The Enchanted 7:45 pmLi Xiuying, Ren Daiyu, and Yao Changying all made their way to the restaurant.
Yao Changying spoke with awe as she looked around the pathway leading to the entrance: "I now understand why this place is called The Enchanted."
Li Xiuying nodded while Ren Daiyu made sounds of agreement. The entrance looked even more magical at night with lights darted around making it look like fireflies flickering.
When the trio entered the foyer Ren Daiyu and Yao Changying were even more in awe.
Ren Daiyu: "I feel like an elf is going to jump out of the tree."
Yao Changying suggestively wagged her eyebrow: "Oh Honey bee, I think you mean you want an elf to jump at you, out from the waterfall. "
Ren Daiyu immediately blushed: "So shameless."
Li Xiuying walked over to the maître d" and waiter: "Li Xiuying table for 3."
The waiter was just about to introduce himself when the maître d" interrupted.
Maître d": "h.e.l.lo Miss Li. I am the maître d" Zhang Yong. how are you this evening?" He had failed to introduce himself at lunch and took the opportunity to do so now.
Li Xiuying: "Fine. You?"
Maitre D: "I"m very well thank you for asking. Who are these beguiling women you have brought with you?"
Yao Changying: "You are a man of good taste. I"m Yao Changying and this is Ren Daiyu."
Maître d" smiled: "With your permission, I"ll walk you over to the bar. We are just preparing your table and it will be ready shortly." He made a note of the women"s names so he could relay them to his Boss.
Li Xiuying: "Okay."
The maître d" led the trio away leaving a curious waiter behind.
Waiter "So that"s Li Xiuying. She must be important because the boss only deals with important clients. She wasn"t mentioned in my notes though."
All the staff were given a small booklet before the start of their s.h.i.+fts which gave general details about the guests. There are even pictures of the guests so the staff can differentiate between the genuine person and impersonators.
....
Chen Wei"s Car
Li Na said with uncertainty: "This can"t be right...I think I just saw Li Xiuying going into The Enchanted."
Li Yu Yan also thought that she may have caught a glimpse of Li Xiuying. She maintained her sweet and gentle voice "Why would little sister be here?"
Chen Wei: "I"m sure it"s just someone who looked similar. Not just anyone can get a reservation here."
Li Na: "Your right brother-in-law. The enchanted wouldn"t let stray cat and dogs in. There"s no way that she could pa.s.s the stringent criteria."
Chen Wei parked the car and they walked up the pathway to the entrance.
Li Na and Li Yu Yan were completely taken with the decor of the restaurant.
Chen Wei walked over to the waiter: "Chen Wei and Li Yu Yan. Table for 7."
Waiter: "Welcome Dr. Chen and Miss Li. Your table is ready however we have a policy that states that the whole party must be present before they can be seated."
Chen Wei looked over to Li Na.
Li Na sent a quick message: "They said they"re still 15 minutes away. They got caught in traffic."
Chen Wei checked his watch "How long will we be able to keep the table for?" He knew that there was a time to how long they would hold their table
Waiter: "Dr. Chen for honored guests such as yourself we will, of course, wait for all the members of your group to arrive."
Chen Wei: "Thank you."
Waiter: "If you give us 2 minutes someone will arrive shortly to take you to the bar area so you may wait in comfort."
The waiter opened the customized messaging system on his screen and sent a message to Zhang Yong [The Chen & Li Party are here. Bar in 2 minutes].
.....
Bar area
The maître d" read the message and walked over to collect the trio: "Miss Li, Miss Yao, Miss Ren. Your table is ready, please follow me."
Yao Changying: "I"m going to order all of the most expensive dishes. I"ve cleared both my stomachs for tonight!"
Ren Daiyu: "Dear Dr. Changying, even I know humans only have 1 stomach."
Yao Changying sighed and looked at ren Daiyu with pity: "1 stomach for nutrition, the other for enjoyment. You"ve been missing out on life."
Ren Daiyu rolled her eyes.
Li Xiuying: "Alpaca"s have 3 stomach compartments."
Yao Changying:" 3rd for drinks."
The maître d" tried to maintain his professionalism as he listened to the odd conversation between the women. "I"ve never heard people discussing alpacas before."
Li Xiuying glanced coldly at the table in front of her that was prepared for 6 people: "I booked a table for 3." She was suspicious that Qilin had planned something behind her back.
