I'm A Baller

Chapter 187 - Feast Is About to Arrive

Chapter 187: Feast Is About to Arrive

The establishment of the guild and contract signing.

On September 5th, the short-term contracts of Ling Ya and the other three with Liu Yuanfang’s Beauty Studio officially expired. Then, they prepared to quietly sign contracts with Wangting Entertainment.

It was Saturday. Wang Yan got up early and flew to Shanghai early in the morning. Then, he boarded the limo of the Kerry Hotel and returned to the world of the god-level tycoon.

The Kerry Hotel in Pudong of Shanghai shared the origin with the Shangri-la Hotel Group, but it didn’t belong to Shangri-la.

Under the Guo’s Group, Shangri-la Hotel Group was established first, and then the Kerry Group, to enter the domestic market, tested the domestic commercial real estate market with the Kerry Center commercial building, and they also created a few Kerry Hotels, which were all managed by the Shangri-la Hotel.

Pudong Kerry was also a five-star hotel, but it targeted younger people, and looked more fashionable and more trendy.

Frankly speaking, in the luxury hotel industry, even Shangri-la Group was a younger brother. Four Seasons, Amman, Rolexado, Oriental Wenhua, Ritz-carlton, ZOMEA, and so on, were older brands than Shangri-la.

Shanghai had all of the above mentioned hotels.

However, after some consideration, Wang Yan still chose Shangri-la.

His funds were not abundant now. If he stayed in a new high-end hotel, he might not be treated as a VIP.

But Shangri-la was different. If he stayed in the Presidential Suite for another night, he would be able to raise his membership status to diamond level.

Moreover, a younger brand had its own benefits.

It was less expensive!

Out of the three Shangri-la hotels in Shanghai, the most expensive one, Jing’an Shangri-la, was close to Nanjing Road and Jing’an Temple. The presidential suite only cost around 60,000 yuan a night.

Next was Pudong Shangri-la. Although it was the flagship hotel and was built near the river, with beautiful views of the Bund and in an extremely good location, the presidential suite only had an area of 200 square meters, which was far smaller than Jing’an’s 300 + , so the price was actually cheaper, which was about 45,000 yuan.

The cheapest was Kerry, which sat next to Century Park and the New International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The presidential suite… Emmm, cost about 20,000 yuan. It was even less expensive than the secondary suites of Bai Yue, Wenhua, and Zhuomei hotels.

Moreover, with President Wang’s membership, he might even get a discount.

Anyway, it suit his needs, right?

Wang Yunxi’s rented office was on Fangdian Road, not far from Kerry, so for the sake of convenience, it was the most suitable place to stay.

Most importantly… to better carry out his plan, he needed Shangri-la’s cooperation.

So President Wang booked a presidential suite and four executive suites in Shanghai three days in advance. The four executive suits were prepared for Ling Ya and her friends.

It was necessary to have a private chat with each of them.

From the beginning to the end, Wang Yan had only interacted with Ling Ya. Now that they were about to enter a partnership to make money, he must meet them and make things clear with them.

Wang Yunxi had been busy with many miscellaneous matters. For the past few days, Wang Yan basically did nothing. He only occasionally talked to Wang Yunxi about certain matters.

But at the final step, he had to come and boost the morale of the army.

This was what a real boss should do.

As he arrived at the hotel in the limo, Xi Zi was already waiting in the lobby.

After not seeing him for a few days, Wang Yunxi’s face was full of fatigue, but she was in high spirits. She walked like a tiger.

“Yan!”

Wang Yunxi wanted say something as soon as Wang Yan walked in, but Wang Yan raised his hand and stopped him. “We’ll talk after we go up.”

He turned his head to look at the private concierge who was standing at the side and asked, “Where do I check in?”

It was early in the morning, and there were few guests at the reception desk. However, as a guest of the presidential suite, Wang Yan obviously wouldn’t check in at the reception desk.

Unless he checked into the suite without booking at midnight, the hotel would prepare everything in the VIP lounge before Wang Yan arrived.

Most of the time, the privileges that money could buy were unimaginable for ordinary people.

