Page 28 of Billionaire’s Promise

“I don’t think so.” Her sight fixated on the painting.

Kai opened his mouth, but nothing came out until seconds later. “It’s a great painting.”

Jenny marched into the living room, eyes still glued to the painting.

“Because I chose it.” She let out a small sigh. “I wanted to keep it for myself. But it’s better here.”

Her appreciation of art was unquestionable. Her stare reminded me of a hungry puppy drooling over a bowl of meat.

What possessed her to part with something she loved so much?

Luckily, the doorbell rang and saved us from the awkward silence. Jenny finally peeled herself away from Da Vinci’s greatness.

Escorted by the doorman, four men came in with massive bags of food, and headed to the kitchen. On the outside of the bags was the word “Gucheng”.

Gucheng wasn’t like your usual Chinese takeout place. Each month, they shipped out one of the best chefs in China to cook here in the city. And they only cooked what was available at the local organic farm that they sourced from. That meant their menu was very rarely the same. The price point was crazy high, and it would cost someone at least a month or so of salary just to dine there. Even if you had the money, you couldn’t necessarily get a table there. It wasn’t a place where anyone could just call them up to get a booking. There was no website, or any other way to contact them at all.

So how did one get to eat there?

You waited for their invitation, according to one of my clients, who had been there before. Apparently, they would get in touch first thing in the morning for dinner that was happening later that day. Then you had an hour to RSVP. If you couldn’t make it, you lost the invite. But the good news was, you knew you were on their radar.

“My god, that place is so impossible to book!” I exclaimed. “And I didn’t know that they would deliver! How did you manage that?”

Within five minutes, a table full of beautiful dishes was laid out. This was the first time I had had takeout where the staff would come and set up everything.

“They don’t normally deliver. But for their boss, I guess they do,” Kai said proudly, his face smug.

Why was I even surprised?

“Right. It makes so much sense now. Did you come up with the invite-only idea?” He raised his eyebrows slightly. “Stop pretending like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Yes, of course. People love feeling special. Exclusivity sells.”

“Evil genius.”

“Why not? You make them wonder if they’ll ever get invited to such a restaurant. And when they do, they can’t wait to take out their wallet and pay big bucks for it. They’re begging to dine at the restaurant, not the other way round.”

As ridiculous as it sounded, it was very clever. But only someone like Kai could pull off something like that.

We sat at a massive black granite table with golden veins. It was probably made to seat 20 people. The dishes covered every inch of the table. I doubted that we would even come close to finishing it.

“I see. I didn’t know you owned this one as well.” I knew that Kai was in the food industry, but I couldn’t assume every restaurant that I walked past was owned by him.

“I didn’t used to. I bought it a little while ago from a friend who lost a bet.”

I didn’t know how to react to that statement. “Are you addicted to gambling or something?”

“He doesn’t gamble,” Jenny cut in. “He bought this one to save a friend of mine who was in a lot of debt. He paid too much though.” She shook her head. “But within weeks, he turned it into something else. It went from losing money to huge profits just with a flick of his fingers.”

“That’s considered as some kind of witchcraft. At one point in history, they used to hang and burn people with skills like that,” I joked. But deep down, I was impressed with what Kai had managed to do. “I’ve been curious about that restaurant for ages, but I had no idea how to get an invite.”

“Next time, just tell them you’re my guest and they’ll seat you anytime you want.”

“Really? How? I’ve heard the place is always packed.” I asked, more than a little curious about the place.

“There’s a private room upstairs, reserved for VIPs only – at the moment, it’s just me. But you’re welcome to use it.”

“Thanks. But I think I won’t be eating anything for a while after this meal.”