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

"close the door?"

Yu Shen's Coke fell to the ground with a thud, completely unaware. He immediately grabbed Li Zhibai's shoulders and shook him violently: "Li Hei... no, boss, are you running away? Are you abandoning us? Don't joke around! It's not April Fool's Day, this joke isn't funny at all."

Li Zhibai said helplessly, "I didn't want to either, but I had no choice. The landlord wanted to take back the property, and I couldn't just lie down in front of his shop and refuse to leave."

Pang Yi, a fat man weighing over 200 pounds, let out a shrill howl.

"No--!!!"

"Boss, you can't leave!"

"Your braised pork is my lifeline for dieting!"

Pang Yi had tried to lose weight before, but all his attempts failed.

Since he started making vegetarian braised pork, he has finally been able to enjoy eating meat during his weight loss period. He has actually lost five pounds in the past few days, which is very satisfying.

Now that the store is closing down so suddenly, he feels that his hopes of losing weight are completely dashed.

"My braised pork, my fried rice, my fragrant noodles, my chicken leg rice, my wontons, my steamed dumplings... all gone, all gone!"

Looking at the two guys' devastated expressions, Li Zhibai wanted to laugh, but he held it in and said again in that sorrowful tone:

"Alas, it's all fate's cruel joke!"

"Since I took over this shop, I have worked diligently, devoted myself wholeheartedly, and run it with integrity. I get up earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs every day, just to cook a good meal for you. But things just don't go as planned... Sigh, I won't say anymore, it's too painful to talk about."

"Anyway, I'm sorry for all your kindness, so I'm doing this event for the last three days... no, the last two days, so I want everyone to have a good meal. Please enjoy it while you can."

Li Zhibai's words were sincere and touching, so much so that even Yu Shen, who knew him well, couldn't tell if they were true or false.

He only remembered the last thing the other person said: "There are only two days left." This meant that if he didn't eat it in these two days, he might not be able to eat it again.

Who knows which remote corner that bastard Li Heizi will move to?

What if he moves out of Jiangcheng altogether? What if he gets taken care of by some rich old man... no, some rich woman and quits the restaurant business?

In short, there are just too many uncertainties.

We must! Now! Immediately! Right now! Eat everything edible!

"Boss, I'd like to order!"

"Give me a deluxe family bucket!"

"Me too! I want one too!" Pang Yi immediately raised his hand. "I want a deluxe family bucket too! I'm not dieting today!"

"Ding~ 12,800 yuan has been deposited into your Alipay account."

"Ding~ 13,600 yuan has been deposited into your Alipay account."

"..."

As Li Zhibai heard the voice notifications of two transactions exceeding ten thousand yuan, his lips involuntarily twitched, but in the end, he managed to forcefully maintain his sorrowful expression.

"Alright! Just for the sake of your friendship, even if I, Li Zhibai, break my hands, spill the pot, and burn the stove dry, I'll make sure you eat to your heart's content!"

After saying that, he turned and walked into the store, throwing his apron behind him, displaying a heroic and tragic spirit.

Su Su witnessed the entire process of how her master had completely fooled Yu Shen and the others. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but in the end, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath:

"Master's acting skills have improved so much!"

At least in her opinion, her master successfully held his nerve today, maintaining excellent facial expression control from beginning to end, and his emotional progression was very natural.

After ordering the food, Yu Shen immediately took out his phone and started tagging everyone in the group chat.

A fish in the deep sea: [@Everyone, something terrible has happened!!! Li Heizi is closing down!!! Only two days left!!! Come quickly!!!]

A fish in the deep sea: [This is no joke! It really needs to be shut down! It's written on the blackboard!]

The group chat exploded when they saw his message.

Don't fill the teacup so full: [What's going on? I just went on a business trip!]

Twilight Isn't Forest: [No way! I just got my稿费 (manuscript fee) and was planning to have a nice meal tomorrow. I even prepared the money, and you're telling me the restaurant is gone?]

Even mountains and seas can be flattened: [Calm down, what exactly happened? I'll be right back.]

Qingyuan is not a kite: [??? Why would Li Heizi close the door? How could he bear to do that?]

Half an hour later.

More and more people are coming to eat at the entrance of Shaxian Snacks.

Lu Qianshan, Mu Cixuan, Wang Yun, Yao Qianqian, and even many regular customers who hadn't been seen at the restaurant for a long time all appeared at the door.

As soon as a group of people rushed into the store, they started asking questions all at once.