Wang Yan followed the concierge to the VIP lounge on the third floor. He simply signed his name and swiped his card. He did not even look at the fruits and chocolates for guests. He only asked for a bottle of champagne from the concierge.

The concierge also had an English name, Rich. Emmm, it was a very high-profile name.

But he kept a low profile.

“Master Wang, what flavor of Champagne do you like? With your rank, you can have a bottle of wine which is part of our gift package for you…Oh, please wait a moment, I will get the wine list for you right away.”

In the five-star hotels under Shangri-la, the VIPs would be given a bottle of red wine when they checked into a presidential suite.

Wang Yan knew about this, but he had never enjoyed it. When he stayed in the Shangri-la in the capital, his rank was not high enough at the beginning, then he did not care about it later. This was the first time today to enjoy this privilege.

Of course, he still did not care about that bottle of wine today. What good could a gift bottle be?

He’d just make do.

Wang Yan was indifferent to this kind of stuff, but Wang Yunxi felt differently.

It was the first time he had experienced such a scene. Xi Zi was shocked beyond words. He sat on the sofa in the VIP lounge and felt uncomfortable all over.

It was not until Rich went to get the wine list that he asked in a low voice, “Yan, how did you become a VIP here?”

Wang Yan almost laughed.

How did I become a VIP?

With money, of course.

He shook his head and said perfunctorily, “It’s just bluffing! After all I have to pretend to be a rich guy to steal talents from others, right?”

Wang Yunxi was so impressed that he sighed. “Oh my, President Wang, you’re simply born to be a swindler…”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Wang Yan glanced at the elder guy who was in reality his nephew and said with a smile, “When you do things, you make the most of what you got. You can’t enter a battle shirtless. Remember to buy yourself two sets of good suits later. When you pretend to be someone important, you will realize that many times, you are not lying to others, but others are lying to themselves.”

Wang Yunxi understood the logic, but he could not do it. Suddenly, he felt that he could not see through Wang Yan, and at the same time, he felt a sense of admiration for the young man.

Yan sat there with the aura similar to that of President Ma in the Summoner’s Canyon. He looked as if he could deal with anything coming his way!

Wang Yunxi didn’t have any petty thoughts to begin with. He just want to work together with Wang Yan and get things done with concerted efforts.

Having seen Wang Yan’s shrewd nature hidden under his amiable smile, he felt even more reassured.

In this business, he definitely wouldn’t lose anything!

I have to guard Yan well; he will rise to fame one day!

Rich returned with the wine list and stood respectfully to the side.

Wang Yan glanced at the wine list and saw a familiar name — Perrier Jouet.

He remembered someone had mentioned it or drank it.

Looking at the picture, he suddenly remembered the person.

Oh, it was the Little Princess’ favorite champagne…

The bottle was extremely beautiful, with a white silver lotus flower wrapping around the body. Fu Yushi had ordered it once during a dinner. It was not expensive, a little over 1300 yuan, and the taste was very refreshing.

The price of the champagne in the VIP Lounge was 1888 yuan, which was quite reasonable.

“Let’s have it. If Its price is above the standard of a gift, put it in the room fee.”

Rich lowered his head to take a look, and then smiled with a little ingratiation. “It’s indeed beyond the standard, but it doesn’t matter. Young Master Wang, I’ll handle it for you.”

Wang Yan was here to talk about business and negotiate with his partners, so he didn’t like being called Young Master Wang, which seemed too profligate and informal, as if he was a second generation rich kid who relied entirely on his family.

Ignoring the concierge’s ingratiation, Wang Yan frowned and corrected him, “Rich, you can call me President Wang or Mr. Wang.”

“Ah, yes, President Wang. It was my negligence. Please forgive me.”

Rich smiled sheepishly as he went to prepare the wine.

Wang Yunxi gave him a thumbs up in admiration.

Classy!

Wang Yan didn’t think much of it. In any hotel, a guest of the presidential suite had the right to express his dissatisfaction to the concierge.

It wasn’t nothing to do with respect. It was his legitimate right as a consumer.

In terms of details, Rich did not give Wang Yan the same good impression as Dave did, but it did not matter. He’d stay here for only one day.

Shaking his head, Wang Yan put this thought to the back of his mind.

