Zhang Ye left his address and asked the Haidilao staff to deliver the hot pot soup bases to his home later.
As for the ingredients, he could always get them directly from the Walmart warehouse when the time came.
Only the soup base was tricky—it wasn't something you could really buy off the shelf. Even the packaged hot pot bases sold in stores were far inferior to what was used in the actual restaurants.
Otherwise, why would people still go out to eat hot pot?
After finishing his meal, Zhang Ye was about to head home when he received a call from the manager of the five-star hotel.
"Mr. Zhang, the 500 banquet sets you ordered are ready. Would you like to receive them now?"
"Sure. Just deliver them."
Zhang Ye returned home and waited for all the delicious food and drinks to be delivered.
Those 500 banquet sets would be enough to last him two or three years.
He still had eight or nine million yuan left, and he wasn't the least bit reluctant to spend it—in fact, he was in a hurry to get rid of it all.
On the way back, Zhang Ye thought about what other foods he liked.
Then he placed additional orders with several of the top restaurants in Tianhai City, asking each to deliver 100 banquet sets to his home.
From the eight major Chinese cuisines to Western cuisine, he ordered thousands of banquet sets in total!
With that, he had essentially secured a lifetime's worth of gourmet meals.
Not long after, the delivery trucks from Hongfu Tianxia Grand Hotel arrived at the entrance of the Yuelu residential compound.
A massive convoy of 20 or 30 vehicles blocked the entire road, stunning all the nearby residents.
Uncle You, the security guard, hurried over to stop them and asked what they were doing.
The hotel manager explained the situation, but Uncle You insisted that the homeowner had to be present before he could open the gate.
After all, with such a huge delivery, he couldn't let them in without knowing what was in the trucks—he had to consider the safety of the community.
The manager had no choice but to call Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye came downstairs and walked to the compound entrance.
By then, a crowd had gathered, including neighbors from his building and onlookers like Fang Yuqing and Lin Caining.
Zhang Ye walked up to Uncle You and said with a smile, "Uncle You, these are my food deliveries. Let them in."
Uncle You looked utterly shocked.
"Food delivery? What kind of meal needs a dozen trucks to deliver?!"
The nearby neighbors were also in an uproar when they learned it was food.
"Whoa, this must be at least a few hundred banquet sets! Where's he going to put all that?"
"Maybe something's going on at Zhang Ye's place? A big celebration?"
"Could it be a wedding? But even then, a few hundred tables? That's insane!"
"Look closely—that's from Hongfu Tianxia, a five-star hotel!"
"Ordering that much from there must've cost at least a million!"
"Holy crap, a single meal costing over a million… Zhang Ye's really been hiding his wealth!"
"I thought his family was doing okay, but now it looks like he's a real tycoon!"
The neighbors murmured amongst themselves, their gazes toward Zhang Ye now full of admiration and awe.
Watching this scene unfold, Fang Yuqing bit her lip and became even more determined to win Zhang Ye over.
She took the initiative to walk up to him with a smile. "Zhang Ye, what've you been up to lately? Buying so much stuff!"
Zhang Ye ignored her and instead offered Uncle You a cigarette.
Seeing that the homeowner had arrived, Uncle You opened the gate and allowed the hotel's convoy to enter.
Zhang Ye led the way for them.
Even though he hadn't responded to Fang Yuqing, she acted like she didn't mind and followed alongside him, chatting cheerfully.
"Is something going on that you can't tell me? Aren't we good friends?"
"In the future, I really hope to get to know you better. Don't treat me like an outsider."
Zhang Ye gave her a deep look and sneered. "All this stuff? I'm buying it for my boss. Even the meal at that Western restaurant last time—he paid for it."
Then he sighed dramatically. "Ah, I wish I really were that rich."
Fang Yuqing's expression changed instantly.
"You… You're not joking, are you?"
Zhang Ye shrugged. "Why would I lie to you? We've known each other for years—you know exactly what my family's like."
"My parents passed away years ago. I'm just a warehouse supervisor. I don't have that kind of money."
This explanation made Fang Yuqing's face flicker with uncertainty.
She had already suspected it—if he were really some rich heir, his family should be running some massive business.
And while his parents had left some inheritance, it wasn't enough to make him a rich second-generation.
Now that Zhang Ye had admitted it himself, all her doubts were resolved.
She quietly stepped a bit away from him, smoothed her hair, and said with a polite smile, "Whether you're rich or not, we're still best friends, aren't we? I'm not the kind of woman who only cares about money."
She emphasized the word "friend" just a little too much.
Green tea types never burn bridges—they still need backup plans and loyal followers to serve them.
Zhang Ye curled his lips and didn't say another word to her.
Meanwhile, the hotel staff began moving the banquet sets to the location Zhang Ye had specified.
Zhang Ye had a good relationship with people, so he borrowed a storage room in the community's underground area from the property management.
That's where he told them to place the food for now.
Although 500 banquet sets were a lot, once they were packed into meal boxes, they didn't take up too much space.
The meals Zhang Ye ordered were top-tier—abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, fish maw, Australian lobster, truffles, caviar—everything you could imagine.
It took a while to move all 500 banquet sets into the storage area.
Even the hotel manager was stunned. He'd been working in this industry for years, but this was the biggest takeout order he'd ever seen.
But Zhang Ye simply told them to keep bringing everything into the storage area.
Then, once the workers had cleared out, he quietly stored all the food into his personal spatial dimension.
Others might have found it strange—why would someone hoard so much food?
But in this world, people were busy with their own lives. Who had time to care about someone else's business?
So whether it was the neighbors or hotel employees, they might gossip a bit, but no one took it too seriously.
Very soon, all 500 banquet sets had been safely stored in Zhang Ye's space.
Later that evening, Zhang Ye received a call from Wu Huairen, the manager from Zhanlong Security Company.
Wu Huairen told Zhang Ye that everything was ready, and they could begin constructing the safe house at any time.
He asked when Zhang Ye would be available for the work to begin.
Zhang Ye replied that they could start as soon as tomorrow.
He himself planned to move into a hotel temporarily.
After discussing the safe house, Zhang Ye continued waiting to hear from Wu Huairen about something even more important.
He had asked Wu for help acquiring a weapon that could level the playing field.
After a long hesitation, Wu Huairen lowered his voice and said, "If you really need something like that, I might be able to recommend a channel. But… the price will be a bit steep."
Zhang Ye nodded. That much he already expected.
But when it came to money—he no longer cared.
"That's not a problem, as long as the quality is good."
Wu Huairen responded casually, "In that case, I'll make the arrangements. I'll inform you of the transaction location in three days."