"Boss, are you really going to close down?"

"Boss, what happened? Why did you suddenly shut it down?"

"Boss, if you close down, where are we going to eat for our anniversaries?"

"Boss, boss..."

The shop quickly filled up with people and became very lively. The first thing everyone asked upon arrival was what was going on with Li Zhibai.

Li Zhibai stood in the middle of the crowd, composed himself, and sighed in a tone of helplessness and sorrow, "Fellow bosses, this is what happened..."

He briefly recounted how the landlord forced him to terminate the lease.

Of course, he omitted the fact that he received 660,000 yuan in compensation, which was inappropriate for playing the victim. After all, if you've already received 660,000 yuan, it's a bit shameless to still be complaining about being poor.

"So, this shop will be returned to its owner in three days."

"As for the new store... to be honest, it's not finalized yet. As you all know, it's hard to find a shop in Financial Street, and the rent is expensive. Where would I, a Shaxian snack shop owner, get so much money to rent a new shop?"

Li Zhibai deliberately portrayed himself as pitiful, helpless, and powerless.

The effect was immediate.

Some of them had short tempers and wanted to settle accounts with Zhao Lei and his bastards on the spot.

"Where's Zhao Lei? I'm going to beat him up! What kind of bastard is he, trying to steal our thunder?"

"Count me in! If anyone dares to deny me braised pork, I'll kill them!"

"Boss, you're such a coward! Why don't you fight them head-on? Go for it, one against three! Just do it!"

"That's right, we'll cheer you on."

"......"

A group of people were indignant and said they wanted to stand up for Li Zhibai, but only Lu Qianshan calmly asked a very crucial question: "Boss, what are your plans now? Do you have any alternative shops?"

"A few places are looking, but I'm not quite satisfied with any of them," Li Zhibai said, half-jokingly. Then he changed the subject: "How about you bosses order a lot more tonight? Consider it support for me to raise money to rent the new store. Every deluxe family bucket meal ordered is the best support for the early opening of the new store."

Everyone: "..."

Good heavens, so this is where they were waiting for them.

After all that buildup of a tragic story, it all came down to this last line: "You really know how to do this, Li Heizi!"

However, they were truly willing to be ripped off this time. Li Heizi's new store definitely won't be open for a while, so when else would they like to have a good meal?

"Alright! Bring me everything on the menu today!"

"I'm coming too. It's the last two days. If I don't eat my fill, I won't be able to eat here again."

"Boss, one large serving of braised pork, please!"

"I'll have steamed dumplings, wontons, and double portions of fried rice!"

"......"

The restaurant went into a frenzy of ordering, with everyone ordering like crazy, as if it were their last meal.

Just as everyone was frantically placing more orders, Yu Shen suddenly thought of something very important.

"By the way, boss, the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and we were all planning to order our reunion dinner from you. Now that you're closing down, where are we going to eat for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

His words caused those present to look worried once again.

They had made plans with their families well in advance to take them to eat delicious Shaxian snacks during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some of them were even prepared to hire people to queue up at dawn to reserve a spot.

Now they're suddenly being told the store is closing down, what are they going to eat for Mid-Autumn Festival?

Li Zhibai had anticipated their question and immediately replied, "Don't worry, there will still be a Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet, but the location has changed."

"Changed? Changed where? Could it be at your new store? But didn't you say you hadn't rented a place for the new store yet?"

"The new store hasn't been booked yet, but Sister Su Su's store is still open. I'll be cooking at Suwei Restaurant during the Mid-Autumn Festival. If you want to book a family banquet for the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can contact Sister Su Su to reserve a table. I'll cook myself."

Same skills, same dishes, same chef, different prices... cough cough, anyway, we can't let you come back empty-handed.

He had actually thought of this plan a long time ago.

Even if the new store is finalized, it will take at least half a month to renovate and reopen, but he absolutely cannot give up the Mid-Autumn Festival bonus.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second biggest tourist trap of the year after the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. If you miss it this year, you'll have to wait another year.

Therefore, going to Su Su's place as a chef temporarily is the perfect solution. He gets 40% commission on the dishes he makes, which is quite a lot. You know, he doesn't have to pay for water, electricity, labor, or ingredients, so it's like making pure profit with zero cost.

Of course, he couldn't let his apprentice suffer too much. The environment and service in her shop were many times better than his shabby Shaxian, so it was reasonable for him to raise the prices of his dishes by a little bit, right?

Let's make money together, master and apprentice!