Rich came back to fill the glasses for the them and then retreated to a distant position. Wang Yan started to talk business with Wang Yunxi.

In terms of company registration, fortunately, Wang Yunxi had some connections. On the night of the 1st, he called a buddy in Shanghai, and on the morning of the 2nd, he spent a lot of money and got an agency to do the paper work and submit the documents as an urgent business. The registration was finished in in three work days.

Yesterday afternoon, Wangting Entertainment had been established in legal terms. Next, he waited for Ling Ya and the others to come over and do some procedures like altercation of the equities.

Only after all these were settled, could they sign the contracts.

Once they signed the contracts, Wang Yan only cared about one thing.

“Have you talked to them about new activities?”

“Yes, I have, but since I don’t know your thoughts about it, we’re only doing mysterious promotions now. We haven’t done any targeted promotions yet.”

Wang Yunxi was a little embarrassed.

Wang Yan glanced at his watch. It was 10:30 am. If nothing unexpected happened, they would definitely be here before 2 pm. The event would start at 8 pm, so there was more than enough time.

“It’s enough. Actually, there’s no need for a big promotions. You just need to deal with the Douyu. Their popularity on Weibo is not bad, and with the official publicity, it’s totally okay.”

Even if it wasn’t okay, it had to be okay.

After all, Wang Yan didn’t have the money to do the promotion right now.

All his plans were counting on this wave of activities make money.

He had put 1.5 million yuan in Wangting Entertainment, 1 million in Lucky Roulette; he might put in more money in the new items in the mall in a couple of days. Besides, he’d give some money to his parents… He needed money everywhere.

Just the investment in Wangting Entertainment had drained all of his breathing wages.

No, his wages were not enough.

On September 1, there was 1.02 million yuan in the system. Today was the fifth and he had saved up to 1.42 million…

At that time, Wang Yan had no choice but to use a portion of the money in Brother Roc’s bank card — the 3.6 million yuan used to repay the loan. After a pile of bills were paid, less than 100,000 yuan had been deducted.

Since the money was sitting idle in the bank for the time being, Wang Yan took out 1.5 million and transferred it to Xi Zi.

Otherwise, Ling Ya and the other three would be forced to stop broadcasting for three days just because they did not sign contracts with a guild. That would be a big deal.

There was an unexpected gain from his investment in Wangting Entertainment –1.5 million experience points.

The system had told him that investing could yield experience points.

Wang Yan hadn’t paid much attention to it before because he hadn’t got a chance to invest.

He couldn’t stay at Gu Jiao for long, so what was he supposed to invest in?

Since he would stay in Star City for four years, he began to think about this.

However, there was also a downside in gaining experience points through investment —

No matter what he invested in, he had to earn back all his capital. After that, he’d gain experience points when he spent the net profit.

Therefore, if Wang Yan wanted to spend the money of Wangting Entertainment to earn experience points, at the very least, he had to wait for it to recoup its capital.

Douyu settled the account with the company once a month. After that, the company had to leave enough capital for expansion… He’d wait a long time before he could spend the dividend.

However, the good news was that as long as the profits covered the 1.5 million investment, the following profits, even if they were still on the company’s account, could be counted as continuous investment and he could get experience points.

Wang Yan estimated that with this company, when he upgraded the system again, it should be much faster than simply spending money.

The current experience points were 1,043/2,500.

1.5 million invest experience points, 1 million in hotel deposit, and 5,000 yuan for round-trip air tickets.

Wang Yan plan to use the a series of operations to earn the next 1,500 experience points!

If everything went smoothly, his plan would work.

The secret was in that ridiculously huge hotel deposit.

…

They finished talking and clinked their glasses.

After draining his glass, Xi Zi smacked his lips and muttered, “The champagne costing almost 2000 yuan is indeed good. It has a strong taste of apples and pears. It is not as sour as the champagne of 80 yuan…”

Wang Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

Bro, that’s just something to do with the brewing process… The characteristic of the Paris Flower is its fruit taste. What does it have to do with the price?

The 28,888-yuan Ace of Spade was still sour!

Shaking his head, he beckoned for Rich. “Please take us to the restaurant to have a look.”

