"Of course, of course." Yuan Chen looked at the waitress and said, "Just remember, I want the best. Rest assured, I am not short of money."

Secretly, he hoped some of what Ye Fei ordered was sold out, so he could save some money. Otherwise, this “afternoon tea” was going to cost him a small fortune.

In fact, Yuan Chen could comfortably afford this upscale meal under normal circumstances. If he were having this meal with Murong alone, he would not worry for a moment about the bill. His family had plenty of money. The problem was, Murong's boyfriend was present too, and Yuan Chen had a depressing premonition that Ye Fei’s stomach was a bottomless pit.

The waitress nodded with a smile, happy in the knowledge that she’d be getting a percentage of the price of all these high-grade dishes, and said, "Rest assured, Restaurant Maxim is the best western-style restaurant in the city! We only serve the best. So, what can I get you to drink?"

Fuck! Yuan Chen wanted to slap her face, but he couldn't do that in public.

Although Yuan Chen raged in his heart, he still had to maintain a proper demeanor in front of Murong. "Ah yes,” he said with a forced smile, “no feast is complete without good wine. It wasn’t easy arranging this meal with Murong, so let us open a bottle of wine to celebrate."

"You’re right. Give us a bottle of 1990 Pommard," Ye Fei suddenly said.

1990 Pommard!

Yuan Chen fought the urge to just stand up and run for it. A single bottle of this red wine cost thousands of Yuan. Ye Fei was really cruel, too cruel!

"1990 Pommard! Certainly, I'll get it for you." The waitress bowed, an overjoyed grin on her face.

Yuan Chen stared at her angrily. "Good. And get it here quickly. If you are slow, I will go somewhere else to eat!"

The waitress repeatedly promised and almost ran to the bar. After a short while, she brought a bottle of red wine and three fine crystal goblets.

When Yuan Chen saw this bottle of red wine, he immediately had an idea. He glanced underhandedly at Ye Fei, thinking, "I don't know how a commoner like you knows what Pommard is, but you certainly aren’t cultured enough to appreciate it. Finally, I have the chance to humiliate you!"

Yuan Chen handed the bottle of red wine to Ye Fei with a smile. "Mr. Ye, since you’ve ordered this 1990 Pommard specifically, I assume you must know it well. As you know, there are a lot of fakes in the market; even I can't clearly distinguish the genuine from the fake. Mr. Ye seems to be an expert, so please taste this wine first and tell me how to identify the real deal."

"Of course. I ordered it, so I must be responsible for it. I'll taste it first."

Ye Fei gently tapped on his crystal goblet. The waitress was about to open the bottle when a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes came over and said, "Let me serve these guests personally."

"Ah, Monsieur Robert..." The waitress looked surprised and hurriedly introduced him to Ye Fei, Yuan Chen and Murong: "This is the owner of Restaurant Maxim, Monsieur Robert."

"Honored guests, I am Robert, the owner of this restaurant," he said with a thick French accent.

Robert was a gourmet chef from France who opened this western restaurant in Shanghai. He was experimenting with new dishes in the kitchen when he heard that someone ordered a 1990 Pommard and decided to come greet such esteemed – and wealthy - guests in person.

Robert shook hands with Ye Fei and Yuan Chen, but when Murong stretched out her hand, Robert bent down and kissed the back of her hand. "My lady, I’m honored to serve you."

After that, Robert picked up the bottle and opened the cork.

The bright red liquor poured into the crystal goblets without a ripple. The bouquet was not too exaggerated, just a faint fragrance. It seemed that all the flavor was locked in the crystal.

Robert was indeed an expert. When he poured the wine, there was not the slightest tremble in his hands, filling the three goblets with an identical amount of liquid. They were impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.

"Please!"

Robert said but one word, in keeping with his respectful and courteous manner.

By then, other guests of the restaurant were looking at them.

Yuan Chen cackled cruelly in his heart. He actually didn't know too much about red wine himself, so he was a bit worried about what he should do if Ye Fei tried to cheat him, but he didn’t expect a real wine expert to show up. Anything Ye Fei said now about the wine would make him look like an utter fool.

Murong was also worried about that. After all, Ye Fei was a bodyguard: could he possibly be familiar with such luxurious wine? Besides, with a real expert present, Ye Fei was probably going to be embarrassed in public.

Ye Fei glanced at Murong and knew what she was thinking, so he picked up his wine glass and held it in front of his nose, gently swirling the liquid inside. The humor in his eyes suddenly disappeared, replaced by focus and immersion.

He took a sip, lowered his head to take a whiff, and let the red liquid slosh around in his mouth for a couple of seconds. Then he looked up again and swallowed.

After a long while, Ye Fei glanced at Yuan Chen and said with contempt, "Mr. Yuan, you said you were upper class. Won’t you taste the wine?"

Seeing the contempt in Ye Fei’s eyes, Yuan Chen also drank a little and immediately felt quite embarrassed. To tell the truth, he really couldn't tell the difference between this wine and any other, but he thought Ye Fei couldn’t either.

Therefore, Yuan Chen assumed a modest air and smiled, "I fear I don't know the difference between this wine and another. Please enlighten me, Mr. Ye."