Wang Peng still felt sorry, but Xue Zhebin had already spoken. He would be considered a wet blanket if he insisted on taking photographs of the food. Thus, Wang Peng kept his phone and dug in.
Tomahawk Steak, Matsutake, and caviar… these were not cheap. This meal alone cost over ten thousand yuan.
What’s more, Xue Zhebin had not ordered the most expensive dishes on the menu. His main intention was to check out if the dishes which needed to be pre-ordered would turn out to be a scam.
Wang Peng tried the dishes one by one, paying attention to the subtle flavors.
“Indeed, these are no ordinary dishes.”
As a manager of a consumer review site, Wang Peng had tasted many delicacies before. After all, this was all part of his job.
How a dish tasted depended on the ingredients used, the chef’s skills, the dining environment and atmosphere, and the diner’s mood. Among these, the most important was the ingredients used.
After trying each dish, Wang Peng could tell that the ingredients were high-quality and worth every cent.
Of course, these ingredients were not the best of the best. This was because many precious foreign ingredients were put up for auction in their place of origin. Only a limited number of such ingredients would be produced, and they could thus only be sent to a small number of surrounding areas. There was no way they could send such ingredients to China.
Still, it was obvious that this nameless restaurant was making use of the best kind of ingredients obtainable in China.
Xue Zhebin watched Wang Peng’s expression. “How’s the taste?”
As a rich second-generation heir, Xue Zhebin had eaten a lot of good food in his lifetime. He could distinguish good-quality food from bad-quality ones, but he was no professional. He was still a far cry from Wang Peng. Wang Peng nodded, satisfied. “Not bad. I think it’s even better than what we ate the last time.
“Take the caviar for example. Thirty percent of the caviar in the world is produced by our country. Of 26 three-Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, 21 of them serve premium caviar produced in China.
“Our country’s farmed caviar is easily comparable to wild caviar. I’ve been to restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai as well. The ingredients that they use are similar. Yet, for some reason, the caviar served here tastes even better.
“Could it be the psychological effect of the cutlery and dining environment here?”
Xue Zhebin thought about the change he noticed in the private room and said, “Speaking of which, they did newly decorate the private room. From the decorations to the dining table and cutlery, everything looks different compared to the last time I visited.”
He turned to face the waiter beside him. “Why did you change all of these things?”
The waiter smiled and answered, “Our boss thinks that the environment is a crucial aspect of one’s dining experience.
“In ancient times, when learned men drank wine, they used different cups for different wines. There were also many complicated and detailed procedures. These were not just customary. Instead, appropriate cups can bring out the special characteristics of different wines. They can also work to create special atmospheres.”
Wang Peng was speechless. He silently nodded and commented, “Particular.”
If he had heard this somewhere else, Wang Peng would have scoffed. He would also have thought this was fussy and meaningless.
Changing the decorations, dining table, and cutlery in the room based on dishes served would just be superficial at best. If the dishes themselves turned out to be badly done, all these things would be pointless.
However, what would come after having good-quality ingredients and excellent chefs?
They were using top-notch ingredients in this restaurant. The chefs who worked here were also the cream of the crop. Compared to other high-end restaurants, this one would not be inferior… but also not particularly superior.
Then, what would leave the deepest impression in the hearts of customers would be the minute details.
vere
Among these were the special dining environment, meticulous service, appropriate cutlery, and the like. What’s more, people were not allowed to take photographs in this restaurant. Everyone would focus on the food in front of them. Subconsciously, this would create the illusion that food here was more delicious than elsewhere.
This meant that even if two restaurants served identical dishes, customers would still have differing impressions of them both!
“How much does this meal cost?” Wang Peng asked.
Xue Zhebin smiled. “Thirteen thousand yuan.”
Wang Peng could not help but feel moved. “It’s quite worth it.”
Walking out of Ming Yun Private Kitchen, Wang Peng felt like he did not want the experience to end. Although he had been ‘stabbed’ by Xue Zhebin today and he had spent more than ten thousand yuan on a meal, he thought that it was all worth it.
If not for Xue Zhebin’s recommendation, Wang Peng would not have known that such a high-end restaurant existed in Jingzhou.
It was not just a question of delicious food.
The restaurant was hidden and low-profile. The place was decorated in a classy manner. The service was meticulous. In addition, they were not allowed to take photographs. Obviously, this place had what it took to be pretentious.
This restaurant was perfectly suited for hosting business meals.
It was expensive, but Wang Peng could look more stylish. What’s more, his business partners would get to enjoy good food and feel highly-regarded. It would all be worth it!
What’s more, Wang Peng had taken a look at the food’s prices on the receipt and found that they were within an acceptable range. High-class food was expensive to begin with. In addition to expenses for professional chefs, a good location, special dining tables and cutlery, and waiters… It was kind of them to set prices like these!
Wang Peng only felt sorry that he did not manage to get the contact details of the restaurant’s boss.
