America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Watching Jamal, the black man, angrily turn and leave with a bag of fried chicken wings, Chen Yuan remained calm.

It was quickly past eight o'clock in the evening, and Rongding Pavilion officially closed. Hu Dan and Su Nian, who lived further away, left first after cleaning.

Chen Yuan then stopped Emily and Lao Ma from the kitchen and asked them to pack up all the leftover fried chicken, fries, and other snacks from today and put them into several insulated cardboard boxes.

"Boss, why should we give this food away for free?"

Emily walked behind Chen Yuan carrying a cardboard box, unable to help but mutter a complaint under her breath.

She should have been attending evening classes at the performing arts school at this time. If it weren't for the overtime pay, she wouldn't have accepted this meaningless temporary job.

"Because the person we are going to visit has a high reputation in the surrounding community."

Chen Yuan walked ahead carrying two boxes of fried chicken, explaining without turning his head:

"Her name was listed first on the joint complaint letter from the community and businesses. So we had to persuade her to change her mind and withdraw her signature."

"Just relying on these leftover fried chickens?"

Emily pursed her lips, thinking that although the boss was good at fighting, he was too stingy when it came to human relationships.

If she were to ask for help, she would at least need to prepare an exquisite high-end fruit basket, or simply offer a thick shopping card.

If you try to beg someone for leftovers, you're lucky if you don't get kicked out.

The "Blessing Home" secondhand store that Chen Yuan was looking for wasn't far away. The three of them walked for less than ten minutes and saw its sign at the intersection of a small alley.

Only half of the original neon lights were still lit, and although it was already dark, a long queue had formed in front of the secondhand shop.

However, these people were not shopping; instead, they were holding worn-out plates and waiting expectantly for a relief dinner.

A woman in her forties was distributing cold, hard bread to the homeless. When she saw Chen Yuan and the others walking over with insulated boxes, her eyes clearly showed surprise and wariness.

"Good evening, Sister Soto. I am the manager of the nearby Rongding Pavilion restaurant."

Chen Yuan stepped forward and, without any preamble, went straight to the point, stating his purpose:

"The store has prepared some extra fresh hot food that hasn't sold tonight. I heard that you've been dedicated to community relief, so I brought it over hoping to make a small contribution to the community."

After saying that, without waiting for a response, Chen Yuan gestured to Lao Ma and Emily to place the insulated boxes they were carrying on the party table by the door.

A moment later, a rich, oily aroma filled the air, drawing eager glances from the homeless people queuing up.

Sister Soto looked at the steaming food in front of her and shook her head helplessly.

"You must be Mr. Chen from Rongding Pavilion? Thank you so much for your kindness."

Chen Yuan smiled nonchalantly and said sincerely:

"Sister, our restaurant has always been very supportive of community charities. Just recently, we organized a free meal distribution for the homeless in MacArthur Park."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and showed Sister Soto the photos he had taken the day before when the free meals were being distributed.

Although the event was eventually interrupted by a group of pseudo-environmentalists, and even led to the ICE clearing the area.

The event was initially quite successful; the scene of homeless people lining up to receive meals in the photos was definitely not fake.

Seeing these real photos, Sister Soto's tense expression finally softened considerably.

She sighed and confessed in a low voice:

"I know why you've come, Mr. Chen. A group of university environmental volunteers told me that the snacks you sell are very unhealthy and cause serious oil fume pollution and queue-inducing issues, which seriously affect the community environment. That's why I signed the complaint letter."

Chen Yuan nodded solemnly, while retorting:

"Fried chicken that only costs a few dollars is certainly not organic or absolutely healthy. But compared to the intangible issue of carbon emissions, it allows these poor people with few coins in their pockets to have a hearty meal with meat. Sister, which is more important, survival or the environment?"

At this moment, Emily, who was standing nearby, had already understood and started distributing meal boxes to the homeless people in line.

