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

At 6 p.m. sharp, Shaxian Snacks opened for business.

Yu Shen, Lu Qianshan, Pang Yi, and Cha Xiaochai, who had just returned from a business trip, the four core members of the anti-gangster alliance strolled over from the parking lot in front of the Michelin restaurant, arm in arm.

"Let me tell you, I'm definitely ordering the regular version today. Anyone who gets tricked by Li Heizi is a dog." Yu Shen started setting a goal for himself even before entering the store.

"You said the same thing the time before last," Lu Qianshan said, glancing at him sideways.

"Last time was last time, this time is this time! I've learned my lesson. Today, even if I, Yu Shen, starve to death or jump off this door, I will absolutely not order the deluxe version!"

"Woof!" Pang Yi barked like a dog in perfect unison.

"What do you mean, Fatty?"

"I ordered it for you in advance, so you won't be caught off guard if you try to order it later."

"Damn it!"

The four of them walked to the store entrance laughing and joking. Before they even entered, they saw that the information on the small blackboard at the entrance had been changed.

[New Product Launch: Plain Red Dust]

[This dish is available today only for Diamond VIP members. Quantities are limited, first come, first served!]

"Holy crap! Li Heizi has released a new dish again?"

"What is this? I have absolutely no idea from the name! Is 'Su Hongchen' a soup? Or some kind of dessert?"

"Literally speaking, '素' refers to vegetarian food, and '红尘' should refer to the secular world or the mundane world. Combined, it probably means some kind of vegetarian dish," Lu Qianshan pushed up his glasses and analyzed.

"Whatever it is, let's go in and take a look first."

The group filed in, and were immediately taken aback by the prices displayed on the new price tag next to the menu.

[Su Hongchen: 139 yuan/piece.]

"139? Is that the price for one piece?"

"Li Heizi must be addicted to selling things by the piece! First, it was braised pork for 99 yuan a piece, and now it's vegetarian 'Red Dust' for 139 yuan a piece. Inflation hasn't even kept up with his prices!"

Just then, Li Zhibai, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen, welcoming him with a bright smile:

"Welcome, bosses! I knew you would come today, so I prepared extra ingredients in advance."

"Boss, what is this new product, Su Hongchen?" Yu Shen asked directly.

Li Zhibai: "This is our store's latest signature product! I'm not bragging, but in the entire Jiangcheng, you won't find another store that can make it like this."

"Also, let me tell you a secret: this dish was developed after discussions with a former chef specializing in state banquets. I poured my heart and soul into it, working day and night for ten days straight, experimenting hundreds of times before finally perfecting this new dish!"

"Moreover, there's a special rule for today's dish: it's only available to Diamond VIP members with priority ordering."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shen immediately perked up, pulled out the black, metallic VIP card from his pocket, and slammed it on the table.

"Look what this is! Diamond VIP! I'm finally in the privileged class! I've finally waited for this day when I can use my privileges!"

Not to be outdone, Pang Yi pulled out his own card and placed it on the table: "I have one too."

Lu Qianshan silently placed his card on the table.

Cha Xiaochai also took out her card.

Looking at the membership cards on the table, each person had one, and suddenly felt it was all so boring.

If everyone already has one, then what's the point of this VIP membership?

What broke their defenses even further was yet to come.

As the restaurant opened, more and more customers came in. Almost every time someone mentioned a new dish, Li Zhibai would smile and say that only Diamond VIPs could order it.

Then everyone would show a surprised expression: "Huh? I'm a Diamond VIP!!!"

This includes sanitation workers and even some deliverymen.

Upon seeing this, Yu Shen and the others couldn't help but complain.

"Why do I feel like everyone who walks into this store is a diamond VIP?"

"Exactly! It has no scarcity whatsoever, what's the difference between it and toilet paper?"

"When it comes to scarcity, only Mr. Huo's customized collector's card can be called a true VIP, that's what you call prestige."

"Don't mention the old man, it only hurts more. Since they've launched a new dish, let's order one and try it. After all, Li Heizi's new dishes never disappoint."