When he was settling the bill, the branch manager with a surname ‘Lin’ politely approached them, asking for feedback. He wanted to know whether there was anything he could improve on for the restaurant. Wang Peng took the chance to ask for the boss’ contact details, hoping to rope him in as a partner of Quanmin Reviews. However, Branch Manager Lin turned him down.
Strictly speaking, it was not Branch Manager Lin who turned him down. Branch Manager Lin had just turned down the request on behalf of the restaurant’s boss. He gave Wang Peng his own contact number, but not the boss’.
Branch Manager Lin also turned down the invitation to work with Quanmin Reviews on behalf of his boss. He did not even want to expose the name of the restaurant.
Wang Peng thought it inappropriate to push him. After all, from the restaurant’s location and advertising strategy, Wang Peng could tell that the boss behind the scenes was low-profile. It was fitting that he was not willing to share his contact details.
Thus, Wang Peng only took down Branch Manager Lin’s contact details. This way, he would be able to make reservations if he wanted to bring his business partners here in the future.
He was just sorry that he could not rope this restaurant in on behalf of Quanmin Reviews.
However… just because they were not partners, did it mean that Quanmin Reviews could not display this restaurant on its site?
Of course not.
Quanmin Reviews had an ‘add store’ function. Users were allowed to add information about stores they visited on their own.
Of course, they had to fill in the store’s name as well. He would need his employees to help him with this.
Wang Peng noted the location of the restaurant and then called his technical staff. “There is a high-end restaurant at this location. Update our website. I’ll personally write a review later on.
“There’s no name; just leave it blank.”
Chapter 247 - The Roses in Her Hand, the Flavor in Mine
It couldn’t be denied that Quanmin Reviews’ employees were rather efficient. Two minutes later, Wang Peng refreshed the application and found that the empty shophouse had appeared at the restaurant’s location.
However, there were no details on it; no content whatsoever.
Other pages on Quanmin Reviews were all done-up nicely. There were pictures, name of the shop, ratings, reviews, average spending, exact location, etc.
However, this place only had a blank profile; it had nothing on it.
Wang Peng thought for a while and started to enter some information on it. He left the name blank. As for average spending, according to the meal he had, it was five thousand-odd.
Regarding ratings, this was a little more problematic.
Wang Peng had wanted to give a 4.8 rating. However, after searching all the restaurants in Jingzhou that had 4.8 ratings, he realized that all these restaurants couldn’t hold a candle to this nameless private kitchen.
Regardless of taste, atmosphere, or service; awarding a 4.8 rating was a little inappropriate. I’ll give it full marks then!
Wang Peng immediately inputted a 5/5 rating for all criteria.
He didn’t have any pictures to share; the restaurant had not allowed any.
Wang Peng did manage to take a picture of the entrance. However, it became that of a nondescript villa that didn’t say anything about how amazing things were inside. He did not think it was meaningful to post a picture of the entrance and decided not to upload anything.
After that, Wang Peng started to get serious and to leave a review. “All in all, this is at present the poshest restaurant in Jingzhou; there is no other. I ordered three to four dishes. The ingredients were basically the best one could find in the entire country and had to be preordered one or two days beforehand. The dishes taste superb, and chefs from other places have probably been hired due to the variety of dishes.
“The atmosphere is very quiet, and arrangements would actually be made to accommodate each type of dish; much effort has been put into this.
“Service is excellent; I basically do not need to do anything at all, and the wait staff would take care of everything. However, I do not feel overly disturbed or annoyed; it is rather magical.
“Also, this place is very strict on decorum; no photos are allowed at all. However, this actually allows people to better experience the delicacies in front of them.
“Basically, what I want to say is that my friends based in Jingzhou are in for a treat.”
Wang Peng didn’t have to overdo his review; he just truthfully wrote down his experience.
However, as he was using his Red V account[1] to send out this review, his review would carry much more weight than ordinary comments.
That night…
Soon after Wang Peng had sent out this review, he had received a massive amount of comments and likes!
As the co-founder of Quanmin Reviews, Wang Peng’s reviews account had the Red V verification while Quanmin Reviews employees would be biased towards his account internally. If two accounts reviewed the same restaurant, Wang Peng’s review would definitely be more visible.
At the same time, Wang Peng was also someone that had a stronger presence and sense of duty; he would always seriously review every restaurant he went to.
Hence, Wang Peng’s account had tens of thousands of fans. After his review was sent out, his fans immediately saw it.
However, after seeing the details page of this restaurant, all these netizens were flummoxed.
There were no pictures; the restaurant didn’t even have a name! The name portion of the page was blank; the page looked very hastily made. Below that, the 5/5 rating as well as the average spending price also shocked everyone.
“Is this an official recommendation?”
“Has the site taken a liking to this restaurant? I feel that it will soon gain in popularity!”
“I recall that Boss Wang is always very critical with his reviews. He had actually given a full rating? Could this be an official publicity effort?”
“Who has managed to enlist Boss Wang to do publicity? This person must be a big-shot!”
