Chapter 151: IQ Tax

The e-hailing car stopped in front of a shopping mall in the city center.

Ling Pingan carried the kitten, Bastet, and got out of the car.

Xingfu commercial center.

That was the name of the shopping mall.

“On the fourth floor? “Ling Pingan took out his phone and looked at it. Then, he carried his pet and walked into the shopping mall.

That day was a holiday, so there were quite a lot of people.

The entire shopping mall was bustling with people.

Ling Pingan took the elevator and went straight to the fourth floor.

When he reached the floor, he followed the directions and found the Rhein restaurant at the end of this floor.

As soon as he entered, he was greeted with an intense exotic atmosphere.

He could even hear the melodious music from the piano.

“It looks pretty good!” Ling Pingan thought.

“Sir…” a blonde girl wearing a maid’s dress walked up to Ling Pingan. She spoke in fluent federal language with a Jiangcheng City accent. “Have you come alone?”

Ling Pingan nodded.

“This way, please!” This girl’s federal etiquette was very professional. She must have received special training.

Thus, Ling Pingan was led by her to a small table by the window in the restaurant.

Then, a thick menu was handed to Ling Pingan.

The girl bowed slightly and asked, “Sir, if you need anything, you can ring the bell next to you. We will immediately come over to serve you!”

“Okay!” Ling Pingan nodded and opened the menu.

With just a glance and his face started to twitch.

A serving Foie Gras in Red Wine was priced at 200 yuan.

A serving of smoked beef was priced at 300 yuan.

A freaking vegetable salad was also priced at 188 yuan!

The most expensive one, the so-called Wellington Steak, was priced at 3,999 yuan!

And it had to be booked a day in advance!

“This is robbing money!” Ling Pingan complained silently.

Fortunately, he had already made preparations before he came.

He was also prepared to pay the IQ tax. Generally speaking, when foreign restaurants opened in the metropolitan territory of the Federal, there were only two strategies that could allow them to survive.

The first was localization.

For example, in Yangcheng, the capital city of Guangnan, there was a French restaurant that had a particularly good reputation.

The signature dishes of this restaurant were stir-fried snails and fried oysters.

Ling Pingan’s classmate from Fran had once eaten there because of its reputation. After he finished eating, he told everyone that the food wasn’t Fran at all!

Snails should be baked with red wine, and top-grade Jain ado oysters should be eaten raw!

However, this Fran restaurant, which the Frans had rated as not Fran at all, was the foreign restaurant that had the best business in Yangcheng city.

The head chef of the restaurant had even obtained permanent residence rights in the Federal Empire!

The second thing was hunting for curiosity.

Making use of the federation people’s mentality of hunting for curiosity and creating some gimmicks.

There were always some people who were willing to pay an IQ tax.

People like Ling Pingan were their target customers.

Therefore, even though his wallet hurts, Ling Pingan still ordered two dishes.

One was the fried beef tongue of 499 yuan, and the other was the Rhein steak of 599 yuan.

After pressing the service bell, the waiter quickly came over and took away the menu with a smile.

After about ten minutes, a steak which was placed on an iron plate and grilled until it was smoking was brought to Ling Pingan.

The blonde girl introduced in standard federal language, “Sir, this is one of our signature dishes, Rhein steak. It uses the new Qinling Mountain Ribeye meat of the beef in your country’s Nanzhou Kingdom’s which was fed with weed for 180-days…”

“After our unique method of butter ripening, in a constant temperature and humidity environment, it ripens in 45 days…”

“Butter ripening?” Ling Pingan felt that he had learned a new term.

“How does this work?” He asked. Then, he picked up a knife and fork unskilfully, cut open the steak in front of him, and put it into his mouth to taste a piece.

The taste was not bad!

He evaluated.

The tenderness was okay, and the flavor was not bad. It was just that it was not juicy enough, so the taste of the beef was not that strong.

It was simply a world of difference compared to the slow-roasted beef he made two days ago.

But…

The tenderness and flavor were really good!

It was better than most beef!

The little girl listened and explained with a smile, “Customer, the ripening of butter is a new invention and invention of our Rhein restaurant for beef processing…

“After the top-grade beef is dried on the surface, it is wrapped in butter and placed in a constant temperature and humidity environment for 30 to 50 days. The surface of the beef is dehydrated and oxidized, but the inside has undergone an astonishing transformation!”

“After this processing, the beef has a flavor and tenderness that far surpasses that of its kind!”

After hearing this, Ling Pingan nodded and thought, “I’ll give it a try when I go back!”

“Let’s see if this method can improve the taste of the beef!”

Thinking about it, it shouldn’t be too troublesome to wrap the beef in butter!

Ling Pingan wanted to ask if there was anything, he should pay attention to when the butter was ripe.

Meow!

The kitten, Bastet, who had been lying next to him, suddenly purred and jumped from the sofa onto the table.

The kitten lowered her body. Her amber eyes seemed to be filled with vigilance.