“Yes, President Wang.”

Arriving at The MEAT bar restaurant, The executive chef, Wu Jianan, was already waiting at the door.

Standing beside him were a middle-aged white man and two beautiful ladies.

Rich stepped forward and introduced them to Wang Yan, “President Wang, this is Frederic Madre, the resident manager of our hotel.”

Then, he introduced Wang Yan to Madre in English, “This is…”

“No, thanks, I am…”

The dignified President Wang only understood these few words. On the surface, he was smiling and calm, but in his heart, he was silently cursing: damn it, when I go back, I’ll start learning English.

As for now…

He could guess what the manager said: Thank you, but there’s no need to introduce me. I’ve known President Wang’s name for a long time. I’ve long heard that President Wang is a handsome, suave, elegant, well-educated, talented, outstanding, and wise man, I didn’t expect to see him today. He’s even more heroic, outstanding, and domineering than I expected…

Huh? !

I haven’t finished translating yet, why did you stop? !

Halfway through his blind translation in his mind, Frederic Madre came over to shake his hand. Wang Yan regretfully ended the friendly exchange with a friendly smile.

Fortunately, Rich still acted as the interpreter…

Damn it, even a waiter knows more than I do. I’ll learn English later!

Wang Yan made up his mind again.

It was a matter of opinion whether it was necessary to learn English or not. In any case, Wang Yan felt that it would be better to communicate in person, since it was more convenient and accurate.

“Mr. Madre warmly welcomes you to stay in Shanghai’s Kerry. He also sends his most sincere greetings to you and hopes that everything you experience in Kerry will be a beautiful memory for you…

“Because your request is urgent and difficult, Mr. Madre has been busy until now and was unable to greet you when you arrived. He’s deeply sorry for that…

“In addition, the general manager of the hotel, Mr. Abril, is currently at the group headquarters for a meeting. He also entrusted me to apologize to you…

“Fortunately, your request has been completed with quality and in time. Mr. Wu Jianan will introduce the specific situation to you.”

After the translation, the words were mostly just a formality.

However, the formality good very grand.

Very grand.

At this time, the restaurant had already started to serve customers. There were many waiters, staff, and customers coming and going. As they stood before the entrance of the restaurant, many people turned to look at them.

A group of customers consisting of three girls looked at Wang Yan curiously as they passed by, and their eyes immediately lit up.

Even after they entered the restaurant, they still looked back.

“Eh, I wonder which family this handsome guy is from. What a grand scene!”

“Yeah, even the executive chef has to stand by and wait. I reckon that white guy is at least a deputy manager. This handsome guy is young but well-respected…”

“He’s really handsome. He’s my type! I wonder if he’ll come in to eat here later.”

“Why? Do you want to ask him for Wechat?”

“So what if I want Wechat? I also want… Hehe!”

“Flirtatious! Eh, I have goosebumps all over me!”

The three young ladies walked away as they whispered, leaving behind a fragrant scent. Wang Yan did not notice it at all, but Xi Zi was intoxicated.

If the young ladies’ beauty was only a glimmer of light in his heart, then the courtesy and respect that the resident manager and executive chef showed to Wang Yan left a deep imprint in his heart.

Yan was a true dragon that had just emerged from water…

It all began with a casual conversation. After explaining the rules of the loan, I didn’t take it seriously myself, but Yan quietly took off and achieved big. Now, even the manager of a five-star hotel welcome him personally.

He was really amazing!

Working with such a buddie, Xi Zi knew they’d succeed!

As these thoughts flashed across his mind, Xi Zi was more and more certain that he’d make a fortune so long as he stuck with Wang Yan!

At the same time, Wang Yan had already started to chat with Wu Jianan.

Wu Jianan was The executive chef of the hotel, not the head chef of The MEAT bar restaurant they were standing in.

In terms of rank, Wu Jianan was higher than the chef in this restaurant. However, he was different from Ma Luo, the Argentine head chef of the Shangri-la restaurant in the capital.

Wu Jianan was actually a Malay. He was very young but very famous in the industry. He had been on the Malay celebrity list for more than ten years, but this year, he was only 43 years old.

