Chapter 85: Q&A at the Dining Table

Western cuisine has no taboo against speaking while eating; rather, their slow-paced service is designed to let people savor the food more and chat during the banquet to strengthen bonds.

Under Lady He Ben's dominance, Tony Stark reluctantly recounted how he met Henry.

Having just eaten a spear of asparagus, Lady He Ben said, "So, on your first meeting, little Tony and that someone got thoroughly humiliated by Henry."

"No, I didn't. The one who lost face was that someone; it had nothing to do with me," Tony Stark argued earnestly.

"Henry, can you really solve such a complex problem in an instant?"

Facing the question, Henry smiled and said, "Of course not. Even the smartest mathematician needs tools to calculate the answer; how could I know it just by glancing?"

"Then you were...?"

"As long as you are full of confidence and spout nonsense with a straight face, those lacking confidence will involuntarily believe someone's nonsense. That's why so many people love movies. Otherwise, how many plots lack internal logic, or how many scenes violate physical laws?"

"Hmm, that sounds like something a filmmaker would say. If you don't even believe your own work can be a hit, how can you convince the studio and the audience to buy tickets?"

Tony, finally finding a chance to interject, refuted, "But that's not scientific at all." In fact, even now, he doubted whether the answer Henry gave back then was truly just made up. It was exactly the same as his own solution...

Lady He Ben, however, criticized, "Little Tony, we're talking about the movie channel, not the Discovery Channel. If everything had to be scientific, George Lucas's Star Wars would be doomed."

Tony muttered, "Anyway, it's not scientific."

"So, on the second meeting, little Tony was really so impolite, eating whatever was on the table." No matter what others said, Lady He Ben could always jump out of the original perspective and comment on things with a unique viewpoint.

Tony Stark protested, "That chef team was sponsored out of my own pocket, and I paid for the ingredients too. Why can't I eat the dishes made from those foods?"

Nodding without hesitation, Henry added, "Yes, yes, of course you can. But at least you should announce your identity so people know the boss has arrived. Otherwise, who would know if the person stealing food is a homeless man or someone else?"

After refuting, Henry turned to Lady He Ben and asked, "Do all Stark men act like this? Wherever they go, they assume everyone must know them. This symptom of overconfidence seems incurable."

"Yes, that's already considered a terminal illness, a hereditary family disease. I truly hope the next generation will improve," Lady He Ben went along with the tone.

She then asked, "By the way, Henry, I know that on your third meeting with little Tony, you were following in his footsteps and taking shots from behind. What happened before that to make you appear in such a wet and wretched state?"

Tony had never asked this question, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know. So when Lady He Ben brought it up, he unusually held his tongue, wanting to hear what Henry would say.

Henry briefly described how he and Justin met again, then that little fat kid threw his mobile phone into the pool and demanded someone retrieve it.

After listening, Tony spoke first, "That's why you didn't want to save the person. Because that fat kid offended you first."

Henry explained, "I must say, I was the last to know that the gunmen's target was Josh Hilton, that fat kid. Before that, people were people, names were names; I didn't connect the two."

"Then if given a second chance, would you save the person?" Tony asked.

"Still no," Henry said with a rare serious expression. "Setting aside the security work for the banquet company, dealing with drunkards or druggies is one thing. Dealing with those holding guns is simply not my job."

"Besides, I'm not doing that anymore; to the banquet, I'm just an unarmed passerby. What I need to consider first is protecting myself, not wiping the asses of rich Young Masters."

"But you still helped little Tony, didn't you?" Lady He Ben said.

Tony Stark said discontentedly, "I was covering for him. If not for considering an extra gun, and him not being a newbie who would empty his magazine with bang-bang-bang, providing an extra psychological threat to those gunmen, I wouldn't have taken him along."

"Right, right, exactly so," Henry said in a sarcastic tone.

Unfortunately, Americans couldn't understand this tone, and Henry didn't want to explain anything, letting Tony boast about how heroic his performance was.

Henry simply focused seriously on the asparagus in his plate, the main course of the day, and casually chimed in to help Tony blow his own trumpet.

Considering the banquet's main guest, Lady He Ben was already eighty-four years old. So the dishes Tony ordered were the best combination discussed by the chefs and nutritionists.

There was no lack of meat dishes, but the portions were small and stewed until soft enough, suitable for an elder's teeth.

Alex Hart and his wife were at the age of pursuing healthy eating, so they had no complaints about this meal.

The two young people, however, could also eat with relish; indeed, Henry's table manners were even better than Tony's, the wealthy Young Master. Henry could even chat a few sentences in French with the waiter, praising the taste of the food.

All this naturally made the elders' affection for this young man grow a few more points.

Lady He Ben looked at him with a kind and gentle gaze and asked, "Little Henry, what do you plan to do next? You're a little actor in Hollywood now, according to little Tony."

Was this an attempt to use her Hollywood connections to help Tony repay a favor?

It seemed Lady He Ben was quite caring toward this guy who was about the same age as her child.

However, Henry didn't want this favor. Shaking his head, he said, "I came to Hollywood just to see the world. Although I've been here for less than half a year, I feel I will change careers sooner or later."

"Don't you want to be a big star?" Lady He Ben asked with a smile.

"Rather than saying I don't want to be a big star, it's that I don't want to pay the price required to be a big star. I'd rather live more freely and without constraints."

The unspoken words of Henry. Although Lady He Ben was still in the Hollywood circle and had certain influence, to promote someone, she wasn't exactly a golden thigh.

Besides, the favor Tony owed hadn't reached a level where Lady He Ben had to go all out to repay it. If it was just a single opportunity, Henry didn't want to bet it on Hollywood's future.

(End of this chapter)