“Why doesn’t this restaurant have a name? Is there a system bug?”.
“Only Boss Wang has left a comment; it doesn’t even have a picture.”
“Five thousand per person? I can’t afford this! Boss Wang is really rich; we commoners can only silently watch…”
“Jingzhou’s high-class restaurants’ standard is still far from Beijing, and Shanghai’s; could it really be so expensive?”
Everyone suddenly grew excited. Although they couldn’t afford the meal, they could hang around and debate about it, right?
Many Jingzhou natives were stumped. Since when had such a high-end restaurant appeared in Jingzhou? Why have they not heard of it before?
As for ballers from other places, they started to grow interested in this place. If Wang Peng could give a 5/5 rating, this restaurant would definitely not be half bad. If they had an opportunity to head to Jingzhou for work next time, they were determined to try this place.
Many ardent fans all left comments on Wang Peng’s review while Wang Peng was also delighted in responding to them. “I know that quality reviews need at least three pictures. However, as this restaurant does not allow pictures, I don’t have any to provide.”
“It is indeed expensive. However, the ingredients, culinary skills of the chefs, atmosphere, and service all make this pricing worthwhile. If any of you have a certain longing for any special delicacy, you can splurge and have a meal here. The dining experience here will not disappoint you.”
“As for recommended dishes, this is hard to do. I had only casually ordered a few dishes, and all were superb. I feel that other dishes should not be that shabby either. After all, this restaurant prizes quality over anything else.”
“This isn’t collaboration. Actually, the owner of this restaurant is a little too low-profile. I had wanted to discuss a partnership with them but was rejected. I just felt that as a member of Quanmin Reviews, I had a duty to recommend such a good restaurant to everyone. This has always been the mission of Quanmin Reviews.”
After selecting a few passionate fans and replying to their comments, Wang Peng put down his cell phone satisfactorily.
Quanmin Reviews’ mission since founding had been that all information would come from the masses, to serve the masses, and to provide honest reviews for all restaurants and eateries so that no good place would be left unknown while all poor places would be exposed.
As the co-founder of Quanmin Reviews, Wang Peng felt that at this moment, he had fulfilled his duty.
As the saying went, the roses in her hand, the flavor in mine[2].
Helping this nameless private kitchen to do some publicity might actually make the owner happy. Perhaps the owner might be amenable to working together with Quanmin Reviews?
Wang Peng thought satisfactorily.
August 27th, Friday…
Pei Qian tossed his controller as he massaged his slight sore shoulders.
Tiring!
He had suffered for a week. Although he was getting a hang of the game-as Pei Qian was someone who found it very hard to find enjoyment from suffering, this was still a form of torture to him.
“If it wasn’t for the sake of making a loss, I wouldn’t be working so hard…”.
Pei Qian took a look at his game character on the screen. He was holding ‘Pudu’ and had already reached the entrance to the six realms of rebirth and existence. Pei Qian had to fight many grueling battles in the days to come.
Fortunately, at this pace he was going, Pei Qian would be able to complete this ending before the official launch of the game.
“I can go take a look at how Teacher Qiao is doing.” Pei Qian shut his computer down, stood up, and prepared to head to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
Last weekend-after having a meal with Teacher Qiao at Ming Yun Private Kitchen, Pei Qian had never gone back to Ming Y
un Private Kitchen again yet.
As there were rules regarding entertainmentwhile Pei Qian could receive a guest there once, he couldn’t do so persistently; the system would not allow that.
Hence, Pei Qian had thought that as a week had gone by, he could find an opportune time and come up with some pretext this weekend to head to Ming Yun Private Kitchen for another meal.
As for what this pretext would be…
This was easy. He could ask Teacher Qiao to offer his opinions on making changes to the game. That could be considered as making stellar contributions to Tengda, and it would be reasonable to have a meal at his private kitchen.
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Handong University branch…
Qiao Liang had just taken a pause in the game as he leaned into his chair and ordered two cocktails. He was very pleased.
After playing for a month, he realized that he had slowly gotten a hang of the game!
It had been very hard at the beginning. However, it wasn’t entirely just a problem with the difficulty-level of the monsters but rather a difficulty with adjusting to a new gaming format.
If gamers could not adapt to this gameplay, they would find it very difficult. However, after doing so, the difficulty level would naturally be reduced.
Normal RPG games were very accommodating of players; they would not overtly penalize any mistakes by players, and players have gotten used to this. They felt that they were only going to let the monster hit them twice and that it wasn’t going to be consequential. However, Repent and be Saved required gamers to be fully focused while fighting weak monsters as well. They must always be mindful of every monster’s attack pattern and speed as well.
After making this change in mindset, Qiao Liang realized that the game wasn’t that difficult. He even felt that such a game was even more attractive than others.
“Sigh, I have really maligned Boss Pei previously. Repent and be Saved is a game for true hardcore gamers. It is filled with many novel elements and definitely had not been created purely to irk players!
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