Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 284 - 279: The Super Awesome Gaze

If Yan Ling and Qi Yi casually had a meal together, it could become breaking news—then today’s particularly unusual dining atmosphere, even if it doesn’t make the headlines, would at least be "medium-sized" news.

Even if Qi Yi’s "small and micro fund" had already been "reserved" by Y·Y, it wouldn’t affect the big investment banks from getting a piece of the action during Y·Y’s listing process.

Rather than trying to catch Yan Ling, who only came to the United States occasionally, it would make more sense to start with Qi Yi, a "small private fund manager" who had been "pre-selected."

Regardless, when Y·Y actually decided to go public one day, it certainly couldn’t be just one investment institution participating.

Monopolizing the market is a sure way to choke, and this rarely happens on Wall Street anyway.

After all, going public is a major project, and it’d be difficult for one institution to do it alone; doing so would be tantamount to suicide.

After spotting Qi Yi as a breakthrough, those Wall Street novices and interns with clear goals put aside their mindset that they must take down Yan Ling while he was in the United States.

If it wasn’t for Y·Y’s peculiar situation, with its founder so elusive, they wouldn’t desperately pounce at the sight of Yan Ling.

That’s how the world is: those who are too poor to pay salaries, who beg for any investment bank on Wall Street to glance at their project, hoping for just a minute or two of their time, often get the door slammed in their face.

Yet for a company like Y·Y, which isn’t short on cash, many big investment bank folks are running after them day and night, "crying and shouting" to get in on the investment.

After stirring the waters, Yan Yan joyfully enjoyed her Wall Street grilled cheese sandwich.

The mix of Scharfe Maxx and L’Etivaz cheeses, enhancing the aroma of black truffles, was intoxicating and hunger-inducing upon the slightest whiff.

Taking a bite of the sandwich brought a completely different sensation.

With the taste of the fig and mustard sauce unfolding in her mouth, her taste buds danced, making even the bacon taste so unique.

The grilled cheese sandwich is the most "unpresentable" dish in a billionaire’s secret menu, and surprisingly, it didn’t even use a trace of 24K real gold.

But its taste absolutely justified a $100 price tag.

Yan Yan had frequented this place before during her visits to New York to engage in "love talks" with Qi Yi.

With a boyfriend working on Wall Street, there was no reason to miss out on the local gourmet food when she waited for him to finish work.

Although at Delmonico’s, this was the only dish that genuinely satisfied Yan Yan.

But one delicious dish was enough.

Maybe it was her good mood today, but the sandwich in front of Yan Yan tasted even better than before.

Yan Yan indulged in her meal while "hiding" behind her sunglasses, observing.

Many wanted to understand the exact relationship between the three people at her table.

It’s only polite to reciprocate.

Yan Yan also wanted to see if these people could look beyond the surface to see the essence.

Wall Street is a gathering place for elite scholars from world-renowned universities, but not everyone’s level of intelligence is the same.

This is similar to how many top university entrance exam performers find themselves just average students after arriving at Peking University.

There are plenty such cases where top-scoring students can’t keep up with the pace and become stragglers.

After observing for a while, Yan Yan noticed someone especially clever.

This person had been snubbed once, and so had her colleague.

This girl, who had no obvious connection to the relatively obscure Qi Yi, didn’t attempt a third approach to exchange business cards with Yan Yan.

Not being the first to exchange business cards cost her an opportunity, but waiting to see another girl succeed before trying was a safer approach.

If not for Yan Yan’s deliberate meddling, this "front desk" would have probably connected with Yan Ling by now.

Under normal circumstances, one would have given up after such a challenge, returning home defeated.

However, after observing for a while, this girl engaged in "small talk" with a server at the restaurant.

Initially, she spoke to a newbie server who hadn’t been at the restaurant long. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

A few exchanges later, she stopped.

Then, she found a more "seasoned" server.

She tipped him, thanked him for the service, and "casually" inquired about the relationship between Yan Yan and the two gentlemen at the table.

She saw how Yan Yan confidently ordered from the billionaire’s secret menu and laughed with the server, making it clear this wasn’t her first time here.

It wasn’t only her first time, but she might have been a regular.

In such cases, if you could find a server with an exceptional memory, you could typically dig up some information.

Sure enough, soon after, the girl learned that the two dining together were likely a couple.

Though the server didn’t know the full names of Yan Yan and Qi Yi, he recalled a time when the two used to often come for lunch—usually, the girl arrived first, waiting for the man to get off work for them to dine together.

Compared to other people’s wild guesses, the work efficiency of this high-value "front desk" clerk was significantly higher.

Yan Yan liked smart people, and through her sunglasses, when she saw the girl sizing her up, Yan Yan returned a big smile.

Upon seeing the smile, the girl promptly approached Yan Yan’s table.

Ignoring the presence of the two gentlemen, she directly asked Yan Yan if she was the creative director of Maison Yan II.

Her perceptiveness was impressive.

Despite Yan Yan’s large, hard-to-recognize sunglasses, and the fact that most people tend to focus on the clothes during a haute couture fashion show—unless they are "insiders" in the fashion world, or have attended haute couture shows in person—few would remember what the creative director looked like.

Even if they caught a glimpse during the curtain call, they’d quickly remember only the style of the clothing, not the designer.

Yan Yan didn’t deny it and cheerfully accepted the girl’s business card, chatting for a few moments.

The keen-eyed girl mentioned her sister-in-law was a regular customer at Maison Yan II, having ordered a wedding dress and several evening gowns from Yan Yan.

She then said the second time her sister-in-law went for a fitting, her brother couldn’t come, so she, then an exchange student in Paris, accompanied her sister-in-law.

That fitting required only minor detail adjustments based on the sister-in-law’s measurements, so Yan Yan didn’t stay long.

Nevertheless, her recognition of Yan Yan was surprising.

After all, as someone with face blindness, Yan Yan might not even be able to match names to faces after having had several meals with someone.