148 Showdown

Yin Xiaoya said with a yearning tone, "If I had money, the first thing I would do is pay off all my family's debts. Those debts have been dragging on for seven or eight years without being fully repaid, and they are almost crushing my parents."

"And if there is any money left over?" Xiao Yao continued to ask.

"If there is still some left, I would buy my parents a large house. Although it wouldn't completely restore our former quality of life, I know it would make them very happy," Yin Xiaoya replied without hesitation.

"Haven't you ever thought about doing something for yourself?"

"Of course I have. If my financial situation allowed, I'd love to buy a few luxury clothes and shoes, pick out some high-end jewelry, and go to a spa whenever I have free time. I've definitely thought about all of those things. Any woman with money would spend it that way, and I'm no exception. But I know that's just a pipe dream. It's better to face reality and keep both feet firmly on the ground."

Although Yin Xiaoya's light tone was filled with longing, her gaze remained exceptionally clear, showing that she drew a sharp line between reality and her dreams.

The car soon arrived at Taigu Building. Xiao Yao drove straight to the front entrance and handed the keys to a valet parking attendant upon getting out.

Yin Xiaoya looked up at the towering structure before her. Rising some thirty or forty floors high, it made anyone feel immensely small.

"Is this entire building yours?" Yin Xiaoya asked.

"That's right. This building is property under my name."

"You really are wealthy!" They say seeing is believing. Even though she had already heard the news beforehand, standing right beneath the skyscraper at this very moment allowed Yin Xiaoya to truly and directly feel just how shocking it was to own an entire building.

The two of them took the elevator straight to the eighth floor. Xiao Yao first led Yin Xiaoya on a tour of the entire restaurant before walking with her into a private dining suite.

The suite was quite spacious, measuring at least eighty square meters, and was decorated in a classical, elegant, and timeless style.

"It's just the two of us eating, isn't it too wasteful to use such a huge private room?" It was Yin Xiaoya's first time stepping into such a luxurious restaurant, and she found it a bit difficult to adjust right away.

"This is my personal private room and is generally not open to the public. Even if the two of us hadn't come today, this room would simply remain vacant, so it can't be considered a waste," Xiao Yao explained.

Yin Xiaoya was stunned for a moment before remarking, "You'd have been better off not explaining. Poverty truly limits my imagination. There are so many people waiting outside in the main hall for an available table, yet you keep such a huge private room empty. The fact that an owner like you can still make money just proves how unfair the heavens are."

"We run a high-end dining establishment. Reserving a few private rooms to cater to the needs of VIP guests at any time is a necessary part of operations. This exclusive room of mine is only open to the most distinguished guests. It has just been renovated, and you are the very first guest I am entertaining here." Xiao Yao specifically elaborated.

"Then I am truly honored." Upon learning that she was actually the first guest Xiao Yao was hosting here, Yin Xiaoya was overjoyed. "It's just that this room is so large and luxurious that I feel like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden for the first time."

"You'll get used to it after a while. Have a look at the menu first and order whatever catches your eye." Xiao Yao handed the menu from the table over to Yin Xiaoya.

Yin Xiaoya had long admired the Knight's Banquet at Seeking Flavor Pavilion and eagerly took the menu, opening it to browse through the pages slowly.

After leafing through the entire menu, Yin Xiaoya felt even more convinced that she truly was like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden—she was certainly expanding her horizons.

Any casual dish cost several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan, and that was just for a single portion. Such a level of consumption was genuinely beyond what ordinary people could afford. Had Xiao Yao not been treating her, she certainly could never have afforded to eat here on her own.

Putting the menu back down, she said, "The dishes on the menu are all so novel. Since you're the owner, you must know them best. You should do the ordering. Anyway, I want to try everything on here."

"Very well, I'll do the ordering then," Xiao Yao said, dropping any further pretense of politeness. "First, I'll recommend a signature dish you simply must try—the Mandarin Duck Five-Treasure Minced Delicacy. The ingredients for this dish are meticulously selected, and the preparation process is extremely intricate. From gathering the ingredients to serving it at the table takes at least three days. If you want to eat this dish, you have to reserve it in advance, and even then, there's no guarantee you'll secure one."

Xiao Yao recommended four dishes and a soup to Yin Xiaoya. Considering that her alcohol tolerance was quite good, the two of them opened a bottle of century-old aged liquor.

"Although my alcohol tolerance is decent, I have zero ability to appreciate baijiu. Giving such fine wine to someone like me is a complete waste. Let's order something a bit more ordinary instead." The price of six hundred thousand yuan per bottle for the century-old liquor gave Yin Xiaoya a start; she figured that no matter how good the aged wine tasted, the terrifying price tag would ruin any ability to actually savor it.

"Just think of it as keeping me company. As the owner of this place, can't I even afford to drink the wine from my own restaurant?"

Yin Xiaoya had no choice but to compromise. "Alright then, I'll bask in the reflected glory of a big boss like you and taste what a century-old liquor is really like."

Whether it was the fine wine or the exquisite food, everything naturally surpassed Yin Xiaoya's imagination. She had to admit that you truly get what you pay for, and expensive things have their reasons for costing so much.

After a satisfying meal where they ate and drank to their heart's content, Xiao Yao led Yin Xiaoya to his office on the top floor.

Xiao Yao's office was massive, spanning a total of over five hundred square meters inside and out. Following its recent renovation, it looked even more luxurious.

After the tour, Yin Xiaoya sat down on the sofa. Xiao Yao personally brewed a cup of tea for her and then sat down opposite her.

Xiao Yao fell silent for a moment as he considered how to broach the subject.

He and Yin Xiaoya had only just met, so in such a short span of time, they could hardly speak of deep affection. As for physical attraction, Yin Xiaoya was exceptionally beautiful, belonging to that tier of top-class beauties who would inevitably inspire any man who laid eyes on them to want to make her his own.

Ever since graduation, the total number of women who had stirred his desire for possession was only three: Sang Qingye, Cheng Mei, and Yin Xiaoya.

Although he had designs on Sang Qingye and Cheng Mei, those thoughts remained just thoughts; if the two of them were to refuse him, he would never use coercion. If they lacked the affinity to be together, accepting them simply as friends was also acceptable.

Only Yin Xiaoya was different.

Because of Yin Xiaoya's unique constitution, she had already become synonymous with top-tier cultivation resources in Xiao Yao's eyes.

For a cultivator, top-tier cultivation resources could not be let go. Whether resorting to fair means or foul, whether using standard methods or despicable tactics, in order to achieve the goal of exclusive possession, every cultivator would stop at nothing—and Xiao Yao was no exception.