Leo Zane left his address with the Haidilao staff and instructed them to deliver the hotpot soup bases directly to his home.
As for other food ingredients, he could just pick them up from Walmart's warehouse when the time came.
But the soup base was different—this wasn't something sold in bulk. Even the packaged ones on the market didn't come close to what was used in the restaurant.
Otherwise, why would people even bother eating out?
After his meal, Leo was heading home when he received a call from the manager of a five-star hotel.
"Mr. Zane, your order for 500 banquet tables is ready. Would you like us to deliver now?"
"Yes, go ahead and bring it over."
Back at home, Leo waited for the trucks to arrive—loaded with gourmet food and drinks.
Five hundred banquet tables' worth of dishes—enough to feed him for two or three years.
He still had around $1.2 million left on hand, and at this point, he wasn't trying to save. If anything, he was in a race to spend it all.
On the drive back, Leo thought about all the other foods he liked.
So, he placed orders with several top restaurants in Tianhai City, asking them to each send him 100 full-course meals.
From all eight major Chinese cuisines to Western food, Leo ended up ordering thousands of banquet sets—locking down his food supply for the next decade.
Not long after, a fleet of delivery trucks from Hongfu Tianxia Grand Hotel arrived at the entrance to Yuelu Residential Complex.
Two to three dozen vehicles clogged the entire street. The neighbors stood stunned, watching the spectacle unfold.
Security guard Uncle You rushed forward to block the trucks, asking what the commotion was about.
The hotel manager explained the situation, but Uncle You insisted that the homeowner had to come down in person.
The scale of this delivery was just too massive. For the sake of community safety, he couldn't let them in without confirmation.
The manager had no choice but to call Leo.
Moments later, Leo came downstairs to meet them at the gate.
By now, a large crowd had gathered—neighbors, passersby, even Fang Yuqing and Lin Caining had come over to watch.
Leo smiled as he walked up to Uncle You.
"Uncle You, they're delivering food to me. It's fine—let them in."
Uncle You looked at him in disbelief.
"Food? What kind of food needs that many trucks?"
The neighbors, upon hearing it was a food delivery, erupted in chatter.
"Good lord, that has to be hundreds of tables!"
"Is he throwing a massive banquet or something?"
"Could it be… he's getting married? But even so, this is insane!"
"Look closely! That's Hongfu Tianxia—the five-star hotel!"
"Hundreds of tables from there? That's gotta be at least $140,000!"
"Wow… just a meal costs over a hundred grand. Leo's been hiding his wealth well!"
"I thought his family was well-off. Turns out he's filthy rich!"
The buzz among the neighbors grew. Their eyes gleamed with awe and curiosity as they looked at Leo.
Standing by the roadside, Fang Yuqing bit her lip, her desire to win Leo over only growing stronger.
She walked up with a smile.
"Leo, what's all this about? Stocking up like you're opening a restaurant?"
Leo ignored her, instead offering Uncle You a cigarette.
Uncle You, now reassured that the owner had confirmed everything, opened the gate to let the hotel trucks in.
Leo led the way.
Even though Leo hadn't acknowledged Fang Yuqing, she didn't seem fazed—sticking close by and chatting with a sweet voice.
"Why didn't you tell me you were planning something big? I thought we were good friends."
"I'd really love to know more about you, Leo. Don't treat me like an outsider."
Leo glanced at her, then said with a smirk,
"All this stuff? It's not mine. I'm just buying it on behalf of my boss. Even that Western dinner last time—he paid for it."
He sighed, "Man… I wish I had that kind of money."
Fang Yuqing's face instantly changed.
"You… you're kidding, right?"
Leo shrugged.
"Why would I lie? You've known me for years. You know my situation."
"My parents passed away years ago. I'm just a warehouse manager. Where would I get the money for all this?"
His words threw her off completely.
She had wondered about it. After all, a real heir would have some family business backing them up.
Leo's family had some assets left behind, but nowhere near "rich kid" status.
Now that Leo had said it himself, everything suddenly made sense.
Fang Yuqing quietly stepped a bit farther away, smoothed her hair, and put on a polite smile.
"Whether you're rich or not, we're still best friends, aren't we? I'm not some gold digger."
The way she emphasized "friends" made it pretty obvious.
Classic green tea behavior—never burn bridges entirely. Backup options were important, after all.
Leo scoffed and stopped talking to her altogether.
Meanwhile, the hotel staff began unloading banquet after banquet into Leo's home.
These weren't regular meals—abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, Australian lobster, truffle, caviar—the most luxurious items you could imagine.
Normally, his house couldn't hold 500 banquet tables' worth of food.
Even the hotel manager was scratching his head, unsure how to make it all fit.
But Leo told them to just keep bringing it in.
Secretly, while the workers were busy coming and going, he slipped downstairs and transferred all the food into his dimensional storage space.
He moved fast and kept it discreet—no one noticed a thing.
In no time, all 500 banquet tables' worth of food vanished into his pocket dimension.
Later that evening, Leo received a call from Wu Huairen, the manager at Zhanlong Security.
Wu informed him that everything was ready. They could start building the safehouse whenever Leo was available.
"Tomorrow works," Leo replied. He planned to temporarily move into a hotel during construction.
After discussing the safehouse, Leo waited for the real reason he had contacted Wu.
He was still hoping Wu could help him procure a weapon—something serious.
After a moment of hesitation, Wu lowered his voice.
"If you really need... that kind of item, I might know someone. But the price won't be cheap."
Leo nodded. That was expected.
"Money's not a problem—as long as the quality's top-tier."
Wu let out a relaxed laugh.
"In that case, I'll arrange a meeting. I'll contact you in three days with the details."