"UU, the ’Miss Scott’ the manager ntioned just now, was referring to you, right?"
"What’s your relationship with Virtue Retreat?"
"Second generation rich, could Virtue Retreat be owned by your family?"
"Oh my god, what kind of powerful connection is this?"
...
All the questions ca rushing at Sophie like a torrent of beans.
They didn’t selectively forget — Nora Scott also shares the sa last na, Scott.
However, they imdiately ruled out Nora without hesitation.
— Even if you’re good-looking, with such a bad temper and low profile, who would give you such special treatnt?
In their view, only Sophie’s identity and status could warrant such special privileges.
"Well..."
Sophie just smiled, her expression sweet and shy, unable to provide a specific response.
She had asked the front desk about the reason, only to know that at Virtue Retreat, she was special and als were free. But the front desk rely said it was the rule and didn’t know the reason behind it.
She was equally shocked, wanting to find an answer, but now it was difficult to respond to them.
"Honestly," Lily nudged Sophie’s shoulder, smiling slyly, "Sophie, are you hiding sothing from us?"
"What?"
Sophie looked at her with a coquettish glance.
"I’ll testify," Lily bead brightly and announced to everyone, "Just last ti, when I ca to eat with Sophie, I was supposed to treat, and when it ca ti to pay... do you know what they said?"
"What did they say?"
"Don’t keep us guessing!"
Everyone was anxious, urging her.
Lily deliberately paused before continuing, "They said, ’Our rule at Virtue Retreat is that if you’re a friend of Miss Scott, the al is on the house.’"
"Wow!"
"Really?"
"Sophie, what’s going on? Spill it!"
...
The crowd cheered and once again erupted into noise.
In the ruckus, a blush spread across Sophie’s cheeks as she lowered her head slightly, shyly responding, "Lily!"
"Don’t be shy." Lily teased, and then continued with everyone, "I swear, those were the exact words, word for word."
Isabella, sitting on the other side, also chid in appropriately, "Sophie, you should satisfy everyone’s curiosity a bit."
Admittedly, watching Sophie enjoy such treatnt at Virtue Retreat made Isabella envious. Yet, for this reason, Isabella beca even closer to Sophie.
She glanced sideways at Sophie, paused, and then ’educated’ everyone present, "Maybe so of you aren’t familiar with Virtue Retreat. It’s a high-end chain restaurant with locations in several provincial capitals nationwide. The restaurant is famous and has many rules. For example, you can’t simply book a private room on the third floor, no matter how much money you have, without so capability."
"They have such rules?"
"Won’t they take your money?"
So people were surprised.
"It’s true; before booking a private room, they ask for your identity information. They don’t entertain those with a criminal record; even if you’re a celebrity with bad online reputations, they won’t serve you. And nouveau riche with a bit of dirty money aren’t welco either..."
Isabella listed several rules, and the cartoonists who hadn’t heard of them before all applauded, saying, "We’ve learned sothing new today."
Sophie listened on the side, silently agreeing.
This was her first ti booking a private room on the third floor. When she called to reserve last night, they indeed asked her a lot of questions, and it took half an hour for them to give a definite answer.
Regular patrons of Virtue Retreat know that guests able to frequent the third floor aren’t ordinary. Guests able to frequent the fourth floor must certainly be affluent or influential.
It’s a symbol of status.
And the private rooms on the third and fourth floors of Virtue Retreat would rather remain empty than be randomly reserved.
"Who owns it?" soone asked again.
Isabella replied, "I don’t know, but it’s said that the registered owner is just a figurehead. The actual owner of Virtue Retreat is very mysterious."
"These days, is there really soone whose identity info can remain hidden?"
"There really is." Lily jumped in, "The owner’s style is quite interesting. Many people in Fenton City want to know him, but despite many efforts to dig into his background, nobody has uncovered his identity. If there were a top ten unanswered mysteries in the Fenton City culinary world, ’The identity of Virtue Retreat’s owner’ would definitely be one of them."
"Whoa, that’s outrageous!"
"Like listening to a story!"
"I don’t understand the world of high society!"
...
Nora Scott took two bites of lobster at and continued to sip the soup from her bowl.
She listened to their heated discussion, letting it go in one ear and out the other, considering it just entertainnt.
Once the shock and amazent subsided, the topic inevitably circled back.
"So, Sophie, stop keeping secrets, share with us, what’s your secret relationship with Virtue Retreat?"
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