It let out a low growl towards a certain spot in the dining room.

It seemed to be a warning, but also seemed to be threatening.

“Little darling…” Ling Pingan carried it down. “What’s wrong?”

Meow!

The kitten stuck out its tongue and licked the back of its master’s hand.

Ling Pingan knew that this was how the little fellow behaved every time it felt uneasy or threatened.

“Good girl… Don’t be afraid!” He smiled and comforted, “With your big brother here, no one can hurt you!”

… … … ..

Wearing a princess dress and holding a small scepter.

Integral was walking in the dining hall.

Behind her, a servant wearing a holy robe followed closely behind.

Suddenly, she turned her head and looked at a corner of the dining hall.

A young federal man was holding a little black cat and sitting there. He was seemed to be having his meal.

“Duchess…” an elderly servant asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Because of this, Integral remembered that this was the metropolitan territory of the Easterners, so she turned around and said, “Let’s go!”

The Duchess lifted her dress, stepped on her crystal shoes, and walked forward.

There were already people waiting for her there.

More than ten men and women in formal clothes appeared in front of a private room.

“Welcome!” When they saw Integral, they all smiled and knelt one after another. “The representative of the subjects of Britannia that are studying, doing business, and settling down in the Federal Empire. Welcome, your Grace!”

“May God bless you! Respected Duchess!”

Integral looked at these people.

She lifted her skirt slightly, held her scepter, and walked forward.

“My subjects, please rise!” Although the Little Duchess was young, her bearing was like an adult. “On behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, I would like to express my gratitude to the subjects and all the contributions that they have made for the United Kingdom of Britannia in the Eastern World!”

In the land of Qin, even if it was the era of the mobile internet.

The nobles were still the rulers of the high and mighty.

Especially the United Kingdom of Britannia.

… … … … … … ..

After eating, Ling Pingan wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Then, he called for the waiter to settle the bill.

A total of 1,300 yuan was spent!

Of which, the order cost 1,098 yuan.

The remaining 102 was for service fees and cutlery fees.

After the discount, it would cost 650 yuan!

To be honest, the taste was not bad! It was not bad! But it was a little far from worthy of the price!

Compared to the Fusang takeout that Ling Pingan now ate every day, the difference was too big!

A meal of Fusang beef rice only cost 40 yuan. Recently, they had been crazily delivering all kinds of fish, shrimp, sea urchins, and sushi.

As for Aunt Cai’s steamed dumplings next door, two baskets were only 20 yuan, and it was only 22 yuan with the tofu pudding!

But the taste of the three was about the same.

So…

“I won’t come again!” Ling Pingan said.

That was why he only ate at two fixed places. He had already tasted almost all the famous and unknown restaurants in the city.

He had been spending money for nothing for so many times like this time.

In the end, the cheap ones tasted too terrible!

And the average ones, like the one today, were too unworthy!

Only the takeout from the Chiba Chan’s family and the steamed dumplings from Aunt Cai next door were both cheap and delicious.

That was the price he had to pay for having a sensitive tongue.

“Let’s go home! Let’s go home!” Ling Pingan hugged the kitten, Bastet, with an aching heart and walked out of the restaurant.

“Thank you for having your meal in our restaurant!” At the door, two blonde ladies bowed in unison. “Please come again next time!”

Ling Pingan walked out with a smile, but his heart was bleeding. “I spent more than half a month’s living expenses this time…”

He lamented, “If I don’t sell a few books, I’m afraid I won’t be able to last until my allowance arrives on the 10th of next month…”

However…

“This time, I learned a new skill…” he said, “Butter ripening…”

“It’s not too bad!”

That was the only way he could comfort his wallet.

… … ..

Integral stood in front of the shutters and watched the young Easterner walk out of the mall with the kitten in his arms.

At the top of her scepter, where the gemstones were inlaid, the shadow of Alucard appeared.

“Cat Goddess Bastet…”

“Everyone thought that she should have fallen into the hands of the Brotherhood!”

“But…”

“She appeared in the east and became a pet by the side of an ordinary easterner…”

“This is too interesting!”

Integral listened and did not speak.

“Duchess!” A servant in holy clothes came forward and asked, “Should we send someone to investigate that young man?”

Integral did not speak.

But not speaking was an attitude itself.

So, he bowed deeply, turned around, and went to make arrangements.

The United Kingdom of Britannia was still one of the top ten great countries in the world!

Although that was far from the Empire of the unsetting sun that dominated the world at its peak two hundred years ago.

It still had sufficient influence and strength.

Even in this eastern land, it still had a certain amount of influence.

Therefore, in his opinion, it should be effortless to investigate an ordinary-looking easterner.

However…

Half an hour later, he received the news.

The two Britannians, who had been entrusted by him to investigate had been arrested.

The charges were conspiring to spy on the secrets of the Federal Empire and endangering national security!

God knows why investigating an ordinary young man would become spying on the secrets of the Federal Empire and endangering national security?!