A black man at the front of the line opened a cardboard box and found that it contained a still-warm Typhoon Shelter fried chicken leg. He was so excited that his hands trembled, and he repeatedly bowed to Emily and Chen Yuan to thank them.

"You're welcome. We also have squid pieces and fries."

As a girl who came to the big city from the countryside of out of state with dreams, but almost starved to death on the streets, Emily has a strong empathy for these homeless people.

She put aside her previous complaints and patiently asked each person who came forward to get their food whether they wanted fried chicken, fries, or hot soup.

From her expressions and actions, it's clear that Emily wasn't putting on a show; she's a genuinely kind-hearted girl.

Seeing that Sister Soto was already moved, Chen Yuan seized the opportunity to say:

"We have installed fume extraction equipment in our store, which has completely solved the air pollution problem."

"Furthermore, starting today, we plan to deliver all the unsold fresh food from the day to you free of charge every evening to help you provide relief to those who are truly in need."

Chen Yuan emphasized that it was "unsold food from that day." This means that the food he delivered was clean, hygienic, and met safety standards, and not any spoiled scraps.

Sister Soto finally became somewhat excited upon hearing Chen Yuan's statement regarding his long-term food sponsorship:

"Mr. Chen, we really need hot meals. Besides the homeless, the community volunteers usually have to rely on cold bread and near-expiry canned food to fill their stomachs."

Chen Yuan smiled and nodded: "No problem. I'll have someone deliver any extra rice and hot soup from the shop in the future."

According to regulations, leftover food from restaurants is not allowed to stay overnight. Donating surplus food to nearby communities for charity is not uncommon in the American food service industry, as long as the food is not spoiled.

The group worked until almost 10 p.m. before the homeless people who came to collect their meals gradually dispersed.

"I will go to the community management office tomorrow to formally withdraw the signatures from the joint complaint letter."

Sister Soto watched the crowd disperse, having eaten and drunk their fill, and whispered to Chen Yuan,

"Your fried chicken is delicious. Although it may not be considered a health food, it is great enough to give these people who have been abandoned by society a fresh and hot meal."

Since it was late and the southern district was unsafe, Chen Yuan offered to drive Emily back to her rented apartment.

After all, Emily's participation in charity work tonight is essentially overtime, and if she encounters any trouble on her way home, he, as her boss, will be held responsible.

Halfway there, seeing the homeless people resting on the ground on both sides of the road, Emily broke the silence with a sigh:

"A few days ago, when all my savings were swindled away, I thought I was the most unlucky and pitiful person in the world."

"But seeing those elderly people living in cardboard boxes today, I suddenly realized that life is actually pretty good now."

Seeing Emily's simple, honest smile, Chen Yuan didn't hold back in reminding her:

"Then you'd better be careful. A large portion of those receiving welfare today once had decent jobs and families."

"They initially fell into that predicament because of an illness, a job loss, or even being scammed. In America, sometimes all it takes is a tiny accident to go from heaven to hell."

Chen Yuan's original intention was to give Emily a warning, to make her give up her unrealistic Hollywood fantasies and honestly work in the restaurant to earn money.

But to everyone's surprise, the girl suddenly stopped, rolled her eyes, turned to look at him, and asked:

"Boss...you must not have a girlfriend, right?"

Chen Yuan was slightly taken aback by this sudden train of thought, and was just about to retort sarcastically.

But then, from the darkness of the street corner not far away, came a sudden "crash" of shattering glass!

The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw several dark figures hurriedly darting out from the smashed glass door of a shop on the side of the road.

In the dim light of the streetlights, you could see the large and small bags that the group of people were carrying, and behind them was a high-end light meal restaurant called "Greenbit".

Clearly, Jamal and his gang have executed a perfect nighttime zero-dollar purchase!

[Ding! Detected that the host used verbal manipulation to guide the Black gang to rob an innocent light-meal restaurant, causing serious damage. Reward: 30 Villain Points.]