Chapter 12 Passing The Buck

Suzette and Jeremy lost even more respect for Tyler looking at how he only bothered eating and not socializing.

“Heh, you don’t have to eat like a pig even if Hammy is paying for it. Look at you, you are eating the portion of a few of us combined!” Suzette complained.

“Tyler, no one’s going to take your food, eat slowly,” advised Jeremy.

Tyler stopped eating as he was really irritated. In fact, he did not eat much, but they were only making so much noise because they disliked him.

“Hey, don’t worry man. I can afford this.” Graham sniggered.

Everyone finished eating after half an hour.

“Can we have the bill, please,” Susan ordered. She insisted on paying as the host or it would be embarrassing otherwise.

“Aunt Susan, come on, I got this.” Graham retrieved his wallet.

“How can we make you pay? I’m not as rich as you are but I can still afford to treat you to a meal.” Susan insisted and asked the waitress, “How much is it?”

The waitress answered, “Madam, the total is 138,200 bucks. We’re giving you a 200 bucks discount, so that makes 138,000.”

“How...much?” Susan’s face turned purple like aubergines and almost had a heart attack.

“That’s 138,000.”

“That can’t be it, you must have made a mistake.” Susan trembled along with everyone else except Tyler.

She had expected the bill to only be a few thousand bucks, but it turned out to be more than a hundred thousand?!

“Madam, let me explain. Goose barnacle is an extremely expensive ingredient. Every kilogram costs more than ten thousand and we charge 12,000 per plate of goose barnacle. On top of everything else in your order, that makes 138,000. You may check the bill.” The waitress handed the bill over.

What she said was true and the bill was correct. They had indeed ordered food worth more than a hundred thousand!

Susan was glued to her chair without making a sound. Life was already tough, how could they possibly afford a meal worth more than a hundred thousand?

Graham was also dumbfounded since he offered to pay for the meal pridefully after all.

Tiffany’s pupil could not dilate any wider as she regretted her decision to order ten plates of goose barnacles. Otherwise, their meal would only cost a few thousand which Graham could still afford.

“So, who shall pick up the bill?” asked the waitress patiently.

Susan dared not make a sound. She would rather be embarrassed and not paying than picking up a bill she could never afford.

Tyler, on the other hand, was silently celebrating the looks on their faces. ‘Look what you got yourself into…’

“Mom, I have 60,000 here, how much do you have?” Ramona then offered. This was the money she had saved through careful and prudent spending. Though reluctant, she saw no other way but to offer her help.

“Ramona, I only have a few thousand…” Susan whispered.

“Ramona, Mom, don’t worry. Graham earns 200,000 annually. He’s loaded,” said Tyler.

Graham wanted nothing more but for Tyler to be dead.

What the heck… Who would have known a loser like him could be this cunning?

Susan nodded her head really hard. It was probably the first time she ever agreed with Tyler.

“Brother, I heard you’re paying for the meal and you can afford to feed me, is that right?” Tyler teased.

“Yes, that’s right.” A word mentioned was a promise made. Though Graham was extremely unhappy about that decision, he could only admit it. He handed the waitress his bank card and said, “Take it!”

“Of course, sir,” answered the waitress as she swiped his card on the point-of-sale terminal.

Unfortunately, the transaction could not be completed as his funds were insufficient.

“Sir, your funds are currently at 130,200. We are leaving 200 on your card for you to grab a cab. Please find another way to settle the remaining 8,000.” Although the waitress sounded polite, there was contempt in her eyes as she was already annoyed earlier when Graham boasted.

With that, Graham wanted nothing more but to disappear before the strange look in everyone’s eyes. He never expected the meal would cost this much. He thought he could be a hero who came to the rescue. However, not only did he lose his face this time but had also lost a lot of money.

“Go ahead.” He painfully consented as he entered his pin number to approve of the 130,000 transactions and was left with 200 bucks.

Tyler was still celebrating the sight. It was not because he owned the restaurant that he had not asked for a free meal, but to give Graham a lesson.

The waitress was oblivious to the fact that Tyler was the owner, so she still had to ask for the remaining payment of 8,000.

“So, how shall we settle the 8,000 bucks?” asked the waitress politely.

“I’ve got it.” Ramona offered and was activating her phone payment application.

“Ramona, I’ll handle this,” Tyler gently assured her and retrieved his bank card.

Butler Quaid had disabled his bank card but he managed to apply for another one and deposited 45 million into it.

“Ay, don’t cause any more troubles.” Ramona hopelessly shook her head as she did not expect Tyler to even have 8,000 bucks in his savings.

