My Virtual Girlfriend

He bundled the money in a black plastic bag, rolled it a few times, and tucked it into the backpack he was carrying. Chen Yan left the bank.

His first stop was a few mid-range restaurants nearby his home, which he visited one by one for inspection.

Chen Yan chose to investigate mid-range restaurants instead of high-end ones because he analyzed Yu Qiao Qiao's personality and felt she would likely be intimidated by the high prices of upscale restaurants and not dare to come, hence his second-best choice.

This one inspection took Chen Yan an entire day.

It gave Chen Yan the feeling of playing a game, doing a dungeon exploration.

And you know what? It was pretty thrilling.

After inspecting for a day, Chen Yan looked at his notebook full of notes and, after considering his own requirements and the system's limitations, he made up his mind.

He decided on a famous internet sensation of a Western restaurant called "Anmeil."

The restaurant wasn't far from Qin Island University and was a small but well-known internet sensation. Every day, many people would come to dine and check-in.

Chen Yan observed the restaurant from the entrance; the entire place was like a pink bomb:

Pink wallpaper, pink panther toys, pink macaron cakes, pink burgers, and a series of decorations that matched the pink style.

In short, everything was tender pink, which made Chen Yan, a tough guy, feel quite awkward.

But the girls loved this style. As soon as they got inside, they would start taking pictures, and posting on social media, and so on.

According to the girls' reviews online, it was like: No matter how you take it, you're a charming fairy—gorgeously flying beyond the sky! Fulfilling all girlish dreams!

Chen Yan, who didn't really understand girls, thought that since it was a popular restaurant and the girls loved it so much, then Yu Qiao Qiao and her group would definitely like it too. So they likely wouldn't refuse to come.

Of course, there were many other similar places. There were even a few that were better than this one.

But this restaurant had another feature that attracted Chen Yan: there were no private rooms.

This would enable Chen Yan to spend his money in a more lavish way...

Thinking this, Chen Yan took another look at the restaurant from outside, then pushed the door open and walked in.

Immediately on entering was a bar, and behind the bar was a cute young lady in a pink apron, dressed as a maid.

Upon seeing a guy like Chen Yan enter, the young lady was surprised, but her excellent professional training had her bowing slightly in no time, saying, "Welcome, how many in your party?"

"Seven," Chen Yan said while taking in the restaurant.

The place was bustling, mostly with female patrons, some taking pictures, others eating burgers—the atmosphere was quite nice.

"Okay, please wait a moment," the young lady began operating on the touchscreen. "Will the rest of your party be arriving shortly?"

Chen Yan snapped back to attention, his gaze landing on the young lady as he said, "Oh. Sorry. We're not here to eat today."

The young lady stopped what she was doing, smiled, and asked, "I see. Do you want to make a reservation in advance?"

Chen Yan hummed an acknowledgment and nodded.

The young lady shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, sir. Our restaurant is often quite busy, so we don't accept reservations."

Chen Yan expected this response as he had already looked up the information online. He asked, "No reservations, but what about a full booking of the venue? Are those accepted?"

"Booking the venue?" The young lady blinked, sizing up Chen Yan.

Shirt... from Uniqlo for about 100 yuan.

Watch... A cheap Casio quartz. Must be only a few hundred yuan.

Pants... they don't look like great quality, maybe 150.

Shoes... well... slippers.

20? No... at most 15.

A man whose entire outfit cost less than a thousand yuan, wanting to book the entire popular venue?

The young lady thought that Chen Yan was probably unaware of the cost of booking such a venue.

So she said gently, "Sir, our restaurant is an internet sensation. If you book the entire place, it's going to be quite expensive. Even for a few hours, it might cost over ten thousand."

"So, if you want to have a meal with friends, you can come directly. If you arrive a little early, there should be seats available."

Chen Yan smiled, set the backpack he was carrying on the table with a "thump," unzipped it, and inside were stacks of red currency notes—looks like over a dozen bundles!

"I really do plan to book the venue."

The sight of so much cash stunned the young lady. Her eyes involuntarily widened.

She had seen full bookings before, but never with someone carrying tens of thousands in cash.

Swiping a card for a few tens of thousands versus hundreds or thousands of red currency notes—it's not the same kind of impact at all.

Additionally, the contrast between this pile of money and Chen Yan's cheap attire left the young lady's mind a blank.

In that moment, she felt her throat dry up, and she started stammering, "Sir, you're sure about booking the venue, aren't you?"

Chen Yan patted the bag and said, "Yes. Or if you don't accept full bookings, then I'll have to go to another restaurant."

The young lady swallowed hard and quickly said, "We do accept, sir, just wait a moment while I call the manager."

With that, she hurried off into the restaurant.

Shortly after, a middle-aged woman in proper office attire came out.

Upon seeing Chen Yan, she smiled and extended her hand, saying, "Hello, I am the manager. May I ask for your name, sir?"

Chen Yan replied, "No need for formalities, my surname is Chen."

The manager said, "Well then, Mr. Chen, shall we talk in the office?"

With that, she gestured toward the inside of the restaurant.

Following her gesture, Chen Yan realized that his intentions of booking the place had already caught the attention of the other patrons.

He nodded, picked up his backpack, and simply responded, "Okay."

Before long, they arrived at the office. The manager poured Chen Yan a cup of water, then sat down on the sofa next to him, and took the lead in inquiring, "Mr. Chen, you want to book the venue?"

Chen Yan hummed an acknowledgment.

The manager explained, "Sir, our restaurant is a popular venue and located near Qin Island University. Both the customer flow and exposure are high."

"Moreover, booking the venue would inconvenience the customers who plan to come, so our prices are substantially higher."

Hearing this, Chen Yan pulled out his notebook from his pocket, while looking at the data, he said, "I have calculated the customer flow of your restaurant."

"As a casual internet sensation restaurant, your peak customer traffic is during the lunch and afternoon periods."

"Today, being a weekday, roughly 190 customers come in during these three hours."

"A few review apps estimate your restaurant's average diner cost at about 75 yuan per person."

"So, this means your revenue for these few hours is around fifteen thousand yuan."

"Even if the customer flow doubles on weekends, given the restaurant's limited capacity, the revenue for three hours should surely not reach thirty thousand."

"And I am only booking for an evening time slot. Usually from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Three hours."

"So..."

Chen Yan opened the bag, took out four bundles of red currency notes, and with a "slap," placed them on the table, "Is forty thousand enough?"

The manager sat dumbfounded as Chen Yan confidently listed the data of her restaurant, utterly astonished...

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