From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Chapter 167: Chapter 131: Imperial Capital 1-Day Tour (Part 3)

Watching Shuraya savor the food, Su Chen couldn’t help but marvel. A person from her background had surely tasted every top-tier ingredient imaginable; he never expected her to be so completely won over by a simple street-side snack.

Besides the stewed offal, Shuraya also had her fill of stir-fried liver and steamed buns. Her verdict: she loved everything except the fermented mung bean milk.

After breakfast, Su Chen suggested taking Shuraya to see the Forbidden City, a proposal that was met with unanimous approval.

Normally, entering the Forbidden City required booking a day in advance; otherwise, you couldn’t get in.

But for Jiangyang, this was a trivial matter. After all, he was on a mission, specifically tasked with resolving any and all hassles for their foreign guest.

He made a single phone call, and soon enough, a staff member from the Forbidden City came jogging over to find them. He then led the group directly inside through a special access channel.

"So this is the Forbidden City?"

As Su Chen and the others passed through the magnificent Meridian Gate into the Forbidden City proper, the first thing that greeted their eyes was an enormous palace.

Su Chen was just about to shoot Jiangyang a look, signaling for him to explain the history of the Forbidden City to Shuraya, when a clear, crisp voice suddenly spoke up.

"What you are all looking at now is the first great hall of the Forbidden City—Taihe Palace. The square before it is Taihe Square..."

"The river before you is called the Jinshui River. The five bridges spanning it are collectively known as the Inner Golden Water Bridge. In the center is the Imperial Bridge, flanked by the two Prince’s Bridges, and at the far ends are the Bridges of Rank..."

It was the staff member who had brought them in; unexpectedly, his duties also included being a tour guide.

Shuraya was already standing beside the guide, listening intently to his explanation.

"So? Pretty foresighted of me, huh? I had the Forbidden City arrange a professional guide for us. Saved us a ton of effort!" Jiangyang leaned in close to Su Chen and whispered.

"Hmm, you deserve some praise for that," Su Chen said, quietly giving him a thumbs-up.

From the moment they passed through the Meridian Gate, the guide’s mouth barely stopped moving. He explained every aspect of the Forbidden City in such meticulous detail that even Su Chen found himself getting engrossed.

"MEOW~ MEOW~"

As Su Chen and the others stepped into Wenhua Hall, a series of meows caught their attention.

Making their way through the crowd, they saw a chubby orange cat romping wildly in the snow. It leaped one way and pounced another, drawing peals of laughter from the surrounding tourists.

"Ah! That chubby orange cat is so cute!" Shuraya immediately pulled out her phone and began snapping away.

"That orange cat is named Papa. He’s one of the Forbidden City’s official feline employees!" A rare smile touched the guide’s lips.

"Hm? Does that mean there are a lot of cats here in the Forbidden City?" Su Chen’s curiosity was piqued. He’d never imagined the Forbidden City would keep cats, let alone give them official jobs.

"There are 181 registered throughout the Forbidden City. They’re scattered all over and have become one of our unique features."

Shuraya, who was crouching on the ground taking photos, perked up when she heard there were over a hundred cute cats. She was suddenly seized by the desire to see them all.

Unfortunately, the guide immediately dashed her hopes. He explained that many areas of the Forbidden City were not open to the public, and most of the cats lived in those restricted zones. Besides, the cats roamed freely, so encountering even one was a matter of good luck.

Shuraya wasn’t too disappointed, though. It had just been a whim, after all.

It took them nearly three hours to finish a cursory tour of the Forbidden City.

’I’m not cut out for this tour guide gig at all. After that trip through the Forbidden City, I feel half-dead!’ The moment they left the palace grounds, Su Chen found a place to sit down, muttering under his breath as he rubbed his aching legs.

"So what do we do? If Shuraya wants to go somewhere else, we can’t just tell her no, can we?" Jiangyang was also dead tired. The amount he’d walked today was equal to several days’ worth of activity for him.

In truth, Su Chen and Jiangyang were worrying for nothing.

If two healthy young men like Su Chen and Jiangyang were exhausted after walking through the Forbidden City, how could a twenty-year-old girl like Shuraya be any different? If not for her pride, she would have asked to go back to the hotel and rest long ago.

After a moment of silence, Su Chen was the one to speak up.

"It’s about time for lunch. Shuraya, is there anything you’d like to eat?"

At the mention of food, the weary Shuraya was instantly re-energized.

"Mr. Su, you can decide. I’m fine with anything!" In the end, Shuraya couldn’t bring herself to say that she was craving roast duck.

Ever since tasting the delicious roast duck last night, she had been craving it, feeling as if she hadn’t gotten her fill.

He checked the time; it was almost noon. Going to a high-end restaurant now would mean a wait of at least an hour. He had to think of somewhere quick, convenient, and delicious.

Su Chen quickly thought of a place. "Shuraya, how about we get some lamb hot pot?"

"Lamb hot pot?" Shuraya nodded in agreement without a second thought. ’If Mr. Su recommends it, it must be delicious.’

Back in Gaul, the most famous lamb dish was lamb chops; other cuts were rarely, if ever, eaten.

Su Chen had Chen Fei bring the Rolls-Royce around, and the group of five headed straight for SKP, a commercial center in the Imperial Capital.

Their destination was a lamb hot pot restaurant on the third floor of SKP. It was the flagship store that Zong Xinyao had called him about, saying it had just opened.

Zong Xinyao had been quite bold to choose the SKP commercial district. The initial investment alone had been nearly ten million!

The drive from the Forbidden City to SKP was only a matter of four or five traffic lights. Along the way, Su Chen found a moment to call Zong Xinyao and ask her to arrange a private room for them.