“Screw you! You only offer to pay after Graham has settled the big chunk of it!” Suzette glared at Tyler.

“That’s right, how disgusting… Where were you when we needed someone to pay 130,000 bucks just now? And suddenly you’re enthusiastic about footing the bill!” Tiffany was obviously sour about it.

Their reaction was a melody in Tyler’s ears. “Very well, you can have it.”

“So be it! We’ve paid 130,000. The remaining 8,000 is nothing!” Tiffany growled as she retrieved 8,000 in cash to pay.

Truth be told, she was deeply hurt as the meal had amounted to more than Graham’s half-year income. She was even more upset by how much Graham boasted about his wealth and savings. In the end, they had to pay the bill with 130,000 from his savings.

“Madam, would you like to take away the remaining seven plates of goose barnacles?” the waitress asked Tiffany.

Graham looked at those seven plates of untouched goose barnacles on the table and was fuming from within. Those freaking crustaceans cost him 84,000!

“Tiffy, let’s take it away so you can enjoy them at home,” advised Graham hastily.

“Take your grandmother’s foot! Graham you hypocritical bastard! Didn’t you say you have a few hundred thousand in your savings?! Why did you have to boast?!” Tiffany’s nose was almost out of joint.

Not only did Graham spend all one hundred thirty thousand of his savings, but was also shamed in front of everybody. The worst was being despised by Tiffany. All he wanted to do now was to bang his head against a wall.

“Tiffy, let me explain. My finances have been tight from renovating the house.”

“Quit lying. The renovation did not cost that much.” Tiffany was not convinced.

Suzette and Jeremy quickly moderated their quarrels, so did Susan and Ramona. However, Tiffany’s anger could not be quenched.

In the midst of that chaos, Susan could not help but vent on Tyler.

“Look at your useless self! We’re the host and we should be paying! If you could contribute to the bill, none of this would’ve happened!”

Tyler was stunned, speechless, and could only bow to his mother-in-law’s unreasonableness.

She was the queen of buck-passing.

“Mom, they complained about the Sichuan restaurant and insisted on coming to this seafood restaurant. On top of that, Tiffany who was the one who ordered those goose barnacles while Graham offered to pay. You can’t blame Tyler for this,” defended Ramona.

“Why are you still defending this useless piece of sh*t?! You…” Susan tried to calm herself down by patting her chest.

“That’s right, why are you still standing up for him? All he knows is to eat!” Tiffany puffed.

Her words really pissed Ramona off. Who did Tiffany think she was? Tiffany had no right to lecture her about her husband regardless of how useless he was!

“Although he’s poor, he’s humble and not hypocritical. He treats me well, Tiffany.” Ramona’s glance met Tyler’s.

Tyler felt warm when his wife publicly defended him.

“What’s the use of being humble? He’s as poor as a church mouse! Who had to get the bill in the end? Us!” Tiffany growled unwillingly.

“Alright, Tiffy. We spent money to treat Aunt Susan and Ramona for a meal. Tyler only tagged along since he’s an adopted son-in-law after all.”

Graham had been pissed by Tyler for the whole day and was even more pissed after being humiliated by the bill! What could make him feel better than venting on Tyler?

Susan was left speechless. She had completely lost face today. Although it was an embarrassing incident for Graham, at least he footed the 130,000-bill. Unlike her son-in-law who did not even pay a single cent.

Ramona was also speechless. She could only bitterly smile at Tyler and shook her head as Graham and Tiffany did foot the bill after all.

Tyler could not stand seeing Ramona feeling helpless.

“Ramona, we’ll foot the bill today. Let’s not make poor fags pay for our meal. They still have to go on with life…” Tyler suddenly spoke before looking at Ramona and continued, “It’s quite pitiful that they spent all their savings on this meal.”

“What are you talking about? You’ll foot the bill? Very well, claim back our money and pay for it!” Tiffany laughed.

“Tiffy, you actually believed his words? If he can afford it, I’ll crawl and roll out of here,” scoffed Graham.

“Alright, you said it.” Tyler proceeded to call for the waitress, “Hey, please get Miss Tanner from the Finance Department to refund one hundred and thirty thousand to Mr. Lawson.”

“Sure, sir. I’ll go check with her.” The waitress nodded and was obviously confused but still headed to the Finance Department.

Graham and Tiffany were stunned for a while before bursting out in laughter. “Haha! That’s funny! Why would their Finance Department take orders from you?”

Tiffany was particularly entertained.