Chapter Four: A Meal Worth Millions

Xu Ruohan's repeated refusals had long since become a familiar routine for Zhou Ming; if winning her over were so easy, she wouldn't be worthy of her goddess status. It was precisely her aloofness from worldly concerns that made her a true goddess.

Zhou Ming glanced at Li Yuewu and, smiling, said, "Dr. Chu, this beautiful lady must be your friend, right? Since it's nearly dinnertime, why don't the four of us dine together? I'll host!"

Li Yuewu immediately looked displeased. She retorted, "Which eye of yours sees me as his friend? I don't have friends like that."

Zhou Ming smiled awkwardly. He had no idea about the relationship between Li Yuewu and Chu Feng, so he simply closed his mouth.

Chu Feng glanced at Xu Ruohan and then said indifferently, "Most restaurants don't suit my taste, but since Dr. Zhou is being so considerate, Dr. Xu, you shouldn't refuse."

Hearing this, Xu Ruohan was furious. Not only was he not being her shield, but what kind of remark was that? In the entire Jimin Hospital, every male doctor would jump at the chance to go on a date with her, yet this Chu Feng acted as if he couldn't care less!

On the other hand, Zhou Ming was delighted. In his mind, Chu Feng spoke that way only because he was wary of him! He was, after all, the surgeon with the highest success rate at Jimin Hospital! Chu Feng, the so-called miracle doctor? A joke!

Zhou Ming continued, "I forgot to mention, Dr. Chu, the place I'm treating you to isn't somewhere ordinary people can go."

His posturing was obvious. Chu Feng merely smiled faintly and didn't respond.

Truth be told, Zhou Ming was actually worried that Chu Feng might agree to join them for dinner. He wanted a candlelit dinner with Xu Ruohan, and another person would just ruin the mood.

"Dr. Xu, since Dr. Chu isn't planning to join us, you shouldn't have any reason to refuse my invitation, right?" Zhou Ming said, forcing a smile.

Xu Ruohan now had no shield, so she snorted coldly and was the first to leave Chu Feng's office.

Zhou Ming took her lack of objection as tacit agreement and laughed, "Dr. Chu, I'll treat you another time. I'm off!"

As a woman, Li Yuewu felt that with Xu Ruohan's looks, she should be most men's ideal type. Why was Chu Feng so unmoved, even directly refusing Xu Ruohan's invitation?

After pondering for a moment, Li Yuewu couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "Hey! Chu Feng, you're not gay, are you?"

Gay?

Chu Feng paused for a moment, a sly smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He replied, "If Miss Li wants to know whether I'm gay, you can always verify it yourself."

As he spoke, Chu Feng slowly approached Li Yuewu, making her extremely nervous.

"You shameless scoundrel!" Li Yuewu scolded, her cheeks flushed.

Chu Feng glanced at the time and said, "You've wasted my break. I'm hungry. Let's eat."

With that, Chu Feng left the office.

Li Yuewu hurried after him.

"Why are you following me? Trying to mooch a meal?" Chu Feng asked without turning his head.

Li Yuewu replied angrily, "You have to answer my previous question! If you don't, I'll follow you wherever you go!"

Chu Feng laughed, "So that's your reason for wanting me to treat you? I won't pay for your meal."

"You're so thick-headed! Destined to die alone!" Li Yuewu had never met such a stingy man.

Chu Feng continued, "I don't know if I'll die alone, but most people would probably steer clear of a spoiled, rude young lady like you."

"You! You're shameless. Today, I'm not letting you off!"

Bickering as they went, the two had already exited the hospital.

Chu Feng hailed a cab and instructed, "To the Haitian Club."

The driver was stunned; people heading to the Haitian Club were rarely ordinary, and certainly didn't take a taxi. It was the first time he'd encountered such passengers.

He guessed they were rich kids playing at slumming. Rich people really knew how to have fun, the driver thought, shaking his head.

The Haitian Club was renowned throughout Shanghai; almost everyone had heard of it, but only a handful could actually dine there.

Normally, only wealthy and influential figures patronized the place.

This made Li Yuewu even more curious. Aside from being a doctor, did Chu Feng have another profession?

Li Yuewu and Chu Feng had just stepped out of the taxi when they spotted Zhou Ming and Xu Ruohan not far away.

Zhou Ming was surprised, frowning at Chu Feng. Wasn't this guy not coming? Now he was just causing trouble!

"Well, what a coincidence! Dr. Chu, you're here to eat as well? Had I known, I would've given you a ride—taxis smell terrible, enough to make anyone sick." Zhou Ming said with a fake smile.

"It is quite the coincidence!" Li Yuewu waved at Xu Ruohan.

At this moment, Zhou Ming pulled a golden card from his pocket and, with an air of superiority, said, "I suppose it's your first time dining here, Dr. Chu? At the Haitian Club, money isn't enough; you need a VIP card to enter."

"I don't seem to have such a card," Chu Feng replied cheerfully.

Zhou Ming was exceedingly proud, then pretended to be generous, "We're all colleagues, Dr. Chu. Since you don't qualify for a card, I'll bring you in."

"You should be ashamed; I thought you had a membership card. Now it's awkward since we can't get in," Li Yuewu seized the opportunity to poke fun.

