He Runya's return did not interrupt the denunciations of Hongbin Tower in the private dining room.
Xiao Weijin's words seemed to have lit a fuse, striking a chord with even more people.
"A new owner? Looks like the same old thing under a different name to me! They're all in it together, every last one of them rotten!" Xiao Weijin grew even more worked up.
Wang Xiaoliang could not listen any longer. He set down his chopsticks with a soft clink.
"Xiao Weijin, don't spout nonsense when you don't know the facts."
At that, Xiao Weijin immediately slammed his teacup onto the table, splashing tea out of it.
"Wang Xiaoliang, how am I spouting nonsense? The facts are right in front of us! I came here before graduation, and this same soy-braised beef was sixty-eight yuan! Now look at the menu. Ninety-eight! That's thirty yuan more! Tell me, if that isn't rotten, what is?"
He paused, his voice growing louder, as though he were laying out evidence in court.
"Ninety-eight is a rip-off, but does that mean sixty-eight wasn't? How much is a serving of red-braised beef in the student cafeteria? Charging sixty-eight-where's his conscience?"
His words drew another chorus of agreement.
"Exactly! Students' money is the easiest to make, but they're the last people you should be making money off!"
"That price is outrageous."
Wang Xiaoliang was about to explain the costs Zhou Qiang had mentioned to him when Li Lanxiang's cold voice rang out beside him again.
"Wasn't that sixty-eight-yuan serving of soy-braised beef much bigger than what's on this plate now? And wasn't the meat much better than this so-called 'premium' stuff?"
Xiao Weijin's expression changed instantly. He had not expected Li Lanxiang to contradict him directly, let alone in such specific terms.
Li Lanxiang gave him