America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

In the photo, Su Nian is handing a plate of freshly fried chicken to a customer. Her temperament is naturally aloof, but the smile she wears for work, combined with the soft lighting, makes her look like the pure, innocent beauty of her student days.

Judging from the watermark on the photo, it was probably taken by a Chinese blogger who was traveling in Los Angeles, and the time was during the first two days when Su Nian started selling fried chicken.

After all, the number of people queuing back then was far less than it is now, so it wasn't difficult to find a good angle to take a clear photo of someone's face.

It was precisely because of the online promotion by these food bloggers that Su Nian was able to become a well-known "fried chicken beauty" in this neighborhood, bringing a continuous flow of customers to Rongding Pavilion.

However, this also created a hidden danger for the exposure of her identity.

"What should we do now?" Hu Dan asked anxiously. "There are already comments under this photo saying that she is an international student at USC."

Chen Yuan also found the original post on his phone. In the comments section below, many netizens were already engaged in a heated discussion:

"So the fried chicken beauty is actually a USC student?"

"International students hold F1 visas, aren't they not allowed to work off-campus?"

"I've heard that small restaurants in Los Angeles pay extremely low wages. Isn't that exploitation of immigrant workers?"

"That girl is really pretty, I wonder what she's majoring in?"

At this moment, Su Nian's face also turned somewhat pale, and she subconsciously asked:

"Brother Chen, how about I not come to work at the store for the next few days?"

Chen Yuan knew that Su Nian didn't want to cause trouble for the restaurant. But he also knew very well that in the United States, where people were good at using public opinion to crush their opponents, simply running away would only hasten their demise.

Even Hu Dan retorted, "Tomorrow, some bored students will definitely come to the store to verify. If they find you suddenly gone, wouldn't that be a guilty conscience, directly confirming that you were working illegally?"

Emily frowned and analyzed, "It's definitely that environmental organization's doing! They've been causing us trouble, and now they're trying to use online doxxing to force us to close down!"

Upon hearing the news, Old Ma was so frightened that he paced back and forth on the spot:

"Oh no! If this gets blown up online, the immigration authorities will definitely come knocking! Should I take a few days off too?"

Only then did Chen Yuan, who had been silent all along, slowly raise his head:

"The most dangerous thing now is not the photo itself. It's that after seeing some people's leading comments, the public has already prejudicially accepted the premise that Su Nian's presence in the restaurant is equivalent to her working illegally."

After hearing his analysis, Su Nian's expression turned even more unpleasant.

However, Chen Yuan then added:

"So, not only do you have to be at the store on time tomorrow, but you also have to confidently remove your mask and directly face the public's questions!"

"Doesn't that mean admitting she's working illegally?"

Hu Dan was completely baffled by Chen Yuan's unconventional thinking.

"Who says that just because an international student is in a restaurant, they're necessarily selling their labor to earn money?"

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Chen Yuan explained:

"Since some people want to label Su Nian as an illegal international student, let's forcibly assign her a flawless new identity before the immigration authorities even come knocking!"

He turned to look at Su Nian: "I remember your major was journalism and media, right?"

Su Nian nodded blankly. Her family had heard that USC's journalism program was among the best in the US and highly beneficial for career development after graduation, so they gritted their teeth and scraped together money to support her studies in this expensive major.

Chen Yuan pressed further, "So, do you have accounts on TT or other mainstream social media platforms?"

"Yes, I do have a registered account. But I'm busy with part-time jobs to earn a living, so I don't have time to manage it at all," Su Nian answered honestly.

"That was before. With social media accounts, things are much simpler!"

Chen Yuan nodded in satisfaction and said decisively:

"From this moment forward, you are no longer a waiter at Rongding Pavilion. You are a student content creator conducting in-depth sociological research, specifically documenting the food culture and community conflicts of the lower class in South Los Angeles!"

Chen Yuan finished speaking in one breath, using a long and complicated sentence composed of a lot of professional terms, leaving the people in front of him momentarily stunned.

