America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

The next morning, Natalie Burns stood at the entrance of Greenbit Light Meal Restaurant, heartbroken as she looked at the shards of tempered glass scattered on the ground.

Two beautifully designed promotional posters, one reading "Sustainable Lifestyle" and the other "Respect the Earth's Meal," were carelessly tossed on the floor, covered in dirty footprints.

Looking further inside, the double-door refrigerator was half-closed. The cold-brewed organic beverages, premium fresh fruits, and imported chicken breasts inside had all been looted, and the cashier and wine cabinet next to it were completely empty, as if they had been swept away by a typhoon.

Ironically, several of the signature vegetable salad light meals, priced at $18 each, remained untouched in their original places in the temperature-controlled display case.

It seems the intruders last night had absolutely no interest in these bright green "health foods".

A shop assistant approached Natalie and reported to the director in a low voice:

"The store's security cameras have captured the perpetrators' appearance. Someone recognized them as several gangsters from the nearby neighborhood."

This result was not surprising at all. After all, Jamal and his gang had recently wreaked havoc on countless low-rise shops in the vicinity.

Natalie turned pale with anger and blurted out a curse instinctively:

"Those damn South District thugs..."

But before he could utter the remaining words, he swallowed them back down.

Because a large crowd of onlookers had already gathered around the street corner, and some people were even taking out their phones to film.

Since its opening, Greenbit Light Meal Restaurant has been actively promoting "building a healthy and inclusive community" and "understanding and respecting vulnerable groups".

If the restaurant owner were to use racially charged language to verbally abuse a few thugs in the street simply because they experienced a free purchase, then the restaurant's carefully cultivated image of "community justice" would instantly crumble.

At this moment, Olivia, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, also arrived at the shop's entrance. After seeing the mess, this usually composed environmental leader also looked grave.

"Have the specific losses been tallied yet?" Olivia asked, taking a deep breath.

"Including the smashed glass doors and equipment, the total direct losses exceed $5000."

Natalie gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath.

"The surveillance footage shows there were six intruders in total! That's less than the $950 filing threshold per person. The LAPD operator even told us to handle the claim with our insurance companies ourselves!"

Under the protection of California's bizarre Proposition 47, police often don't bother to commit officers to arrest individuals who make zero-dollar purchases of less than $950.

Jamal, having spent years on the streets, was well aware of the legal loopholes involved.

Therefore, each time they committed a crime as a group, they would precisely control what each person took, turning this crime into a "procurement method" with almost zero cost.

Natalie pulled Olivia to a corner in the blind spot of the bar's security cameras and whispered a suggestion:

"Could we use your media partners to make our voice heard? We could say that the reason our shop was maliciously broken into is definitely related to Rongding Pavilion across the street!"

"You mean, you're forcibly pinning the blame on Rongding Pavilion?" Olivia frowned.

"That's right! It's precisely because Rongding Pavilion sells cheap junk food every day that our community has been taken over by low-income criminals, leading to a sharp deterioration in public security..."

"No!"

Olivia interrupted him without hesitation, explaining sternly:

"From our public standpoint, we absolutely cannot make any statements that stigmatize low-income groups! If we blame the deteriorating security situation on the indigenous people of the South District, our political stance will become extremely awkward, and we might even face condemnation from equality organizations!"

After all, Olivia's "Blue Lung Project" at USC focuses on the health of low-income groups and guides them to change their habits of eating high-salt, high-fat, and other junk foods.

That's why she chose to collaborate deeply with Greenbit Light Meal Restaurant, aiming to make the restaurant a benchmark project for attracting low-income groups to adopt healthy eating habits.

However, ideals are often grand, while reality is often harsh.

Despite the efforts of light meal restaurants to control costs, a "vegetable salad light meal" is still priced at as high as $18.

In contrast, those working in the lower classes who do heavy manual labor such as delivery drivers, couriers, and warehouse workers clearly prefer fried chicken and fries, which can provide a lot of calories and salt for around $10.

For them, light meals are not only expensive and unpalatable, but most importantly, they simply cannot withstand the energy expenditure of working!

