Chapter 851: 838 You spend money, I'll pay the bill (Alliance Leader Joywong421 extra chapter 3)

838 You spend money, I'll pay the bill (Alliance Leader Joywong421 extra chapter 3)

Lao Mo is a typical pre-Soviet Union era building, looking like it has a special exotic charm.

But this group of people isn't interested in that exotic charm at all.

Professor Rudolf Wagner and Little Oliver were originally German. Zheng Ren felt a bit uncomfortable, Xie Yiren was thinking about caviar, Su Yun's eyes were shining, and she wholeheartedly looked forward to drinking heartily with Chang Yue.

The professor and Little Oliver had already arrived; they weren't waiting inside, but were standing outside by the fountain, chatting while they waited.

Until they saw Zheng Ren and the others approaching, the professor opened his arms and enthusiastically gave Zheng Ren a hug, expressing his joy.

Zheng Ren felt dazed, didn't dodge, and felt like he'd been bear-hugged; the spot where his ribs were fractured began to hurt.

"Boss, your surgery today was truly excellent; its brilliance could light up every corner of the world!" the professor praised.

Zheng Ren smiled and asked, "Have you ordered the dishes?"

"We're having dinner mainly to celebrate, and besides, you're paying. If you don't come, how can we order?" Su Yun said, "Hurry up, I can't wait."

"Why the rush?" Zheng Ren asked.

"If you don't drink alcohol, you wouldn't know, but here we have the most authentic vodka." Su Yun's eyes gleamed; since going south on a special mission, he hasn't had a proper drink, and this stuff is almost driving him crazy.

So today he doesn't want to drink domestic baijiu, nor whiskey or wine; he just wants vodka.

Ordering food is definitely not something to leave to Zheng Ren; if he were to order, he'd just use a few slices of rye bread to fill himself up, to avoid wasting time.

Xie Yiren held the menu, looking at it intently while communicating something with the restaurant's waiter.

Her words were very professional, occasionally mixing in a few English words.

The waiter initially could manage a couple of sentences, but soon called the front hall manager out.

After just a few words, the waiter realized the little girl in front of him was no fool—she was either rich or noble, and couldn't be deceived.

If the requirements aren't met, he might get scolded; getting scolded is a small matter, but if the customer demands compensation, that astronomically priced item would be impossible for the waiter to pay off even after a year of work.

The front hall manager communicated with Xie Yiren, and in the end still called out the head chef.

Zheng Ren felt strange—what matter caused such a big fuss?

But with the restaurant's waiter and front hall manager present, he couldn't ask, so he had to wait until Xie Yiren finished ordering and left before he could voice his doubts.

"Yi Ren, what just happened?"

"Nothing, I was just asking about their caviar here." Xie Yiren smiled sweetly; her fair skin, set against the exotic-style architecture, looked even more delicate and refined.

"Is there anything special about caviar?" Zheng Ren, who hadn't studied this at all, was basically an idiot about it.

"When drinking vodka, you need to pair it with caviar from the Caspian Sea. I was just asking what caviar they have here; unfortunately, they don't have Beluga caviar aged over sixty years." Xie Yiren said regretfully.

"..." Zheng Ren felt a bit dazed—does caviar need to be sixty years old? Like baijiu, the older, the more valuable?

But sixty years... wouldn't it go bad?

As for caviar, Zheng Ren truly hasn't studied it; he rarely comes into contact with any food-related trivia.

"Sevruga will do; it tastes about the same." Su Yun said from the side.

"Sevruga is basically roe from sturgeon aged seven or eight years; the gray color isn't very appealing, and the flavor lacks some complexity, but it's passable." Xie Yiren, holding the menu, pointed it out to Zheng Ren.

Zheng Ren didn't even look at the caviar's color; instead, he saw a string of numbers below that would be unforgettable for life.

"How much does Beluga caviar over sixty years old cost per jin?" Zheng Ren asked.

"The market price should be around 80,000; they only have a little, and with so many people today it's not enough. If we take it all, we'll still need to add something else." Xie Yiren said.

Zheng Ren seemed to understand why Su Yun insisted on bringing him to Lao Mo for vodka.

For me, rye bread is the traditional Russian food; but for Xie Yiren, hearing vodka immediately brings to mind extremely expensive caviar.

"Actually, it's not that delicious." Su Yun looked at Zheng Ren and laughed: "Caviar, truffle, and foie gras are known as the three great delicacies, standard fare in French feasts. Actually, at first it was Russians who started eating caviar, and they didn't think it was that great either—it's just like that. The delicacies foreigners brag about need to be examined critically."

"Then we'd better not order caviar." Zheng Ren felt a deep dread at that string of zeros.

"You're being stingy." Xie Yiren scoffed: "Xinglin Yuan has advanced you some money; you don't need to use your salary card—today you spend, I'll pay."

"..." Zheng Ren had never imagined that the situation of "you spend, I pay" could happen to him.

"Boss, you said Fugui'er came all the way from afar, over mountains and rivers to China, to fight side by side with us—what spirit is that? You've only treated us to a meal once, or just some cheap skewers—do you have any shame?" Su Yun retorted.

Zheng Ren felt even less spirited.

That string of zeros looked even scarier than a roller coaster.

However, although Su Yun was mixing public and private motives, his words were also correct. Professor Rudolf Wagner first went to Hai Cheng to research a new TIPS surgery method with me; having a good meal seems appropriate as well.

"Actually, eating caviar, I think it's about experiencing the luxurious aristocratic aura of Louis XIV's era." Su Yun's eyes sparkled: "Especially when paired with 38-degree vodka,..."

"Does vodka even come at such a low proof?" Zheng Ren was somewhat surprised; in his impression, vodka is that kind of high-proof, pure ethanol you can drink straight.

"Mendeleev, you know?" Su Yun phrased it as a question, but it's obvious he wasn't really asking; the question just expressed his contempt: "Mr. Mendeleev's greatest contribution to humanity wasn't discovering the periodic table, but his research on vodka. In the end, people called him the father of vodka."

This was still the first time Zheng Ren had heard of this.

As for this, Zheng Ren suspected Su Yun was just talking nonsense. He himself had just been taken for a ride this afternoon, sitting in the first row of the roller coaster, and still felt uncomfortable.

"Mendeleev researched for many years and found that 38-degree vodka is the best." Su Yun said, "The taste is explosive, pure like..."

"Pure alcohol." Zheng Ren added expressionlessly.

"Tsk, you don't get it." Xie Yiren scoffed: "The EU standard is 37.5 degrees, right, Fugui'er?"

"Yeah, only above that proof counts as vodka. And it shouldn't be mixed; I feel only the purest vodka counts as real vodka. How would you describe this kind of liquor?" Professor Rudolf Wagner hesitated a moment.