Chapter 163: A Night of Freedom

The 24-hour service restaurant of the Hank Hotel would only turn on two of the six ceiling lights in the middle of the night. This was done in order to cater to the current low-carbon consumption life that was mostly symbolic rather than practical.

However, due to the dim light, a lit candle would be provided on the diner’s table, creating a candle-lit dinner atmosphere that somehow appeared to be more pleasant.

Zhang Lisheng walked into the restaurant and randomly looked for a seat. Then, a waiter sent a candlestick and a menu to him.

He flipped through the menu and looked at it with the help of the candlelight. As long as he felt the name of the dish was slightly interesting, he ordered it without hesitation. In just one breath, he ordered more than ten huge dishes.

“Sir, our restaurant’s dishes are big in size so perhaps it would be a waste if you order so much,” the waiter kindly reminded him.

“Thank you for your reminder, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve just completed one very, very important job, so today is significant for me. I hope I can savor this supper as much as possible before I start to go for a strenuous exercise.”

“Understood, sir! we’ll prepare for your dishes right now.” The waiter no longer said anything and nodded with a smile before running into the kitchen to wake the night chef who was sitting, snoring on the wooden chair. “Mr. Hanter, a customer has arrived.”

“Just tell Mcgrady to do it! I’m really sleepy!” The chef with a height of not more than 170 centimeters but a weight of at least 250 pounds who looked like a peeled oval white potato, sleepily patted the helper who was also snoring beside him. “Wake up, Mcgrady! Go make supper for the customer before sleeping again.”

“Mr. Hantel, the customer has ordered more than ten dishes, so I’m afraid your assistant won’t be able to cope with it!”

“More than ten dishes? What time is it right now? Why would there be so many people coming all at once at such a time?” Hantel could only stand up in dissatisfaction and washed his face with cold water to wake himself up. “Bring the order for me to see. Oh! They’re all huge dishes!”

“There’s only one customer and he looks very skinny and small too.”

“A customer ordering so many dishes? This is really… But, being skinny and small doesn’t mean he’s unable to eat a lot. I just watched the ‘Big Eater’ competition yesterday, and that skinny guy from Japan won once again. It’s really f*cked up! It’s a total of 67 hot dogs after all! I wonder what stomach he has actually…” the chef mumbled as he began to cook. Not long after, dishes began to be served onto Zhang Lisheng’s table one by one.

Melon ham roll, creamy butter mushroom scrambled egg, Provence chicken, scallops with glass noodles. In less than a minute or two after the dish arrived, they were devoured by Zhang Lisheng into his stomach.

Under the dumbstruck gaze of the waiter, twenty minutes later, the teenager had consumed the amount of food usually enough for four normal adult men to fill their stomachs. Not only that, right now, he was still not feeling full.

Rubbing his stomach, Zhang Lisheng looked at the waiter and when he was about to call him so he could order more dishes, a faint voice suddenly resonated by his ears. “The hell? He really finished all of them! I think he can also join the ‘Big Eater’ competition and swallow 67 hot dogs in one go!”

After being stunned for a while, Zhang Lisheng realized the voice actually came from the muttering of the waiter standing in the dim light in the distance. With a jolt of his heart, he changed his mind and waved his hand. “What a wonderful meal! Waiter, bill please,” as he took out his credit card.

After paying the bill, he quickly walked out of the hotel and muttered to himself regrettably as he started the car. “Devour the earth and sky… Looks like I won’t be able to feel full for my entire life now…” Then, he stepped on the accelerator pedal and turned into the street, driving towards the Queens.

Just as the car passed by two blocks, the young man received a call from Tina.

Ever since he was hospitalized, Tina would fly back to New York to visit him almost once every two weeks. However, this was the first time she called him so late.

“Hi Tina, is there anything?”

“Baby, have you discharged from the hospital?” the girl shouted in the midst of noisy music.

“Yes, how do you know?”

“Professor Maddell is sick so I returned to New York earlier than planned. I was planning to visit you tomorrow but who knew I’d come across Annie, Mr. Edward’s daughter, in the Cupid bar. She said she heard from her dad you were already discharged from the hospital and is staying at the factory.”

“Yes, but I am not at the factory right now. I’ve just finished my supper and am driving aimlessly in New York.”

“Oh, that’s great! Come to the Cupid Bar in Manhattan! I miss you already! Trish and Sheila are here too! Oh yeah, speaking of which, Sheila has a long-term boyfriend already, he’s here with us too…”

“What does it have anything to do with me anyway now that Sheila has a boyfriend?” Zhang Lisheng awkwardly set car navigation. “Cupid Bar in Manhattan, right? I’ll go now! See you later!”

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After saying his farewell, the young man hung up and drove on New York’s squared streets for more than 40 minutes according to the navigator’s instruction before stopping his car outside a nightclub that was flashing with lights inside and the roaring sounds of noisy music when the door was opened.

Even though such a shop was more suitable for young people with a long queue outside the door situated in Manhattan, its location was certainly far from the Upper West Side.

