America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

While Chen Yuan and his employees, including Su Nian, were pushing forward the "South District Homeless Hot Food Care Program" several blocks away.

The Rongding Pavilion restaurant also welcomed its first guests over the weekend.

Just as the food stalls were opening at 10 a.m., a long queue had already formed. When the customers discovered that the person standing inside was not Su Nian, but a blonde local white girl, the crowd immediately began to murmur among themselves.

"Where's the fried chicken beauty? It seems like she's been replaced?"

"It's Saturday today, Xiao Su needs to rest too. She can't be standing here every day."

"I've always eaten the snacks she made. Now that someone else has made them, will they still taste the same?"

"Fried chicken is pretty simple; you just marinate it and throw it into the oil. But grilled squid might require a bit more skill!"

"Can she manage?"

Suddenly, people looked at Emily with more suspicion.

Does this blonde white girl really know how to make traditional Chinese snacks?

Emily couldn't understand the murmurs mixed with Mandarin and Spanish, but from the diners' frequent glances inside, she could tell that today's shift was going to be tough.

She was dressed in a neat uniform and stood alone in front of a street food stall window, with a steaming deep fryer and a sizzling electric griddle in front of her.

Although she had worked as a waitress in a chain fast food restaurant back in her hometown and learned some basic cooking skills, such as frying chicken, she was quite adept at it.

But this was my first time trying grilled squid, since most white Americans rarely come into contact with this kind of strange, sucker-like seafood.

She tried hard to recall Su Nian's movements when she grilled squid on a hot plate, and imitated her by pressing several skewers of pre-marinated squid tentacles firmly onto the scalding hot electric grill plate.

The next crucial step is to sprinkle on the different seasonings in a fixed order.

Cumin powder, coarse chili powder, white sesame seeds... and the shop's special thirteen-spice blend!

"Sizzle—"

The crisp crackling sound of grease startled Emily.

Although top-of-the-line fume treatment equipment has been installed inside the window, the moment the spices come into contact with the hot iron plate, the complex aroma, a blend of the sweetness of seafood and the spiciness of chili, still irresistibly wafts out and quickly spreads in all directions.

The guests, who had been grumbling in hushed tones, fell silent instantly.

Immediately afterwards, someone in the group whistled.

Wow, this blonde bombshell really knows how to grill squid!

"It still tastes the same; you can tell it won't be bad just by smelling it!"

"Wait a minute, isn't that the white waitress who serves dishes in the lobby? She can even make grilled squid?"

Several young people who were originally just standing at the back of the line waiting for fried chicken subconsciously squeezed forward.

Even locals passing by couldn't help but stop and take a couple of pictures of the window with their phones.

Emily was initially worried that her first attempt would ruin Rongding Pavilion's reputation, but when she put the first plate of grilled squid into a paper bag and handed it out the window...

A young woman with black hair and black eyes, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately had her eyes light up.

Judging from her attire, she was most likely a Chinese tourist who found the place through online shopping guides.

After taking the squid, the female tourist first took a deep breath of its aroma, then smiled with delight:

"Oh my god, I didn't see the legendary fried chicken beauty, but I actually ran into a blonde beauty making grilled squid by hand! Can I take a picture with you?"

Emily couldn't understand what she was saying.

But when the other person took out their phone, she immediately understood.

Remembering what Chen Yuan said yesterday, Rongding Pavilion is already very popular, so maybe she can take this opportunity to increase her exposure.

So almost without hesitation, she leaned close to the window, raised her hands confidently towards the camera, and made a standard peace sign.

"yeah!"

The black-haired woman immediately exclaimed happily and made the same gesture.

As soon as the flash went off, the people queuing around seemed to be suddenly alerted and all turned their attention to it.

"She's really cooperative."

"White girls are definitely more enthusiastic."

"I still prefer the cool and aloof demeanor of the fried chicken beauty."

"Wait, I want to take a picture too."

For a time, the snack stalls at Rongding Pavilion were even more bustling than usual.

Clearly, both Su Nian and Emily can attract customers with their appearance.

Although most diners are still concerned about the taste of fried chicken and squid.

For true foodies, it doesn't matter who's standing at the window, as long as the food tastes good!

But for ordinary customers drawn by the aroma, the presence of a local white girl standing at the window who smiles, makes a peace sign, and even flinches at the sight of hot oil adds to the novelty.

As a result, the queues outside the food stalls actually increased over the following period.

Adding to the chaos was the sudden surge in popularity, especially since it was Saturday, which left Emily, who had just learned how to grill squid, completely flustered.

Fortunately, Hu Dan came to help again around noon, which relieved her.

It wasn't until around 3 or 4 p.m. that the number of diners in line decreased slightly.

"Are the number of customers queuing up at the window to buy snacks really this exaggerated every day?"

Emily asked, still shaken.

Hu Dan wiped the sweat from her forehead and explained:

"It's usually fine, but today is probably because it's the weekend. Also, I noticed that quite a few of the customers look like university students from the neighborhood."

Hu Dan was an international student, and having worked as a waitress for a while, she could naturally tell the identities of diners at a glance.

She smiled and pointed to the tip box next to the window, saying:

"Compared to regular customers, college students tend to tip more. Plus, they all look very young, so they're easy to spot."

Emily also noticed that almost every diner left a tip in the box in front of the window.

Although these tips may only be a dollar, or even a few coins.

But when accumulated, it becomes an astonishing number.

No wonder Su Nian could stand here for most of the day without complaining of being tired!

The thought that two-thirds of the tips in the box would belong to her gave Emily even more motivation.

But after the snack stall closed at 8 p.m., she collapsed on the chair in the staff break room, too weak to even stand up.

The snack stall is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with only a one-hour break in between.

That means a workday of about 9 hours, and you have to stand the whole time.

If Hu Dan hadn't given her a tip of over $300, she definitely wouldn't want to do this job a second time.

Thinking of the heavy amount of change in her bag, she chuckled softly again.

$300 isn't a lot, but with the tips I've saved up over this period, I finally have enough to pay my rent at the end of the month.

She suddenly realized that coming to Rongding Pavilion as a waitress was the best decision she had made since leaving home.

It would be even better if the working hours could be shorter.

Just as Emily was gently massaging her slightly numb calves, Hu Dan burst in.

"Did you see the post on the student community forum? Someone's spreading rumors again!"

Emily was completely bewildered: "What rumors?"

Hu Dan then remembered that Emily didn't have a student community account, so she explained:

"Someone just posted on the USC community forum saying our restaurant's booming business is all because we're riding on USC's coattails, and even suspecting we have some shady dealings with that university!"