Yuan Chen glared at him angrily.

"Wait here a moment, I have to take care of a little something." Yuan Chen left Ye Fei and Murong at the door and went on ahead by himself. He pulled aside a waiter, slipped him a one hundred Yuan bill, and whispered, "I need your help with something. There's more where this came from."

This waiter was around twenty years old, with clever eyes. He deftly took over the money and, seeing Ye Fei and Murong standing by the door, immediately understood what the situation was.

"You can count on me," the young waiter grinned. "This is my specialty."

This wasn't the young waiter's first time doing something like this. He immediately walked towards Ye Fei and respectfully said, "Sir, Restaurant Maxim welcomes you. This is an upscale establishment, so please pay attention to your attire, speech and conduct."

"What do you mean?" Ye Fei raised an eyebrow at him.

The waiter looked at him for a second like he was an idiot. "I mean, your appearance is not suitable for entering our restaurant."

"What's wrong with my appearance?" Ye Fei asked deliberately. Of course, he'd seen Yuan Chen hand the waiter some money and knew what this was about.

The waiter maintained a respectful air. "There's nothing wrong with your attire, sir, but... your bag is not suitable for our restaurant."

"My bag? What's wrong with my bag? I think it's cool!" Ye Fei struck a pose, displaying the bag over his shoulder.

Ha ha...

Murong could not help laughing. Sometimes Ye Fei was so serious, but sometimes he could be so silly!

At that point, the waiter thought Ye Fei might be crazy. "This is obviously a trash bag," he said gravely. "If my manager sees it, he will think I let in a beggar and reduce my salary. Please be considerate and leave the bag at the reception desk. We will keep it safe for you."

In fact, the waiter really did think that his manager would punish him if he saw a beggar-looking fellow like Ye Fei in the restaurant.

"Nonsense!" Ye Fei said with all seriousness. "This is the latest fas.h.i.+on in France this year. Isn't this a French restaurant? You don't understand, this is fas.h.i.+on!"

The waiter looked helpless. At that point, a frowning middle-aged man in a black suit came over and said, "What's going on? Why are you arguing with a customer?"

"Manager Xue, this customer wants to carry a garbage bag into our restaurant. He says it is the most popular bag in France this year. I asked him to leave it at the reception counter and he didn't agree," the waiter said.

"The most popular bag in France this year..." Manager Xue looked at Ye Fei, "Sir, this bag is really not suitable for our restaurant."

"Why? That Louis Vuitton is pretty ugly," Ye Fei pointed at a woman carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag, "so why can she enter this restaurant?"

Manager Xue struggled to explain the concept. "That bag... really isn't that good-looking, but it's expensive! It's a luxury item."

"I see. So if my bag is expensive, I can enter, but if my bag is cheap, I cannot enter?" Ye Fei took Manager Xue off to one side and said in a low voice, "What if my bag IS expensive?"

Ye Fei opened his bag, letting Manager Xue see the money inside.

Manager Xue gasped. No wonder he didn't want to leave the bag at reception!

Moreover, the stack of bills in that trash bag was certainly worth more than a Louis Vuitton bag.

After determining Ye Fei was a rich man, the manager immediately changed his tone: "Sir, please come in!"

"And what about my bag?" Ye Fei asked deliberately.

"Please be sure to carry it with you!" Manager Xue smiled.

The waiters in the restaurant were stunned. What the h.e.l.l was that? What was inside the bag that could make Manager Xue completely change his stance after a single glance?

"Western restaurants are a real pain," Ye Fei remarked to Murong. "It takes half a day just to enter!"

Ye Fei was dragging his bag with one hand and holding Murong with the other as they rejoined Yuan Chen, who looked at him with surprise.

Yuan Chen was completely befuddled. Why did the manager still let Ye Fei come in?

"The waiter screwed up! I will never give him another tip." Yuan Chen stared at the waiter in the distance, mercilessly scolding him in his heart.

Nonetheless, he smiled pleasantly and said, "I have reserved a private room. Please, come."

"There's only three of us. Let's eat out here." Ye Fei looked around. Even though it was past lunchtime and too early for dinner, there were many people in the restaurant's main hall. A few were foreigners, gathered in groups to drink coffee.　

"Well, out here is fine as well," Yuan Chen shrugged. Reserving an entire room for just three people was indeed a bit excessive. Besides, Yuan Chen was planning to mercilessly humiliate Ye Fei, and for that there had to be an audience.

When they finally sat down in a relatively secluded corner of the restaurant, Yuan Chen looked to Murong. "Murong, I've invited you many times, but you have always refused. Today you've finally come to share a meal with me."

Murong grunted coldly.

Yuan Chen smiled embarra.s.sedly and continued, "In fact, you know my mind. Just having you accompany me to an afternoon tea makes me content."

Yuan Chen completely ignored Ye Fei's presence. His father was a party secretary, and his actions showed that he had zero respect for commoners like him.

"Yuan Chen, I'll say it again: I already have a boyfriend," Murong said sternly. "I came here to make that clear to you. Please, don't pester me again,"