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

"Are you here for dinner?" Ke Yi asked.

The boy didn't answer, but instead looked up at the electronic menu on the wall.

Normally, a wealthy customer seeing that exorbitantly priced menu on the wall would be shocked at first, and then turn around and run away.

But the boy's pupils only contracted slightly; his expression remained calm, showing almost no surprise.

Li Zhibai noticed the boy in the kitchen and thought to himself, "This kid is something else. He has a strong will and wasn't scared off by the menu. Could he really be here to eat?"

If he really wants to eat, then making him a regular version with a larger portion wouldn't be a bad idea.

After looking at the menu, the boy shook his head at Koy, and then he did something unexpected.

He walked to a table that had only been half-cleaned, picked up a rag that Ke Yi had casually placed on the table, and began wiping the table very carefully.

After wiping the table, he stacked the dishes on it and carried them to the kitchen.

Koy was stunned: "Hey, you..."

The boy put the dishes into the kitchen sink on his own, then turned around and went out to clean another table.

He didn't say a word from beginning to end, just kept working, wiping tables, clearing away bowls, carrying plates, sweeping the floor... silently doing all the cleaning work.

Koy tried to strike up a conversation with him, but the boy remained tight-lipped, at most nodding or shaking his head.

She was left wondering whether she should stop them or not.

Finally, having no other choice, Ke Yi went to the kitchen and asked Li Zhibai, "Cousin, did you recruit him?"

Li Zhibai shook his head as he tossed the food in the wok: "No, I don't even know his name, and I don't have his contact information."

"Then why is he working here? Should I ask him to leave?" Ke Yi asked.

Li Zhibai peeked outside.

The boy was squatting on the ground, meticulously wiping the grease next to the table leg with a rag. His focus was so intense it could only be described as meticulous, reminding him of the work ethic of employees at a certain overweight supermarket.

"Let him do it if he wants to."

He guessed that the boy probably wanted to thank him for his chivalrous help last night in this way.

After all, some people are not good with words and choose to repay favors with actions.

"Okay!"

So the boy stayed for the time being.

No one assigned him tasks or told him what to do, but he found things to do on his own.

As soon as the guests left, he would go up to clear the table, sweep up any scraps of paper on the floor, and take any empty bowls and plates to the kitchen. He didn't say a word the whole time.

The customers in the store all assumed he was a new waiter and naturally began to order him around.

"Waiter, could you please bring me another pair of chopsticks?"

He went to get chopsticks.

"Waiter, where are the tissues?"

He went to get some tissues.

"Young man, please tidy up this table."

He then came over with a rag to clean up.

"......"

Ke Yi and Ding Ling watched him work and couldn't help but secretly gossip about the boy's purpose. They thought his personality was too dull, like a silent gourd, unwilling to speak and not easy to ask.

Around 1:30 in the afternoon, the shop finally quieted down.

Ke Yi and Ding Ling had already eaten the lunch that Li Zhibai had prepared for them when there were fewer people and things weren't too busy. They had made an appointment with senior students from the university town that afternoon to learn about the postgraduate entrance examination situation there in advance.

As for the boy, after wiping the last table and sweeping the floor, he prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Li Zhibai came out of the kitchen and called out to him.

The boy stopped and looked back at him.

"What's your name?" Li Zhibai asked.

The boy paused for a moment, then whispered, "A-Che."

"Why don't you stay...?"

Li Zhibai was about to suggest that he stay for a meal, since Bai had helped with the work all morning and must be hungry.

But before he could finish speaking, the boy shook his head, turned around, and pushed the door open to leave.

Li Zhibai watched the boy disappear through the door and couldn't help but mutter, "That kid is really a bit strange."

However, he didn't think too much about it, assuming that the other party was simply doing it out of gratitude.

After all the customers left the shop, Li Zhibai was finally able to relax and happily start doing the accounting.

This morning's sales almost caught up with yesterday's total. If this momentum continues, we can definitely make a million during this long holiday, not just in terms of sales revenue.

Of course, Ke Yi and Ding Ling deserve credit for their hard work in attracting customers. When they go back to school, we should give them a red envelope as a commission.

While he was happy about the increased sales today, there were still things that bothered him.

After finishing the accounts, Li Zhibai got up and walked to the shop entrance, looking at the old shop across the street.

A new banner has been hung up again at the entrance of the old shop.

[Holiday Mega Sale! All items discounted! Make a purchase and enter a draw to win a free item!]

There was also a small blackboard at the entrance with some of the challenge details written on it, which were very simple.

[Easy Challenge: Memorize "Ode to the Goose" in 1 minute, and your meal is free!]

[Challenge: Finish a bowl of chicken leg rice in 5 minutes, or your meal is free!]

