chsdbacks Chapter 170 Fake Wine
Chapter 170 Fake Wine
Yan Shuo left the Ximei Trading Company and quickly walked through the streets and alleys of Shanghai, soon arriving at the Yipinxiang Restaurant.
This restaurant is not an ordinary Chinese restaurant, but is opened by a German named Sebastian Bernhard, and mainly serves German food. Sebastian is also a friend of Lucas, and Yan Shuo has known him for many years and is considered an old acquaintance.
For Yan Shuo, whether German food was delicious or not was irrelevant; it was simply something to fill his stomach.
He pushed open the door and walked into the restaurant. A rich aroma of wheat and roasted meat wafted towards him. The interior decoration was typical of Western Europe, with wooden tables and chairs polished to a shine and several European-style oil paintings hanging on the walls, creating an elegant and tranquil atmosphere.
Most of the diners are from Western Europe, including Germans, Jews, French, and British. Occasionally, you can also see a few Black people. Even among the waiters, there are quite a few Black people, all of whom are well-mannered and provide attentive service.
In contrast, Chinese faces are extremely rare here, almost nonexistent. Most of them come with foreigners, and it is even rarer for Chinese people to come to dine alone.
As soon as Yan Shuo entered the room, Sebastian, who was sitting on the sofa in the corner, recognized him at a glance.
Sebastian, slightly overweight with curly blond hair and a gentle smile, immediately stood up upon seeing them, strode forward, and greeted them warmly, "Hi, Bernd, long time no see, how are you?"
Yan Shuo smiled and nodded, raising his hand to pat his shoulder, his tone casual yet familiar: "I'm fine, Stefan. You look great, all rosy-cheeked. Is something good happening? By the way, how are things with Leah lately? I've heard that Leah has feelings for you, and it's not just hearsay."
Sebastian, his secret exposed, blushed slightly and quickly lowered his voice, playfully scolding, "Hey, Bernd, can you keep your voice down? Even if Leah likes me, you don't have to shout it out like that, you see—"
As he spoke, he gestured towards the kitchen. Yan Shuo looked in that direction and saw a pretty German girl in a white apron peeking in. Upon seeing them, she immediately blushed and quickly turned and ran back into the kitchen. "See? You've managed to scare Leah away!"
Yan Shuo laughed heartily, teasing him deliberately: "Oh, are you shy? What, after so long, you haven't already won her over, have you? Hmm?"
Sebastian scratched his head, a smug yet shy smile spreading across his face, and shouted towards the kitchen, "Lia, come out here! Bernd's here. Quickly make him your best roast pork chops, and grab a bottle of white wine, the one with the red sticker!"
After shouting, he turned to Yan Shuo, who immediately waved his hand, saying with a "warnistic" look, "Stian, are you trying to rob me? I'm not falling for it. I know your wines well enough. Which one is truly valuable? Let me tell you, no matter what kind of white wine with red stickers you're talking about, I'll only offer one silver dollar, not a penny more!"
Sebastian widened his eyes dramatically and exclaimed in feigned displeasure, "Ah, Bernd, you're too stingy! Considering we've known each other for years, I'll give you a discount this time, 100 silver dollars it is! 100, that's the lowest I can go!"
"Stian, why don't you just rob someone?" Yan Shuo sneered, deliberately teasing. "I think you should join the stormtroopers. That way, you can rob someone legitimately, and your painter might even protect you."
Sebastian's eyes lit up, and he said, feigning seriousness, "Bernder, are you serious? To be honest, I've had this idea for a while! However, if you're willing to pay 100 silver dollars for the meal today, I won't report you to Lucas. You just spoke ill of the leader, which is a serious offense!"
Yan Shuo shrugged nonchalantly, his tone mocking: "Go ahead, go ahead and report me. No matter how powerful your painter is, can he really reach thousands of miles away from Europe to Shanghai to arrest me?"
"You shameless scoundrel!" Sebastian rolled his eyes in exasperation, his tone softening as he began to bargain. "Fine, fine, I give up. 50 yuan, just give me 50 yuan, and I'll pretend I didn't hear anything and won't report you, how about it?"
"Just one yuan." Yan Shuo said firmly, then paused, and added in a seemingly generous manner, "Alright, considering how pitiful you are, and Leah's superb cooking skills, plus that damned bottle of white wine, I'll give you two silver dollars. Hurry up, I'm starving. I've been busy all day and haven't even had a hot meal."
Sebastian looked aggrieved and wanted to argue, "Bernder, that won't do! That white wine has a red sticker; it's not some cheap, ordinary wine!"
Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow, his tone laced with sarcasm: "Stian, have you lost your mind? How much are red stickers worth? If you want them, I'll have someone bring you a truckload of them in a bit. Stick them on as many as you want, there's plenty!"
Sebastian was speechless, his face showing even more grievance. He grabbed Yan Shuo's arm and pleaded, "Bernder, please, add a little more. Business has been bad lately, I'm almost losing money, I really can't hold on any longer."
Seeing this, Yan Shuo's playful expression faded. He glanced at the not-so-sparsely populated restaurant and asked in confusion, "How could this be? Your restaurant seems to be doing well, with plenty of customers. How could you be losing money?"
"Yes, the restaurant business is alright, nothing's wrong." Sebastian sighed, his tone instantly somber, his face filled with frustration and anger. "But I got scammed! I lost 20,000 silver dollars in one go—all my savings from the past few years are gone!"
"Oh?" Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone becoming more serious. "Who's such a scoundrel, scheming against even our honest Stan? In Shanghai, everyone knows you're not wealthy, Stan, and saving money isn't easy. How could he possibly do that!"
"Exactly!" Sebastian nodded quickly, as if he had found someone to confide in, and said excitedly, "That damn bastard came to me and said he had a batch of excellent wines, and because he was in a hurry to pay off his gambling debts, he was willing to sell them to me at a low price. I thought that I could sell the wine in the store, and since it was cheap, I could make a profit, so I was tempted."
Upon hearing this, Yan Shuo calmly replied, "That's a common occurrence, nothing strange about it. Many people are in a hurry to pay off debts and will sell their goods at low prices. How could they be considered scammed?"
"But this is the important part!" Sebastian took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said urgently, "Those wines all have red labels and look exactly like the real thing!"
"Hmm, and then?" Yan Shuo listened patiently, gesturing for him to continue.