After a long while, Su Nian was the first to react, still somewhat puzzled, and asked:

"You want to become a food blogger?"

Chen Yuan nodded approvingly: "That's one way to understand it. But what you're filming is far more than just documenting food. You need to explore the living conditions of ordinary American communities, and even the dietary ethics of the homeless, from a broader academic perspective."

"In America, as long as you stand on the moral high ground of 'academic research' and 'humanistic concern,' no immigration agent will use rigid immigration law to deport you."

After saying that, Chen Yuan decisively waved his hand:

"Now, your first field research and filming assignment begins. Bring your equipment and come with us to a nearby welfare center to truthfully document the most authentic dinner times of homeless people in America's underprivileged."

Half an hour later.

Chen Yuan and his group once again brought several large insulated boxes to the front of the nearby "Blessing Home" secondhand store.

Unlike yesterday when there were only three people, Su Nian and Hu Dan joined the delivery team tonight. Even the newcomer Yang Qiu volunteered to help, so they brought significantly more fresh fried chicken than last night.

Sister Soto smiled with relief upon seeing Chen Yuan return as promised.

This shows that Chen Yuan's previous promises were not empty words; he was genuinely taking concrete actions to do community service.

After a brief greeting and pleasantries, Chen Yuan politely requested of Sister Soto:

"Sister, we'd like to document tonight's charity event on camera and post it on the university's academic network for publicity and research. This would not only attract more social attention to our South Campus's charitable work, but also serve as authentic material for my classmate's journalism project. What do you think?"

Sister Soto nodded without hesitation: "Charity should be seen by more people. If proper publicity can improve your restaurant's business and help this diligent student, then please feel free to take pictures."

Having obtained permission from the person in charge, Chen Yuan no longer stood on ceremony and immediately had Lao Ma set up the tripod and mobile phone, ready to start recording the video.

"Brother Chen... how should I put it?"

Although she studied journalism at USC, Su Nian had no prior experience in conducting documentary reporting in front of a camera, so she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"It's very simple. You don't need to deliberately deny the rumors about illegal work on the internet. Instead, you can directly show the audience that you are documenting, from a scholar's perspective, how an ordinary Chinese restaurant in America is giving back to the underprivileged."

"The key point is that what we are doing is providing hot meals to the homeless. Then we elevate it to a social rights movement against class-based food exploitation."

Su Nian closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and quickly integrated the logical framework that Chen Yuan had just taught her with the theories she had learned in class.

When she opened her eyes again and looked at Chen Yuan, her previously timid gaze had become firm enough.

"Brother Chen, I'm ready!"

-----------------

It was late at night.

After completing the meal delivery event at "Blessing House," Chen Yuan, Su Nian, Hu Dan, and Emily rushed back to the store and used the office computer to professionally edit the video footage they had filmed.

Although it was Su Nian's first time officially appearing on camera and leading a discussion, she had, after all, studied professional courses.

She not only quickly overcame her nervousness, but her body language and delivery of lines in front of the camera also became more and more natural.

Moreover, her excellent memory and outstanding logical comprehension ability were also fully demonstrated in the video.

Chen Yuan only provided a general outline, and she was able to immediately combine the actual video footage with her own ideas to perfectly express some viewpoints that were easy to resonate with the public.

Looking at the final short video, Emily couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"Xiao Su, your intellectual image and temperament are even more distinctive than those Hollywood pretty-boy stars! I bet once this video is released, it will make you a complete internet sensation!"

Su Nian couldn't help but smile wryly: "I don't dare to hope for it to become popular. I just hope that the audience can believe what I say in the video."

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems!"

Chen Yuan operated his phone for a while, using Su Nian's TT account to post the newly edited public service short video, and then forwarded it to the USC campus community forum.

"As long as you keep updating these 'social research' videos, people won't think of you as an illegal international student working undocumented."

"They will only see a young observer who, as a student, intervenes in reality and continuously documents the underprivileged life of South Los Angeles!"