Xu Ruohan smirked coldly, clearly interested in seeing how Chu Feng would handle the situation.

Chu Feng observed all three of them, then asked, "Without a membership card, is there no way to dine here?"

"That's right, it's impossible. Why would I lie?" Zhou Ming thought, this guy was still pretending—his posturing was second-rate!

Just then, a man in a suit hurried out from the club's lobby.

Zhou Ming waved his membership card, but the man ignored him entirely!

The club manager headed straight for Chu Feng, bowing respectfully, "Mr. Chu, you're early today. Please, come in!"

His words shocked the others.

In Zhou Ming's eyes, only extremely distinguished guests were greeted personally by the club manager, and now Chu Feng was being treated with deference and flattery. Zhou Ming was left dumbfounded.

Li Yuewu, already intrigued by Chu Feng's identity, grew even more curious at the scene before her. Who exactly was this man?

Xu Ruohan, reflecting on the hospital rumors, thought they might be true after all, her brows furrowing slightly.

Chu Feng, led by the club manager, walked toward the lobby.

Li Yuewu hurried after him, saying, "I'm his date! Wait for me~"

Zhou Ming's expression was grim. He'd intended to use his rare gold card to put Chu Feng in his place, but the man received service more exclusive than any ordinary member.

Others needed a card, but Chu Feng just needed his face!

"Dr. Xu, let's go in as well..." Zhou Ming forced himself to say, not wanting to miss his rare chance to date a beautiful woman.

Zhou Ming and Xu Ruohan entered the Haitian Club in succession.

Upon entering the lobby, Zhou Ming spotted Chu Feng already seated. He rolled his eyes and suggested, "Dr. Xu, why don't we sit with Dr. Chu and his companion?"

Xu Ruohan didn't speak, merely nodded slightly.

"Dr. Chu, since we've run into each other tonight, let's dine together. We can even discuss work," Zhou Ming said, taking a seat and smiling.

Chu Feng replied indifferently, "Let's leave work talk for after hours."

Meanwhile, the manager brought over a bowl of soup and asked, "Dr. Chu, here's your appetizer. Is it the same as usual?"

The soup was served in an exquisite vessel.

Its unusual spices released a tantalizing aroma.

Xu Ruohan and Li Yuewu were curious—what was in this soup to make it so enticing?

Seeing Xu Ruohan's interest, Zhou Ming said, "Please bring three more of the same."

The manager was surprised and then looked uneasily at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng shrugged, "Dr. Zhou is the host; why look at me?"

The manager shot Zhou Ming a strange glance and went to prepare the soup as requested.

...

A dozen minutes later.

The waiter brought three bowls of fragrant soup.

"Wow! It smells amazing!"

"It must be delicious!"

The two women eagerly reached for their bowls, but Chu Feng smiled and poured half of their soup into his own.

"Why are you taking our food?" Li Yuewu angrily hugged her bowl.

Xu Ruohan looked at Chu Feng in surprise; she'd never seen a man take food from a woman's bowl.

"I'm doing this for your own good. With your petite frames, too much of this would be too much," Chu Feng explained, sipping his soup with satisfaction.

"Nonsense, you just want to eat my food!" Li Yuewu glared fiercely at Chu Feng.

Afraid her portion would be snatched away, she quickly started eating.

"I've never had such delicious soup!"

Li Yuewu's exaggerated reaction piqued Xu Ruohan's curiosity, so she couldn't resist tasting a spoonful.

"Dr. Chu, if you like it, I can order another bowl for you. There's no need to take from the ladies' bowls. That's hardly gentlemanly," Zhou Ming finally seized an opportunity to embarrass Chu Feng and spoke sarcastically.

Chu Feng ignored their remarks.

After finishing his soup, he glanced at his watch.

The numbers shifted from 42 to 44.

Those two bowls of soup had added two years to his lifespan!

Thirty minutes later.

"Check, please," Zhou Ming snapped his fingers, giving the instruction.

The manager personally brought over the bill: "Sir, your total is 4.02 million. How would you like to pay?"

Bang!

Zhou Ming nearly fell out of his chair in shock!

"I know the Haitian Club is expensive, but this is outrageous! This is highway robbery! Show me the itemized bill!" Zhou Ming tried to remain calm.

Xu Ruohan was also shocked. The four had ordered four bowls of soup, plus steak and fruit salad. How could it cost so much?

The manager smiled bitterly and explained, "The soup is Mr. Chu's special recipe, containing cordyceps, century-old ganoderma, ginseng from Changbai Mountain, and other rare medicinal herbs. This is just the base cost..."

The soup was Chu Feng's own creation? Zhou Ming was dumbfounded.

The price was more exorbitant than eating gold, and Zhou Ming broke into a cold sweat.

Chu Feng was a regular here, always ordering this soup. Zhou Ming couldn't imagine how much he'd spent!

"Dr. Chu... this four million... I can't pay it right now. How about we split the bill?" Zhou Ming asked thick-skinned.

"Manager Han, put tonight's bill on my account. Do I need to sign anything?" Chu Feng stood and said indifferently.

The manager shook his head hurriedly, "Mr. Chu, you must be joking. No need for you to sign. Have a pleasant evening!"