I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

Li Zhibai was about to turn off his phone and go to sleep after browsing review websites when a message suddenly popped up on his screen. It was from Zhao Yunlong, the restaurant review blogger.

"Boss, great news! Amazing news!"

"What good news? The video was finally released?"

"Yes, yes, this time I wasn't reported and banned. I finally succeeded!"

What the hell!

The video was actually uploaded!

Has the whistleblower finally given up? Is his shop finally about to become famous?

Li Zhibai immediately perked up and almost jumped up with a somersault; he was just a hair's breadth away from it.

A beautiful image automatically appeared in his mind: long queues formed at the entrance of Shaxian Restaurant, wealthy people from Jiangcheng were crying and begging him to rip them off, and their bank account balances were increasing rapidly every day.

As he thought about it, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hehehe..."

Just as he was lost in this beautiful fantasy, Zhao Yunlong sent him another message.

"There's another piece of bad news: the number of views is only in the twenties."

Li Zhibai: "???"

"What exactly happened? Don't you have over 20,000 followers? How come your video only has 20-something views?"

Zhao Yunlong sent a crying face emoji.

"(ಥ_ಥ)~"

"It's probably because I've been reported too many times that the platform has removed my account's authority and isn't pushing any traffic to it anymore. I even asked a friend who works in operations, and he said this situation is called 'hidden traffic restriction.' On the surface, the account seems to be working normally, but in reality, it doesn't push any traffic to it no matter what I post."

"I feel like my account is completely ruined."

Li Zhibai: "......."

He was initially quite upset that the video didn't go viral, but now that he heard this guy say that his account with 20,000 followers was ruined, he suddenly didn't feel so bad anymore.

After all, this guy is in a much worse situation than him!

"Brother, don't be discouraged! Don't let small difficulties defeat you!"

"There's a saying that goes, 'Success is when everyone else has failed and you're still posting videos.' Edison failed a thousand times to invent the light bulb, while you've only failed seven or eight times. You're much better than him!"

"So what if the account is ruined? You can just create a new one and re-enter my shop to reshoot a few times. Maybe the new account will become popular?"

"Oh, by the way, before you come to my shop, I suggest you go to a factory first, otherwise I'm afraid you won't be able to film videos with peace of mind."

He hadn't forgotten that this guy had already gone bankrupt and fallen back into poverty. If he really wanted to come to his shop to film videos again, he would have to spend money, right?

So why not go to the factory to earn some money first, and then save up enough to make videos?

When Zhao Yunlong saw the news about Li Zhibai's white hair, he felt something was off, but he didn't think much of it and just assumed it was his boss encouraging him.

"Boss, no need! I have money, I don't need to work in the factory."

Li Zhibai was very surprised when he saw the message he sent.

Rich? This guy's clearly impoverished, where did he get the money? Did he sell his ass?

Who cares, as long as he's still willing to make videos.

He then gave the other person a little pep talk and used some manipulative tactics before ending the conversation.

Looking at the dismal data in the other party's screenshot, Li Zhibai couldn't help but sigh. He had a feeling that it wasn't just Zhao Yunlong who was being targeted; he himself seemed to be being targeted as well.

It all started with someone flooding review websites with negative reviews, giving it a dismal 1.8 rating, and then a video posted by a restaurant review blogger was bombarded with reports.

Is it really that hard to become famous online?

"Forget it, out of sight, out of mind. I'll just count my money and make myself happy."

Li Zhibai opened the bank app and saw the balance of over one million yuan, which immediately improved his mood.

He then opened Douyin (TikTok) to see how his videos were being received.

I just opened it and took a look.

99+ messages

Holy crap, what's going on?

When Li Zhibai opened his message list, he saw that it was almost entirely filled with comments and likes. The boastful video he had casually posted a few hours earlier had actually gone viral, with over 10,000 views.

After he excitedly clicked on the comments, his face immediately darkened.

[Hilarious! He doesn't even bother to think before he talks. Earning a million in half a month? Why don't you just call yourself the richest man?]

[This picture is real because I was there; I was the bank card.]

[I did the math. A million in ten days or so, that's an average daily turnover of seventy to eighty thousand. Even if we calculate based on an average order value of 20, that's at least four to five thousand servings a day. That spatula must be practically smoking from all that swinging!]