Head Chef Wu spoke Chinese very well, so President Wang finally could stop using his awkward English.

“Hello, President Wang.”

“Hello, Mr. Wu.”

“It’s not very convenient to talk here. Why don’t we go in first and I’ll show you what you’ve ordered?”

“Thank you very much!”

Wang Yan was overjoyed. At least he didn’t have to stand at the entrance and exchange meaningless pleasantries.

The group of people filed in. Manager Madre basically didn’t speak, but he still politely accompanied them.

Then, Wang Yunxi received a phone call and whispered to Wang Yan, “Ling Ya and Mi Zi will be here right away. I’ll go and receive them.”

It was not convenient for Xi Zi to hear what would happen next, so Wang Yan simply instructed, “Help them check in and then wait for the others. I don’t need you here anymore. I’ll go and find you after I’m done.”

“Okay.”

Wang Yunxi nodded and left.

Then, President Wang continued to “inspect” the hotel.

The MEAT was a western restaurant that specialized in steaks and barbeque. The price was cheaper than the Gathering in the capital… Well, actually, it was much cheaper.

Uh, but to be fair, the steaks were pretty well.

According to Wu Jianan’s introduction, a private room plus the seats in the hall could accommodate more than 100 guests to eat at the same time. It was basically full on Saturday and Sunday, and they had to make reservations most of the time.

In fact, the steakhouse did not meet Wang Yan’s requirements very well.

In Wang Yan’s plan, the most suitable venue for a banquet was a high-end self-service Teppanyaki.

However, a restaurant outside the hotel could not satisfy Wang Yan’s requirements for ingredients.

It was a dilemma!

The MEAT was very particular about the steak and had a visible meat room, but the kitchen was not open to public view. Wang Yan looked at The environment of the restaurant as he walked, and the more he looked, the more he felt that the venue couldn’t do things that he had planned.

In the end, he asked, “Head chef Wu, do you have any solutions to meet my cooking requirements?”

Wu Jianan smiled mysteriously and replied, “President Wang, I’m showing you the raw materials. The real cooking location is on the other side.”

“Huh?”

Wang Yan looked at him in puzzlement. Wu Jianan did not keep him in suspense anymore. He smiled and said, “Our hotel also owns The Cook restaurant. It’s a buffet and has thirteen open kitchens. It completely meets your requirements.”

After a pause, he said, “Tonight, I have reserved two iron-plate grill tables for you. Please rest assured that everything is perfect.”

“Wow, good!”

Wang Yan gave a thumbs-up to the manager Madre.

Then they arrived at the meat awakening room.

Wu Jianan instructed a chef to take out a piece of meat and show it to Wang Yan. He sounded very excited.

“President Wang, this is the authentic A5 Wagyu Japanese beef you asked for!

“I can guarantee that it’s different from the fake Australian oxen on the market who use the name of Wagyu Japanese beef. It’s the best beef we can get!

It’s not the best Japanese beef, but we really can’t get that thing. Every single ox of that kind has been reserved since birth.

“But this is authentic Matsuzaka beef from Sanchong County. The annual output is less than 500 kilograms!”

Wu Jianan sounded fervent. It didn’t even fit his status as an executive chef.

But after some thinking, Wang Yan found it understandable.

There were more than 2,250 Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, and there were at least 5,000 star chefs. How many A5 Matsuzaka beef was produced a year?

Even if they split it evenly among them, each head chef could only get 100 grams!

In front of them, there were 15 kilograms of Matsuzaka Wagyu beef, and 30 kilograms of Kobe Wagyu beef!

Shangri-la hotel had really put in a lot of effort to meet Wang Yan’s request.

Wang Yan sincerely thanked Manager Madre again.

How to describe the difficulty of obtaining this thing?

First of all, since 2001, no Magyu Japanese beef had been allowed to be imported into China.

Secondly, Kobe beef and Matsuzaka beef were not exported.

Finally, due to the scarcity it, A5 level Magyu beef was often used up locally.

In China, if one did not have a special status, it would be a dream to eat real Matsuzaka beef.

It had nothing to do with money. Even if you were willing to pay twice the price, sorry, no one was willing to sell it to you!

