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

The next day, at a Shaxian snack shop.

From the moment Li Zhibai woke up, he started watching Zhao Yunlong's videos repeatedly.

Once.

One more time.

One more time...

He laughed every time he watched it, his mouth agape in a wide smile.

"Hehehe..."

"Brother Long is so talented! The angle of this photo of the dishes is absolutely perfect!"

"And this dry parcel sorting section, tsk tsk tsk... it looks so gruesome, but it's really hilarious, hahaha..."

This dramatic experience of visiting restaurants—first being reported to the point that my account was almost banned, then working as a sorter for almost a month, saving up money to go all in again, working so hard just to eat a meal at Shaxian—you deserve to be famous!

Li Zhibai was smiling when his phone vibrated. A private message notification popped up at the top of the screen; it was from Zhao Yunlong.

[Boss! I'm a viral sensation!!! I've gained 5 followers since I posted my video at 8 PM!]

Congratulations! What did I tell you? Gold always shines.

[I especially want to thank you, boss! If your food wasn't so delicious, I wouldn't have any material to share on how to become famous.]

"Next time you come to eat, I'll give you a 10% discount."

[Hmm...hmm? 10% off?]

Good grief, a 10% discount is basically the original price, right? Even when congratulating him, this shop owner didn't forget to stick to his shady business practices. I'm impressed!

Zhao Yunlong originally wanted to complain, but he gave up in the end because his mindset was different now.

Anyway, he's famous now. As his fanbase grows, gigolos will come knocking on his door. He can easily make a living by taking on a few gigolos.

When the time comes, I'll at least have to call out to the boss, "Give me a piece of braised pork... no! Give me a whole serving!"

That's how big it is!

After exchanging pleasantries with him, Li Zhibai continued scrolling through videos and comments, where many people were asking for the address.

[I still don't believe it. Which brave soul from Jiangcheng would like to go check out this place again, come back safe and sound, and tell me if it's really that delicious?]

I'm currently in Jiangcheng. I'll go there tomorrow to check on things. If I get ripped off and become a defaulter, please help me out.

[A meal at Shaxian snack shop costing over 10,000 yuan? This world is surreal! Anyone who didn't know better would think the currency had depreciated a thousandfold!]

As Li Zhibai read these comments, the corners of his mouth began to uncontrollably turn into a grin.

The left corner of the mouth turns upward, and the right corner of the mouth turns upward.

Both sides stick up, stretching all the way to the ears.

can not stop.

Can't stop at all.

"Hehehe..."

"It's trending! It's finally trending! I've waited so long, this day has finally come!"

"Starting today, all the rich and arrogant bastards in Jiangcheng will be lining up to give you money."

Scarcity drives up value, so we have to use a lottery system!

Li Zhibai opened a shopping website and searched for lottery machines.

There are hand-cranked ones, electric ones, ones with LED displays, and even those fancy ones that look like they're used for lottery draws.

He selected one that looked to be of good quality, and then searched for raffle boxes, number plates, and so on, adding them all to his shopping cart.

Just as he was about to settle the bill, the wind chimes at the door rang.

That bastard Zhao Lei has come again.

Following behind him was a middle-aged man and the sub-landlord, Liu Yang.

Why did these three people come together? Li Zhibai instantly became alert.

"Brother Zhao, you've made quite a fuss today. What, have you raised the money?"

Unlike his previous two times when he had acted cowardly and begging for mercy, Zhao Lei smiled broadly and said, "Zhibai, I'm here today to return your money. Here you go, 300,000 yuan, not a penny less. Later, have your lawyer write me a settlement agreement, and that will settle the matter."

As he spoke, he pulled a black tote bag from behind him, placed it on the table, unzipped it, and revealed stacks of cash inside.

Li Zhibai looked at the bag of money and was a little surprised. This guy actually managed to scrape together the money?

He didn't care how the other party got the money; as long as they could pay it back, that was a good thing.

Just as he reached out to take the money, Liu Yang, who was standing behind Zhao Lei, walked over and handed Li Zhibai a pre-prepared termination contract.

"Mr. Li, this is the formal notice of termination of contract."

Li Zhibai: "???"

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by that?"

Liu Yang: "Mr. Li, I'm very sorry, but I've decided to take back this shop. You have three days to clear out all items and move out."

