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

After seeing off Boss Zhou and his three suckers, Li Zhibai stretched at the cashier, then crossed his legs, pulled out the book "The Self-Cultivation of a Ruthless Boss" from the drawer, and continued reading.

He had already turned to Chapter 5 of the book.

There was a line in it that he thought was very well said—"The truly skillful way to rip off customers is not to make them feel that it's expensive, but to make them feel that not buying it would be a huge loss."

Simply put, it's about getting customers to convince themselves to spend money. Once you reach that level, they'll find reasons to justify raising prices, and they'll think it's perfectly reasonable to limit purchases. Even if you don't smile and act aloof, they'll still say it's the spirit of a craftsman.

"That's absolutely right!"

Li Zhibai slapped his thigh, deeply agreeing.

He's still quite far from that level; he needs to continue learning by doing.

Just as he was engrossed in reading, his phone suddenly rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

Li Zhi immediately clicked to connect.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, this is XX Police Station. My surname is Chen. Are you the owner of Shaxian Snacks?"

Li Zhibai glanced at the time on the wall; it was almost midnight. Without saying a word, he hung up the phone.

"Are scammers this dedicated these days? They actually impersonated a police officer and called me in the middle of the night."

"I've downloaded the national anti-fraud app!"

Shortly after he hung up, his phone rang again.

It's still the same number.

Li Zhibai was getting a little impatient. This scammer was quite persistent; he dared to call back even after being hung up. Could it be that he was under too much pressure to meet his sales targets? Or was he having trouble finding someone to target?

But he accepted it anyway.

"Hey! Aren't you annoying?! You're still calling even after I've hung up."

"Mr. Li, please don't hang up. I really am a police officer! We arrested several people suspected of illegal spending during tonight's special operation, and we need to verify the situation with you."

"I don't know him, I've never seen him before, I have no idea!"

"This is a legitimate restaurant, and all the customers are respectable. There are no illegal charges."

"Mr. Li..."

"Beep beep beep..."

Li Zhibai hung up the phone cleanly and promptly, and even added the number to his blacklist.

"Tch! Impersonating police officers to investigate cases in the middle of the night, and even suspected of illegal consumption? What law did I break by charging 588 for a bowl of noodles? Prices are clearly marked, and I treat everyone fairly. I'm a legitimate businessman."

"It's definitely a scam."

Li Zhibai tossed his phone onto the table and picked up the book "The Self-Cultivation of a Ruthless Boss" to continue reading with great interest.

.........

Detention room at a police station in Jiangcheng.

Boss Zhou, Big Gold Chain, and Fatty Bai were squatting obediently in the corner, their hands covering their heads, their faces showing utter grievance.

They really only ate a meal at a Shaxian snack shop and spent 5,600 yuan, but why won't the police believe them? They insist on verifying the information and arresting them.

Moreover, attempted and completed are not the same thing.

Their only hope of getting out of here soon rests on the owner of the Shaxian snack shop. If he can prove that the 5600 yuan bill was indeed from eating at Shaxian, they should be able to leave.

"Old Zhou, do you think the owner of Shaxian snack shop might be too lazy to give us proof?"

"Of course not. I'm a diamond VIP customer of his store, so you can rest assured."

"......"

Just as the three were whispering to each other, the door to the detention room opened.

A policeman walked in and said to the three of them, "We've already called and verified with the owner of that Shaxian snack shop."

Upon hearing this, Boss Zhou eagerly asked, "Officer! Did he testify for us? Can we leave now?"

To everyone's surprise, the police officer shook his head and said, "The owner of Shaxian County said he doesn't know you, has never seen you before, and doesn't know anything about your spending habits."

The three people: "???"

"Impossible! We were just eating at his restaurant."

"Call him again, and I'll speak to him personally."

Police officer: "I tried calling, but I couldn't get through."

"And stop making up such absurd lies. A bowl of Shaxian fried rice costs 1288 yuan, why don't you just say that rice is made of gold?"

"Your actions now go beyond just suspected illegal consumption; they may also involve deliberately fabricating false information, intentionally increasing the difficulty of our work, and are suspected of obstructing official duties."

Boss Zhou: "We really didn't! Officer, you have to believe us!"

"Alright, whether you're there or not, you're not going to get out of here."

"We conducted a preliminary inspection of your phones in accordance with the law and found that your chat history over the past month contained a large amount of content discussing XX. Furthermore, the technicians we arrested in tonight's operation identified the three of you during their initial questioning. Therefore, regardless of whether your 5600 yuan expense was legitimate, you will have to stay for seven days."

The three people: "..."

No, how could such a coincidence happen?

A moment later, Boss Zhou, on the verge of tears, cursed:

"Li Zhibai! I'm not finished with you yet!"

"Li Zhibai, I XXXXXXXXX!"

If that guy hadn't ripped them off with an exorbitantly priced meal at Shaxian snack shop, they wouldn't have been brought back at all. The officer could have released them on the spot after verifying their expenses that day; there was no need for them to be taken back to the police station for further investigation.

