Chapter 51: Refusing Money, Bad Review!

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Gone? Chen Yun stared in surprise after finishing a plate. Where were the attributes? Where were the attribute bonuses from this dish? Unconvinced, Chen Yun tried another plate, but the only prompt he received was “Player Chen Yun has used Red Wine Braised Beef,” and nothing else.

This was truly baffling—what was going on?

The beautiful waitress standing nearby watched as Chen Yun devoured two plates of the exorbitantly priced Red Wine Braised Beef in a hurry. Everyone who came here to dine would chew slowly, savoring each bite; look at the couple at the next table, after three minutes, they had only managed to eat a sixth of their Luoding Fermented Bean Chicken. But this man was eating the Red Wine Braised Beef as if it were porridge, which was a first for her.

“Excuse me, why doesn’t your Red Wine Braised Beef grant any attributes?” Chen Yun, obsessed with the missing attributes, asked bluntly.

“Ah?” The waitress was taken aback. Attribute bonuses? What did that even mean?

“Sir, may I ask what you mean by attribute bonuses?” She approached politely.

“Uh…” Chen Yun realized he couldn’t explain and replied vaguely, “Nothing, nothing. I’d like to pay the bill.”

“Certainly, sir. You ordered two plates of Red Wine Braised Beef, totaling thirty-six purple coins.”

“Here.” Chen Yun handed the money to her.

The moment the waitress received the payment, Chen Yun got a system prompt.

“Player Chen Yun has used two servings of Red Wine Braised Beef: Life +100, Mana +100. Excess life and mana will be stored in reserve slots. Maximum life +50, maximum mana +50, duration twelve hours.”

Chen Yun’s eyes widened in shock—he finally understood what was going on.

In this hotel, the custom was to eat first and pay later.

He hadn’t paid while eating, so the system considered the transaction incomplete and wouldn’t grant the attribute bonuses before payment. Only after paying would the system recognize the completed transaction and add the corresponding attributes.

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Hey! This system was so stubborn—it couldn’t even bend a little, dumber than a fool!

Now that he understood, Chen Yun pulled out a sum of money ten times the price of the Red Wine Braised Beef and handed it to the waitress.

“Sir, what is this?” The waitress was bewildered, staring at the handful of purple coins.

“Your dishes are truly exquisite—flawless in every way. I’m extremely satisfied, so this is my tip. You must accept it,” Chen Yun said, inventing an explanation.

She was utterly confused; it was the first time she’d encountered such a situation. Who had ever seen a tip larger than the bill itself?

“I’m sorry, sir, but our hotel has strict rules. Staff are not permitted to accept tips from guests. But thank you very much for your support of our menu.” She bowed to him.

Chen Yun was frustrated but persisted, “This money isn’t for you—it’s for the hotel. If you can’t take it, bring your manager and I’ll give it to him directly. Surely that’s allowed?”

“Sir… Even if the manager comes, he won’t accept it. This rule was set by the owner, and we dare not violate it. Please understand.” She was caught in a dilemma—someone desperate to give money, how bizarre!

“I…” Chen Yun’s eyes darted, and he resorted to unreasonable tactics. Raising his voice, he declared, “You really won’t accept it? If you don’t, I’ll loiter at your hotel entrance and tell everyone your food is terrible, ruin your reputation, and drive away every customer!”

…

“Who’s trying to ruin my hotel’s reputation?” A voice rang out from afar. Chen Yun turned to see a middle-aged man in a suit, a badge on his chest identifying him as the lobby manager.

“Manager, this guest is very satisfied with our Red Wine Braised Beef and wants to give a tip to the hotel. I refused, so he asked for you to accept it. I explained that our owner’s rules prohibit it, but he insists and threatened to ruin our reputation,” the waitress explained.

The lobby manager was dumbfounded—he’d never encountered such a situation: someone so satisfied they wanted to tip, but if refused, threatened to cause trouble. Was this man insane?

“Sir, first let me thank you for your support of our menu. But we really cannot accept your tip—anyone who does will be fired. Please don’t put us in a difficult position,” the manager said sincerely.

Chen Yun’s frustration was beyond words. In this day and age, even giving away money was impossible—his attribute bonuses!

“Ah, forget it,” Chen Yun shook his head. “I won’t trouble you further. Go about your business. I’ll sit here for a bit.”

“Thank you for your understanding. Xiao Mi, pour the guest some tea,” the lobby manager breathed a sigh of relief. As a five-star hotel manager, his greatest worry was troublemakers ruining their reputation. Seeing this guest behave reasonably, he relaxed.

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Chen Yun sat down and his gaze drifted to the two thieves. After all this time, the pair had only eaten half their chicken—he was speechless.

Bored, Chen Yun glanced around and spotted a large box in an inconspicuous corner of the hotel lobby, emblazoned with three red characters: Donation Box!

He walked over and read the small text below:

“Share your love—help children in poor mountain areas who cannot afford to attend school! Azure Culinary Group National Charity Foundation, Blue Melody City Branch Donation Center. Here, you can donate money, goods, or books. Every donation could nurture a future pillar of the empire!”

“To think a five-star hotel would undertake such charity—no question, I must support this!” Chen Yun placed his purple coins into the box.

“Player Chen Yun has triggered the Red Wine Braised Beef extra attribute bonus: Strength permanently +2, Constitution permanently +2. Remaining uses: 3.”

Huh? Chen Yun was startled—how had the attribute bonus suddenly triggered? He hadn’t tipped the hotel, had he? Could it be…

A moment’s thought revealed the answer. The donation center was run by Azure Hotel. By donating there, it was effectively giving money to Azure Hotel, who would then pass it on to the mountain children. This was equivalent to fulfilling the condition: “Pay ten times the price to trigger the attribute bonus,” meeting the system’s requirements.

This system’s quirks—Chen Yun was truly convinced.

Wait—could donating books to mountain children boost his fame? He’d try it later; even if it didn’t, it was still a good deed.

“Player Chen Yun has triggered a random quest: Donate one hundred thousand books to children in poor mountain regions. Upon completion, level +2, fame +100,000.”

Whoa! A quest?

Chen Yun was momentarily stunned, then elated. Just as he’d hoped—the system finally did something right!