"Three days?" Li Zhibai's face darkened, and he abruptly turned to look at Zhao Lei.

The guy was scratching his forehead with his index finger, pretending to be innocent. When he saw Li Zhibai looking over, he deliberately pretended to look at the menu on the wall of the store.

In that instant, Li Zhibai understood everything.

No wonder he always felt someone was staking out the door lately; it must be Zhao Lei. Zhao Lei probably thinks his shop is profitable and wants to take it back to run it himself, stealing his profits. He even managed to bribe the sub-landlord.

What a plan!

Li Zhibai couldn't help but recall what Grandpa Huo had once told him.

"A rented shop, no matter how good its location, still belongs to someone else. Only a shop you buy yourself truly belongs to you."

At the time, he thought the old man was just making empty promises to him in order to promote the shop, which was worth tens of millions.

Now it seems that every word the old man said was a profound truth!

Without your own means of support, you're just meat on someone else's chopping board.

Today they're in a good mood and let you rent, tomorrow they're in a bad mood and they can fire you. All the hard work you put into running your restaurant can be wiped out with just a single notice.

"What if I don't move?" Li Zhibai asked calmly.

Liu Yang seemed to have anticipated his reaction: "Mr. Li, I understand how you feel, but it's clearly stated in the contract that the lessor has the right to terminate the lease with prior notice. Of course, I'm not unreasonable; I can offer you an additional 20,000 yuan in liquidated damages, which is the maximum sincerity I can offer."

"Twenty thousand?"

Li Zhibai laughed. He now has tens of thousands of yuan in revenue every day. Now he thinks he can get rid of him with 20,000 yuan in compensation? What a joke!

"Heh heh heh... You think you can just get rid of me with 20,000? Do you think that's possible!"

Wang Dafu then stepped forward with a feigned smile: "Young man, I'm really sorry, I know this isn't fair to you, but we're all in business, and the shop goes to whoever pays the highest price. The landlord needs to make a profit too. How about this, I'm willing to give you an extra five thousand as compensation, is that alright?"

Zhao Lei chimed in, "Zhibai, why don't you open a new shop somewhere else? I know a guy who has a shop for rent in the suburbs. It's not as good a location as Financial Street, but it's still decent..."

"Alright, just shut up!"

Li Zhibai was too lazy to waste words with these guys, so he took out his phone and dialed Huo Junmin's number.

"Attorney Huo, I've run into a bit of a problem."

"What's going on?"

Li Zhibai briefly explained the situation.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before he spoke.

Do you still have the original contract?

"exist."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Also, don't sign anything with them right now, and don't make any verbal promises. Leave everything to me."

"it is good."

Li Zhibai hung up the phone and looked at the three people on the other end: "My lawyer is coming over right away. You can talk to her about what you need to do."

Liu Yang nodded, his expression remaining calm.

He has the landlord's power of attorney, so he can do whatever he wants with the shop, even if the other party hires a lawyer.

Wang Dafu, lacking his composure, whispered to his nephew Zhao Lei, "Xiao Lei, we're not going to get killed, are we? It seems like you were being hunted down by this lawyer, right?"

"What's there to be afraid of? The landlord is on our side. Even if he calls a lawyer, it won't matter. We've got this in the bag!" Zhao Lei said nonchalantly.

After half an hour.

A black Mercedes was parked in the parking lot of the Michelin-starred restaurant across the street.

The car door opened, and Huo Junmin got out and walked directly towards Shaxian County.

"Attorney Huo!"

Li Zhibai went out to greet her and handed her the original contract.

"Attorney Huo, the situation is as they described on the phone. They want to take back the apartment early, giving me only three days to move out, and they're only willing to offer 25,000 yuan as compensation for breach of contract. Do you think there's any room for negotiation?"

"Let me take a look first."

Huo Junmin took the contract, stood at the store entrance, and carefully examined it.

After reading it, she closed the contract and said to Li Zhibai with absolute confidence:

"Leave it to me. Once we're inside, don't say a word. Let me handle everything. They think they can get rid of you with this little bit of money? I'll show them what it means to invite a god in but not to send him away!"

She then chatted briefly with Li Zhibai.

After listening, Li Zhibai nodded and agreed to her plan.

