman slammed her phone down.

Call end!

What does your dad have to do with me… I’m not googling it!

Opening his internet browser, Xu Mang typed the words ‘gourmet food’ into the search bar. Suddenly, his phone screen was flooded with websites of delicacies from around the world. Xu Mang chose one at random and started dreaming of the beautiful flavors and textures dancing in his mouth, slowly succumbing to the pull of sleep.

Hungry Ghost Skill +1

***

The next day, Xu Mang arrived at the Japanese restaurant bright and early with his Coach bag in hand. He stared at the sign in front of the restaurant, analyzing it in detail before finally finding a loophole about the eating competition in the bottom left-hand corner:

Note: Only food ordered on a singular receipt will be deemed free.

Xu Mang sighed, the boss was still much too naive…

Not long after, Xu Mang’s classmates arrived one by one, all suddenly being extremely friendly to him, gathering around him and praising his superior appearance and intellect. Xu Mang obviously knew that these were just empty compliments, but he definitely wasn’t opposed to hearing more of them!

Entering the restaurant, Xu Mang told the waiters to prepare their tables before returning to the entrance to welcome his teachers and other guests. The last one in was the flat-chested rich girl herself, as well as a lawyer that he had hired yesterday night.

“I’m the boss of this Japanese restaurant. One of my employees told me you had booked out the entire restaurant, so I came to serve you myself,” a balding man said with a wide smile. “As thanks for your support of our restaurant, I’ll give you ten percent off your bill later!”

“No, no, no! No discounts, no discounts!” Xu Mang quickly shook his head, determination clearly written on his face. “Giving me a discount means that you’re looking down on me.”

“…”

“Well… I…” The boss was at a loss for words. This was his first time meeting a customer like Xu Mang.

“I’ll go prepare the ingredients for now… we can talk later.”

“Sure thing!”

Next, Xu Mang ordered twelve sets of the ten or so most expensive dishes, supplying each table with their own dish, and then watched as the cashier lady keyed in his order. To avoid any unwanted mishaps, Xu Mang recorded the entire process.

Giving a rough estimate, their meal was starting off with a total of five hundred thousand!

At that moment, the boss was smiling, but so was Xu Mang.

“May I ask for your name?”

“You can call me… Bill Gates!”