Wang Yan’s request was met not only because he was the Golden Ring Association’s Diamond member, one of the high level of VIP guests, and that Shangri-la wanted to keep its high-end customers.

More importantly, the venue where the beef was used would be in air.

The beef would be used in a new, larger-scale live mukbang broadcast hosted by four big eaters who now had almost 80% fans in the mukbang broadcast market, as well as three rising stars.

Initially, Wang Yan only communicated with the booking department, then he was transferred to the booking department manager, and then to the hotel’s deputy general manager. Then, the general manager, Albert, made the decision and agreed to this troublesome matter, and everything was settled within three days.

Shanghai Kerry, as well as its general manager Albert, needed this promotion very much.

This was the reason why Wang Yan could use four hosts who had not yet signed contracts to make such a big scene.

The total price of beef was not high, but the origin of the beef was important.

Since it was not allowed to be exported, where did it come from?

If people asked, they’d say it was Australia Magyu beef imported from the official channel!

Looking at the five pieces of beef, President Wang was very satisfied.

He asked quietly, “How much is one kilogram?”

Wu Jianan opened his mouth to speak, and Wang Yan immediately added, “There’s no need to talk about the price you bought it. Just tell me how much you plan to sell it for.”

Wu Jianan heaved a sigh of relief and joked, “I’m afraid you’ll feel bad if I sell it in kilograms. I’ll sell it in grams! For 100 g, 3000 yuan for the Matsuzaka beef, and 2000 yuan for the Kobe beef.”

“Okay!”

Wang Yan clapped his hands and was extremely happy.

Wu Jianan and Rich were both dumbfounded. After hearing the translation, manager Madre was also dumbfounded.

I really don’t understand people like you. It’s obvious that we’ve already increased the price. How is it good?!

Of course, Wang Yan couldn’t explain. He just shook his head and smiled mysteriously.

Yes, mysterious!

After seeing the main ingredient, beef, Wu Jianan asked the chef to take out a head of garlic. He peeled the skin and introduced it to Wang Yan in detail.

“President Wang, look. This is a garlic that we specially imported from Gilroy in the United States. The local name is ppboy. I’ve tried cooking with it before.

“This is a type of non-bolting garlic. It doesn’t bolt, so its economic value is low. Very few people grow it.

“But it has a sweet and refreshing taste. Although the spicy taste is strong, it doesn’t hurt your stomach. It’s a very suitable for your purpose.

“In terms of price, it’s not particularly expensive itself, but I’m sorry, we have to include the cost of manual labor, air transportation, urgent customs clearance, and so on. Because you’re in too much of a hurry, we really couldn’t get it through the normal channels.

“We’ve shipped a total of 30 kilograms. It… uh, 15,000 yuan for one kilogram.”

Wu Jianan waited anxiously after speaking.

Damn it, even my favorite Lu You No. 1 garlic is only 6 yuan or so per kilogram!

Why on earth do you need this kind of garlic?

Then, the young, handsome President Wang clapped his hands again with a look of joy on his face.

“Good!”

Fine, I admit defeat!

Wu Jianan really wanted to curse like those young people, but… he felt helpless.

Wang Yan was really satisfied.

Extremely satisfied.

The reason why he had to use garlic instead of chili was because only the spicy condiments consumed counted.

A hundred grams of extremely spicy chili powder was enough to kill those streamers.

Cooking so much chili was one problem and eating so much of it was another problem.

Garlic was a better choice!

President Wang had created a new way of eating — Wagyu beef with garlic wrapped inside!

A piece of meat with about a dozen thin slices of garlic wasn’t difficult to eat.

The spicy degree of garlic was moderate. Moreover, it was appetizing and good for digestion. In other words, people could definitely eat much more such garlic than chili of the same spicy degree.

With the appetite of the big eater, they’d eat one piece in one gulp, so they’d eat several kilograms of it, right?

The four star streamers had just signed the contracts and were waiting expectantly for the welcome gift. In the end, they saw a table full of A5 Wagyu beef. How surprised they would be.

Then, a large bowl of garlic slices would be brought out…

Wang Yan looked forward to seeing their expressions.

Brothers and sisters, just wait. The feast was about to arrive!