Huo Junmin turned and walked into the shop, going straight to Liu Yang and getting straight to the point: "Mr. Liu, I've read the contract. According to the clause regarding unilateral termination, the lessor can indeed terminate the contract, and we don't deny that. However, the contract also doesn't deny the lessee's right to refuse termination. The lease term for this shop is far from over, and my client has paid the rent on time and in full without any breach of contract. Your request to terminate the contract early without any legitimate reason is itself an infringement on the lessee's legal rights."

"As for your proposed compensation of 25,000 yuan, which corresponds to a quarterly rent of 300,000 yuan and the store's actual daily turnover of tens of thousands of yuan, this compensation ratio is not only far below the common standard in the Financial Street shop rental market, but it also cannot cover the actual losses suffered by my client during the business suspension period."

Legally speaking, this amount is clearly unfair, and my client has every reason to refuse it and apply to the court to adjust the liquidated damages to a level commensurate with the actual losses.

Liu Yang frowned slightly: "Attorney Huo, you don't need to try to scare me like this. I'm only giving you three days; you must move out!"

"You think you can just move out like that? Let me tell you, it's not up to you!"

Huo Junmin continued, "I need to remind you that if the two parties eventually go to court, the trial period will be at least three to six months. During this period, the lease status of the shop will be frozen by the judiciary, and you will neither be able to take back the shop nor sublet it to a third party."

Similarly, if you forcibly clear the premises, change the locks, cut off the water and electricity, etc., you will need to compensate my client for all business losses, renovation losses, expected profit losses, and all reasonable expenses incurred due to the forced eviction.

She then looked at Wang Dafu and Zhao Lei and said, "Also, you definitely won't be able to move in for at least six months during this litigation period. Please trust my professionalism."

Wang Dafu's expression changed instantly; he was truly panicked.

Half a year?

He and his nephew Zhao Lei borrowed from all their relatives and friends, and even mortgaged the house they had bought in their hometown, before they could raise enough funds.

If he doesn't make any money for six months, he won't even be able to pay the interest, and he might even be chased for debts by relatives and friends. Wouldn't that be the death of him?

Zhao Lei was getting a little anxious: "Attorney Huo, let's talk this out. Why do we have to go to court?"

Then he looked at Liu Yang: "Brother Liu, why don't you say something in support?"

Liu Yang is now in a dilemma. He is not ignorant of the law, and he knows that Huo Junmin is right. Once the litigation process begins, a single litigation preservation order can freeze the shop for several months.

By the time the lawsuit is over, it will be too late. Wang Dafu will definitely not want the shop anymore, and he will end up pleasing neither side.

"Ahem..." He coughed, trying to ease the tension. "Attorney Huo, I think we can sit down and talk about this again. We're all business people; there's no need to go to court so easily!"

Huo Junmin was waiting for him to say this: "Since Mr. Liu is willing to talk, I would like to propose two plans for your careful consideration."

"First, continue to perform the original lease agreement. My client, Mr. Li Zhibai, rented the property peacefully until the contract expired, paid rent on time, and everything remained the same. You should withdraw the termination notice, and today's events should be treated as if they never happened."

"Secondly, if you insist on taking back this shop, my client is not unable to move, but the compensation must be calculated according to the prevailing market standards."

In addition to fully refunding the deposit and remaining rent, you need to compensate my client for two months of business interruption losses, plus depreciation of renovations, equipment wear and tear, and lost customer costs incurred during the relocation. Let's round it up to two million! This amount must be paid in full before we move out.

"Two million!!!" Wang Dafu and Zhao Lei exclaimed at the same time.

"Why don't you just rob it yourself!"

"What do you mean by robbery? This is compensation. Of course, you can refuse," Huo Junmin said. "Then we'll go through the legal process directly. However, the shop can't be moved during the litigation period, as I just mentioned."

"Finally, I want to remind you one more time: please don't question my expertise."

Wang Dafu and Zhao Lei have completely fallen silent.

They originally thought that once they got the sub-landlord on their side, they could smoothly take back the shop and happily take over from Li Zhibai to continue running the shady business and making big money.

Who knew that Attorney Huo would suddenly appear out of nowhere, not only silencing them on the spot, but also delivering a ruthless blow to them.

Two million in compensation?

Password, you're really shady!