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

Midnight.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Li Zhibai pulled the roller shutter door down halfway, then moved a small stool to sit by the door, scrolling through his phone while waiting for Sister Zhao to set up her stall.

It wasn't that he was eyeing the other person's fried rice.

He was still thinking about the "Heart of Gourmet Food" that the system had mentioned, and wanted to talk to the older sister again to see if he could find new clues to obtain the Heart of Gourmet Food from her story.

As a result, he waited for more than half an hour.

It was nearly 1 a.m., and the Financial Street was deserted. Occasionally, a few overtime workers would drift out of the office buildings and head towards convenience stores or ride-hailing services like lost ghosts.

But Sister Zhao still didn't set up her stall.

"That's strange, is Big Sister taking a break today?" Li Zhibai muttered, not giving it much thought.

The older sister's son is in the hospital; maybe it will be her turn to stay at the hospital to take care of him today.

He pulled the roller shutter all the way down, locked it, washed up, and went upstairs to sleep.

The next morning at 10:00 AM.

Li Zhibai was awakened by a strange noise.

There were all sorts of sounds: clanging, buzzing, and humming.

The sound came from downstairs, like a construction crew smashing a wall, or like the mechanical sound of a Transformer transforming in a science fiction movie.

At first, he almost thought the store had been robbed, but then he realized that the system was modifying the kitchen.

Li Zhibai rolled over and glanced at the system panel.

[System kitchen renovation in progress... Remaining time: 13 hours and 58 minutes.]

[Renovation details: ? ? ? ?]

[Transformation result: ???]

"It's all question marks. Are you trying to play mysterious with me?"

Li Zhibai muttered a complaint, then lay back down on the wooden bed, ready to take a nap.

But the clanging and banging noise downstairs was so loud that I couldn't sleep at all.

He simply got up, slipped on his slippers, went downstairs, and took a look.

The kitchen door was tightly closed, and a faint blue light emanated from inside, as if someone was conducting some kind of secret experiment.

He tried pushing the door, but it didn't budge.

"Alright, you can take your time modifying it. I'm going out for a stroll."

Li Zhibai quickly washed up, changed into a clean T-shirt, and prepared to go out for lunch.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and casually took out his phone to check out a review website.

Yesterday, he swallowed his pride and begged Yu Shen and those guys to write some positive reviews for him, just to see if they had.

The page refreshed.

Li Zhibai looked closely and felt as if the sky had fallen!

Rating: 1.8.

???

Wait, what's going on here?

Yesterday it was 3.0 points, how come it's 1.8 points today?

This score is almost the lowest it has ever been on a review website.

He quickly scrolled through the comments section and found dozens of one-star reviews, almost all of which were posted in the middle of the night.

"Who is it?! Which scoundrel is it that's staying up all night and ganging up to give me bad reviews?!" Li Zhibai suddenly felt terrible.

[One-star negative review] User: A Fish.

[Content: This shop owner is the most unscrupulous owner I've ever seen! He's utterly heartless! Don't go there! You'll get ripped off!!!]

[One-star negative review] User: Yo-yo.

[Content: I heard the owner of this restaurant likes to rip people off. As a poor person, although I've never eaten there, I have to give it a bad review to protect the legitimate rights of consumers!]

【..........】

Li Zhibai was so angry he wanted to grind his teeth when he saw these comments.

Most of the negative reviews are warning netizens to be careful and not to be fooled, and to never eat there. They also say things like "outrageous prices," "heartless boss," and "Shaxian assassin," clearly trying to cut off his source of income.

The most outrageous thing is that later someone said he added prohibited substances to the soup and wanted to report him.

That's absolutely outrageous!

This is a personal attack! This is absolutely a personal attack!

Just as Li Zhibai was about to call and complain about the review website, letting the haters attack him, he suddenly saw a negative review with a particularly high number of likes, which was at least four or five hundred words long.

[One-star negative review] User: Jiangcheng Working Soul.

This is the darkest day of my life! 17! A meal at a Shaxian snack shop cost me 17!

The very first sentence of the text stunned Li Zhibai.

I am a manager at a company in Jiangcheng. The story begins yesterday afternoon...

This negative review is so heartbreaking and tearful that it can be described as the worst restaurant review of the year.

【My savings of 17 yuan were wiped out overnight. My clients went out of business, the partnership collapsed, my boss scolded me, and when I got home, my wife forced me to kneel on a durian, saying that I was keeping a mistress, spending hundreds of thousands of yuan on extravagant pleasures, and even issuing fake invoices to cheat her…】

[Heavens above! I'm truly innocent! It really was an employee who ate the food from Shaxian snacks, but my wife just won't believe it!]

[I'm writing this comment on my knees to warn all netizens and fellow countrymen: please keep your eyes open and never go to this rip-off shop! The owner of this shop is just a nobody!!!]

[I saw in the comments that the boss's surname is Li, and his name is Li Heizi (Li Blackie). Li Heizi, I'll haunt you even as a ghost!!!]

【...】

After reading the negative review, Li Zhibai suddenly felt less angry for some reason.

There was even some sympathy.

He already guessed who wrote the negative review; it must have been the manager of that company.

