America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

"Hello everyone, this is 'Streetscape Video Notes.' I'm Su Nian, a first-year international student at the USC School of Journalism and Communication."

With a brief opening remark, the camera naturally shifted to the group behind Su Nian, following the direction of her finger.

At the same time, Su Nian's standard American English began to play in the narration:

"Recently, I used my vacation to conduct a social practice survey at the Rongding Pavilion restaurant in South Los Angeles. By playing the role of an ordinary restaurant waiter, I observed firsthand the real food culture and survival difficulties of the American underclass."

"I soon discovered that, in addition to traditional fried chicken, hamburgers, and fries, many Americans also crave to try delicious and affordable Eastern snacks. For example, the recently popular grilled squid is a masterpiece created by Mr. Chan, the owner of Rongding Pavilion, to cater to the tastes of the community."

"Boss Chen is also a student at USC. In addition to running the restaurant every day, he is also focused on giving back to the community. Recently, every evening after closing time, he and his employees go to the nearby Blessing Home secondhand store to distribute the fresh food that has not been sold that day to people in the neighborhood who really need help."

The camera smoothly pans forward, revealing food containers bearing the Rong Ding Ge logo. Inside are steaming hot fried chicken, fries, squid pieces, white rice, and hot soup.

"To many people, a plate of fried chicken and a bowl of hot soup may be just ordinary food. But for these homeless people, nighttime community volunteers, and those living on welfare, this may be the only decent hot meal they have today."

Despite their ragged clothes and exhausted expressions, the homeless people in the video still smiled gratefully at the camera as they received the food containers filled with fried chicken.

Clearly, for these marginalized groups abandoned by mainstream society, being able to eat a warm meal at night is the most precious enjoyment of the day.

At the end of the video, Su Nian's cool and intellectual face reappeared on screen.

"What I wanted to capture with this series of shots was not just the food itself, but how an ordinary restaurant in a minority neighborhood continues to provide a touch of real warmth to this fragile community amidst the controversial survival pressures of extreme environmentalism..."

The edited video is only a little over a minute long, but it explains to the audience in a straightforward and powerful way: Su Nian is definitely not an ordinary employee at Rongdingge Restaurant, but a Los Angeles underprivileged ecological observer with a mission of humanistic care.

This video did not go viral instantly on the TT platform, after all, there are many similar grassroots charity shows on the American internet every day.

However, it still attracted considerable attention from students on the USC campus community forums.

Coupled with existing rumors on the forum about "USC female international students working illegally in the South Campus," the comments section under the video quickly filled up with messages from students:

"My God! Is she really doing charity work, or is she working illegally at a restaurant?"

"Using the holidays to film a documentary video at a restaurant in a poor neighborhood as part of a research project—isn't that normal practice at the Annenberg School?"

"Even Sister Soto from the Blessing House in the South District appeared on camera to confirm it! This at least shows that this girl is definitely not just working in the store to earn money."

"Even if you're filming social investigation material, you don't need to stand in the fumes all day selling fried chicken and fries yourself, do you? That's too much of a sacrifice."

Although a few students still have some controversy about Su Nian's excessive immersion in "working life", the vast majority of people still recognize her identity as an "observer of the grassroots ecology".

The main reason is that USC is an expensive private university. Those who can afford to study there come from at least middle-class families. Subconsciously, they don't think any elite from a prestigious university would be so bored as to actually work as a waiter in a restaurant.

In contrast, these hot-blooded college students were more interested in the rumored "fried chicken beauty" herself.

"So the fried chicken beauty is actually a freshman at USC?"

"I've been to that Chinese restaurant before, and the food was indeed very authentic. But when did they start selling fried snacks?"

"Their grilled squid is absolutely delicious! I swear it's the best late-night snack in the South District! I'm going to queue up again tomorrow, and maybe I can get a picture with my pretty classmate!"

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At 10 a.m. the next day, the snack stalls outside Rongding Pavilion opened on time.

As usual, Su Nian was wearing her uniform and focused intently on cooking fried chicken, fries, and grilled squid.

After all, this is how she usually dresses. If she suddenly changed into casual clothes and stood here after the video was released, it would only make it seem like she was trying to cover something up.