Now things have gotten even worse. Not only did that guy not testify for them, but he also claimed not to know them. To make matters worse, there were other transaction records on his phone that overlapped with the technician's testimony, resulting in him being detained for seven days.

Three grown men were weeping bitterly in the detention room; the scene was truly tragic.

Meanwhile, Li Zhibai, the mastermind behind all of this, is currently happily studying his book in the shop.

Completely unaware that he had gained three more die-hard haters.

.........

It was past midnight.

Li Zhibai yawned when he got tired of reading.

Just then, the familiar sound of a cart being pushed came from the doorway.

Sister Zhao has set up her stall.

After setting up her stall today, Zhao Xiaomei went straight into the shop.

"Boss Li! Boss Li!"

Li Zhibai jolted awake, mostly waking up, and looked up at Zhao Xiaomei: "Sister Zhao, what's wrong?"

Zhao Xiaomei pulled a roll of banknotes from her pocket and stuffed it into his hand: "Boss Li, this money was found by my husband in Siqi's teddy bear. You must have put it there. I can't accept it."

Li Zhibai refused.

"Big sister, what are you doing? This money is a red envelope I gave to Siqi to wish him a speedy recovery. I never expect to get back what I've given away. Aren't you just slapping me in the face?"

"Boss Li, you also deserve credit for Siqi's successful surgery. You've already helped us so much, we can't let you spend any more money. I really can't accept this money."

"I told you, this money is for Siqi, so you really don't need to pay me back, sister."

The two began to pull at each other.

One party wants to repay, the other refuses to accept.

Finally, Li Zhibai unleashed his ultimate move: "Big sister, if you keep doing this, I won't let you set up your fried rice stall in front of my shop anymore!"

That advice was indeed effective.

Sister Zhao didn't insist any further and thanked him, saying, "Thank you so much, Mr. Li. You're a good person, a really good person."

"Alright, big sister, you go set up your stall."

"Ugh!"

Watching Sister Zhao leave with gratitude, Li Zhibai couldn't help but say, "This feeling of being thanked is even better than ripping off ten suckers."

[The system has detected that the host is engaging in behavior that contradicts the image of a ruthless boss, and this is a matter of great concern to the system.]

"What are you worried about? This is called a sustainable development strategy. What do you know?"

【Please enlighten me, host.】

"Think about it, now that I've helped Sister Zhao, won't she promote me? For example, there's a Shaxian snack shop on Jiangcheng Financial Street where the owner is incredibly skilled, generous, and most importantly, extremely handsome. Wouldn't all the doctors and nurses in the hospital, especially the female doctors and nurses, come to eat at my place every day?"

"And the doctors at this children's hospital are all high-income earners; if we could get them, we'd make a fortune."

"In summary, I only spent two thousand yuan and was able to potentially win over an entire hospital's clients. That's what you call having vision and a big picture perspective, you know?"

【………】

[It seems the host's ruthlessness has reached a new level. This system is impressed.]

"You flatter me. I learned all this from you. If you were more generous and gave me more rewards, I wouldn't have to think about how to recruit people every day."

..........

Outside the shop, Zhao Xiaomei set up the gas stove, heated the iron pot, and began to work.

Since Li Zhibai helped her adjust the seasoning ratio last time, her fried rice skills have indeed improved a lot. Although it doesn't reach any god-like or perfect level, it's more than enough to satisfy diners who don't have high expectations for eight-yuan fried rice.

"Hey ma'am, a plate of fried noodles, with an egg and sausage, please."

"Okay, twelve pieces."

"..."

Heat the wok, add oil, then pour in the beaten eggs. With a sizzling sound, the egg flowers quickly expand in the oil. Next, add the noodles and stir-fry over high heat, adding the pre-mixed seasonings from the seasoning box in the correct proportions.

Remove from the pot, pack into boxes—all done in one smooth motion.

The diner seemed to be a regular customer; he took the fried noodles and started eating right away.

After taking a bite of noodles, he couldn't help but say:

"Big sister, the noodles you stir-fried today are much better than last time! The saltiness is just right, and it's not oily at all."

Zhao Xiaomei: "That's because my skills have improved."

"Great, great! I'll come here to eat whenever I work overtime from now on."

"Okay, thank you for your support!"

"........."

A little while later, several more passersby were attracted by the aroma of fried rice and gathered around the stall to buy some.

While busy working, Sister Zhao chatted with the customers, and her smile was much brighter than before.

The reason her fried rice is praised by customers is entirely due to the seasoning ratio that Boss Li helped her with, as well as some techniques he taught her.

Especially after the seasoning was perfected, the taste became consistent, and repeat customers started to increase.

So she was truly grateful to Li Zhibai from the bottom of her heart.

Just as Sister Zhao was busy frying rice and noodles for the customers.

suddenly!

An elderly man who looked to be in his seventies, who was passing by, fell straight down in front of the stall.