Just as Yu Shen and the others were about to raise their hands to order, Lu Qianshan suddenly reached out and stopped them.

"Wait a moment!"

"Don't forget the lesson from before. Last time when braised pork was first made, we each ordered one serving, and each of us was served a whole pot of braised pork. By the end, I almost threw up."

"We must learn from this experience."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Yu Shen asked.

"There are so many of us, we could just order one serving! Even if they bring us a whole pot, it wouldn't be much if we divided it among four people, and it would only cost a few hundred dollars per person."

"That makes sense! Then let's order one."

"Okay, it's settled then!"

Yu Shen immediately waved to Li Zhibai: "Boss, let's order!"

Li Zhibai walked over with a small notebook, smiling, and asked, "Gentlemen, what would you like to order?"

"Four servings of the regular fragrant noodles, four servings of chicken soup, and one of your new vegetarian 'Red Dust'!"

"Just one serving?" Li Zhibai asked, somewhat surprised. "You four only ordered one serving?"

"Yes, just one!" the four said in unison.

"Alright, a simple meal of 'Su Hongchen' will be arranged immediately." Li Zhibai wrote it down and turned to walk into the kitchen.

The four of them breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate for their quick thinking. Luckily, they had discussed a plan in advance, otherwise they would have been ripped off and left with nothing.

"Li Heizi is definitely out of options this time. We're only ordering one serving, what are we going to do about it!"

"I'm curious about what exactly this 'Plain Mortal World' is. The name sounds quite mysterious."

"......"

Twenty minutes later, the food they ordered was served one after another.

The fragrant noodles and chicken soup were the same as always, and the group didn't stand on ceremony and started eating right away.

Another ten minutes passed.

Li Zhibai and Su Su carefully carried out a huge white porcelain plate. The plate was even more exaggerated in size than the flower-patterned bowl that held the braised pork last time. On it was a "meat tower" stacked layer upon layer, almost half a meter high.

Finally, the two of them worked together to carefully place the "meat tower" in front of them.

Yu Shen: "..."

Lu Qianshan: "..."

Pang Yi: "..."

Cha Xiaocha: "..."

The four of them sat there with their heads tilted back, their eyes counting up inch by inch from the bottom of the tower, their necks almost bent at a ninety-degree angle.

Yu Shen rubbed his eyes hard and looked at it again.

You read that right, this really is a super meat tower.

This enormous meat tower, comparable to a world wonder, is made by stacking layers of reddish-brown braised pork, like building blocks, and is more than a dozen layers high.

If they don't stand up, they have to look up to see the entire spire; it's that exaggerated.

"Good heavens! Last time, serving braised pork in a whole pot was already outrageous enough, and this time they've turned it into a tower?"

"How do they manage to stack all these things up like that? Shouldn't they collapse when they're piled so high?"

"It's a password. I just want to know how many pieces of meat there are."

Yu Shen has already started counting.

"One, two, three, four..."

"I just counted the number of pieces on the bottom layer, and I roughly estimated that there are at least 130 pieces."

"At 139 per piece, this plate would cost close to 2!"

The four of them were stunned once again the moment they finished calculating the numbers.

Good guy!

A dish costing nearly 20,000 yuan, and that's at a Shaxian snack shop! Who would believe that?

Shocked as they were, the four of them quickly recovered from the visual shock and realized that something was wrong.

"Boss! This isn't right! We clearly ordered the new 'Vegetarian Dust' dish, but you brought us a plate of braised pork! You must have made a mistake, we want a refund!"

"Yes! We didn't order braised pork!"

Li Zhibai, however, remained remarkably calm and said, "Who told you this is meat? This is not meat."

The four of them froze, looking back at the meat tower in front of them.

With its deep reddish-brown color, trembling skin, alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and rich, savory aroma, what else could this be but meat?

"This dish isn't made with meat; it's purely vegetarian. The main ingredient is winter melon," Li Zhibai revealed the answer.

The four people: "???"

What? Vegan? How is that possible?!