Chapter One

Ethan Carter, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and wearing a pair of slippers, stood at the entrance of the "Tsarskie Vkusy Russian Restaurant". He wore a black casual shirt, hands in his pockets, squinting slightly, his messy hair making him look as if he hadn't woken up properly. Glancing around out of sheer boredom, it was said that there were many beauties at the entrance of restaurants, yet he found none that caught his eye here or on the nearby streets.

Bored, Ethan sighed inwardly, feeling as if all the beautiful women had suddenly disappeared. Nowadays, women would rather cry in a Mercedes than laugh on the back of a bicycle, making it hard to find someone even remotely attractive.

Occasionally, a few somewhat attractive women appeared, clearly thinking themselves superior.

"Ah!" Ethan let out a deep sigh, wondering when a female Bole would recognize his talent. Being single was painful, and being single for too long was even more so!

"Gurgle~!" Just then, his stomach growled, utterly ruining Ethan's attempt at coolness. It's said that a decadent image is attractive to women, but Ethan felt none of that appeal. Rubbing his stomach and checking the time, it was nearly noon. After aimlessly looking around all morning, it was time for lunch.

He knocked his slippers together, dislodging a pebble, and turned to enter the restaurant behind him.

The " Tsarskie Vkusy Russian Restaurant " in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles was a decent Russian eatery. Ethan's attire was quite eye-catching in a western restaurant,

It was almost lunchtime, and there were still seats available. Ethan casually took a seat by the window, continuing his pastime of watching beauties.

"Sir, may I take your order?" A fairly attractive waitress approached Ethan and asked politely, not treating him any differently despite his unkempt appearance.

"Looking for beauties, got any?" Ethan turned and said to her.

"...!" The waitress, probably new, blushed deeply at Ethan's remark. Ethan had a principle of teasing any reasonably good-looking woman.

"Just kidding, heh heh!" Seeing a few dumbfounded onlookers whispering about him, Ethan glared at them fiercely. Perhaps his fluent and airy demeanor intimidated these so-called white-collars, making them immediately bow their heads to eat.

"What's so great about white-collars? I'm a white-collar too!" Ethan thought to himself as he looked at these people.

"Half a serving of pork buns, a roasted fish, Caucasian lamb soup!" Ethan said as he flipped through the menu, then handed it to the waitress, "And some garlic...!"

"...!" The waitress was speechless again.

"Heh heh, just kidding!" Ethan laughed, finding the easily blushed waitress quite interesting, considering whether he should frequent this restaurant more often.

"Please enjoy your meal, sir!" After a while, when Ethan had not spotted any beauties out of boredom, the waitress came again, placing the three items Ethan ordered on the table.

The waitress stood there, not knowing whether to stay or go, feeling extremely awkward.

"Heh, not good to hear or not funny?" Ethan asked her.

"Heh...heh heh!" The waitress forced a few laughs.

"It's okay, go on with your work!" Ethan waved her off, fearing another few words might make her cry.

"Thank you~~!" Hearing Ethan's words, the waitress walked away as if pardoned.

"Not recognizing a true gem!" Ethan sighed, biting into a pork bun fiercely.

Since it was the weekend and also lunchtime, the restaurant was bustling with people, and soon there were no seats left.

Ethan, occupying a table by himself, took his time eating, while customers who came in and found no seats pointed and talked about him. But seeing Ethan's carefree demeanor, they gave up.

However, some were not so easily discouraged, like a couple that had just entered. The man was of average build, his hair slick and shiny, and surprisingly, he was wearing a suit in the middle of summer. The woman... was quite attractive, dressed in professional attire, appearing to be a white-collar or even gold-collar couple. These people, no matter when, had a strong sense of vanity, caring a lot about appearances and face.

"Sir, could you do me a favor?" At that moment, the waitress Ethan had 'flirted' with earlier came over with a smile, asking.

Ethan put down his utensils, leisurely wiped his mouth, having noticed the couple and the waitress muttering something on the side, and knew the purpose of the waitress's approach. But he felt sorry for the young girl, as she had taken a deep breath before walking towards him, as if making a big decision.

"Speak!" Ethan said with a toothpick in his mouth, maintaining his decadent image.

"Sir, could you please free up a seat? I can arrange another place for you!" the waitress said.

"Are you trying to kick me out?" Ethan looked at her and said.

"No, not at all, please don't misunderstand. It's just that you're alone... please understand me!" The waitress bowed to Ethan.

"Is it because of those two?" Ethan nodded towards the couple not far away.

"Yes!"

"Let them come over then!"

"Thank you, sir, thank you so much!" The waitress bowed several times upon hearing Ethan's words, then turned to approach the well-dressed couple.

Soon, the three of them came over together.

"Sir, thank you!" The waitress didn't forget to thank Ethan again.

Ethan glanced at the couple, seemingly unimpressed, and sat back down.

"Why should I give up my seat for you?" Ethan looked at them unapologetically, and the waitress's face darkened at his words.

"Because you don't deserve to dine here!" The man looked down on Ethan with disdain.

"I understand you, because your girlfriend is here, so you want to put on a show, right? But unfortunately for you, I'm not moving from here!" Ethan said stubbornly, hating those who put on airs, thinking they're above others just because they wear suits.

"But you've clearly finished eating!" the woman said to Ethan.

"Who said? Who said I've finished?" Ethan glared at the woman, who looked at him with disgust and hid behind the man.

"Another serving of Ukrainian borsch, Kiev chicken rolls...!" Ethan ordered a string of five or six dishes, watching the man's face turn from green to purple.

"Trying to scam us, huh? Say it, how much do you want for your seat?" The man gritted his teeth and said to Ethan.

"Very cheap, according to the recent rise in Bitcoin, just 10 Bitcoin would do." Ethan looked at him with a smile.

"You...!"

"Let's go, Tian, we don't need to bother with this kind of person," the woman pulled the man's arm and said, "We don't need to argue with such people."

"No way!" the man said firmly, as people nearby were watching, and he didn't plan to leave as a loser.

"Since there's no one opposite you, I'll just sit here...!"

"Stop, lift your butt up!" Ethan said, preparing to spit out the toothpick in his mouth and land it on the chair opposite him.

"What's the matter? Aren't you alone? There's an empty seat here, aren't you going to let me sit?" the man said to Ethan.

"Who said I'm alone...!"

"You clearly...!"

"Can't I wait for someone?" Ethan said, and at that moment, the dishes Ethan had just ordered were served, filling the table.

"Wow, so much good food! Hmm, not bad!" Ethan said with a smile.

"Just afraid you won't have money to pay the bill!" the man snorted coldly.

"Heh, don't worry, I have money for the meal!" Ethan said.

"Sir, do you know when your friend will arrive?" the waitress asked, obviously, compared to Ethan, she was more reluctant to offend the seemingly more prestigious couple.

"Oh, soon, very soon," Ethan said with a smile. Just then, the restaurant door opened, and a real beauty walked in. With her hair up in a bun, delicate features, and a noble yet cold demeanor, she was beautiful, so beautiful.

After entering the restaurant, the beauty looked around, seemingly searching for something.

"Heh, my friend is here!" Ethan stood up and waved to the beauty, "Beauty, over here~~!" Ethan called out loudly.

The beauty, upon seeing Ethan, paused, then walked straight over and sat down in front of him.

The man, seeing the suddenly appearing beauty, was stunned, and after his girlfriend pinched him hard, she gracefully left. It was only then that the man came to his senses and hurriedly chased after her outside. The waitress also left dejectedly at this moment.