The only difference is that she wasn't wearing a mask today, and her beautiful and refined face was on full display to all the diners.

A short while later, a diner who clearly looked like a student approached the window with his phone, excitedly asking for confirmation:

"Hey! I watched the forum video last night! Are you really an international student at USC?"

Su Nian skillfully flipped the squid over while nodding with a smile.

"That's so cool! I'm a student from the School of Mechanical Engineering. Can I take a picture with you?" the boy excitedly raised his phone.

"I'm so sorry, the queue behind us is already quite long. It's best not to inconvenience other guests."

Despite being refused a photo request, the male student still happily bought a serving of fried chicken and two skewers of grilled squid.

Soon, a new comment appeared under Su Nian's TT account, named "Streetscape Image Notes": [This is a comment from someone who visited the area.]

"I've already gone to check! The fried chicken beauty is indeed an international student from USC; she's currently doing research there! Unfortunately, they don't allow photos to be taken to maintain order. But to be honest, their grilled squid is absolutely amazing! I have to go back and queue up again!"

Of course, not all the students who came to watch the drama were well-intentioned.

Around noon, a Caucasian woman with freckles pushed her way to the front of the line. Unceremoniously, she held up her phone and began filming Su Nian's face, loudly demanding:

"Hey student! You're wearing this restaurant's uniform, and you're even doing cooking and cashiering. Aren't you just working here? This is a serious violation of visa regulations!"

The freckled girl clearly had no interest in fried food; she was simply trying to find a flaw in Su Nian's response by constantly questioning her.

Chen Yuan, who had been waiting nearby, strode out and stood directly in front of the window, issuing a stern warning:

"Madam, this is a privately owned business premises. Please stop taking unauthorized photos immediately."

"I'm collecting evidence of illegal and criminal activities!"

The girl, however, showed no fear and instead retorted loudly and confidently.

"She's clearly working illegally here! This is a serious violation of federal immigration regulations, and I can call ICE to report you anytime I want!"

This arrogant threat immediately drew angry stares from the diners queuing around her.

After all, in California, ICE is definitely not a positive image.

In particular, there are quite a few so-called "undocumented immigrants" among the queuing diners.

Suddenly being stared at by so many hostile gazes, the freckled girl finally became a little scared, but she still stood there calmly, seemingly convinced in her heart that her behavior was perfectly justified.

However, Chen Yuan said:

"The reason Ms. Su Nian chose to cook here herself is because true participatory social observation is never like what you did, standing at a safe distance, holding a phone and pretending to be objective while secretly taking pictures like a clown."

Chen Yuan knew very well that the video the girl filmed would definitely be posted online, so he calmly faced the camera and continued:

"Only by fully immersing oneself in the perspective of a waiter can one deeply experience and record the true relationship between the dietary structure of the lower class in the southern district and capitalist exploitation. If you have ever seriously studied even one course on introductory communication studies in university, you should know that the premise of 'immersive ethnographic research' is to eat, live, and work alongside your research subjects!"

"They don't even understand such basic academic common sense, yet they come here spouting nonsense. Who is breaking the law, and who is disgracing the school?"

Chen Yuan already possessed the system's "Basic Public Narrative Mastery," and this barrage of academic principles immediately rendered the already timid girl speechless.

After all, these protesters usually use similar sophisticated rhetoric to confront others.

Who would have thought that one day I would be overwhelmed by the same rhetoric?

She couldn't even utter a word in rebuttal; all she could do was put away her phone, her face flushed with shame and indignation, and flee the window amidst the laughter of the surrounding diners.

However, the video she recorded was still posted on the USC campus community forum that same evening.

Furthermore, the poster used a highly provocative title, which instantly sparked a heated discussion among the students.

Shocking! Our freshmen are suspected of working illegally for an extended period at a Chinese restaurant in the South Campus, allegedly involved in organized crime, under the guise of social practice!

The video also specifically points out that although the owner of Rongding Pavilion is said to be a student at the university, the restaurant itself does not have the official USC University certification as a 'CPT (Course-Based Training) Social Practice Site'!

Su Nian's prolonged stay at this restaurant under the guise of social practice is clearly a serious violation of procedures!