Inside, a waitress approached the girl no older than twenty years and the homeless boy with a smile. Here in the capital there was no shortage of peculiar characters. She had seen her fair share of them since she started working in chenyang city some years ago. 

Most of those who stepped into wang's could afford to pay. The staff of the restaurant were trained to recognise them right away. It usually came down to their own pompous proclamations as they stepped through the restaurant door. Those who could not afford to eat at Wang's food house could also be picked out a mile away. It usually came down to a certain... feeling. 

She'd been taught to not judge a book by its cover, but reserving judgement of the book had caused some of her seniors to forfeit their chance for promotion. She'd seen it happen too many times to not be wary of the customers in front of her. She wondered where this curious pair would fall.

'Greetings distinguished guests. A table for two I presume, or do you have more guests arriving?'

'Just the two of us. A private dining room will do.'

The waitress was astonished by the bai li yue's courage. All those who thought they could eat and avoid paying always regretted their actions when they woke up chained up in the restaurant basement and sentenced to work until they paid off their meal. None of the previous culprits ever returned a second time. 

The boy glanced at Bai li yue, his eyes full of curiosity. Noticing the look, she quickly gave an answer to his unasked question.

'Don't look at me like that. I don't have much money. I'm just very hungry and i want some privacy in which to enjoy my meal.'

The waitress nodded and gave them an obligatory warning.

'Respected guests, I am required by management to tell you that the private dining room on the first floor is two times more expensive than the ground floor.'

'Let's see it first.'

Bai li yue answered much to the waitress' chagrin. They got a few curious looks as they made their way upstairs. The boy's slouched form straightened up. In a way, he wished his clothes were befitting of the first floor. The dining room was a small cubicle with a small table and bad lighting. Bai li yue shook her head in disappointment. How was the ground floor better than the first floor? If she wanted to eat in a box she could have bought one bigger than this one.

'It's rather small.'

'Indeed it is. Should I take you back to the ground floor?'

The waitress asked hopefully.

'Can we see what's on the floor above?' 

Bai li yue asked. The relieved waitress was already making her way back downstairs when she heard the new request. She took a deep breath.

'Distinguished customer, the second floor is twice the price of the first floor.'

'Understood.'

'Please, follow me.' 

She led them up another level wondering how she could get herself out of her current predicament. This was her first time serving customers whose ambition seemed to outweigh their means. This sort of situation meant that she'd be stuck on the first floor for the rest of her life. 

The private room on the second floor was better than the first one she'd shown them. The table and lighting were adequate for the two of them. Bai li yue almost asked to see another one on the third floor, but she didn't want to give both the boy and the waitress a heart attack. 

'We'll take this.'

Bai li yue announced in a voice that brooked no disagreement.

They studied their respective menus in silence while waiting for the wash basins to arrive. 

'What is your name?'

'Ye Zhi an. '

'Nice to meet you, Ye Zhian. Call me Bai li yue.'

He nodded again and hid behind his menu. The waitress returned shortly carrying two basins of fragrant water for them to wash their hands. She waited with fresh towels while they washed their hands. Ye zhian finished washing his hands and gave his face a vigorous scrub with the remaining water. The waitress left to change the dirty water and returned with fresh water in the basin for him. 

Ye zhian, watched Bai li yue washing her hands. He had never seen someone put so much care into the act of handwashing. Curious, he mimicked her tiny actions: checking for dirt under the fingernails and cleaning the space between each finger. 

Off to the side, the waitress breathed a sigh of relief seeing the way that Bai li yue was going about cleaning her hands. 

She handed them towels when they were finished and waited to take their orders.

'Ye zhian, order anything you wish to eat. It's on me.'

He nodded again and pointed at his order on the menu to the waitress.

'Rice and red tailed fowled soup. Will that be all?' 

The waitress asked Ye zhian as she took his order. 

Bai li yue chuckled, amused with the amateur level order. When it came to food, she was anything but shy. If she was as thin as Ye zhian and a generous stranger offered to treat her to good food, she would end up making the person regret their gullibility. 

Let me show this boy how things are done back on earth.

She slammed the menu on the table, startling both Ye zhian and the waitress. 

'Egg drop soup, fried shrimp, crab meat fried dumplings, sweet and spicy catfish, shrimp noodle stir fry, fish head soup, steamed emperor shrimp and vegetable sauce, vegetable pancake and seafood pancake.'

She slowed down and repeated the last couple of orders for the waitress. Bai li yue was still on a seafood binge. The cravings hadn't yet worn off despite the whole trout she'd eaten last night. 

The waitress left wondering if she'd celebrated prematurely. Rich people didn't eat like this. 

Bai li yue looked up to find Ye zhian staring at her with narrowed eyes. 

'Lady, we-we'd better leave now if you can't pay.'

'Are you regretting ordering only one bowl? Don't ask me to give you my food when it comes. I already told you to order whatever you liked. You didn't listen.' 

She finally took pity on him and showed him a heavy money purse filled with clinking coins.

'Satisfied?'

He gave her a little nod and went back to hide behind his menu. She was getting used to his odd silence. She looked at the menu again planning her next series of orders. 

Downstairs, many pairs of eyes followed the waitress and a line of serving girls taking the stairs to the second floor. They stopped in front of the door to a private room. 

Bai li yue sat up in excitement while the serving girls filed into the room with her orders. Her throat moistened in anticipation while they laid the plates on the table.

Ye zhian stared at the small bowl of rice and another bowl of soup. Various plates and platters of steaming dishes graced the other side of the table. He was content with his meal. By the time he finished his meal and put down his chopsticks, Bai li yue was still going strong. 

She certainly had an appetite! 

He'd thought that she'd been lying about being hungry to get him to come with her. When their eyes met, he'd felt her curiosity. She wasn't the first person to get curious about his eyes and he didn't mind answering curious questions especially if he got something out of it. He usually got a snack or a few coins, but this lady was too much. A meal on the second floor just to ask a question that would have been answered on the ground floor was in his opinion too extreme. 

Ye zhian waited for her to ask her questions, but he didn't see any interest directed his way. He didn't know what to make of her. In his experience, kindness from others was a thing to be avoided. He had a family once in the past. His mother's sister had taken him when his own parents died and given him a home, a warm bed and food. He'd been very happy. In time, he had forgotten that he wasn't a true member of the family. His brow crinkled. 

What was the saying? Happiness is as unpredictable as mountain weather or a merchant's future in chenyang. When misfortune came knocking, they remembered that he wasn't one of them. He'd spent his first few weeks on the streets in a daze, pining for home. How he prayed! He never found out where they went. The house had been long abandoned when he finally returned to his senses and sought them out. 

Bai li yue looked up from her plate and noticed Ye zhian's furrowed brow. He looked like he was overthinking the situation. She grimaced. A lesson was in order.

'Ye zhian, you are disgracing me. You have before you the chance of a lifetime to experience an all- you- can- eat buffet and all you've had so far is a bowl of soup. Are you a flower snake or on a diet ninja?' 

She gently scolded.

He looked at her askance, not understanding half of the words she used. Buffet? Diet?

'You ordered rice? What were you thinking? That's what amateurs do. Look at what I ordered. Fish, seafood, proteins and vegetables to cleanse my palate.'

He looked confused. She sighed 

'Order meat. More meat. Nothing but meat. Remember to cut the starch or you get full quickly. Understood?'

He nodded his head slowly, not really understanding what she was going on about. 

'Great! Follow my advice and you'll have the experience of a lifetime'