He even guessed that those other suddenly appearing negative reviews were probably also deliberately posted by that guy using fake reviews.

"Oh well, a low score is fine."

"I'm a magnanimous person, so I won't hold it against you."

After all, this guy is one of his big clients. He's spent over 100,000 yuan on this client. What's wrong with him leaving a bad review and criticizing him if he's not satisfied?

One should have a broad perspective and a generous heart.

Li Zhibai closed the page and then used his phone to search for the highest-rated fried rice in Jiangcheng.

Since he wanted to develop a god-level fried rice, he knew he couldn't just work behind closed doors. He planned to try the top-quality fried rice made by high-end restaurants, learn from their strengths, and see if he could find a breakthrough.

He quickly settled on a high-end restaurant with a 4.9 rating, known as the pinnacle of fried rice in Jiangcheng.

A serving of egg fried rice costs 229 yuan.

"A serving of egg fried rice for 229?"

When Li Zhibai saw the price, he suddenly felt that his Shaxian snacks were incredibly reasonable.

You should know that the regular version of his snacks only costs a little over a hundred yuan.

He took a taxi to the place and saw that the storefront and the decoration were indeed quite high-end. There were quite a few customers at noon, and several tables had ordered the restaurant's signature egg fried rice.

Li Zhibai pushed open the door and went in; the waiter immediately came to greet him.

"How many are in your party, sir?"

"One."

"This way, please."

The waiter led him to a small table in the corner and handed him a menu.

Li Zhibai flipped through the menu and saw that the photo of the fried rice was indeed beautiful.

The golden rice grains are stir-fried with scrambled eggs, peas, shrimp, and other ingredients, and the exquisite plating makes for a visually appealing dish.

The accompanying description reads: "Made with specially sourced free-range eggs, Wuchang rice, fresh prawns, scallops, and other ingredients, this meal is prepared by our executive chef and is limited to 50 servings per day."

"Hey, we're kindred spirits, even doing limited editions."

Li Zhibai ordered the egg fried rice and a free glass of water.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the fried rice with egg was served.

To be honest, it looks really good.

The rice grains are distinct and look very appetizing.

But who is Li Zhibai?

He's a man with god-level culinary skills and a very discerning eye.

In his eyes, the appearance of this fried rice would only earn him a score of 8.5 to 8.8.

Although the rice was fried well, a closer look reveals that a few grains were slightly charred, indicating that the heat control wasn't precise enough. The egg and rice weren't well integrated either; some grains were coated with egg, while others remained white.

This minor flaw would not be a problem in the eyes of ordinary people, but in Li Zhibai's eyes, it was a defective product, unqualified.

He picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, put it in his mouth, and slowly chewed it a few times to savor it.

Well, how should I put it?

Tasty?

good to eat.

It's definitely much better than the fried rice from roadside stalls. The elasticity of the rice, the aroma of the eggs, and the sweetness of the shrimp—the original flavors of these ingredients are all brought out.

Overall, I would give it a "perfect" rating.

However, he felt that if it didn't reach the god-level and dared to sell for such a high price, then it was extremely unworthy.

Li Zhibai scooped up a few more spoonfuls of fried rice and continued to analyze the recipe while eating.

The traditional way to make fried rice is simply to first scramble the eggs, then add rice and stir-fry, season with salt, and finally sprinkle with chopped green onions before serving.

The egg fried rice made this way can only reach the "perfect" level; it can never reach the "god-like" level.

Because this method essentially treats eggs and rice as two separate ingredients, although they are eventually mixed together, their flavors are not truly fully integrated.

It's like a couple who are only superficially compatible, living under the same roof but actually living separate lives, keeping to themselves.

To reach god-like status, one needs a deep, inseparable connection, where each element is intertwined with the other.

Of course, this was just Li Zhibai's own idea, but he felt that this line of thinking should be correct.

How exactly can you achieve a perfect combination of rice and egg?

"What if you mix the beaten egg into the rice while it's still hot after it's cooked, allowing the egg to penetrate the rice grains, and then stir-fry it?"

"Could the ingredients be improved, or should the cooking method also be modified?"

"......"

Several ideas popped into Li Zhibai's mind, but he would have to go back and test them out to see which direction would be feasible.

However, he can't try it today; the store is under renovation, and he can't even get into the kitchen.

"Write down the ideas first, and we'll talk about them after the kitchen renovation is finished."

He took out his phone, opened Notepad, and wrote down the several directions he had come up with.

After he finished writing, he waved to the waiter to pay the bill.

"Sir, are you satisfied with our fried rice?" the waiter asked with a smile.

This is their daily routine. When customers pay the bill, they always ask how the dishes were prepared, so as to better demonstrate their good service.

They are also very confident in their dishes, and almost no customers have expressed dissatisfaction, especially their signature egg fried rice.

Li Zhibai was taken aback: "So what if I'm satisfied? So what if I'm not?"

"If you're not satisfied, we can give you a refund," the waiter said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhibai's eyes lit up instantly: "Then I'm very dissatisfied! Give me my fried rice back."

waiter:"......."

Li Zhibai left satisfied, praising the restaurant's excellent service as he left, noting that they even offered a refund.

No wonder it has a 4.9 rating; it has a really big vision.

I'll come again next time!