America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Not long after Blackie and Old Mo left, it was time for Rongdingge Chinese Restaurant to close.

The owner, Huang Fugui, wanted to sell more fried chicken to make up for the losses caused by the sluggish dine-in business.

But it was already past 8 p.m. If it got any later, it wouldn't be safe for Su Nian, Hu Dan, and the other waitresses to walk alone at night. He didn't want to be liable for workers' compensation if something happened to them on the way.

Hu Dan and Su Nian changed their clothes and left the restaurant. Seeing that there were still many pedestrians on the road, they hurriedly rushed back to their rented apartment.

Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't far away; it was only a 10-20 minute walk home.

They weren't originally going in the same direction. A few days ago, Hu Dan's roommate graduated and went back to China, so she persuaded Su Nian to move in with her. This would reduce the rent burden and give her some company.

As soon as they left the restaurant, Hu Dan suddenly asked:

"Did you keep all the money in that tip box?"

The United States has a tipping culture. Especially for professions like waiters and waitresses, tips can sometimes exceed their base salary.

Therefore, although Su Nian only sells fried chicken snacks at the window, she can still receive generous tips from generous customers.

To make it easier for customers to pay, Mr. Huang specially placed a tip box next to the window.

There have been quite a few customers queuing up to buy fried chicken these past two days, so Hu Dan thought Su Nian must have made a fortune, and her tone was slightly envious.

But to everyone's surprise, Su Nian shook her head bitterly and said:

"The boss said that since the window doesn't offer dine-in service, the tips are considered extra revenue for the restaurant. He would just take the boxes away before closing time every day."

"He took all the money inside? How could he do that?!"

Upon hearing Su Nian's words, Hu Dan's envy vanished instantly, replaced by anger and sympathy.

"You're so busy you don't even have time to go to the bathroom, and he's still trying to steal your rightful tip? That's illegal!"

Su Nian sighed, lowered her head, and said nothing.

As a recent international student from China, she didn't have a concrete understanding of the unspoken rules of tipping in America when she first started working at the store.

So when the owner, Mr. Wong, asked to take the tips from the customers, she agreed without much hesitation, taking it as a restaurant rule.

It was only through conversations with other waiters that she belatedly realized that tips were the main source of their income.

However, by then it was too late to ask Boss Huang for the tip back.

"So, you're currently earning a fixed wage of just a few dollars an hour while doing the most strenuous work?"

After hearing Su Nian's explanation, Hu Dan found it hard to believe.

"That's all we can do for now. Anyway, I don't plan to work in the shop for long."

Su Nian, on the contrary, began to comfort Hu Dan:

"Sharing an apartment with you has already saved me a lot on rent. If I just hang in there for another month, I can earn enough for living expenses this semester."

"With that meager fixed salary, barely a thousand dollars a month, how could that possibly be enough in Los Angeles... That scumbag is truly heartless!"

Just as Hu Dan was cursing the boss for being heartless.

At the back door of Rongdingge restaurant, Huang Fugui was directing Lao Ma to unload ingredients from a refrigerated truck.

Because the snack stalls have been unexpectedly busy these past few days, the leftover scraps from Rongdingge's kitchen are far from enough.

So Mr. Huang tried every means to buy this batch of frozen goods at a low price from restaurant owners he knew in the area.

However, Lao Ma felt something was off while he was moving the goods.

Although he has been in America for many years, his English has always been terrible.

However, he can still recognize some basic Arabic numerals and date words.

Therefore, he soon discovered that the frozen chicken legs and wings that the boss had received had expiration dates on the packaging boxes that were basically less than one or two weeks away from expiring!

Processing and selling food nearing its expiration date is a serious violation, not only in the United States but in most countries around the world.

If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finds out, it's no joke; you could face hefty fines or even business shutdowns.

Old Ma was an undocumented immigrant, and if the restaurant were shut down, he would be implicated as well. Therefore, he couldn't help but lower his voice to remind Boss Huang:

"Boss, this batch of goods... it looks like it's about to expire!"

Boss Huang scoffed at Old Ma's concerns, giving a cold snort:

"What do you know? This is called cost reduction and efficiency improvement! Besides, it's nearing its expiration date, not expired. Our fried snacks are so popular; with the current customer traffic, we can sell this entire batch in two or three days."

After hearing what Boss Huang said, Old Ma didn't dare to argue anymore.

The reason why Boss Huang dared to do this was naturally because he had the confidence to do so.

This isn't the first time Rongdingge has purchased such inexpensive, near-expiry frozen meat.

All these years, there has never been a problem.

Deep-fried foods are already quite flavorful, and with the chef's secret spicy seasoning, most people simply can't tell the difference between good and bad quality meat.

