The Truth About the 2888 Yuan Lunch

Li Daqiang opened a restaurant called "Fumanlou" in the county town. This Spring Festival, he launched a New Year's Eve dinner package for 2888 yuan a table. He originally just wanted to create a gimmick, but unexpectedly, it sold out like crazy.

Those who booked were all the "successful people" in the county town: mine bosses, project contractors, relatives who had made some money in the city, and some ordinary citizens who "didn't want to be left behind."

They didn't care about the money, they cared about face.

Li Daqiang was so busy he couldn't keep his feet on the ground. The kitchen was bustling, and all kinds of expensive ingredients were quickly cooked and served on red-clothed tables.

In the private rooms, people were toasting and exchanging pleasantries. After a few rounds of drinks, everyone started bragging about their "achievements," comparing who had the bigger business, who had bought more houses, and whose children were the most promising.

Boss Wang raised his glass and shouted heroically, "Come on, come on, this New Year's Eve dinner is just a bit of money, we are just here to have a good time!"

Everyone echoed in agreement, as if the 2888 yuan was not for food, but for status and dignity.

Only in the corner, Old Zhang was silently eating, not saying a word.

Old Zhang was Li Daqiang's father, and the founder of the restaurant. He looked at this group of "nouveau riche" and felt mixed emotions.

He remembered when he opened the restaurant, it was to make sure that everyone in the county town could have a hot meal. Back then, a bowl of plain noodles and a few side dishes could satisfy everyone.

Now, a 2888 yuan New Year's Eve dinner made everyone flock to it.

Old Zhang sighed, he knew that this was not just a meal, but a kind of unspeakable anxiety and vanity in the hearts of the people in the county town.

Halfway through the meal, Li Daqiang noticed a strange phenomenon: most of the dishes on the table had hardly been touched. Those delicacies that had been praised to the heavens were piled up on the plates like decorations.

He secretly asked a waiter, "Why hasn't anyone eaten these dishes?"

The waiter whispered, "They are all busy drinking and chatting, how can they have time to eat? They are all waiting to pack them up."

Li Daqiang suddenly understood.

It turned out that the 2888 yuan New Year's Eve dinner was about "face," not "belly."

He watched the diners packing up and felt a mix of emotions.

Around the time of the New Year, a group of people collecting recyclables suddenly appeared on the old street of the county town. They were pulling tricycles, going door to door, collecting the packed-up New Year's Eve dinners.

Li Daqiang saw the leftover dishes, which had once been regarded as "delicacies," emitting a faint stench on the tricycles.

Someone asked the recyclers, "What are you doing with these leftovers?"

The recycler smiled, revealing a few missing teeth, and said, "What else? Feed the pigs, that's contributing to the pigs in our county."

Li Daqiang felt a jolt in his heart as he watched the tricycles drive away.

He seemed to see a huge black humor. The delicacies that had been sought after on the dinner table were just fleeting glitz and glamour, and eventually, they would all turn to dust, feeding something more real.

The 2888 yuan New Year's Eve dinner, in the end, did not fill people, but their vanity.