People these days will make up anything to grab attention. If Shaxian Snacks really can sell a million yuan worth of food in just over ten days, I'll eat shit upside down and do it live on stream—I mean it!

Don't gamble with him upstairs. Even if you win, he won't admit it; if you lose, he'll let you eat. It's the same old trick.

Is it possible that the "Shaxian" he mentioned refers to a top-tier hotel in the Shaxian area?

[Come on, if there really were such a Shaxian snack shop, it would have been on the news by now. Why would they need to post this on Douyin to show off?]

[Verification complete. This is a marketing account using this to drive traffic. Everyone, move along.]

【…】

Li Zhibai's face grew darker the more he looked at it.

"Bullshit! It's all bullshit!"

"How can the money I earned through hard work, getting up early and working late to slaughter... I mean, diligently making delicious food, be considered bragging?"

"They all think everyone else is failing just because they can't make money themselves—they're like frogs in a well! They've never seen the world!"

Then he decisively went online and started arguing with the trolls in the comments section.

[If you're so capable, why don't you open your own business and make a million?]

[You, the one who ate shit upside down, just you wait. I've got your ID. I'll make you keep your promise sooner or later!]

【……】

Li Zhibai got more and more carried away with his rant, and then he casually thought of sending out the store's address so that they could see the real deal offline.

However, the system issued a warning.

[WARNING! The system has detected that the host is attempting to conduct commercial promotions through online platforms. This behavior violates system rules!]

[Stop this behavior immediately, or the host will be punished!]

Li Zhibai: "........"

He silently deleted the line he had just typed.

Wrong!

This is so damn frustrating!

He had earned his money with real money and wanted to show off, but a bunch of ignorant trolls mistook him for a liar.

He really wanted to arrest all those thugs and send them to the store, order a Supreme Family Bucket for each of them, and let them experience firsthand what it's like to be a Shaxian assassin!

Finally, there were too many negative comments about him, and he couldn't fight them all, so he simply turned off Douyin (TikTok) to avoid seeing or hearing them and went to sleep.

Noon the next day.

After getting up, Li Zhibai quickly washed up, put on his white shirt and a pair of black-rimmed glasses to look refined, and left the store in a taxi, looking quite presentable.

Today, his goal remains the same: to explore Chef Fang's new dish, vegetarian braised pork, under the gentle breeze and fine rain.

On his first visit, he managed to get a free meal by eating fried rice with eggs.

On his second visit, Chef Fang was very hospitable and offered to pay the bill for him.

After two experiences, his impression of this restaurant reached its peak. The food was delicious, and the service was impeccable. It would be hard to find another restaurant in the entire city that was so warm and hospitable.

I just don't know if I'll get another free meal this third time.

...........

A gentle breeze and light rain in the kitchen.

Chef Fang Guoping was tossing a wok in front of the stove, and the pot contained the restaurant's newest dish—premium vegetarian braised pork.

This vegetarian braised pork is a new dish that he spent a lot of time improving based on his signature Grandma's Braised Pork. It targets the vegetarian market and uses winter melon instead of pork belly. The taste and appearance are almost indistinguishable from real braised pork.

This dish has recently become incredibly popular since its launch, and it's getting a lot of orders.

Just as Chef Fang was focused on preparing this dish for a table of guests, a waitress barged into the kitchen.

"Chef! Something terrible has happened!"

Fang Guoping looked at her: "What's wrong? Is one of the customers dissatisfied with the food?"

"No," the waiter shook his head, "it's that man who came! The man who got his meal free twice in a row."

Fang Guoping: "..."

He couldn't help but recall the humiliating experience of being taken advantage of by the other party last time.

The last time this guy came to the restaurant, he actually acted like a fool and offered to pay for his meal for free. It wasn't until later that he learned from Su Su that the guy wasn't a gourmet at all, just an ordinary cook who ran a Shaxian snack shop.

To think that he, the head chef of a prestigious restaurant, was intimidated by a mere owner from Shaxian County.

It's extremely embarrassing.

I can't believe this guy actually dared to come a third time. What does he think our shop is, a free cafeteria?

"What's he doing here? Did he order any food?"

"I haven't ordered yet. I just sat down and am looking at the menu."

"Chef Fang, should I tell him we're full today and ask him to come back another day?" the waitress said.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Guoping shook his head: "No need to kick him out, let him order!"

"No matter what I say, I'm not giving him a free meal today!!!"