So ever since the Rongding Pavilion across the street launched its "$1 snacks" series, Greenbit's business has been declining and has become almost deserted.

Store manager Natalie had hoped to use Olivia's environmental organization to force the Rongding Pavilion across the street to close down completely.

As a result, the lower-end customers who were originally taken away by Rongding Pavilion had no choice but to turn to the light food restaurants here.

However, this sudden free purchase has made matters worse for the restaurant, which was already in financial crisis.

Although Natalie understood that Olivia's concerns about "political correctness" were valid, she couldn't help but complain as she looked at the long line opposite her:

"Are we just going to stand by and watch them laugh at us? If we're the ones who end up closing down, your campus issues will become a complete laughingstock, won't they?"

Olivia fell silent. She keenly sensed that things were gradually slipping out of her control.

She originally thought that as long as the management pressured the restaurant and the surrounding shops and communities filed a joint complaint, Rongdingge, a small restaurant with no background, would soon be unable to withstand the pressure and have to close down.

Unexpectedly, the health bureau only sent two people to walk around the site and, after confirming the newly installed smoke extraction equipment, they never followed up.

What shocked her even more was that news came early this morning that Sister Soto, the most respected person in the community and head of the "House of Blessings," had actually withdrawn her signature from the "Joint Complaint Letter"!

Following this, several physical stores next to Rongding Pavilion also changed their tune, stating that the air quality had greatly improved in the past two days, and the queuing and obstruction of the road had also significantly improved, and they were prepared to stop their complaints against Rongding Pavilion.

Clearly, it was Rongdingge's young new boss who, through some means, precisely divided and undermined her popular support!

It's even possible that the zero-dollar purchase that this light meal restaurant experienced last night was really the work of that Mr. Chen!

Although Olivia had already given Chen Yuan enough attention, she only realized at this moment that she had still seriously underestimated him.

So she took a deep breath and reassured Natalie:

"Don't worry, since conventional complaints won't work, let's use more drastic measures. I've found absolute evidence enough to ignite public opinion and completely ruin Rongdingge's reputation overnight!"

……

Around noon, long queues formed again at the snack stalls outside Rongding Pavilion.

While waiting in line for their food, people also stared curiously at the light meal restaurant across the street with its shattered entrance. Undisguised snickers occasionally broke the silence from the crowd.

"I knew it, that grass shop across the street would get smashed up sooner or later."

"Exactly! That shop owner is a ruthless scoundrel!"

Immediately, an old black man echoed,

"A vegetable salad with a few leaves and a little free-range chicken breast, and she dares to sell it for $18! Why doesn't she just rob a bank?"

"You don't understand, that's called a healthy diet. The ingredients are all organic vegetables, and they say eating it every day can help you live to 80!"

"Bullshit! I couldn't even last eight days eating that little bit of grass!"

Listening to the diners' sarcastic remarks, Su Nian and Hu Dan, who were busy at the window, couldn't help but smile at each other.

Thanks to the new, powerful exhaust system installed in the kitchen, the classic and popular snack, "Teppanyaki Squid," has finally been fully reinstated.

As a result, the number of diners queuing up to buy the food was nearly double that of usual.

Although the unique barbecue aroma can no longer be smelled in the street air, the taste of the grilled squid itself remains unchanged.

Perhaps because the sudden suspension of sales had whetted everyone's appetite, the legendary "revenge spending" actually occurred this time.

Many customers, even after finishing several skewers of grilled squid, still felt unsatisfied and turned back to the end of the line to prepare for another round.

When the store closed for inventory at night, Su Nian found over $500 in cash of various denominations in her tip box!

Even Emily, who was in charge of the dining area, and Yang Qiu, the newcomer, benefited from the situation and each received a substantial tip of nearly two hundred dollars.

Just as Su Nian skillfully took out a third of the tip, preparing to hand it to Hu Dan, she saw Hu Dan holding her phone and saying anxiously:

"Su Nian! Something terrible has happened! Photos of you selling fried chicken have suddenly appeared on USC's campus community forum! And they're clear photos of your face without a mask!"