[Our store promises: The challenge is real and effective; we absolutely do not engage in deception!]

After seeing the challenges they created, Li Zhibai had to admire their marketing skills. It was practically free.

Of course, he didn't believe the other party would really give it away for free; it was most likely just a gimmick. When you actually went in to draw, you'd find that you couldn't draw simple questions like "Ode to the Goose" at all; you'd only draw impossible difficult questions.

Then all they need to do is casually say, "Sorry, you were just unlucky," and they're done.

What infuriated Li Zhibai even more was that the noodle shop employee across the street stood at the door and shouted to everyone he met, "Our shop is the original one! The Shaxian restaurant across the street is a branch opened by our boss. If you want to eat, the original shop is more authentic and tastes better."

"The shop across the street is run by our boss's apprentice. The master and apprentice, one runs the original shop and the other runs a branch, so they are actually one family."

"If you want to eat authentic, high-end Shaxian cuisine, you have to come here! The taste is even better, and we also offer a 10% discount and a free meal promotion!"

"..."

Li Zhibai's face almost turned black again upon hearing this.

Password! Wang Dafu doesn't even deserve to be my master! He's not even worthy to carry my shoes!

What's even more infuriating is that quite a few first-time visitors actually believed it, especially some who had watched the competition videos and specifically came here. When they heard them bragging like that, they thought, "Oh, he's the champion's mentor, so I have to try him!" Without hesitation, they went into the noodle shop across the street.

After finishing the meal, I realized I had been ripped off. The food was very mediocre. I left cursing and swearing that I would never eat at that so-called high-end Shaxian restaurant again.

In fact, people in China are kind-hearted at heart. Even if the food they eat is terrible, many customers will not cause trouble. They will usually express their anger by saying that they will not eat there next time.

As more and more people who came seeking his services were scammed, online reputation gradually turned against Li Zhibai.

Previously, the worst reviews were mostly for calling Li Zhibai's restaurant a black market and giving him the nickname "Li the Blackie." No one had ever actually said that his cooking was bad.

But this time it's different. Many people are questioning his cooking skills and the value of his championship title.

The champion of the Jiangcheng Master Chef Invitational Tournament, that Shaxian restaurant owner, is undeserving of the title.

I went to the old shop he claimed was run by his master today. A bowl of noodles cost 108 NTD, but the taste was no different from a six or seven NTD bowl of noodles. If the champion's master is this bad, then the apprentice probably isn't much better.

[There must be something fishy about the competition! How could someone who runs a Shaxian snack shop possibly beat so many chefs?]

[You'll understand if you look at the mosaic; the production team doesn't want us to know about his shop because they're afraid we'll go and expose it as a fake.]

【fraud!】

【….】

When Ke Yi and Ding Ling returned in the afternoon, they angrily showed the video they had come across to Li Zhibai.

"Cousin, look! Everyone online is criticizing you!"

They found out yesterday that Li Zhibai had won the championship because they saw it while browsing local videos, and they almost laughed themselves silly.

Seeing someone smear my cousin like this, I'm naturally very angry. You can laugh at my cousin, but you can't criticize his cooking skills.

After watching the video, Li Zhibai calmly said, "I saw it a long time ago."

Aren't you angry?

"Does getting angry help?"

"What should we do then?"

Li Zhibai immediately picked up his phone and called Huo Junmin.

"Attorney Huo, the other side is getting even more brazen now. Several more tourists have been scammed today, and there are also smear comments about me online. They are impersonating me to swindle people. If this continues, they will ruin the reputation of my shop."

"As expected, I had my assistant, Xiao Zhou, go over there to collect evidence long ago. She would approach every customer who came out of the noodle shop across the street to find out what happened and collect evidence. She just told me that those customers were very cooperative."

"Boss Li, you don't need to do anything right now, and don't initiate any conflict with the other side. Just leave the rest to me."

"How much longer?"

"Two days, you can't wait that long, can you?"

Li Zhibai looked again at the guy across the street who was still energetically hawking his wares at the door.

He didn't originally intend to push things to the extreme.

Previously, Zhao Lei and his gang used underhanded tactics to force him to transfer his old shop. He had already received more than 600,000 yuan in compensation through Attorney Huo. With the money in hand, the matter was considered closed, and he planned to move on.

He figured those two guys wouldn't last long before closing down and running away, so there was no need to get entangled with such scoundrels.

But he didn't expect Zhao Lei and his group to be so shameless. Not only did they try to emulate him in everything, they also went to great lengths to use his name to deceive people.

"Since you're so eager to engage in cutthroat competition with me, then I won't hold back."

Li Zhibai said into the phone one last time, "Attorney Huo, you absolutely have to be ruthless!"