Moreover, being close to the expiration date doesn't mean it's expired. As long as it's fried thoroughly, there's no need to worry about it causing anyone's death.

Seeing Old Ma's still worried expression, Boss Huang's eyes darted around, and he suddenly said:

"Old Ma, how long have you been working at our restaurant?"

"It's been almost three years."

Old Ma's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that because he had talked too much, the boss found him annoying and didn't want him to work anymore?

But to his surprise, Boss Huang patted him on the shoulder, put on a gentle smile, and continued:

"Three years is a long time. Even if you haven't achieved anything great, you've certainly put in a lot of hard work. Here's what we'll do: keep up the good work! Starting next month, your hourly wage will increase by $1."

Upon hearing this, Lao Ma felt as if his heart had instantly soared from the bottom of the valley to the clouds, and his previously exhausted body seemed to be filled with renewed energy!

"Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!"

Old Ma bowed repeatedly, his eyes welling up with tears of emotion, and the little worry in his heart vanished.

Anyway, it's just some chicken that's nearing its expiration date. As long as it hasn't spoiled, it won't kill anyone!

Seeing that Old Ma's movements had become much faster, Boss Huang nodded in satisfaction, then leaned closer and said:

"Don't think I'm stingy, Lao Huang. There are countless undocumented immigrants like you in all of Los Angeles."

As he spoke, Boss Huang's voice gradually turned cold:

"So, keep your mouth shut. If you don't want to do this job, plenty of others will be eager to do it! Understand?"

"Understood! Understood! I absolutely won't say another word!"

The next morning.

When Chef Cao saw the thawed chicken wings and drumsticks, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

Having been a chef for so many years, he can tell the freshness and quality of ingredients just by handling them.

He picked up a chicken leg, held it to his nose, and smelled it. He frowned slightly, but fortunately, the problem wasn't too serious.

Although the meat will definitely be dry, you can't really taste anything wrong with it.

After hesitating for a moment, Lao Cao began marinating the ingredients with a blank expression.

Although what the boss did was really unethical, he did pay the boss a decent salary every month, and as an employee, he didn't want to cause any trouble and ruin his job.

What's more, he plans to make more money while he's young so he can bring his wife and kids to America!

An hour later, the ingredients marinated with Lao Cao's secret, heavily seasoned sauce were delivered one after another to the snack window where Su Nian was.

After all, making and selling fresh is the main feature of "$1 Fried Chicken". Customers feel more at ease eating the chicken wings and drumsticks as they watch them tumble in the boiling oil.

As the enticing aroma began to spread, long queues formed outside the snack stalls as noon approached.

The number of customers dining in has increased somewhat, but it is still significantly less popular than in the past.

Chen Yuan had just finished serving dishes to a table of guests when he was suddenly called aside by Boss Huang.

"Xiao Chen, you should know that business at the store hasn't been good lately."

Although Boss Huang appeared amiable and sincere, the red information panel that suddenly popped up on his forehead completely exposed his true thoughts.

[Target: Huang Fugui, 58 years old, owner of Rongdingge Chinese Restaurant in South Los Angeles]

[Recent criminal acts: Maliciously withholding employee tips and wages. Purchasing large quantities of near-expiry frozen ingredients at low prices to produce fried snacks for sale to the public in pursuit of exorbitant profits.]

Chen Yuan knew that Boss Huang had embezzled Su Nian's tip.

But who is this unfortunate soul whose wages were maliciously withheld?

Boss Huang's next words immediately provided the answer:

"So I'm thinking of reducing your hourly wage by $1 this month. After all, the store hasn't been very busy lately, and you're doing pretty well standing here, right?"

Seeing that Chen Yuan didn't speak, Boss Huang patted him on the shoulder with a fake smile:

"Don't worry, this is just a temporary cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measure! Once business picks up again, I'll add that dollar back to your account immediately. You definitely won't lose out!"

Watching Boss Huang's departing figure, Chen Yuan's eyes slowly narrowed.

He knew it very well. Although the food business hadn't been as good as before these past few days, the fried snacks had made Boss Huang a fortune.

After all, he was using leftover scraps from the kitchen, so the cost was almost zero.

Moreover, the tips Su Nian receives every day are not a small amount.

After all, many diners come because of the "Fried Chicken Beauty" reputation and are very generous with tips, all of which go into Boss Huang's pocket.

But he was still not satisfied, and dared to use near-expiry ingredients on a large scale in order to save money!

Normally, if it were just these kinds of shady dealings, Chen Yuan wouldn't bother with them.

As long as he gets paid on time, even if Huang Yaoshi sells the poison to Americans, he'll just watch the show with a cold eye.

But what he shouldn't have done was that this old fox actually deducted a dollar from his hourly wage.

This is absolutely intolerable!