The maître d" didn"t even blink as he lied:" Miss Li we only had this table for 6 available at the time you made your reservation."
Li Xiuying quirked a brow.
Yao Changying: "YingYing we need more s.p.a.ce to put all the dishes anyway. Come sit. Daiyu come and sit down."
The maître d" handed them the menus: "Here are the menus. Can I get you any drinks?"
Yao Changying: "Can we get a bottle of still mountain water and 2 mojitos?"
Ren Daiyu added: "Mint mojitos."
Maître d": "I"ll have someone bring your drinks over when they prepared."
Li Xiuying checked the time on her phone it was now 8 pm.
They each began excitedly looking through the menus.
Ren Daiyu: "Crawfish bisque sounds pretty good."
Yao Changying: "Oxtail Consommé... filet mignon... oh filet of veal all sound amazing."
Li Xiuying: "Pulled beef ravioli."
Their happy discussion was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
Qilin stood at the table with 2 men beside him.
Yao Changying: "Yes? Can we help you?"
Qilin: "h.e.l.lo I"m Tu Yu Qing, this is Lài Yongliang and his brother Lài s.h.i.+-on. I"m an acquaintance of Li Xiuying"s and If it isn"t too much trouble I was hoping to join you all. "
He met Li Xiuying"s icy gaze.
Qilin: "There was a mix up with our reservation. My friends have come from quite a distance away just to be here tonight. I would feel awful if they had to leave with empty stomachs."
Ren Daiyu: "Of course please sit down."
Lài Yongliang spoke elegantly: "We are sorry to impose."
Li Xiuying a.s.sessed the 3 men who decided to invite themselves to eat. "They are ruining girls night. What does Qilin want now? He didn"t seem like such a leech at lunch."
Lài Yongliang: "Dr. Li I have been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time. I did not think that fate would bring us together sooner than I had initially antic.i.p.ated."
Li Xiuying just sat quietly.
Yao Changying laughed a little and elbowed Li Xiuying slightly in the ribs.
Li Xiuying flinched and grimace slightly at the contact. She relented: "Oh?"
Lài Yongliang: " Yes, you all, visited my little restaurant not so long ago."
Ren Daiyu: "Oh you"re the owner of Yuèliàng?! I love your restaurant, the food is amazing especially the desserts!"
Lài Yongliang laughed gently: "I"m glad you enjoyed your time even with the unsavory incident."
Yao Changying had a disgusted look on her face: "Yeah that rabid Bambi should be put down. She was practically frothing at the mouth."
Li Xiuying: "Injecting an air bubble."
Yao Changying: "Possibility. a.r.s.enic?"
Li Xiuying shook her head: "Some people can smell a.r.s.enic."
Yao Changying: "Hmm good point. If the pathologist could smell the a.r.s.enic during a post mortem then there would be trouble. What about the cla.s.sic drug overdose?"
Lài s.h.i.+-on who was sitting on Ren Daiyu"s right asked: "Daiyu what are they talking about?"
Ren Daiyu was surprised that the young man next to her addressed her like they were familiar: "Well Mr Lài I"m not entirely sure. However, it"s probably how to make a murder look like an accident."
All the men turned their sights on Ren Daiyu, she shrugged: "It"s a regular discussion."
....
Shen Mo Chou walked into the bar area and spotted Li Yu Yan and the others: " YanYan, brother-in-law, Xiao Na we"re here."
Shen Mo Chou was accompanied by 2 lavishly dressed women and a stylish man.
Li Na: "Mo Chou, Sis He Meiying, Zhi Ruo, brother Qiang. We were just about to be seated."
He Meiying completely disregarded the fact that they were late: "It"s good that we got here on time. I"ve only been here once before with my busy work schedule it"s hard to get away. Li Yu Yan you need to enjoy your free time as much as possible while you still can."
Li Yu Yan: "Thank you for the advice Sis Meiying."
He Meiying: "Junior Yu Yan I am now your senior since you"ll be attending my former medical school. I"ll introduce you to some of my old professors before you start."
Li Yu Yan: "Thank you, Senior."
He Meiying: "That"s more like it."
Chen Wei shook hands with Ling Qiang: "Qiang. It seems like the only time you leave the hospital is when there"s food involved."
Ling Qiang: "Hey I"ve got standards. Only great food bought by others will convince me to leave my work."
Chen Wei laughed a patted him on is back: "Let"s go and get seated."