Zhang Lisheng walked past the people queuing and came to the door of the nightclub that had a huge “Cupid Bar” signboard hanging on the outer wall before calling Tina. “I’m here.”

Not long after, a slightly tipsy Tina dressed in sexy white super-short shorts ran out of the nightclub. After a long kiss, the girl took Zhang Lisheng’s hand and ran back into the nightclub without even glancing at the security guard in front of the Cupid Bar.

Inside the Cupid Bar, even though it was also dimly lit and covered in smog like other regular nightclubs, its style was much classier than the clubs other ordinary young New Yorkers would frequent.

This could be proven from the store’s passionate yet unconventionally expensive decorations. There was no alcohol sold for below 100 dollars in the cabinet and some of the customers’ tables were placed with food so sumptuous it was unimaginable.

It was apparent that despite being situated in Manhattan’s blue-collar area in general, this nightclub was mainly targeting those wealthy young people from New York City.

Tina took the boy all the way inside and came to a semi-open reserved box against the wall before shouting, “Look who’s here?!”

“Oh hey, Lisheng! Lisheng! How are you, baby?” Sheila, who had been drinking so much till her eyes unfocused, leaped up from the sofa with a surprised cry when she saw Zhang Lisheng entering the reserved box. She hugged the young man and kissed his cheeks afterward.

“Hey, Lisheng! Congratulations on your discharge!” Trish, who was by the side, stood up, too, as she said with a smile. Similarly, she kissed Zhang Lisheng’s cheeks too.

“Thank you,” Zhang Lisheng replied to the two girls with a smile.

“Baby! Let me introduce a few new friends to you. This is Annie, the daughter of your Chief Legal Officer Mr. Edward, and this is her boyfriend, Joe. This is Sonia, Sheila’s new boyfriend in her university, and this is Christina, Sonia’s sister, who is also in the same university with us. And Dukley, Trish’s most eager pursuer, has decided not to return to Los Angeles this year for her sake and would spend his Christmas here instead…”

“Tina Douglin…” Upon hearing Tina’s last remark that was said enigmatically, Trish shouted out loud in annoyance.

“Trish’s pursuer? Then how about that Hendrick of Mr. Saliva? Is he willing to break up with Trish?” Zhang Lisheng asked whatever came to his mind.

Trish’s expression turned more horrifying right away. Her tall and strong pursuer glared at the young man and it looked as though if it was not for the fact that he was in front of these few girls, he would have long taught this skinny young man, whose attitude seemed to have undergone a huge change under the changing light, a little lesson already.

The atmosphere in the box became a bit awkward. Tina glanced at Zhang Lisheng and explained quickly, “Hendrick has not contacted Trish for a long time already. Perhaps he feels both of them are not suitable as well.”

“He doesn’t look like a smart and sensible person though…” Recalling Hendrick’s stubborn action on the Elizabeth Holiday when they were stranded on the supernatural realm’s island, Zhang Lisheng curled his lips and sat on the sofa in the box in a non-committal manner.

Then, he reached out a hand to the beautiful Annie and said, “Miss Annie, your father is one of my important partners! I’ve heard of him mentioning about you long before. I’m happy to meet you.”

Having a young person of the opposite sex greeting himself in the nightclub like that, and this person was also none other than the legendary boss mentioned by his father before, Annie was stunned for a moment before grabbing the young man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Lisheng. I also often hear my dad mentioning you. However, I really didn’t expect the legendary person who will integrate the entire slaughtering industry in the New York metropolitan area will look like you. As an industrialist who earns hundreds of millions of dollars per year, you’re really too young! You’re indeed young and promising.”

Upon hearing Annie mentioning Zhang Lisheng’s worth, the few young people who did not know anything about him was slightly surprised.

However, to Harvard’s first-year students, they had heard too many stories of how their former seniors had become successful in their business and had turned into billionaires, or a great scientist or even a well-known politician.

These elites at the top of the social class could be said as not mysterious to them.

On top of that, the young age of people at ten or twenty plus years old who had high self-regard for themselves did not make them understand even if they received the same education, and even if their IQ level were about the same, it did not mean they would be able to do the things other people could do. For this reason, despite their lingering surprise, the way these young people treated Zhang Lisheng did not change too much either.

“Thank you. Please don’t forget to send my regards to Mr. Edward after you go back tonight.”

“Go back? No, no, no, Lisheng! We’re not going back tonight! We’ll go watch the New Year special competition held by the World Wrestling Entertainment later!”

“Sheila, I believe you can’t go back home today but Tina, Trish, and Miss Annie…”

“Oh, dear Lisheng. Our parents don’t even know we’ve come back to New York today. As for Annie, her father is still working overnight in the office and works his a*s off for your factory. Her mother is in Paris now and will only come back on Christmas Eve. Tonight, we’re free! Let’s cheer for freedom!” Sheila yelled and raised her glass.

“For the night of freedom!” The boys and girls in the box clinked their glasses and shouted with laughter, before downing a half glass of strong whiskey that had been diluted with ice and water.